Almost two months had passed. The hot summer was half over, but Sergey Ivanovitch was only just preparing to leave Moscow.
差不多两个月过去了，炎热的夏天已经过了一半，但谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇正准备离开莫斯科。

Sergey Ivanovitch’s life had not been uneventful during this time. —
在此期间，谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇的生活并不平淡无奇。 —

A year ago he had finished his book, the fruit of six years’ labor, “Sketch of a Survey of the Principles and Forms of Government in Europe and Russia.” —
一年前，他完成了他的书，这是他六年努力的成果，《欧洲和俄罗斯政府原理和形式概述》。 —

Several sections of this book and its introduction had appeared in periodical publications, and other parts had been read by Sergey Ivanovitch to persons of his circle, so that the leading ideas of the work could not be completely novel to the public. —
这本书的几个章节和引言已经在期刊上发表过，其他部分也被谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇介绍给他的朋友圈子的人们，并且因此这本书的主要思想对于公众来说并不完全新鲜。 —

But still Sergey Ivanovitch had expected that on its appearance his book would be sure to make a serious impression on society, and if it did not cause a revolution in social science it would, at any rate, make a great stir in the scientific world.
但谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇仍然期望他的书一经出版就会在社会上产生重大影响，即使它不能引起社会科学的革命，也会在科学界引起巨大轰动。

After the most conscientious revision the book had last year been published, and had been distributed among the booksellers.
去年经过最认真的修订，这本书已经出版，并已经在书商中进行了分发。

Though he asked no one about it, reluctantly and with feigned indifference answered his friends’ inquiries as to how the book was going, and did not even inquire of the booksellers how the book was selling, Sergey Ivanovitch was all on the alert, with strained attention, watching for the first impression his book would make in the world and in literature.
尽管他没有向任何人咨询，但勉强并且假装漠不关心地回答他朋友们关于进展如何的询问，并且甚至没有询问书商书籍的销售情况，但谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇一直紧张地、专注地观察着他的书在世界和文学界中所产生的第一印象。

But a week passed, a second, a third, and in society no impression whatever could be detected. —
但是一周过去了，第二周过去了，第三周过去了，社会上却没有任何感觉。 —

His friends who were specialists and savants, occasionally–unmistakably from politeness–alluded to it. —
他的朋友们，那些专家和学者，偶尔会客气地提到这个问题。 —

The rest of his acquaintances, not interested in a book on a learned subject, did not talk of it at all. —
他的其他熟人，并不对这本关于学术课题的书感兴趣，根本不谈论它。 —

And society generally–just now especially absorbed in other things–was absolutely indifferent. —
社会整体上，尤其是最近对其他事情非常专注的时候，完全漠不关心。 —

In the press, too, for a whole month there was not a word about his book.
新闻界也是如此，整整一个月都没有一字提及他的书。

Sergey Ivanovitch had calculated to a nicety the time necessary for writing a review, but a month passed, and a second, and still there was silence.
谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇曾经精确地计算了写一篇评论所需要的时间，但一个月过去了，第二个月过去了，仍然是一片沉寂。

Only in the Northern Beetle, in a comic article on the singer Drabanti, who had lost his voice, there was a contemptuous allusion to Koznishev’s book, suggesting that the book had been long ago seen through by everyone, and was a subject of general ridicule.
只有在《北方甲壳虫报》上的一篇漫画文章中，关于失声的歌手德拉班蒂的内容中，含有对柯兹尼谢夫的书的蔑视暗讽，暗示这本书早已被大家洞察透彻，并成为普遍嘲笑的对象。

At last in the third month a critical article appeared in a serious review. —
终于在第三个月出现了一篇在一家严肃评论中的批评文章。 —

Sergey Ivanovitch knew the author of the article. —
谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇认识这篇文章的作者。 —

He had met him once at Golubtsov’s.
他曾经在戈卢布佐夫那里见过他一次。

The author of the article was a young man, an invalid, very bold as a writer, but extremely deficient in breeding and shy in personal relations.
这篇文章的作者是一个年轻人，一个伤残人士，作为作家非常大胆，但在个人关系中极度缺乏教养且害羞。

In spite of his absolute contempt for the author, it was with complete respect that Sergey Ivanovitch set about reading the article. —
尽管他对这位作者完全蔑视，但谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇以完全敬意开始阅读这篇文章。 —

