Seagull -Act 3

MASHA. Fiddlesticks! [She fills a glass] Don't look at me with

ACT III that expression on your face. Women drink oftener than you
Same time as Acts 1 and 2 imagine, but most of them do it in secret, and not openly, as I
do. They do indeed, and it is always either vodka or brandy.
The dining-room of PETER'S house. Doors open out of it to [They touch glasses]
To your good health! You are so easy to get
the right and left. A table stands in the centre of the room. on with that I am sorry to see you go. [They drink.]

Trunks and boxes encumber the floor, and preparations for TRIGORIN. And I am sorry to leave.
departure are evident. TRIGORIN is sitting at a table eating
his breakfast, and MASHA is standing beside him.

MASHA. I am telling you all these things because you write

books and they may be useful to you. I tell you honestly, I
should not have lived another day if he had wounded himself
fatally. Yet I am courageous; I have decided to tear this love of
mine out of my heart by the roots.

TRIGORIN. How will you do it?

MASHA. By marrying SIMON.

TRIGORIN. The school-teacher?

MASHA. You should ask her to stay.
MASHA. Yes.
TRIGORIN. She would not do that now. Her son has been
TRIGORIN. I don't see the necessity for that. behaving outrageously. First he attempted suicide, and now I
hear he is going to challenge me to a duel, though what his
MASHA. Oh, if you knew what it is to love without hope for provocation may be I can't imagine. He is always sulking and
years and years, to wait for ever for something that will never sneering and preaching about a new form of art, as if the field of
come! I shall not marry for love, but marriage will at least be a art were not large enough to accommodate both old and new
change, and will bring new cares to deaden the memories of the without the necessity of jostling.
past. Shall we have another drink?
MASHA. It is jealousy. However, that is none of my business.
TRIGORIN. Haven't you had enough?
[A pause.]
25
Seagull -Act 3

It is a lovely present.
JACOB walks through the room carrying a trunk; NINA
comes in and stands by the window NINA. Think of me sometimes.

That schoolteacher of mine is none too clever, but he is very TRIGORIN. I shall never forget you. I shall always remember
good, poor man, and he loves me dearly, and I am sorry for him. you as I saw you that bright day--do you recall it?--a week ago,
when you wore your light dress, and we talked together, and the
However, let me say good-bye and wish you a pleasant journey. white seagull lay on the bench beside us.
Remember me kindly in your thoughts.
NINA. [Lost in thought] Yes, the sea-gull.
Thanks for your goodwill. Send me
[She shakes hands with him]
your books, and be sure to write something in them; nothing [A pause]
formal, but simply this: "To MASHA, who, forgetful of her origin,
for some unknown reason is living in this world." Good-bye. I beg you to let me see you alone for two minutes before you go.
[She goes out.]

NINA. [Holding out her closed hand to TRIGORIN] Is it odd or She goes out to the left. At the same moment IRINA comes
even? in from the right, followed by PETER in a long coat, with his
orders on his breast, and by JACOB, who is busy packing.
TRIGORIN. Even.
IRINA. Stay here at home, you poor old man. How could you
NINA. [With a sigh] No, it is odd. I had only one pea in my hand. pay visits with that rheumatism of yours? [To TRIGORIN] Who left
I wanted to see whether I was to become an actress or not. If the room just now, was it NINA?
only some one would advise me what to do!
TRIGORIN. Yes.
TRIGORIN. One cannot give advice in a case like this.
IRINA. I beg your pardon; I am afraid we interrupted you. [She
[A pause.]
sits down] I think everything is packed. I am absolutely exhausted.

NINA. We shall soon part, perhaps never to meet again. I TRIGORIN. [Reading the inscription on the medallion] "Days and
should like you to accept this little medallion as a remembrance Nights, page 121, lines 11 and 12."
of me. I have had your initials engraved on it, and on this side is
the name of one of your books: "Days and Nights." JACOB. [Clearing the table] Shall I pack your fishing-rods, too,
sir?
TRIGORIN. How sweet of you! [He kisses the medallion]

26
Seagull -Act 3

TRIGORIN. Yes, I shall need them, but you can give my books
away. PETER. There were--how shall I explain it to you?--other
reasons besides jealousy for his act.
JACOB. Very well, sir.
Here is a clever young chap living in the depths of the country,
TRIGORIN. [To himself] Page 121, lines 11 and 12. without money or position, with no future ahead of him, and with
nothing to do. He is ashamed and afraid of being so idle. I am
[To IRINA] devoted to him and he is fond of me, but nevertheless he feels
Have we my books here in the house? that he is useless here, that he is little more than a dependent in
this house. It is the pride in him.
IRINA. Yes, they are in my brother's library, in the corner
cupboard. IRINA. He is a misery to me!

TRIGORIN. Page 121-- [He goes out.] [Thoughtfully] He might possibly enter the army.

PETER. You are going away, and I shall be lonely without you. PETER. [Gives a whistle, and then speaks with hesitation] It seems to
me that the best thing for him would be if you were to let him
IRINA. What would you do in town? have a little money. For one thing, he ought to be allowed to
dress like a human being. See how he looks! Wearing the same
PETER. Oh, nothing in particular, but somehow— little old coat that he has had for three years, and he doesn't
even possess an overcoat!
[He laughs]They are soon to lay the corner-stone of the new
court-house here. How I should like to leap out of this minnow- [Laughing] And it wouldn't hurt the youngster to sow a few wild
pond, if but for an hour or two! I am tired of lying here like an old oats; let him go abroad, say, for a time. It wouldn't cost much.
cigarette stump. I have ordered the carriage for one o'clock. We
can go away together. IRINA. Yes, but-- However, I think I might manage about his
clothes, but I couldn't let him go abroad. And no, I don't think
IRINA. [After a pause] No, you must stay here. Don't be lonely, I can let him have his clothes even, now.
and don't catch cold. Keep an eye on my boy. Take good
care of him; guide him along the proper paths. [Decidedly] I have no money at present.
[A pause] PETER laughs.
I am going away, and so shall never find out why Konstantin IRINA. I haven't indeed.
shot himself, but I think the chief reason was jealousy, and the
sooner I take TRIGORIN away, the better. PETER. [Whistles] Very well. Forgive me, darling; don't be angry.
27
Seagull -Act 3

You are a noble, generous woman!

