CHEBUTIKIN. [Angrily] Devil take them all... take them all.... They think I’m a doctor and can cure everything, and I know absolutely nothing, I’ve forgotten all I ever knew, I remember nothing, absolutely nothing. [OLGA and NATASHA go out, unnoticed by him] Devil take it. Last Wednesday I attended a woman in Zasip--and she died, and it’s my fault that she died. Yes... I used to know a certain amount five-and-twenty years ago, but I don’t remember anything now. Nothing. Perhaps I’m not really a man, and am only pretending that I’ve got arms and legs and a head; perhaps I don’t exist at all, and only imagine that I walk, and eat, and sleep. [Cries] Oh, if only I didn’t exist! [Stops crying; angrily] The devil only knows.... Day before yesterday they were talking in the club; they said, Shakespeare, Voltaire... I’d never read, never read at all, and I put on an expression as if I had read. And so did the others. Oh, how beastly! How petty! And then I remembered the woman I killed on Wednesday... and I couldn’t get her out of my mind, and everything in my mind became crooked, nasty, wretched.... So I went and drank.... [IRINA, VERSHININ and TUZENBACH enter; TUZENBACH is wearing new and fashionable civilian clothes.] IRINA. Let’s sit down here. Nobody will come in here. VERSHININ. The whole town would have been destroyed if it hadn’t been for the soldiers. Good men! [Rubs his hands appreciatively] Splendid people! Oh, what a fine lot! KULIGIN. [Coming up to him] What’s the time? TUZENBACH. It’s past three now. It’s dawning. IRINA. They are all sitting in the dining-room, nobody is going. And that Soleni of yours is sitting there. [To CHEBUTIKIN] Hadn’t you better be going to sleep, doctor? CHEBUTIKIN. It’s all right... thank you.... [Combs his beard.] KULIGIN. [Laughs] Speaking’s a bit difficult, eh, Ivan Romanovitch! [Pats him on the shoulder] Good man! _In vino veritas_, the ancients used to say. TUZENBACH. They keep on asking me to get up a concert in aid of the sufferers. IRINA. As if one could do anything.... TUZENBACH. It might be arranged, if necessary. In my opinion Maria Sergeyevna is an excellent pianist. KULIGIN. Yes, excellent! IRINA. She’s forgotten everything. She hasn’t played for three years... or four. TUZENBACH. In this town absolutely nobody understands music, not a soul except myself, but I do understand it, and assure you on my word of honour that Maria Sergeyevna plays excellently, almost with genius. KULIGIN. You are right, Baron, I’m awfully fond of Masha. She’s very fine. TUZENBACH. To be able to play so admirably and to realize at the same time that nobody, nobody can understand you!