Olga. Well, why don’t you just tell me, that you admire me? Why do you need this deep search in your feelings? Does it really make you happy?
Golyshkin. I suppose, that’s my cross to bear.
Olga. But definitely not mine. So, please, spare me from your mournful mediation. You’d better tell me what is going to be here tonight? You said on the phone that I am assigned the leading role in the session, is that right?
Golyshkin. I'll tell you everything, but a little bit later. Now let me invite you to my office and introduce you to the other participants of the session. Everyone has already gathered. Except Rodion.
Olga. Oh! Are there other women among them?
Golyshkin. Only one. But, frankly, she looks so little like a woman…
Olga. I like it. So, no one will be offended that I’ve got the leading role. I know perfectly well what this female envy is! Oh, Stalver Udarpyatovich, how much I have suffered from it!
Golyshkin. That’s common fate of a beautiful woman.
Olga. You're getting better, professor! This way I like you more. Keep going, keep going! And who knows what reward might wait for you.
Golyshkin. You inspire me Olga! May I kiss your hand?
Olga. Oh, no, professor! Stop it! By the way, I need… how do you say that politely? I need to the powder room! You don't have to follow me. I know where it is located in your apartment, as well as where your office is.
Golyshkin. Sure! Of course! But remember, we are waiting for you!
Olga. I'm back as soon as possible.
Olga opens one of the doors. Golyshkin goes back to his office.
Ogranovich. I don’t know about synagogue, but I personally saw a hexagram on the facade of Santa Croce Basilica in Florence. It was during my honeymoon. A beautiful old building, I tell you! It was built either in the thirteenth or fifteenth century.
Vykhuholev. Did you also sell it to someone?
Ogranovich. Oh, I wish I would! It is a cherished dream of any notary to deal with such a transaction It's the same as to fix the Big Ben clock mechanism for a watchmaker.
Vykhuholev. Or the same as to rob Fort Knox for a thief.
Ogranovich. Santa Croce Basilica! It is a Franciscan Gothic church in the form of the Egyptian T-cross. It’s funny!
Vykhuholev. What's funny about the church, I don't understand?
Ogranovich. It's funny, that I still remember all that. My first husband’s face has almost erased from my memory. And even more it has erased how we had spent our honeymoon in Florence. But I have not forgotten that Galileo Galilei, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Machiavelli and Rossini had been buried in this basilica. I wonder, why is that so?
