VANKA ZHUKOV, a boy of nine, who had been for three months apprenticed to Alyahin the shoemaker, was sitting up on Christmas Eve. Waiting till his master and mistress and their workmen had gone to the midnight service, he took out of his master’s cupboard a bottle of ink and a pen with a rusty nib, and, spreading out a crumpled sheet of paper in front of him, began writing. —-
“尤利西娅制鞋匠的学徒瓦尼卡·祖科夫，只有九岁，已经在他那里学徒了三个月的时间，在平安夜这天熬夜坐了起来。等待着他的主人、夫人和工人们去参加午夜弥撒后，他从主人的橱柜里拿出了一瓶墨水和一支生锈的钢笔，将一张皱巴巴的纸展开，放在面前开始写字。” —-

Before forming the first letter he several times looked round fearfully at the door and the windows, stole a glance at the dark ikon, on both sides of which stretched shelves full of lasts, and heaved a broken sigh. —-
“在写下第一个字母之前，他几次惊恐地望了望门和窗户，偷偷瞥了一眼黑色的圣像，其两边摆满了鞋楦，然后叹了一口气。” —-

The paper lay on the bench while he knelt before it.
“纸张放在工作台上，而他则跪在纸前。”

“Dear grandfather, Konstantin Makaritch,” he wrote, “I am writing you a letter. —-
“亲爱的祖父，孔斯坦丁·马卡里奇，”他写道，“我给您写信。 —-

I wish you a happy Christmas, and all blessings from God Almighty. —-
“我祝您圣诞快乐，愿上帝祝福您。” —-

I have neither father nor mother, you are the only one left me.”
“我没有父母，您是我唯一的亲人。”

Vanka raised his eyes to the dark ikon on which the light of his candle was reflected, and vividly recalled his grandfather, Konstantin Makaritch, who was night watchman to a family called Zhivarev. —-
“瓦尼卡抬起头，望着那黑暗的圣像，蜡烛的光在圣像上泛出。 —-

He was a thin but extraordinarily nimble and lively little old man of sixty-five, with an everlastingly laughing face and drunken eyes. —-
“他鲜明地回忆起祖父孔斯坦丁·马卡里奇，他是一个家庭的夜间守卫，那个家庭叫做日瓦廖夫家。 —-

By day he slept in the servants’ kitchen, or made jokes with the cooks; —-
“他是一个身材苗条且非常敏捷活泼的65岁小老头，脸上总是带着笑容，眼睛里醉意十足。” —-

at night, wrapped in an ample sheepskin, he walked round the grounds and tapped with his little mallet. —-
“白天他在仆人的厨房里睡觉，或者和厨子们开玩笑； —-

Old Kashtanka and Eel, so-called on account of his dark colour and his long body like a weasel’s, followed him with hanging heads. —-
“晚上，裹着一件宽大的羊皮大衣，他在院子里走来走去，用小锤子敲击着。” —-

This Eel was exceptionally polite and affectionate, and looked with equal kindness on strangers and his own masters, but had not a very good reputation. —-
“老卡申卡和黑鳗，因为它深色的毛和细长的身体像鳍鱼一样，被他跟随着，低着头。 —-

Under his politeness and meekness was hidden the most Jesuitical cunning. —-
“这个黑鳗非常有礼貌和亲切，对陌生人和主人一样友善，但声誉却不算太好。 —-

No one knew better how to creep up on occasion and snap at one’s legs, to slip into the store-room, or steal a hen from a peasant. —-
“在他的礼貌和温顺下隐藏着最阴险的狡诈。 —-

His hind legs had been nearly pulled off more than once, twice he had been hanged, every week he was thrashed till he was half dead, but he always revived.
他的后腿曾被拽断过不止一次，他曾被吊过两次，每周他都会被痛打到半死，但他总是能够恢复过来。

At this moment grandfather was, no doubt, standing at the gate, screwing up his eyes at the red windows of the church, stamping with his high felt boots, and joking with the servants. —-
此刻，爷爷无疑站在大门口，用皱起的眼睛看着红色的教堂窗户，穿着高筒毡靴踩踏着地面，并与仆人们开着玩笑。 —-

