green oak... by the sea."...

OLGA. Don't, Masha, don't... give her some water....

MASHA. I'm not crying any more....

KULIGIN. She's not crying any more... she's a good... [A shot is heard
from a distance.]

MASHA. "There stands a green oak by the sea,
And a chain of bright gold is around it...
An oak of green gold...."

I'm mixing it up.... [Drinks some water] Life is dull... I don't want
anything more now... I'll be all right in a moment.... It doesn't
matter.... What do those lines mean? Why do they run in my head? My
thoughts are all tangled.

[IRINA enters.]

OLGA. Be quiet, Masha. There's a good girl.... Let's go in.

MASHA. [Angrily] I shan't go in there. [Sobs, but controls herself at
once] I'm not going to go into the house, I won't go....

IRINA. Let's sit here together and say nothing. I'm going away
to-morrow.... [Pause.]

KULIGIN. Yesterday I took away these whiskers and this beard from a boy
in the third class.... [He puts on the whiskers and beard] Don't I look
like the German master.... [Laughs] Don't I? The boys are amusing.

MASHA. You really do look like that German of yours.

OLGA. [Laughs] Yes. [MASHA weeps.]

IRINA. Don't, Masha!

KULIGIN. It's a very good likeness....

[Enter NATASHA.]

NATASHA. [To the maid] What? Mihail Ivanitch Protopopov will sit with
little Sophie, and Andrey Sergeyevitch can take little Bobby out.
Children are such a bother.... [To IRINA] Irina, it's such a pity you're
going away to-morrow. Do stop just another week. [Sees KULIGIN and
screams; he laughs and takes off his beard and whiskers] How you
frightened me! [To IRINA] I've grown used to you and do you think it
will be easy for me to part from you? I'm going to have Andrey and his
violin put into your room--let him fiddle away in there!--and we'll put
little Sophie into his room. The beautiful, lovely child! What a little
girlie! To-day she looked at me with such pretty eyes and said "Mamma!"

KULIGIN. A beautiful child, it's quite true.

NATASHA. That means I shall have the place to myself to-morrow. [Sighs]
In the first place I shall have that avenue of fir-trees cut down, then
that maple. It's so ugly at nights.... [To IRINA] That belt doesn't suit
you at all, dear.... It's an error of taste. And I'll give orders to
have lots and lots of little flowers planted here, and they'll smell....
[Severely] Why is there a fork lying about here on the seat? [Going
towards the house, to th