PELAGEYA EGOROVNA.  Yes, you must, you must.  Say good-by to her, of course!  Annushka, go and fetch Lyubov.

ANNA IVANOVNA. [Shaking her head] “One man leads her by one hand, another by the other, a third stands and sheds tears; he loved her, but did not get her.”

SCENE V

PELAGEYA EGOROVNA and MITYA

PELAGEYA EGOROVNA.  Oh, Mitya, my dear!  What trouble we are in!  How can we drive it away—­get rid of it—­I cannot think.  It’s as if a thunderbolt had struck me!  I can’t recover myself.

MITYA.  You have no one to blame but yourself for your unhappiness, Pelageya Egorovna; you are marrying her off yourself, ma’am.

PELAGEYA EGOROVNA.  Yes, we are doing it ourselves; we are marrying her off ourselves!  Only it’s not with my consent, Mitya!  If I had my way, do you think I’d give her up?  Do you think I’m her enemy?

MITYA.  He’s a man—­from what I hear—­not a very great catch!  There’s nothing good to be heard of him—­except what’s bad.

PELAGEYA EGOROVNA.  I know, Mitya dear, I know.

MITYA.  Well, from all accounts, I must say this, that most likely Lyubov Gordeyevna, married to such a man, and living far away from you, will absolutely perish—­no doubt of it.

PELAGEYA EGOROVNA.  Oh, don’t speak of it to me, don’t speak of it!  I’m distracted enough about it without your saying anything.  I’ve worn my eyes out with gazing at her!  If I could only look at her enough to last me forever!  It’s as if I were getting ready to bury her.

MITYA. [Nearly weeping] How can such things happen?  How can people do such things?  She’s your own daughter, I suppose!

PELAGEYA EGOROVNA.  If she weren’t my own, then I shouldn’t be weeping and wailing, and my heart wouldn’t be breaking over her tears.

MITYA.  Why weep?  It would be better not to marry her.  Why are you ruining the girl’s life, and giving her into slavery?  Isn’t this a sin?  You will have to answer for it to God.

PELAGEYA EGOROVNA.  I know, I know it all, but I tell you, Mitya, it’s not my doing.  Why do you keep on blaming me?  It’s horrible enough for me without your talking about it, and you stir me up still more.  Mitya, you should pity me!

MITYA.  It’s true, Pelageya Egorovna, but I can’t endure this sorrow.  Maybe it’s worse for me than for you!  I trust you so much, Pelageya Egorovna, that I will open my heart to you as if you were my own mother. [Dries his eyes with his handkerchief] Yesterday evening, when you were having the evening party. [Tears prevent him from speaking]

PELAGEYA EGOROVNA.  Well, well, tell me, tell me!

MITYA.  Well, then, she and I made a compact in the dark, that we would go together to you and to Gordey Karpych, and beg you humbly; we were going to say:  “Give us your blessing; we cannot live without each other any longer.” [Dries his tears] And now suddenly, this morning, I heard—­and my arms just dropped by my side!