Monday, August 13th, 2012
Selected plays
Uncle Vanya, Anton Chekhov, 1896
Based on the copy-text Plays by Anton Tchekoff, translated from the Russian by Marian Fell, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1916. Scanned by James Rusk. Translation revised and notes added 1998 by James Rusk and A. S. Man for this e-text. The Three Sisters, Anton Chekhov, 1901
Based on the copy-text Plays by Anton Tchekov, translated from the Russian by Constance Garnett, New York, Macmillan, 1916, also available in early Modern Library editions. Scanned by A. S. Man. Translation revised and notes added 1998 by James Rusk and A. S. Man. Some obsolete spelling and idioms have been changed.
The Cherry Orchard, Anton Chekhov, 1904
Translated by Julius West, 1916
THE SEA-GULL
by Anton Checkov
A Play In Four Acts Translated by Marian Fell
IVANOFF
A PLAY
By Anton Checkov Translated by Marian Fell
By Anton Chekhov Scenes from Country Life
in Four Acts
(1896) Characters
ALEXANDER SEREBRYAKOV, a retired professor
HELENA, his wife, twenty-seven years old
SONYA, his daughter by a former marriage
MME. VOYNITSKAYA, widow of a privy councilor, and mother of Serebryakov's first wife
IVAN (VANYA) VOYNITSKY, her son
MICHAEL ASTROV, a doctor
ILYA (WAFFLES) TELEGIN, an impoverished landowner
MARINA, an old nanny
A WORKMAN
The scene is laid on SEREBRYAKOV'S country estate
ACT I
A country house on a terrace. In front of it a garden. In an avenue of trees, under an old poplar, stands a table set for tea, with a samovar, etc. Some benches and chairs stand near the table. On one of them is lying a guitar. Near the table is a swing. It is three o'clock in the afternoon of a cloudy day.
MARINA, a stout, slow old woman, is sitting at the table knitting a stocking.
ASTROV is walking up and down near her.
MARINA. [Pouring some tea into a glass] Take a little tea, my son.
ASTROV. [Takes the glass from her unwillingly] Somehow, I don't seem to want any.
MARINA. Then will you have a little vodka instead?
ASTROV. No, I don't drink vodka every day, and besides, it's too hot now. [A pause] Tell me, Nanny, how long have we known each other?
MARINA. [Thoughtfully] Let me see, how long is it? Lord -- help me to remember. You first came here, into these parts -- let me think -- when was it? Sonya's mother was still alive -- it was two winters before she died; that was eleven years ago -- [thoughtfully] perhaps more.
ASTROV. Have I changed much since then?
MARINA. Oh, yes. You were handsome and young then, and now you're an old man and not handsome any more. You drink now, too.
ASTROV. Yes, ten years have made me another man. And why? Because I'm overworked. Nanny, I'm on my feet from dawn till dusk. I know no rest; at night I tremble under my blankets for fear of being dragged out to visit some one who is sick; I've toiled without repose or a day's freedom since I've known you; could I help growing old? And then, existence here is tedious, anyway; it's a senseless, dirty business, this life, and gets you down. Everyone about here is eccentric, and after living with them for two or three years one grows eccentric oneself. It's inevitable. [Twisting his moustache] See what a long moustache I've grown. A foolish, long moustache. Yes, I'm as eccentric as the rest, Nanny, but not as stupid; no, I haven't grown stupid. Thank God, my brain isn't addled yet, though my feelings have grown numb. I want nothing, I need nothing, I love no one, unless it is yourself alone. [He kisses her head] I had a nanny just like you when I was a child.
MARINA. Don't you want a bite of something to eat?
ASTROV. No. During the third week of Lent I went to the epidemic at Malitskoe. It was an outbreak of typhoid fever. The peasants were all lying side by side in their huts, and the calves and pigs were running about the floor among the sick. Such dirt there was, and smoke! Unspeakable! I slaved among those people all day, not a crumb passed my lips, but when I got home there was still no rest for me; a switchman was carried in from the railroad; I laid him on the operating table and he went and died in my arms under chloroform, and then my feelings that should've been deadened awoke again, my conscience tortured me as if I had killed the man. I sat down and closed my eyes -- like this -- and thought: will our descendants one or two hundred years from now, for whom we're clearing the way, remember to give us a kind word? No, Nanny, they'll forget us.
MARINA. Man is forgetful, but God remembers.
ASTROV. Thank you for that. You've spoken the truth.
Enter VOYNITSKY from the house. He has been asleep after dinner and looks rather dishevelled. He sits down on the bench and straightens his fancy tie.
VOYNITSKY. H'm. Yes. [A pause] Yes.
ASTROV. Have you been asleep?
VOYNITSKY. Yes, very much so. [He yawns] Ever since the Professor and his wife have come, our daily life seems to have jumped the track. I sleep at the wrong time, drink wine, and eat all sorts of fancy cooking for luncheon and dinner. It isn't wholesome. Sonya and I used to work together and never had an idle moment, but now Sonya works alone and I only eat and drink and sleep. Something is wrong.
MARINA. [Shaking her head] This house is topsy-turvy! The Professor gets up at noon, the samovar is kept boiling all the morning, and everything has to wait for him. Before they came we used to have dinner at one o'clock, like everybody else, but now we have it at seven. The Professor sits up all night writing and reading, and suddenly, at two o'clock, there goes the bell! Heavens, what's that? The Professor wants some tea! Wake the servants, light the samovar! Lord, how topsy-turvy!
ASTROV. Will they be here much longer?
VOYNITSKY. [Whistles] A hundred years! The Professor has decided to make his home here.
MARINA. Look at this now! The samovar has been on the table for two hours, and they're all out walking!
VOYNITSKY. All right, don't get excited; here they come.
Voices are heard approaching. SEREBRYAKOV, HELENA, SONYA, and TELEGIN come in from the depths of the garden, returning from their walk.
SEREBRYAKOV. Superb! Superb! What beautiful scenery!
TELEGIN. They are wonderful, your Excellency.
SONYA. Tomorrow we're going into the forest preserve. Want to come, papa?
VOYNITSKY. Ladies and gentlemen, tea is ready.
SEREBRYAKOV. Won't you please be good enough to send my tea into the study? I still have some work to finish.
SONYA. I am sure you'll love the forest preserve.
HELENA, SEREBRYAKOV, and SONYA go into the house. TELEGIN sits down at the table beside MARINA.
VOYNITSKY. There goes our "learned scholar" on a hot, sultry day like this, in his overcoat, galoshes, carrying an umbrella and wearing gloves!
ASTROV. He's trying to take good care of his health.
VOYNITSKY. How lovely Helena is! How lovely! I have never in my life seen a more beautiful woman.
TELEGIN. Do you know, Marina, that as I walk in the fields or in the shady garden, as I look at this table here, my heart swells with unbounded happiness. The weather is enchanting, the birds are singing, we are all living in peace and contentment -- what more could the soul desire? [Takes a glass of tea.] Much obliged to you -- much obliged.