Class 10 English (First Flight) Chapter 11 - The Proposal By Anton Chekow
Class 10 English (First Flight) Chapter 11 - The Proposal
By Anton Chekow
The Proposal Introduction
The Proposal is a one-act play that begins with a young man, Lomov presenting a marriage proposal to his neighbour’s daughter. Before he could actually convey it to the girl, they enter into an argument about Oxen Meadows. Chubukov, the lady’s father also joins the heated discussion. After they end this, they enter into another argument about their dogs and which one is better than the other. In the midst of all this, proposal gets forgotten until Lomov falls off due to his palpitations and Chubukov instantly puts her daughter’s hands in Lomov’s. Unfortunately, the quarrelling still continues.
The Proposal Summary
The curtain rises with Lomov entering his neighbour Chubukov’s house fully dressed up in his evening attire. Chubukov is surprised to see him well-dressed and asks him the occasion. Lomov reveals that he had come to make a request. Chubukov anticipates that he must have come to ask for money which he doesn’t intend on giving. On being revealed that Lomov had come to ask for Chubulov’s daughter, Natalya’s hand in marriage, Chubukov gets filled with excitement and leaves to call Natalya. Lomov is a 35 year- old gentleman who suffers from palpitations, gets upset very easily and doesn’t sleep well. He thinks it is the best age for him to get married and he is happy that he has his mind made-up about Natalya. According to him, Natalya is average-looking and a good housekeeper. When Natalya arrives, Lomov begins the conversation about how grateful and glad he is that both their families are on good terms since the very beginning. While continuing to talk about his land, he somehow mentions about Oxen Meadows which earlier was a disputed property but is now his. Natalya couldn’t believe a word he was saying because she believes that Oxen Meadows belong to her family. Both of them enter into a heated discussion and act childishly when Chubukov enters just to get the conversation more heated. They shout and scream while Lomov suffers from extreme pounding of the heart, a side pull and a numb foot. They throw Lomov out of the house and continue cursing him. While speaking ill of him, Chubukov unintentionally reveals that he had come with a marriage proposal for Natalya which surprises Natalya and she immediately regrets sending him out. She tells her father to bring him back immediately and Chubukov curses himself on being a father of a grown-up daughter. When Lomov returns, Natalya tries to deviate to another topic and starts talking about shooting. Somehow they enter into an argument involving their dogs. Natalya feels that her Squeezer is better than Lomov’s Guess. They continue arguing when Chubukov enters the scene only to make the situation worse, once again. Everyone gets hyper and Lomov finally falls due to his palpitations. Even then, the cursing continues when suddenly Natalya notices that he is unconscious. They try to get water down his throat but end up getting unsuccessful and declare him dead. It is only when Lomov moves a little bit, they feed him some water and Chubukov forcefully hands over Natalya’s hands to him, gives his blessings and asks them to kiss. Lomov, still not fully conscious doesn’t understand what is going on. When he finally comes to his senses, he expresses his excitement and kisses Natalya’s hands. Natalya, being childish as she is, manipulates him into accepting that Squeezer is better than Guess but Lomov, being adamant as he is, refuses to accept it. Thus, once again, the quarrelling continues.
Text of the Chapter-
Farce: a comic dramatic work. The play was originally titled ‘A Marriage Proposal’, written by Russian writer Anton Chekov. He displays how the rich want to marry their children into other wealthy families with the aim of enhancing their wealth. The characters are quarrelsome and often end up fighting over trivial matters. Still, they remember the marriage proposal which will bestow monetary gains and finalise the wedding amidst the fighting.
Characters
A drawing-room in Chubukov‘s house. Lomov enters, wearing a dress-jacket and white gloves. Chubukov rises to meet him.
CHUBUKOV : My dear fellow, whom do I see! Ivan Vassilevitch! I am extremely glad! [Squeezes his hand] Now this is a surprise, my darling... How are you?
LOMOV : Thank you. And how may you be getting on?
