NINE years ago Pyotr Sergeyitch, the deputy prosecutor, and I were riding towards evening in hay-making time to fetch the letters from the station.
九年前，副检察长皮奥特尔·谢尔盖伊奇和我在晚间草莓季节时骑马去车站取信件。

The weather was magnificent, but on our way back we heard a peal of thunder, and saw an angry black storm-cloud which was coming straight towards us. —
天气很好，但在回来的路上，我们听到了一声雷响，看到了一团愤怒的黑色暴风云正直冲着我们而来。 —

The storm-cloud was approaching us and we were approaching it.
暴风云逼近我们，我们也在逼近它。

Against the background of it our house and church looked white and the tall poplars shone like silver. —
在它的背景下，我们的房子和教堂显得洁白，高大的白杨树闪着银光。 —

There was a scent of rain and mown hay. My companion was in high spirits. —
有雨水和干草的清香。我的同伴兴高采烈。 —

He kept laughing and talking all sorts of nonsense. —
他一直笑个不停，说着各种胡言乱语。 —

He said it would be nice if we could suddenly come upon a medieval castle with turreted towers, with moss on it and owls, in which we could take shelter from the rain and in the end be killed by a thunderbolt….
他说如果我们突然遇到一座中世纪的城堡，有带塔楼的，上面长满青苔和猫头鹰，我们就可以躲在里面避雨，最后被雷击中而死……

Then the first wave raced through the rye and a field of oats, there was a gust of wind, and the dust flew round and round in the air. —
然后第一阵风吹过了稻田和燕麦地，刮起了一阵风，尘土在空中飞舞。 —

Pyotr Sergeyitch laughed and spurred on his horse.
皮奥特尔·谢尔盖伊奇笑着催马前行。

“It’s fine!” he cried, “it’s splendid!”
“太棒了！”他喊道，“太绝妙了！”

Infected by his gaiety, I too began laughing at the thought that in a minute I should be drenched to the skin and might be struck by lightning.
受他的愉快影响，我也开始笑起来，想着自己一会儿就会被浑身湿透，说不定还会被闪电击中。

Riding swiftly in a hurricane when one is breathless with the wind, and feels like a bird, thrills one and puts one’s heart in a flutter. —
在风暴中飞驰，当身体被风吹得气喘吁吁，感觉像一只鸟一样，让人激动又心跳加速。 —

By the time we rode into our courtyard the wind had gone down, and big drops of rain were pattering on the grass and on the roofs. —
当我们骑进庭院时，风已经停了，大颗大颗的雨点敲击在草地和房顶上。 —

There was not a soul near the stable.
马厩附近一个人影也没有。

Pyotr Sergeyitch himself took the bridles off, and led the horses to their stalls. —
皮奥特尔·谢尔盖伊奇亲自解下缰绳，把马牵到了马厩。 —

I stood in the doorway waiting for him to finish, and watching the slanting streaks of rain; —
我站在门口等他结束，看着斜斜的雨线； —

the sweetish, exciting scent of hay was even stronger here than in the fields; —
这里甜美、令人兴奋的干草气味比田野上还要浓烈； —

the storm-clouds and the rain made it almost twilight.
暴风云和雨使这里几乎变得昏暗。

“What a crash!” said Pyotr Sergeyitch, coming up to me after a very loud rolling peal of thunder when it seemed as though the sky were split in two. —
“好大一声响！”彼得·谢尔盖耶维奇在一阵非常响亮的雷声之后走向我，天边似乎被劈成两半。 —

“What do you say to that?”
“你觉得怎么样？”

He stood beside me in the doorway and, still breathless from his rapid ride, looked at me. —
他站在我身旁的门口，从他急促骑马的呼吸中我知道他在看着我。 —

I could see that he was admiring me.
我能看出他在赞美我。

“Natalya Vladimirovna,” he said, “I would give anything only to stay here a little longer and look at you. —
“娜塔莉娅·弗拉基米罗芙娜，”他说，“我愿意付出任何代价只为能多留一会儿看看你。 —

You are lovely to-day.”
你今天真美。”

His eyes looked at me with delight and supplication, his face was pale. —
他兴高采烈的眼神和苍白的脸对着我。 —

