KOSTILYOFF [_throws open the door and shouts_] Abram! Come quick--Vassilisa is killing Natasha--come quick!
[_Kvashnya, Miedviedieff, and Bubnoff rush into hallway; Luka looks after them, shaking his head._]
ANNA. Our landladies--they're sisters . . .
ANNA. Oh--for no reason--except that they're both fat and healthy . . .
ANNA. Anna . . . I look at you . . . you're like my father--my dear father . . . you're as gentle as he was--and as soft. . . .
LUKA. Soft! Yes! They pounded me till I got soft! [_Laughs tremulously_]
[Portrait: MAXIM GORKY: RUSSIA'S GREATEST LIVING PLAYWRIGHT]
_On the bunks near the stove Satine, the Baron, Krivoy Zob, and the Tartar play cards. Kleshtch and the Actor watch them. Bubnoff, on his bunk, is playing checkers with Miedviedieff. Luka sits on a stool by Anna's bedside. The place is lit by two lamps, one on the wall near the card players, the other is on Bubnoff's bunk._
THE TARTAR. I'll play one more game--then I'll stop . . .
THE TARTAR [_to Satine_] Shuffle the cards--and shuffle them well. We know your kind--
"Day and night the wardens Watch beneath my window . . ."
ANNA. Blows--insults--I've had nothing but that all my life long . . .
THE TARTAR [_threatening Satine with his fist_] You're trying to palm a card? I've seen you--you scoundrel . . .
ZOB. Stop it, Hassan! They'll skin us anyway . . . come on, Bubnoff!
ANNA. I can't remember a single day when I didn't go hungry . . . I've been afraid, waking, eating, and sleeping . . . all my life I've trembled--afraid I wouldn't get another bite . . . all my life I've been in rags--all through my wretched life--and why . . . ?
LUKA. Yes, yes, child--you're tired--never you mind!
THE ACTOR [_to Zob_] Play the Jack--the Jack, devil take you!
KLESHTCH. Look, look! Prince, throw up the game--throw it up, I tell you!
THE ACTOR. Can't he play without your assistance?
THE BARON. Look out, Andrushka, or I'll beat the life out of you!
THE TARTAR. Deal once more--the pitcher went after water--and got broke--and so did I!
[_Kleshtch shakes his head and crosses to Bubnoff._]
ANNA. I keep on thinking--is it possible that I'll suffer in the other world as I did in this--is it possible? There, too?
LUKA. Nothing of the sort! Don't you disturb yourself! You'll rest there . . . be patient. We all suffer, dear, each in our own way. . . . [_Rises and goes quickly into kitchen_]