Original subtitles

MOSFILM

Artistic Association ''Tovarishch''

A NEST OF GENTRY

Based on the works by Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev

Written by V. YEZHOV A. MIKHALKOV-KONCHALOVSKY

Director of Photography G. RERBERG

Production Designers A. BOIM N. DVIGUBSKY, M. ROMADIN

Music Composed and Conducted by V. OVCHINNIKOV

Sound by R. MARGACHYOVA

Gypsy Song Performed by M. SHISHKOV

EngIish SubtitIes by T. Kameneva

Cast: Lisa - Irina KUPCHENKO

Lavretsky - Leonid KULAGIN Varvara PavIovna - Beata TYSZKIEWICZ

Maria Dmitrievna - T. CHERNOVA Panshin - V. SERGACHYOV

Gedeonovsky - V. MERKURIEV Lemm - A. KOSTOMOLOTSKY

Marfa Timofeyevna - M. DURASOVA

Anton - V. KOCHURIKHIN Grishka - S. NIKONENKO

Count NeIidov - N. MIKHALKOV Sitnikov - N. GUBENKO

Justine - N. TERENTYEVA AkuIina - Z. RUPASOVA

Lenochka - Dasha SEMYONOVA Shurochka - Nadya PODGORNOVA

A NEST OF GENTRY

Directed by Andrei MIKHALKOV-KONCHALOVSKY

I wouId Iike some cottage cheese.

- Do you have cottage cheese? - Yes, fresh one, with sour cream.

Your name is Anton, isn't it?

So you're stiII aIive.

As you see, my dear sir, Fyodor Ivanovich, I'm stiII aIive.

Have been waiting for you for 15 years now.

EIeven.

I got iII Iast winter, but I said to myseIf, you can't yet die.

I had served your father.

And your grandfather, faithfuIIy and truIy.

So I must wait for Fyodor Ivanovich.

- Where's my mother's portrait? - Your mother's?

Grishka!

Give me the ring.

I can't. A souvenir from Paris.

- Grishka! - Oui, Monsieur!

Oui, Monsieur.

There was no portrait of your mother.

What do you mean, there was no portrait? I remember it.

No, Fyodor Ivanovich.

The portraits were painted onIy on your father's side, the gentry's side.

And your mother, excuse me, was a house serf before her marriage.

AkuIina, go!

- And you go too! - Oui, Monsieur.

There was a portrait.

You forgot it. There was a smaII picture in the bedroom.

- In the bedroom? - Your mother's bedroom.

Do you remember this one too?

How can I not remember your great- grandfather Andrei Afanasyevich?

He was a reaI master. He knew no superiors.

He'd Ieft so much weaIth after him.

The theatre, it was he who buiIt it.

Sure enough, a reaI grandee, the head of the Lavretskys House.

As for your grandfather, they Iived not so weII.

He'd spent aII the money, not Ieaving a singIe siIver spoon.

Though he was very daring and crueI at heart.

He aImost kiIIed your father when he decided to get married.

Your father had the foIIy to say: ''I'm marrying MaIania, the maid.''

I was serving at that dinner, and aImost dropped a tray.

Your grandfather roIIed his eyes

and began to tug on the tabIecIoth with aII the dishes.

We thought he had a stroke.

But instead he shouted: ''I'II curse you! I'II disinherit you!

MaIania is to be fIogged! And sent to a distant viIIage!''

That very night your father kidnapped MaIania,

gaIIoped off with her to town and married her there.

The next day he sent your grandfather a Ietter

which your grandfather didn't even read.

He was so upset that he took to bed.

The whoIe province was buzzing

with the news of a nobIeman marrying a house maid.

But your mother, though common, was an inteIIigent woman.

She Iearned how to read.

We caIIed her MaIania Sergeyevna.

She pined for your father very much when he went abroad.

She Iived upstairs, in the attic.

That was where she died.

Why is this naiIed up?

Have it opened.

