uzu; they are young and must be hungry by now, poor things--Zuzu!

ZINAIDA. The Count did not finish his tea, and all that sugar has been
wasted. [Goes out through the door on the left.]

LEBEDIEFF. Bah! [Goes out into the garden.]

Enter IVANOFF and SASHA through the door on the right.

IVANOFF. This is how it is, Sasha: I used to work hard and think hard,
and never tire; now, I neither do anything nor think anything, and I
am weary, body and soul. I feel I am terribly to blame, my conscience
leaves me no peace day or night, and yet I can't see clearly exactly
what my mistakes are. And now comes my wife's illness, our poverty, this
eternal backbiting, gossiping, chattering, that foolish Borkin--My home
has become unendurable to me, and to live there is worse than torture.
Frankly, Sasha, the presence of my wife, who loves me, has become
unbearable. You are an old friend, little Sasha, you will not be angry
with me for speaking so openly. I came to you to be cheered, but I am
bored here too, something urges me home again. Forgive me, I shall slip
away at once.

SASHA. I can understand your trouble, Nicholas. You are unhappy because
you are lonely. You need some one at your side whom you can love,
someone who understands you.

IVANOFF. What an idea, Sasha! Fancy a crusty old badger like myself
starting a love affair! Heaven preserve me from such misfortune! No, my
little sage, this is not a case for romance. The fact is, I can endure
all I have to suffer: sadness, sickness of mind, ruin, the loss of my
wife, and my lonely, broken old age, but I cannot, I will not, endure
the contempt I have for myself! I am nearly killed by shame when I think
that a strong, healthy man like myself has become--oh, heaven only knows
what--by no means a Manfred or a Hamlet! There are some unfortunates who
feel flattered when people call them Hamlets and cynics, but to me it
is an insult. It wounds my pride and I am tortured by shame and suffer
agony.

SASHA. [Laughing through her tears] Nicholas, let us run away to America
together!

IVANOFF. I haven't the energy to take such a step as that, and besides,
in America you--[They go toward the door into the garden] As a matter of
fact, Sasha, this is not a good place for you to live. When I look about
at the men who surround you I am terrified for you; whom is there you
could marry? Your only chance will be if some passing lieutenant or
student steals your heart and carries you away.