CHUBUKOV : We just get along somehow, my angel, thanks to your prayers, and so on. Sit down, please do... Now, you know, you shouldn’t forget all about your neighbours, my darling. My dear fellow, why are you so formal in your get-up! Evening dress, gloves, and so on. Can you be going anywhere, my treasure?
LOMOV : No. I’ve come only to see you, honoured Stepan Stepanovitch.
Lomov replies by saying that there is no special occasion and he had just come to see the revered Stepan Stepanovitch.
CHUBUKOV : Then why are you in evening dress, my precious? As if you’re paying a New Year’s Eve visit!
LOMOV : You see, Honoured Stepanitch... I beg pardon Stepan Honouritch... I mean, I’m awfully excited, as you will please notice... In short, you alone can help me, though I don’t deserve it, of course... and haven’t any right to count on your assistance…
Pardon- forgive or excuse (a person, error or offence)
Awfully- very; extremely
Assistance- the action of helping someone
CHUBUKOV : Oh, don’t go round and round it, darling! Spit it out! Well?
Go round and round- not coming to the main point
Spit it out- speak out
LOMOV : One moment... this very minute. The fact is I’ve come to ask the hand of your daughter, Natalya Stepanovna, in marriage.
To seek the hand of a girl in marriage- to propose
CHUBUKOV : [joyfully] By Jove! Ivan Vassilevitch! Say it again — I didn’t hear it all!
By Jove- By God
Chubukov couldn’t believe what he just heard out of delight and thus, asks Lomov to repeat what he just said.
LOMOV : I have the honour to ask...
CHUBUKOV : [interrupting] My dear fellow... I’m so glad, and so on... Yes, indeed, and all that sort of thing. [Embraces and kisses Lomov] I’ve been hoping for it for a long time. It’s been my continual desire. [Sheds a tear] And I’ve always loved you, my angel, as if you were my own son. May God give you both — His help and His love and so on, and so much hope... What am I behaving in this idiotic way for? I’m off my balance with joy, absolutely off my balance! Oh, with all my soul... I’ll go and call Natasha, and all that.
Desire- a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen
Idiotic- very stupid; silly
Consent- agreement to do something
CHUBUKOV : Why, of course, my darling, and... as if she won’t consent! She’s in love; egad, she’s like a lovesick cat, and so on. Shan’t be long! [Exit.]
Egad- exclamation (expressing surprise, anger, or affirmation)
Lovesick- longing, yearning or desiring
LOMOV : It’s cold... I’m trembling all over, just as if I’d got an examination before me. The great thing is, I must have my mind made up. If I give myself time to think, to hesitate, to talk a lot, to look for an ideal, or for real love, then I’ll never get married. Brr... It’s cold! Natalya Stepanovna is an excellent housekeeper, not bad-looking, well-educated. What more do I want? But I’m getting a noise in my ears from excitement. [Drinks] And it’s impossible for me not to marry. In the first place, I’m already 35 — a critical age, so to speak. In the second place, I ought to lead a quiet and regular life. I suffer from palpitations, I’m excitable and always getting awfully upset; at this very moment my lips are trembling, and there’s a twitch in my right eyebrow. But the very worst of all is the way I sleep. I no sooner get into bed and begin to go off, when suddenly something in my left side gives a pull, and I can feel it in my shoulder and head... I jump up like a lunatic, walk about a bit and lie down again, but as soon as I begin to get off to sleep there’s another pull! And this may happen twenty times... [Natalya Stepanovna comes in.]
NATLYA : Well, there! It’s you, and papa said, “Go; there’s a merchant come for his goods.” How do you do, Ivan Vassilevitch?
LOMOV : How do you do, honoured Natalya Stepanovna?
Lomov asks about her well-being.
LOMOV : No, thank you, I’ve had some already.
NATALYA : Then smoke. Here are the matches. The weather is splendid now, but yesterday it was so wet that the workmen didn’t do anything all day. How much hay have you stacked? Just think, I felt greedy and had a whole field cut, and now I’m not at all pleased about it because I’m afraid my hay may rot. I ought to have waited a bit. But what’s this? Why, you’re in evening dress! Well, I never! Are you going to a ball or what? Though I must say you look better... Tell me, why are you got up like that?
