your power to get
my husband and myself away from here today.
Do you hear?
I say, this very day!!
The weather is fine to-day,
my dear Ivan Petrovic.
Honestly, we have had a very fine autumn,
and the wheat is looking fairly well.
But the days are growing short..
Where are the others?
I hate this house.
It is a regular labyrinth.
- What did he say?
- I'll tell you later.
You are moved.
Are you afraid?
Moreover, he said he would not
come here any more..
Where are the others?
Every one is always scattered through
the rooms and you can't find anybody.
Please call here Maria Vasilevna.
Please, gentlemen, take a seat.
Please, gentlemen, please.
Sonia.
- Perhaps you do not need me ...
- You are needed now more than any one.
- But what are you angry about?
If it is anything I have done,
I ask you to forgive me.
Ladies and gentlemen, I shall begin,
please pay attention ...
I am a book-worm and a scholar, and
am unfamiliar with practical affairs.
I want to ask you for your
assistance and advice.
in this very important matter.
As I am old and ill, I realise that
the time has come
for me to dispose of my property
in regard to the interests of my family..
My life is nearly over, and I am
not thinking of myself,
but I have a young wife
and daughter.
I cannot continue to live in the country.
We were not made for country life.
We cannot afford to live in town on
the income derived from this estate.
Avoiding all details, I propose
selling the estate.
If we then invest our capital in bonds,
we should probably have a surplus over
of several thousand roubles, with which
we could buy a summer cottage
in Finland.
What?
- Hold on! Repeat what you just said.
- And buy a summer cottage in Finland.
- No, not Finland - you said something else.
- I propose to sell this place.
Aha! That was it!
So you are going to sell the place?
Splendid.
The idea is a rich one.
And what do you propose to do with
my old mother and me and with Sonia?
That will be decided in due time.
I have always been stupid enough to think
that the estate belonged to Sonia.
My father bought it as a wedding
present for my sister.
Of course it is Sonia's.
Has any one denied it?.
I don't want to sell it
without Sonia's consent.
This is absolutely unbelievable.
Jean, don't contradict Alexander.
Trust him; he knows better than we
what's right and what's wrong.
Either I have gone mad or....
I don't pretend that my scheme
is an ideal one.
if you all object to it
I shall not insist.
I not only nourish feelings of respect
toward learning, but I am also drawn to it
by family ties. My brother Gregory's
wife's brother, whom you may know ...
The price was ninety-five thousand roubles.
My father paid seventy
and left a debt of twenty-five.
Now listen!
his place could never have been bought
had I not renounced my inheritance
in favour of my sister.
Thanks entirely to my own personal efforts,
the place is entirely clear of debts.
I regret ever having started this conversation.
For twenty-five years I and Sonia
have managed this place,
We made deals, sold oil, peas and cheese
We didn't afford to eat but
saved every penny to send them to you
During all these years you have never
even thought of adding a rouble to it.
A single ruble!
What did I know about such things, Ivan?
I am not a practical man.
You might have helped yourself
to all you wanted.
why did I not steal?
You all despise me because
I have not stolen?
For twenty-five years I have been sitting
with my mother like a mole in a burrow.
Day and night we worked,
our nights we wasted your books and papers.
Our every thought and hope was
yours and yours only.
We spoke your name with veneration.
I don't understand. What do
you want from me?
We used to think of you
as almost superhuman,
we knew your articles by heart.
but now the scales have
fallen from my eyes.
You write on art without
knowing anything about it.
Those books