On his beard and mustache were glittering raindrops, and they, too, seemed to be looking at me with love.
他的胡子和胡须上闪着雨滴，它们也似乎在用爱意看着我。

“I love you,” he said. “I love you, and I am happy at seeing you. —
“我爱你，”他说，“我爱你，看到你我很快乐。 —

I know you cannot be my wife, but I want nothing, I ask nothing; only know that I love you. —
我知道你不能成为我的妻子，但我什么也不求，也不要求；只要知道我爱你。 —

Be silent, do not answer me, take no notice of it, but only know that you are dear to me and let me look at you.”
保持沉默，不要回答我，不要理会，只要知道你对我很重要，让我看着你。”

His rapture affected me too; I looked at his enthusiastic face, listened to his voice which mingled with the patter of the rain, and stood as though spellbound, unable to stir.
他的狂喜也感染了我；我看着他充满激情的脸，听着他的声音与雨声交织在一起，站在那里仿佛被咒语束缚，无法动弹。

I longed to go on endlessly looking at his shining eyes and listening.
我渴望无休止地凝视他闪闪发光的眼睛，倾听他的话语。

“You say nothing, and that is splendid,” said Pyotr Sergeyitch. “Go on being silent.”
“你什么也不说，这很棒，”彼得·谢尔盖耶维奇说道。“继续保持沉默吧。”

I felt happy. I laughed with delight and ran through the drenching rain to the house; —
我感到幸福。我欢喜地大笑着穿过倾盆大雨跑向房子； —

he laughed too, and, leaping as he went, ran after me.
他也笑了，跟着我一起跳跃奔跑。

Both drenched, panting, noisily clattering up the stairs like children, we dashed into the room. —
我们俩都淋湿了，喘着气，像孩子一样吵闹地奔跑上楼梯，闯进了房间。 —

My father and brother, who were not used to seeing me laughing and light-hearted, looked at me in surprise and began laughing too.
我父亲和兄弟们不习惯看到我笑得轻松愉快，他们惊讶地看着我，然后也开始笑了。

The storm-clouds had passed over and the thunder had ceased, but the raindrops still glittered on Pyotr Sergeyitch’s beard. —
暴风云已经过去，雷声停了，但是雨滴依然在彼得·谢尔盖耶维奇的胡须上闪闪发亮。 —

The whole evening till supper-time he was singing, whistling, playing noisily with the dog and racing about the room after it, so that he nearly upset the servant with the samovar. —
整个晚上直到吃晚饭，他都在唱歌、吹口哨、和狗玩得不亦乐乎，在房间里疯跑，几乎把拿着热水瓶的女仆撞倒。 —

And at supper he ate a great deal, talked nonsense, and maintained that when one eats fresh cucumbers in winter there is the fragrance of spring in one’s mouth.
晚饭时他吃了很多东西，胡说八道，还说在冬天吃新鲜的黄瓜时，口中会有春天的芬芳。

When I went to bed I lighted a candle and threw my window wide open, and an undefined feeling took possession of my soul. —
当我上床时，我点燃了蜡烛，将窗户大敞开，一种无法名状的情感占据了我的灵魂。 —

I remembered that I was free and healthy, that I had rank and wealth, that I was beloved; —
我记起自己是自由的，健康的，拥有地位和财富，我是被爱着的； —

above all, that I had rank and wealth, rank and wealth, my God! how nice that was!. —
最重要的是，我拥有地位和财富，地位和财富，我的上帝！那种感觉多美好啊！。 —

.. Then, huddling up in bed at a touch of cold which reached me from the garden with the dew, I tried to discover whether I loved Pyotr Sergeyitch or not,. —
..然后，在被从庭院带来的凉意唤醒后，我蜷缩在床上，试图弄清我是否爱彼得·谢尔盖耶维奇， —

.. and fell asleep unable to reach any conclusion.
..最后昏昏沉沉地睡着了，无法得出结论。

And when in the morning I saw quivering patches of sunlight and the shadows of the lime trees on my bed, what had happened yesterday rose vividly in my memory. —
第二天早晨，当我看到床上闪烁的阳光斑驳和椴树的影子时，昨天发生的一切清晰地浮现在我的记忆里。 —

