The Seagull

guessed their thoughts and suffered from the humiliation.⁠ ⁠… Sorin And, by the way, can you tell me, please, what sort of man this literary gentleman is? There’s no making him out. He never says anything. Treplev He is an intelligent man, good-natured and rather melancholy, you know. A very decent fellow. He is still a good distance off forty, but he is already celebrated and has enough and to spare of everything. As for his writings⁠ ⁠… what shall I say? They are charming, full of talent, but⁠ ⁠… after Tolstoy or Zola you do not care to read Trigorin. Sorin Well, I am fond of authors, my boy. At one time I had a passionate desire for two things: I wanted to get married, and I wanted to become an author; but I did not succeed in doing either. Yes, it is pleasant to be even a small author, as a matter of fact. Treplev Listens. I hear steps⁠ ⁠… embraces his uncle. I cannot live without her.⁠ ⁠… The very sound of her footsteps is lovely.⁠ ⁠… I am wildly happy goes quickly to meet Nina Zaretchny as she enters. My enchantress⁠—my dream.⁠ ⁠… Nina In agitation. I am not late.⁠ ⁠… Of course I am not late.⁠ ⁠… Treplev Kissing her hands. No, no, no! Nina I have been uneasy all day. I was so frightened. I was afraid father would not let me come.⁠ ⁠… But he has just gone out with my stepmother. The sky is red, the moon is just rising, and I kept urging on the horse laughs. But I am glad shakes Sorin’s hand warmly. Sorin Laughs. Your eyes look as though you have been crying.⁠ ⁠… Fie, fie! That’s not right! Nina Oh, it was nothing.⁠ ⁠… You see how out of breath I am. I have to go in half an hour. We must make haste. I can’t stay, I can’t! For God’s sake don’t keep me! My father doesn’t know I am here. Treplev It really is time to begin. We must go and call the others. Sorin I’ll go this minute goes to the right, singing “To France Two Grenadiers.” Looks round. Once I sang like that, and a deputy prosecutor said to me, “You have a powerful voice, your Excellency”; then he thought a little and added, “but not a pleasant one.” Laughs and goes off. Nina My father and his wife won’t let me come here. They say it is so Bohemian here⁠ ⁠… they are afraid I shall go on the stage.⁠ ⁠… But I feel drawn to the lake here like a seagull.⁠ ⁠… My heart is full of you looks round. Treplev We are alone. Nina I fancy there is someone there. Treplev There’s nobody. They kiss. Nina What tree is this? Treplev An elm. Nina Why is it so dark? Treplev It’s evening; everything is getting dark. Don’t go away early, I entreat you! Nina I must. Treplev And if I come to you, Nina, I’ll stand in the garden all night, watching your window. Nina You can’t; the watchman would notice you. Trésor is not used to you, and he would bark. Treplev I love you! Nina Sh‑h.⁠ ⁠… Treplev Hearing footsteps. Who is there? You, Yakov? Yakov Behind the stage. Yes, sir. Treplev Take your places. It’s time to begin. Is the moon rising? Yakov Yes, sir. Treplev Have you got the methylated spirit? Have you got the sulphur? When the red eyes appear there must be a smell of sulphur. To Nina. Go, it’s all ready. Are you nervous? Nina Yes, awfully! Your mother is all right⁠—I am not afraid of her⁠—but there’s Trigorin⁠ ⁠… I feel frightened and ashamed of acting before him⁠ ⁠… a celebrated author.⁠ ⁠… Is he young? Treplev Yes. Nina How wonderful his stories are. Treplev Coldly. I don’t know. I haven’t read them. Nina It is difficult to act in your play. There are no living characters in it. Treplev Living characters! One must depict life not as it is, and not as it ought to be, but as we see it in our dreams. Nina There is very little action in your play⁠—nothing but speeches. And to my mind there ought to be love in a play. Both go behind the stage. Enter Polina Andreyevna and Dorn. Polina It is getting damp. Go back and put on your goloshes. Dorn I am hot. Polina You don’t take care of yourself. It’s obstinacy. You are a doctor, and you know perfectly well that damp air is bad for you, but you want to make me miserable; you sat out on the verandah all yesterday evening on purpose.⁠ ⁠… Dorn Hums. “Do not say that youth is ruined.” Polina You were so absorbed in conversation with Irina Nikolayevna⁠ ⁠… you did not notice the cold. Own up⁠ ⁠… you are attracted by her. Dorn I am fifty-five. Polina Nonsense! That’s not old for a man. You look very young for your age, and are still attractive to women. Dorn Well, what would you have? Polina All you men are ready to fall down and worship an actress, all of you! Dorn Hums. “Before thee once again I stand.” If artists are liked in society and treated differently from merchants, for example, that’s only in the nature of things. It’s idealism. Polina Women have always fallen in love with you and thrown themselves on your neck. Is that idealism too? Dorn Shrugs his shoulders. Well, in the attitude of women to me there has been a great deal that was good. What they principally loved in me was a first-rate doctor. You remember that ten or fifteen years ago I was the only decent accoucheur in the district. Then, too, I have always been an honest man. Polina Seizes him by the hand. Dearest! Dorn Sh‑h! They are coming. Enter Madame Arkadin arm in arm with Sorin, Trigorin, Shamraev, Medvedenko and Masha. Shamraev In the year 1873 she acted marvellously at the fair at Poltava. It was a delight! She acted exquisitely! Do you happen to know, madam, where Pavel Semyonitch Tchadin, a comic actor, is now? His Rasplyuev was inimitable, even finer than