NATALYA : What’s the matter? [pause] Well?
LOMOV : I shall try to be brief. You must know, honoured Natalya Stepanovna, that I have long, since my childhood, in fact, had the privilege of knowing your family. My late aunt and her husband, from whom, as you know, I inherited my land, always had the greatest respect for your father and your late mother. The Lomovs and the Chubukovs have always had the most friendly, and I might almost say the most affectionate, regard for each other. And, as you know, my land is a near neighbour of yours. You will remember that my Oxen Meadows touch your birchwoods.
NATALYA : Excuse my interrupting you. You say, “my Oxen Meadows”. But are they yours?
LOMOV : Yes, mine.
Lomov affirms.
NATALYA : What are you talking about? Oxen Meadows are ours, not yours!
LOMOV : No, mine, honoured Natalya Stepanovna.
Lomov exclaims that they are his!
NATALYA : Well, I never knew that before. How do you make that out?
Natalya says that she was not aware of it and asked Lomov for an explanation.
LOMOV : How? I’m speaking of those Oxen Meadows which are wedged in between your birchwoods and the Burnt Marsh.
NATALYA : Yes, yes... they’re ours.
Natalya also confirms that she is talking about those particular meadows only.
LOMOV : No, you’re mistaken, honoured Natalya Stepanovna, they’re mine.
NATALYA : Just think, Ivan Vassilevitch! How long have they been yours?
LOMOV : How long? As long as I can remember.
NATALYA : Really, you won’t get me to believe that!
LOMOV : But you can see from the documents, honoured Natalya Stepanovna. Oxen Meadows, it’s true, were once the subject of dispute, but now everybody knows that they are mine. There’s nothing to argue about. You see my aunt’s grandmother gave the free use of these Meadows in perpetuity to the peasants of your father’s grandfather, in return for which they were to make bricks for her. The peasants belonging to your father’s grandfather had the free use of the Meadows for forty years, and had got into the habit of regarding them as their own, when it happened that...
NATALYA : No, it isn’t at all like that! Both grandfather and greatgrandfather reckoned that their land extended to Burnt Marsh — which means that Oxen Meadows were ours. I don’t see what there is to argue about. It’s simply silly!
Reckoned- established by calculation
Natalya disagrees! Since childhood, she has heard from her grandfather and great-grandfather that their land extended till the Burnt Marsh. She completely trusted them and doesn’t see any point in arguing about its ownership.
LOMOV : I’ll show you the documents, Natalya Stepanovna!
NATALYA : No, you’re simply joking, or making fun of me. What a surprise! We’ve had the land for nearly three hundred years, and then we’re suddenly told that it isn’t ours! Ivan Vassilevitch, I can hardly believe my own ears. These Meadows aren’t worth much to me. They only come to five dessiatins, and are worth perhaps 300 roubles, but I can’t stand unfairness. Say what you will, I can’t stand unfairness.
LOMOV : Hear me out, I implore you! The peasants of your father’s grandfather, as I have already had the honour of explaining to you, used to bake bricks for my aunt’s grandmother. Now my aunt’s grandmother, wishing to make them a pleasant...
Implore- Beg someone earnestly to do something
NATALYA : I can’t make head or tail of all this about aunts and grandfathers and grandmothers. The Meadows are ours, that’s all.
LOMOV : Mine.
NATALYA : Ours! You can go on proving it for two days on end, you can go and put on fifteen dress jackets, but I tell you they’re ours, ours, ours! I don’t want anything of yours and I don’t want to give anything of mine. So there!
LOMOV : Natalya Stepanovna, I don’t want the Meadows, but I am acting on principle. If you like, I’ll make you a present of them.
NATALYA : I can make you a present of them myself, because they’re mine! Your behaviour, Ivan Vassilevitch, is strange, to say the least! Up to this we have always thought of you as a good neighbour, a friend; last year we lent you our threshing-machine, although on that account we had to put off our own threshing till November, but you behave to us as if we were gypsies. Giving me my own land, indeed! No, really, that’s not at all neighbourly! In my opinion, it’s even impudent, if you want to know.