PETER. Yes, I think I shall, for a few minutes. I am going to
IRINA. [Weeping] I really haven't the money. Moscow all the same, but I shall lie down a bit before I start.
[He goes out leaning on his cane.]
PETER. If I had any money of course I should let him have
some myself, but I haven't even a penny. The farm manager SIMON. [Giving him his arm] Do you know this riddle? On
takes my pension from me and puts it all into the farm or into four legs in the morning; on two legs at noon; and on three legs
cattle or bees, and in that way it is always lost forever. The bees in the evening?
die, the cows die, they never let me have a horse.
PETER. [Laughing] Yes, exactly, and on one's back at night.
IRINA. Of course I have some money, but I am an actress and Thank you, I can walk alone.
my expenses for dress alone are enough to bankrupt me.
SIMON. Dear me, what formality! [He and PETER go out.]
PETER. You are a dear, and I am very fond of you, indeed I am.
But something is the matter with me again. IRINA. He gave me a dreadful fright.

[He staggers] I feel giddy. [He leans against the table] I feel faint, and KONSTANTIN. It is not good for him to live in the country.
all. Mother, if you would only untie your purse-strings for once, and
lend him a thousand rubles! He could then spend a whole year
IRINA. [Frightened ] PETER! [She tries to support him] PETER! in town.
dearest!
IRINA. I have no money. I am an actress and not a banker.
[She calls] Help! Help!
[A pause.]
KONSTANTIN and SIMON come in; KONSTANTIN has a
KONSTANTIN. Please change my bandage for me, mother, you
bandage around his head.
do it so gently.
IRINA. He is fainting!
IRINA goes to the cupboard and takes out a box of bandages
and a bottle of alcohol.
PETER. I am all right. [He smiles and drinks some water] It is
all over now.
IRINA. The doctor is late.
KONSTANTIN. [To his mother] Don't be frightened, mother, these
KONSTANTIN. Yes, he promised to be here at nine, and now it
attacks are not dangerous; my uncle often has them now.
is noon already.
[To his uncle] You must go and lie down, Uncle.
28
Seagull -Act 3

KONSTANTIN. Two ballet dancers lived in the same house,

and they used to come and drink coffee with you.

IRINA. I remember that.

KONSTANTIN. They were very pious.

[A pause]

I love you again, these last few days, as tenderly and trustingly
as I did as a child. I have no one left me now but you. Why, why
do you let yourself be controlled by that man?

IRINA. You don't understand him, Konstantin. He has a

wonderfully noble personality.
IRINA. Sit down. [She takes the bandage off his head] You look as if
you had a turban on. A stranger that was in the kitchen KONSTANTIN. Nevertheless, when he has been told that I wish
yesterday asked to what nationality you belonged. Your wound to challenge him to a duel his nobility does not prevent him from
is almost healed. playing the coward. He is about to beat an ignominious retreat.

[She kisses his head]You won't be up to any more of these silly IRINA. What nonsense! I have asked him myself to go.
tricks again, will you, when I am gone?
KONSTANTIN. A noble personality indeed! Here we are almost
KONSTANTIN. No, mother. I did that in a moment of insane quarrelling over him, and he is probably in the garden laughing
despair, when I had lost all control over myself. It will never at us at this very moment, or else enlightening NINA's mind and
happen again. trying to persuade her into thinking him a man of genius.

[He kisses her hand] Your touch is golden. I remember when IRINA. You enjoy saying unpleasant things to me. I have the
you were still acting at the State Theatre, long ago, when I was greatest respect for that man, and I must ask you not to speak
still a little chap, there was a fight one day in our court, and ill of him in my presence.
a poor washerwoman was almost beaten to death. She was
picked up unconscious, and you nursed her till she was well, KONSTANTIN. I have no respect for him at all. You want me to
and bathed her children in the washtubs. Have you forgotten it? think him a genius, as you do, but I refuse to lie: his books make
me sick.
IRINA. Yes, entirely. [She puts on a new bandage.]
IRINA. You envy him.
29
Seagull -Act 3

[She bursts into tears] You really mustn't. [She

There is nothing left for people with no talent and mighty kisses his forehead, his cheeks, his head] My darling child,
pretensions to do but to criticize those who are really gifted. forgive me. Forgive your wicked mother.

I hope you enjoy the consolation it brings. KONSTANTIN. [Embracing her] Oh, if you could only know what it
is to have lost everything under heaven! She does not love me. I
KONSTANTIN. [With irony] Those who are really gifted, indeed! see I shall never be able to write.
[Angrily] I am cleverer than any of you, if it comes to that!
Every hope has deserted me.
[He tears the bandage off his head]
IRINA. Don't despair. This will all pass. He is going away to-day,
You are the slaves of convention. You have seized the upper and she will love you once more.
hand and now lay down as law everything that you do; all else
you strangle and trample on. I refuse to accept your point of [She wipes away his tears] Stop crying. We have made peace
view, yours and his, again.

I refuse! KONSTANTIN. [Kissing her hand] Yes, mother.

IRINA. That is the talk of a decadent. IRINA. [Tenderly] Make your peace with him, too. Don't fight
with him. You surely won't fight?
KONSTANTIN. Go back to your beloved stage and act the
miserable ditch-water plays you so much admire! KONSTANTIN. I won't, but you must not insist on my seeing
him again, mother, I couldn't stand it. [TRIGORIN comes in] There
IRINA. I never acted in a play like that in my life. You couldn't he is; I am going.
write even the trashiest music-hall farce, you idle good-for-
nothing! [He quickly puts the medicines away in the cupboard] The doctor will
attend to my head.
KONSTANTIN. Miser!
TRIGORIN. [Looking through the pages of a book] Page 121, lines
IRINA. Rag-bag! 11 and 12; here it is.

