, dear, I wish she'd hurry
up!

SCENE III

_The same and_ FOMINISHNA

FOMINISHNA. Just guess, my dear Agrafena Kondratyevna, who's come to call
on us!

AGRAFENA KONDRATYEVNA. I can't say. Do you think I'm a witch at guessing,
Fominishna?

LIPOCHKA. Why don't you ask me? Am I stupider than you or mamma?

FOMINISHNA. The fact is, I don't know how to tell you. You're pretty strong
on talk; but when it comes to action you aren't there! I asked you, and
asked you, to give me just a handkerchief--nothing expensive: two heaps of
stuff are lying around on your closet floor now without any care; but it
didn't do any good; it's always give it to strangers, give it to strangers!

AGRAFENA KONDRATYEVNA. There, now, Fominishna, I'll never make this out
till doomsday.

LIPOCHKA. Let her go; she had a drink of beer after breakfast, and so she's
getting fuzzy in her head.

FOMINISHNA. That's all right; what are you laughing at? How's it coming
out, Agrafena Kondratyevna? Sometimes the beginning is worse than the end.

AGRAFENA KONDRATYEVNA. One can never find out anything from you! As soon as
you begin to talk, we have to stop up our ears! Now, who was it who came
here?

LIPOCHKA. A man or a woman?

FOMINISHNA. You can never see anything but men! Where in the world did one
ever see a man wearing a widow's bonnet? This is a widow's affair--so what
should her name be?

LIPOCHKA. Naturally, a woman without a husband, a widow.

FOMINISHNA. So I was right? And it comes out that it is a woman!

LIPOCHKA. What a senseless creature! Well, who is the woman?

FOMINISHNA. There, there now, you're clever, but no guesser; it couldn't be
anybody else but Ustinya Naumovna.

LIPOCHKA. Ah, mamma, how lucky!

AGRAFENA KONDRATYEVNA. Where has she been all this time? Bring her in
quickly, Fominishna.

FOMINISHNA. She'll appear herself in a second. She stopped in the yard,
quarrelling with the porter; he didn't open the door quickly enough.

SCENE IV

_The same and_ USTINYA NAUMOVNA

USTINYA NAUMOVNA. [_Entering_] Ouf, fa, fa! Why do you have such a steep
staircase, my jewels? You climb, and climb, and much as ever you get there!

LIPOCHKA. Oh, here she is! How are you, Ustinya Naumovna?

USTINYA NAUMOVNA. Don't get in a hurry! There's people older than you.
I want to chatter with your mamma a bit first. [_Exchanges kisses with_
AGRAFENA KONDRATYEVNA] How are you, Agrafena Kondratyevna? How did you feel
when you