The article was awful.
这篇文章糟透了。

The critic had undoubtedly put an interpretation upon the book which could not possibly be put on it. But he had selected quotations so adroitly that for people who had not read the book (and obviously scarcely anyone had read it) it seemed absolutely clear that the whole book was nothing but a medley of high-flown phrases, not even–as suggested by marks of interrogation–used appropriately, and that the author of the book was a person absolutely without knowledge of the subject. —
这位评论家无疑对这本书做出了无法接受的解释。但他巧妙地选择了引文，以至于对于没看过这本书的人们来说（显然几乎没有人看过），整本书似乎完全是一堆浮夸的词句的混合，并且（如疑问号所示）甚至不适当地使用，而且书的作者完全对这个主题一无所知。 —

And all this was so wittingly done that Sergey Ivanovitch would not have disowned such wit himself. —
这些都是如此狡猾地做到的，以至于谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇自己都会为之自豪。 —

But that was just what was so awful.
但这正是如此可怕的地方。

In spite of the scrupulous conscientiousness with which Sergey Ivanovitch verified the correctness of the critic’s arguments, he did not for a minute stop to ponder over the faults and mistakes which were ridiculed; —
尽管谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇极其认真地核实了评论家的论点的正确性，但他并没有花一分钟的时间去思考被嘲笑的错误和失误； —

but unconsciously he began immediately trying to recall every detail of his meeting and conversation with the author of the article.
但他下意识地立即开始努力回忆与这篇文章的作者会面和交谈的每一个细节。

“Didn’t I offend him in some way?” Sergey Ivanovitch wondered.
“我有没有以某种方式冒犯他？”谢尔盖·伊凡诺维奇想道。

And remembering that when they met he had corrected the young man about something he had said that betrayed ignorance, Sergey Ivanovitch found the clue to explain the article.
想起他们相遇时他纠正了年轻人对某事的错误说法，显示了谢尔盖·伊凡诺维奇找到了解释这篇文章的线索。

This article was followed by a deadly silence about the book both in the press and in conversation, and Sergey Ivanovitch saw that his six years’ task, toiled at with such love and labor, had gone, leaving no trace.
这篇文章之后，无论是媒体上还是谈话中都死一般的沉默对这本书，谢尔盖·伊凡诺维奇看到他辛辛苦苦耗费了六年时间的任务已经消失无踪。

Sergey Ivanovitch’s position was still more difficult from the fact that, since he had finished his book, he had had no more literary work to do, such as had hitherto occupied the greater part of his time.
谢尔盖·伊凡诺维奇的处境比起他完成书稿之前更为困难，因为自从完成书稿后，他再也没有了以往占据他大部分时间的文学工作。

Sergey Ivanovitch was clever, cultivated, healthy, and energetic, and he did not know what use to make of his energy. —
谢尔盖·伊凡诺维奇聪明、博学、健康和精力充沛，但他不知道如何运用他的精力。 —

Conversations in drawing rooms, in meetings, assemblies, and committees–everywhere where talk was possible–took up part of his time. —
餐厅、会议、集会和委员会的谈话无处不在，这占据了他部分时间。 —

But being used for years to town life, he did not waste all his energies in talk, as his less experienced younger brother did, when he was in Moscow. —
虽然已经生活在城镇多年，他并没有像他那个经验不足的弟弟在莫斯科时那样浪费所有的精力来聊天。 —

He had a great deal of leisure and intellectual energy still to dispose of.
他有很多休闲时间和智力能量可供安排。

Fortunately for him, at this period so difficult for him from the failure of his book, the various public questions of the dissenting sects, of the American alliance, of the Samara famine, of exhibitions, and of spiritualism, were definitely replaced in public interest by the Slavonic question, which had hitherto rather languidly interested society, and Sergey Ivanovitch, who had been one of the first to raise this subject, threw himself into it heart and soul.
幸运的是，在他的书失败后，这个时期对他来说非常困难，各种公共问题，包括分裂派别问题、美国联盟问题、萨马拉饥荒问题、展览问题以及心灵主义问题，都被斯拉夫问题所取代，这个问题此前并没有引起社会的浓厚兴趣。而谢尔盖·伊凡诺维奇则全身心地投入其中。

In the circle to which Sergey Ivanovitch belonged, nothing was talked of or written about just now but the Servian War. Everything that the idle crowd usually does to kill time was done now for the benefit of the Slavonic States. —
在谢尔盖·伊凡诺维奇所在的圈子里，现在谈论或写作的唯一话题就是塞尔维亚战争。现在为了斯拉夫国家的利益，人们做着通常用来消磨时间的一切事情。 —

