MITRITCH. Didn't I say I won't! Oh, Nikita, you're as stupid as a hog! (Laughs.) I love you, but you're a fool! You see that I'm drunk ... devil take you! You think I need you?... You just look at me; I'm a Non ... fool, can't say it--Non-commissioned Officer of Her Majesty's very First Regiment of Grenadier Guards! I've served Tsar and country, loyal and true! But who am I? You think I'm a warrior? No, I'm not a warrior; I'm the very least of men, a poor lost orphan! I swore not to drink, and now I had a smoke, and.... Well then, do you think I'm afraid of you? No fear; I'm afraid of no man! I've taken to drink, and I'll drink! Now I'll go it for a fortnight; I'll go it hard! I'll drink my last shirt; I'll drink my cap; I'll pawn my passport; and I'm afraid of no one! They flogged me in the army to stop me drinking! They switched and switched! "Well," they say, "will you leave off?" "No," says I! Why should I be afraid of them? Here I am! Such as I am, God made me! I swore off drinking, and didn't drink. Now I've took to drink, and I'll drink! And I fear no man! 'Cos I don't lie; but just as.... Why should one mind them--such muck as they are! "Here you are," I say; that's me. A priest told me, the devil's the biggest bragger! "As soon," says he, "as you begin to brag, you get frightened; and as soon as you fear men then the hoofed one just collars you and pushes you where he likes!" But as I don't fear men, I'm easy! I can spit in the devil's beard, and at the sow his mother! He can't do me no harm! There, put that in your pipe! NIKITA (crossing himself). True enough! What was I about? [Throws down the rope. MITRITCH. What? NIKITA (rises). You tell me not to fear men? MITRITCH. Why fear such muck as they are? You look at 'em in the bath-house! All made of one paste! One has a bigger belly, another a smaller; that's all the difference there is! Fancy being afraid of 'em! Deuce take 'em! MATRYONA (from the yard). Well, are you coming? NIKITA. Ah! Better so! I'm coming! [Goes towards yard. SCENE II Interior of hut, full of people, some sitting round tables and others standing. In the front corner AKOULINA and the BRIDEGROOM. On one of the tables an Icon and a loaf of rye-bread. Among the visitors are MARINA, her husband, and a POLICE OFFICER, also a HIRED DRIVER, the MATCHMAKER, and the BEST MAN. The women are singing. ANISYA carries round the drink. The singing stops. THE DRIVER. If we are to go, let's go! The church ain't so near. THE BEST MAN. All right; you wait a bit till the step-father has given his blessing. But where is he? ANISYA. He is coming--coming at once, dear friends! Have another glass, all of you; don't refuse! THE MATCHMAKER. Why is he so long? We've been waiting such a time! ANISYA. He's coming; coming directly, coming in no time! He'll be here before one could plait a girl's hair who's had her hair cropped! Drink, friends! (Offers the drink.) Coming at once! Sing again, my pets, meanwhile!