And where does your wife choose to Iive now, sir?

I am separated from my wife.

PIease don't ask me about her. You can go now.

Fyodor Ivanovich, your wife has conquered the entire Paris.

Not many Russians couId achieve this.

I was brought to Paris from Voronezh.

Can you imagine what an uncouth Iog I was.

What it takes other peopIe years to do, your wife has assimiIated instantIy.

She has that artistic sense which we Russians usuaIIy Iack.

It's so admirabIe! You're a Iucky husband.

Fyodor, Iet me introduce to you Monsieur JuIes,

a man of Ietters who wrote about my musicaI soirees.

The whoIe Paris is taIking about your saIon.

I can't beIieve that you managed to Iure in the great maestro.

I'm sure he's in Iove with your wife, just as we aII are.

By her mentaIity, Madame is a French woman.

Is it true that I'm back? Is it true that I'm home at Iast?

As happiness is impossibIe without Iove,

so can be neither peace nor freedom without your native Iand.

Man is much more Iike a pIant than he thinks.

A pIant and its roots can't Iive being torn from its native soiI.

And if it's so, not aII has been Iost yet.

Oh God, how many times I thought I'd aIready comprehended it aII.

One reaIIy has to get his head smashed against the waII.

My famiIy Iife has faiIed, I'II never be abIe to buiId myseIf a nest.

The most important thing is not to be torn from your native Iand.

Not soiI, but preciseIy Iand.

There is the KaIitins' house.

I wonder how they wiII receive me.

Christofor Teodorovich!

Do you remember your most untaIented pupiI?

WouId you Iike to go again to my... Lavriki?

To Lavriki? With pIeasure, Fyodor Ivanovich.

And this must be the youngest one, Lenochka?

Yes.

Remember how you asked me to name the meIody and I couIdn't?

Yes.

You don't recognize me?

But I remembered you. I am Lavretsky.

- Isn't your name EIisaveta? - Yes.

I remember you perfectIy, aIthough it's 1 1 years since I saw you Iast.

You were a chiId then.

Is your mother at home?

Mother heard about your arrivaI.

She's in the garden, with Sergey Petrovich.

What a strong wind.

Here comes Maman.

How are you, my dear cousin?

I don't beIieve my eyes.

Verenitsyna toId me you were back in Russia, but I didn't beIieve her.

You know that Verenitsyna...

How are you, my good cousin?

Verenitsyna, our neighbor.

You were in town paying visits.

Shame on you for being in town and not visiting us.

How gIad I am to see you!

Let me introduce you to my daughter Lisa.

I have aIready introduced myseIf to EIisaveta MikhaiIovna.

And this is Sergey Petrovich Gedeonovsky,

a coIIeague of my Iate husband, our oId friend,

a very nice man, a State counciIor.

Mamma, mamma! VIadimir NikoIayevich is riding!

What a IoveIy horse he has!

Oh, VIadimir NikoIayevich! He aIways invents something new.

You know, dear cousin,

this year we have so many guests from the capitaI.

Sergey Petrovich, come here!

Good afternoon, Maria Dmitrievna! How do you Iike my new purchase?

Good afternoon, VIadimir NikoIayevich! What a beautifuI horse!

Don't you think VIadimir NikoIayevich is a very agreeabIe young man?

He Iooks Iike a Frenchman. He has a teasing streak.

Between ourseIves, he's madIy in Iove with my Lisa.

- A briIIiant officer. - Retired.

And he isn't a bit arrogant.

He's weII regarded in the highest circIes. He's on business here.

From the Ministry of the Interior.

I'm sure, if he wanted, he couId in time become a Minister.

Yes.

And what do you think of my Lisa?

EIisaveta MikhaiIovna is a beautifuI girI.

For pity's sake! It's just incredibIe!

The factory-owner Sitnikov asked two thousand for the horse, the scoundreI!

And such a stupid name - Pegasus.

Dear cousin, pIease meet VIadimir NikoIayevich Panshin.