Gypsies- a group of nomadic people who travel from one place to another
Impudent- not showing due respect for another person
Carafe- an open-topped glass flask used for serving wine or water in a restaurant
NATALYA : It’s not true, they’re ours!
LOMOV : Mine!
NATALYA : It’s not true! I’ll prove it! I’ll send my mowers out to the Meadows this very day!
Mowers- a person who cuts grass with a mower
LOMOV : What?
NATALYA : My mowers will be there this very day!
Natalya insists that the grass cutters will be there that very day.
LOMOV : I’ll give it to them in the neck!
Lomov threatens that he will hit Natalya’s mowers.
NATALYA : You dare!
Natalya threatens that he should not dare to do such a thing.
LOMOV : [Clutches at his heart] Oxen Meadows are mine! You understand? Mine!
NATALYA : Please don’t shout! You can shout yourself hoarse in your own house but here I must ask you to restrain yourself!
Hoarse- sounding rough and harsh
Restrain- prevent from doing something; keep under control or within limits
Natalya asks Lomov to behave and refrain from shouting in her house.
LOMOV : If it wasn’t, madam, for this awful, excruciating palpitation, if my whole inside wasn’t upset, I’d talk to you in a different way! [Yells] Oxen Meadows are mine!
Excruciating- intensely painful; sever; acute; extreme
Palpitation- heartbeat
NATALYA : Papa, please tell this gentleman who owns Oxen Meadows, we or he?
CHUBUKOV : [to Lomov] Darling, the Meadows are ours!
LOMOV : But, please, Stepan Stepanovitch, how can they be yours? Do be a reasonable man! My aunt’s grandmother gave the Meadows for the temporary and free use of your grandfather’s peasants. The peasants used the land for forty years and got accustomed to it as if it was their own, when it happened that...
CHUBUKOV : Excuse me, my precious. You forget just this, that the peasants didn’t pay your grandmother and all that, because the Meadows were in dispute, and so on. And now everybody knows that they’re ours. It means that you haven’t seen the plan.
LOMOV : I’ll prove to you that they’re mine!
LOMOV : I shall
CHUBUKOV : Dear one, why yell like that? You won’t prove anything just by yelling. I don’t want anything of yours, and don’t intend to give up what I have. Why should I? And you know, my beloved, that if you propose to go on arguing about it, I’d much sooner give up the Meadows to the peasants than to you. There!
LOMOV : I don’t understand! How have you the right to give away somebody else’s property?
CHUBUKOV : You may take it that I know whether I have the right or not. Because, young man, I’m not used to being spoken to in that tone of voice, and so on. I, young man, am twice your age, and ask you to speak to me without agitating yourself, and all that.
LOMOV : No, you just think I’m a fool and want to have me on! You call my land yours, and then you want me to talk to you calmly and politely! Good neighbours don’t behave like that, Stepan Stepanovitch! You’re not a neighbour, you’re a grabber!
CHUBUKOV : What’s that? What did you say?
Feeling highly disrespected, Stepan asks Lomov to repeat his words.
NATALYA : Papa, send the mowers out to the Meadows at once!
CHUBUKOV : What did you say, sir?
NATALYA : Oxen Meadows are ours, and I shan’t give them up, shan’t give them up, shan’t give them up!
LOMOV : We’ll see! I’ll have the matter taken to court, and then I’ll show you!
CHUBUKOV : To court? You can take it to court, and all that! You can! I know you; you’re just on the look-out for a chance to go to court, and all that. You pettifogger! All your people were like that! All of them!
Pettifogger- an inferior legal practitioner, especially one who deals with petty cases or employs dubious practices
LOMOV : Never mind about my people! The Lomovs have all been honourable people, and not one has ever been tried for embezzlement, like your grandfather!
Embezzlement- theft or misappropriation of funds placed in one's trust or belonging to one's employer
CHUBUKOV : You Lomovs have had lunacy in your family, all of you!
