[Chekhov]
TREPLEV: Nina! (She leans her head on his breast, sobbing with restraint.) I had a feeling you'd come. My heart's been pounding all day. My darling Nina, you've come to me. Don't cry.
NINA: There's someone here.
TREPLEV: No one, just us.
NINA: Lock the doors.
TREPLEV: No one will come.
NINA: I know your mother's here. Please lock them.
(He locks one door and goes to the other.)
TREPLEV: This one has no lock, but I'll put a chair against it. (He does so.) Don't worry, we're safe.
NINA: Let me look at you. (She looks at him intently, then away.) It's so cozy here. It used to be the drawing room. (She turns to him.) Do you think I've changed?
TREPLEV: Yes. You're thinner. Your eyes seem larger. It seems strange to be with you finally. Why didn't you let me see you? Why didn't you come here earlier? You've been back nearly a week. I went to the inn every day, standing under your window like a beggar.
NINA: I was afraid you'd hate me. I dreamed you didn't recognize me . . . if only you knew. Every day I would walk near the lake, near the house, but I couldn't bring myself to come here. But now we can sit and talk. It's so cozy here. Hear the wind? Somewhere Turgenev writes, "Happy is he who has a roof over his head and a warm corner of his own." But I'm just a sea gull . . . no, that's not right. (She rubs her forehead.) I'm sorry. Where was I? Turgenev: "May the Lord help the homeless wanderers." It doesn't matter.
TREPLEV: Nina, you're crying again. Oh Nina . . .
NINA: It's a relief. I haven't had a good cry in two years. Last night I went into the garden to see if our stage was still there - and it was! It's still standing! I began to cry for the first time in two years, and it was like a heavy weight lifted from my heart. But see, I'm not crying now. (She takes his hand.) You've become a writer. You're a writer, and I'm an actress. We both got what we wanted - and so fell into the whirlpool. I was so happy as a child. I'd wake up and start singing - I was in love with you and dreamed of becoming a famous actress. And look at me now. Tomorrow morning I leave for Yeletz, third class, riding with the peasants. In Yeletz, cultured businessmen will shamelessly flirt with me. Life is so sordid.
TREPLEV: Do you have to go?
NINA: I'm booked there for the winter.
TREPLEV: Nina, how I cursed you and tried to hate you. I tore up your letters and photographs, but my heart always belonged to you. I've never stopped loving you. Ever since I lost you, even though my work has been published, I've been miserable. I feel like my youth was snatched away from me, I feel so old. I keep calling your name, I keep seeing your face everywhere. I kiss the ground you walk on. I remember your smile when we were happy.
NINA: (aside to the audience) Why does he talk like that?
TREPLEV: I'm so lonely. I have no one's affection to warm me, it's like living in a dungeon. Everything I write is dark and gloomy. Stay, Nina. And if you can't stay, then take me with you. (She quickly puts on her hat and cloak.) Nina, for God's sake . . .
NINA: My carriage is at the gate. You don't have to see me off. (She is almost crying.) I'd like a glass of water before I go.
(He gives her one.)
TREPLEV: Where are you going now?
NINA: To town. Your mother's here?
TREPLEV: Yes. My uncle became ill on Thursday, and we wired her to come.
NINA: Why would you kiss the ground I walk on? You should kill me. I'm so tired. If only I could rest. But I'm a sea gull. No, that's not right - I'm an actress. Yes. (She hears Trigorin and Irina laughing in the dining room. She listens and looks through the keyhole.) So he's here, too. It doesn't matter. Boris doesn't believe in the theater. He laughed at my dreams so often that I stopped believing in them. I felt so much anxiety and jealousy - and, of course, so much worry for the baby. I became petty and couldn't act, couldn't figure out what to do with my hands. Couldn't stand on stage right or control my voice. You don't know what it's like to realize how badly you're acting. I'm a sea gull - I'm sorry, that's not what I meant to say. Remember when you shot a sea gull? A man passed by and saw a sea gull and shot it just for fun - the subject for a short story. No, that's not right. (She rubs her forehead.) What was I talking about? My acting. I'm not like that now. I'm a real actress, and I revel in it. I feel intoxicated with beauty when I'm on stage! And since I've been back, walking and thinking so much, I feel myself getting stronger every day. Kostya, I've learned what matters in our work now, for an actress or a writer, and it's not fame or the things I used to dream about - it's being able to endure. It's knowing how to bear your cross and keep the faith. You see, I do have faith now, and my life isn't so painful. I'm not afraid any more.
TREPLEV: You've found your bearings, Nina. I still wander around in a haze of dreams and images. I can't make sense of them, I don't know why I write. I have no faith. I don't even know if I have a calling.
NINA: Sshh - I have to go. When I'm a great actress, come and see me perform. Promise? But I can hardly stand, I feel so faint. I need to eat
TREPLEV: Stay, I'll bring you supper.
NINA: Thank you, I can't. My carriage is at the gate. Don't see me off. So your mother brought him with her. It doesn't matter. When you see Trigorin, don't tell him you saw me. I still love him. I love him even more than before. Passionately, desperately - a good subject for a short story. How lovely it used to be for us, Kostya, remember? Life was so pure, so innocent and happy. Our feelings were like delicate fresh flowers. Remember the speech your wrote for me?
"Men and lions, eagles and quail, stags and geese and spiders, the silent fishes of the sea, starfish and creatures invisible to the naked eye - every form of life on earth has become extinct. For thousands of centuries, the earth has been barren. The moon shines her light in vain. No cranes wake and cry in the meadow. In the lime grove, no hum of beetles is heard. The earth is cold - and empty - and filled with cold, empty terror."
(She embraces Treplev and runs out the veranda door.)
TREPLEV: (to audience) I hope no one sees her in the garden and tells mother. Mother would be upset.
(Treplev goes to the desk and tears up all his manuscripts. Then he unlocks the door. He fetches a chair and puts in under the door handle, then exits to the garden.)