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away somewhere. AnĂ­sya Where will you shove it to? NikĂ­ta Laughing. Why, are you afraid? Enter AkoulĂ­na, carrying clothes from the wash. AnĂ­sya O-oh, my poor head! Gives the money. Mind, NikĂ­ta. NikĂ­ta What are you afraid of? I’ll hide it so that I’ll not be able to find it myself. Exit. AnĂ­sya Stands in terror. Oh dear, and supposing he⁠ ⁠
 MatryĂłna Well, is he dead? AnĂ­sya Yes, he seems dead. He did not move when I took it. MatryĂłna Go in, there’s AkoulĂ­na. AnĂ­sya Well there, I’ve done the sin and he has the money.⁠ ⁠
 MatryĂłna Have done and go in! There’s Martha coming! AnĂ­sya There now, I’ve trusted him. What’s going to happen now? Exit. Martha Enters from one side, AkoulĂ­na enters from the other. To AkoulĂ­na. I should have come before, but I was at my daughter’s. Well, how’s the old man? Is he dying? AkoulĂ­na Puts down the clothes. Don’t know, I’ve been to the river. Martha Pointing to MatryĂłna. Who’s that? MatryĂłna I’m from ZoĂșevo. I’m NikĂ­ta’s mother from ZoĂșevo, my dearie. Good afternoon to you. He’s withering, withering away, poor dear⁠—your brother, I mean. He came out himself. “Send for my sister,” he said, “because,” said he⁠ ⁠
 Dear me, why, I do believe, he’s dead! AnĂ­sya Runs out screaming. Clings to a post, and begins wailing.4 Oh, oh, ah! who-o-o-m have you left me to, why-y-y have you dese-e-e-e-rted me⁠—a miserable widow⁠ ⁠
 to live my life alone⁠ ⁠
 Why have you closed your bright eyes⁠ ⁠
 Enter Neighbour. MatryĂłna and Neighbour catch hold of AnĂ­sya under the arms to support her. AkoulĂ­na and Martha go into the hut. A crowd assembles. A Voice in the Crowd Send for the old women to lay out the body. MatryĂłna Rolls up her sleeves. Is there any water in the copper? But I daresay the samovar is still hot. I’ll also go and help a bit.

Curtain.

Act III

The same hut. Winter. Nine months have passed since Act II. AnĂ­sya, plainly dressed, sits before a loom weaving. Nan is on the oven.

MĂ­tritch An old labourer, enters, and slowly takes off his outdoor things. Oh Lord, have mercy! Well, hasn’t the master come home yet? AnĂ­sya What? MĂ­tritch NikĂ­ta isn’t back from town, is he? AnĂ­sya No. MĂ­tritch Must have been on the spree. Oh Lord! AnĂ­sya Have you finished in the stackyard? MĂ­tritch What d’you think? Got it all as it should be, and covered everything with straw! I don’t like doing things by halves! Oh Lord! holy Nicholas! Picks at the corns on his hands. But it’s time he was back. AnĂ­sya What need has he to hurry? He’s got money. Merrymaking with that girl, I daresay⁠ ⁠
 MĂ­tritch Why shouldn’t one make merry if one has the money? And why did AkoulĂ­na go to town? AnĂ­sya You’d better ask her. How do I know what the devil took her there! MĂ­tritch What! to town? There’s all sorts of things to be got in town if one’s got the means. Oh Lord! Nan Mother, I heard myself. “I’ll get you a little shawl,” he says, blest if he didn’t; “you shall choose it yourself,” he says. And she got herself up so fine; she put on her velveteen coat and the French shawl. AnĂ­sya Really, a girl’s modesty reaches only to the door. Step over the threshold and it’s forgotten. She is a shameless creature. MĂ­tritch Oh my! What’s the use of being ashamed? While there’s plenty of money make merry. Oh Lord! It is too soon to have supper, eh? AnĂ­sya does not answer. I’ll go and get warm meanwhile. Climbs on the stove. Oh Lord! Blessed Virgin Mother! holy Nicholas! Neighbour Enters. Seems your goodman’s not back yet? AnĂ­sya No. Neighbour It’s time he was. Hasn’t he perhaps stopped at our inn? My sister, Thekla, says there’s heaps of sledges standing there as have come from the town. AnĂ­sya Nan! Nan, I say! Nan Yes? AnĂ­sya You run to the inn and see! Mayhap, being drunk, he’s gone there. Nan Jumps down from the oven and dresses. All right. Neighbour And he’s taken AkoulĂ­na with him? AnĂ­sya Else he’d not have had any need of going. It’s because of her he’s unearthed all the business there. “Must go to the bank,” he says; “it’s time to receive the payments,” he says. But it’s all her fooling. Neighbour Shakes her head. It’s a bad lookout. Silence. Nan At the door. And if he’s there, what am I to say? AnĂ­sya You only see if he’s there. Nan All right. I’ll be back in a winking. Long silence. MĂ­tritch Roars. Oh Lord! merciful Nicholas! Neighbour Starting. Oh, how he scared me? Who is it? AnĂ­sya Why, MĂ­tritch, our labourer. Neighbour Oh dear, oh dear, what a fright he did give me! I had quite forgotten. But tell me, dear, I’ve heard someone’s been wooing AkoulĂ­na? AnĂ­sya Gets up from the loom and sits down by the table. There was someone from DĂ©dlovo; but it seems the affair’s got wind there too. They made a start, and then stopped; so the thing fell through. Of course, who’d care to? Neighbour And the LizounĂłfs from ZoĂșevo? AnĂ­sya They made some steps too, but it didn’t come off either. They won’t even see us. Neighbour Yet it’s time she was married. AnĂ­sya Time and more than time! Ah, my dear, I’m that impatient to get her out of the house; but the matter does not come off. He does not wish it, nor she either. He’s not yet had enough of his beauty, you see. Neighbour Eh, eh, eh, what doings! Only think of it. Why, he’s her stepfather! AnĂ­sya Ah, friend, they’ve taken me in completely. They’ve done me so fine it’s beyond saying. I, fool that I was, noticed nothing, suspected nothing, and so I married him. I guessed nothing, but they already understood one another. Neighbour Oh dear, what goings on! AnĂ­sya So it went on from bad to worse, and I see they begin hiding from me. Ah,
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