* * * * *

Diedlov, when he speaks of the Deputy Governor or the Governor, becomes a romanticist, remembering “The Arrival of the Deputy Governor” in the book A Hundred Russian Writers.

* * * * *

A play:  the Bean of Life.

* * * * *

A vet. belongs to the stallion class of people.

* * * * *

Consultation.

* * * * *

The sun shines and in my soul is darkness.

* * * * *

In S. I made the acquaintance of the barrister Z.—­a sort of Nika, The Fair ...  He has several children; with all of them he is magisterial, gentle, kind, not a single rude word; I soon learn that he has another family.  Then he invites me to his daughter’s wedding; he prays, makes a genuflection, and says:  “I still preserve religious feeling; I am a believer.”  And when in his presence people speak of education, of women, he has a naive expression, exactly as if he did not understand.  When he makes a speech in Court, his face looks as if he were praying.

* * * * *

“Mammy, don’t show yourself to the guests, you are very fat.”

* * * * *

Love?  In love?  Never!  I am a Government clerk.

* * * * *

He knows little, even as a babe who has not yet come out of his mother’s womb.

* * * * *

From childhood until extreme old age N. has had a passion for spying.

* * * * *

He uses clever words, that’s all—­philosophy ... equator ... (for a play).

* * * * *

The stars have gone out long ago, but they still shine for the crowd.

* * * * *

As soon as he became a scholar, he began to expect honors.

* * * * *

He was a prompter, but got disgusted and gave it up; for about fifteen years he did not go to the theatre; then he went and saw a play, cried with emotion, felt sad, and, when his wife asked him on his return how he liked the theatre, he answered:  “I do not like it.”

* * * * *

The parlormaid Nadya fell in love with an exterminator of bugs and black beetles.

* * * * *

A Councillor of State; it came out after his death that, in order to earn a rouble, he was employed at the theatre to bark like a dog; he was poor.

* * * * *

You must have decent, well-dressed children, and your children too must have a nice house and children, and their children again children and nice houses; and what is it all for?—­The devil knows.