[KONSTANTIN sits down and begins to cry softly.] "If at any time you should have
[He reads]
need of my life, come and take it."
IRINA. [Walking up and down in great excitement] Don't cry!
You mustn't cry! [KONSTANTIN picks up the bandage off the floor and goes out.]

30
Seagull -Act 3

IRINA. [Looking at her watch] The carriage will soon be here. to you. My imagination is shaken by the sweetest and most
glorious visions. Release me!
TRIGORIN. [To himself] If at any time you should have need of
my life, come and take it. IRINA. [Shuddering] No, no! I am only an ordinary woman; you
must not say such things to me. Do not torment me, Boris; you
IRINA. I hope your things are all packed. frighten me.

TRIGORIN. [Impatiently] Yes, yes. [In deep thought] Why do I hear TRIGORIN. You could be an extraordinary woman if you only
a note of sadness that wrings my heart in this cry of a pure would. Love alone can bring happiness on earth, love the
soul? If at any time you should have need of my life, come and enchanting, the poetical love of youth, that sweeps away the
take it. sorrows of the world. I had no time for it when I was young and
struggling with want and laying siege to the literary fortress, but
[To IRINA] Let us stay here one more day! now at last this love has come to me. I see it beckoning; why
should I fly?
IRINA shakes her head.
IRINA. [With anger] You are mad!
TRIGORIN. Do let us stay!
TRIGORIN. Release me.
IRINA. I know, dearest, what keeps you here, but you must
control yourself. Be sober; your emotions have intoxicated you a IRINA. You have all conspired together to torture me to-day.
little.
[She weeps.]
TRIGORIN. You must be sober, too. Be sensible; look upon
what has happened as a true friend would. [Taking her hand] You TRIGORIN. [Clutching his head desperately] She doesn't understand
are capable of self-sacrifice. Be a friend to me and release me! me! She won't understand me!

IRINA. [In deep excitement] Are you so much in love? IRINA. Am I then so old and ugly already that you can talk to
me like this without any shame about another woman?
TRIGORIN. I am irresistibly impelled toward her. It may be that
this is just what I need. Oh, you have lost your senses! My
[She embraces and kisses him]
splendid, my glorious friend, my love for you is the last chapter
IRINA. What, the love of a country girl? Oh, how little you of my life.
know yourself!

TRIGORIN. People sometimes walk in their sleep, and so I feel

as if I were asleep, and dreaming of her as I stand here talking
31
Seagull -Act 3

No, you see that I alone know how to treasure you. I alone tell
you the truth. Oh, my very dear, you will go with me? You will?
You will not forsake me?

TRIGORIN. I have no will of my own; I never had. I am too

indolent, too submissive, too phlegmatic, to have any. Is it
possible that women like that? Take me. Take me away with
you, but do not let me stir a step from your side.

IRINA. [To herself] Now he is mine!

Of course you must

[Carelessly, as if nothing unusual had happened]
You are my pride, my joy, my light. I could
[She falls on her knees]
stay here if you really want to. I shall go, and you can follow in a
never endure it should you desert me, if only for an hour; I week's time. Yes, really, why should you hurry away?
should go mad. Oh, my wonder, my marvel, my king!
TRIGORIN. Let us go together.
TRIGORIN. Someone might come in. [He helps her to rise.]
IRINA. As you like. Let us go together then.
IRINA. Let them come! I am not ashamed of my love. [A pause.] [TRIGORIN writes something in his note-book]

[She kisses his hands]My jewel! My despair! You want to do a What are you writing?
foolish thing, but I don't want you to do it. I shan't let you do it!
TRIGORIN. A happy expression I heard this morning: "A grove
You are mine, you are mine! This forehead is mine,
[She laughs]
of maiden pines." It may be useful.
these eyes are mine, this silky hair is mine. All your being is
mine. You are so clever, so wise, the first of all living writers; [He yawns]So we are really off
you are the only hope of your country. again, condemned once more to railway carriages, to stations
and restaurants, to Hamburger steaks and endless arguments!
You are so fresh, so simple, so deeply humorous. You can bring
out every feature of a man or of a landscape in a single line, and ILIA comes in.
your characters live and breathe. Do you think that these words
are but the incense of flattery? Do you think I am not speaking
the truth? Come, look into my eyes; look deep; do you find lies ILIA. I am sorry to have to inform you that your carriage is
there? at the door. It is time to start, honored madam, the train
leaves at two-five.

32
Seagull -Act 3

Would you be kind enough, madam, to remember to

[prattling]
inquire for me where Sudenhof the actor is now? Is he still alive,
I wonder? Is he well? He and I have had many a jolly time PETER. Come, sister, it is time to start, unless you want to miss
together. He was inimitable in "The Stolen Mail." A tragedian the train. I am going to get into the carriage.
called Ismailoff was in the same company, I remember, who
was also quite remarkable. SIMON. I shall walk quickly to the station and see you off
There.
Don't hurry, madam, you still have five minutes.
IRINA. Good-bye, all! We shall meet again next summer if we
They were both of them conspirators once, in the same live. [The maid servant, JACOB, and the cook kiss her hand] Don't
melodrama, and one night when in the course of the play they forget me. [She gives the cook a ruble] There is a ruble for
were suddenly discovered, instead of saying "We have been all three of you.
trapped!" Izmailoff cried out: "We have been rapped!"
THE COOK. [astonished at the small amount] Thank you, mistress; a
[He laughs] Rapped! pleasant journey to you.

