NASTYA. It isn't true.
THE BARON [_screams_] A house in Moscow! A house in Petersburg!
Carriages! Carriages with coats of arms!
[_Kleshtch takes his concertina and goes to one side, watching the
scene with interest._]
NASTYA. You lie!
THE BARON. Shut up!--I say--dozens of footmen . . .
NASTYA [_delighted_] You lie!
THE BARON. I'll kill you!
NASTYA [_ready to run away_] There were no carriages!
SATINE. Stop, Nastenka! Don't infuriate him!
THE BARON. Wait--you bitch! My grandfather . . .
NASTYA. There was no grandfather! There was nothing!
[_Satine roars with laughter._]
THE BARON [_worn out with rage, sits down on bench_] Satine! Tell that
slut--what--? You, too, are laughing? You--don't believe me either?
[_Cries out in despair, pounding the table with his fists_] It's
true--damn the whole lot of you!
NASTYA [_triumphantly_] So--you're crying? Understand now what a human
being feels like when nobody believes him?
KLESHTCH [_returning to the table_] I thought there'd be a fight . . .
THE TARTAR. Oh--people are fools! It's too bad . . .
THE BARON. I shall not permit any one to ridicule me! I have
proofs--documents--damn you!
SATINE. Forget it! Forget about your grandfather's carriages! You
can't drive anywhere in a carriage of the past!
THE BARON. How dare she--just the same--?
NASTYA. Just imagine! How dare I--?
SATINE. You see--she does dare! How is she any worse than you are?
Although, surely, in her past there wasn't even a father and mother,
let alone carriages and a grandfather . . .
THE BARON [_quieting down_] Devil take you--you do know how to argue
dispassionately--and I, it seems--I've no will-power . . .
SATINE. Acquire some--it's useful . . . [_Pause_] Nastya! Are you
going to the hospital?
NASTYA. What for?
SATINE. To see Natashka.
NASTYA. Oh--just woke up, did you? She's been out of the hospital for
some time--and they can't find a trace of her . . .
SATINE. Oh--that woman's a goner!
KLESHTCH. It's interesting to see whether Vaska will get the best of
Vassilisa, or the other way around--?
NASTYA. Vassilisa will win out! She's shrewd! And Vaska will go to the
gallows!
SATINE. For manslaughter? No--only to jail . . .
NASTYA. Too bad--the gallows would have been better . . . that's where
all of you should be sent . . . swept off into a hole--like
filth . . .
SATINE [_astonished_] What's the matter? Are you crazy?
THE BARON. Oh--give her a wallop--that'll teach her to be less
impertinent . . .
NASTYA. Just you try to touch me!
THE BARON. I shall!
SATINE. Stop! Don't insult her! I can't get the thought of the old man
out of my head! [_Roars with laughter_] Don't offend your
fellow-beings! Suppose I were offended once in such a way that I'd
remember it for the rest of my life? What then? Should I forgive? No,
no!
THE BARON [_to Nastya_] You must understand that I'm not your sort
. . . you--ah--you piece of dirt!
NASTYA. You bastard! Why--you live off me like a worm off an apple!
[_The men laugh amusedly._]
KLESHTCH. Fool! An apple--?