His little mallet was hanging on his belt. —-
他的小木槌挂在腰间。 —-

He was clasping his hands, shrugging with the cold, and, with an aged chuckle, pinching first the housemaid, then the cook.
他双手紧握在一起，因为寒冷而耸肩，并带着年迈的笑声捏了一下女仆，然后又捏了一下厨师。

“How about a pinch of snuff?” he was saying, offering the women his snuff-box.
“用点鼻烟怎么样？”他说着，递给女人们他的鼻烟盒。

The women would take a sniff and sneeze. —-
女人们会抽一口鼻烟然后打喷嚏。 —-

Grandfather would be indescribably delighted, go off into a merry chuckle, and cry:
爷爷会乐不可支，发出欢快的笑声，并喊道：

“Tear it off, it has frozen on!”
“拿下来，它冻住了！”

They give the dogs a sniff of snuff too. —-
他们也给狗嗅鼻 snuff。 —-

Kashtanka sneezes, wriggles her head, and walks away offended. —-
卡申卡打了个喷嚏，摇了摇头，生气地走开了。 —-

Eel does not sneeze, from politeness, but wags his tail. And the weather is glorious. —-
鳝鱼不会打喷嚏，因为礼貌，但它摇摇尾巴。天气可爱极了。 —-

The air is still, fresh, and transparent. —-
空气静谧、新鲜、透明。 —-

The night is dark, but one can see the whole village with its white roofs and coils of smoke coming from the chimneys, the trees silvered with hoar frost, the snowdrifts. —-
夜晚很黑，但人们可以看见整个村庄，带着白色的屋顶和烟囱上卷绕的烟雾，树木上的霜变成了银色，积雪堆。 —-

The whole sky spangled with gay twinkling stars, and the Milky Way is as distinct as though it had been washed and rubbed with snow for a holiday. . . .
整个天空都点缀着欢快闪烁的星星，银河清晰可见，就像洗净、用雪擦亮过一样……

Vanka sighed, dipped his pen, and went on writing:
凡卡叹了口气，蘸了蘸笔，继续写道：

“And yesterday I had a wigging. The master pulled me out into the yard by my hair, and whacked me with a boot-stretcher because I accidentally fell asleep while I was rocking their brat in the cradle. —-
“昨天我被教头拽到院子里，用靴子伸长器打了我一顿，因为我在摇他们的婴儿摇篮时不小心睡着了。 —-

And a week ago the mistress told me to clean a herring, and I began from the tail end, and she took the herring and thrust its head in my face. —-
一周前，女主人让我清理鲱鱼，我从尾部开始，她拿起鱼，把鱼头推到我脸上。 —-

The workmen laugh at me and send me to the tavern for vodka, and tell me to steal the master’s cucumbers for them, and the master beats me with anything that comes to hand. —-
工人们嘲笑我，让我去小酒馆买伏特加，让我偷主人的黄瓜给他们吃，教头用手头物品打我。 —-

And there is nothing to eat. In the morning they give me bread, for dinner, porridge, and in the evening, bread again; —-
这里什么都吃不上。早上给我面包，午饭是粥，晚上又是面包； —-

but as for tea, or soup, the master and mistress gobble it all up themselves. —-
至于茶或汤，主人和主妇都自己吃光。 —-

And I am put to sleep in the passage, and when their wretched brat cries I get no sleep at all, but have to rock the cradle. —-
我被安排睡在过道里，当他们那可怜的孩子哭的时候，我完全睡不着，只能摇动摇篮。 —-

Dear grandfather, show the divine mercy, take me away from here, home to the village. —-
亲爱的祖父，求你以神圣的怜悯之心把我从这里带回村里。 —-

It’s more than I can bear. I bow down to your feet, and will pray to God for you for ever, take me away from here or I shall die.”
这超出了我能忍受的范围。我向你俯身，并将永远为你祈祷上帝，带我离开这里，否则我会死的。 (It’s more than I can bear. I bow down to your feet, and will pray to God for you forever. Take me away from here or I shall die.)