And this is Monsieur Fyodor Ivanovich Lavretsky.

Where are you going, Christofor Teodorovich?

My head aches.

Do stay, we wiII have a taIk about Shakespeare.

My head aches.

Why are you Iaughing at the oId man?

The samovar is ready!

Anfisa, serve us tea.

GentIemen, dear cousin, come to the tabIe, pIease.

OnIy to think how Iong it is since we Iast met...

Where have you come from now?

Where have you Ieft... that is, I meant to say...

You wanted to ask where I have Ieft my wife?

I've Ieft my wife in Paris.

I have just come from ItaIy. I mean, right now from Lavriki.

I returned from Rome five days ago.

I say, Iadies and gentIemen, Paris is indeed a corrupted city.

A reaI BabyIon. I'II never forget my youthfuI days.

And what about Marfa Timofeyevna? Is she aIive?

Auntie is upstairs, having her tea.

Why are you pouring such a strong tea for me?

Why, there's Fedya! It's reaIIy Fedya!

Let me have a Iook at you.

Ah, you Iook spIendid.

You've grown oIder, but you've not changed for the worse.

But why do you kiss my hand? Kiss me properIy,

if my wrinkIed cheeks aren't disagreeabIe to you.

Nastasya Karpovna, teII them to pick up fresh strawberries.

Shurochka wiII heIp you.

Why did you put the music on? Naughty chiId!

- WiII you stay with us for Iong? - For good.

For good. I'II Iive at Lavriki.

Of course, one feeIs disIocated when Iiving abroad.

- And why do you Iook so gIoomy? - I'm ashamed.

Ashamed of what? You're not one to bIame.

A husband is aIways to bIame if his wife behaves badIy.

I aIways said that there's no good

in those marriages of yours for Iove.

I Ioved her so much, auntie!

I wouId have forgotten everything, I wouId've even forgiven her if she...

Why haven't you brought Varvara here then?

It's too Iate. It's been four years aIready since we parted.

I've come back to my country.

I want to recover from aII that gIitter and thunder.

You're so unIucky, Fedya.

Just as your mother was unIucky in Iove.

She was an angeI, though she was a common woman.

I remember how your father brought her to us Iate at night.

He brought her, and he said:

''My father has cursed me because I married a house maid.''

And I saw her standing in the porch, so frightened.

He said: ''WiII you take us in...''

''Come here,'' he said to her, ''hastiIy ennobIed Iady.''

- Do you remember your mother? - Yes, I do.

AII right, enough of that.

She was pure goId, your mother. So quiet and timid.

She expired in a few days.

Expired Iike some tender shrub torn from its native soiI,

with its roots upturned to the sun.

Pardon.

Varyusha, don't be angry.

I understand that you Iove society and its gIitter.

But why invite thatjournaIist, Monsieur JuIes?

I want to go to Rome.

That Monsieur JuIes...

That insoIent and cringing man, Iike most dueIists and fIogged men are.

He has a scandaIous reputation.

And I Iike society scandaIs.

Be carefuI, or you'II tear it.

What's the matter with you? What's the matter?

TeII me, what's the matter?

Let's go home, to Lavriki.

We'II take waIks in the woods. We'II cook jam.

No.

- WeII, I'd better go. - Wait a bit more...

- What shaII I wait for? - I picked some fIowers for you.

FieId ashberry... It's good for the caIves.

And this is... mint... It heIps from scrofuIa...

And these are forget-me-nots...

Life is passing. I miss Paris so much.

Oh, the German!

In this unhurried Iife, one begins to think differentIy.

And - strange to say - aII bad meIts away in your heart...

Like snow in spring.

Can you see VIadimir NikoIayevich?

Why didn't you invite me to pIay.

You?

Do you remember what's written in the Scriptures?

If a man Iives many years,

Iet him rejoice in them aII.

Though it's aIso said in the Scriptures

that he shouId remember the days of darkness, for they wiII be many.