While he has been talking JACOB has been busy with the JACOB. God bless you, mistress.
trunks, and the maid has brought IRINA her hat, coat,
parasol, and gloves. ILIA. Send us a line to cheer us up. [TO TRIGORIN] Good-bye,Sir.
The cook looks hesitatingly through the door and finally
comes in.. PAULINA comes in. SIMON comes in. IRINA. Where is Konstantin? Tell him I am starting. I must
say good-bye to him. [To JACOB] I gave the cook a ruble for all
three of you.
PAULINA. [Presenting IRINA with a little basket] Here are some
plums for the journey. They are very sweet ones. You may want
to nibble something good on the way. All go out through the door on the right. The stage remains
empty. Sounds of farewell are heard. The maid comes
IRINA. You are very kind, PAULINA. running back to fetch the basket of plums which has been
forgotten.
PAULINA. Good-bye, my dearie. If things have not been quite
as you could have wished, please forgive us. [She weeps.] TRIGORIN comes back.

IRINA. It has been delightful, delightful. You mustn't cry. TRIGORIN. I had forgotten my cane. I think I left it on the
terrace. [He goes toward the door on the right and meets NINA,
PETER comes in through the door on the left, dressed in a who comes in at that moment] Is that you? We are off.
long coat with a cape, and carrying his hat and cane.
33
Seagull -Act 3

My darling! [A prolonged kiss.]

The curtain falls.

NINA. I knew we should meet again. [With emotion] I have come

to
an irrevocable decision, the die is cast: I am going on the
stage. I am deserting my father and abandoning everything. I
am
beginning life anew. I am going, as you are, to Moscow. We
shall
meet there.

TRIGORIN. [Glancing about him] Go to the Hotel Slavianski Bazar.

Let me know as soon as you get there. I shall be at the
Gorki House. I must go now.

[A pause.]

NINA. Just one more minute!

TRIGORIN. [In a low voice] You are so beautiful! What bliss to

think that I shall see you again so soon! [She sinks on his breast] I
shall see those glorious eyes again, that wonderful, ineffably
tender smile, those gentle features with their expression of
angelic purity!
34
Seagull -Act 4

SIMON. It is very dark in the garden. Do you know, I think

that old theatre ought to be knocked down. It is still standing
there, naked and hideous as a skeleton, with the curtain
flapping in the wind. I thought I heard a voice weeping in it as I
ACT IV passed there last night.

MASHA. What an idea!

Two years elapse between the third and fourth acts.
[A pause.]
A sitting-room in PETER'S house, which has been
converted into a writing-room for KONSTANTIN. To the SIMON. Come home with me, MASHA.
right and left are doors leading into inner rooms, and in the
MASHA. [Shaking her head] I shall spend the night here.
centre is a glass door opening onto a terrace. Besides the
usual furniture of a sitting-room there is a writing-desk in
SIMON. [Imploringly] Do come, MASHA. The baby must be
the right-hand corner of the room. There is a Turkish divan hungry.
near the door on the left, and shelves full of books stand
against t he walls. Books are lying scattered about on the
windowsills and chairs.

It is evening. The room is dimly lighted by a shaded lamp

on a table. The wind moans in the tree tops and whistles
down the chimney. The watchman in the garden is heard
sounding his rattle. SIMON and MASHA come in.

MASHA. [Calling] Konstantin, where are you?

There is no one here. His old uncle is forever

[Looking about her]
MASHA. Nonsense, Matriona will feed it.
asking for Konstantin, and can't live without him for an instant.
[A pause.]
SIMON. He dreads being left alone. [Listening to the wind]
This is a wild night. We have had this storm for two days. SIMON. It is a pity to leave him three nights without his mother.

MASHA. [Turning up the lamp] The waves on the lake are

enormous.

25
Seagull -Act 4

MASHA. You are getting too tiresome. You used sometimes to wife's hand]
talk of other things besides home and the baby, home and the
baby. That is all I ever hear from you now. Good-bye, mother. [He tries to kiss his
mother-in-law's hand.]
SIMON. Come home, MASHA.
PAULINA. [Crossly] Be off, in God's name!
MASHA. You can go home if you want to.
KONSTANTIN shakes hands with him in silence and
SIMON. Your father won't give me a horse. SIMON goes out.

MASHA. Yes, he will; ask him. PAULINA. [Looking at the manuscripts] No one ever dreamed,
Konstantin, that you would one day turn into a real author. The
SIMON. I think I shall. Are you coming home to-morrow? magazines pay you well for your stories.

MASHA. Yes, yes, to-morrow. [She strokes his hair.] You have grown handsome, too. Dear, kind
Konstantin, be a little nicer to my MASHA.
She takes snuff. KONSTANTIN and PAULINA come in.
KONSTANTIN is carrying some pillows and a blanket and MASHA. [Still making the bed] Leave him alone, mother.
PAULINA is carrying sheets and pillow cases. They lay
PAULINA. She is a sweet child.
them on the divan, and KONSTANTIN goes and sits down
at his desk. [A pause]

MASHA. Who is that for, mother? A woman, Konstantin asks only for kind looks. I know that from
experience.
PAULINA. PETER asked to sleep in Konstantin's room to-
night. KONSTANTIN gets up from his desk and goes out without a
word.
MASHA. Let me make the bed.
MASHA. There now! You have vexed him. I told you not to
She makes the bed. PAULINA goes up to the desk and bother
looks at the manuscripts lying on it. him.

[A pause.] PAULINA. I am sorry for you, MASHA.

SIMON. Well, I am going. Good-bye, MASHA. [He kisses his MASHA. Much I need your pity!
26
Seagull -Act 4

PAULINA. My heart aches for you. I see how things are, and DR DORN. You think I am rich? My friend, after practicing for
understand. thirty years, during which I could not call my soul my own for
one minute of the night or day, I succeeded at last in scraping
MASHA. You see what doesn't exist. Hopeless love is only together one thousand rubles, all of which went, not long ago,
found in novels. It is a trifle; all one has to do is to keep a tight in a trip which I took abroad. I haven't a penny.
rein on oneself, and keep one's head clear. Love must be
plucked out the moment it springs up in the heart. MASHA. [To her husband] So you didn't go home after all?

