Answer-adapted for pre-intermediate level

  

Answer

By Fredric Brown

Level: pre-intermediate and up

This is a classic science fiction story about the topic of AI (artificial intelligence: intelligent machines). AI is becoming better and better. In the next hundred years, it’s very possible that we will have AI that can think as well as humans and perhaps even better than humans. This story imagines what might happen thousands of years in the future, if AI continues to improve. You can read the original version here.

Dwar Ev made the final connection to the machine with a piece of golden cable. Many television cameras watched him and sent pictures through the universe of what he was doing.

He gave a sign to Dwar Reyn, then moved to a position next to the button that would turn on the machine when he pressed it. The button that would connect all of the supercomputers of all the planets in the universe—ninety-six billion planets—into the super-link that would connect them all into one great supercomputer, one machine that would combine all the knowledge of all the galaxies.

Dwar Reyn spoke briefly to the trillions of people who were watching and listening. Then after a silence he said, "Now, Dwar Ev."

Dwar Ev pressed the button. There was a loud sound, the great flow of power from ninety-six billion planets. Lights flashed along the computer, which was as big as a city.

Dwar Ev stepped back and breathed deeply. "Dwar Reyn, you have the honor to ask the first question."

"Thank you," said Dwar Reyn. "It will be a question which no computer has been able to answer."

He turned to the machine. "Is there a God?"

The great voice of the machine answered without pause, without any of its lights flashing to calculate the answer.

"Yes, now there is a God."

Suddenly, the face of Dwar Ev showed fear. He jumped to hit the button to turn off the computer.

A flash of lightning from the cloudless sky hit him and broke the button, so that they could not turn off the computer.

Vocabulary:  To help learners fully understand the audio and transcript, most vocabulary that might be unknown for this lesson’s level is provided. Vocab in bold is more useful for learners at the lesson’s target level. Try to choose 8 to 10 new words to learn from the story (in general, it’s best to try to learn no more than 8-10 new words a day).

Definitions are written with the help of various sources including  Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary

Science fiction: stories about how people and societies are affected by imaginary scientific developments in the future.

Intelligence: the ability to learn or understand things or to deal with new or difficult situations: smart.

Artificial intelligence: an area of computer science that deals with giving machines the ability to have intelligence.

To imagine: to think of or create (something that is not real) in your mind.

Connection: something that joins or connects two or more things.

Golden: made of gold.

Universe: all of space and everything in it including stars, planets, galaxies, etc.

Button: a small part of a machine that you push to make the machine work.

To press: the act of pushing or flattening something with your finger or hand or with a device (such as an iron) — usually singular.

Galaxy: any one of the very large groups of stars that make up the universe.

Flow: to move in a steady and continuous way.

Pause: a temporary stop: a period of time in which something is stopped before it is started again.

To flash: to appear quickly or suddenly.

To calculate: to get a general idea about the value, size, or cost of (something).

Suddenly: very quickly in usually an unexpected way: in a sudden way.

To turn off: to stop the operation or flow of (something) by pressing a button, moving a switch, etc.

Lightning: the flashes of light that are produced in the sky during a storm.

Broke: past tense of ‘to break’: to separate (something) into parts or pieces often in a sudden and forceful or violent way.

Discussion Questions:

1. Computers are getting more intelligent. What are the good and bad sides to this?

2. Will computers ever be able to be as intelligent or more than humans?

3. Do you think a computer could ever become almost like a ‘god’, almost all knowing and all powerful?

4. If a computer could be created like the one in the story, what do you think it would do and how would it act?

5. What question would you ask the computer in the story?

Weighing The Good And The Bad Of Autonomous Killer Robots In Battle

Listen to Story

Transcript

Audio Time: 4 Min 49 Sec

Level: Upper Intermediate

Vocabulary:  To help learners fully understand the audio and transcript, most vocabulary that might be unknown for this lesson’s level is provided. Vocab in bold is more useful for learners at the lesson’s target level. Try to choose 8 to 10 new words to learn from the story (in general, it’s best to try to learn no more than 8-10 new words a day).

Definitions are written with the help of various sources including  Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary

Provocative: causing discussion, thought, argument, etc.

Emerge: to become known or apparent.

Contentious: likely to cause people to argue or disagree.

Autonomous: existing or acting separately from other things or people; independent.