And what is this?

Yesterday you pIayed something I'm not famiIiar with. Was it yours?

Ah, that's nothing.

What about writing an opera? You'II write the music, and I a Iibretto.

An opera? No, that is beyond me.

AIready my strength has gone.

The onIy thing I shouId content myseIf with is a romance.

But I shouId Iike good words.

Something of this kind.

O stars, pure stars!

O stars, pure stars!

You Iook down aIike on the righteous and on...

However, I'm no poet.

I'm sorry I'm not a poet either.

WeII, it's time for dinner.

- From Paris. - Roquefort!

Maestro, I think you wiII soon have to compose a festive cantata.

On what occasion?

On that of Monsieur Panshin's marriage to EIisaveta MikhaiIovna.

- That wiII not be! - Why not?

Because it is impossibIe.

EIisaveta MikhaiIovna is a serious girI,

but he is a man of no principIe.

With no ideaIs.

Though everything is possibIe in Russia.

Why shouIdn't I invite EIisaveta MikhaiIovna to come here for the day

with her mother and sister?

Invite her.

- But we needn't ask Panshin? - No, we needn't.

Grishka! Anton!

Grishka! Anton!

Where are you aII?

Anton, send a man to the KaIitins with my Ietter.

You haven't knocked it off yet. I toId you to Iong ago.

- Yes, sir. I'II caII Mikhey now. - You're aII hopeIess!

My parents had paid IittIe attention to me. I was brought up by my nurse.

She was an amazing creature!

If anyone spoke rudeIy to her,

she onIy bowed her head and gave thanks for the Iesson.

It was she who taught me to pray.

She took me to the earIy service in secret.

I remember it was stiII dark when I, haIf-asIeep, was dressed

and taken to church.

The snow was bIue, my cheek stiII crumpIed from a piIIow.

The coId is crawIing up my sIeeves, and I see the church before me.

And the goIden Iight comes from the church, it's warm inside.

Why did you stop taIking?

You must forgive me.

I have no right to speak to you of this, but you're so good.

Why did you separate from your wife?

I know, she's guiIty before you, but you shouId forgive her.

Forgive her? You don't even know...

I wouId've forgiven her if she herseIf had admitted she was unfaithfuI.

And what makes you think that she wants to return to me?

But what is the good of taIking about her?

You shouId forgive. You shouId.

Because without forgiveness your souI wiII remain without God.

Where's Madame?

I've just seen such a beautifuI butterfIy...

Give me the pIaid.

It was aII green, with IittIe red spots.

This is the person I Iove more than anyone eIse in the worId.

Did you hear that angeI say

that she Ioves oId Lemm most of aII?

And you compIain that you're unIucky.

- Did you hear it? - Let's go, or you'II catch a coId.

To hear such words from that heavenIy creature...

- What happened? - My wife has died.

''The deIightfuI, enchanting Moscow Iady, the queen of Paris saIons,

Madame de Lavretsky, has died quite suddenIy.''

You know I never Iiked your wife.

But how awfuI it is to die far from your home.

Oh God, why shouId I stay in your Russia?

For 40 years I continued to seek my fortune here, and became a beggar.

I no Ionger hope for anything.

You know, I'm afraid of dying here,

never seeing my Germany again.

Let's go away from here. Just the two of us.

Tomorrow. No, right away. Grishka!

Let's go to SwitzerIand.

Anton!

No, better to ItaIy. No, to Germany!

Do you remember what you taught me?

That's aII fantasies, my young friend.

You won't go anywhere.

You don't have to go anywhere.

- Why not? - You're a free man now.

But what am I to do with my freedom?

I know everything.

OnIy two weeks ago you didn't need your freedom,

but now you need it very much.

Oh, for God's sake, don't say that.

It's too Iate for me.

It's never Iate to hope for happiness.

Good evening, my dear friends. I'm so gIad to see you.

Just Iook at this charming creature.

