First Guest. What nonsense! The fact that you are a widow means nothing. You could beat any pretty girl you chose at a canter.
Gabriel brings Martha some tea.
Zinaida. Why do you bring the tea in like that? Go and fetch some jam to eat with it!
Martha. No thank you; none for me, don’t trouble yourself.
First Guest. [To Martha] Did you come through Mushkine on your way here?
Martha. No, I came by way of Spassk. The road is better that way.
First Guest. Yes, so it is.
Kosich. Two in spades.
George. Pass.
Avdotia. Pass.
Second Guest. Pass.
Martha. The price of lottery tickets has gone up again, my dear. I have never known such a state of affairs. The first issue is already worth two hundred and seventy and the second nearly two hundred and fifty. This has never happened before.
Zinaida. How fortunate for those who have a great many tickets!
Martha. Don’t say that, dear; even when the price of tickets is high it does not pay to put one’s capital into them.
Zinaida. Quite true, and yet, my dear, one never can tell what may happen. Providence is sometimes kind.
Third Guest. My impression is, ladies, that at present capital is exceedingly unproductive. Shares pay very small dividends, and speculating is exceedingly dangerous. As I understand it, the capitalist now finds himself in a more critical position than the man who———