Ethical: involving questions of right and wrong behavior : relating to ethics.

Urgency: very important and needing immediate attention.

Ban: to forbid people from using (something) : to say that something cannot be used or done.

Threshold: a piece of wood, metal, or stone that forms the bottom of a door and that you walk over as you enter a room or building.

Obscure: not well-known : not known to most people.

Cylons and terminators: Fictional robots from modern science fiction movies.

Amok: in a wild or uncontrolled manner — used in the phrase run amok.

Science fiction: stories about how people and societies are affected by imaginary scientific developments in the future.

Promotional video: A video made or used to make people aware of something (such as a new product or book) and increase its sales or popularity.

Slam: to close (something) in a forceful way that makes a loud noise.

Torpedo: a bomb that is shaped like a tube and that is fired underwater.

Wiggle room: the ability to make small changes in a plan, schedule, etc., if they are needed.

Overlook: to fail to see or notice (something).

Frustration: a feeling of anger or annoyance caused by being unable to do something.

Err: to make a mistake.

Sniper: a person who shoots at another person from a hidden place.

To cloud: to confuse (a person's mind or judgment).

Inhumane: not kind or gentle to people or animals: not humane.

Discussion questions:

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using autonomous robots in battle?

2.  What are some of the ethical issues with using robots in battle?

3.  What are some other roles in society that robots might take over?

4. How will robots change our society?

5. Should we try to continue to develop smarter robots (AI: artificial intelligence)?

Here are some additional resources about AI:

TED Talks Playlist on Artificial Intelligence

TED Talks Playlist on what Robots Teach Us about being Human

TED Talks Playlist on how to Live with Robots

School of Life: Artificial Intelligence

School of Life: Emotional Technology

Short Stories:

Answer

Answer-adapted for pre-intermediate level

The Nine Billion Names of God

The Nine Billion Names of God Adapted for Intermediate level

The Second variety: text , audio

The Defenders: text , audio, audio

Answer

By Fredric Brown

Level: Intermediate and up (Read the story adapted for pre-intermediate level here)

Listen to this story here

Note to reader: This story was written in the 1950s, when the first modern computers were just being developed and before the internet was invented. Therefore, the words “computer” and “internet” had not yet become common words for these devices. In this story “sub-ether” is like a super internet for the universe and “supercalculator” and “cybernetics machine” are what we would call a “computer”.

Dwar Ev ceremoniously soldered the final connection with gold. The eyes of a dozen television cameras watched him and the sub-ether bore through the universe a dozen pictures of what he was doing.

He straightened and nodded to Dwar Reyn, then moved to a position beside the switch that would complete the contact when he threw it. The switch that would connect, all at once, all of the monster computing machines of all the populated planets in the universe—ninety-six billion planets—into the supercircuit that would connect them all into one supercalculator, one cybernetics machine that would combine all the knowledge of all the galaxies.

Dwar Reyn spoke briefly to the watching and listening trillions. Then after a moment's silence he said, "Now, Dwar Ev."

Dwar Ev threw the switch. There was a mighty hum, the surge of power from ninety-six billion planets. Lights flashed and quieted along the miles-long panel.

Dwar Ev stepped back and drew a deep breath. "The honor of asking the first question is yours, Dwar Reyn."

"Thank you," said Dwar Reyn. "It shall be a question which no single cybernetics machine has been able to answer."

He turned to face the machine. "Is there a God?"

The mighty voice answered without hesitation, without the clicking of a single relay.

"Yes, now there is a God."

Sudden fear flashed on the face of Dwar Ev. He leaped to grab the switch.

A bolt of lightning from the cloudless sky struck him down and fused the switch shut.

Vocabulary:  To help learners fully understand the audio and transcript, most vocabulary that might be unknown for this lesson’s level is provided. Vocab in bold is more useful for learners at the lesson’s target level. Try to choose 8 to 10 new words to learn from the story (in general, it’s best to try to learn no more than 8-10 new words a day).

Definitions are written with the help of various sources including  Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary

Ceremoniously: formal and serious: suitable for a ceremony.

To solder: a mixture of metals that is melted and used to join metal parts together.

Ether: the air: the sky: used especially when describing electronic signals that travel through the air or space.

Dozen: a group of 12 people or things.