Life seemed to me rich, varied, full of charm. —
生活在我看来是丰富、多样和充满魅力的。 —

Humming, I dressed quickly and went out into the garden….
哼着小曲，我迅速穿好衣服，走出花园。

And what happened afterwards? Why—nothing. —
之后呢？为什么——什么也没有发生。 —

In the winter when we lived in town Pyotr Sergeyitch came to see us from time to time. —
冬天我们住在城里时，彼得·谢尔盖耶维奇偶尔来看我们。 —

Country acquaintances are charming only in the country and in summer; —
乡下的熟人只有在乡下和夏天才迷人； —

in the town and in winter they lose their charm. —
在城里和冬天，他们失去了魅力。 —

When you pour out tea for them in the town it seems as though they are wearing other people’s coats, and as though they stirred their tea too long. —
在城里为他们倒茶时，仿佛他们穿着别人的外套，仿佛他们搅拌茶水的时间太长。 —

In the town, too, Pyotr Sergeyitch spoke sometimes of love, but the effect was not at all the same as in the country. —
在城里，彼得·谢尔盖耶维奇有时也谈论爱情，但效果却远不及在乡下。 —

In the town we were more vividly conscious of the wall that stood between us. —
在城里，我们更清楚地意识到我们之间存在的隔阂。 —

I had rank and wealth, while he was poor, and he was not even a nobleman, but only the son of a deacon and a deputy public prosecutor; —
我拥有名望和财富，而他却贫穷，甚至不是贵族，只是牧师的儿子和代理检察官； —

we both of us—I through my youth and he for some unknown reason—thought of that wall as very high and thick, and when he was with us in the town he would criticize aristocratic society with a forced smile, and maintain a sullen silence when there was anyone else in the drawing-room. —
我们两人——我因为年轻，他由于某种未知原因——都把那道墙看得很高很厚，在城里和我们在一起时，他会带着一种勉强的微笑批评贵族社会，当客厅里还有其他人时会保持沉默。 —

There is no wall that cannot be broken through, but the heroes of the modern romance, so far as I know them, are too timid, spiritless, lazy, and oversensitive, and are too ready to resign themselves to the thought that they are doomed to failure, that personal life has disappointed them; —
没有不可逾越的墙，但据我所知，现代浪漫小说的英雄们太胆怯、没精神、懒惰和过分敏感，他们太容易接受自己注定要失败的想法，个人生活让他们失望； —

instead of struggling they merely criticize, calling the world vulgar and forgetting that their criticism passes little by little into vulgarity.
他们只是批评，称世界俗气，忘记他们的批评渐渐变得庸俗。

I was loved, happiness was not far away, and seemed to be almost touching me; —
我被爱着，幸福近在咫尺，几乎触手可及； —

I went on living in careless ease without trying to understand myself, not knowing what I expected or what I wanted from life, and time went on and on. —
我继续在无忧无虑中生活，不努力了解自己，不知道自己期待或想要什么，时间一天天过去。 —

… People passed by me with their love, bright days and warm nights flashed by, the nightingales sang, the hay smelt fragrant, and all this, sweet and overwhelming in remembrance, passed with me as with everyone rapidly, leaving no trace, was not prized, and vanished like mist. —
人们带着他们的爱路过我，明亮的白天和温暖的夜晚匆匆掠过，夜莺歌唱着，干草散发着芳香，所有这一切，在回忆中甜蜜而压倒，和所有人一样迅速地消逝，留下了无痕迹，不被珍惜，像薄雾般消失了。 —

… Where is it all?
一切都在哪里？

My father is dead, I have grown older; everything that delighted me, caressed me, gave me hope—the patter of the rain, the rolling of the thunder, thoughts of happiness, talk of love—all that has become nothing but a memory, and I see before me a flat desert distance; —
我的父亲已经去世，我变老了；曾经让我快乐、抚慰我、给我希望的一切——雨滴拍打声，雷声轰鸣，幸福的想法，爱情的交谈——如今只剩下记忆，我看见呈现在我面前的是一片平淡的荒漠； —

on the plain not one living soul, and out there on the horizon it is dark and terrible….
平原上没有一条生命，远方黑暗而可怕……

