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pubOne.info present you this new edition. NICHOLAS IVANOFF, perpetual member of the Council of Peasant Affair

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Publié par	Pub One Info
Date de parution	06 novembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9782819934615
Langue	English

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IVANOFF
A PLAY
By Anton Checkov
CHARACTERS
NICHOLAS IVANOFF, perpetual member of the Council ofPeasant Affairs
ANNA, his wife. Nee Sarah Abramson
MATTHEW SHABELSKI, a count, uncle of Ivanoff
PAUL LEBEDIEFF, President of the Board of theZemstvo
ZINAIDA, his wife
SASHA, their daughter, twenty years old
LVOFF, a young government doctor
MARTHA BABAKINA, a young widow, owner of an estateand daughter of a rich merchant
KOSICH, an exciseman
MICHAEL BORKIN, a distant relative of Ivanoff, andmanager of his estate
AVDOTIA NAZAROVNA, an old woman
GEORGE, lives with the Lebedieffs
FIRST GUEST SECOND GUEST THIRD GUEST FOURTH GUESTPETER, a servant of Ivanoff
GABRIEL, a servant of Lebedieff
GUESTS OF BOTH SEXES The play takes place in one ofthe provinces of central Russia
IVANOFF
ACT I
The garden of IVANOFF'S country place. On the leftis a terrace and the facade of the house. One window is open. Belowthe terrace is a broad semicircular lawn, from which paths lead toright and left into a garden. On the right are several gardenbenches and tables. A lamp is burning on one of the tables. It isevening. As the curtain rises sounds of the piano and violoncelloare heard.
IVANOFF is sitting at a table reading.
BORKIN, in top-boots and carrying a gun, comes infrom the rear of the garden. He is a little tipsy. As he seesIVANOFF he comes toward him on tiptoe, and when he comes oppositehim he stops and points the gun at his face.
IVANOFF. [Catches sight of BORKIN. Shuddersand jumps to his feet] Misha! What are you doing? Youfrightened me! I can't stand your stupid jokes when I am so nervousas this. And having frightened me, you laugh! [He sits down.]
BORKIN. [Laughing loudly] There, I amsorry, really. I won't do it again. Indeed I won't. [Takeoff his cap] How hot it is! Just think, my dear boy, I havecovered twelve miles in the last three hours. I am worn out. Justfeel how my heart is beating.
IVANOFF. [Goes on reading] Oh, verywell. I shall feel it later!
BORKIN. No, feel it now. [He takes IVANOFF'Shand and presses it against his breast] Can you feel itthumping? That means that it is weak and that I may die suddenly atany moment. Would you be sorry if I died?
IVANOFF. I am reading now. I shall attend to youlater.
BORKIN. No, seriously, would you be sorry if I died?Nicholas, would you be sorry if I died?
IVANOFF. Leave me alone!
BORKIN. Come, tell me if you would be sorry ornot.
IVANOFF. I am sorry that you smell so of vodka,Misha, it is disgusting.
BORKIN. Do I smell of vodka? How strange! And yet,it is not so strange after all. I met the magistrate on the road,and I must admit that we did drink about eight glasses together.Strictly speaking, of course, drinking is very harmful. Listen, itis harmful, isn't it? Is it? Is it?
IVANOFF. This is unendurable! Let me warn you,Misha, that you are going too far.
BORKIN. Well, well, excuse me. Sit here by yourselfthen, for heaven's sake, if it amuses you. [Gets up and goesaway] What extraordinary people one meets in the world.They won't even allow themselves to be spoken to. [He comesback] Oh, yes, I nearly forgot. Please let me haveeighty-two roubles.
IVANOFF. Why do you want eighty-two roubles?
BORKIN. To pay the workmen to-morrow.
IVANOFF. I haven't the money.
BORKIN. Many thanks. [Angrily] So youhaven't the money! And yet the workmen must be paid, mustn'tthey?
IVANOFF. I don't know. Wait till my salary comes inon the first of the month.
BORKIN. How is it possible to discuss anything witha man like you? Can't you understand that the workmen are comingto-morrow morning and not on the first of the month?
IVANOFF. How can I help it? I'll be hanged if I cando anything about it now. And what do you mean by this irritatingway you have of pestering me whenever I am trying to read or writeor— —
BORKIN. Must the workmen be paid or not, I ask you?But, good gracious! What is the use of talking to you! [Waves his hand] Do you think because you own anestate you can command the whole world? With your two thousandacres and your empty pockets you are like a man who has a cellarfull of wine and no corkscrew. I have sold the oats as they standin the field. Yes, sir! And to-morrow I shall sell the rye and thecarriage horses. [He stamps up and down] Do youthink I am going to stand upon ceremony with you? Certainly not! Iam not that kind of a man!
ANNA appears at the open window.
ANNA. Whose voice did I hear just now? Was it yours,Misha? Why are you stamping up and down?
BORKIN. Anybody who had anything to do with yourNicholas would stamp up and down.
ANNA. Listen, Misha! Please have some hay carriedonto the croquet lawn.
BORKIN. [Waves his hand] Leave mealone, please!
