I
我

I RECEIVED the following letter:
我收到了以下信件：

“DEAR SIR, PAVEL ANDREITCH!
“尊敬的谢尔盖·巴维尔·安德列维奇先生：

“Not far from you—that is to say, in the village of Pestrovo—very distressing incidents are taking place, concerning which I feel it my duty to write to you. —
“离您不远处——也就是佩斯特洛沃村——正在发生非常令人痛心的事件，我感到有责任写信告诉您。 —

All the peasants of that village sold their cottages and all their belongings, and set off for the province of Tomsk, but did not succeed in getting there, and have come back. —
那个村子的所有农民卖掉了他们的小屋和所有财产，前往托木斯克省，但未能到达那里，又回来了。 —

Here, of course, they have nothing now; everything belongs to other people. —
当然，现在他们一无所有；一切都属于别人。 —

They have settled three or four families in a hut, so that there are no less than fifteen persons of both sexes in each hut, not counting the young children; —
他们把三四个家庭安置在一间小屋里，每间小屋至少住着十五个男女老少； —

and the long and the short of it is, there is nothing to eat. —
长话短说，他们没有吃的了。 —

There is famine and there is a terrible pestilence of hunger, or spotted, typhus; —
饥荒肆虐，饥饿或斑疹伤寒令人恐慌；每个人都生病了。医生的助手说，进入一间小屋，看到了什么？ —

literally every one is stricken. The doctor’s assistant says one goes into a cottage and what does one see? —
每个人都生病了，每个人都神志不清，有的笑，有的疯狂；小屋很脏； —

Every one is sick, every one delirious, some laughing, others frantic; the huts are filthy; —
没人给他们送水，没人给他们喝水，除了冻土豆外，没有其他东西吃。 —

there is no one to fetch them water, no one to give them a drink, and nothing to eat but frozen potatoes. —
鲁保洛夫（我们镇的医生）和他的女助手能做什么？农民们需要的不仅仅是药物，更需要的是他们没有的面包。 —

What can Sobol (our Zemstvo doctor) and his lady assistant do when more than medicine the peasants need bread which they have not? —
地区Zemstvo拒绝帮助他们，理由是他们的名字已经从本地区注册表中删除，现在被视为托木斯克的居民； —

The District Zemstvo refuses to assist them, on the ground that their names have been taken off the register of this district, and that they are now reckoned as inhabitants of Tomsk; —
而且，Zemstvo没有钱。 —

and, besides, the Zemstvo has no money.
附言：请务必记录这些，以备参考。”

“Laying these facts before you, and knowing your humanity, I beg you not to refuse immediate help.
将这些事实呈上，并了解你的人性，我请求你不要拒绝立即的帮助。

“Your well-wisher.”
“你的好友。”

Obviously the letter was written by the doctor with the animal name* or his lady assistant. —
显然这封信是由那位名字带有动物名*的医生或他的女助手写的。 —

Zemstvo doctors and their assistants go on for years growing more and more convinced every day that they can do nothing, and yet continue to receive their salaries from people who are living upon frozen potatoes, and consider they have a right to judge whether I am humane or not.
地方医生及其助手们多年来越来越确信自己无能为力，但他们仍然从那些靠着冷冻土豆生活的人那里领取工资，认为自己有权利判断我是否仁慈。

*Sobol in Russian means “sable-marten.”—TRANSLATOR’S NOTE.
*俄语中”Sobol”意为”貂鼠”。——译者注。

Worried by the anonymous letter and by the fact that peasants came every morning to the servants’ kitchen and went down on their knees there, and that twenty sacks of rye had been stolen at night out of the barn, the wall having first been broken in, and by the general depression which was fostered by conversations, newspapers, and horrible weather—worried by all this, I worked listlessly and ineffectively. —
因为匿名信和农民们每天早晨来到佣人厨房跪下，以及在谷仓被破坏大量盗走了二十袋黑麦，还有一般人的压抑氛围被谈话、报纸和糟糕的天气加剧，这一切困扰着我，我工作起来无精打采且无效。 —

I was writing “A History of Railways”; —
我正在写”铁路史”; —

I had to read a great number of Russian and foreign books, pamphlets, and articles in the magazines, to make calculations, to refer to logarithms, to think and to write; —
我不得不阅读大量俄罗斯和外国的书籍、小册子和杂志文章，进行计算，参考对数表，思考和写作; —

then again to read, calculate, and think; —
然后再次阅读、计算和思考; —

but as soon as I took up a book or began to think, my thoughts were in a muddle, my eyes began blinking, I would get up from the table with a sigh and begin walking about the big rooms of my deserted country-house. —
但只要我翻开书或开始思考，我的思维就会混乱，我的眼睛开始眨巴，我会叹气地从桌前站起来，在我空荡的乡间住宅里的大房间里开始徘徊。 —

When I was tired of walking about I would stand still at my study window, and, looking across the wide courtyard, over the pond and the bare young birch-trees and the great fields covered with recently fallen, thawing snow, I saw on a low hill on the horizon a group of mud-coloured huts from which a black muddy road ran down in an irregular streak through the white field. —
当我厌烦在房间里走动时，我会站在书房窗前，眺望着宽阔的院子、池塘、光秃秃的幼榆树以及一片覆盖着刚刚融化的积雪的大田野，远处山丘上一群泥色的棚屋，从中一条黑泥泞的道路蜿蜒而下穿过白色的土地。 —

That was Pestrovo, concerning which my anonymous correspondent had written to me. —
那就是关于我匿名通信者写给我的佩斯特洛沃。 —

If it had not been for the crows who, foreseeing rain or snowy weather, floated cawing over the pond and the fields, and the tapping in the carpenter’s shed, this bit of the world about which such a fuss was being made would have seemed like the Dead Sea; —
如果不是乌鸦飞越池塘和田野嘎嘎而鸣，预示着雨或雪天气，以及木匠小屋里的敲击声，这个被如此大肆宣传的世界将会显得像死海一样; —

it was all so still, motionless, lifeless, and dreary!
一切都是如此静止、无生命和沉闷!

My uneasiness hindered me from working and concentrating myself; —
我的不安让我无法工作和集中注意力。 —

I did not know what it was, and chose to believe it was disappointment. —
我不知道那是什么，选择相信那是失望。 —

I had actually given up my post in the Department of Ways and Communications, and had come here into the country expressly to live in peace and to devote myself to writing on social questions. —
我实际上已经辞去了我在交通部的职务，专门来到这个乡村是为了过安宁的生活，并专注于撰写社会问题。 —

It had long been my cherished dream. And now I had to say good-bye both to peace and to literature, to give up everything and think only of the peasants. —
这一直是我的梦想。现在我不得不告别和平和文学，放弃一切，只想着农民。 —

And that was inevitable, because I was convinced that there was absolutely nobody in the district except me to help the starving. —
这是不可避免的，因为我确信在这个地区除了我之外绝对没有人能帮助饥饿的人。 —

The people surrounding me were uneducated, unintellectual, callous, for the most part dishonest, or if they were honest, they were unreasonable and unpractical like my wife, for instance. —
我周围的人没有受过教育，没有智识，大多数冷漠，或者如果他们是诚实的，他们是不讲道理和不切实际的，比如我的妻子。 —

It was impossible to rely on such people, it was impossible to leave the peasants to their fate, so that the only thing left to do was to submit to necessity and see to setting the peasants to rights myself.
无法依靠这样的人，也无法将农民交由命运决定，所以唯一剩下的事情就是顺应现实，并着手整理农民。

I began by making up my mind to give five thousand roubles to the assistance of the starving peasants. —
我开始下定决心将五千卢布捐赠给饥饿的农民。 —

And that did not decrease, but only aggravated my uneasiness. —
这并没有减少，但只加重了我的不安。 —

As I stood by the window or walked about the rooms I was tormented by the question which had not occurred to me before: —
我站在窗前或在房间里走动时被困扰着一个之前没有想到的问题： —

how this money was to be spent. To have bread bought and to go from hut to hut distributing it was more than one man could do, to say nothing of the risk that in your haste you might give twice as much to one who was well-fed or to one who was making money out of his fellows as to the hungry. —
这笔钱如何花。购买面包并挨家挨户分发是一个人无法胜任的事情，更不用说在你匆忙之中可能会给予饥饿的人多一倍的食物，或者给予满足或以饥饿的人赚钱。 —

I had no faith in the local officials. All these district captains and tax inspectors were young men, and I distrusted them as I do all young people of today, who are materialistic and without ideals. —
我不相信当地官员。所有这些区长和税务员都是年轻人，我不信任他们，就像我对今天所有没有理想而物质化的年轻人一样。 —

The District Zemstvo, the Peasant Courts, and all the local institutions, inspired in me not the slightest desire to appeal to them for assistance. —
地方农会、农民法庭以及所有当地机构，都不曾激发我向他们寻求帮助的渴望。 —

I knew that all these institutions who were busily engaged in picking out plums from the Zemstvo and the Government pie had their mouths always wide open for a bite at any other pie that might turn up.
我知道所有这些机构忙着从农会和政府的馅饼中捞取好处，一有可能他们就张口等着吃掉任何其他馅饼。

The idea occurred to me to invite the neighbouring landowners and suggest to them to organize in my house something like a committee or a centre to which all subscriptions could be forwarded, and from which assistance and instructions could be distributed throughout the district; —
我想到邀请邻近的地主，并建议他们在我的房子里组织一个类似委员会或中心，将所有捐款转交给那里，并从那里分发援助和指导整个地区； —

such an organization, which would render possible frequent consultations and free control on a big scale, would completely meet my views. —
这样一个组织，使得频繁磋商和大规模自由控制成为可能，完全符合我的观点。 —

But I imagined the lunches, the dinners, the suppers and the noise, the waste of time, the verbosity and the bad taste which that mixed provincial company would inevitably bring into my house, and I made haste to reject my idea.
但是我想象了那些午餐、晚餐、晚餐，以及吵闹、浪费时间、冗长和低俗的话语，这些一定会被那群杂乱的乡下人带进我的家中，所以我急忙放弃了我的想法。

As for the members of my own household, the last thing I could look for was help or support from them. —
至于我自己家庭的成员，最后我能指望的是他们的帮助或支持。 —

Of my father’s household, of the household of my childhood, once a big and noisy family, no one remained but the governess Mademoiselle Marie, or, as she was now called, Marya Gerasimovna, an absolutely insignificant person. —
我父亲家庭的成员，我的童年家庭曾经是一个大而喧闹的家庭，现在却只剩下了家庭教师玛丽亚·格拉西莫芙娜，一个绝对不起眼的人。 —

She was a precise little old lady of seventy, who wore a light grey dress and a cap with white ribbons, and looked like a china doll. —
她是一个精确的七十岁老太太，穿着浅灰色的连衣裙和戴着白丝带的头巾，看起来就像一个瓷娃娃。 —

She always sat in the drawing-room reading.
她总是坐在客厅里沉浸在阅读之中。

Whenever I passed by her, she would say, knowing the reason for my brooding:
每当我经过她身边时，她都会说，了解我沉思的原因：

“What can you expect, Pasha? I told you how it would be before. —
“怎么会这样呢，帕夏？我早就告诉过你会是怎样的。 —

You can judge from our servants.”
你可以从我们的仆人身上看出来。”

My wife, Natalya Gavrilovna, lived on the lower storey, all the rooms of which she occupied. —
我的妻子纳塔莉娅·加夫里洛芙娜住在楼下，所有楼下的房间都是她占据的。 —

She slept, had her meals, and received her visitors downstairs in her own rooms, and took not the slightest interest in how I dined, or slept, or whom I saw. —
她在自己的房间里睡觉、用餐、接待访客，对我如何用餐、睡觉，或者见谁都不感兴趣。 —

Our relations with one another were simple and not strained, but cold, empty, and dreary as relations are between people who have been so long estranged, that even living under the same roof gives no semblance of nearness. —
我们之间的关系简单而不紧张，却冷漠、空虚和沉闷，就像长久疏远的人之间的关系一样，即使共处一室也无法感到亲近。 —

There was no trace now of the passionate and tormenting love—at one time sweet, at another bitter as wormwood—which I had once felt for Natalya Gavrilovna. —
现在已经没有了我曾经对纳塔莉娅·加夫里洛芙娜充满激情和折磨的爱——有时甜蜜，有时却苦苦如苦艾酒。 —

There was nothing left, either, of the outbursts of the past—the loud altercations, upbraidings, complaints, and gusts of hatred which had usually ended in my wife’s going abroad or to her own people, and in my sending money in small but frequent instalments that I might sting her pride oftener. —
过去曾经发生的激烈争吵、谴责、抱怨和仇恨爆发已经消失无踪，通常这些都会导致我妻子出国或回她亲人那里，而我则会发送分期不大但频繁的付款，这样我可以更频繁地伤她的自尊。 —

(My proud and sensitive wife and her family live at my expense, and much as she would have liked to do so, my wife could not refuse my money: —
（我骄傲而敏感的妻子和她的家人都靠我养活，虽然她再怎么想也接受不了我的钱： —

that afforded me satisfaction and was one comfort in my sorrow. —
这让我满意，也是我悲伤中的一点安慰。 —

) Now when we chanced to meet in the corridor downstairs or in the yard, I bowed, she smiled graciously. —
) 当我们偶然在楼下的走廊或院子里相遇时，我鞠了一躬，她友善地微笑。 —

We spoke of the weather, said that it seemed time to put in the double windows, and that some one with bells on their harness had driven over the dam. —
我们谈论天气，说是时候安装双层窗户了，还有谁在马具上挂了铃铛开车经过了坝。 —

And at such times I read in her face: “I am faithful to you and am not disgracing your good name which you think so much about; —
到了这样的时候，我从她的脸上读出：“我对你忠诚，没有有损你那么重视的你的美名； —

you are sensible and do not worry me; we are quits.”
你很理智，不让我担心；我们扯平了。”

I assured myself that my love had died long ago, that I was too much absorbed in my work to think seriously of my relations with my wife. —
我确信我的爱早已消亡，我太专注于我的工作，没有认真考虑我和妻子之间的关系。 —

But, alas! that was only what I imagined. —
但是，唉！那只是我想象的。 —

When my wife talked aloud downstairs I listened intently to her voice, though I could not distinguish one word. —
当我的妻子楼下大声说话时，我专心倾听她的声音，尽管我听不清楚一个字。 —

When she played the piano downstairs I stood up and listened. —
当她在楼下弹钢琴时，我站起来听着。 —

When her carriage or her saddlehorse was brought to the door, I went to the window and waited to see her out of the house; —
当她的马车或鞍马被送到门口时，我走到窗前等待着看她离开房子； —

then I watched her get into her carriage or mount her horse and ride out of the yard. —
然后我看着她上了马车或骑上鞍马，从院子里骑出去。 —

I felt that there was something wrong with me, and was afraid the expression of my eyes or my face might betray me. —
我感到自己有些不对劲，害怕我的眼神或面容会暴露我的内心。 —

I looked after my wife and then watched for her to come back that I might see again from the window her face, her shoulders, her fur coat, her hat. —
我留意着我的妻子，然后等待她回来，以便再次从窗户看到她的面孔、肩膀、皮草大衣和帽子。 —

I felt dreary, sad, infinitely regretful, and felt inclined in her absence to walk through her rooms, and longed that the problem that my wife and I had not been able to solve because our characters were incompatible, should solve itself in the natural way as soon as possible—that is, that this beautiful woman of twenty-seven might make haste and grow old, and that my head might be grey and bald.
我感到郁闷、伤心、无限懊悔，希望她快点长老，解决我和妻子因为性格不合而无法解决的问题，期待自然地解决，即这位美丽的二十七岁女人能快点长老，而我的头发会变白，秃顶。

One day at lunch my bailiff informed me that the Pestrovo peasants had begun to pull the thatch off the roofs to feed their cattle. —
有一天午饭时，我的地主告诉我，佩斯特罗夫的农民开始把屋顶的秸秆拿走喂牲口。 —

Marya Gerasimovna looked at me in alarm and perplexity.
玛丽娅·格拉西莫夫娜惊讶地看着我。

“What can I do?” I said to her. “One cannot fight single-handed, and I have never experienced such loneliness as I do now. —
“我能做什么？”我对她说。“一个人无法对抗，我从未感到过如此孤独。” —

I would give a great deal to find one man in the whole province on whom I could rely.”
我多么希望在整个省份找到一位可以依靠的人。”

“Invite Ivan Ivanitch,” said Marya Gerasimovna.
“邀请伊凡·伊凡尼契吧，”玛丽娅·格拉西莫娃说。

“To be sure!” I thought, delighted. “That is an idea! —
“当然！”我心里想，感到高兴。“这是个主意！ —

C’est raison,” I hummed, going to my study to write to Ivan Ivanitch. —
C’est raison，”我哼着，走到书房给伊凡·伊凡尼契写信。 —

“C’est raison, c’est raison.”
“C’est raison, c’est raison.”

II
II

Of all the mass of acquaintances who, in this house twenty-five to thirty-five years ago, had eaten, drunk, masqueraded, fallen in love, married, bored us with accounts of their splendid packs of hounds and horses, the only one still living was Ivan Ivanitch Bragin. —
在这栋房子里二十五到三十五年前，所有的熟人中，他们吃喝作乐，坠入爱河，结婚，以及用他们的豪华猎狗和马匹烦扰我们的人，唯一尚在人世的是伊万‧伊万尼奇‧布拉金。 —

At one time he had been very active, talkative, noisy, and given to falling in love, and had been famous for his extreme views and for the peculiar charm of his face, which fascinated men as well as women; —
曾经，他极度活跃、健谈、吵闹，常常坠入爱河，以及因其极端观点和脸上独特的魅力而出名； —

now he was an old man, had grown corpulent, and was living out his days with neither views nor charm. —
现在他是个老人，变得肥胖，度日无聊且魅力尽失。 —

He came the day after getting my letter, in the evening just as the samovar was brought into the dining-room and little Marya Gerasimovna had begun slicing the lemon.
他在收到我的信后的第二天来了，正好是晚上，茶具刚被端进餐厅，小玛丽亚．杰拉西莫芙娜正开始切柠檬。

“I am very glad to see you, my dear fellow,” I said gaily, meeting him. —
“见到你，亲爱的，我真高兴，”我欢快地说着迎接他。 —

“Why, you are stouter than ever….”
“哎呀，比以前更肥了呢……”

“It isn’t getting stout; it’s swelling,” he answered. “The bees must have stung me.”
“这不是胖，是涨肿了，”他回答。 “蜜蜂一定蛰我了。”

With the familiarity of a man laughing at his own fatness, he put his arms round my waist and laid on my breast his big soft head, with the hair combed down on the forehead like a Little Russian’s, and went off into a thin, aged laugh.
作为一个为自己肥胖而笑的人的亲密感，他搂住我的腰，将他那头发梳成乌克兰人那样刚好垂落在额前的大软头放在我的胸前，发出一个稀疏的老去的笑声。

“And you go on getting younger,” he said through his laugh. —
“你越来越年轻了，”他说着笑。 —

“I wonder what dye you use for your hair and beard; you might let me have some of it. —
“我想知道你用的是什么染发剂染你的头发和胡子；你可以给我一点吗。” —

” Sniffing and gasping, he embraced me and kissed me on the cheek. —
他呼吸困难地擦涂、拥抱我，亲我脸颊。 —

“You might give me some of it,” he repeated. —
“你可以给我一点，”他再次说。 —

“Why, you are not forty, are you?”
“哎呀，你还没四十岁吧？”

“Alas, I am forty-six!” I said, laughing.
“唉，我已经四十六岁了！”我笑着说道。

Ivan Ivanitch smelt of tallow candles and cooking, and that suited him. —
伊万‧伊万尼奇身上有着蜡烛和厨房烹饪的气味，这些气味适合他。 —

His big, puffy, slow-moving body was swathed in a long frock-coat like a coachman’s full coat, with a high waist, and with hooks and eyes instead of buttons, and it would have been strange if he had smelt of eau-de- Cologne, for instance. —
他那庞大、蓬松、动作缓慢的身体裹着一件长外套，像教练的大外衣，腰部高高的，用勾钩和眼扣住，如果他像科隆香水那样闻起来就奇怪了。 —

In his long, unshaven, bluish double chin, which looked like a thistle, his goggle eyes, his shortness of breath, and in the whole of his clumsy, slovenly figure, in his voice, his laugh, and his words, it was difficult to recognize the graceful, interesting talker who used in old days to make the husbands of the district jealous on account of their wives.
从他那浓密、蓝色的双下巴，看起来像蓟草，他那鼓着的眼珠，他的气喘吁吁，以及整个笨拙、邋遢的身形，从他的声音、笑声和话语里，很难辨认出他曾经是那位优雅、有趣的谈话者，过去常常让该地区的丈夫们因妻子感到嫉妒的那个人。

“I am in great need of your assistance, my friend,” I said, when we were sitting in the dining-room, drinking tea. —
“我很需要你的帮助，我的朋友，”当我们坐在餐厅里喝茶时，我说。 —

“I want to organize relief for the starving peasants, and I don’t know how to set about it. —
“我想要为饥饿的农民组织救济，但不知道如何着手。 —

So perhaps you will be so kind as to advise me.”
也许你能友善地给我一些建议。”

“Yes, yes, yes,” said Ivan Ivanitch, sighing. “To be sure, to be sure, to be sure….”
“是的，是的，是的，”伊凡·伊凡尼奇说着叹息。“当然，当然，当然….”