Lunacy- the state of being a lunatic; insanity (not in technical use)
NATALYA : All, all, all!
CHUBUKOV : Your grandfather was a drunkard, and your younger aunt, Nastasya Mihailovna, ran away with an architect, and so on...
Drunkard- a person who is habitually drunk
LOMOV : And your mother was hump-backed. [Clutches at his heart] Something pulling in my side... My head.... Help! Water!
Hump- A rounded protuberance found as an abnormality on the back of a person
Lomov mentions that Chubukov’s mother was hump-backed. While he was saying this, he felt a pull on his side and head. Thus, he calls for help and water.
CHUBUKOV : Your father was a guzzling gambler!
Guzzling- greedy (here)
Gambler- a person who gambles; speculator
NATALYA : And there haven’t been many backbiters to equal your aunt!
LOMOV : My left foot has gone to sleep... You’re an intriguer....Oh, my heart! And it’s an open secret that before the last elections you bri... I can see stars... Where’s my hat?
Intriguer- someone who tricks, deceives or cheats
NATALYA : It’s low! It’s dishonest! It’s mean!
CHUBUKOV : And you’re just a malicious, doublefaced intriguer! Yes!
Malicious-intending or intended to do harm
LOMOV : Here’s my hat. My heart! Which way? Where’s the door? Oh I think I’m dying! My foot’s quite numb... [Goes to the door.]
Numb- deprived of the power of physical sensation
CHUBUKOV : [following him] And don’t set foot in my house again!
NATALYA : Take it to court! We’ll see! [Lomov staggers out.]
CHUBUKOV : Devil take him! [Walks about in excitement.]
NATALYA : What a rascal! What trust can one have in one’s neighbours after that!
Rascal- devil
CHUBUKOV : The villain! The scarecrow!
NATALYA : The monster! First he takes our land and then he has the impudence to abuse us.
Impudence- audacity
CHUBUKOV : And that blind hen, yes, that turnip-ghost has the confounded cheek to make a proposal, and so on! What? A proposal!
NATALYA : What proposal?
CHUBUKOV : Why, he came here to propose to you.
Chubukov clarifies that Lomov came here to ask for Natalya’s hand in marriage.
NATALYA : To propose? To me? Why didn’t you tell me so before?
CHUBUKOV : So he dresses up in evening clothes. The stuffed sausage! The wizen-faced frump!
NATALYA : To propose to me? Ah! [Falls into an easy-chair and wails] Bring him back! Back! Ah! Bring him here.
CHUBUKOV : Bring whom here?
NATALYA : Quick, quick! I’m ill! Fetch him! [Hysterics.]
CHUBUKOV : What’s that? What’s the matter with you? [Clutches at his head] Oh, unhappy man that I am! I’ll shoot myself! I’ll hang myself! We’ve done for her!
NATALYA : I’m dying! Fetch him!
CHUBUKOV : Tfoo! At once. Don’t yell! [Runs out. A pause.]
NATALYA : [Natalya Stepanovna wails.] What have they done to me? Fetch him back! Fetch him! [A pause. Chubukov runs in.]
CHUBUKOV : He’s coming, and so on, devil take him! Ouf! Talk to him yourself; I don’t want to...
NATALYA : [wails] Fetch him!
CHUBUKOV : [yells] He’s coming, I tell you. Oh, what a burden, Lord, to be the father of a grown-up daughter! I’ll cut my throat I will, indeed! We cursed him, abused him, drove him out; and it’s all you... you!
NATALYA : No, it was you!
CHUBUKOV : I tell you it’s not my fault. [Lomov appears at the door] Now you talk to him yourself. [Exit.]
LOMOV : [Lomov enters, exhausted.] My heart’s palpitating awfully. My foot’s gone to sleep. There’s something that keeps pulling in my side....
NATALYA : Forgive us, Ivan Vassilevitch, we were all a little heated. I remember now: Oxen Meadows... really are yours.
LOMOV : My heart’s beating awfully. My Meadows... My eyebrows are both twitching....