To bore: to move forward steadily.

Universe: all of space and everything in it including stars, planets, galaxies, etc.

To nod: to move your head up and down as a way of answering “yes” or of showing agreement, understanding, or approval.

Switch: a small device that starts or stops the flow of electricity to something (such as a lamp or a machine) when it is pressed or moved up and down.

To throw a switch: to move a switch up or down in order to turn something on or off.

Circuit: the complete path that an electric current travels along.

Cybernetics: the scientific study of how people, animals, and machines control and communicate information.

Galaxy: any one of the very large groups of stars that make up the universe.

Mighty: having or showing great strength or power.

Surge: a sudden, large increase.

Hum: to make a low continuous sound.

Flash: to appear quickly or suddenly.

Panel: a flat surface where the controls of a vehicle, machine, etc., are located.

Hesitation: to stop briefly before you do something especially because you are nervous or unsure about what to do.

Click: to cause (something) to make a short, sharp sound.

Leap: to jump or to move quickly.

To grab: to quickly take and hold (someone or something) with your hand or arms.

To fuse: to join or become joined because of heat or a chemical reaction.

To shut: to become closed.

Discussion Questions:
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of computers becoming more intelligent?
2. Will machines ever become more intelligent than humans?
3. Do you think a computer could ever become almost like a ‘god’: almost all knowing and all powerful?
4. If a computer could be created like the one in the story, what do you think it would do and how would it act?
5. What question would you ask the supercomputer in this story?

The Proposal, by Anton Chekhov, Adapted for Intermediate Level

THE PROPOSAL

Adapted for intermediate English learners by Daniel Borsody

A play in one-act

By Anton Chekhov

CHARACTERS

STEPAN STEPANOVITCH CHUBUKOV, a landowner

NATALYA STEPANOVNA, his daughter, twenty-five years old

IVAN VASSILEVITCH LOMOV, a neighbor of Chubukov, thirty-five years old

SETTING

Russia, late nineteenth century, CHUBUKOV's country-house

[A 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 to see you! [Shakes his hand] Now this is a surprise, my dear ... How are you?

LOMOV: Thank you. And how are you getting on?

CHUBUKOV: We just get along somehow, thank God, and so on. Sit down, please do. ... Now, you know, you shouldn't forget all about your neighbors, my darling. My dear fellow, why are you dressed so formally? Evening dress, gloves, and so on. Can you be going anywhere?

LOMOV: No, I've come only to see you,  Stepan Stepanovitch.

CHUBUKOV: Then why are you in such formal clothes? As if you're paying a New Year's Eve visit!

LOMOV: Well, you see, it's like this. [Takes his arm] I've come to you,  Stepan Stepanovitch, to trouble you with a request. Not once or twice have I already asked you for help, and you have always, so to speak ... I must ask your pardon, I am getting excited. I shall drink some water,  Stepan Stepanovitch. [Drinks.]

CHUBUKOV: [Aside] He's come to borrow money! I won’t give him any! [Aloud] What is it, my friend?

LOMOV: You see, Honor Stepanitch ... I beg your pardon, Stepan Honouritch ... I mean, I'm awfully excited, as you will 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. ...

CHUBUKOV: Oh, don't go around and around it! Say it! Well?

LOMOV: One moment ... this very minute. The fact is, I've come to ask to marry your daughter, Natalya Stepanovna.

CHUBUKOV: [Joyfully] My God! Ivan Vassilevitch! Say it again--I didn't hear it all!

LOMOV: I have the honor to ask ...

CHUBUKOV: [Interrupting] My dear fellow ... I'm so glad. ... Yes, indeed, [hugs and kisses LOMOV] I've been hoping for it for a long time. It's been my desire for a long time. And I've always loved you, as if you were my own son. May God give you both His help and His love, and I did so much hope ... What am I behaving in this idiotic way for? I'm off my balance with joy, absolutely off my balance!  I'll go and call Natasha, and all that.

LOMOV: [Greatly moved]  Stepan Stepanovitch, do you think I may count on her consent?

CHUBUKOV: Why, of course, and ... as if she won't consent! She's in love; yes, she's most definitely in love, and so on. ... I won’t be long! [Exit.]

