By A. N. OSTRÒVSKY.
Picture I.
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.
Prèzhnev, an old man, completely in his dotage, official of high rank; has lost the use of his limbs; is wheeled about in a chair.
Sòfia Ivànovna Prèzhneva, his wife, aged forty-five.
Paul, a young man, her son.
Oustìnya Filimònovna Pereshìvkina, an elderly woman, formerly Paul’s nurse; now a kind of toady and hanger-on in several families.
A large drawing-room; very rich paper-hangings, grown old and shabby, peeling off the walls. Polished parquet, sunk and uneven. Windows, left, looking into garden. Door opening on wooden balcony, with pillars. At back of stage, a door leading to hall. Door, right, to inner rooms. In narrow niches, little marble tables with bronze legs; over them hang long narrow pier-glasses with gilded frames. Furniture old, heavy, with gilding rubbed off. Old bronze-work on tables. Glass chandelier with lozenge-shaped drops. Two or three ivy-screens. A general appearance of former luxury now become shabby.
Scene I.
(Prèzhnev asleep in wheel-chair beside window. Fur dressing-gown; white woollen rug over feet. Madame Prèzhneva, in elegant morning négligé, lies on sofa with a book.)