“I would not have worried you, my dear fellow, but really there is no one here but you I can appeal to. —
“亲爱的朋友，我本不想打扰你，但实在没有别人可以求助。 —

You know what people are like about here.”
你知道这里的人们是什么样子的。”

“To be sure, to be sure, to be sure…. Yes.”
“是的，是的，是的….是的。”

I thought that as we were going to have a serious, business consultation in which any one might take part, regardless of their position or personal relations, why should I not invite Natalya Gavrilovna.
我想既然我们要进行一次严肃的商讨，不管是谁都可以参与，不受身份或个人关系限制，为什么不邀请纳塔利娅·加夫里洛芙娜呢。

“Tres faciunt collegium,” I said gaily. “What if we were to ask Natalya Gavrilovna? —
“Tres faciunt collegium，”我欢快地说。“我们要不要请纳塔利娅·加夫里洛芙娜来？ —

What do you think? Fenya,” I said, turning to the maid, “ask Natalya Gavrilovna to come upstairs to us, if possible at once. —
你觉得呢？芬娅，”我转向女仆说，“请纳塔利娅·加夫里洛芙娜上楼来，如果可能的话尽快。” —

Tell her it’s a very important matter.”
不久后，纳塔利娅·加夫里洛芙娜进来了。我站起来迎接她，说道：

A little later Natalya Gavrilovna came in. I got up to meet her and said:
“抱歉打扰你，纳塔莉。我们正在讨论一个非常重要的问题，我们认为你的宝贵建议是我们可以利用的，你不会拒绝给我们提供帮助的。”

“Excuse us for troubling you, Natalie. We are discussing a very important matter, and we had the happy thought that we might take advantage of your good advice, which you will not refuse to give us. —
请你分享你的意见，纳塔利娅。 —

Please sit down.”
请坐下。

Ivan Ivanitch kissed her hand while she kissed his forehead; —
伊凡·伊凡尼奇亲吻了她的手，她则亲吻了他的额头； —

then, when we all sat down to the table, he, looking at her tearfully and blissfully, craned forward to her and kissed her hand again. —
后来，当我们都坐下来吃饭时，他泪汪汪地、幸福地看着她，向她伸长脖子，并再次亲吻了她的手。 —

She was dressed in black, her hair was carefully arranged, and she smelt of fresh scent. —
她穿着黑色衣服，头发精心梳理，身上散发着新鲜的香气。 —

She had evidently dressed to go out or was expecting somebody. —
她显然是打扮好要外出或者在等人。 —

Coming into the dining-room, she held out her hand to me with simple friendliness, and smiled to me as graciously as she did to Ivan Ivanitch—that pleased me; —
走进餐厅，她友好地向我伸出手，对我笑得谦和，就像对待伊凡·伊凡尼奇一样，这让我很开心； —

but as she talked she moved her fingers, often and abruptly leaned back in her chair and talked rapidly, and this jerkiness in her words and movements irritated me and reminded me of her native town—Odessa, where the society, men and women alike, had wearied me by its bad taste.
但当她说话时不停地动着手指，突然向后斜靠在椅子上并迅速说话，她言行的不稳定让我感到不快，让我想起了她的家乡——敖德萨，在那里，无论男女，社交都让我感到厌烦，觉得品味不佳。

“I want to do something for the famine-stricken peasants,” I began, and after a brief pause I went on: —
“我想为饥荒中的农民做点事情，”我开始说，稍作停顿后接着说： —

“Money, of course, is a great thing, but to confine oneself to subscribing money, and with that to be satisfied, would be evading the worst of the trouble. —
“钱当然很重要，但仅限于捐款并因此而自满，那将是逃避麻烦的最坏方式。 —

Help must take the form of money, but the most important thing is a proper and sound organization. —
帮助必须以金钱的形式出现，但最重要的是一个适当而健康的组织。 —

Let us think it over, my friends, and do something.”
让我们想一想，我的朋友们，然后做点什么。”

Natalya Gavrilovna looked at me inquiringly and shrugged her shoulders as though to say, “What do I know about it?”
纳塔莉娅·加夫里洛芙娜疑惑地看着我，耸了耸肩，仿佛在说，“我懂什么？”

“Yes, yes, famine…” muttered Ivan Ivanitch. “Certainly… yes.”
“是的，是的，饥荒……”伊凡·伊凡尼奇喃喃自语道，“当然……是的。”

“It’s a serious position,” I said, “and assistance is needed as soon as possible. —
“这是一个严峻的局势，需要及时的援助。” —

I imagine the first point among the principles which we must work out ought to be promptitude. —
我想我们制定的原则中应首先考虑及时性。 —

We must act on the military principles of judgment, promptitude, and energy.”
“我们必须按照军事原则，判断、迅速行动、充满活力。”

“Yes, promptitude…” repeated Ivan Ivanitch in a drowsy and listless voice, as though he were dropping asleep. —
“是的，迅速行动……”伊凡伊凡尼奇重复道，声音显得昏昏欲睡。 —

“Only one can’t do anything. The crops have failed, and so what’s the use of all your judgment and energy? —
“但是一个人什么也做不了。庄稼都枯萎了，你的判断和活力有什么用呢？ —

… It’s the elements…. You can’t go against God and fate.”
……这是自然力量的作用……你不能反对上帝和命运。”

“Yes, but that’s what man has a head for, to contend against the elements.”
“是的，但是人拥有头脑，来对抗自然力量。”

“Eh? Yes… that’s so, to be sure…. Yes.”
“嗯？是的……当然是这样……是的。”

Ivan Ivanitch sneezed into his handkerchief, brightened up, and as though he had just woken up, looked round at my wife and me.
伊凡伊凡尼奇用手绢打了个喷嚏，神情一振，仿佛刚刚醒来，环顾着我和妻子。

“My crops have failed, too.” He laughed a thin little laugh and gave a sly wink as though this were really funny. —
“我的庄稼也枯萎了。”他发出一声细弱的笑声，并眨了个眼，好像觉得这很有趣。 —

“No money, no corn, and a yard full of labourers like Count Sheremetyev’s. —
“没有钱，没有粮食，院子里挤满了劳动者，就像舍列梅捷夫伯爵的。” —

I want to kick them out, but I haven’t the heart to.”
我想把他们踢走，但我没有那个心情。”

Natalya Gavrilovna laughed, and began questioning him about his private affairs. —
纳塔利娅·加夫里洛芙娜笑了起来，并开始询问他的私人事务。 —

Her presence gave me a pleasure such as I had not felt for a long time, and I was afraid to look at her for fear my eyes would betray my secret feeling. —
她的存在给了我一种久违的愉悦，我害怕看着她，怕我的眼神暴露出我的秘密情感。 —

Our relations were such that that feeling might seem surprising and ridiculous.
我们的关系让这种感觉看起来似乎出人意料和荒谬。

She laughed and talked with Ivan Ivanitch without being in the least disturbed that she was in my room and that I was not laughing.
她笑着和伊凡伊凡尼奇交谈，一点也不在意她在我的房间里，也不在意我没有笑。

“And so, my friends, what are we to do?” I asked after waiting for a pause. —
“那么，朋友们，我们该怎么办呢？”我等待了片刻后问道。 —

“I suppose before we do anything else we had better immediately open a subscription-list. —
“我想在我们做任何其他事情之前，我们最好立即开一个订阅名单。 —

We will write to our friends in the capitals and in Odessa, Natalie, and ask them to subscribe. —
我们将写信给我们在首都和敖德萨的朋友，娜塔莉，请求他们订阅。 —

When we have got together a little sum we will begin buying corn and fodder for the cattle; —
当我们集齐一点钱后，我们将开始购买谷物和牲畜饲料; —

and you, Ivan Ivanitch, will you be so kind as to undertake distributing the relief? —
伊万·伊万尼奇，您能否好心承担救济物资的分发工作？ —

Entirely relying on your characteristic tact and efficiency, we will only venture to express a desire that before you give any relief you make acquaintance with the details of the case on the spot, and also, which is very important, you should be careful that corn should be distributed only to those who are in genuine need, and not to the drunken, the idle, or the dishonest.”
完全依靠您那具有特点的机智和效率，我们只敢表达一个愿望，那就是在发放任何救济物资之前，您应该首先了解现场情况的细节，而且，这非常重要，您必须小心，不要将谷物分发给那些真正需要的人，而不是那些酗酒、懒散或不诚实的人。

“Yes, yes, yes…” muttered Ivan Ivanitch. “To be sure, to be sure.”
“是的，是的，是的…”伊万·伊万尼奇喃喃自语。“确实，确实。”

“Well, one won’t get much done with that slobbering wreck,” I thought, and I felt irritated.
“这个浑浊的废物，干起活来一点也不行。”我想到，感到恼火。

“I am sick of these famine-stricken peasants, bother them! —
“我受够了这些饥荒中受苦的农民，麻烦他们！ —

It’s nothing but grievances with them!” Ivan Ivanitch went on, sucking the rind of the lemon. —
他们就是满腹牢骚！”伊万·伊万尼奇边吸着柠檬皮，边说。 —

“The hungry have a grievance against those who have enough, and those who have enough have a grievance against the hungry. —
“饥民对那些有余粮的人有怨言，那些有余粮的人对饥民也有怨言。 —

Yes… hunger stupefies and maddens a man and makes him savage; hunger is not a potato. —
对，饥饿让人麻木疯狂，令他变得凶恶; 饥饿不是一个土豆。 —

When a man is starving he uses bad language, and steals, and may do worse. —
当一个人挨饿时，他会说脏话，偷东西，甚至可能做更糟糕的事情。 —

… One must realize that.”
一个人必须意识到这一点。”

Ivan Ivanitch choked over his tea, coughed, and shook all over with a squeaky, smothered laughter.
伊万·伊万尼奇咳得不住地浆，咳嗽，颤抖，还带着一阵尖锐的、扑簌作响的笑声。

“‘There was a battle at Pol… Poltava,’” he brought out, gesticulating with both hands in protest against the laughter and coughing which prevented him from speaking. —
“在波……波尔塔瓦发生了一场战役，”他说着，双手做出了抗议笑声和咳嗽的姿势，这让他无法说话。 —

“‘There was a battle at Poltava!’ When three years after the Emancipation we had famine in two districts here, Fyodor Fyodoritch came and invited me to go to him. —
“‘波尔塔瓦发生了一场战斗！’三年之后我们解放农奴，这里的两个区域遭到饥荒，费奥多尔·费奥多罗维奇来找我，邀请我去他那儿。 —

‘Come along, come along,’ he persisted, and nothing else would satisfy him. —
‘来吧，来吧，’他坚持说，除此之外什么也不能让他满足。 —

‘Very well, let us go,’ I said. And, so we set off. It was in the evening; —
‘好吧，我们走吧，’我说。于是我们出发了。那天晚上； —

there was snow falling. Towards night we were getting near his place, and suddenly from the wood came ‘bang! —
开始下雪了。天黑时我们快要到他家时，突然从树林里传来‘砰！ —

’ and another time ‘bang!’ ‘Oh, damn it all!’. —
’又来一声‘砰！’‘哎呀，该死！’。 —

.. I jumped out of the sledge, and I saw in the darkness a man running up to me, knee-deep in the snow. —
我跳下雪橇，黑暗中看见有人在雪中深深地往我这边跑来。 —

I put my arm round his shoulder, like this, and knocked the gun out of his hand. —
我把胳膊搭在他肩膀上，就像这样，并将他手中的枪打掉。 —

Then another one turned up; I fetched him a knock on the back of his head so that he grunted and flopped with his nose in the snow. —
然后另一个出现了；我使劲打了他一下脑袋，他发出咕噜声，头扎进雪里。 —

I was a sturdy chap then, my fist was heavy; —
我那时候很结实，我的拳头很重； —

I disposed of two of them, and when I turned round Fyodor was sitting astride of a third. —
我解决了其中两个，当我转身时，费奥多尔正骑在第三个人的身上。 —

We did not let our three fine fellows go; —
我们没有放过这三个好汉； —

we tied their hands behind their backs so that they might not do us or themselves any harm, and took the fools into the kitchen. —
我们将他们的双手背绑起来，以免他们伤害我们或自己，并将这几个傻瓜拉进厨房。 —

We were angry with them and at the same time ashamed to look at them; —
我们对他们感到愤怒，同时也不忍心看着他们； —

they were peasants we knew, and were good fellows; we were sorry for them. —
他们是我们认识的农民，是好人；我们为他们感到遗憾。 —

They were quite stupid with terror. One was crying and begging our pardon, the second looked like a wild beast and kept swearing, the third knelt down and began to pray. —
他们被吓傻了。一个哭着请求原谅，第二个看起来像野兽，不停地咒骂，第三个跪下祷告。” —

I said to Fedya: ‘Don’t bear them a grudge; let them go, the rascals! —
我对费季亚说：“不要和他们计较，让这些流氓们走吧！ —

’ He fed them, gave them a bushel of flour each, and let them go: —
他给了他们食物，每人还送了一石面粉，然后让他们走了； —

‘Get along with you,’ he said. So that’s what he did. —
“走吧，”他说。于是他们走了。 —

… The Kingdom of Heaven be his and everlasting peace! —
……愿天国的平安与他同在！ —

He understood and did not bear them a grudge; —
他理解了，没有和他们计较； —

but there were some who did, and how many people they ruined! —
但也有人计较，毁了多少人！ —

Yes… Why, over the affair at the Klotchkovs’ tavern eleven men were sent to the disciplinary battalion. —
是的……为了克洛奇科夫家酒店的事，有十一人被送入了戒严营。 —

Yes…. And now, look, it’s the same thing. —
是的……现在看，又出了同样的事。 —

Anisyin, the investigating magistrate, stayed the night with me last Thursday, and he told me about some landowner. —
安尼辛，侦查法官，上周四和我住过一夜，他告诉我有个地主。 —

… Yes…. They took the wall of his barn to pieces at night and carried off twenty sacks of rye. —
……是的……他们在夜里拆掉他谷仓的墙，偷走了二十袋黑麦。 —

When the gentleman heard that such a crime had been committed, he sent a telegram to the Governor and another to the police captain, another to the investigating magistrate! —
当那位绅士听说发生了这样的犯罪，他给省长发了一份电报，给警长发了另一份，给侦查法官发了另一份！ —

… Of course, every one is afraid of a man who is fond of litigation. —
……当然，每个人都怕爱打官司的人。 —

The authorities were in a flutter and there was a general hubbub. —
当局陷入混乱，一片嘈杂声。 —

Two villages were searched.”
两个村庄都被搜查了。”

“Excuse me, Ivan Ivanitch,” I said. “Twenty sacks of rye were stolen from me, and it was I who telegraphed to the Governor. —
“对不起，伊凡·伊凡尼奇，”我说，“有二十袋黑麦被偷了，我才给省长发了电报。” —

I telegraphed to Petersburg, too. But it was by no means out of love for litigation, as you are pleased to express it, and not because I bore them a grudge. —
我也给彼得堡发了电报。但这绝对不是因为我对诉讼有爱，就像你所说的那样，并不是因为我对他们怀恨在心。 —

I look at every subject from the point of view of principle. —
我总是站在原则的角度看待每个问题。 —

From the point of view of the law, theft is the same whether a man is hungry or not.”
从法律的角度来看，无论一个人是否饥饿，偷盗都是一样的。

“Yes, yes…” muttered Ivan Ivanitch in confusion. “Of course… To be sure, yes.”
“是的，是的…” 伊凡·伊凡尼奇困惑地喃喃道。“当然…没错，是的。”

Natalya Gavrilovna blushed.
纳塔利娅加夫里洛芙娜脸红了。

“There are people…” she said and stopped; —
“有些人…” 她说着停了下来； —

she made an effort to seem indifferent, but she could not keep it up, and looked into my eyes with the hatred that I know so well. —
她做出努力表现得漠不关心，但无法做到，并含着我深恶痛绝的眼神看着我。 —

“There are people,” she said, “for whom famine and human suffering exist simply that they may vent their hateful and despicable temperaments upon them.”
“有些人，”她说，“对于饥荒和人类苦难存在只是为了他们表现出厌恶和卑鄙的性情。”

I was confused and shrugged my shoulders.
我感到困惑，耸了耸肩。

“I meant to say generally,” she went on, “that there are people who are quite indifferent and completely devoid of all feeling of sympathy, yet who do not pass human suffering by, but insist on meddling for fear people should be able to do without them. —
“我其实是泛泛而谈，”她接着说，“有些人完全漠视，毫无同情之心，但他们却不会放过人类苦难，执意插手，生怕人们不需要他们。 —

Nothing is sacred for their vanity.”
他们的虚荣心不把任何事情当做神圣。”

“There are people,” I said softly, “who have an angelic character, but who express their glorious ideas in such a form that it is difficult to distinguish the angel from an Odessa market-woman.”
“有些人，”我轻声说道，“他们具有天使般的性格，但表达他们光荣的想法的方式却让人难以分辨天使和一位敖德萨菜贩。”

I must confess it was not happily expressed.
我必须承认，这句话不太恰当。

My wife looked at me as though it cost her a great effort to hold her tongue. —
我的妻子看着我，仿佛忍住了不发表意见的巨大努力。 —

Her sudden outburst, and then her inappropriate eloquence on the subject of my desire to help the famine-stricken peasants, were, to say the least, out of place; —
她突然的爆发，以及对我想要帮助饥荒中的农民的不切实际的雄辩，可以说至少是不合时宜的； —

when I had invited her to come upstairs I had expected quite a different attitude to me and my intentions. —
当我邀请她上楼时，我原本期望她对我和我的意图有完全不同的态度。 —

I cannot say definitely what I had expected, but I had been agreeably agitated by the expectation. —
我不能确定我期待的是什么，但我对期待感到愉快不安。 —

Now I saw that to go on speaking about the famine would be difficult and perhaps stupid.
现在我看到继续谈论饥荒将会很困难，也许是愚蠢的。

“Yes…” Ivan Ivanitch muttered inappropriately. —
“是的…” 伊凡·伊凡尼奇不恰当地嘟囔着。 —

“Burov, the merchant, must have four hundred thousand at least. I said to him: —
“布罗夫，商人，至少必须有四十万。我对他说： —

‘Hand over one or two thousand to the famine. You can’t take it with you when you die, anyway. —
‘拿出一两千给饥荒吧。反正死的时候不能带走它。 —

’ He was offended. But we all have to die, you know. —
’ 他生气了。但我们都得死，你知道。 —

Death is not a potato.”
死亡不是土豆。”

A silence followed again.
又一次陷入沉默。

“So there’s nothing left for me but to reconcile myself to loneliness,” I sighed. —
“那么，我要甘心孑然一身了，” 我叹了口气。 —

“One cannot fight single-handed. Well, I will try single- handed. —
“人不能孤军奋斗。好吧，我将试着独自奋斗。 —

Let us hope that my campaign against the famine will be more successful than my campaign against indifference.”
让我们希望我的反饥荒运动能比对抗冷漠的运动更成功。”

“I am expected downstairs,” said Natalya Gavrilovna.
“我要下楼去了，” 纳塔莉娅·加夫里洛芙娜说道。

She got up from the table and turned to Ivan Ivanitch.
她从桌边站起来转向伊凡·伊凡尼奇。

“So you will look in upon me downstairs for a minute? I won’t say good- bye to you.”
“那么你会下楼看看我吗？我不会跟你说再见。”