LOMOV: It's cold ... I'm shaking all over, just as if I'd got an examination before me. The important thing is, I must have my mind made up. If I give myself time to think, to hesitate, to talk a lot, or to look 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 nervousness, I'm excitable and always getting awfully upset. ... But the very worst of all is the way I sleep. I get into bed and begin to fall asleep when suddenly something in my left side starts to hurt, 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 it’s tight again! And this may happen twenty times. ...

[NATALYA STEPANOVNA comes in.]

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: 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, Natalya Stepanovna?

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: You must excuse my work clothes ... we're preparing some food. Why haven't you been here for such a long time? Sit down. [They seat themselves] Won't you have some lunch?

LOMOV: No, thank you, I've had some already.

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Then smoke. ... Here are the matches. ... The weather is wonderful 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 dressed like that?

LOMOV: [Excited] You see, Natalya Stepanovna ... the fact is, I've made up my mind to ask you to. ... Of course you'll be surprised and perhaps even angry, but a ... [Aside] It's awfully cold!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: What's the matter? [Pause] Well?

LOMOV: I shall try to be brief. You must know, 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 friendliest, and I might almost say the most affectionate, regard for each other. And, as you know, my land is a near neighbor of yours. You will remember that my meadows touch your birchwoods.

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Excuse me for interrupting you. You say, "my meadows. ..." But are they yours?

LOMOV: Yes, mine.

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: What are you talking about? The meadows are ours, not yours!

LOMOV: No, mine, Natalya Stepanovna.

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Well, I never knew that before. Why do you think that?

LOMOV: How? I'm speaking of those meadows which are between your birchwoods and the Marsh.

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Yes, yes. ... They're ours.

LOMOV: No, you're mistaken, Natalya Stepanovna, they're mine.

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Just think, Ivan Vassilevitch! How long have they been yours?

LOMOV: How long? As long as I can remember.

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Really, you won't get me to believe that!

LOMOV: But you can see from the documents, Natalya Stepanovna. The 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 let the peasants use the Meadows of your father's grandfather, in return, they were to make bricks for her. The peasants belonging to your father's grandfather were able to freely use the Meadows for forty years, and had got into the habit of thinking of them as their own, when it happened that ...

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: No, it isn't at all like that! Both my grandfather and great-grandfather thought that their land extended to the Marsh--which means that the Meadows were ours. I don't see what there is to argue about. It's simply silly!

LOMOV: I'll show you the documents, Natalya Stepanovna!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: 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 14 acres, and are worth perhaps 300 rubles , but I can't stand unfairness. Say what you will, but I hate unfairness.

LOMOV: Listen, I beg you! The peasants of your father's grandfather, as I have already had the honor of explaining to you, used to make bricks for my aunt's grandmother. Now my aunt's grandmother, wishing to make them a pleasant ...

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: I can't understand all this about aunts and grandfathers and grandmothers! The Meadows are ours, and that's all.

LOMOV: Mine.

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: 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 up anything of mine. So there!

LOMOV: Natalya Ivanovna, I don't want the Meadows, but I am acting on principle. If you like, I'll give them to you.

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: I can give them to you myself, because they're mine! Your behavior, Ivan Vassilevitch, is strange, to say the least! Up to now we have always thought of you as a good neighbor, a friend: last year we lent you our farming equipment for the harvest, although on that account we had to put off our own harvest till November, but you behave as if we were gypsies. Giving me my own land, indeed! No, really, that's not at all neighborly! In my opinion, it's even rude, if you want to know....

LOMOV: Then you’re saying  that I'm a land-grabber? Madam, never in my life have I grabbed anybody else's land, and I won’t allow anybody to accuse me of it. ... [Quickly steps to the water pitcher and drinks more water] The meadows are mine!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: It's not true, they're ours!

LOMOV: Mine!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: It's not true! I'll prove it! I'll send my workers out to the meadows this very day!

LOMOV: What?

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: My workers will be there this very day!

LOMOV: I'll kick them out!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: You just try to do that!

LOMOV: The meadows are mine! You understand? Mine!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Please don't shout! You can shout in your own house, but here I must ask you to restrain yourself.

LOMOV: If it wasn't, madam, for this awful, horrible feeling in my chest, if my whole inside wasn't upset, I'd talk to you in a different way! [Yells] Meadows are mine!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Ours!

LOMOV: Mine!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Ours!

LOMOV: Mine!

