You are quite right, brother. When I was little I loved to torture animals. That developed cruelty in me. I won't allow my son to torture animals. Even after I had grown up I often made mistakes in my friendships and love. I chose friends who were unworthy and women who were faithless. I'll explain to my son-- DOCTOR _(enters and says aloud)_ Your wife is feeling very bad. She wants to see you. FATHER Oh, my God! _(He and the Doctor leave)_ _[The Relatives seat themselves in a semicircle. Solemn silence for a time. Someone in Gray stands motionless in the corner, His stony face turned toward them._ RELATIVES' CONVERSATION --Do you think, dear, she may die? --No, I don't think so. She is a very impatient woman and makes too much of her pains. All women bear children and none of them die. I have borne six children. --But the way she screamed, mamma? --Yes, her face was purple from screaming. I noticed it. --Not from screaming, but from laboring. You don't understand about these things. My face got purple too, but I didn't scream. --Not long ago an acquaintance of mine, the civil engineer's wife, gave birth to a child, and she scarcely made a sound. --I know. There's no need for my brother to be so upset. One must be firm and take things calmly. And I'm afraid, too, he'll introduce a lot of his fantastic notions in the bringing up of his children and indulge their every whim. --He's a very weak character. He has little enough money, and yet he lends it to people who don't deserve to be trusted. --Do you know how much the child's layette cost? --Don't talk to me of it! It gets on my nerves, my brother's extravagance does. I often quarrel with him because he's so improvident. --They say a stork brings babies. What sort of a stork is it? _[The young men burst out laughing._ --Don't talk nonsense. I gave birth to five children right in your presence, and I'm no stork, thank the Lord. _[The young men burst our laughing again. The Elderly Woman eyes them long and sternly._ --It's only a superstition. Children are born in an absolutely natural way, firmly established by science. They've moved to new quarters now. --Who? --The engineer and his wife. Their old place was chilly and damp. They complained to the landlord several times, but he paid no attention. --I think it's better to live in a small place that's warm than in a large place that's damp. You are liable to catch your death of cold and rheumatism if you live in a damp house. --I have a friend, too, who lives in a very damp house. And I too. Very damp. --There are so many damp places nowadays. --Tell me, please--I've been wanting to ask you a long time--how do you remove a grease stain from light-colored material? --Woollen? --No, silk. _[The child's crying is heard behind the scene._ --Take a piece of ice and rub it on the spot hard. Then take a hot iron and press the spot. --No? Fancy, how simple! I heard benzine was better.