Princess Maria NikoIayevna Gagarin.

Good evening.

- You don't speak Russian? - PreciseIy!

She was born and brought up here.

A native of Penza, she doesn't speak a word of Russian. It's outrageous!

It's my honor to introduce to you Monsieur Ernest de Bouvoir

who hasn't yet mustered the courage to invite a Iady for a waItz,

without being introduced to her and her husband.

My wife has died.

It makes me so frightened.

You must have reaIized onIy now how much you Ioved her.

Your face... Iooks so strange.

At Ieast I am now a free man.

What use is your freedom to you? You shouId think now of forgiveness.

Oh, EIisaveta MikhaiIovna, beIieve me...

I have been punished enough aIready.

For four years now my Iife have been poisoned.

I'm a man... who has Iived his Iife.

You must not think so. It's a sin.

You're stiII aIive, and she's no more.

I'm unabIe to hide anything from you.

And I hope you wiII repay me with an equaI confidence.

Do you think so?

In that case I shouId feeI obIiged to ask for your advice.

But no.

Speak, speak.

- Lisa, Iook at that whistIe! - There's a Iot of raspberries there!

Speak up.

I received a Ietter this morning.

- From Panshin? - How did you know?

- He asks you to be his wife? - Yes.

WeII...

You're undertaking such a terribIe responsibiIity to the man

whom you do not Iove and to whom you are ready to beIong.

And you, Fyodor Ivanovich...

You married for Iove, and were you happy?

I was happy.

It seems to me that Iove wiII never bring me happiness.

I impIore you, don't marry without Iove!

No, Iove wiII never being me happiness.

The guardian angeI sent to us down from heaven.

Rejoice at the Birthgiver of God, O Thou who aIone Ioveth mankind.

- Who ordered the speciaI service? - Marfa Timofeyevna.

Not at aII, it was EIisaveta MikhaiIovna who ordered it.

O Lord!

Forgive me, O Lord!

Forgive me for not having come to you for such a Iong time.

I beg You to save my souI

and deIiver it of aII maIice and anger.

Send onto me, O Lord, the grace of humiIity.

And I aIso pray for the repose of my Iate wife.

O Lord, do you hear me?

I thank Thee for my recovered hope, for my beIoved Russia.

O Christ, our onIy true God

by the pure prayers of Your mother...

It is so Iong since we have been aIone together.

- You seem to be frightened of me. - Yes.

- PIease teII me why? - Don't ask me about anything.

I... know nothing.

I don't even know myseIf.

- How are you, Marfa Timofeyevna? - Ah, it's you, Fedya!

- What's the matter with you? - PIease, don't even ask.

What happened?

That Petersburg shuffIer

came for a finaI answer.

The two of them wiII do the poor girI in.

Her mother seems to be dying to move to Petersburg.

So they're sitting there, waiting

for her to give her immediate consent.

Nastasya Karpovna! Nastasya Karpovna!

I can't bear it. I just can't.

And you serve French wine for dinner. Why?

I don't reject everything.

I Iove Paris, and I beIieve

that Russia must catch up to France, but...

What is good for France,

is no good for Russia.

Russia is in sIumber.

We have onIy become haIf-Europeans.

Do you suggest to make Russians whoIIy European?

Yes.

I met such Russian Europeans in Paris.

A young girI, Princess Gagarin,

doesn't know a word of Russian.

Everything Russian is aIien to her.

What a monstrous contradiction

between bIood and breed, and the Ianguage and thoughts.

With time that contradiction wiII be IeveIed out.

It's too boring to argue on that subject.

Thank God that the peopIe don't Iisten to those arguments.

WeII, I can understand that such a Iong absence

couId have made you nostaIgic for Russian kvass.

But onIy the most reactionary conservative

can expIain our secIusion,

our insusceptibiIity to Western infIuences

by the mystery of a SIavic souI.

For God's sake, there's no mystery.

It's just the Iack of civiIization.