And she went away.
然后她走了。

Ivan Ivanitch was now drinking his seventh glass of tea, choking, smacking his lips, and sucking sometimes his moustache, sometimes the lemon. —
伊万·伊万尼奇现在正在喝他的第七杯茶，呛得喉咙发痛，吧唧着嘴唇，有时吮吸胡子，有时吮吸柠檬。 —

He was muttering something drowsily and listlessly, and I did not listen but waited for him to go. —
他迷迷糊糊地嘀咕着什么，我没有听，只是等着他离开。 —

At last, with an expression that suggested that he had only come to me to take a cup of tea, he got up and began to take leave. —
最后，他露出一副只是为了喝杯茶才来找我的表情，站起身开始告辞。 —

As I saw him out I said:
当我送他出去时，我说:

“And so you have given me no advice.”
“所以你没有给我任何建议。”

“Eh? I am a feeble, stupid old man,” he answered. “What use would my advice be? —
“嗯？我是一个虚弱、愚蠢的老人，”他回答说。“我的建议有什么用呢？ —

You shouldn’t worry yourself…. I really don’t know why you worry yourself. —
你不应该为此烦恼…我真的不知道你为什么要为此烦恼。 —

Don’t disturb yourself, my dear fellow! —
不要为此烦恼，我亲爱的朋友！ —

Upon my word, there’s no need,” he whispered genuinely and affectionately, soothing me as though I were a child. —
我发誓，不需要的，”他像对待一个孩子一样地，真诚而亲切地轻声安慰着我。 —

“Upon my word, there’s no need.”
“我发誓，不需要的。”

“No need? Why, the peasants are pulling the thatch off their huts, and they say there is typhus somewhere already.”
“不需要？为什么，农民们正在拆自家屋顶的茅草，他们说已经有人得了伤寒。”

“Well, what of it? If there are good crops next year, they’ll thatch them again, and if we die of typhus others will live after us. —
“那又怎样？明年如果有好收成，他们会重新给房屋盖茅草，如果我们死于伤寒，其他人还会活着。 —

Anyway, we have to die—if not now, later. —
无论如何，我们终将离世——如果不是现在，就是以后。 —

Don’t worry yourself, my dear.”
不要为此烦恼，我亲爱的。”

“I can’t help worrying myself,” I said irritably.
“我无法控制自己的担忧，”我不耐烦地说道。

We were standing in the dimly lighted vestibule. —
我们站在昏暗的门厅里。 —

Ivan Ivanitch suddenly took me by the elbow, and, preparing to say something evidently very important, looked at me in silence for a couple of minutes.
伊凡·伊万尼奇突然抓住我的胳膊，准备说明显很重要的事情，沉默地看着我几分钟。

“Pavel Andreitch!” he said softly, and suddenly in his puffy, set face and dark eyes there was a gleam of the expression for which he had once been famous and which was truly charming. —
“保罗·安德烈伊奇！”他轻声说道，他那充血的、僵硬的脸和深邃的眼睛里突然闪现出了他曾经闻名的迷人表情，真的很迷人。 —

“Pavel Andreitch, I speak to you as a friend: try to be different! —
“保罗·安德烈伊奇，我以朋友的身份对你说话：努力做一个不同的人！ —

One is ill at ease with you, my dear fellow, one really is!”
亲爱的朋友，和你在一起真是感到不自在，真的是！”

He looked intently into my face; the charming expression faded away, his eyes grew dim again, and he sniffed and muttered feebly:
他专注地看着我的脸；那迷人的表情逐渐消失，他的眼睛又变得迷离，他轻轻地嗅了一下，无力地喃喃道：

“Yes, yes…. Excuse an old man…. It’s all nonsense… yes.”
“是的，是的…请原谅一个老人…这些都是胡说…是的。”

As he slowly descended the staircase, spreading out his hands to balance himself and showing me his huge, bulky back and red neck, he gave me the unpleasant impression of a sort of crab.
当他缓慢地走下楼梯时，伸开手以保持平衡，展示给我看他那庞大、笨重的背部和红色的颈部，我对他产生了一种令人不快的印象，感觉他像一只蟹一样。

“You ought to go away, your Excellency,” he muttered. “To Petersburg or abroad. —
“阁下应该离开，”他喃喃自语，“去圣彼得堡或国外。 —

… Why should you live here and waste your golden days? You are young, wealthy, and healthy. —
…为什么要在这里生活，虚度黄金时光呢？你年轻、富有且健康。 —

… Yes…. Ah, if I were younger I would whisk away like a hare, and snap my fingers at everything.”
…是的…啊，如果我年轻些，我会像兔子一样跳走，对一切不屑一顾。”

III
III

My wife’s outburst reminded me of our married life together. —
我妻子的爆发让我想起了我们共同度过的婚姻生活。 —

In old days after every such outburst we felt irresistibly drawn to each other; —
旧时，在每次这样的爆发之后，我们会感到彼此之间有一种不可抗拒的吸引力； —

we would meet and let off all the dynamite that had accumulated in our souls. —
我们会见面，释放我们灵魂中积累的所有炸药。 —

And now after Ivan Ivanitch had gone away I had a strong impulse to go to my wife. —
艾凡·伊凡尼奇离开后，我有一股强烈的冲动想去找我的妻子。 —

I wanted to go downstairs and tell her that her behaviour at tea had been an insult to me, that she was cruel, petty, and that her plebeian mind had never risen to a comprehension of what I was saying and of what I was doing. —
我想下楼告诉她，在茶座上的行为对我是个侮辱，她残忍、琐碎，莽庸的思维从未理解我正在说的话和做的事情。 —

I walked about the rooms a long time thinking of what I would say to her and trying to guess what she would say to me.
我在房间里走来走去很长时间，思考我要对她说什么，试图猜测她会对我说什么。

That evening, after Ivan Ivanitch went away, I felt in a peculiarly irritating form the uneasiness which had worried me of late. —
艾凡·伊凡尼奇离开后的那个晚上，我感到了一种特别令人烦恼的不安，这种不安最近一直困扰着我。 —

I could not sit down or sit still, but kept walking about in the rooms that were lighted up and keeping near to the one in which Marya Gerasimovna was sitting. —
我不能坐下来或静静地坐着，只能在亮着灯的房间里走来走去，靠近玛丽亚·格拉西莫夫娜坐着的那间房间。 —

I had a feeling very much like that which I had on the North Sea during a storm when every one thought that our ship, which had no freight nor ballast, would overturn. —
那天晚上，我明白我的不安不是失望，正如我所认为的那样，而是另一种感觉，尽管我无法准确说出是什么，这导致我比以往更为恼火。 —

And that evening I understood that my uneasiness was not disappointment, as I had supposed, but a different feeling, though what exactly I could not say, and that irritated me more than ever.
“我要去找她，”我决定。“我可以想出一个借口。我会说我要见伊凡·伊凡尼奇；那就够了。”

“I will go to her,” I decided. “I can think of a pretext. —
我下定决心要去找她。 —

I shall say that I want to see Ivan Ivanitch; that will be all.”
我将说我想见到伊凡·伊凡尼奇；就这样。

I went downstairs and walked without haste over the carpeted floor through the vestibule and the hall. —
我走下楼，没有急忙，穿过铺着地毯的走廊和大厅。 —

Ivan Ivanitch was sitting on the sofa in the drawing-room; —
伊凡·伊凡尼奇坐在客厅的沙发上； —

he was drinking tea again and muttering something. —
他又在喝茶，又嘟囔着些什么。 —

My wife was standing opposite to him and holding on to the back of a chair. —
我妻子站在他对面，握住一把椅背。 —

There was a gentle, sweet, and docile expression on her face, such as one sees on the faces of people listening to crazy saints or holy men when a peculiar hidden significance is imagined in their vague words and mutterings. —
她脸上带着一种温和、甜美、顺从的表情，就像人们听疯狂的圣人或圣贤讲话时的表情，当他们想象到那些模糊的话语和喃喃自语中隐藏的特殊意义时。 —

There was something morbid, something of a nun’s exaltation, in my wife’s expression and attitude; —
我妻子的表情和态度里有一种阴森的东西，有一种修女般的崇高感； —

and her low- pitched, half-dark rooms with their old-fashioned furniture, with her birds asleep in their cages, and with a smell of geranium, reminded me of the rooms of some abbess or pious old lady.
和她低调的、半昏暗的房间里的老式家具，还有她关着的鸟笼与天竺葵味道，让我想起了某位修女长老或虔诚老太太的房间；

I went into the drawing-room. My wife showed neither surprise nor confusion, and looked at me calmly and serenely, as though she had known I should come.
我走进客厅。妻子既没有惊讶也没有困惑，平静而安详地看着我，仿佛早知道我会来；

“I beg your pardon,” I said softly. “I am so glad you have not gone yet, Ivan Ivanitch. —
“不好意思，”我轻声说。“我很高兴你还没走，伊凡·伊凡尼奇； —

I forgot to ask you, do you know the Christian name of the president of our Zemstvo?”
我忘了问你，你知道我们村政府主席的名字吗？”

“Andrey Stanislavovitch. Yes….”
“安德烈·斯坦尼斯拉夫维奇。知道……”

“Merci,” I said, took out my notebook, and wrote it down.
“谢谢，”我说，拿出笔记本，写下了这个名字；

There followed a silence during which my wife and Ivan Ivanitch were probably waiting for me to go; —
在这段时间里，我妻子和伊凡·伊万尼奇可能在等我走； —

my wife did not believe that I wanted to know the president’s name—I saw that from her eyes.
我妻子不相信我是真的想知道主席的名字 - 从她的眼神里我看出来了；

“Well, I must be going, my beauty,” muttered Ivan Ivanitch, after I had walked once or twice across the drawing-room and sat down by the fireplace.
“唔，我该走了，美人儿，”伊凡·伊凡尼奇嘟囔道，我在客厅里来回走了一两次后坐到了壁炉边；

“No,” said Natalya Gavrilovna quickly, touching his hand. —
“不，”娜塔莉娅·加夫里洛夫娜快速说，碰了碰他的手； —

“Stay another quarter of an hour…. Please do!”
“再待一个刻钟吧……拜托！”

Evidently she did not wish to be left alone with me without a witness.
显然她不想被单独留在我这种情况下，没有目击证人；

“Oh, well, I’ll wait a quarter of an hour, too,” I thought.
“哦，好吧，我也等一个刻钟，”我想着；

“Why, it’s snowing!” I said, getting up and looking out of window. “A good fall of snow! —
“天哪，下雪了！”我说着站了起来，望向窗外。“一场大雪！ —

Ivan Ivanitch”—I went on walking about the room—“I do regret not being a sportsman. —
“伊万·伊万尼奇”—我在房间里继续走动—“我真后悔自己不是个运动员。 —

I can imagine what a pleasure it must be coursing hares or hunting wolves in snow like this!”
我可以想象追逐野兔或在这样的雪地里狩猎狼必定是多么愉快！”

My wife, standing still, watched my movements, looking out of the corner of her eyes without turning her head. —
我的妻子站在那里，眼睛斜斜地瞧着我，没有转过头去。 —

She looked as though she thought I had a sharp knife or a revolver in my pocket.
她看起来好像认为我口袋里装着把利刃或左轮手枪。

“Ivan Ivanitch, do take me out hunting some day,” I went on softly. “I shall be very, very grateful to you.”
“伊万·伊万尼奇，某一天带我出去狩猎好吗？”我轻声说道。“我会非常非常感激你的。”

At that moment a visitor came into the room. —
正在那时一个访客走进了房间。 —

He was a tall, thick-set gentleman whom I did not know, with a bald head, a big fair beard, and little eyes. —
他是一个我不认识的高大而魁梧的绅士，光头，大胡子，眼睛小小的。 —

From his baggy, crumpled clothes and his manners I took him to be a parish clerk or a teacher, but my wife introduced him to me as Dr. Sobol.
从他那皱巴巴、褴褛的衣服和举止看来，我以为他是一个教堂职员或老师，但我妻子向我介绍他是索博尔博士。

“Very, very glad to make your acquaintance,” said the doctor in a loud tenor voice, shaking hands with me warmly, with a naive smile. “Very glad!”
“非常非常高兴认识你，”博士用响亮的男中音说着，热情地同我握手，露出一种天真的微笑。“真的很高兴！”

He sat down at the table, took a glass of tea, and said in a loud voice:
他在桌子旁坐下，拿了一杯茶，并大声说道：

“Do you happen to have a drop of rum or brandy? —
“你们有朗姆酒或白兰地吗？ —

Have pity on me, Olya, and look in the cupboard; —
可怜可怜我吧，奥莉亚，看一看橱柜； —

I am frozen,” he said, addressing the maid.
我都冻僵了，”他对女仆说道。

I sat down by the fire again, looked on, listened, and from time to time put in a word in the general conversation. —
我又坐到火炉旁，看着别人，听着别人，偶尔在整个谈话中插上一两句。 —

My wife smiled graciously to the visitors and kept a sharp lookout on me, as though I were a wild beast. —
我妻子对访客们微笑示好，又像是时刻警戒着我，好像我是只野兽。 —

She was oppressed by my presence, and this aroused in me jealousy, annoyance, and an obstinate desire to wound her. —
她被我的存在压迫，这激起了我嫉妒、恼怒和执拗的伤害她的愿望。 —

“Wife, these snug rooms, the place by the fire,” I thought, “are mine, have been mine for years, but some crazy Ivan Ivanitch or Sobol has for some reason more right to them than I. Now I see my wife, not out of window, but close at hand, in ordinary home surroundings that I feel the want of now I am growing older, and, in spite of her hatred for me, I miss her as years ago in my childhood I used to miss my mother and my nurse. —
“妻子，这些舒适的房间，火炉旁的地方，”我想，“这些一直是我的，已经是我的多年了，但为什么一些疯狂的伊万·伊万尼奇或索博尔有某种比我更有权利享受它们呢。现在我看到我的妻子，不是从窗户外，而是近在咫尺，在我渐渐变老之际我感到的普通家庭环境中的空缺，虽然她恨我，但我却像多年前的童年时代一样怀念我母亲和保姆。 —

And I feel that now, on the verge of old age, my love for her is purer and loftier than it was in the past; —
在我老年即将来临时，我对她的爱比过去更纯洁更崇高； —

and that is why I want to go up to her, to stamp hard on her toe with my heel, to hurt her and smile as I do it.”
这就是为什么我想走向她，用脚后跟狠狠踩她的脚趾，伤害她，同时微笑。”

“Monsieur Marten,” I said, addressing the doctor, “how many hospitals have we in the district?”
“马腾先生，”我对医生说，“我们辖区有多少医院？”

“Sobol,” my wife corrected.
“索博尔，”我妻子更正道。

“Two,” answered Sobol.
“两家，”索博尔回答说。

“And how many deaths are there every year in each hospital?”
“每家医院每年有多少死亡呢？”

“Pavel Andreitch, I want to speak to you,” said my wife.
“帕维尔·安德烈伊奇，我想和你说话，”我妻子说。

She apologized to the visitors and went to the next room. I got up and followed her.
她向客人们道歉，走到隔壁房间。我起身跟着她去。

“You will go upstairs to your own rooms this minute,” she said.
“你马上去你自己的房间楼上，”她说。

“You are ill-bred,” I said to her.
“你没有教养，”我对她说。

“You will go upstairs to your own rooms this very minute,” she repeated sharply, and she looked into my face with hatred.
“你立刻去你自己的房间楼上，”她尖刻地重复道，恶狠狠地看着我的脸。

She was standing so near that if I had stooped a little my beard would have touched her face.
她站得如此靠近，以至于如果我稍微弯腰，我的胡须会碰到她的脸。

“What is the matter?” I asked. “What harm have I done all at once?”
“怎么了？”我问，“我突然之间做了什么伤害你的事情吗？”

Her chin quivered, she hastily wiped her eyes, and, with a cursory glance at the looking-glass, whispered:
她的下巴颤抖着，她匆匆擦拭着眼睛，瞥了一眼镜子，轻声说道：

“The old story is beginning all over again. Of course you won’t go away. —
“老一套又要开始了。当然你不会离开。 —

Well, do as you like. I’ll go away myself, and you stay.”
好吧，随你喜欢。我自己会离开，你留下来吧。”

We returned to the drawing-room, she with a resolute face, while I shrugged my shoulders and tried to smile. —
我们回到客厅，她神情坚定，而我耸耸肩，试图微笑。 —

There were some more visitors—an elderly lady and a young man in spectacles. —
又来了一些访客–一位年长的女士和一个戴眼镜的年轻人。 —

Without greeting the new arrivals or taking leave of the others, I went off to my own rooms.
没有打招呼新来的客人或向其他人告别，我就去了自己的房间。

After what had happened at tea and then again downstairs, it became clear to me that our “family happiness,” which we had begun to forget about in the course of the last two years, was through some absurd and trivial reason beginning all over again, and that neither I nor my wife could now stop ourselves; —
在茶会上发生的事情，然后在楼下的事情，让我明白我们在过去两年中开始忘记的“家庭幸福”，因为一些荒谬的琐事，又要重新开始；而我和妻子现在都无法阻止自己； —

and that next day or the day after, the outburst of hatred would, as I knew by experience of past years, be followed by something revolting which would upset the whole order of our lives. —
明天或后天的事情，据我这些年的经验，我知道憎恶的爆发将被一些令人反感的事情紧随其后，这将扰乱我们整个生活的秩序。 —

“So it seems that during these two years we have grown no wiser, colder, or calmer,” I thought as I began walking about the rooms. —
“所以似乎这两年来我们变得没有更聪明、更冷淡、更冷静”，我一边走着，一边想。 —

“So there will again be tears, outcries, curses, packing up, going abroad, then the continual sickly fear that she will disgrace me with some coxcomb out there, Italian or Russian, refusing a passport, letters, utter loneliness, missing her, and in five years old age, grey hairs. —
“所以会再有眼泪，尖叫，咒骂，收拾行李，出国，然后持续不断的对她会在外辱没为突厥人斯勒维亚人，拒绝护照、信件，彻底孤独，思念着她，在五年后进入老年，白发苍苍。 —

” I walked about, imagining what was really impossible—her, grown handsomer, stouter, embracing a man I did not know. —
”我边走边想象着真正不可能的事情–她变得更漂亮，更丰满，拥抱着一个我不认识的人。 —

By now convinced that that would certainly happen, “‘Why,” I asked myself, “Why, in one of our long past quarrels, had not I given her a divorce, or why had she not at that time left me altogether? —
现在我确信那肯定会发生，“为什么”，我问自己，“在我们过去的一次长时间争吵中，我为什么没有给她离婚，或者为什么她当时没有彻底离开我？ —

I should not have had this yearning for her now, this hatred, this anxiety; —
我现在就不会这样渴望她，憎恶她，担心她； —

and I should have lived out my life quietly, working and not worrying about anything.”
我会平静地过完我的生活，工作而不再担心任何事情。”

A carriage with two lamps drove into the yard, then a big sledge with three horses. —
一辆带着两盏灯的马车驶入院子，然后是一辆拥有三匹马的大雪橇。 —

My wife was evidently having a party.
我的妻子显然正在举行派对。

Till midnight everything was quiet downstairs and I heard nothing, but at midnight there was a sound of moving chairs and a clatter of crockery. —
到午夜一切都很安静，我没听到什么声音，但午夜时分有椅子移动和陶瓷器皿的叮当声。 —

So there was supper. Then the chairs moved again, and through the floor I heard a noise; —
所以有了宵夜。之后椅子再次移动，透过地板我听到一阵噪音； —

they seemed to be shouting hurrah. Marya Gerasimovna was already asleep and I was quite alone in the whole upper storey; —
他们似乎在欢呼。玛丽亚·格拉西莫芙娜已经入睡，整个楼上只剩下我独自一人； —

the portraits of my forefathers, cruel, insignificant people, looked at me from the walls of the drawing-room, and the reflection of my lamp in the window winked unpleasantly. —
我祖先的肖像，残忍而微不足道的人物，从客厅的墙壁上看着我，窗户里我的灯的倒影令人不悦地眨动。 —

And with a feeling of jealousy and envy for what was going on downstairs, I listened and thought: —
对楼下正在发生的事感到嫉妒和羡慕，我倾听着并想： —