[Enter CHUBUKOV.]

CHUBUKOV: What's the matter? What are you shouting at?

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Papa, please tell to this gentleman who owns the meadows, we or he?

CHUBUKOV: [To LOMOV] My dear, the meadows are ours!

LOMOV: But, please, Stepan Stepanitch, how can they be yours? Do be a reasonable! 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 used to it as if it was their own, when it happened that ...

CHUBUKOV: Excuse me, my dear friend. ... You forget just this, that the peasants didn't pay your grandmother, 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!

CHUBUKOV: You won't prove it, my darling.

LOMOV: I shall!

CHUBUKOV: Dear one, why yell like that? You won't prove anything by yelling. I don't want anything of yours, and don't want to give up what I have. Why should I? And you know, my dear, that if you propose to go on arguing about it, I'd much sooner give 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: 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 angering yourself, and all that.

LOMOV: No, you just think I'm a fool and want to trick me! You call my land yours, and then you want me to talk to you calmly and politely! Good neighbors don't behave like that, Stepan Stepanitch! You're not a neighbor, you're a grabber!

CHUBUKOV: What's that? What did you say?

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Papa, send the workers out to the meadows at once!

CHUBUKOV: What did you say, sir?

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: The Meadows are ours, and I won’t give them up, won't give them up, won'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 thief! All your people were like that! All of them!

LOMOV: Never mind about my people! The Lomovs have all been honorable people, and not one has ever been tried for theft, like your grandfather!

CHUBUKOV: You Lomovs have had insanity in your family, all of you!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: All, all, all!

CHUBUKOV: Your grandfather was a drunk, and your younger aunt, Anna Mikalovna, ran away with an architect, and so on.

LOMOV: And your mother was far from beautiful! [grasps at his heart] Something pulling in my side. ... My head. ... Help! Water!

CHUBUKOV: Your father was a gambler!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: And there haven't been many gossipers to equal your aunt!

LOMOV: My left foot has gone to sleep. ... You're a liar. ... Oh, my heart! ... And it's an open secret that before the last elections you bribed ... I can see stars. ... Where's my hat?

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: It's low! It's dishonest! It's mean!

CHUBUKOV: And you're just a lying, double-faced rat! Yes!

LOMOV: Here's my hat. ... My heart! ... Which way? Where's the door? Oh! ... I think I'm dying. ... I can’t feel my foot. ...

[Goes to the door.]

CHUBUKOV: [Following him] And don't set foot in my house again!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Take it to court! We'll see!

[LOMOV walks out.]

CHUBUKOV: Devil take him! [Walks about in excitement.]

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: What a horrible man! What trust can one have in one's neighbors after that!

CHUBUKOV: The horrible man!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: The monster! First he takes our land and then he abuses us.

CHUBUKOV: And to think that the fool tried to make a proposal, and so on! What? A proposal!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: What proposal?

CHUBUKOV: Why, he came here to propose to you.

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: To propose? To me? Why didn't you tell me so before?

CHUBUKOV: So he dresses up in evening clothes. The fat goose! The old fool!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: To propose to me? Ah! [Falls into an easy-chair and cries] Bring him back! Back! Ah! Bring him here.

CHUBUKOV: Bring whom here?

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Quick, quick! I'm ill! Fetch him!

CHUBUKOV: What's that? What's the matter with you? Oh, unhappy man that I am! I'll shoot myself! I'll hang myself!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: I'm dying! Fetch him!

CHUBUKOV: Oy! At once. Don't yell!

[Runs out. A pause. NATALYA STEPANOVNA wails.]

NATALYA STEPANOVNA. What have they done to me! Fetch him back! Fetch him! [A pause.]

[CHUBUKOV runs in.]

CHUBUKOV: He's coming, devil take him! Talk to him yourself; I don't want to. ...

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: [Wails] Fetch him!

CHUBUKOV: [Yells] He's coming, I tell you. Oh, what a problem, Lord, to be the father of a grown-up daughter! I'll cut my throat! I will, indeed! We yelled at him, abused him, drove him out, and it's all you ... you!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: 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 enters, exhausted.]

LOMOV: My heart's beating awfully fast. ... My foot's gone to sleep. ...

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Forgive us, Ivan Vassilevitch, we were all a little angry ... I remember now: the meadows really are yours.