Vanka’s mouth worked, he rubbed his eyes with his black fist, and gave a sob.
瓦尼卡的嘴张开了，他用黑色的拳头揉了揉眼睛，然后哭啊哭的。

“I will powder your snuff for you,” he went on. —-
“我会给你刷烟草粉的，”他继续说道。 —-

“I will pray for you, and if I do anything you can thrash me like Sidor’s goat. —-
“我会为你祈祷，如果我做错了什么，你可以像西德尔的山羊一样抽打我。 —-

And if you think I’ve no job, then I will beg the steward for Christ’s sake to let me clean his boots, or I’ll go for a shepherd-boy instead of Fedka. Dear grandfather, it is more than I can bear, it’s simply no life at all. —-
“如果你认为我没有工作，那么我会为了基督的缘故请求管理员让我擦他的靴子，或者我会替代费德凯成为牧羊男孩。亲爷爷，这实在是我承受不了的，这根本就不是生活。 —-

I wanted to run away to the village, but I have no boots, and I am afraid of the frost. —-
“我想逃到村里，但我没有靴子，我害怕寒冷。 —-

When I grow up big I will take care of you for this, and not let anyone annoy you, and when you die I will pray for the rest of your soul, just as for my mammy’s.”
“我长大后会照顾你的，不让任何人惹你生气，当你去世时，我会为你的灵魂安息祈祷，就像我为我妈妈的灵魂祈祷一样。”

“Moscow is a big town. It’s all gentlemen’s houses, and there are lots of horses, but there are no sheep, and the dogs are not spiteful. —-
“莫斯科是个大城市。那里都是绅士的房子，有很多马，但没有绵羊，狗也不恶意。 —-

The lads here don’t go out with the star, and they don’t let anyone go into the choir, and once I saw in a shop window fishing-hooks for sale, fitted ready with the line and for all sorts of fish, awfully good ones, there was even one hook that would hold a forty-pound sheat-fish. —-
这里的小伙子们不戴星，也不让任何人加入合唱团，我曾经在一个店铺的橱窗里看到有卖鱼钩，带线并适合各种鱼的好钩，真是太好了，甚至有一个钩子能够抓住四十磅重的鲤鱼。 —-

And I have seen shops where there are guns of all sorts, after the pattern of the master’s guns at home, so that I shouldn’t wonder if they are a hundred roubles each. —-
我也看到有各种枪支的店铺，和家里主人的枪一样的款式，所以一个一百卢布一把的价格也不足为奇。 —-

. . . And in the butchers’ shops there are grouse and woodcocks and fish and hares, but the shopmen don’t say where they shoot them.”
……，在肉铺里有松鸡、鸟鹿、鱼和野兔，但店主们不会说他们是从哪里猎取的。”

“Dear grandfather, when they have the Christmas tree at the big house, get me a gilt walnut, and put it away in the green trunk. —-
“亲爷爷，当大房子里过圣诞节时，给我买个镀金核桃，放进绿色的箱子里。 —-

Ask the young lady Olga Ignatyevna, say it’s for Vanka.”
向年轻女士奥尔加·伊格纳季耶夫娜打听一下，告诉她是给瓦尼卡的。”

Vanka gave a tremulous sigh, and again stared at the window. —-
瓦尼卡发出颤抖的叹息，再次凝视着窗户。 —-

He remembered how his grandfather always went into the forest to get the Christmas tree for his master’s family, and took his grandson with him. —-
他记得他的祖父总是去森林里为主人家找圣诞树，并带上孙子。 —-

It was a merry time! Grandfather made a noise in his throat, the forest crackled with the frost, and looking at them Vanka chortled too. —-
那是一个欢乐的时光！祖父喉咙发出声响，森林中霜冻嘎吱作响，看着他们，万卡也笑了起来。 —-

Before chopping down the Christmas tree, grandfather would smoke a pipe, slowly take a pinch of snuff, and laugh at frozen Vanka. . —-
在砍下圣诞树之前，祖父会抽烟，慢慢喝一口鼻烟，并取笑冻得发抖的万卡。 —-

. . The young fir trees, covered with hoar frost, stood motionless, waiting to see which of them was to die. —-
年轻的杉树，被霜冻覆盖，静静地站着，等待看哪一棵将要被砍下。 —-

Wherever one looked, a hare flew like an arrow over the snowdrifts . . . . —-
无论你看向哪里，一只野兔像箭一样飞过雪堆。。。 —-

Grandfather could not refrain from shouting: —-
祖父忍不住大叫： —-

“Hold him, hold him . . . hold him! Ah, the bob-tailed devil!”
“抓住他，抓住他…抓住他！啊，这只短尾巴的恶魔！”