“I am master here; if I like, I can in a moment turn out all that fine crew. —
“我是这里的主人；如果愿意，我可以马上把所有那帮人赶出去。 —

” But I knew that all that was nonsense, that I could not turn out any one, and the word “master” had no meaning. —
”但我知道这都是废话，我无法把任何人赶出去，而“主人”这个词毫无意义。 —

One may think oneself master, married, rich, a kammer-junker, as much as one likes, and at the same time not know what it means.
一个人可以认为自己是主人，已婚，富有，身份尊贵，想多久就多久，同时也不知道这意味着什么。

After supper some one downstairs began singing in a tenor voice.
宵夜后，楼下有人开始用男高音唱歌。

“Why, nothing special has happened,” I tried to persuade myself. “Why am I so upset? —
“咦，没发生什么特别的事，”我自己劝说道。“为什么我如此烦躁？ —

I won’t go downstairs tomorrow, that’s all; —
明天我不会下楼的，就这样； —

and that will be the end of our quarrel.”
那就结束我们的争执。”

At a quarter past one I went to bed.
一点15分，我上床睡觉了。

“Have the visitors downstairs gone?” I asked Alexey as he was undressing me.
“楼下的客人走了吗？”我问正在帮我脱衣的亚历克谢。

“Yes, sir, they’ve gone.”
“是的，先生，他们已经走了。”

“And why were they shouting hurrah?”
“他们为什么在欢呼呢？”

“Alexey Dmitritch Mahonov subscribed for the famine fund a thousand bushels of flour and a thousand roubles. —
“亚历克谢·德米特里奇·马霍诺夫为饥荒基金捐助了一千石面粉和一千卢布。 —

And the old lady—I don’t know her name—promised to set up a soup kitchen on her estate to feed a hundred and fifty people. —
还有那位老太太——我不知道她叫什么名字——承诺在她的庄园里建立一个汤厨，供给一百五十人食用。 —

Thank God… Natalya Gavrilovna has been pleased to arrange that all the gentry should assemble every Friday.”
感谢上帝…娜塔莉娅·加夫里洛芙娜已经安排所有绅士每周五聚会。”

“To assemble here, downstairs?”
“在这里聚会，楼下吗？”

“Yes, sir. Before supper they read a list: —
“是的，先生。晚饭前他们会读一份清单： —

since August up to today Natalya Gavrilovna has collected eight thousand roubles, besides corn. —
从八月起到今天，娜塔莉娅·加夫里洛芙娜已经筹集了八千卢布，还有玉米。 —

Thank God…. What I think is that if our mistress does take trouble for the salvation of her soul, she will soon collect a lot. —
感谢上帝….我认为如果我们的女主人为救赎她的灵魂而努力，她很快就会筹集到很多。 —

There are plenty of rich people here.”
这里有很多有钱人。”

Dismissing Alexey, I put out the light and drew the bedclothes over my head.
让亚历克谢走后，我熄灭了灯，把被子盖在头上。

“After all, why am I so troubled?” I thought. —
“毕竟，我为什么这么烦恼？” 我想。 —

“What force draws me to the starving peasants like a butterfly to a flame? —
“究竟是什么力量把我像蝴蝶飞向火焰一样吸引到饥饿的农民那里？ —

I don’t know them, I don’t understand them; —
我不认识他们，我不了解他们； —

I have never seen them and I don’t like them. —
我从未见过他们，我也不喜欢他们。” —

Why this uneasiness?”
为什么这种不安？

I suddenly crossed myself under the quilt.
我突然在被子下交了个十字架。

“But what a woman she is!” I said to myself, thinking of my wife. —
“她是个了不起的女人！”我自言自语，想起了我的妻子。 —

“There’s a regular committee held in the house without my knowing. Why this secrecy? —
“屋里竟然秘密地开了一个常规委员会。为什么这种隐秘？ —

Why this conspiracy? What have I done to them? —
这是个什么阴谋？我得罪了他们些什么？ —

Ivan Ivanitch is right—I must go away.”
伊凡·伊凡尼奇是对的——我必须离开这里。

Next morning I woke up firmly resolved to go away. —
第二天早上我醒来，坚定地决定离开。 —

The events of the previous day—the conversation at tea, my wife, Sobol, the supper, my apprehensions—worried me, and I felt glad to think of getting away from the surroundings which reminded me of all that. —
前一天的事件——茶饭时的谈话，我的妻子，索伯尔，晚饭，我的担忧——让我感到烦恼，想到能离开这一切提醒我的周围环境，我感到高兴。 —

While I was drinking my coffee the bailiff gave me a long report on various matters. —
当我喝咖啡的时候，法警给我详细报告了各种事项。 —

The most agreeable item he saved for the last.
他把最令人愉快的事情留到了最后。

“The thieves who stole our rye have been found,” he announced with a smile. —
“偷我们黑麦的贼被找到了，”他微笑着宣布。 —

“The magistrate arrested three peasants at Pestrovo yesterday.”
“昨天法官在彼斯特罗沃逮捕了三个农民。”

“Go away!” I shouted at him; and a propos of nothing, I picked up the cake-basket and flung it on the floor.
“走开！”我朝他喊道；顺便一提，我拿起蛋糕篮子扔到了地上。

IV
午饭后，我擦着双手，想我必须去见我的妻子告诉她我要离开。

After lunch I rubbed my hands, and thought I must go to my wife and tell her that I was going away. —
为什么？谁在乎？没人在乎，我回答，但为什么我不告诉她，尤其是这会给她带来快乐呢？ —

Why? Who cared? Nobody cares, I answered, but why shouldn’t I tell her, especially as it would give her nothing but pleasure? —
况且，昨天我们吵架后就悄悄离开未免不够得体： —

Besides, to go away after our yesterday’s quarrel without saying a word would not be quite tactful: —
她可能会觉得我害怕她，并且也许她认为自己赶走了我会让她感到愧疚。 —

she might think that I was frightened of her, and perhaps the thought that she has driven me out of my house may weigh upon her. —
再告诉她我捐了五千，给她一些在这个复杂和负责的事务中的建议，并警告她，在这样一个复杂和负责的事务中，她缺乏经验可能会导致非常可悲的结果。 —

It would be just as well, too, to tell her that I subscribe five thousand, and to give her some advice about the organization, and to warn her that her inexperience in such a complicated and responsible matter might lead to most lamentable results. —
总之，我想见我的妻子，而当我考虑各种去见她的借口时，我心中坚信我会这样做。 —

In short, I wanted to see my wife, and while I thought of various pretexts for going to her, I had a firm conviction in my heart that I should do so.
当我去找她的时候还是亮的，灯还没有点燃。

It was still light when I went in to her, and the lamps had not yet been lighted. —
她正坐在她的书房里，那个房间从客厅通向她的卧室，弯下腰在桌前快速写着什么。 —

She was sitting in her study, which led from the drawing-room to her bedroom, and, bending low over the table, was writing something quickly. —
看到我，她吓了一跳，从桌子边站起来，保持一个姿势以遮住她的文件不让我看到。 —

Seeing me, she started, got up from the table, and remained standing in an attitude such as to screen her papers from me.
见到我，她吓了一跳，从桌子边站了起来，保持一种姿势以遮住她的文件不让我看到。

“I beg your pardon, I have only come for a minute,” I said, and, I don’t know why, I was overcome with embarrassment. —
“请原谅，我只是过来一会儿。”我说了，不知为什么，我感到尴尬。 —

“I have learnt by chance that you are organizing relief for the famine, Natalie.”
“我偶然听说你在为饥荒组织救援，娜塔莉。”

“Yes, I am. But that’s my business,” she answered.
“是的，我正在做这件事。但那是我的事情。”她回答道。

“Yes, it is your business,” I said softly. —
“是的，那是你的事情。”我轻声说道。 —

“I am glad of it, for it just fits in with my intentions. —
“我很高兴，因为这恰好符合我的意愿。 —

I beg your permission to take part in it.”
请允许我参与其中。”

“Forgive me, I cannot let you do it,” she said in response, and looked away.
“请原谅，我不能让你这样做。”她回答道，然后转过头去。

“Why not, Natalie?” I said quietly. “Why not? —
“为什么不行，娜塔莉？”我轻声说道。“为什么不行？ —

I, too, am well fed and I, too, want to help the hungry.”
也吃饱了，我也想帮助那些饥饿的人。”

“I don’t know what it has to do with you,” she said with a contemptuous smile, shrugging her shoulders. —
“我不知道这与你有什么关系，”她带着轻蔑的微笑，耸了耸肩膀说。 —

“Nobody asks you.”
“没人问你。”

“Nobody asks you, either, and yet you have got up a regular committee in my house,” I said.
“也没人问过你，但你却在我的房子里组成了一个正规委员会，”我说。

“I am asked, but you can have my word for it no one will ever ask you. —
“我被问了，但你可以相信我，没人会问你的。 —

Go and help where you are not known.”
请去一个你不为人熟知的地方帮忙。”

“For God’s sake, don’t talk to me in that tone. —
“求求你，不要用那种口吻跟我说话。 —

” I tried to be mild, and besought myself most earnestly not to lose my temper. —
我试图保持温和，极其恳切地劝说自己不要失控。 —

For the first few minutes I felt glad to be with my wife. —
在最初几分钟里，我为和妻子在一起感到高兴。 —

I felt an atmosphere of youth, of home, of feminine softness, of the most refined elegance—exactly what was lacking on my floor and in my life altogether. —
我感受到了一种青春、家庭、女性柔和和最精致优雅的氛围，正是我楼上和整个生活所缺少的。 —

My wife was wearing a pink flannel dressing-gown; —
我妻子穿着一件粉色法兰绒睡袍； —

it made her look much younger, and gave a softness to her rapid and sometimes abrupt movements. —
这让她看起来更年轻，给她那快速而有时鲁莽的动作添加了柔和。 —

Her beautiful dark hair, the mere sight of which at one time stirred me to passion, had from sitting so long with her head bent come loose from the comb and was untidy, but, to my eyes, that only made it look more rich and luxuriant. —
她美丽的黑发，曾经一看到就让我激动的发量，因为头已经低垂太久而散开了梳子，显得凌乱，但在我眼里，这只让它看起来更加丰富和华丽。 —

All this, though is banal to the point of vulgarity. —
这一切，虽陈腐到平庸的地步。 —

Before me stood an ordinary woman, perhaps neither beautiful nor elegant, but this was my wife with whom I had once lived, and with whom I should have been living to this day if it had not been for her unfortunate character; —
在我面前站着一个普通的女人，也许既不美丽也不优雅，但这是我的妻子，我曾经与之共度一生，如果不是她那不幸的性格，现在还将与之同居； —

she was the one human being on the terrestrial globe whom I loved. —
她是地球上唯一一个我深爱的人。 —

At this moment, just before going away, when I knew that I should no longer see her even through the window, she seemed to me fascinating even as she was, cold and forbidding, answering me with a proud and contemptuous mockery. —
此时，就在我离开之前，知道我甚至无法通过窗户再看见她，她对我不耐烦的冷漠，用傲慢和轻蔑的嘲弄回应着我，却让我觉得她迷人。 —

I was proud of her, and confessed to myself that to go away from her was terrible and impossible.
我为她感到自豪，承认离开她是可怕而不可能的。

“Pavel Andreitch,” she said after a brief silence, “for two years we have not interfered with each other but have lived quietly. —
“保罗，”在短暂的沉默后她说，“两年来，我们相安无事，平静生活。 —

Why do you suddenly feel it necessary to go back to the past? —
为什么你突然觉得有必要回到过去？ —

Yesterday you came to insult and humiliate me,” she went on, raising her voice, and her face flushed and her eyes flamed with hatred; —
昨天你来侮辱和羞辱我，” 她说，声音提高，脸红了，眼睛因恨意而发火， —

“but restrain yourself; do not do it, Pavel Andreitch! —
“但克制自己；不要这么做，保罗！” —

Tomorrow I will send in a petition and they will give me a passport, and I will go away; I will go! —
明天我将递交请愿书，他们会给我一个护照，然后我会离开；我要走了！ —

I will go! I’ll go into a convent, into a widows’ home, into an almshouse….”
我要走！我会进修道院，进寡妇院，进救济院….”

“Into a lunatic asylum!” I cried, not able to restrain myself.
“进精神病院！”我忍不住地喊道。

“Well, even into a lunatic asylum! That would be better, that would be better,” she cried, with flashing eyes. —
“那也行，那也行”，她眼睛闪烁着说道。 —

“When I was in Pestrovo today I envied the sick and starving peasant women because they are not living with a man like you. —
“今天我在佩斯特罗沃时，羡慕那些生病挨饿的农妇，因为她们不用和像你这样的男人生活在一起。 —

They are free and honest, while, thanks to you, I am a parasite, I am perishing in idleness, I eat your bread, I spend your money, and I repay you with my liberty and a fidelity which is of no use to any one. —
她们是自由的，诚实的，而多亏了你，我是个寄生虫，我在懒散中消亡，吃你的面包，花你的钱，而我回报你的只是我的自由和一个对任何人都毫无用处的忠诚。 —

Because you won’t give me a passport, I must respect your good name, though it doesn’t exist.”
因为你不给我护照，我必须尊重你的好名声，尽管这本就不存在。”

I had to keep silent. Clenching my teeth, I walked quickly into the drawing-room, but turned back at once and said:
我得保持沉默。咬紧牙关，我迅速走进客厅，但立刻又回过头说道：

“I beg you earnestly that there should be no more assemblies, plots, and meetings of conspirators in my house! —
“我恳请你们不要在我的房子里再搞什么集会、阴谋和密谋！ —

I only admit to my house those with whom I am acquainted, and let all your crew find another place to do it if they want to take up philanthropy. —
我只接待我认识的人，让你们所有人另找地方谋事，要进行慈善活动的话。 —

I can’t allow people at midnight in my house to be shouting hurrah at successfully exploiting an hysterical woman like you!”
我不能容忍半夜时在我的房子里大声叫好，为成功剥削像你这样的歇斯底里妇女！”

My wife, pale and wringing her hands, took a rapid stride across the room, uttering a prolonged moan as though she had toothache. —
我的妻子苍白无力地握着双手，迅速走过房间，发出持续的呻吟，好像牙疼了一样。 —

With a wave of my hand, I went into the drawing-room. —
我挥了挥手，走进了客厅。 —

I was choking with rage, and at the same time I was trembling with terror that I might not restrain myself, and that I might say or do something which I might regret all my life. —
我愤怒得快要窒息，同时又因为恐惧颤抖着，生怕自己控制不住，说出或做出一些后悔终生的事情。 —

And I clenched my hands tight, hoping to hold myself in.
我用力揉紧双手，希望自己能克制住。

After drinking some water and recovering my calm a little, I went back to my wife. —
喝了一些水，稍微恢复了一点镇静后，我回到了妻子身边。 —

She was standing in the same attitude as before, as though barring my approach to the table with the papers. —
她依然摆出之前的姿势，仿佛要阻止我接近桌子上的文件。 —

Tears were slowly trickling down her pale, cold face. —
泪水缓缓地从她苍白冰冷的脸上流下来。 —

I paused then and said to her bitterly but without anger:
我停顿了一下，苦涩地但没有愤怒地对她说：

“How you misunderstand me! How unjust you are to me! —
“你是多么误解我！你对我是多么不公平！ —

I swear upon my honour I came to you with the best of motives, with nothing but the desire to do good!”
我发誓在我的荣誉上，我是出于最好的动机来找你的，我无非是想做点好事！”

“Pavel Andreitch!” she said, clasping her hands on her bosom, and her face took on the agonized, imploring expression with which frightened, weeping children beg not to be punished, “I know perfectly well that you will refuse me, but still I beg you. —
“帕维尔·安德烈埃维奇！”她双手抱着胸膛，脸上带着惊恐乞求的表情，就像受惊的、哭泣的孩子乞求不要被惩罚，“我很清楚你肯定会拒绝我，但我还是恳求你。 —

Force yourself to do one kind action in your life. I entreat you, go away from here! —
强迫自己做一次善举吧。我请求你，离开这里！ —

That’s the only thing you can do for the starving peasants. —
这是你为饥饿的农民所能做的唯一事情。 —

Go away, and I will forgive you everything, everything!”
走开，我会原谅你一切，一切！”

“There is no need for you to insult me, Natalie,” I sighed, feeling a sudden rush of humility. —
“娜塔莉，无需侮辱我。”我叹了口气，感到一股突如其来的谦卑之感。 —

“I had already made up my mind to go away, but I won’t go until I have done something for the peasants. It’s my duty!”
“我早已决定要离开，但在我为农民做点什么之前，我不会走。这是我的责任！”

“Ach!” she said softly with an impatient frown. —
“啊！”她轻声说道，带着不耐烦的皱眉。 —

“You can make an excellent bridge or railway, but you can do nothing for the starving peasants. Do understand!”
“你可以建一个优秀的桥梁或铁路，但你对饥饿的农民毫无功效。明白吗！”

“Indeed? Yesterday you reproached me with indifference and with being devoid of the feeling of compassion. —
“确实吗？昨天你指责我冷漠，缺乏怜悯之情。 —

How well you know me!” I laughed. “You believe in God—well, God is my witness that I am worried day and night….”
“你了解我有多么担心！”我笑着说。“你信仰上帝——上帝可以作证，我晝夜都在担忧……”

“I see that you are worried, but the famine and compassion have nothing to do with it. —
“我看得出你很担心，但饥荒和同情心与此无关。 —

You are worried because the starving peasants can get on without you, and because the Zemstvo, and in fact every one who is helping them, does not need your guidance.”
“你担心是因为饥饿的农民们可以独立生活，并且因为农村自治机构，事实上所有帮助他们的人，都不需要你的指导。”

I was silent, trying to suppress my irritation. Then I said:
我沉默了一会儿，试图压制住自己的愤怒。然后我说：

“I came to speak to you on business. Sit down. Please sit down.”
“我是来和你谈生意的。坐下。请坐下。”

She did not sit down.
她没有坐下。

“I beg you to sit down,” I repeated, and I motioned her to a chair.
“请你坐下，”我重复说道，并示意她到椅子上坐。

She sat down. I sat down, too, thought a little, and said:
她坐下了。我也坐下，想了一会儿，然后说道：

“I beg you to consider earnestly what I am saying. Listen. —
“我请求你认真考虑我所说的。听着。 —

… Moved by love for your fellow-creatures, you have undertaken the organization of famine relief. —
……出于对你的同胞的爱，你承担了组织救灾的任务。 —

I have nothing against that, of course; I am completely in sympathy with you, and am prepared to co-operate with you in every way, whatever our relations may be. —
我当然对此没有异议；我完全同情你，并愿意以任何方式与你合作，不管我们之间的关系如何。 —

But, with all my respect for your mind and your heart. —
“但我对你的头脑、心灵表示敬意， —

.. and your heart,” I repeated, “I cannot allow such a difficult, complex, and responsible matter as the organization of relief to be left in your hands entirely. —
，你的心灵，”我重复说，“我不能允许这样一个如此困难、复杂和责任重大的事项完全由你独自完成。 —

You are a woman, you are inexperienced, you know nothing of life, you are too confiding and expansive. —
你是一个女人，你缺乏经验，对生活一无所知，你太好心、太轻信了。 —

You have surrounded yourself with assistants whom you know nothing about. —
你把周围围绕着一群你一无所知的助手。 —

I am not exaggerating if I say that under these conditions your work will inevitably lead to two deplorable consequences. —
如果我说在这种情况下，你的工作必然会导致两个令人遗憾的后果，我并没有夸张。 —

To begin with, our district will be left unrelieved; —
首先，我们的地区将得不到救援； —

and, secondly, you will have to pay for your mistakes and those of your assistants, not only with your purse, but with your reputation. —
其次，你将不得不为你自己和助手们的错误付出代价，不仅是金钱上的，还有声誉上的。 —

The money deficit and other losses I could, no doubt, make good, but who could restore you your good name? —
金钱上的赤字和其他损失我可以弥补，但谁能还你清白的名誉？ —

When through lack of proper supervision and oversight there is a rumour that you, and consequently I, have made two hundred thousand over the famine fund, will your assistants come to your aid?”
当由于缺乏适当的监督与监管，传言说你、因此我，从饥荒基金中赚取了二十万美元时，你的助手们会帮助你吗？