LOMOV: My heart's beating awfully. ... My meadows. ... My eyes feel strange. ...

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: 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 STEPANOVNA: Yes, the principle, just so. ... Now let's talk of something else.

LOMOV: I have evidence. My aunt's grandmother gave the land to your father's grandfather's peasants ...

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Yes, yes, let that pass. ... [Aside] I wish I knew how to get him started. ... [Aloud] Are you going to start hunting soon?

LOMOV: I'm thinking of hunting pheasants (a type of bird),  Natalya Stepanovna, after the harvest. Oh, have you heard? Just think, what a misfortune I've had! My dog Guess, whom you know, has gone lame.

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: What a pity! Why?

LOMOV: I don't know. ... Must have got twisted, or bitten by some other dog. ... [Sighs] My very best dog, to say nothing of the expense. I gave Mironov 125 rubles for him.

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: It was too much, Ivan Vassilevitch.

LOMOV: I think it was very cheap. He's an excellent dog.

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Papa gave 85 rubles for his Squeezer, and Squeezer is much better than Guess!

LOMOV: Squeezer better than. Guess? What an idea! [Laughs] Squeezer better than Guess!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Of course he's better! Of course, Squeezer is young, he may develop a bit, but he's better than anything that even Vochansky has got.

LOMOV. Excuse me, Natalya Stepanovna, but you forget that he mouth is too big, and this means that the dog is a bad hunter!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Is he? It’s the first time I hear it!

LOMOV: I assure you that this is so.

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Have you measured?

LOMOV: Yes. He's all right at following, of course, but if you want him to get hold of anything ...

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: In the first place, our Squeezer is a thoroughbred animal, the son of Harness and Chisels, while there's no way to know the parents of your dog at all. ... He's old and ugly.

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 rubles would be an excellent price to pay for him.

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: There's some demon of contradiction 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 it isn't?

LOMOV: I see, Natalya Stepanovna, that you consider me either blind or a fool. You must realize that Squeezer has a bad mouth!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: It's not true.

LOMOV: He is!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: It's not true!

LOMOV: Why shout, madam?

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Why talk nonsense? It's awful! It's time your Guess was shot, and you compare him with Squeezer!

LOMOV: Excuse me; I cannot continue this discussion: my heart is beating too quickly.

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: I've noticed that those hunters argue most who know least.

LOMOV: Madam, please be silent. ... My heart is going to explode. ... [Shouts] Shut up!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: I won't shut up until you acknowledge that Squeezer is a hundred times better than your Guess!

LOMOV: A hundred times worse! Death to your Squeezer! His head ... eyes ... shoulder ...

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: There's no need to kill your silly Guess; he's half-dead already!

LOMOV: [cries] Shut up! My heart's bursting!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: I won't shut up.

[Enter CHUBUKOV.]

CHUBUKOV: What's the matter now?

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Papa, tell us truly, which is the better dog, our Squeezer or his Guess.

LOMOV: Stepan Stepanovitch, I beg you to tell me just one thing: is your Squeezer’s mouth bad? Yes or no?

CHUBUKOV: And suppose it 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. But, my dear man, if you want to know the truth, that dog has two problems: he's old and his mouth is bad.

LOMOV: Excuse me, my heart. ... Let's take the facts. ... You will remember that on the Marussky hunt my Guess ran neck-and-neck with the best dog, while your Squeezer was left a whole kilometer behind.

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! You no sooner notice that some dog is better than your Guess than you begin with this, that ... and the other ... and all that. ... I remember everything!

LOMOV: I remember too!

CHUBUKOV: I remember, too. ... What do you remember?

LOMOV: My heart ... I can’t feel my foot. ... I can't ...

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: [Teasing] My heart. ... What sort of a hunter are you? You ought to go and lie on the kitchen oven and catch insects, 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 hunting 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 gossip. ... Oh, my heart! ... You're a gossip!

CHUBUKOV: What? I a gossip? [Shouts] Shut up!

LOMOV: gossiper!

CHUBUKOV: Boy! dog!

LOMOV: Old rat!

CHUBUKOV: Shut up or I'll shoot you like a bird! You 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 housekeeper controls you!

LOMOV: There, there, there ... my heart's burst! My shoulder. ... I can’t feel my shoulder...where is my shoulder? I die. [Falls into an armchair] A doctor! [Faints.]

