MADAM ULANBÉKOV. Oh, here's another affliction! Now I certainly can't collect my thoughts; I'm completely distracted, and now she begins on the girls! I shall take to my bed at any moment. VASILÍSA PEREGRÍNOVNA. Lust, benefactress, is beyond all endurance. MADAM ULANBÉKOV. No, they needn't expect any mercy from me. As it is, I forgive one, then another, and so the whole crowd is spoiled. [_She rings; enter_ POTÁPYCH] Call Nadezhda, and come here yourself! [POTÁPYCH _goes out_] That's what it is to be a woman. If I were a man, would they dare be so willful? VASILÍSA PEREGRÍNOVNA. They don't give a fig for you, benefactress, not a fig. They aren't a little bit afraid of you! MADAM ULANBÉKOV. They're going to find out pretty quick whether I amount to anything. _Enter_ POTÁPYCH _and_ NÁDYA. GAVRÍLOVNA _and_ LÍZA _look through the door_. SCENE IV _The same_, POTÁPYCH _and_ NÁDYA MADAM ULANBÉKOV. Nadezhda! Vasilísa PEREGRÍNOVNA says she saw you in the garden last night with the master. Is that so? [NÁDYA _is silent_] You're silent, that means it's true. Well, now, you can thank yourself. I'm not a conniver at loose conduct, and I won't endure it in my house. I can't turn you out as a vagabond, that would weigh upon my conscience. I am obliged to marry you off. [_To_ POTÁPYCH] Send to town and tell NEGLIGÉNTOV that I shall marry Nádya to him; and let the wedding be just as soon as possible. [_She rises from her chair and is about to leave_]. NÁDYA. [_Falling at her feet_] Whatever you wish, only not marriage with him! MADAM ULANBÉKOV. Fiddlesticks! What I have once said is sacred. And what do you mean by this scene? Can't you see that I'm not well? To keep on plaguing me! Potápych! She has no father; you be a father to her instead; and impress upon her in fatherly fashion the baseness of her conduct, and the fact that she must obey my commands. POTÁPYCH. You listen, Nadezhda, to what the mistress commands! Because when she intrusts you to me, it means that I must show my authority over you. If you command it, mistress, I can at once, in your presence, give her some moral instruction with my own hand! Here, if you dare to say one tiny word to the contrary, I'll drag you off by the hair, no matter what any one says. [_He raises his hand threateningly._] NÁDYA. Oh!... [_She crouches._] MADAM ULANBÉKOV. Don't strike her! What disgusting scenes! POTÁPYCH. But, mistress! You can't get results by talking! Besides, if I'm her father, that's the regular thing! That's the law, and according to that, since she is rebelling against you now, I ought to give you that satisfaction. NÁDYA. [_Weeping_] Mistress, don't ruin me! MADAM ULANBÉKOV. Oh, my God! You don't spare me at all. Tears, squabblings! Send for the doctor at once! How many times have I got to say it? It's your own fault, you've nobody to blame for your tears. Potápych! get this business over with! I don't like to repeat the same thing ten times over.