Balls, concerts, dinners, matchboxes, ladies’ dresses, beer, restaurants– everything testified to sympathy with the Slavonic peoples.
舞会、音乐会、晚餐、火柴盒、女士服装、啤酒、餐馆——一切都显示出对斯拉夫人民的同情。

From much of what was spoken and written on the subject, Sergey Ivanovitch differed on various points. —
塞尔吉·伊万诺维奇在这个问题上与很多人在言谈和书写上存在不同的观点。 —

He saw that the Slavonic question had become one of those fashionable distractions which succeed one another in providing society with an object and an occupation. —
他看到斯拉夫问题已经成为那种提供社会一个目标和消遣的时尚分散注意力的问题之一。 —

He saw, too, that a great many people were taking up the subject from motives of self-interest and self-advertisement. —
他也看到很多人从自身利益和自我宣传的动机出发来研究这个问题。 —

He recognized that the newspapers published a great deal that was superfluous and exaggerated, with the sole aim of attracting attention and outbidding one another. —
他意识到报纸刊登了很多多余和夸张的东西，唯一目的是吸引注意并竞相争奇斗艳。 —

He saw that in this general movement those who thrust themselves most forward and shouted the loudest were men who had failed and were smarting under a sense of injury–generals without armies, ministers not in the ministry, journalists not on any paper, party leaders without followers. —
他看到在这个普遍的运动中，最积极、最哗众取宠的人都是那些失败而感到受伤的人——没有部队的将军，不在部队的部长，没有报纸的记者，没有追随者的党派领袖。 —

He saw that there was a great deal in it that was frivolous and absurd. —
他看到其中有很多是轻浮和荒谬的。 —

But he saw and recognized an unmistakable growing enthusiasm, uniting all classes, with which it was impossible not to sympathize. —
但他看到并认识到一种明显的热情正在增长，团结了所有阶级，不可能不对其表示同情。 —

The massacre of men who were fellow Christians, and of the same Slavonic race, excited sympathy for the sufferers and indignation against the oppressors. —
遭受者和压迫者都是同胞基督徒和同一个斯拉夫族群的屠杀，引发了对受难者的同情和对压迫者的愤慨。 —

And the heroism of the Servians and Montenegrins struggling for a great cause begot in the whole people a longing to help their brothers not in word but in deed.
而塞尔维亚人和黑山人为争取伟大事业而奋斗的英勇行为，在整个民族中引发了帮助兄弟们的渴望，不仅停留在口头上而是实际行动上。

But in this there was another aspect that rejoiced Sergey Ivanovitch. —
但在这其中还有另一个令谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇感到欣喜的方面。 —

That was the manifestation of public opinion. The public had definitely expressed its desire. —
那就是舆论的表达。公众已经明确表达了他们的愿望。 —

The soul of the people had, as Sergey Ivanovitch said, found expression. —
正如谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇所说的，人民的灵魂已经找到了表达。 —

And the more he worked in this cause, the more incontestable it seemed to him that it was a cause destined to assume vast dimensions, to create an epoch.
他越是在这个事业中工作，就越是觉得这是一个注定会承担巨大规模，创造一个时代的事业。

He threw himself heart and soul into the service of this great cause, and forgot to think about his book. —
他全身心投入到这个伟大事业的服务中，忘记了自己的书。 —

His whole time now was engrossed by it, so that he could scarcely manage to answer all the letters and appeals addressed to him. —
现在他整个时间都被这个事情占据着，以至于几乎无法回答所有写给他的信件和呼吁。 —

He worked the whole spring and part of the summer, and it was only in July that he prepared to go away to his brother’s in the country.
他整个春季和夏季的一部分都在工作，直到七月才准备去乡下的兄弟处。

He was going both to rest for a fortnight, and in the very heart of the people, in the farthest wilds of the country, to enjoy the sight of that uplifting of the spirit of the people, of which, like all residents in the capital and big towns, he was fully persuaded. —
他既想休息两个星期，又想深入人民中间，在乡村最偏远荒野，享受那种人民精神的抬升，对此他像所有首都和大城市的居民一样完全相信。 —

Katavasov had long been meaning to carry out his promise to stay with Levin, and so he was going with him.
卡塔沃索夫早就想履行和列文一起呆的承诺，所以他会和他一起去。