When he had cut down the Christmas tree, grandfather used to drag it to the big house, and there set to work to decorate it. —-
当祖父砍倒圣诞树后，他会拖着它去大房子，并开始装饰它。 —-

. . . The young lady, who was Vanka’s favourite, Olga Ignatyevna, was the busiest of all. —-
年轻的女士奥尔加·伊格纳季耶芙娜是万卡最喜欢的人，她是最忙碌的。 —-

When Vanka’s mother Pelageya was alive, and a servant in the big house, Olga Ignatyevna used to give him goodies, and having nothing better to do, taught him to read and write, to count up to a hundred, and even to dance a quadrille. —-
当万卡的母亲佩拉格娅还活着的时候，奥尔加·伊格纳季耶芙娜常常给他好吃的东西，并且没有更好的事情做，教他读写，数到一百，甚至教他跳四方舞。 —-

When Pelageya died, Vanka had been transferred to the servants’ kitchen to be with his grandfather, and from the kitchen to the shoemaker’s in Moscow.
当佩拉格娅去世时，万卡被转移到仆人的厨房，和祖父在一起，然后又被送到莫斯科的鞋匠那里。

“Do come, dear grandfather,” Vanka went on with his letter. —-
“亲爱的祖父，请您过来”，万卡在信中接着写道。 —-

“For Christ’s sake, I beg you, take me away. Have pity on an unhappy orphan like me; —-
“求求您，为了上帝的缘故，把我带走。可怜一位像我这样的孤儿； —-

here everyone knocks me about, and I am fearfully hungry; —-
这里每个人都打我，我饿得厉害； —-

I can’t tell you what misery it is, I am always crying. —-
我无法告诉您有多么痛苦，我总是在哭泣。” —-

And the other day the master hit me on the head with a last, so that I fell down. —-
前几天，师傅用木匠的砧板砸在我的头上，让我一下子摔倒了。 —-

My life is wretched, worse than any dog’s. . . . —-
我的生活简直比狗还悲惨…… —-

I send greetings to Alyona, one-eyed Yegorka, and the coachman, and don’t give my concertina to anyone. —-
给阿洛娜、独眼的叶戈夫卡和马车夫问候，请不要把我的手风琴给别人。 —-

I remain, your grandson, Ivan Zhukov. Dear grandfather, do come.”
你的孙子伊凡·朱科夫留言。亲爱的爷爷，请一定过来。

Vanka folded the sheet of writing-paper twice, and put it into an envelope he had bought the day before for a kopeck. —-
瓦尔卡将写字纸折叠了两次，放进了他前一天花一便士买的信封里。 —-

. . . After thinking a little, he dipped the pen and wrote the address:
……稍微思考了一会儿，他蘸上笔，写下了地址：

To grandfather in the village.
给村里的爷爷。

Then he scratched his head, thought a little, and added: Konstantin Makaritch. —-
然后他挠了挠头，考虑了一会儿，加了一句：康斯坦丁·马卡里奇。 —-

Glad that he had not been prevented from writing, he put on his cap and, without putting on his little greatcoat, ran out into the street as he was in his shirt. . . .
感到没有被阻止写信，他戴上帽子，没有穿上小大衣，穿着衬衫就冲出了街道……

The shopmen at the butcher’s, whom he had questioned the day before, told him that letters were put in post-boxes, and from the boxes were carried about all over the earth in mailcarts with drunken drivers and ringing bells. —-
在前一天向肉店的店员询问后，他们告诉他信件是放在邮箱中的，然后被带到马车上，在酒醉的驾驶员和响亮的铃声声中遍布全地球。 —-

Vanka ran to the nearest post-box, and thrust the precious letter in the slit. . . .
瓦尔卡跑到最近的邮筒前，将宝贵的信件塞进了缝隙中……

An hour later, lulled by sweet hopes, he was sound asleep. . . . He dreamed of the stove. —-
一个小时后，被美好的希望催眠着，他睡得香甜……他梦见了火炉。 —-

On the stove was sitting his grandfather, swinging his bare legs, and reading the letter to the cooks. . . .
火炉上坐着他的爷爷，荡着光着的腿，给厨师们读信……

By the stove was Eel, wagging his tail.
炉旁边还有小鳗鱼，摇着尾巴。