She said nothing.
她没有说话。

“Not from vanity, as you say,” I went on, “but simply that the starving peasants may not be left unrelieved and your reputation may not be injured, I feel it my moral duty to take part in your work.”
“不是出于虚荣，正如你所说的，而只是为了不让饥饿的农民得不到救济，也为了不让你的名誉受损，我觉得有道义责任参与你的工作。”

“Speak more briefly,” said my wife.
“说得简洁一点”，我妻子说。

“You will be so kind,” I went on, “as to show me what has been subscribed so far and what you have spent. —
“您能够友好地，”我接着说，“展示迄今为止已经捐出的款项和你已经花费了多少。 —

Then inform me daily of every fresh subscription in money or kind, and of every fresh outlay. —
然后每天告诉我每一笔新的款项捐赠，无论是现金还是实物，以及每一笔新的支出。 —

You will also give me, Natalie, the list of your helpers. Perhaps they are quite decent people; —
你也会给我，娜塔莉，你的帮手名单。也许他们是相当不错的人； —

I don’t doubt it; but, still, it is absolutely necessary to make inquiries.”
我不怀疑；但是，仍然绝对有必要进行调查。”

She was silent. I got up, and walked up and down the room.
她沉默了。我站起来，在房间里来回走动。

“Let us set to work, then,” I said, and I sat down to her table.
“那么我们开始工作吧，”我说，坐到她的桌子旁。

“Are you in earnest?” she asked, looking at me in alarm and bewilderment.
“你是认真的吗？”她惊恐和茫然地看着我。

“Natalie, do be reasonable!” I said appealingly, seeing from her face that she meant to protest. —
“娜塔莉，做个理性的人吧！”我哀求道，看出她的脸色表明她打算提出异议。 —

“I beg you, trust my experience and my sense of honour.”
“拜托，相信我的经验和我的诚信。”

“I don’t understand what you want.”
“我不明白你想要什么。”

“Show me how much you have collected and how much you have spent.”
“给我看看你收集了多少，花了多少。”

“I have no secrets. Any one may see. Look.”
“我没有秘密。任何人都可以看。看。”

On the table lay five or six school exercise books, several sheets of notepaper covered with writing, a map of the district, and a number of pieces of paper of different sizes. —
桌子上摆放着五六本学校的练习本，几张写满字的便条纸，地图，以及几张不同大小的纸片。 —

It was getting dusk. I lighted a candle.
天色渐晚。我点亮了蜡烛。

“Excuse me, I don’t see anything yet,” I said, turning over the leaves of the exercise books. —
“抱歉，我还什么都没看到”，我翻看着练习本的页面。 —

“Where is the account of the receipt of money subscriptions?”
“收到的钱款订阅的账目在哪里？”

“That can be seen from the subscription lists.”
“那可以从订阅名单上看到。”

“Yes, but you must have an account,” I said, smiling at her naivete. —
“是的，但你必须有一个账目”，我笑着对她的天真说。 —

“Where are the letters accompanying the subscriptions in money or in kind? —
“附在钱款或实物订阅之上的信件在哪里？ —

Pardon, a little practical advice, Natalie: it’s absolutely necessary to keep those letters. —
抱歉，给你一个实用的建议，娜塔莉：一定要保留那些信件。 —

You ought to number each letter and make a special note of it in a special record. —
你应该给每封信编号，并在特殊记录中特别记录。 —

You ought to do the same with your own letters. —
你应该对自己的信件也做同样的处理。 —

But I will do all that myself.”
但是所有这些事情我自己来做。

“Do so, do so…” she said.
“那就这样吧，那就这样吧…”她说。

I was very much pleased with myself. Attracted by this living interesting work, by the little table, the naive exercise books and the charm of doing this work in my wife’s society, I was afraid that my wife would suddenly hinder me and upset everything by some sudden whim, and so I was in haste and made an effort to attach no consequence to the fact that her lips were quivering, and that she was looking about her with a helpless and frightened air like a wild creature in a trap.
我对自己感到非常高兴。被这项生动有趣的工作吸引，被那张小桌子、天真的练习本以及在妻子陪伴下做这项工作的魅力吸引，我担心妻子会突然出现，通过一时的心血来潮来阻止我，打乱一切，所以我匆忙行事，努力不让意识到她的嘴唇在哆嗦，她正像陷入陷阱的野兽那样无助和害怕地四处张望。

“I tell you what, Natalie,” I said without looking at her; —
“我告诉你，娜塔莉，”我说，没有看她； —

“let me take all these papers and exercise books upstairs to my study. —
“让我把所有这些文件和练习本都带到楼上我的书房去。 —

There I will look through them and tell you what I think about it tomorrow. —
我会仔细看一遍，明天告诉你我对它们的看法。 —

Have you any more papers?” I asked, arranging the exercise books and sheets of papers in piles.
还有其他文件吗？”我问，把练习本和纸张分成一堆一堆。

“Take them, take them all!” said my wife, helping me to arrange them, and big tears ran down her cheeks. —
“拿走，拿走所有！”我的妻子说，帮助我整理着，大颗泪珠顺着她的脸颊滑落。 —

“Take it all! That’s all that was left me in life. —
“拿走一切！这是生活中留给我的所有。 —

… Take the last.”
… 拿最后的。”

“Ach! Natalie, Natalie!” I sighed reproachfully.
“啊！娜塔莉，娜塔莉！”我悲伤地叹了口气。

She opened the drawer in the table and began flinging the papers out of it on the table at random, poking me in the chest with her elbow and brushing my face with her hair; —
她打开桌子的抽屉，开始随意将文件扔在桌子上，用胳膊肘戳着我的胸部，头发刷过我的脸； —

as she did so, copper coins kept dropping upon my knees and on the floor.
在这样做的过程中，铜币一直掉在我的膝盖和地板上。

“Take everything!” she said in a husky voice.
“拿走所有！”她嘶哑地说。

When she had thrown out the papers she walked away from me, and putting both hands to her head, she flung herself on the couch. —
她把文件扔出后，走开了，双手扶着头，扑倒在沙发上。 —

I picked up the money, put it back in the drawer, and locked it up that the servants might not be led into dishonesty; —
我捡起了钱，把它放回抽屉里，锁好了，以免仆人受到诱惑而陷入不正之风； —

then I gathered up all the papers and went off with them. —
然后我把所有文件都收拾起来，带走了； —

As I passed my wife I stopped and, looking at her back and shaking shoulders, I said:
当我走过我妻子身边时，停了下来，看着她背影和颤抖的肩膀，说道：

“What a baby you are, Natalie! Fie, fie! Listen, Natalie: —
“你真是个孩子，娜塔莉！哼，哼！听着，娜塔莉： —

when you realize how serious and responsible a business it is you will be the first to thank me. —
当你意识到这是多么严肃和负责任的一桩事务时，你会第一个感谢我的。 —

I assure you you will.”
我向你保证，你会的。”

In my own room I set to work without haste. —
在我自己的房间里，我开始工作，毫不慌乱； —

The exercise books were not bound, the pages were not numbered. —
练习册没有装订，页面没有编号； —

The entries were put in all sorts of handwritings; —
条目用各种笔迹写成； —

evidently any one who liked had a hand in managing the books. —
很显然，任何人都可以参与管理账册。 —

In the record of the subscriptions in kind there was no note of their money value. —
在实物捐款记录中，没有注明它们的货币价值； —

But, excuse me, I thought, the rye which is now worth one rouble fifteen kopecks may be worth two roubles fifteen kopecks in two months’ time! —
但请原谅我，我想，现在价值1卢布15戈比的黑麦，也许两个月后价值2卢布15戈比！ —

Was that the way to do things? Then, “Given to A. M. Sobol 32 roubles.” When was it given? —
那样做合适吗？然后，“给予A. M. Sobol 32卢布。” 是什么时候给的？ —

For what purpose was it given? Where was the receipt? —
给了什么目的？收据在哪里？ —

There was nothing to show, and no making anything of it. —
没有任何显示，也无从获取信息。 —

In case of legal proceedings, these papers would only obscure the case.
在法律诉讼中，这些文件只会混淆案件。

“How naive she is!” I thought with surprise. “What a child!”
“她是多么天真！”我惊讶地想到。“简直像个孩子！”

I felt both vexed and amused.
我感到既恼火又好笑。

V
V

My wife had already collected eight thousand; with my five it would be thirteen thousand. —
我妻子已经收集了八千；加上我的五千就是一万三千。 —

For a start that was very good. The business which had so worried and interested me was at last in my hands; —
起初那样很好。让我如此忧虑和感兴趣的事务最终掌握在我手中； —

I was doing what the others would not and could not do; —
我正在做别人不愿做也不能做的事情； —

I was doing my duty, organizing the relief fund in a practical and business-like way.
我正在尽责，以实际且商业化的方式组织救济基金。

Everything seemed to be going in accordance with my desires and intentions; —
一切似乎都按照我的愿望和打算进行； —

but why did my feeling of uneasiness persist? —
但为什么我的不安感仍然存在呢？ —

I spent four hours over my wife’s papers, making out their meaning and correcting her mistakes, but instead of feeling soothed, I felt as though some one were standing behind me and rubbing my back with a rough hand. —
我在我妻子的文件上花了四个小时，理解它们的含义并纠正她的错误，但我并没有感到宁静，反而感到好像有人站在我后面，粗暴地揉着我的背。 —

What was it I wanted? The organization of the relief fund had come into trustworthy hands, the hungry would be fed—what more was wanted?
我想要什么？救济基金的组织已经交到了可信任的手中，饥饿的人将得到食物——还有什么是需要的吗？

The four hours of this light work for some reason exhausted me, so that I could not sit bending over the table nor write. —
这四个小时轻松的工作出乎意料地让我筋疲力尽，以至于我无法弯身坐在桌子前写作。 —

From below I heard from time to time a smothered moan; it was my wife sobbing. —
从楼下时不时传来一声闷哼声；那是我妻子在抽泣。 —

Alexey, invariably meek, sleepy, and sanctimonious, kept coming up to the table to see to the candles, and looked at me somewhat strangely.
一直温顺、困倦且伪善的亚历克谢，不停地走到桌子旁去看蜡烛，看着我，神情有些奇怪。

“Yes, I must go away,” I decided at last, feeling utterly exhausted. —
“是的，最终我决定离开，”我感到完全精疲力尽。 —

“As far as possible from these agreeable impressions! —
“尽可能远离这些愉快的印象！ —

I will set off tomorrow.”
明天我就会动身。”

I gathered together the papers and exercise books, and went down to my wife. —
我整理好文件和练习本，下楼去找我的妻子。 —

As, feeling quite worn out and shattered, I held the papers and the exercise books to my breast with both hands, and passing through my bedroom saw my trunks, the sound of weeping reached me through the floor.
当我双手抱着文件和练习本，感到疲惫不堪，穿过卧室时，透过地板传来了哭泣声。

“Are you a kammer-junker?” a voice whispered in my ear. —
“你是个有头衔的神官？”一声声音在我耳边低语。 —

“That’s a very pleasant thing. But yet you are a reptile.”
“那真是太愉快了。但你仍然是个卑鄙的家伙。”

“It’s all nonsense, nonsense, nonsense,” I muttered as I went downstairs. “Nonsense. —
“这都是胡说八道，胡说八道，胡说八道，”我下楼时喃喃自语。“废话。 —

.. and it’s nonsense, too, that I am actuated by vanity or a love of display…. What rubbish! —
..我是出于虚荣或爱显摆的动机….多荒谬！ —

Am I going to get a decoration for working for the peasants or be made the director of a department? Nonsense, nonsense! —
我是为了农民工作而颁个勋章或被任命为部门主任吗？胡说，胡说！ —

And who is there to show off to here in the country?”
这里乡下又有谁看得上我的炫耀？”

I was tired, frightfully tired, and something kept whispering in my ear: “Very pleasant. —
我疲惫不堪，令人恐惧地疲惫，耳边一直有声音低语着：“非常愉快。 —

But, still, you are a reptile.” For some reason I remembered a line out of an old poem I knew as a child: —
但是，你仍然是个卑鄙的家伙。”因为某种原因，我想起了我小时候知道的一首古老诗里的一句： —

“How pleasant it is to be good!”
“做好事多么愉快！”

My wife was lying on the couch in the same attitude, on her face and with her hands clutching her head. —
我的妻子以同样的姿势躺在沙发上，俯卧着，双手抓着头。 —

She was crying. A maid was standing beside her with a perplexed and frightened face. —
她在哭泣。一个女仆站在她旁边，脸上带着困惑和恐惧的表情。 —

I sent the maid away, laid the papers on the table, thought a moment and said:
我打发女仆走了，把文件放在桌子上，想了一会儿，然后说道：

“Here are all your papers, Natalie. It’s all in order, it’s all capital, and I am very much pleased. —
“娜塔莉，这里是所有你的文件。一切都整整齐齐，一切都完美无缺，我感到非常高兴。 —

I am going away tomorrow.”
明天我要离开了。”

She went on crying. I went into the drawing-room and sat there in the dark. —
她继续哭泣。我走进客厅，坐在黑暗中。 —

My wife’s sobs, her sighs, accused me of something, and to justify myself I remembered the whole of our quarrel, starting from my unhappy idea of inviting my wife to our consultation and ending with the exercise books and these tears. —
我妻子的啜泣声，她的叹息，控诉着我做了一些什么，为了自我辩护，我想起了我们整个争吵的过程，从我不幸地邀请妻子参加我们的磋商开始，到练习簿和这些眼泪结束。 —

It was an ordinary attack of our conjugal hatred, senseless and unseemly, such as had been frequent during our married life, but what had the starving peasants to do with it? —
这是我们婚姻生活中经常发生的一次普通的尖刻，毫无意义和不体面，但这与那些挨饿的农民有什么关系呢？ —

How could it have happened that they had become a bone of contention between us? —
我们怎么会让他们成为我们之间的争执焦点呢？ —

It was just as though pursuing one another we had accidentally run up to the altar and had carried on a quarrel there.
就好像我们追逐着对方，不小心跑到了神坛上，然后在那里长时间争吵一样。

“Natalie,” I said softly from the drawing-room, “hush, hush!”
“娜塔莉，”我从客厅轻声说道，“别哭了，别哭了！”

To cut short her weeping and make an end of this agonizing state of affairs, I ought to have gone up to my wife and comforted her, caressed her, or apologized; —
为了结束她的哭泣和这种痛苦的局面，我应该走到我妻子身边安慰她，抚摸她，道歉； —

but how could I do it so that she would believe me? —
但我怎么能做到让她相信呢？ —

How could I persuade the wild duck, living in captivity and hating me, that it was dear to me, and that I felt for its sufferings? —
我怎么能说服这只生活在囚笼中、憎恨我的野鸭，告诉它我多么珍惜它，我多么为它的苦难感到痛心呢？ —

I had never known my wife, so I had never known how to talk to her or what to talk about. —
我从未真正了解过我的妻子，所以我也从来不知道该怎么和她交谈或谈论什么。 —

Her appearance I knew very well and appreciated it as it deserved, but her spiritual, moral world, her mind, her outlook on life, her frequent changes of mood, her eyes full of hatred, her disdain, the scope and variety of her reading which sometimes struck me, or, for instance, the nun-like expression I had seen on her face the day before—all that was unknown and incomprehensible to me. —
我对她的外表非常了解并且也很欣赏，但她的精神、道德世界，她的思想，她对生活的看法，她时常变化的情绪，她充满仇恨的眼神，她的不屑，我有时觉得令我震撼的阅读广泛性，或者比如前一天我看到她脸上那种像修女的表情－所有这一切对我来说既陌生又难以理解。 —

When in my collisions with her I tried to define what sort of a person she was, my psychology went no farther than deciding that she was giddy, impractical, ill-tempered, guided by feminine logic; —
当我试图描绘她的人格时，我的心理只能认定她是轻浮、不切实际、脾气暴躁，被女性逻辑所驱使； —

and it seemed to me that that was quite sufficient. —
看来我已经足够了。 —

But now that she was crying I had a passionate desire to know more.
但现在她在哭泣，我有强烈的愿望了解更多。

The weeping ceased. I went up to my wife. —
她的哭声停止了。我走到妻子身边。 —

She sat up on the couch, and, with her head propped in both hands, looked fixedly and dreamily at the fire.
她坐在沙发上，双手撑着头，凝视着火焰，神情专注而梦幻。

“I am going away tomorrow morning,” I said.
“明天早上我要离开了，”我说。

She said nothing. I walked across the room, sighed, and said:
她什么也没有说。我穿过房间，叹了口气，说：

“Natalie, when you begged me to go away, you said: —
“娜塔莉，当你请求我离开时，你说：‘我会原谅你一切，一切’….所以你认为我对你做了错事。 —

‘I will forgive you everything, everything’…. So you think I have wronged you. —
我请求你冷静而简明地阐明我对你做了什么错事。” —

I beg you calmly and in brief terms to formulate the wrong I’ve done you.”
“我筋疲力尽了。以后，什么时候…”我的妻子说。

“I am worn out. Afterwards, some time…” said my wife.
“我怎么有错？”我继续说。“我做了什么？告诉我：

“How am I to blame?” I went on. “What have I done? Tell me: —
你年轻漂亮，你想要过自己的生活，而我年纪几乎是你的两倍，而且你讨厌我，但那是我的错吗？ —

you are young and beautiful, you want to live, and I am nearly twice your age and hated by you, but is that my fault? —
我并没有逼你结婚。但是如果你想要自由地生活，走吧； —

I didn’t marry you by force. But if you want to live in freedom, go; —
我会给你自由。你可以去爱任何你想爱的人。 —

I’ll give you your liberty. You can go and love whom you please. —
请你及早走，不要折磨我。” —

… I will give you a divorce.”
“我会给你离婚。”

“That’s not what I want,” she said. —
“这不是我想要的，”她说。 —

“You know I used to love you and always thought of myself as older than you. —
“你知道我曾经爱过你，一直认为自己比你大。” —

That’s all nonsense…. You are not to blame for being older or for my being younger, or that I might be able to love some one else if I were free; —
那都是胡说八道…. 你不应该因为年龄比我大而受到责备，也不应该因为我比你小，或者如果我自由了就能爱上别人； —

but because you are a difficult person, an egoist, and hate every one.”
而是因为你是个难以相处的人，一个自私自利的人，又处处和别人作对。”

“Perhaps so. I don’t know,” I said.
“也许吧。我不知道，”我说。

“Please go away. You want to go on at me till the morning, but I warn you I am quite worn out and cannot answer you. —
“请离开吧。你想和我唠叨到天亮，但我警告你我已经筋疲力尽，无法回应你。 —

You promised me to go to town. I am very grateful; —
你答应过我去城里。我很感激； —

I ask nothing more.”
我不求什么。”

My wife wanted me to go away, but it was not easy for me to do that. —
我妻子希望我离开，但我却很难做到。 —

I was dispirited and I dreaded the big, cheerless, chill rooms that I was so weary of. —
我灰心丧气，对我厌倦的那些又大又冷的房间感到畏惧。 —

Sometimes when I had an ache or a pain as a child, I used to huddle up to my mother or my nurse, and when I hid my face in the warm folds of their dress, it seemed to me as though I were hiding from the pain. —
有时候当我小时候感到疼痛时，我会蜷缩在我母亲或保姆身边，当我把脸埋在她们暖暖的衣襟里时，我觉得自己在躲避疼痛。 —

And in the same way it seemed to me now that I could only hide from my uneasiness in this little room beside my wife. —
同样地，我现在觉得只有在我妻子身旁的这间小房间里才能躲避我的不安。 —

I sat down and screened away the light from my eyes with my hand. —
我坐下来，用手遮住了灯光照射的眼睛。 —

… There was a stillness.
… 这里是一片寂静。

“How are you to blame?” my wife said after a long silence, looking at me with red eyes that gleamed with tears. —
“你怎么会有错？”我妻子沉默了很久后说道，眼睛红红的，泪光闪闪。 —

“You are very well educated and very well bred, very honest, just, and high-principled, but in you the effect of all that is that wherever you go you bring suffocation, oppression, something insulting and humiliating to the utmost degree. —
“你受过很好的教育，很有教养，非常诚实、公正、高尚，但你所带来的效果却是无论走到哪里都带来窒息、压迫、令人感到羞辱和屈辱到极点。 —