NATALYA : The Meadows are yours, yes, yours. Do sit down. [They sit] We were wrong.
LOMOV : I did it on principle. My land is worth little to me, but the principle...
NATALYA : Yes, the principle, just so. Now let’s talk of something else.
LOMOV : The more so as I have evidence. My aunt’s grandmother gave the land to your father’s grandfather’s peasants...
NATALYA : Yes, yes, let that pass. [aside] I wish I knew how to get him started. [aloud] Are you going to start shooting soon?
LOMOV : I’m thinking of having a go at the blackcock, honoured Natalya Stepanovna, after the harvest. Oh, have you heard? Just think, what a misfortune I’ve had! My dog Guess, who you know, has gone lame.
Lame- unable to walk without difficulty as the result of an injury or illness affecting the leg or foot; limping
NATALYA : What a pity! Why?
LOMOV : I don’t know. Must have got his leg twisted or bitten by some other dog. [sighs] My very best dog, to say nothing of the expense. I gave Mironov 125 roubles for him.
NATALYA : It was too much, Ivan Vassilevitch.
LOMOV : I think it was very cheap. He’s a first-rate dog.
NATALYA : Papa gave 85 roubles for his Squeezer, and Squeezer is heaps better than Guess!
LOMOV : Squeezer better than Guess? What an idea! [laughs] Squeezer better than Guess!
NATALYA : Of course he’s better! Of course, Squeezer is young, he may develop a bit, but on points and pedigree he’s better than anything that even Volchanetsky has got.
LOMOV : Excuse me, Natalya Stepanovna, but you forget that he is overshot, and an overshot always means the dog is a bad hunter!
NATALYA : Overshot, is he? The first time I hear it!
LOMOV : I assure you that his lower jaw is shorter than the upper.
NATALYA : Have you measured?
LOMOV : Yes. He’s all right at following, of course, but if you want to get hold of anything...
NATALYA : In the first place, our Squeezer is a thoroughbred animal, the son of Harness and Chisels while there’s no getting at the pedigree of your dog at all. He’s old and as ugly as a worn-out cab-horse.
LOMOV : He is old, but I wouldn’t take five Squeezers for him. Why, how can you? Guess is a dog; as for Squeezer, well, it’s too funny to argue. Anybody you like has a dog as good as Squeezer... you may find them under every bush almost. Twenty-five roubles would be a handsome price to pay for him.
NATALYA : There’s some demon of contradition in you today, Ivan Vassilevitch. First you pretend that the Meadows are yours; now, that Guess is better than Squeezer. I don’t like people who don’t say what they mean, because you know perfectly well that Squeezer is a hundred times better than your silly Guess. Why do you want to say he isn’t?
LOMOV : I see, Natalya Stepanovna, that you consider me either blind or a fool. You must realise that Squeezer is overshot!
NATALYA : It’s not true.
LOMOV : Excuse me, I cannot continue this discussion, my heart is palpitating.
NATALYA : I’ve noticed that those hunters argue most who know least.
LOMOV : Madam, please be silent. My heart is going to pieces. [shouts] Shut up!
NATALYA : I shan’t shut up until you acknowledge that Squeezer is a hundred times better than your Guess!
LOMOV : A hundred times worse! Be hanged to your Squeezer! His head... eyes... shoulder...
NATALYA : There’s no need to hang your silly Guess; he’s half-dead already!
LOMOV : [weeps] Shut up! My heart’s bursting!
NATALYA : I shan’t shut up. [Enter Chubukov.]
Natalya refuses to be quiet.
CHUBUKOV : What’s the matter now?
NATALYA : Papa, tell us truly, which is the better dog, our Squeezer or his Guess.
LOMOV : Stepan Stepanovitch, I implore you to tell me just one thing: is your Squeezer overshot or not? Yes or no?
Lomov, on the other hand, asks him a more direct question. He asks whether his Squeezer is an overshot or not.
CHUBUKOV : And suppose he is? What does it matter? He’s the best dog in the district for all that, and so on.
LOMOV : But isn’t my Guess better? Really, now?