My husband has been promised a school in another district, and SIMON. [Apologetically] How can I go home when they won't
when we have once left this place I shall forget it all. I shall tear give me a horse?
my passion out by the roots.
MASHA. [Under her breath, with bitter anger] Would I might never
[The notes of a melancholy waltz are heard in the distance.] see your face again!

PAULINA. Konstantin is playing. That means he is sad. PETER in his chair is wheeled to the left-hand side of the
room. PAULINA, MASHA, and DR DORN sit down beside
MASHA silently waltzes a few turns to the music.
him. SIMON stands sadly aside.
MASHA. The great thing, mother, is not to have him continually
in sight. If my SIMON could only get his remove I should forget it DR DORN. What a lot of changes you have made here! You
all in a month or two. It is a trifle. have turned this sitting-room into a library.

MASHA. Konstantin likes to work in this room, because from it

DR DORN and SIMON come in through the door on the he can step out into the garden to meditate whenever he feels
left, wheeling PETER in an arm-chair. like it.

SIMON. I have six mouths to feed now, and flour is at seventy [The watchman's rattle is heard.]
kopecks.
PETER. Where is my sister?
DR DORN. A hard riddle to solve!
DR DORN. She has gone to the station to meet TRIGORIN.
SIMON. It is easy for you to make light of it. You are rich She will soon be back.
enough to scatter money to your chickens, if you wanted to.
PETER. I must be dangerously ill if you had to send for my
sister. [He falls silent for a moment] A nice business this is!

27
Seagull -Act 4

Here I am dangerously ill, and you won't even give me any

medicine. DR DORN. That is futile. Nature has commanded that every life
shall come to an end.
DR DORN. What shall I prescribe for you? Chamomile tea?
Soda? Quinine? PETER. You speak like a man who is satiated with life. Your
thirst for it is quenched, and so you are calm and indifferent,
PETER. Don't inflict any of your discussions on me again. [He but even you dread death.
nods toward the sofa] Is that bed for me?
DR DORN. The fear of death is an animal passion which must
PAULINA. Yes, for you, sir. be overcome. Only those who believe in a future life and
tremble for sins committed, can logically fear death;
PETER. Thank you.
but you, for one thing, don't believe in a future life, and for
DR DORN. [Sings] "The moon swims in the sky to-night." another, you haven't committed any sins. You have served as a
Councilor for twenty-five years, that is all.
PETER. I am going to give Konstantin an idea for a story. It
shall be called "The Man Who Wished— PETER. [Laughing] Twenty-eight years!

When I was young, I wished to become an author; I failed. I KONSTANTIN comes in and sits down on a stool at
wished to be an orator; I speak abominably, [Exciting himself] PETER'S feet. MASHA fixes her eyes on his face and
never once tears them away.
with my eternal "and all, and all," dragging each sentence on
and on until I sometimes break out into a sweat all over. I
wished to marry, and I didn't; I wished to live in the city, and
here I am ending my days in the country, and all.

DR DORN. You wished to become State Councilor, and--you

are one!

PETER. [Laughing] I didn't try for that, it came of its own

accord.

DR DORN. Come, you must admit that it is petty to cavil at life

at sixty-two years of age. DR DORN. We are keeping Konstantin from his work.
PETER. You are pig-headed! Can't you see I want to live? KONSTANTIN. No matter.
28
Seagull -Act 4

KONSTANTIN. She had a child that died. TRIGORIN soon tired

[A pause.] of her and returned to his former ties, as might have been
expected. He had never broken them, indeed, but out of
SIMON. Of all the cities you visited when you were abroad, weakness of character had always vacillated between the two.
Doctor, which one did you like the best? As far as I can make out from what I have heard, NINA's
domestic life has not been altogether a success.
DR DORN. Genoa.

KONSTANTIN. Why Genoa?

DR DORN. Because there is such a splendid crowd in its

streets. When you leave the hotel in the evening, and throw
yourself into the heart of that throng, and move with it without
aim or object, swept along, hither and thither, their life seems to
be yours, their soul flows into you, and you begin to believe at
last in a great world spirit, like the one in your play that NINA
acted.

By the way, where is NINA now? Is she well?

DR DORN. What about her acting?
KONSTANTIN. I believe so.
KONSTANTIN. I believe she made an even worse failure of
that. She made her debut on the stage of the Summer Theatre
DR DORN. I hear she has led rather a strange life; what
in Moscow, and afterward made a tour of the country towns.
happened?
At that time I never let her out of my sight, and wherever she
KONSTANTIN. It is a long story, Doctor.
went I followed. She always attempted great and difficult parts,
but her delivery was harsh and monotonous, and her gestures
DR DORN. Tell it shortly.
heavy and crude. She shrieked and died well at times, but those
[A pause.] were but moments.

KONSTANTIN. She ran away from home and joined DR DORN. Then she really has a talent for acting?
TRIGORIN; you know that?
KONSTANTIN. I never could make out. I believe she has. I saw
DR DORN. Yes. her, but she refused to see me, and her servant would never
admit me to her rooms. I appreciated her feelings, and did not
insist upon a meeting.
29
Seagull -Act 4

[A pause] PETER. She was a beautiful girl. Even the State Councilor
himself was in love with her for a time.
What more can I tell you? She sometimes writes to me now that
I have come home, such clever, sympathetic letters, full of warm DR DORN. You old goat, you!
feeling. She never complains, but I can tell that she is
profoundly unhappy; not a line but speaks to me of an aching, ILIA. [laughs in background.]
breaking nerve.
PAULINA. They are coming back from the station.
She has one strange fancy; she always signs herself "The
Seagull." The miller in "Rusalka" called himself "The Crow," KONSTANTIN. Yes, I hear my mother's voice.
and so she repeats in all her letters that she is a sea-gull.
IRINA and TRIGORIN come in, followed by ILIA.
She is here now.
ILIA. We all grow old and wither, my lady, while you alone,
DR DORN. What do you mean by "here?"
with your light dress, your gay spirits, and your grace, keep the
secret of eternal youth.
KONSTANTIN. In the village, at the inn. She has been there for
five days. I should have gone to see her, but MASHA here went,
IRINA. You are still trying to turn my head, you tiresome old
and she refuses to see any one. Someone told me she had
man.
been seen wandering in the fields a mile from here yesterday
evening.
TRIGORIN. [To PETER] How do you do, PETER? What, still ill?
How silly of you!
SIMON. Yes, I saw her. She was walking away from here in
the direction of the village. I asked her why she had not been to
[With evident pleasure, as he catches sight of MASHA] How are you,
see us. She said she would come.
MASHA?
KONSTANTIN. But she won't.
MASHA. So you recognized me? [She shakes hands with him.]
[A pause]
TRIGORIN. Did you marry him?
Her father and stepmother have disowned her. They have even
put watchmen all around their estate to keep her away. MASHA. Long ago.