You have a straightforward way of looking at things, and so you hate the whole world. —
你看问题一向直截了当，所以你讨厌整个世界。 —

You hate those who have faith, because faith is an expression of ignorance and lack of culture, and at the same time you hate those who have no faith for having no faith and no ideals; —
你厌恶信仰者，因为信仰是无知和缺乏文化的表现，同时你又厌恶无信仰的人，因为他们没有信仰和理想； —

you hate old people for being conservative and behind the times, and young people for free-thinking. The interests of the peasantry and of Russia are dear to you, and so you hate the peasants because you suspect every one of them of being a thief and a robber. —
你恨所有人。你很正直，总是坚持你的法定权利，所以你总是与农民和邻居们对立。 —

You hate every one. You are just, and always take your stand on your legal rights, and so you are always at law with the peasants and your neighbours. —
你的麦子被偷了二十石，你热爱秩序，使你向省长和所有地方当局抱怨农民，并向彼得堡发送地方当局的申诉。 —

You have had twenty bushels of rye stolen, and your love of order has made you complain of the peasants to the Governor and all the local authorities, and to send a complaint of the local authorities to Petersburg. —
“法律正义！”我妻子说着，然后笑了。 —

Legal justice!” said my wife, and she laughed. —
“基于你的法定权利和道德利益，你拒绝给我护照。 —

“On the ground of your legal rights and in the interests of morality, you refuse to give me a passport. —
“法律和道德使得一位有自尊心、健康的年轻女性不得不过着懒散、沮丧和持续担心的生活，换取她从一个自己不爱的男人那里得到食宿。 —

Law and morality is such that a self-respecting healthy young woman has to spend her life in idleness, in depression, and in continual apprehension, and to receive in return board and lodging from a man she does not love. —
你对法律有透彻的了解，你非常诚实和公正，你尊重婚姻和家庭生活，而所有这一切的效果就是你的一生中没有做过一件善意的行动，每个人都讨厌你，你和每个人关系都很糟糕，而你们结婚七年来只有七个月是在一起度过的。 —

You have a thorough knowledge of the law, you are very honest and just, you respect marriage and family life, and the effect of all that is that all your life you have not done one kind action, that every one hates you, that you are on bad terms with every one, and the seven years that you have been married you’ve only lived seven months with your wife. —
你没有过妻子，我没有过丈夫。和像你这样的男人一起生活是不可能的； —

You’ve had no wife and I’ve had no husband. To live with a man like you is impossible; —
没有办法做到。在最初的几年里我都被你吓到，现在我感到羞愧。 —

there is no way of doing it. In the early years I was frightened with you, and now I am ashamed. —
…我的最美好的岁月都被浪费了。 —

… That’s how my best years have been wasted. —
与你吵架时，我毁了自己的脾气，变得悍妇、粗鲁、胆小、不信任。 —

When I fought with you I ruined my temper, grew shrewish, coarse, timid, mistrustful. —
“七年来你没有妻子，我没有丈夫。和你一起生活是不可能的；” —

… Oh, but what’s the use of talking! As though you wanted to understand! —
1,…哦，但谈论有何用！仿佛你想要理解！ —

Go upstairs, and God be with you!”
向楼上走去，愿上帝与你同在！

My wife lay down on the couch and sank into thought.
我的妻子躺在沙发上陷入沉思。

“And how splendid, how enviable life might have been! —
“生活本可以是多么辉煌、多么令人羡慕啊！ —

” she said softly, looking reflectively into the fire. —
”她轻声说着，凝视着火焰，思索着。 —

“What a life it might have been! There’s no bringing it back now.”
“生活本可以是多么美好！现在无法挽回了。”

Any one who has lived in the country in winter and knows those long dreary, still evenings when even the dogs are too bored to bark and even the clocks seem weary of ticking, and any one who on such evenings has been troubled by awakening conscience and has moved restlessly about, trying now to smother his conscience, now to interpret it, will understand the distraction and the pleasure my wife’s voice gave me as it sounded in the snug little room, telling me I was a bad man. —
在冬天住在乡下的人，都知道那些漫长阴郁的夜晚，连狗都无聊到不吠，时钟似乎也厌倦了滴答声，而在这种夜晚，如果良心被唤醒，开始充满不安，不安地四处游走，试图扼杀或诠释良心，就能理解我的妻子的声音给予了我的喜悦，如同在温暖的小房间里回响，告诉我我是个坏人。 —

I did not understand what was wanted of me by my conscience, and my wife, translating it in her feminine way, made clear to me in the meaning of my agitation. —
我不理解我的良心要我做什么，而我的妻子用她女人特有的方式，帮我理解了我焦虑的含义。 —

As often before in the moments of intense uneasiness, I guessed that the whole secret lay, not in the starving peasants, but in my not being the sort of a man I ought to be.
在极度不安的时刻，我猜想整个秘密不在于饥饿的农民，而在于我不是我应该成为的那种人。

My wife got up with an effort and came up to me.
我的妻子费力地站了起来，走到我身边。

“Pavel Andreitch,” she said, smiling mournfully, “forgive me, I don’t believe you: —
“保罗·安德雷伊奇，”她悲伤地微笑着说，“原谅我，我不相信你： —

you are not going away, but I will ask you one more favour. —
你不会走，但是我想向你再提一个请求。 —

Call this”—she pointed to her papers—“self-deception, feminine logic, a mistake, as you like; —
不管你称之为自我欺骗、女性逻辑、错误，如你所愿； —

but do not hinder me. It’s all that is left me in life.” She turned away and paused. —
但请不要阻碍我。这是我生活中剩下的一切。” 她转身离开停顿一下。 —

“Before this I had nothing. I have wasted my youth in fighting with you. —
“在这之前我一无所有。我浪费了青春与你争吵。 —

Now I have caught at this and am living; I am happy. —
现在我抓住了这个，并且活着；我很幸福。 —

… It seems to me that I have found in this a means of justifying my existence.”
“在这一点上，我觉得我找到了一种证明我存在的方式。”

“Natalie, you are a good woman, a woman of ideas,” I said, looking at my wife enthusiastically, “and everything you say and do is intelligent and fine.”
“娜塔莉，你是一个好女人，一个有思想的女人，”我热情地看着我的妻子说，“你说的做的一切都是聪明而美好的。”

I walked about the room to conceal my emotion.
我在房间里走来走去，掩饰我的情感。

“Natalie,” I went on a minute later, “before I go away, I beg of you as a special favour, help me to do something for the starving peasants!”
“娜塔莉，”一分钟后我继续说道，“在我离开之前，我请求你作为一种特殊的恩惠，帮助我为那些挨饿的农民做点什么！”

“What can I do?” said my wife, shrugging her shoulders. “Here’s the subscription list.”
“我能做什么？”我妻子耸耸肩说，“这是捐款清单。”

She rummaged among the papers and found the subscription list.
她在文件中翻找，找到了捐款清单。

“Subscribe some money,” she said, and from her tone I could see that she did not attach great importance to her subscription list; —
“捐点钱。”她说，从她的语气中我能感觉到她并没有很重视她的捐款名单； —

“that is the only way in which you can take part in the work.”
“那是唯一可以参与工作的方式。”

I took the list and wrote: “Anonymous, 5,000.”
我拿着名单写道：“匿名，5000。”

In this “anonymous” there was something wrong, false, conceited, but I only realized that when I noticed that my wife flushed very red and hurriedly thrust the list into the heap of papers. —
在这个“匿名”中有些不对劲，虚假，自负，但直到我看到我的妻子脸色通红，急忙把名单塞进一堆文件中时，我才意识到这一点。 —

We both felt ashamed; I felt that I must at all costs efface this clumsiness at once, or else I should feel ashamed afterwards, in the train and at Petersburg. —
我们俩都感到羞愧；我觉得我必须立即消除这种笨拙，否则在火车上和彼得堡我会感到羞愧。 —

But how efface it? What was I to say?
但如何消除它？我该说什么？

“I fully approve of what you are doing, Natalie,” I said genuinely, “and I wish you every success. —
“我完全赞同你所做的一切，娜塔莉，”我真诚地说，“祝你一切顺利。 —

But allow me at parting to give you one piece of advice, Natalie; —
但请允许我在离别时给你一个建议，娜塔莉； —

be on your guard with Sobol, and with your assistants generally, and don’t trust them blindly. —
要小心索博尔，以及你的助手们，不要盲目相信他们。 —

I don’t say they are not honest, but they are not gentlefolks; —
我不是说他们不诚实，但他们不是绅士们； —

they are people with no ideas, no ideals, no faith, with no aim in life, no definite principles, and the whole object of their life is comprised in the rouble. —
他们是一群没有主意，没有理想，没有信仰，没有人生目标，没有明确原则的人，他们整个生活的目的就在于卢布。 —

Rouble, rouble, rouble!” I sighed. “They are fond of getting money easily, for nothing, and in that respect the better educated they are the more they are to be dreaded.”
“卢布，卢布，卢布！” 我叹息道。 “他们喜欢轻而易举地获取金钱，贪图不劳而获，在这方面他们越受过良好教育，就越值得警惕。”

My wife went to the couch and lay down.
我的妻子走到沙发上躺下。

“Ideas,” she brought out, listlessly and reluctantly, “ideas, ideals, objects of life, principles. —
“理念，” 她无精打采、不情愿地说道，“理念，理想，人生目标，原则。 —

…you always used to use those words when you wanted to insult or humiliate some one, or say something unpleasant. —
…每当你想侮辱或羞辱别人，或说些不愉快的事情时，都会用这些词。 —

Yes, that’s your way: if with your views and such an attitude to people you are allowed to take part in anything, you would destroy it from the first day. —
是啊，这就是你的方式：如果你的观念和对待他人的态度可以参与任何事情，那么你将在第一天就毁掉它。 —

It’s time you understand that.”
你该明白这一点了。”

She sighed and paused.
她叹了口气，停顿了一下。

“It’s coarseness of character, Pavel Andreitch,” she said. —
“这是品格的粗野，保罗·安德烈伊奇，” 她说。 —

“You are well-bred and educated, but what a… Scythian you are in reality! —
“你有良好的教养和受过教育，但实际上你是个…斯基泰人！ —

That’s because you lead a cramped life full of hatred, see no one, and read nothing but your engineering books. —
那是因为你过着充满仇恨、不见外人、只读工程书籍的狭隘生活。 —

And, you know, there are good people, good books! —
而你知道，有好人、有好书！ —

Yes… but I am exhausted and it wearies me to talk. —
是的…但我筋疲力尽，讲话让我感到疲惫。 —

I ought to be in bed.”
我该去睡觉了。”

“So I am going away, Natalie,” I said.
“所以，我要离开了，娜塔莉，”我说。

“Yes… yes…. Merci….”
“是的…谢谢….”

I stood still for a little while, then went upstairs. —
我站在那里一会，然后上楼去了。 —

An hour later—it was half-past one—I went downstairs again with a candle in my hand to speak to my wife. —
“一个小时后——已经是一点半了——我拿着一支蜡烛再次下楼去找我妻子谈话。 —

I didn’t know what I was going to say to her, but I felt that I must say some thing very important and necessary. —
我不知道我要对她说什么，但我觉得我必须说一些非常重要和必要的事情。 —

She was not in her study, the door leading to her bedroom was closed.
她不在书房，通往她卧室的门是关着的。

“Natalie, are you asleep?” I asked softly.
“娜塔莉，你在睡觉吗？”我轻声问道。

There was no answer.
没有回答。

I stood near the door, sighed, and went into the drawing-room. —
我站在门附近，叹了口气，走进客厅。 —

There I sat down on the sofa, put out the candle, and remained sitting in the dark till the dawn.
在那里我坐在沙发上，吹灭了蜡烛，一直坐在黑暗中直到黎明。

VI
VI

I went to the station at ten o’clock in the morning. —
我早上十点去了车站。 —

There was no frost, but snow was falling in big wet flakes and an unpleasant damp wind was blowing.
没有霜，但大而湿的雪花纷纷扬扬，一阵令人不愉快的湿风吹着。

We passed a pond and then a birch copse, and then began going uphill along the road which I could see from my window. —
我们经过一个池塘，然后是一片白桦树林，然后沿着我从窗户看到的路上坡前行。 —

I turned round to take a last look at my house, but I could see nothing for the snow. —
我转过头最后看了一眼我的房子，但因为雪的缘故什么也看不见。 —

Soon afterwards dark huts came into sight ahead of us as in a fog. It was Pestrovo.
不久后，我们前方出现了漆黑的小屋，就像在雾中一样。那就是佩斯特罗沃。

“If I ever go out of my mind, Pestrovo will be the cause of it,” I thought. —
“如果我哪天发疯了，佩斯特罗沃一定是罪魁祸首，”我心想。 —

“It persecutes me.”
“它不断地迫害着我。”

We came out into the village street. All the roofs were intact, not one of them had been pulled to pieces; —
我们走出村子的街道。所有屋顶都完好无损，没有一块被拆毁； —

so my bailiff had told a lie. A boy was pulling along a little girl and a baby in a sledge. —
所以我的管家撒了谎。一个男孩在拉着一个小女孩和一个婴儿的雪橇。 —

Another boy of three, with his head wrapped up like a peasant woman’s and with huge mufflers on his hands, was trying to catch the flying snowflakes on his tongue, and laughing. —
另一个三岁的男孩，头上像个农妇一样包着头巾，手上戴着厚厚的护手套，试图用舌头接住飞舞的雪花，并咯咯笑。 —

Then a wagon loaded with fagots came toward us and a peasant walking beside it, and there was no telling whether his beard was white or whether it was covered with snow. —
然后，一辆装满柴火的马车朝我们驶来，旁边有个农民在走，真看不清他的胡子是白的还是被雪覆盖了。 —

He recognized my coachman, smiled at him and said something, and mechanically took off his hat to me. —
他认出了我的车夫，对他微笑，说了些什么，机械地向我脱帽致意。 —

The dogs ran out of the yards and looked inquisitively at my horses. —
狗从院子里跑出来，好奇地看着我的马。 —

Everything was quiet, ordinary, as usual. The emigrants had returned, there was no bread; —
一切都很安静，很寻常，一切如旧。移民们已经回来了，没有面包； —

in the huts “some were laughing, some were delirious”; —
在小屋里，“有人在笑，有人在胡言乱语”； —

but it all looked so ordinary that one could not believe it really was so. —
但一切看起来如此寻常，以至于人难以相信那就是真实的。 —

There were no distracted faces, no voices whining for help, no weeping, nor abuse, but all around was stillness, order, life, children, sledges, dogs with dishevelled tails. —
没有绝望的表情，没有呼吁帮助的声音，也没有哭泣，没有辱骂，而周围只有宁静、秩序、生活、孩子、雪橇、狗摇着蓬松的尾巴。 —

Neither the children nor the peasant we met were troubled; —
我们遇到的孩子和农民都没有受到困扰； —

why was I so troubled?
那么我为什么如此烦恼呢？

Looking at the smiling peasant, at the boy with the huge mufflers, at the huts, remembering my wife, I realized there was no calamity that could daunt this people; —
看着笑容满面的农民，看着裹得严严实实的男孩，看着茅屋，想起我的妻子，我意识到没有什么灾难能够使这个民族望而却步； —

I felt as though there were already a breath of victory in the air. —
我觉得似乎空气中已经有了胜利的气息。 —

I felt proud and felt ready to cry out that I was with them too; —
我感到自豪，准备高呼我也与他们同在； —

but the horses were carrying us away from the village into the open country, the snow was whirling, the wind was howling, and I was left alone with my thoughts. —
但马匹将我们从村庄带入开阔的乡间，雪花在飘扬，风在呼啸，我只能独自留恋在自己的思绪中。 —

Of the million people working for the peasantry, life itself had cast me out as a useless, incompetent, bad man. —
在无数为农民劳作的人群中，生活本身将我排斥为一个无用、无能、坏人。 —

I was a hindrance, a part of the people’s calamity; —
我成为了阻碍，成为了这个民族的灾难的一部分； —

I was vanquished, cast out, and I was hurrying to the station to go away and hide myself in Petersburg in a hotel in Bolshaya Morskaya.
我被战胜了，被摈弃了，我匆匆赶往车站，要去彼得堡，在波尔斯戈·莫尔斯卡亚大街的一家酒店里隐藏自己。

An hour later we reached the station. The coachman and a porter with a disc on his breast carried my trunks into the ladies’ room. —
一个小时后我们到达了车站。马车夫和一个胸前别着记号的搬运工把我的行李搬到了女客房里。 —

My coachman Nikanor, wearing high felt boots and the skirt of his coat tucked up through his belt, all wet with the snow and glad I was going away, gave me a friendly smile and said:
我的车夫尼卡诺，穿着高高的毡靴，外套的裙子挽在腰带里，被雪打湿了，高高兴兴地我要走了，友好地微笑着对我说：

“A fortunate journey, your Excellency. God give you luck.”
“一路顺风，阁下。愿上帝保佑您好运。”

Every one, by the way, calls me “your Excellency,” though I am only a collegiate councillor and a kammer-junker. —
顺便说一句，每个人都称我为“阁下”，尽管我只是一个参议会议员和一个财政官员。 —

The porter told me the train had not yet left the next station; I had to wait. —
搬运工告诉我列车还未离开下一站，我得等待。 —

I went outside, and with my head heavy from my sleepless night, and so exhausted I could hardly move my legs, I walked aimlessly towards the pump. —
我走到外面，头脑因我失眠的夜晚而沉重，筋疲力尽，几乎走不动路了，我漫无目的地朝水泵走去。 —

There was not a soul anywhere near.
周围一个人影也没有。

“Why am I going?” I kept asking myself. “What is there awaiting me there? —
“我为什么要去？”我不断地问自己。“那里等待我的究竟是什么呢？ —

The acquaintances from whom I have come away, loneliness, restaurant dinners, noise, the electric light, which makes my eyes ache. —
我从那些熟人身边走开，孤独，餐馆晚餐，噪音，让我的眼睛疼痛的电灯。 —

Where am I going, and what am I going for? —
我要去哪里，为了什么？ —

What am I going for?”
我为了什么？

And it seemed somehow strange to go away without speaking to my wife. —
不同我的妻子说一句就走，感觉有些奇怪。 —

I felt that I was leaving her in uncertainty. —
我觉得我在不确定中离开了她。 —

Going away, I ought to have told that she was right, that I really was a bad man.
离开时，我应该告诉她说她是对的，我确实是个坏人。

When I turned away from the pump, I saw in the doorway the station- master, of whom I had twice made complaints to his superiors, turning up the collar of his coat, shrinking from the wind and the snow. —
当我离开水泵时，门口站着那位我曾两次向他的上级投诉的站长，他把大衣领子翻了起来，躲避着风雪。 —

He came up to me, and putting two fingers to the peak of his cap, told me with an expression of helpless confusion, strained respectfulness, and hatred on his face, that the train was twenty minutes late, and asked me would I not like to wait in the warm?
他走到我面前，两根手指放在帽檐上，脸上带着一种无助的困惑、紧张的尊重和憎恶的表情，告诉我火车晚了二十分钟，并问我是否想在温暖的地方等着。

“Thank you,” I answered, “but I am probably not going. —
“谢谢，”我回答说，“但我可能不会走。 —

Send word to my coachman to wait; I have not made up my mind.”
通知我的教练夫人等一等;我还没有做决定。

I walked to and fro on the platform and thought, should I go away or not? —
我在站台上来回走动，想着，我应该离开还是不离开? —

When the train came in I decided not to go. —
火车进站时，我决定不走。 —

At home I had to expect my wife’s amazement and perhaps her mockery, the dismal upper storey and my uneasiness; —
回家时，我要面对妻子的惊讶，也许还有她的嘲笑，那个沉闷的楼上和我的不安; —

but, still, at my age that was easier and as it were more homelike than travelling for two days and nights with strangers to Petersburg, where I should be conscious every minute that my life was of no use to any one or to anything, and that it was approaching its end. —
但是，在我这把年纪，在家里，无论会有什么等待着我…都比跟陌生人一起在彼得堡旅行两天两夜更容易，同时意识到我的生活对任何人或任何事都毫无用处，并且正走向终点。 —

No, better at home whatever awaited me there…. I went out of the station. —
不，还是在家里，无论那里等待我的是什么… 我走出了车站。 —

It was awkward by daylight to return home, where every one was so glad at my going. —
白天回家很尴尬，因为每个人都对我走得很高兴。 —

I might spend the rest of the day till evening at some neighbour’s, but with whom? —
我可能会在一些邻居家呆到晚上，但和谁呢？ —

With some of them I was on strained relations, others I did not know at all. —
有些人我和他们关系很紧张，另一些我根本不认识。 —

I considered and thought of Ivan Ivanitch.
我考虑着想起伊凡·伊凡尼奇。

“We are going to Bragino!” I said to the coachman, getting into the sledge.
“我们要去布拉吉诺！”我对御驾说，上了雪橇。

“It’s a long way,” sighed Nikanor; “it will be twenty miles, or maybe twenty-five.”
“这是一条很远的路，”尼卡诺悲叹道，“可能要二十英里，甚至可能二十五。”

“Oh, please, my dear fellow,” I said in a tone as though Nikanor had the right to refuse. —
“哦，请啊，亲爱的，”我用一种仿佛尼卡诺有权拒绝的口吻说。 —

“Please let us go!”
“请让我们走吧！”

Nikanor shook his head doubtfully and said slowly that we really ought to have put in the shafts, not Circassian, but Peasant or Siskin; —
尼卡诺怀疑地摇了摇头，缓慢地说我们真应该挽上农民或西伯利亚雀的轭； —

and uncertainly, as though expecting I should change my mind, took the reins in his gloves, stood up, thought a moment, and then raised his whip.
不确定地，仿佛期待我会改变主意，他拿着缰绳在手套里，站起来，想了一会儿，然后把鞭子挥起。

“A whole series of inconsistent actions. —
“一系列不一致的行动。 —

..” I thought, screening my face from the snow. —
..”我想，把脸遮住了雪。 —

“I must have gone out of my mind. Well, I don’t care….”
“我一定是疯了。好吧，我不在乎….”