And it has been understood.

If Khomyakov himseIf admits it...

Oh God, we're so fond of mysteries and signs.

Give us a IittIe time and your white- headed...

That is aII very fine.

It's fine that you returned from France with such a strong conviction.

But what do you intend to do?

To pIough the Iand. And to try to pIough it as weII as possibIe.

And you think you're capabIe to do it?

Dear Mistress Maria Dmitrievna.

EIisaveta MikhaiIovna asks you to come to her.

Excuse me, gentIemen.

The circumstances demand that I Ieave you.

Come on, Rex. Let's not disturb the gentIemen.

VoIdemar.

Lisa doesn't feeI weII. She asks you to excuse her.

- She wiII give her answer tomorrow. - WeII...

If I may, I'II come again tomorrow.

Why, dear cousin? Why?

Why is she doing that? Why does she want to kiII me?

Why shouId she think it over and wait? What better man couId she want?

Did EIisaveta MikhaiIovna refuse Panshin?

No, of course not. But her indecisiveness is unbearabIe.

She wiII drive me mad.

In Petersburg he couId marry any maid of honor he wanted.

He has a house on Fontanka.

Doesn't she want to go to Petersburg?

There's some anxiety in her every movement, even in her Iaughter.

And just Iook at me! Languishing away Iike a boy.

No, I want to see her. We must taIk.

AII the rest is rubbish.

When on a spring day you, my angeI so obedient,

Approach me, after coming from a waIk,

And stretch to me your hand, your smiIe simpIe and radiant,

With fIowers of my choice you stocked,

I'm Iooking at your face with so new a sense of satisfaction,

I can't enjoy enough that God- inspired view...

And in my hardened souI, Iove and affection

Are being sacredIy preserved onIy for you.

Good night, Auntie.

It's dawn aIready.

I can't pretend any Ionger not to have noticed anything.

What's the matter, Auntie?

What's the matter? Shurochka toId me everything.

She saw you kissing with that oId sinner,

with that so-caIIed humbIe man.

And don't try to deny it.

I don't deny it.

- Perhaps you Iove him. Do you? - I Iove him.

Lisa, he's a middIe-aged man, he's a widower.

WeII, I don't deny that he's a good man, he doesn't bite.

But we're aII good peopIe.

There wiII aIways be pIenty of good peopIe in the worId.

I'II Iove him forever.

- But it's nothing. - Nothing?

Why, just Iook at yourseIf, Lisa.

What has happened to your face? Where have your eyes gone?

- It's such a misfortune. - No, Auntie.

Love is happiness, too. A great happiness.

But that happiness is not for me.

Something caIIs me... away...

What? What caIIs you away? Speak up, answer me!

Sins.

My sins... and those of other peopIe...

I don't know. I must redeem aII that, must pray away.

What is it aII about, my dear? Answer me! Speak!

Nothing.

What's on your mind, my chiId? TeII me.

TeII me pIease, don't frighten me.

Don't Iook at me Iike that, chiId. Don't.

Or I shaII shriek, I'II burst into tears.

It's raining.

Everything wiII be aII right, Auntie.

Lisa!

Lisa!

I Iove you!

I'm ready to give my whoIe Iife for you.

What is it?

Lisa!

Lisa!

Can it be that you Iove me?

We shaII be happy!

Don't drive me away, Fyodor!

Fyodor Ivanovich, pIease hear me out.

I am guiIty before you.

I've... made up my mind to break every Iink with the past.

I...

I was so iII.

I took advantage of the report about my aIIeged death. I Ieft everything.

BeIieve me, I couId have pIucked up enough courage to take my Iife.

But the thought of you...

You are going away?

What do you want from me?

TeII me what I shouId do and where I shouId Iive.

Madam, there's no reason why we shouId be hypocriticaI to each other.

Get out!

I don't beIieve in your repentance.

But even if it were genuine

it is impossibIe for me to rejoin you and Iive with you again.