A ring at the bell…. It is Pyotr Sergeyitch. —
门铃响了……是彼得·谢尔盖耶维奇。 —

When in the winter I see the trees and remember how green they were for me in the summer I whisper:
冬天里看到的树，让我记起夏天它们是那么翠绿，我轻声地说：

“Oh, my darlings!”
“我的宝贝们！”

And when I see people with whom I spent my spring-time, I feel sorrowful and warm and whisper the same thing.
当我看见我曾经度过春天时光的人时，我感到难过而温暖，也轻声说同样的话。

He has long ago by my father’s good offices been transferred to town. —
他很久以前得到我父亲的帮助调到了城里。 —

He looks a little older, a little fallen away. —
他看起来有点老了，有点消瘦。 —

He has long given up declaring his love, has left off talking nonsense, dislikes his official work, is ill in some way and disillusioned; —
他很久以前停止了表达爱意，不再说废话，对他的工作感到厌倦，身体某个地方有病，感到幻灭； —

he has given up trying to get anything out of life, and takes no interest in living. —
他已经放弃努力从生活中获得什么，对生活不感兴趣。 —

Now he has sat down by the hearth and looks in silence at the fire….
现在他坐在壁炉旁，默默地望着火……

Not knowing what to say I ask him:
不知道该说什么，我问他：

“Well, what have you to tell me?”
“那么，你有什么要告诉我吗？”

“Nothing,” he answers.
“什么也没有，”他回答道。

And silence again. The red glow of the fire plays about his melancholy face.
然后又是沉默。火光在他忧郁的脸上闪耀。

I thought of the past, and all at once my shoulders began quivering, my head dropped, and I began weeping bitterly. —
我想到了过去，突然间，肩膀开始颤抖，头低了下去，我开始痛苦地哭泣。 —

I felt unbearably sorry for myself and for this man, and passionately longed for what had passed away and what life refused us now. —
我为自己和为这个男人感到无比难过，热切地渴望过去和生活现在所拒绝的一切。 —

And now I did not think about rank and wealth.
现在我没有考虑过阶级和财富。

I broke into loud sobs, pressing my temples, and muttered:
我大声啜泣，按住太阳穴，喃喃地说着：

“My God! my God! my life is wasted!”
“我的上帝！我的上帝！我的生命被浪费了！”

And he sat and was silent, and did not say to me: “Don’t weep. —
他坐在那里沉默着，没有对我说：“别哭了。” —

” He understood that I must weep, and that the time for this had come.
他明白我必须哭泣，这个时刻已经到来。

I saw from his eyes that he was sorry for me; —
我从他的眼神中看出他为我难过； —

and I was sorry for him, too, and vexed with this timid, unsuccessful man who could not make a life for me, nor for himself.
我也为他感到难过，为这个胆怯、不成功的男人感到恼火，他无法为我，也无法为自己创造一种生活。

When I saw him to the door, he was, I fancied, purposely a long while putting on his coat. —
当我送他到门口时，我觉得他故意花了好长时间穿上外套。 —

Twice he kissed my hand without a word, and looked a long while into my tear-stained face. —
他两次不言语地吻了我的手，长时间地凝视着我泪湿的脸。 —

I believe at that moment he recalled the storm, the streaks of rain, our laughter, my face that day; he longed to say something to me, and he would have been glad to say it; —
我相信那一刻他想起了风暴，雨水的条纹，我们的笑声，那一天的我的脸；他渴望对我说些什么，他也乐意说出来； —

but he said nothing, he merely shook his head and pressed my hand. God help him!
但他什么也没说，他只是摇了摇头，握着我的手。上帝保佑他！

After seeing him out, I went back to my study and again sat on the carpet before the fireplace; —
送走他之后，我回到书房，再次坐在壁炉前的地毯上； —

the red embers were covered with ash and began to grow dim. —
红色的余烬被灰烬覆盖，开始变得昏暗。 —

The frost tapped still more angrily at the windows, and the wind droned in the chimney.
霜更加急剧地拍打在窗户上，风在烟囱里呜咽。

The maid came in and, thinking I was asleep, called my name.
女佣进来，以为我在睡觉，喊我的名字。