In one place, on a very high and steep slope, Nikanor carefully held the horses in to the middle of the descent, but in the middle the horses suddenly bolted and dashed downhill at a fearful rate; —
在一个很高且陡峭的坡上，尼卡诺小心地把马控制在下坡的中间，但在中途，马突然脱缰并以可怕的速度冲下山坡； —

he raised his elbows and shouted in a wild, frantic voice such as I had never heard from him before:
他撩起了胳膊，用我从未听过的狂热声音大喊大叫：

“Hey! Let’s give the general a drive! —
“嘿！让我们送将军一程！ —

If you come to grief he’ll buy new ones, my darlings! —
如果你出了岔子，他会买新的，我的宝贝们！ —

Hey! look out! We’ll run you down!”
“嘿！小心！我们会撞到你们！”

Only now, when the extraordinary pace we were going at took my breath away, I noticed that he was very drunk. —
直到我们的非凡速度让我喘不过气来，我才注意到他喝得很醉。 —

He must have been drinking at the station. At the bottom of the descent there was the crash of ice; —
在下坡时，冰的撞击声响起; —

a piece of dirty frozen snow thrown up from the road hit me a painful blow in the face.
从路上飞起的一块脏冰雪痛击我脸上。

The runaway horses ran up the hill as rapidly as they had downhill, and before I had time to shout to Nikanor my sledge was flying along on the level in an old pine forest, and the tall pines were stretching out their shaggy white paws to me from all directions.
狂奔的马匹在上坡时像下坡时一样迅速，还没来得及大声呼喊尼卡诺尔，我的雪橇就在一片古老的松树林中飞驰而过，高高的松树从四面八方向我伸出它们那蓬松的白色爪子。

“I have gone out of my mind, and the coachman’s drunk,” I thought. “Good!”
“我疯了，御车夫醉了，”我想。“太好了！”

I found Ivan Ivanitch at home. He laughed till he coughed, laid his head on my breast, and said what he always did say on meeting me:
我在伊万·伊凡尼奇家找到了他。他笑得咳嗽起来，把头靠在我的胸口上，说了他见到我的时候总是说的话：

“You grow younger and younger. I don’t know what dye you use for your hair and your beard; —
“你越来越年轻。我不知道你用什么染发剂和染胡须; —

you might give me some of it.”
你可以给我一些。”

“I’ve come to return your call, Ivan Ivanitch,” I said untruthfully. —
“我是来还你的拜访的，伊万·伊凡尼奇，”我虚伪地说。 —

“Don’t be hard on me; I’m a townsman, conventional; —
“别对我这么严厉;我是个城里人，循规蹈矩; —

I do keep count of calls.”
我确实有看谁来过。”

“I am delighted, my dear fellow. I am an old man; I like respect…. Yes.”
“亲爱的朋友，我很高兴。我是个老人;我喜欢受尊重… 是的。”

From his voice and his blissfully smiling face, I could see that he was greatly flattered by my visit. —
从他的声音和幸福的笑容中，我可以看出他对我的拜访感到非常荣幸。 —

Two peasant women helped me off with my coat in the entry, and a peasant in a red shirt hung it on a hook, and when Ivan Ivanitch and I went into his little study, two barefooted little girls were sitting on the floor looking at a picture-book; —
两位农妇在门厅帮我脱下外套，一个穿着红衬衫的农人将外套挂在挂钩上，当伊凡伊凡尼奇和我走进他的小书房时，两个光脚的小女孩正坐在地板上看着一本图画书； —

when they saw us they jumped up and ran away, and a tall, thin old woman in spectacles came in at once, bowed gravely to me, and picking up a pillow from the sofa and a picture-book from the floor, went away. —
当她们看到我们时，她们跳起来跑开了，一个戴眼镜的高瘦老太太马上进来了，对我庄严地鞠了一躬，然后拿起沙发上的一个枕头和地板上的一本图画书，走开了。 —

From the adjoining rooms we heard incessant whispering and the patter of bare feet.
从相邻的房间传来持续不断的低语声和光脚脚步声。

“I am expecting the doctor to dinner,” said Ivan Ivanitch. —
“我正等着医生来吃晚饭，”伊凡伊凡尼奇说。 —

“He promised to come from the relief centre. —
“他答应从救济中心过来。 —

Yes. He dines with me every Wednesday, God bless him. —
是的。他每个星期三都与我共进晚餐，上帝保佑他。 —

” He craned towards me and kissed me on the neck. —
” 他朝我靠近，亲了亲我的脖子。 —

“You have come, my dear fellow, so you are not vexed,” he whispered, sniffing. —
“你来了，亲爱的朋友，所以你不会生气，”他嗅着说。 —

“Don’t be vexed, my dear creature. Yes. Perhaps it is annoying, but don’t be cross. —
“不要生气，我亲爱的人。是的。也许有点烦人，但不要生气。 —

My only prayer to God before I die is to live in peace and harmony with all in the true way. Yes.”
在我去世之前，我唯一向上帝祈祷的是与所有人和睦相处，以真正的方式生活。是的。”

“Forgive me, Ivan Ivanitch, I will put my feet on a chair,” I said, feeling that I was so exhausted I could not be myself; —
“伊凡伊凡尼奇，原谅我，我会把脚放在椅子上，”我说，感到自己疲惫到无法做自己； —

I sat further back on the sofa and put up my feet on an arm-chair. —
我在沙发上往后挪了挪，把脚搁在一把扶手椅上。 —

My face was burning from the snow and the wind, and I felt as though my whole body were basking in the warmth and growing weaker from it.
我的脸因雪和风而发烫，感觉整个身体都在享受温暖并变得更虚弱。

“It’s very nice here,” I went on—“warm, soft, snug. —
“这里非常舒适，”我继续说道——“温暖、柔软、舒适。 —

.. and goose-feather pens,” I laughed, looking at the writing-table; —
“…而且用鹅毛笔写字，”我笑着看着写字桌； —

“sand instead of blotting-paper.”
“用沙子代替吸墨纸。”

“Eh? Yes… yes…. The writing-table and the mahogany cupboard here were made for my father by a self-taught cabinet-maker—Glyeb Butyga, a serf of General Zhukov’s. —
“是的… 是的… 这个写字桌和这个红木橱柜是我父亲从朱可夫将军那里的一个自学成才的木匠—格列布·布特伊加做的。 —

Yes… a great artist in his own way.”
是的… 在某种程度上是一位伟大的艺术家。”

Listlessly and in the tone of a man dropping asleep, he began telling me about cabinet-maker Butyga. —
他无精打采地用一个快要睡着的口吻开始告诉我关于木匠布特伊加的事情。 —

I listened. Then Ivan Ivanitch went into the next room to show me a polisander wood chest of drawers remarkable for its beauty and cheapness. —
我听着。接着伊万·伊万尼奇走进隔壁房间给我看了一个因其美丽和便宜而著名的紫檀木抽屉柜。 —

He tapped the chest with his fingers, then called my attention to a stove of patterned tiles, such as one never sees now. —
他用手指轻轻敲了敲抽屉柜，然后向我指出一种如今已经看不到的图案瓷炉。 —

He tapped the stove, too, with his fingers. —
他也用手指敲了敲炉子。 —

There was an atmosphere of good-natured simplicity and well-fed abundance about the chest of drawers, the tiled stove, the low chairs, the pictures embroidered in wool and silk on canvas in solid, ugly frames. —
抽屉柜、瓷炉、低矮的椅子、用羊毛和丝绸在粗糙的框架上刺绣的画作，这些都散发着一种和蔼纯朴和丰富的氛围。 —

When one remembers that all those objects were standing in the same places and precisely in the same order when I was a little child, and used to come here to name-day parties with my mother, it is simply unbelievable that they could ever cease to exist.
当我记起这些物品当我还是个小孩时就放在同一个位置，同样的次序，而我和母亲来到这里参加诞辰派对时，简直难以置信它们会停止存在。

I thought what a fearful difference between Butyga and me! —
我想到了我和布特伊加之间的可怕差异！ —

Butyga who made things, above all, solidly and substantially, and seeing in that his chief object, gave to length of life peculiar significance, had no thought of death, and probably hardly believed in its possibility; —
布特伊加制作的东西，首先，都是坚固而结实的，他看重的是物品的长久，赋予生命的特殊意义，根本没有考虑过死亡，可能几乎不相信死亡的可能性； —

I, when I built my bridges of iron and stone which would last a thousand years, could not keep from me the thought, “It’s not for long. —
而我，当我建造会持续千年的铁和石的桥梁，无法阻止脑海中的念头，“这没多久。 —

…it’s no use.” If in time Butyga’s cupboard and my bridge should come under the notice of some sensible historian of art, he would say: —
…这没什么用。”如果布特伊加的橱柜和我的桥梁在某一时刻引起了某位明智的艺术史学家的注意，他会说： —

“These were two men remarkable in their own way: —
“这两位在各自的领域都很出色的人：” —

Butyga loved his fellow-creatures and would not admit the thought that they might die and be annihilated, and so when he made his furniture he had the immortal man in his mind. —
但提加热爱他的同伴兄弟，不愿承认他们可能会死亡而被湮灭，所以当他做家具时，他心中想着永恒的人类。 —

The engineer Asorin did not love life or his fellow-creatures; —
工程师阿索林并不热爱生命或他的同伴兄弟； —

even in the happy moments of creation, thoughts of death, of finiteness and dissolution, were not alien to him, and we see how insignificant and finite, how timid and poor, are these lines of his….”
即使在创造的快乐时刻，死亡、有限性和消亡的思想也并不陌生于他，我们看到了他这些线条是多么微不足道、有限、胆怯和贫乏…

“I only heat these rooms,” muttered Ivan Ivanitch, showing me his rooms. —
“我只是这些房间取暖而已，”伊万·伊万尼奇嘟哝着向我展示他的房间。 —

“Ever since my wife died and my son was killed in the war, I have kept the best rooms shut up. Yes… see…”
“自从我妻子去世并且我儿子在战争中阵亡以后，我就把最好的房间给封闭了。是的…看…”

He opened a door, and I saw a big room with four columns, an old piano, and a heap of peas on the floor; —
他打开一扇门，我看到一个大房间，有四根柱子，一架老钢琴，地板上还堆着豌豆； —

it smelt cold and damp.
有一股冷冽潮湿的气味。

“The garden seats are in the next room…” muttered Ivan Ivanitch. —
“花园的长椅在隔壁房间…” 伊万·伊万尼奇嘟嚷着。 —

“There’s no one to dance the mazurka now. —
“现在没人跳马祖卡舞了。 —

… I’ve shut them up.”
… 我把它们都封闭了。”

We heard a noise. It was Dr. Sobol arriving. —
我们听到了一阵噪音，是索博尔医生到了。 —

While he was rubbing his cold hands and stroking his wet beard, I had time to notice in the first place that he had a very dull life, and so was pleased to see Ivan Ivanitch and me; —
当他揉着寒冷的手，抚摸着湿漉漉的胡须时，我有时间注意到首先他的生活非常乏味，所以很高兴见到伊万·伊万尼奇和我； —

and, secondly, that he was a naive and simple-hearted man. —
其次，他是一个天真和纯朴的人。 —

He looked at me as though I were very glad to see him and very much interested in him.
他看着我，仿佛我对见到他很高兴并对他很感兴趣。

“I have not slept for two nights,” he said, looking at me naively and stroking his beard. —
“我已经两个晚上没睡了，”他看着我天真地说着，抚摸着胡子。 —

“One night with a confinement, and the next I stayed at a peasant’s with the bugs biting me all night. —
“一夜被禁闭，第二天我又住在一个农民家里，整晚都被臭虫咬。” —

I am as sleepy as Satan, do you know.”
“我困得像撒旦一样，你知道的。”

With an expression on his face as though it could not afford me anything but pleasure, he took me by the arm and led me to the dining-room. —
“他脸上的表情好像只能给我带来快乐，他拉着我的手，领我去了餐厅。” —

His naive eyes, his crumpled coat, his cheap tie and the smell of iodoform made an unpleasant impression upon me; —
“他天真的眼神，皱巴巴的外套，廉价的领带和碘仿的味道给我留下了不愉快的印象；” —

I felt as though I were in vulgar company. —
“我感觉好像跟俗气的人在一起。” —

When we sat down to table he filled my glass with vodka, and, smiling helplessly, I drank it; —
“当我们坐下来吃饭时，他给我的杯子倒满了伏特加，我无助地笑着喝了；” —

he put a piece of ham on my plate and I ate it submissively.
“他在我的盘子里放了一块火腿，我顺从地吃了。”

“Repetitia est mater studiorum,” said Sobol, hastening to drink off another wineglassful. —
“重复是学习之母，” Sobol边说边赶紧又灌了一杯酒。 —

“Would you believe it, the joy of seeing good people has driven away my sleepiness? —
“你能相信吗，见到好人的喜悦竟然驱散了我的困倦？” —

I have turned into a peasant, a savage in the wilds; —
“我变成了一个农民，在荒野里的野蛮人；” —

I’ve grown coarse, but I am still an educated man, and I tell you in good earnest, it’s tedious without company.”
“我变得粗鄙，但我还是一个受过教育的人，我真诚地告诉你，没人陪伴真是无聊。”

They served first for a cold course white sucking-pig with horse-radish cream, then a rich and very hot cabbage soup with pork on it, with boiled buckwheat, from which rose a column of steam. —
“先上了白色的乳猪搭配辣根奶油，然后上了浓郁又很烫的卷心肉卷烤白菜汤，配上煮熟的荞麦，从中升起一股蒸汽。” —

The doctor went on talking, and I was soon convinced that he was a weak, unfortunate man, disorderly in external life. —
“医生继续说着，我很快就被他说服，他是一个软弱、不幸的人，外在生活混乱。” —

Three glasses of vodka made him drunk; he grew unnaturally lively, ate a great deal, kept clearing his throat and smacking his lips, and already addressed me in Italian, “Eccellenza. —
“三杯伏特加让他喝醉了；他变得异常兴奋，吃得很多，一直清嗓子、咂嘴，并且开始用意大利语跟我说话，‘Eccellenza.’” —

” Looking naively at me as though he were convinced that I was very glad to see and hear him, he informed me that he had long been separated from his wife and gave her three-quarters of his salary; —
“他很单纯地看着我，好像他确信我非常高兴见到他并听他说话，他告诉我他和妻子早就分居了，将三分之一的薪水给了她。” —

that she lived in the town with his children, a boy and a girl, whom he adored; —
她和他的孩子们一起生活在小镇上，一个男孩和一个女孩，他非常爱他们； —

that he loved another woman, a widow, well educated, with an estate in the country, but was rarely able to see her, as he was busy with his work from morning till night and had not a free moment.
他爱上了另一个女人，一个受过良好教育，在乡间有庄园的寡妇，但很少有时间见她，因为他从早到晚都忙于工作，没有一刻空闲。

“The whole day long, first at the hospital, then on my rounds,” he told us; —
“一整天，先是在医院，然后是在我的工作中”，他告诉我们； —

“and I assure you, Eccellenza, I have not time to read a book, let alone going to see the woman I love. —
“我向您保证，Excellenza，我根本没有时间看书，更别说去见我爱的那个女人了。 —

I’ve read nothing for ten years! For ten years, Eccellenza. —
十年了我没有读过任何东西！十年了，Excellenza。 —

As for the financial side of the question, ask Ivan Ivanitch: —
至于经济方面的问题，问问Ivan Ivanitch吧： —

I have often no money to buy tobacco.”
我经常没有钱买烟。”

“On the other hand, you have the moral satisfaction of your work,” I said.
“另一方面，你有工作的道义满足，”我说。

“What?” he asked, and he winked. “No,” he said, “better let us drink.”
“什么？”他问，然后眨了眨眼。“不，”他说，“还是让我们喝点酒吧。”

I listened to the doctor, and, after my invariable habit, tried to take his measure by my usual classification—materialist, idealist, filthy lucre, gregarious instincts, and so on; —
我听着医生的话，按照我不变的习惯，尝试用我的常规分类方式来评价他—唯物主义者，理想主义者，金钱至上，群居本能等等； —

but no classification fitted him even approximately; —
但没有任何分类能够准确地描述他； —

and strange to say, while I simply listened and looked at him, he seemed perfectly clear to me as a person, but as soon as I began trying to classify him he became an exceptionally complex, intricate, and incomprehensible character in spite of all his candour and simplicity. —
奇怪的是，当我听着他并且看着他时，他对我而言是一个十分明晰的人，但一旦我开始尝试对他进行分类，他成为一个异常复杂、错综复杂无法理解的人物，尽管他很坦诚和简单。 —

“Is that man,” I asked myself, “capable of wasting other people’s money, abusing their confidence, being disposed to sponge on them? —
“那个人，”我自问，“会浪费别人的钱，滥用他们的信任，乐意依靠他人吗？ —

” And now this question, which had once seemed to me grave and important, struck me as crude, petty, and coarse.
”然而现在，这个曾经觉得严肃重要的问题，却显得粗糙、琐碎和粗俗。

Pie was served; then, I remember, with long intervals between, during which we drank home-made liquors, they gave us a stew of pigeons, some dish of giblets, roast sucking-pig, partridges, cauliflower, curd dumplings, curd cheese and milk, jelly, and finally pancakes and jam. —
上菜了；接着记得，中间有很长的间隔，我们喝了自制的酒水，他们给我们端上了一锅鸽子肉炖菜，一道杂碎菜肴，烤乳猪，鹧鸪，花菜，冻奶油球，奶酪和牛奶, 果冻, 最后是煎饼和果酱。 —

At first I ate with great relish, especially the cabbage soup and the buckwheat, but afterwards I munched and swallowed mechanically, smiling helplessly and unconscious of the taste of anything. —
起初，我非常享受地吃着，特别是那一碗卷心菜汤和荞麦，但之后我却变得机械地咀嚼和吞咽，无意识地微笑着，对任何味道都毫无感知。 —

My face was burning from the hot cabbage soup and the heat of the room. —
我的脸因热乎乎的卷心菜汤和房间里的热度而发烫。 —

Ivan Ivanitch and Sobol, too, were crimson.
伊万伊万尼奇和索博尔也是满脸通红。

“To the health of your wife,” said Sobol. “She likes me. —
“为你妻子的健康干杯，” 索博尔说道，“她喜欢我。告诉她她的医生向她问候。” —

Tell her her doctor sends her his respects.”
“真是她有福气啊，” 伊万伊万尼奇叹息道。

“She’s fortunate, upon my word,” sighed Ivan Ivanitch. —
“虽然她不费心思，不烦恼，也已成为整个地区最重要的人物。几乎所有的事情都由她处理，医生、区长、还有那些女士们都围着她转。 —

