You will enjoy the greatest happiness. You will wear garments of gold and eat the most delicate soups, and you will pass your time most entertainingly.
BOBCHINSKY [breaking in].
God give you all sorts of riches and of money and a wee tiny little son, like this. [Shows the size with his hands.] So that he can sit on the palm of your hand.
The little fellow will be crying all the time, "Wow, wow, wow."
SCENE VI
More Guests enter and kiss the ladies' hands, among them Luka Lukich and his wife.
LUKA LUKICH.
I have the honor.
LUKA'S WIFE [running ahead].
Congratulate you, Anna Andreyevna. [They kiss.] Really, I was so glad to hear of it.
They tell me,
"Anna Andreyevna has betrothed her daughter."
"Oh, my God," I think to myself.
It made me so glad that I said to my husband, "Listen, Lukanchik, that's a great piece of fortune for Anna Andreyevna."
"Well," think I to myself, "thank God!"
And I say to him,
"I'm so delighted that I'm consumed with impatience to tell it to Anna Andreyevna herself."
"Oh, my God," think I to myself, "it's just as Anna Andreyevna expected. She always did expect a good match for her daughter. And now what luck! It happened just exactly as she wanted it to happen." Really, it made me so glad that I couldn't say a word.
I cried and cried. I simply screamed, so that Luka Lukich said to me,
"What are you crying so for, Nastenka?"
"Lukanchik," I said, "I don't know myself. The tears just keep flowing like a stream."
GOVERNOR.
Please sit down, ladies and gentlemen.
Ho, Mishka, bring some more chairs in.
The Guests seat themselves.
SCENE VII
The same, the Police Captain and Sergeants.
CAPTAIN.
I have the honor to congratulate you, your Honor, and to wish you long years of prosperity.
GOVERNOR.
Thank you, thank you!
Please sit down, gentlemen.
The Guests seat themselves.
AMMOS.
But please tell us, Anton Antonovich, how did it all come about, and how did it all—ahem!—go?
GOVERNOR.
It went in a most extraordinary way. He condescended to make the proposal in his own person.
ANNA.
In the most respectful and most delicate manner.
He spoke beautifully.
He said:
"Anna Andreyevna, I have only a feeling of respect for your worth."
And such a handsome, cultured man! His manners so genteel!
"Believe me, Anna Andreyevna," he says, "life is not worth a penny to me. It is only because I respect your rare qualities."
MARYA.
Oh, mamma, it was to me he said that.
ANNA.
Shut up!
You don't know anything.
And don't meddle in other people's affairs.