SATINE. You picked a good one for partner!
KVASHNYA. Couldn't get a better one. You wouldn't want to live with me . . . you think you're too fine! And even if you did it wouldn't last more than a week . . . you gamble me and all I own away at cards!
SATINE [_roars with laughter_] That's true, landlady--I'd gamble . . .
KVASHNYA. What do you mean by gossiping about me?
ALYOSHKA. I? I speak out everything--whatever my conscience tells me. There, I say, is a wonderful woman! Splendid meat, fat, bones--over four hundred pounds! But brains--? Not an ounce!
KVASHNYA. You're a liar! I've lot of brains! What do you mean by saying I beat my policeman?
ALYOSHKA. I thought you did--when you pulled him by the hair!
KVASHNYA [_laughs_] You fool! You aren't blind, are you? Why wash dirty linen in public? And--it hurts his feelings--that's why he took to drink . . .
ALYOSHKA. It's true, evidently, that even a chicken likes vodka . . .
[_Satine and Kleshtch roar with laughter._]
KVASHNYA. Go on--show your teeth! What sort of a man are you anyway, Alyoshka?
ALYOSHKA. Oh--I am first-rate! Master of all trades! I follow my nose!
BUBNOFF [_near the Tartar's bunk_] Come on! At all events--we won't let you sleep! We'll sing all night. Zob!
THE TARTAR [_smiling_] Well--Bubnoff--you devil--bring the vodka--we'll drink--we'll have a hell of a good time! The end will come soon enough--and then we'll be dead!
BUBNOFF. Fill his glass, Satine! Zob--sit down! Ah--brothers--what does a man need after all? There, for instance, I've had a drink--and I'm happy! Zob! Start my favorite song! I'll sing--and then I'll cry. . . .
THE BARON [_on the threshold; yells_] Hey--you--come--come here! Out in the waste--in the yard . . . over there . . . The actor--he's hanged himself. . . .
[_Silence. All stare at the Baron. Behind him appears Nastya, and slowly, her eyes wide with horror, she walks to the table._]
SATINE [_in a matter-of-fact voice_] Damned fool--he ruined the song . . . !
This transcription is based on images digitized by the University of Connecticut and posted by the Internet Archive at:
https://archive.org/details/lowerdepthsdrama00gork
In general, this transcription attempts to retain the formatting, punctuation and spelling of the source text. The following changes were noted: