about our own affairs.

PELAGEYA EGOROVNA. Certainly. [_Goes out_. KORSHUNOV. [_Seats himself near_
LYUBOV GORDEYEVNA] What are you crying about, young lady? For shame, for
shame! He, he, he! There! I'm older than you, and I don't cry. [_Looks at
her searchingly_] Oh, well, I know what it's about! I suppose you want to
marry a young fellow? Now, this, my pretty one [_takes her hand and kisses
it_] is just girlish folly. Now, just listen to what I'm going to tell you;
I'll tell you the truth straight out. I don't like to deceive any one, and
have no need to. Will you listen, eh?

LYUBOV GORDEYEVNA. Yes.

KORSHUNOV. Good! Now, we'll begin with this point. Will a young man
appreciate your love? Any girl will love a young man; that is nothing
unusual for him; but to an old man it is precious. An old man will reward
you for your love with some little gift, this and that--with gold, and with
velvet--and there's nothing he won't give you. [_Kisses her hand_] And in
Moscow there are lots of nice things in the shops; there are things worth
giving! So it's nice to fall in love with an old man. That's number one for
you! And then this is what happens with a young and good-looking husband.
You see they are a fickle lot! Before you know it he will be running after
some one else, or some young lady will fall in love with him, and then his
wife may pine away. Then come reproaches and jealousy. And what is this
jealousy, eh? He, he, he! Do you know, young lady, what this jealousy is?

LYUBOV GORDEYEVNA. No, I don't know.

KORSHUNOV. But I know! It isn't like a needle prick in the finger; it's
far more painful than that. You see the cursed thing consumes a man. From
jealousy people stab one another, and poison one another with arsenic!
[_Laughs spasmodically and coughs_] But when any one falls in love with an
old man, then all is peaceful for his wife. And here's something else I
will tell you, my dear young lady: Young men like to go on sprees; they
like gayety and distraction, and all sorts of dissipations, and their wives
may sit at home and wait for them till midnight. And they come home drunk,
and bully their wives, and swagger. But an old man will just sit near his
wife; he'll die before he'll leave her. And he would like to look into her
eyes all the time and to caress her and to kiss her hands. [_Kisses them_]
Just like that.

LYUBOV GORDEYEVNA. Did your deceased wife love you?

KORSHUNOV. [_Looks at her attentively_] And