speak? He must be doing well, so to speak, to be able, so to speak, to hire a man.
Mítrich. He has money, then why should he—
Akím. That is all in vain, so to speak, all in vain. In vain, I say. Looseness, so to speak.
Anísya. Yes, he is spoilt, dreadfully spoilt.
Akím. That's it! I was thinking, so to speak, how to do it better, but he is doing it worse, so to speak. A man gets spoilt by wealth, so to speak,—he does.
Mítrich. Even a dog maddens from fat,—then why should a man not spoil from fat? You ought to have seen me going on a spree when I had money! I drank for three weeks without stopping. I gave my last trousers for drinks. When I did not have anything left I stopped. Now I have sworn off. Bother!
Akím And your old woman, so to speak, where is she?
Mítrich. The old woman, my friend, is well fixed. She sits now in one inn in town, now in another. She looks fine one eye is torn out, the other is black, and her mouth is all awry. She is never sober,—pea-pie choke her!
Akím. Oh, oh! How is that?
Mítrich. Where else is there a place for a soldier's wife? This is her proper occupation. (Silence.)
Akím (to Anísya). Has Nikíta taken anything to town? Has he, so to speak, taken anything to sell?
Anísya (setting the table and passing the food). He went with nothing. He went to fetch some money from the bank.
Akím (eating). What do you want to do with the money? Do you want to use it for something, so to speak?
Anísya. No, we do not touch it. Only twenty or thirty roubles; we had to take them out.
Akím. Had to take them? Why should you take the money, so to speak? You take it to-day, and you take it