How easy it is, Doctor, to be

[He goes with the doctor toward the desk]
TRIGORIN. You are happy now?
a philosopher on paper, and how difficult in real life!
30
Seagull -Act 4

[He bows to DR DORN and SIMON, and then goes hesitatingly toward candles and arranges the chairs, then fetches a box of lotto
KONSTANTIN]
from the cupboard.
Your mother says you have forgotten the past and are no longer
angry with me. TRIGORIN. The weather has given me a rough welcome. The
wind is frightful. If it goes down by morning I shall go fishing in
the lake, and shall have a look at the garden and the spot--do
KONSTANTIN gives him his hand. you remember?--where your play was given.
IRINA. [To her son] Here is a magazine that Boris has brought I remember the piece very well, but should like to see again
you with your latest story in it. where the scene was laid.
KONSTANTIN. [To TRIGORIN, as he takes the magazine] MASHA. [To her father] Father, do please let my husband have a
horse. He ought to go home.
Many thanks; you are very kind.
ILIA. [Angrily] A horse to go home with!
TRIGORIN. Your admirers all send you their regards. Everyone
in Moscow and St. Petersburg is interested in you, and all ply [Sternly] You
know the horses have just been to the station. I
me with questions about you. can't send them out again.
They ask me what you look like, how old you are, whether you MASHA. But there are other horses.
are fair or dark. For some reason they all think that you are no
longer young, and no one knows who you are, as you always [Seeing that her father remains silent] You are impossible!
write under an assumed name. You are as great a mystery as
the Man in the Iron Mask. SIMON. I shall go on foot, MASHA.
KONSTANTIN. [Pointedly but politely] PAULINA. [With a sigh] On foot in this weather?
Do you expect to be here long? [She takes a seat at the card-table] Shall we begin?
TRIGORIN. No, I must go back to Moscow to-morrow. I am SIMON. It is only six miles. Good-bye. [He kisses his wife's hand;]
finishing another novel, and have promised something to a
magazine besides. In fact, it is the same old business. Good-bye, mother. [His mother-in-law gives him her hand unwillingly]

During their conversation IRINA and PAULINA have put up I should not have troubled you all, but the baby—
a card-table in the centre of the room; ILIA lights the
[He bows to everyone]
31
Seagull -Act 4

Good-bye. [He goes out with an apologetic air.] IRINA. Here it is.

ILIA. He will get there all right, he is not a major-general. MASHA. Three.

PAULINA. Come, let us begin. Don't let us waste time, we shall DR DORN. Right.
soon be called to supper.
MASHA. Have you put down three? Eight. Eighty-one. Ten.
ILIA, MASHA, and DR DORN sit down at the card-table.
ILIA. Don't go so fast.
IRINA. [To TRIGORIN] When the long autumn evenings descend
on us we while away the time here by playing lotto. Look at this IRINA. Could you believe it? I am still dazed by the reception
old set; we used it when our mother played with us as children. they gave me in Yalta.
Don't you want to take a hand in the game with us until supper
time? MASHA. Thirty-four.

[She and TRIGORIN sit down at the table]

It is a monotonous game, The notes of a melancholy waltz are heard.
but it is all right when one gets used to it.
IRINA. The students gave me an ovation; they sent me three
She deals three cards to each of the players. baskets of flowers, a wreath, and this thing here.

KONSTANTIN. [Looking through the pages of the magazine] She unclasps a brooch from her breast and lays it on the
table.
He has read his own story, and hasn't even cut the
[Bitterly]
pages of mine. ILIA. There is something worthwhile!

He lays the magazine on his desk and goes toward the door on MASHA. Fifty.
the right, stopping as he passes his mother to give her a kiss.
DR DORN. Fifty, did you say?
IRINA. Won't you play, Konstantin?
IRINA. I wore a perfectly magnificent dress; I am no fool when
KONSTANTIN. No, excuse me please, I don't feel like it. I am it comes to clothes.
going to take a turn through the rooms. [He goes out.]
PAULINA. Konstantin is playing again; the poor boy is sad.
MASHA. Are you all ready? I shall begin: twenty-two.
32
Seagull -Act 4

ILIA. He has been severely criticized in the papers. and nothing more, and one cannot go far on impressions alone.

MASHA. Seventy-seven. Are you glad, madam, that you have an author for a son?

IRINA. They want to attract attention to him. IRINA. Just think, I have never read anything of his; I never
have time.
TRIGORIN. He doesn't seem able to make a success, he can't
somehow strike the right note. There is an odd vagueness about MASHA. Twenty-six.
his writings that sometimes verges on delirium. He has never
created a single living character. KONSTANTIN comes in quietly and sits down at his table .

MASHA. Eleven. ILIA. [To TRIGORIN] We have something here that belongs to
you, sir.
IRINA. Are you bored, PETER?
TRIGORIN. What is it?
[A pause]
ILIA. You told me to have the sea-gull stuffed that
He is asleep. Konstantin killed some time ago.

DR DORN. The Councilor is taking a nap. TRIGORIN. Did I? [Thoughtfully]

MASHA. Seven. Ninety. I don't remember.