CHUBUKOV : Don’t excite yourself, my precious one. Allow me. Your Guess certainly has his good points. He’s purebred, firm on his feet, has well-sprung ribs, and all that. But, my dear man, if you want to know the truth, that dog has two defects: he’s old and he’s short in the muzzle.
LOMOV : Excuse me, my heart... Let’s take the facts. You will remember that on the Marusinsky hunt my Guess ran neck-and-neck with the Count’s dog, while your Squeezer was left a whole verst behind.
CHUBUKOV : He got left behind because the Count’s whipper-in hit him with his whip.
LOMOV : And with good reason. The dogs are running after a fox, when Squeezer goes and starts worrying a sheep!
CHUBUKOV : It’s not true! My dear fellow, I’m very liable to lose my temper, and so, just because of that, let’s stop arguing. You started because everybody is always jealous of everybody else’s dogs. Yes, we’re all like that! You too, sir, aren’t blameless! You no sooner begin with this, that and the other, and all that... I remember everything!
LOMOV : I remember too!
CHUBUKOV : [teasing him] I remember, too! What do you remember?
LOMOV : My heart... my foot’s gone to sleep. I can’t...
NATALYA : [teasing] My heart! What sort of a hunter are you? You ought to go and lie on the kitchen oven and catch black beetles, not go after foxes! My heart!
CHUBUKOV : Yes really, what sort of a hunter are you, anyway? You ought to sit at home with your palpitations, and not go tracking animals. You could go hunting, but you only go to argue with people and interfere with their dogs and so on. Let’s change the subject in case I lose my temper. You’re not a hunter at all, anyway!
LOMOV : And are you a hunter? You only go hunting to get in with the Count and to intrigue. Oh, my heart! You’re an intriguer!
CHUBUKOV : What? I am an intriguer? [shouts] Shut up!
LOMOV : Intriguer!
CHUBUKOV : Shut up or I’ll shoot you like a partridge! You fool!
Chubukov threatens Lomov to shoot him like a bird and calls him a fool.
LOMOV : Everybody knows that — oh, my heart! — your late wife used to beat you... My feet... temples... sparks... I fall, I fall!
CHUBUKOV : And you’re under the slipper of your house-keeper!
LOMOV : There, there, there... my heart’s burst! My shoulders come off! Where is my shoulder? I die. [Falls into an armchair] A doctor!
CHUBUKOV : Boy! Milksop! Fool! I’m sick! [Drinks water] Sick!
NATALYA : What sort of a hunter are you? You can’t even sit on a horse! [To her father] Papa, what’s the matter with him? Papa! Look, Papa! [screams] Ivan Vassilevitch! He’s dead!
CHUBUKOV : I’m sick! I can’t breathe! Air!
NATALYA : He’s dead. [Pulls Lomov’s sleeve] Ivan Vassilevitch! Ivan Vassilevitch! What have you done to me? He’s dead. [Falls into an armchair] A doctor, a doctor! [Hysterics.]
CHUBUKOV : Oh! What is it? What’s the matter?
NATALYA : [wails] He’s dead... dead!
CHUBUKOV : Who’s dead? [Looks at Lomov] So he is! My word! Water! A doctor! [Lifts a tumbler to Lomov’s mouth] Drink this! No, he doesn’t drink. It means he’s dead, and all that. I’m the most unhappy of men! Why don’t I put a bullet into my brain? Why haven’t I cut my throat yet? What am I waiting for? Give me a knife! Give me a pistol! [Lomov moves] He seems to be coming round. Drink some water! That’s right.
LOMOV : I see stars... mist... where am I?
Lomov, as he gains consciousness, is not sure where he is. He is dazed.
CHUBUKOV : Hurry up and get married and — well, to the devil with you! She’s willing! [He puts Lomov’s hand into his daughter’s] She’s willing and all that. I give you my blessing and so on. Only leave me in peace!
LOMOV : [getting up] Eh? What? To whom?
CHUBUKOV : She’s willing! Well? Kiss and be damned to you!