CHUBUKOV: Boy!  Fool! I'm sick! [Drinks water] Sick!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: 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 STEPANOVNA: 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 STEPANOVNA: [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 waking up. ... Drink some water! That's right. ...

LOMOV: Where am I?

CHUBUKOV: Quickly get married and--well, to the devil with you! She's wants it! [He puts LOMOV'S hand into his daughter's] She's wants it. 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 STEPANOVNA: [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] I can’t feel my foot...

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: I ... I'm happy too. ...

CHUBUKOV: What a pressure off my shoulders!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: But ... still you will agree now that Guess is worse than Squeezer.

LOMOV: Better!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Worse!

CHUBUKOV: Well, that's a way to start your family happiness! Have some champagne!

LOMOV: He's better!

NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Worse! worse! worse!

CHUBUKOV: Champagne! Champagne!

END

Proposal: the act of asking someone to marry you.

Suspicious: having or showing a feeling that something is wrong or that someone is behaving wrongly or dishonestly.

To get on: to do or deal with something.

Aloud: in a voice that can be heard.

To deserve: used to say that someone or something should or should not have or be given something.

To consent:  to agree to do or allow something : to give permission for something to happen or be done.

To count on: to trust (someone) : to rely or depend on (someone) to do something

To be moved: to affect the feelings of (someone) : to cause (someone) to feel an emotion and especially sadness or sympathy.

To shake (someone’s hand): to grasp (someone's hand) with your hand and move it up and down when you are meeting or saying goodbye to each other or as a sign of friendship or agreement.

To make up one's mind: to decide to do something.

To hesitate: to stop briefly before you do something especially because you are nervous or unsure about what to do.

Merchant: somewhat old-fashioned: someone who buys and sells goods especially in large amounts.

Hay: grass that has been cut and dried to be used as food for animals.

To stack: to arrange (things) in a stack : to put (things) in a usually neat pile.

Greedy: having or showing a selfish desire to have more of something (such as money or food) : having greed.

Rot: to cause something to decay (to be slowly broken down by the natural processes that destroy a dead plant or body).

Privilege: a right or benefit that is given to some people and not to others.

To inherit: to receive (money, property, etc.) from someone when that person dies.

Affectionate: feeling or showing love and affection (a feeling of liking and caring for someone or something).

Meadow: a usually flat area of land that is covered with tall grass.

Birchwood: a forest from birch trees, white, pale trees whose outer bark can be pulled off easily.

Marsh: an area of soft, wet land that has many grasses and other plants.

Dispute: a disagreement or argument.

Peasant: a poor farmer or farm worker who has low social status.

To make fun of someone: to laugh at and make jokes about (someone or something) in an unkind way.

Behavior: the way a person or animal acts or behaves.

Harvest: the season when crops are gathered from the fields or the activity of gathering crops (plants that are grown by the farmer).

Gypsy: a member of a group of people who originally came from northern India and now live mostly in Asia, Europe, and North America.

To accuse:  to blame (someone) for something wrong or illegal : to say that someone is guilty of a fault or crime.

To kick out: to force (someone) to leave a place, group, school, etc.

To restrain: to prevent (a person or animal) from doing something.

To trick: an action that is meant to make someone believe something that is not true.

To take to court: To make some go to a formal legal meeting in which evidence about crimes, disagreements, etc., is presented to a judge.

Never mind: don’t worry about it.

Insanity: serious mental illness : crazy.

Gambler: Someone who likes to play a game in which you can win or lose money or possessions : to bet money or other valuable things.

Gossip: information about the behavior and personal lives of other people.

To bribe: something valuable (such as money) that is given in order to get someone to do something usually legal or dishonest.

To abuse: to treat (a person or animal) in a harsh or harmful way.

Fault: responsibility for a problem, mistake, bad situation, etc.

Lame: having an injured leg or foot that makes walking difficult or painful        .

Ruble: The unit of money in Russia.

Contradiction: the act of saying something that is opposite or very different in meaning to something else.

To lose one’s temper: to become angry.

Jealous: feeling or showing an unhappy or angry desire to have what someone else has.

To interfere: to become involved in the activities and concerns of other people when your involvement is not wanted.

Faint: to suddenly become unconscious.