THE LIGHT SHINES IN DARKNESS

ACT I

SCENE 1

The scene represents the verandah of a fine country-house, in front

of which a croquet-lawn and tennis-court are shown, also a

flower-bed. The children are playing croquet with their governess.

Mary Ivánovna Sarýntsova, a handsome elegant woman of forty; her

sister, Alexándra Ivánovna Kóhovtseva, a stupid, determined woman of

forty-five; and her husband, Peter Semyónovich Kóhovtsef, a fat

flabby man, dressed in a summer suit, with a pince-nez, are sitting

on the verandah at a table with a samovár and coffee-pot. Mary

Ivánovna Sarýntsova, Alexándra Ivánovna Kóhovtseva, and Peter

Semyónovich Kóhovtsev are drinking coffee, and the latter is

smoking.

ALEXÁNDRA IVÁNOVNA. If you were not my sister, but a stranger, and

Nicholas Ivánovich not your husband, but merely an acquaintance, I

should think all this very original, and perhaps I might even encourage

him, J'aurais trouvé tout ça très gentil;[1] but when I see that

your husband is playing the fool--yes, simply playing the fool--then I

can't help telling you what I think about it. And I shall tell your

husband, Nicholas, too. Je lui dirai son fait, ma chère.[2] I am not

The Light Shines in Darkness