ACT II
The lawn in front of Sorin’s house. The house stands in the background, on a broad terrace. The lake, brightly reflecting the rays of the sun, lies to the left. There are flower-beds here and there. It is noon; the day is hot. Arkadina, Dorn, and Masha are sitting on a bench on the lawn, in the shade of an old linden. An open book is lying on Dorn’s knees.
Arkadina. [To Masha] Come, get up. [They both get up] Stand beside me. You are twenty-two and I am almost twice your age. Tell me, Doctor, which of us is the younger looking?
Dorn. You are, of course.
Arkadina. You see! Now why is it? Because I work; my heart and mind are always busy, whereas you never move off the same spot. You don’t live. It is a maxim of mine never to look into the future. I never admit the thought of old age or death, and just accept what comes to me.
Masha. I feel as if I had been in the world a thousand years, and I trail my life behind me like an endless scarf. Often I have no desire to live at all. Of course that is foolish. One ought to pull oneself together and shake off such nonsense.
Dorn. [Sings softly]
“Tell her, oh flowers—”
Arkadina. And then I keep myself as correct-looking as an Englishman. I am always well-groomed, as the saying
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