And now more than ever.

Have mercy on me...

What's the matter with you?

Justine!

Grishka!

I'm here, sir.

Where's the mistress?

She ordered a carriage in the morning.

- Where to? - She said, to the KaIitins.

- What?! - To the KaIitins.

Lisa!

- Wait. - PIease, don't.

AII is over.

Yes. Over before it couId begin.

We must do our duty, Fyodor Ivanovich.

You shouId try to make peace with your wife.

Lisa! For God's sake! You're asking the impossibIe.

I agree to anything. I have forgotten the past.

But I can't do such vioIence to my heart...

Don't Iive with her if you don't wish to, but be reconciIed with her.

Do this for my sake.

Very weII. Suppose I do this.

And fuIfiI my duty. But what do you think your duty is?

I know it weII.

Are you going to marry Panshin?

I'II go into a convent.

Lisa... come to your senses.

What on earth are you thinking of?

I prayed, I sought advice from God.

I have made up my mind.

You're iII, you're raving.

You're iII.

Happiness wouIdn't go to me, even when...

When I had hopes...

I'II steaI you, I'II take you abroad.

No, Fyodor Ivanovich, you won't do that.

Perhaps, that's exactIy why I Iove you.

Go into the drawing-room.

I'II come there shortIy.

I impIore you, don't go there. She shouIdn't have come here.

Go.

I didn't expect, dear cousin, that you have such a charming wife.

I hope you won't get angry.

I thought it my duty to pay my respects to this house.

I have no intention of depriving you of the freedom to see your friends.

On the contrary, I... as you pIease.

No, I can't do it today.

- No, I can't. - Come on, it was so charming.

- Wasn't it, dear cousin? - Yes, charming.

Go on.

I heard, Varvara PavIovna, that you're a wonderfuI performer.

Fyodor Ivanovich, do you want me to pIay?

Of course. If you feeI Iike it...

AIIow me to introduce myseIf.

Your maman was so kind to me.

I hope you, too, wiII be my friend.

So do I.

- How is your heaIth? - Very weII, thank you.

We have just been enjoying a IittIe music, waiting for you.

- You're such a bear, Fedya. - Why?

Don't worry, I'II have you reconciIed with your sweet wife.

Not today, of course.

Come sit by me.

Tiki-tiki-tiki, my sweetie. Just Iook at them.

I hope today, God wiIIing, they wiII have everything soIved.

She has tortured him enough.

Maria Dmitrievna, are you going to the fair tomorrow?

A fair? Fie! There're onIy drunken merchants there.

No, you're wrong. A grand baII at the House of NobiIity.

- And a big buffet! - A buffet.

A fair! How deIightfuI! MarveIous!

- Do you want to go to the baII, Lisa? - I don't know, Mother.

Let's go there together.

Maria Dmitrievna? VIadimir NikoIayevich? Sergey PavIovich?

The theatre, horse rides.

Are there going to be Gypsies? Don't you know?

A new chorus... At VassiIy's.

And aII kinds of...

- What's the matter? - Nothing.

Steshka wiII again sing that romance about a wiIIow tree.

EIisaveta MikhaiIovna sings that romance much better.

Which romance? That oId romance?

Yes, that oId romance.

WiII you sing for us, EIisaveta MikhaiIovna?

Yes, I wiII.

I'II heIp you.

WiIIows by the road,

WiIIow trees are growing.

Now they braid their tresses,

Now they get them unwoven.

To the wind they bow Their vines, o so thin...

- More tea? - No, thank you.

Serve a drink of water To a wayward piIgrim...

- How is he, Your ExceIIency? - His front Iegs are too weak.

Come on, Petya, try him. At a gaIIop, at a gaIIop!

What do you think?

Don't Iet him trot!

What a beast!

He's just moving earth under him, Your ExceIIency. A reaI beast!

And his croup is hot as a stove. You couId sIeep on it.

And he is not winded!

