[S-III-4]

[Deemer]

(Masha enters.)

MASHA: I'm sorry. You look busy.

TRIGORIN: No, that's all right. I was just looking for something I'd written once.

MASHA: You can't remember?

TRIGORIN: I have a page reference. It's not important. What is it?

MASHA: Oh -- I was just looking for someplace quiet.

TRIGORIN: I don't blame you. It gets so hectic around here. Sometimes I look forward to returning to the city just for the peace and quiet of it!

MASHA: I'd like to go to the city.

TRIGORIN: Maybe you'll have a chance one day.

MASHA: I'll never have a chance.

TRIGORIN: Don't be so pessimistic.

MASHA: How will I get to the city?

TRIGORIN: Maybe Semyou will take you to Moscow.

MASHA: He has too many obligations here.

TRIGORIN: Perhaps you'll marry someone else. You'll suddenly meet a stranger and fall in love and he'll take you away from here.

MASHA: That sounds like one of your stories -- and a bad one, at that.

TRIGORIN: It does, doesn't it?

MASHA: I met a man and fell in love. All it did was make me miserable.

TRIGORIN: I know. But life goes on. You must keep up your hope.

MASHA: I'll die here. Probably hating the ground Semyou walks on.

TRIGORIN: Love is a funny business. It's possible, after marrying him, that you would grow to love him.

MASHA: And possible I would not.

TRIGORIN: Still, it might not be the worst life for you.

MASHA: I would be so good for Kostya.

TRIGORIN: But he might not be so good for you. Did you ever think of that?

MASHA: I love him. How could he not be good for me?

TRIGORIN: He's a writer. That makes him impossible to live with. Believe me, I know.

MASHA: Irina puts up with you. I could put up with Kostya.

TRIGORIN: Irina ...

MASHA: Yes?

TRIGORIN: Never mind.

(He goes back to looking for the passage in the book. Masha lingers. Trigorin stops and looks up.)

TRIGORIN: But I do know what you mean. Love can be like an obsession. You can't get the love object out of your mind.

MASHA: Like a curse.

TRIGORIN: Yes, like a curse.

MASHA: Do you love Irina?

TRIGORIN: Yes. But there's love and there's love.

MASHA: Yes.

TRIGORIN: You seem wise for one so young.

MASHA: They say misery is a good teacher.

TRIGORIN: The Greeks, yes.

MASHA: Greeks?

TRIGORIN: A literary reference.

MASHA: Is Kostya a good writer?

TRIGORIN: What do you think?

MASHA: I think he's brilliant. He wants to create a new form of theater.

TRIGORIN: Then what does it matter what I think?

MASHA: You have experience.

TRIGORIN: I think he shows promise.

MASHA: That sounds like a criticism.

TRIGORIN: There's so much to writing, so much to establishing a career. Much will depend on how persistent he is and how much he can learn from his own mistakes. Of course, first you have to be able to see them before you learn how to correct them. But he does seem like a dedicated young man. I would say he has a good chance to become a successful writer. First, however, he must grow up and get over these petty obsessions of his.

MASHA: He will become a famous writer.

TRIGORIN: Fame is fickle. For that, he will need luck as well as artistry.

MASHA: He'll become famous and move to Moscow and I'll be stuck here the rest of my life.

TRIGORIN: Has Semyou already proposed?

MASHA: Many times.

TRIGORIN: And you're set on rejecting him?

MASHA: I put him off. Sometimes I feel cruel doing it. But the last time, I said yes.

TRIGORIN: A part of you realizes this may be your best opportunity. Don't you want children?

MASHA: I don't know. Sometimes I think so. But I wouldn't want a daughter.

TRIGORIN: If you had a daughter, you would change your mind.

MASHA: Probably. But I'd feel sorry for her. She'll only have her heart broken.

TRIGORIN: Men get their hearts broken, too.

MASHA: Yes. Kostya's heart is broken because Nina rejects him. I think she wants you.

TRIGORIN: What makes you say that?

MASHA: A young woman knows how a young woman thinks. I've watched her looking at you.

(Trigorin wants to change the subject and goes back to the book.) TRIGORIN: Where is that passage?

MASHA: You don't know she wants you?

TRIGORIN: Many young women become infatuated with me. It's one of the occupational hazards of being a writer.

MASHA: I think she's in love with you.

TRIGORIN: (in the book) Ah, now we're getting somewhere. This is close.

MASHA: I think you know she is.

TRIGORIN: If you'll excuse me, dear ...

(He leaves. When he's gone, she also exits.)

Follow Trigorin.

Follow Masha.