[II-8]

[Chekhov]

(Treplev enters.)

TREPLEV: Are you alone?

NINA: Yes. (He lays the dead seagull at her feet.) What's that supposed to mean?

TREPLEV: I was vile enough to kill it, and I lay it at your feet.

NINA: What's the matter with you?

(She picks up the seagull and looks at it.)

TREPLEV: Soon I'll kill myself. I'll be as dead as the gull.

NINA: You've become so different. I feel I hardly know you any more.

TREPLEV: It's you who have changed. Your eyes are cold. You're embarrassed to be around me.

NINA: You're so irritable lately. And you talk in riddles, in symbols. Is the seagull a symbol, too? I'm afraid I don't understand it. (She puts the seagull on the bench.) I'm not intellectual enough to understand you.

TREPLEV: This all started the night my play failed. Women never forgive failure. I burned the manuscript, all of it. If you only knew how unhappy I am now - I can't stand your rejection. I might as well have woken up to find that the lake was dry. You say you don't understand me - but what is there to understand? You didn't like my play, you have no respect for my work. In your eyes, I'm worthless and unimportant. How well I understand! My worthlessness is like a nail driven into my head. Dammit, my pride sucks my blood like a leech . . . (he sees Trigorin approaching) Here comes the real genius, coming forward like Hamlet, even carrying a book - "words, words, words!" The sun hasn't even reached you but you're already smiling. Your eyes melt in his rays. I won't stand in your way.

(He leaves as Trigorin arrives.)

[follow Treplev]

[continue]