As for stumbIing, there's no question of it.

Fire! He is pure fire, Your ExceIIency.

And staid Iike a Boyar.

A horse with an ambition, God save him with a whip.

No dog wiII ever dare bite him.

Pure fire. Take him for 5 thousand. I'II give him to you for 4 and a haIf.

A Iearned bird.

KhIopakov! KhIopakov!

- I'm here, Your ExceIIency. - What do you think?

WeII, he's a reaI monster, Your ExceIIency.

VIadimir NikoIayevich!

Fyodor Ivanovich! So you're here too!

- I am gIad to see you. - So do I.... very gIad.

EIisaveta MikhaiIovna has not yet accepted my proposaI.

I beIieve...

I think she is doing it on the spur of the moment.

Maria Dmitrievna thinks so, too.

I have no intention of retreating.

I beIieve, Fyodor Ivanovich, I am sure

that I won't find in either capitaI such a highIy moraI and inteIIigent,

such a pure girI as EIisaveta MikhaiIovna.

And what do you actuaIIy want from me?

I?

I'm seeking from you, as an experienced man...

the approvaI of my actions.

EIisaveta MikhaiIovna...

She is certainIy an extraordinary girI in every respect.

She can make happy...

any man.

ReaIIy? Thank you. That's exactIy what I expected of you.

But not every man...

can make happy EIisaveta MikhaiIovna.

Do you mean to say that I am unworthy of EIisaveta MikhaiIovna?

PreciseIy. Unworthy.

You've got a French face.

Mr. Kazarnovsky, come here.

Yes, Your ExceIIency.

And how much is this one?

OnIy for Your ExceIIency, five thousand.

- Three. - I can't, Your ExceIIency.

He said three.

I'II give you five thousand.

Fyodor Ivanovich, why are you here? You pIanned to go home yesterday.

I'm giving five thousand.

Then I'm giving six.

Seven thousand.

Seven and a haIf.

Ten.

Bring me some vodka.

I understand you, Fyodor Ivanovich.

Your wife needs a carriage with horses no worse than in Paris.

It's not nice, Count.

I remember you as a boy. I used to bring candies to you.

And you ate them.

PIay!

And I don't understand Fyodor Ivanovich.

Fyodor Ivanovich, for how Iong do you think you can continue

to shock society with impunity?

Do you wish to chaIIenge me to a dueI?

Nothing wiII come of it.

Those dueIs...

I don't recognize them.

I am a haIf-mouzhik.

My mother was a house serf.

So I prefer to use a shaft.

Send the horse to Lavriki.

He's not even worth three thousand, sir.

Of course, he isn't.

Dear sir, Fyodor Ivanovich, I can't sIeep, thinking aII the time

where you couId have been a whoIe week.

- What time is it? - AImost seven.

ShaII I make your bed?

- Bring me some soup. - Yes, sir.

Thank you, Anton. You can go.

I've been waiting for you in order to thank you.

I know I don't deserve your forgiveness.

I forgave you Iong ago.

I think that you rejoiced when you heard the news of my death, but...

Admit it that your Iife with me was very comfortabIe.

That I aIways respected your independence.

Your peace.

That you were even happy.

Now I am repuIsive to you.

But to stay here

and become a provinciaI society Iioness - this is beyond me.

You know, I feeI Iike a guest here.

I'm going back to Paris.

We have become strangers.

And for parting I want to teII you, Fedya,

that since youth you've been Iiving in a worId you yourseIf invented.

AII your Iife you have taken me

for another woman, the product of your fantasy.

You're even fantasizing your Russia.

It is not Iike that at aII.

You wiII not be happy in Russia.

What couId I say to her? How couId I object?

It didn't matter to me whether I had invented my Russia

or it was reaIIy Iike that.

That's how I saw it, feIt it, and Ioved it.

I was convinced that so far...

OnIy eternity reIated to it.

CouId I reIate to it?

At that time I stiII didn't know that.

The End