TRIGORIN. Do you think I should write if I lived in such a place MASHA. Sixty-one. One.
as this, on the shore of this lake? Never! I should overcome my
passion, and give my life up to the catching of fish. KONSTANTIN throws open the window and stands
listening.
MASHA. Twenty-eight.
KONSTANTIN. How dark the night is! I wonder what makes me
TRIGORIN. And if I caught a perch or a bass, what bliss it would so restless.
be!
IRINA. Shut the window, Konstantin, you are creating a draught
DR DORN. I have great faith in Konstantin. I know there is in here.
something in him. He thinks in images; his stories are vivid and
full of color, and always affect me deeply. It is only a pity KONSTANTIN shuts the window.
that he has no definite object in view. He creates impressions,
33
Seagull -Act 4

frame of dusky hair"--cried--frame--that is stupid.

MASHA. Ninety-eight.
I shall begin again from the
[He scratches out what he has written]
TRIGORIN. See, my card is full. place where my hero is wakened by the noise of the rain, but
what follows must go. This description of a moonlight night is
IRINA. [Gaily] Bravo! Bravo! long and stilted.

ILIA. Bravo! KONSTANTIN. TRIGORIN has worked out a process of his

own, and descriptions are easy for him. He writes that the neck
IRINA. Wherever he goes and whatever he does, that man of a broken bottle lying on the bank glittered in the moonlight,
always has good luck. [She gets up] And now, come to supper. and that the shadows lay black under the mill-wheel. There you
Our renowned guest did not have any dinner to-day. We can have a moonlight night before your eyes, but I speak of the
continue our game later. shimmering light, the twinkling stars, the distant sounds of a
piano melting into the still and scented air, and the result is
[To her son] Come, Konstantin, leave your writing and come to abominable.
supper.
[A pause]
KONSTANTIN. I don't want anything to eat, mother; I am not
hungry. KONSTANTIN. The conviction is gradually forcing itself upon
me that good literature is not a question of forms new or old, but
IRINA. As you please. [She wakes PETER] Come to supper, of ideas that must pour freely from the author's heart, without his
PETER. bothering his head about any forms whatsoever.
[A knock is heard at the window nearest the table]
[She takes ILIA'S arm] Let me tell you about my reception in Yalta.
What was that?
PAULINA blows out the candles on the table, then she and
DR DORN roll PETER'S chair out of the room, and all go [He looks out of the window]
out through the door on the left, except KONSTANTIN, who
is left alone. KONSTANTIN prepares to write. He runs his I can't see anything. [He opens the glass door and
eye over what he has already written. looks out into the garden]

I heard someone run down the steps.

KONSTANTIN. I have talked a great deal about new forms of
[He calls] Who is there?
art, but I feel myself gradually slipping into the beaten track.

[He reads] "The placard cried it from the wall--a pale face in a
34
Seagull -Act 4

He goes out, and is heard walking quickly along the It is warm and comfortable in here. This used
[She looks about her]
terrace. In a few minutes he comes back with NINA to be a sitting-room. Have I changed much?

KONSTANTIN. Oh, NINA, NINA! KONSTANTIN. Yes, you have grown thinner, and your eyes are
larger than they were. NINA, it seems so strange to see you!
Why didn't you let me go to you? Why didn't you come sooner to
NINA lays her head on KONSTANTIN'S breast and stifles me? You have been here nearly a week, I know. I have been
her sobs. several times each day to where you live, and have stood like a
beggar beneath your window.
KONSTANTIN. [Deeply moved] NINA, NINA! It is you--you! I felt
you would come; all day my heart has been aching for you. My NINA. I was afraid you might hate me. I dream every night that
darling, my beloved has come back to me! We mustn't cry, we you look at me without recognizing me. I have been wandering
mustn't cry. about on the shores of the lake ever since I came back. I have
often been near your house, but I have never had the courage
NINA. There is some one here. to come in. Let us sit down.

KONSTANTIN. No one is here. Let us sit down and talk our hearts out. It is so
[They sit down]
quiet and warm in here. Do you hear the wind whistling outside?
NINA. Lock the door, someone might come.
As Turgenev says, "Happy is he who can sit at night under the
KONSTANTIN. No one will come in. roof of his home, who has a warm corner in which to take
refuge.
NINA. I know your mother is here. Lock the door.
" I am a sea-gull--and yet--no.
KONSTANTIN locks the door on the right and comes back
to NINA. [She passes her hand across her forehead]

KONSTANTIN. There is no lock on that one. I shall put a chair What was I saying? Oh, yes, Turgenev. He says, "and God help
against it. all homeless wanderers."

[She sobs.]
[He puts an arm-chair against the door] Don't be frightened, no one
shall come in.
KONSTANTIN. NINA! You are crying again, NINA!
NINA. [Gazing intently into his face] Let me look at you.
NINA. It is all right. I shall feel better after this. I have not cried
for two years. I went into the garden last night to see if our old
35
Seagull -Act 4

theatre were still standing. I see it is. I wept there for the first write is dry and gloomy and harsh. Stay here, NINA, I beseech
time in two years, and my heart grew lighter, and my soul saw you, or else let me go away with you.
more clearly again.
NINA quickly puts on her coat and hat.
See, I am not crying now. [She takes his hand in hers]
KONSTANTIN. NINA, why do you do that? For God's sake,
So you are an author now, and I am an actress. We have both NINA!
been sucked into the whirlpool. My life used to be as happy as a .
child's; I used to wake singing in the morning; I loved you and [A pause.]
dreamt of fame, and what is the reality?
NINA. My carriage is at the gate. Do not come out to see me off.
To-morrow morning early I must start for Eltz by train in a third- I shall find the way alone.
class carriage, with a lot of peasants, and at Eltz the educated
trades-people will pursue me with compliments. It is a rough life. [Weeping] Let me have some water.