NATALYA : [wails] He’s alive... Yes, yes, I’m willing.
CHUBUKOV : Kiss each other!
LOMOV : Eh? Kiss whom? [They kiss] Very nice, too. Excuse me, what’s it all about? Oh, now I understand ... my heart... stars... I’m happy. Natalya Stepanovna... [Kisses her hand] My foot’s gone to sleep.
NATALYA : I... I’m happy too...
CHUBUKOV : What a weight off my shoulders, ouf!
NATALYA : But, still you will admit now that Guess is worse than Squeezer.
Natalya again resumes the topic about dogs and manipulates him into saying that her Squeezer is better than his Guess.
Lomov and Natalya argue while Chubukov offers them a drink.
CHUBUKOV : [trying to shout her down] Champagne! Champagne!
Chubukov, tired of them fighting, shouts that it is time for some Champagne.
CURTAIN
The Proposal- Question & Answers
1. What does Chubukov at first suspect that Lomov has come for? Is he sincere when he later says "And I've always loved you, my angel, as if you were my own son"? Find reasons for your answer from the play.
Ans. Chubukov suspects that Lomov has come to ask for money. He is not sincere when he says that he has loved him as his son because we notice that Chubukov tries to be friendly and loving on the face while he is rude and selfish within.
2. Chubukov says of Natalya: "... as if she won't consent! She's in love; egad, she's like a lovesick cat…"Would you agree? Find reasons for your answer.
Ans. I agree with Chubukov's statement because when Natalya comes to know that Lomov had come with a marrigare proposal, she becomes desperate for him. She starts wailing and asks her father to bring him back.
3. Find all the words and expressions in the play that the characters use to speak about each other, and the accusations and insults they hurl at each other. (For example, Lomov in the end calls Chubukov an intriguer; but earlier, Chubukov has himself called Lomov a "malicious, doublefaced intriguer." Again, Lomov begins by describing Natalya as “an excellent housekeeper, not bad-looking, well-educated.”)
Ans. Several words and expressions have been used by the characters to describe each other. Some of them are as follows -
Chbukov - grabber, intriguer, old rat, Jesuit.
Natalya - a lovesick cat, an excellent housekeeper, not bad looking, well educated.
Lomov - a good neighbour, a friend, impudent, pettifogger, a malicious double - faced intriguer, rascal, blind hen, turnip ghost, a villian, a scarecrow, monster, stuffed sausage, wizen faced frump, pup, milksop.
The Proposal- Grammar Exercises
Q. Here is an excerpt from an article from the Times of India dated 27 August 2006. Rewrite it, changing the sentences in direct speech into reported speech. Leave the other sentences unchanged.
"Why do you want to know my age? If people know I am so old, I won't get work!" laughs 90-year-old A. K. Hangal, one of Hindi cinema's most famous character actors. For his age, he is rather energetic. "What's the secret?" we ask. "My intake of everything is in small quantities. And I walk a lot," he replies. "I joined the industry when people retire. I was in my 40s. So I don't miss being called a star. I am still respected and given work, when actors of my age are living in poverty and without work. I don't have any complaints," he says, adding, "but yes, I have always been underpaid." Recipient of the Padma Bhushan, Hangal never hankered after money or materialistic gains. "No doubt I am content today, but money is important. I was a fool not to understand the value of money earlier," he regrets.
A. 90-year-old A. K. Hangal, one of Hindi cinema’s most famous character actors laughed when he asked us why we wanted to know his age. He felt that nobody would give him work if they came to know that he was so old. For his age, he is rather energetic. We asked him what was the secret behind him being energetic. He replied that he eats everything in small quantities and walks a lot. He was in his forties when he joined the industry, the age at which many people retire from work. He doesn’t miss being called a star. He is respected, given work while some actors of his age live in poverty and have no work to do. He adds that he does not have any complaints but adds that he has always been underpaid. Recipient of the Padma Bhushan, Hangal never hankered after money or materialistic gains. He regrets that no doubt he is content today, but money is important. He was a fool not to understand the value of money earlier.
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