sor's mask, are sane! Those who marry old men and then deceive
them under the noses of all, are sane! I saw you kiss her; I saw you in
each other's arms!

ASTROFF. Yes, sir, I did kiss her; so there. [He puts his thumb to his
nose.]

VOITSKI. [His eyes on the door] No, it is the earth that is mad, because
she still bears us on her breast.

ASTROFF. That is nonsense.

VOITSKI. Well? Am I not a madman, and therefore irresponsible? Haven't I
the right to talk nonsense?

ASTROFF. This is a farce! You are not mad; you are simply a ridiculous
fool. I used to think every fool was out of his senses, but now I
see that lack of sense is a man's normal state, and you are perfectly
normal.

VOITSKI. [Covers his face with his hands] Oh! If you knew how ashamed
I am! These piercing pangs of shame are like nothing on earth. [In an
agonised voice] I can't endure them! [He leans against the table] What
can I do? What can I do?

ASTROFF. Nothing.

VOITSKI. You must tell me something! Oh, my God! I am forty-seven years
old. I may live to sixty; I still have thirteen years before me; an
eternity! How shall I be able to endure life for thirteen years?
What shall I do? How can I fill them? Oh, don't you see? [He presses
ASTROFF'S hand convulsively] Don't you see, if only I could live the
rest of my life in some new way! If I could only wake some still, bright
morning and feel that life had begun again; that the past was forgotten
and had vanished like smoke. [He weeps] Oh, to begin life anew! Tell me,
tell me how to begin.

ASTROFF. [Crossly] What nonsense! What sort of a new life can you and I
look forward to? We can have no hope.

VOITSKI. None?

ASTROFF. None. Of that I am convinced.

VOITSKI. Tell me what to do. [He puts his hand to his heart] I feel such
a burning pain here.

ASTROFF. [Shouts angrily] Stop! [Then, more gently] It may be that
posterity, which will despise us for our blind and stupid lives, will
find some road to happiness; but we--you and I--have but one hope, the
hope that we may be visited by visions, perhaps by pleasant ones, as we
lie resting in our graves. [Sighing] Yes, brother, there were only two
respectable, intelligent men in this county, you and I. Ten years or so
of this life of ours, this miserable life, have sucked us under, and we
have become as contemptible and petty as the rest. But don't try to talk
me out of my purpose! Give me what you took from me, will you?

VOITSKI. I took nothi