KONSTANTIN. Why are you going to Eltz? KONSTANTIN hands her a glass of water.
NINA. I have accepted an engagement there for the winter. It is KONSTANTIN. Where are you going?
time for me to go.
NINA. Back to the village. Is your mother here?
KONSTANTIN. NINA, I have cursed you, and hated you, and
torn up your photograph, and yet I have known every minute of KONSTANTIN. Yes, my uncle fell ill on Thursday, and we
my life that my heart and soul were yours for ever. To cease telegraphed for her to come.
from loving you is beyond my power. I have suffered continually
from the time I lost you and began to write, and my life has been NINA. Why do you say that you have kissed the ground I
almost unendurable. My youth was suddenly plucked from me walked on? You should kill me rather.
then, and I seem now to have lived in this world for ninety years.
I have called out to you, I have kissed the ground you walked [She bends over the table] I am so tired. If I could only rest--rest.
on, wherever I looked I have seen your face before my eyes,
and the smile that had illumined for me the best years of my life. I am a sea-gull--no--no, I am an actress.
NINA. [Despairingly] Why, why does he talk to me like this?
She hears IRINA and TRIGORIN laughing in the distance,
KONSTANTIN. I am quite alone, un-warmed by any runs to the door on the left and looks through the keyhole
attachment. I am as cold as if I were living in a cave. Whatever I
He is there too.

36
Seagull -Act 4

[She goes back to KONSTANTIN] NINA. [Listening] Hush! I must go. Good-bye. When I have
become a famous actress you must come and see me. Will you
Ah, well--no matter. He does not believe in the theatre; he used promise to come? But now—
to laugh at my dreams, so that little by little I became down-
hearted and ceased to believe in it too. Then came all the cares [She takes his hand] it is late. I can hardly stand. I am fainting. I am
of love, the continual anxiety about my little one, so that I soon hungry.
grew trivial and spiritless, and played my parts without meaning.
I never knew what to do with my hands, and I could not walk KONSTANTIN. Stay, and let me bring you some supper.
properly or control my voice. You cannot imagine the state of
mind of one who knows as he goes through a play how terribly NINA. No, no--and don't come out, I can find the way alone. My
badly he is acting. carriage is not far away. So she brought him back with her?
However, what difference can that make to me? Don't tell
I am a sea-gull--no--no, that is not what I meant to say. Do you TRIGORIN anything when you see him.
remember how you shot a seagull once? A man chanced to
pass that way and destroyed it out of idleness. That is an idea I love him--I love him even more than I used to. It is an idea for
for a short story, but it is not what I meant to say. a short story. I love him--I love him passionately--I love him to
despair.
[She passes her hand across her forehead]What was Have you forgotten, Konstantin, how pleasant the old times
I saying? Oh, yes, the stage. I have changed now. Now I am a were? What a gay, bright, gentle, pure life we led? How a
real actress. I act with joy, with exaltation, I am intoxicated by it, feeling as sweet and tender as a flower blossomed in our
and feel that I am superb. I have been walking and walking, and hearts? Do you remember?
thinking and thinking, ever since I have been here, and I feel
the strength of my spirit growing in me every day. I know now, I [She recites]
understand at last, Konstantin, that for us, whether we write or "All men and beasts, lions, eagles, and quails, horned stags,
act, it is not the honor and glory of which I have dreamt that geese, spiders, silent fish that inhabit the waves, starfish from
is important, it is the strength to endure. One must know how to the sea, and creatures invisible to the eye--in one word,
bear one's cross, and one must have faith. I believe, and so do life--all, all life, completing the dreary round set before it,
not suffer so much, and when I think of my calling I do not fear has died out at last. A thousand years have passed since the
life. earth last bore a living creature on its breast, and the unhappy
moon now lights her lamp in vain. No longer are the cries of
KONSTANTIN. [Sadly] You have found your way, you know storks heard in the meadows, or the drone of beetles in the
where you are going, but I am still groping in a chaos of groves of limes----"
phantoms and dreams, not knowing whom and what end I am
serving by it all. I do not believe in anything, and I do not know
what my calling is.
37
Seagull -Act 4

PAULINA. And bring the tea at once.

She lights the candles and takes her seat at the card-table.
ILIA leads TRIGORIN to the cupboard.

ILIA. Here is the stuffed sea-gull I was telling you about.

[He takes the sea-gull out of the cupboard] You told me to have
it done.

TRIGORIN. [looking at the bird] I don't remember a thing about

She embraces KONSTANTIN impetuously and runs out it, not a thing. [A shot is heard. Every one jumps.]
onto the terrace.
IRINA. [Frightened] What was that?
KONSTANTIN. [After a pause]
DR DORN. Nothing at all; probably one of my medicine bottles
It would be a pity if she were seen in the garden. My mother has blown up. Don't worry.
would be distressed.
[He goes out through the door on the right, and comes
He stands for several minutes tearing up his manuscripts and
back in a few moments]
throwing them under the table, then unlocks the door on the
right and goes out.
It is as I thought, a flask of ether has exploded.
DR DORN. [Trying to force open the door on the left]
[He sings]

Odd! This door seems to be locked. [He comes in and puts the chair
back in its former place]
"Spellbound once more I stand before thee."

This is like a hurdle race. IRINA. [Sitting down at the table]

Heavens! I was really frightened. That noise reminded me of—

IRINA and PAULINA come in, followed by JACOB carrying
some bottles; then come MASHA, ILIA, and TRIGORIN. [She covers her face with her hands]

IRINA. Put the claret and the beer here, on the table, so that Everything is black before my eyes.
we can drink while we are playing. Sit down, friends.
DR DORN. [Looking through the pages of a magazine, to TRIGORIN]
There was an article from America in this magazine about two
38
Seagull -Act 4

months ago that I wanted to ask you about, among other things.

[He leads TRIGORIN to the front of the stage and in a low voice and
whispers]

You must take Madame IRINA away from here; what I wanted
to say was, that Konstantin has shot himself.

The curtain falls.

End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Sea-Gull, by

Anton Checko
http://plays.vtheatre.net/seagull.html

39