The Former and Indisputable One

• Dmitri tells everyone not to be afraid – he just wants to hang out with Grushenka. Grushenka calms down and Maximov entertains everyone with a couple stories about his own stupidity.
• Grushenka gets increasingly irritated with the Poles, who keep speaking to her in Polish.
• At an awkward moment, Dmitri proposes a toast to Russia, to which everyone drinks except the Poles, who then cheer Poland. This irritates Grushenka even more.
• Then Maximov proposes a game of cards. Dmitri is losing a lot of money – so much so that Kalganov intervenes and stops him from playing.
• Then Dmitri has a brilliant idea. He invites the Poles to another room, where he proposes to give them 3,000 roubles to leave Grushenka. The Poles seem interested, until Dmitri reveals that he doesn't have all the money on him. Suddenly they stomp out of the room indignantly and denounce Dmitri's behavior.
• Grushenka has had it with the Poles and tells them off. As if on cue, some peasant women begin to sing a dance tune, and the innkeeper himself walks in and tells the Poles to shut up. The innkeeper reveals that the Poles have been cheating at cards all night. Still indignant, the Poles lock themselves up in a room.