ANNA. Oh, what manners! They are not becoming to youat all. If you want to be liked by women you must never let themsee you when you are angry or obstinate. [To herhusband] Nicholas, let us go and play on the lawn in thehay!
IVANOFF. Don't you know it is bad for you to standat the open window, Annie? [Calls] Shut the window,Uncle!
[The window is shut from the inside.]
BORKIN. Don't forget that the interest on the moneyyou owe Lebedieff must be paid in two days.
IVANOFF. I haven't forgotten it. I am going over tosee Lebedieff today and shall ask him to wait.
[He looks at his watch. ]
BORKIN. When are you going?
IVANOFF. At once.
BORKIN. Wait! Wait! Isn't this Sasha's birthday? Soit is! The idea of my forgetting it. What a memory I have. [Jumps about] I shall go with you! [Sings] I shall go, I shall go! Nicholas, old man,you are the joy of my life. If you were not always so nervous andcross and gloomy, you and I could do great things together. I woulddo anything for you. Shall I marry Martha Babakina and give youhalf her fortune? That is, not half, either, but all— take itall!
IVANOFF. Enough of this nonsense!
BORKIN. No, seriously, shan't I marry Martha andhalve the money with you? But no, why should I propose it? How canyou understand? [Angrily] You say to me: “Stoptalking nonsense! ” You are a good man and a clever one, but youhaven't any red blood in your veins or any— well, enthusiasm. Why,if you wanted to, you and I could cut a dash together that wouldshame the devil himself. If you were a normal man instead of amorbid hypochondriac we would have a million in a year. Forinstance, if I had twenty-three hundred roubles now I could maketwenty thousand in two weeks. You don't believe me? You think it isall nonsense? No, it isn't nonsense. Give me twenty-three hundredroubles and let me try. Ofsianoff is selling a strip of land acrossthe river for that price. If we buy this, both banks will be ours,and we shall have the right to build a dam across the river. Isn'tthat so? We can say that we intend to build a mill, and when thepeople on the river below us hear that we mean to dam the riverthey will, of course, object violently and we shall say: If youdon't want a dam here you will have to pay to get us away. Do yousee the result? The factory would give us five thousand roubles,Korolkoff three thousand, the monastery five thousand more—
IVANOFF. All that is simply idiotic, Misha. If youdon't want me to lose my temper you must keep your schemes toyourself.
BORKIN. [Sits down at the table] Ofcourse! I knew how it would be! You never will act for yourself,and you tie my hands so that I am helpless.
Enter SHABELSKI and LVOFF.
SHABELSKI. The only difference between lawyers anddoctors is that lawyers simply rob you, whereas doctors both robyou and kill you. I am not referring to any one present. [Sits down on the bench] They are all frauds andswindlers. Perhaps in Arcadia you might find an exception to thegeneral rule and yet— I have treated thousands of sick peoplemyself in my life, and I have never met a doctor who did not seemto me to be an unmistakable scoundrel.
BORKIN. [To IVANOFF] Yes, you tie myhands and never do anything for yourself, and that is why you haveno money.
SHABELSKI. As I said before, I am not referring toany one here at present; there may be exceptions though, after all— [He yawns. ]
IVANOFF. [Shuts his book] What haveyou to tell me, doctor?
LVOFF. [Looks toward the window] Exactly what I said this morning: she must go to the Crimea atonce. [Walks up and down. ]
SHABELSKI. [Bursts out laughing] Tothe Crimea! Why don't you and I set up as doctors, Misha? Then, ifsome Madame Angot or Ophelia finds the world tiresome and begins tocough and be consumptive, all we shall have to do will be to writeout a prescription according to the laws of medicine: that is,first, we shall order her a young doctor, and then a journey to theCrimea. There some fascinating young Tartar— —
IVANOFF. [Interrupting] Oh, don't becoarse! [To LVOFF] It takes money to go to theCrimea, and even if I could afford it, you know she has refused togo.
LVOFF. Yes, she has. [A pause. ]
BORKIN. Look here, doctor, is Anna really so illthat she absolutely must go to the Crimea?
LVOFF. [Looking toward the window] Yes, she has consumption.
BORKIN. Whew! How sad! I have seen in her face forsome time that she could not last much longer.
LVOFF. Can't you speak quietly? She can heareverything you say. [A pause. ]
BORKIN. [Sighing] The life of man islike a flower, blooming so gaily in a field. Then, along comes agoat, he eats it, and the flower is gone!
SHABELSKI. Oh, nonsense, nonsense. [Yawning] Everything is a fraud and a swindle. [A pause. ]
BORKIN. Gentlemen, I have been trying to tellNicholas how he can make some money, and have submitted a brilliantplan to him, but my seed, as usual, has fallen on barren soil. Lookwhat a sight he is now: dull, cross, bored, peevish— —
SHABELSKI. [Gets up and stretcheshimself] You are always inventing schemes for everybody,you clever fellow, and telling them how to live; can't you tell mesomething? Give me some good advice, you ingenious young man. Showme a good move to make.
BORKIN. [Getting up] I