“Though she takes no trouble, does not fuss or worry herself, she has become the most important person in the whole district. —
“和品德高尚的人在一起，这种事情就是自然而然地发生。是的….苹果树无需费心，苹果也会结果；它会自然生长。” —

Almost the whole business is in her hands, and they all gather round her, the doctor, the District Captains, and the ladies. —
“只有那些不在乎的人才不费心思，” 我说道。 —

With people of the right sort that happens of itself. —
“嗯？是的…” 伊万伊万尼奇咕哝着，没有听清我说的话，“没错。…人不必自寻烦恼。是的，是的。 —

Yes…. The apple-tree need take no thought for the apple to grow on it; —
…只需尽好与神和邻里的义务，然后无论发生什么都不要在意。” —

it will grow of itself.”
“人只要对神尽义务，对邻里也照顾周到，便无需过多忧虑，” 伊万伊万尼奇补充说。

“It’s only people who don’t care who take no thought,” said I.
“那确实如此，” 我说。

“Eh? Yes…” muttered Ivan Ivanitch, not catching what I said, “that’s true. —
乌已万泥契没有听清我的话，“对对对，只要好好尽责。…不必为此烦恼。 —

… One must not worry oneself. Just so, just so. —
只需履行对上帝和邻里的责任，其他事就不用担心了。” —

… Only do your duty towards God and your neighbour, and then never mind what happens.”
“只有人不在乎的时候才会不费心思，” 我补充道。

“Eccellenza,” said Sobol solemnly, “just look at nature about us: —
“大人，” Sobol庄重地说道，“只需看看我们周围的自然： —

if you poke your nose or your ear out of your fur collar it will be frost- bitten; —
如果你把鼻子或耳朵从毛领里探出去，它们会被霜冻; —

stay in the fields for one hour, you’ll be buried in the snow; —
待在田野里一个小时，你会被雪埋起来; —

while the village is just the same as in the days of Rurik, the same Petchenyegs and Polovtsi. —
虽然村庄还和Rurik时代一样，出现了同样的Petchenyegs和Polovtsi。 —

It’s nothing but being burnt down, starving, and struggling against nature in every way. —
这里只有被烧毁，挨饿，以各种方式与大自然抗争。 —

What was I saying? Yes! If one thinks about it, you know, looks into it and analyses all this hotchpotch, if you will allow me to call it so, it’s not life but more like a fire in a theatre! —
我是说什么？是的！如果有人考虑这一切，深入了解并分析这些混乱不堪的事物，如果你允许我这样称呼它的话，这不是生活，而更像是剧场里的一团火！ —

Any one who falls down or screams with terror, or rushes about, is the worst enemy of good order; —
任何一个摔倒或惊恐尖叫、东奔西跑的人，都是好秩序的最坏敌人; —

one must stand up and look sharp, and not stir a hair! —
必须站起来，保持警惕，连一根头发也不要动! —

There’s no time for whimpering and busying oneself with trifles. —
没时间地牢骚和忙于琐事。 —

When you have to deal with elemental forces you must put out force against them, be firm and as unyielding as a stone. —
当你必须对抗自然力量时，你必须用力量对抗它们，坚定不移，如同石头一样坚硬。 —

Isn’t that right, grandfather?” He turned to Ivan Ivanitch and laughed. —
对吧，爷爷？” 他转向伊万·伊凡尼奇笑了笑。 —

“I am no better than a woman myself; I am a limp rag, a flabby creature, so I hate flabbiness. —
“我自己也不比女人强；我是一块瘫软的抹布，一个无力的生物，所以我讨厌软弱。 —

I can’t endure petty feelings! One mopes, another is frightened, a third will come straight in here and say: —
我无法忍受琐碎的感情！有人郁闷，有人害怕，有人会径直走进这里并说： —

‘Fie on you! Here you’ve guzzled a dozen courses and you talk about the starving! —
‘该死！你这里已经吃了十几道菜了，还说挨饿！ —

’ That’s petty and stupid! A fourth will reproach you, Eccellenza, for being rich. —
‘那是琐碎而愚蠢的！还有人会责备你，大人，因为你富有。 —

Excuse me, Eccellenza,” he went on in a loud voice, laying his hand on his heart, “but your having set our magistrate the task of hunting day and night for your thieves—excuse me, that’s also petty on your part. —
对不起，阁下，”他声音高亢地说道，手放在心口，“您让我们的法官日夜追捕您的贼，对您来说也太小气了。 —

I am a little drunk, so that’s why I say this now, but you know, it is petty!”
我有点醉了，所以现在才说这些，但您知道，这是小气！

“Who’s asking him to worry himself? I don’t understand!” I said, getting up.
“谁让他操心的？我不明白！”我站起身说。

I suddenly felt unbearably ashamed and mortified, and I walked round the table.
我突然感到难以忍受的羞愧和难堪，绕着桌子走了一圈。

“Who asks him to worry himself? I didn’t ask him to…. Damn him!”
“谁让他操心的？我没让他……可恶的家伙！”

“They have arrested three men and let them go again. —
“他们逮捕了三个人，然后放了他们。 —

They turned out not to be the right ones, and now they are looking for a fresh lot,” said Sobol, laughing. —
原来他们不是正确的，现在他们又在找新的，” Sobol笑着说。 —

“It’s too bad!”
“太糟糕了！”

“I did not ask him to worry himself,” said I, almost crying with excitement. —
“我没让他操心，”我几乎哭着兴奋地说。 —

“What’s it all for? What’s it all for? —
“这一切为了什么？这一切为了什么？ —

Well, supposing I was wrong, supposing I have done wrong, why do they try to put me more in the wrong?”
好吧，假设我错了，假设我做错了，为什么他们要试图让我错得更深？”

“Come, come, come, come!” said Sobol, trying to soothe me. “Come! —
“来吧，来吧，来吧，来吧！” Sobol努力安抚我。“来吧！ —

I have had a drop, that is why I said it. My tongue is my enemy. —
我稍微喝了点，所以我才说的。我的舌头是我的敌人。 —

Come,” he sighed, “we have eaten and drunk wine, and now for a nap.”
来吧，”他叹了口气，“我们吃过饭，喝过酒，现在该睡觉了。”

He got up from the table, kissed Ivan Ivanitch on the head, and staggering from repletion, went out of the dining-room. —
他从餐桌起身，亲吻了伊凡·伊万尼奇的头，因吃得过饱而踉跄着走出餐厅。 —

Ivan Ivanitch and I smoked in silence.
伊凡·伊凡尼奇和我默默吸着烟。

“I don’t sleep after dinner, my dear,” said Ivan Ivanitch, “but you have a rest in the lounge-room.”
“晚饭后我不睡觉，亲爱的，”伊凡·伊凡尼奇说，“但你可以在客厅休息。”

I agreed. In the half-dark and warmly heated room they called the lounge-room, there stood against the walls long, wide sofas, solid and heavy, the work of Butyga the cabinet maker; —
我同意了。在半昏暗而温暖的房间里，他们称之为客厅的地方，靠墙放着长长的宽宽的沙发，坚固而沉重，是橱柜匠布提加的作品； —

on them lay high, soft, white beds, probably made by the old woman in spectacles. —
上面摆着高高的、柔软的、白色的床，可能是老眼镜婆婆做的。 —

On one of them Sobol, without his coat and boots, already lay asleep with his face to the back of the sofa; —
索博尔已经脱掉外套和靴子，躺在一张沙发上睡着了，脸贴着沙发的背面； —

another bed was awaiting me. I took off my coat and boots, and, overcome by fatigue, by the spirit of Butyga which hovered over the quiet lounge-room, and by the light, caressing snore of Sobol, I lay down submissively.
另一张床在等待着我。我脱掉外套和靴子，被疲惫、布提加的精神、悄悄盘旋在静谧客厅上空的精神，以及索博尔轻柔的打呼声所压倒，顺从地躺下。

And at once I began dreaming of my wife, of her room, of the station- master with his face full of hatred, the heaps of snow, a fire in the theatre. —
立刻我开始梦见我的妻子，她的房间，带着仇恨的站长，堆积的雪，剧院里的火。 —

I dreamed of the peasants who had stolen twenty sacks of rye out of my barn.
我梦见偷了我仓库里二十袋大麦的农民。

“Anyway, it’s a good thing the magistrate let them go,” I said.
“不管怎样，地方法官放了他们，这是件好事，”我说。

I woke up at the sound of my own voice, looked for a moment in perplexity at Sobol’s broad back, at the buckles of his waistcoat, at his thick heels, then lay down again and fell asleep.
我被自己的声音惊醒，困惑地看了索博尔宽阔的背部、腰上的扣子、他的粗壮脚跟，然后再次躺下，入睡。

When I woke up the second time it was quite dark. Sobol was asleep. —
第二次醒来时已经很暗了。索博尔睡着了。 —

There was peace in my heart, and I longed to make haste home. —
我的心中平静，渴望赶快回家。 —

I dressed and went out of the lounge-room. —
我穿好衣服走出客厅。 —

Ivan Ivanitch was sitting in a big arm- chair in his study, absolutely motionless, staring at a fixed point, and it was evident that he had been in the same state of petrifaction all the while I had been asleep.
伊凡·伊凡尼奇坐在他书房里的一把大扶手椅上，绝对一动不动，凝视着一个固定的点，很明显，在我睡觉时他一直状态如此。

“Good!” I said, yawning. “I feel as though I had woken up after breaking the fast at Easter. —
“很好！”我打了个哈欠说，“感觉就好像复活节破晓后我醒来了。” —

I shall often come and see you now. Tell me, did my wife ever dine here?”
我以后会经常来看你。告诉我，我的妻子有没有在这里用过餐？

“So-ome-ti-mes… sometimes,”’ muttered Ivan Ivanitch, making an effort to stir. —
“有-有-时-候…有时候，”伊万·伊万尼奇挣扎着回答。 —

“She dined here last Saturday. Yes…. She likes me.”
“她上周六在这里用过餐。是的…她喜欢我。”

After a silence I said:
沉默片刻后，我说：

“Do you remember, Ivan Ivanitch, you told me I had a disagreeable character and that it was difficult to get on with me? —
“伊万·伊万尼奇，你还记得吗，你曾告诉我我性格令人讨厌，很难相处？ —

But what am I to do to make my character different?”
那我该怎么办才能改变我的性格呢？”

“I don’t know, my dear boy…. I’m a feeble old man, I can’t advise you. —
“我不知道，我亲爱的孩子…我是个虚弱的老人，无法给你建议。 —

… Yes…. But I said that to you at the time because I am fond of you and fond of your wife, and I was fond of your father. —
是的…不过那时我对你说这番话是因为我喜欢你，喜欢你的妻子，也喜欢你的父亲。 —

… Yes. I shall soon die, and what need have I to conceal things from you or to tell you lies? —
是的…我快要死了，我有什么必要对你隐瞒事情或者说谎呢？ —

So I tell you: I am very fond of you, but I don’t respect you. —
所以我告诉你：我很喜欢你，但我不尊重你。 —

No, I don’t respect you.”
不，我不尊重你。”

He turned towards me and said in a breathless whisper:
他转向我，用气急败坏的声音说：

“It’s impossible to respect you, my dear fellow. You look like a real man. —
“不可能尊重你，我亲爱的朋友。你看起来像个真正的男人。 —

You have the figure and deportment of the French President Carnot—I saw a portrait of him the other day in an illustrated paper. —
你有法国总统卡尔诺的身材和举止，前几天我在一本插图报纸上看到过他的画像。 —

.. yes…. You use lofty language, and you are clever, and you are high up in the service beyond all reach, but haven’t real soul, my dear boy. —
是的…你说话高深莫测，聪明过人，而且在职位上高居不可动摇，但你缺乏真正的灵魂，我亲爱的孩子。” —

.. there’s no strength in it.”
“这点儿事根本没用。”

“A Scythian, in fact,” I laughed. “But what about my wife? —
“实际上是斯基泰人，”我笑着说。“但是我的妻子呢？ —

Tell me something about my wife; you know her better.”
告诉我一些关于我的妻子的事情；你更了解她。”

I wanted to talk about my wife, but Sobol came in and prevented me.
我想谈谈我的妻子，但索博尔进来阻止了我。

“I’ve had a sleep and a wash,” he said, looking at me naively. —
“我睡了一觉，洗了个澡，”他天真地看着我说。 —

“I’ll have a cup of tea with some rum in it and go home.”
“我会喝一杯加了点朗姆酒的茶然后回家。”

VII
第七部分

It was by now past seven. Besides Ivan Ivanitch, women servants, the old dame in spectacles, the little girls and the peasant, all accompanied us from the hall out on to the steps, wishing us good-bye and all sorts of blessings, while near the horses in the darkness there were standing and moving about men with lanterns, telling our coachmen how and which way to drive, and wishing us a lucky journey. —
此时已经过了七点。除了伊凡·伊凡尼奇，还有女仆，戴眼镜的老太太，小姑娘和农民都从大厅陪我们走出阶梯，祝我们一路顺风，各种祝福， —

The horses, the men, and the sledges were white.
站在马车旁的人用灯笼告诉我们的车夫如何开车，祝我们一路顺风。

“Where do all these people come from?” I asked as my three horses and the doctor’s two moved at a walking pace out of the yard.
“所有这些人都是从哪儿来的？”当我的三匹马和医生的两匹马以慢步走出院子时，我问道。

“They are all his serfs,” said Sobol. “The new order has not reached him yet. —
“他们都是他的农奴，”索博尔说。“新秩序还没有到达他这里。 —

Some of the old servants are living out their lives with him, and then there are orphans of all sorts who have nowhere to go; —
一些老仆人正在他那里度过余生，然后还有各种孤儿，无处可去； —

there are some, too, who insist on living there, there’s no turning them out. —
还有一些人坚持在那里生活，没法赶走他们。 —

A queer old man!”
一个古怪的老人！”

Again the flying horses, the strange voice of drunken Nikanor, the wind and the persistent snow, which got into one’s eyes, one’s mouth, and every fold of one’s fur coat….
飞驰的马匹，喝醉的尼卡诺尔奇异的声音，风和顽固的雪，钻进眼睛，钻进嘴里，钻进皮大衣的每一折里….

“Well, I am running a rig,” I thought, while my bells chimed in with the doctor’s, the wind whistled, the coachmen shouted; —
“好吧，我在驾驶着一辆马车，”我想，当我的铃声与医生的铃声交织在一起，风呼啸着，车夫们喊叫着； —

and while this frantic uproar was going on, I recalled all the details of that strange wild day, unique in my life, and it seemed to me that I really had gone out of my mind or become a different man. —
而这场疯狂的喧嚣进行着时，我回忆起那个奇怪狂野的日子的所有细节，这在我生命中是独一无二的，似乎我真的已经失去理智或变成了另一个人。 —

It was as though the man I had been till that day were already a stranger to me.
仿佛直到那一天我曾经是的那个人已经变成了我陌生的人。

The doctor drove behind and kept talking loudly with his coachman. —
医生坐在后面，大声地和他的车夫交谈。 —

From time to time he overtook me, drove side by side, and always, with the same naive confidence that it was very pleasant to me, offered me a cigarette or asked for the matches. —
他不时地超过我，驶到我身边，总是用同样天真的信心，让我感到很愉快，给我一支香烟或者问我要火柴。 —

Or, overtaking me, he would lean right out of his sledge, and waving about the sleeves of his fur coat, which were at least twice as long as his arms, shout:
有时，他会驶到我前面，从雪橇上伸出身体，挥舞着至少比他的手臂长两倍的毛皮大衣的袖子，喊道：

“Go it, Vaska! Beat the thousand roublers! Hey, my kittens!”
“快点，瓦斯卡！赢下那一千卢布！嘿，我的小猫们！”

And to the accompaniment of loud, malicious laughter from Sobol and his Vaska the doctor’s kittens raced ahead. —
在医生的猫咪们发出的大声、恶毒的笑声的伴奏下，我们飞驰而过。 —

My Nikanor took it as an affront, and held in his three horses, but when the doctor’s bells had passed out of hearing, he raised his elbows, shouted, and our horses flew like mad in pursuit. —
我的尼卡努尔把这当做一种侮辱，停住了他的三匹马，但当医生的铃声渐行渐远时，他竖起手肘大声喊叫，我们的马像疯了一样追了上去。 —

We drove into a village, there were glimpses of lights, the silhouettes of huts. Some one shouted:
我们驶入了一个村庄，有灯光的闪烁，茅屋的轮廓。有人喊道：

“Ah, the devils!” We seemed to have galloped a mile and a half, and still it was the village street and there seemed no end to it. —
“啊，魔鬼！”我们似乎已经飞奔了一英里半，看到的仍然是村庄的街道，看不到尽头。 —

When we caught up the doctor and drove more quietly, he asked for matches and said:
当我们追上医生，驾驶得更加安静时，他要了火柴，说：

“Now try and feed that street! And, you know, there are five streets like that, sir. —
“现在试试爬这条街！你知道，先生，还有五条像这样的街。 —

Stay, stay,” he shouted. “Turn in at the tavern! —
等等，等等，”他喊道。“在客栈里转弯！ —

We must get warm and let the horses rest.”
我们必须取暖并让马休息。”

They stopped at the tavern.
他们停在了酒馆。

“I have more than one village like that in my district,” said the doctor, opening a heavy door with a squeaky block, and ushering me in front of him. —
“在我的地区，像那样的村庄不止一个，”医生说着，打开一个吱吱作响的沉重的门，让我先走进去。 —

“If you look in broad daylight you can’t see to the end of the street, and there are side-streets, too, and one can do nothing but scratch one’s head. —
“如果你在白天看，都看不到街道的尽头，还有小巷，一个指不定得挠头发。 —

It’s hard to do anything.”
很难做什么。”

We went into the best room where there was a strong smell of table- cloths, and at our entrance a sleepy peasant in a waistcoat and a shirt worn outside his trousers jumped up from a bench. —
我们走进了最好的房间，房间里有一股强烈的桌布气味，正当我们进去的时候，一个穿着褂子，衬衫外穿在裤子外的睡眼惺忪的农民从长凳上跳起来。 —

Sobol asked for some beer and I asked for tea.
索博尔要了一些啤酒，我要了茶。

“It’s hard to do anything,” said Sobol. “Your wife has faith; —
“很难做什么，”索博尔说。“你妻子有信仰； —

I respect her and have the greatest reverence for her, but I have no great faith myself. —
我尊重她，对她怀有最大的敬意，但我自己并没有很大的信仰。 —

As long as our relations to the people continue to have the character of ordinary philanthropy, as shown in orphan asylums and almshouses, so long we shall only be shuffling, shamming, and deceiving ourselves, and nothing more. —
只要我们与人民的关系还保持着普通的慈善性质，如孤儿院和救济院所示，我们只会欺骗和自欺欺人，仅此而已。 —

Our relations ought to be businesslike, founded on calculation, knowledge, and justice. —
我们的关系应该是像做生意一样，建立在计算、知识和正义的基础上。 —

My Vaska has been working for me all his life; his crops have failed, he is sick and starving. —
我的瓦斯卡一辈子都为我工作过；他的庄稼绝收了，他生病了，快要挨饿了。 —

If I give him fifteen kopecks a day, by so doing I try to restore him to his former condition as a workman; —
如果我每天给他十五戈比，那么我这样做是想让他恢复到一名工人的以前状态； —

that is, I am first and foremost looking after my own interests, and yet for some reason I call that fifteen kopecks relief, charity, good works. —
也就是说，我首先是在关心和维护自己的利益，但出于某种原因，我却称那十五戈比为援助、慈善、善行。 —

Now let us put it like this. On the most modest computation, reckoning seven kopecks a soul and five souls a family, one needs three hundred and fifty roubles a day to feed a thousand families. —
现在让我们这样计算。以最谨慎的估算，以每人七戈比，每家五口计算，饲养一千户家庭需要一天三百五十卢布。 —

That sum is fixed by our practical duty to a thousand families. —
这个数字是我们对一千个家庭的实际责任的基础。 —

Meanwhile we give not three hundred and fifty a day, but only ten, and say that that is relief, charity, that that makes your wife and all of us exceptionally good people and hurrah for our humaneness. —
与此同时，我们不是每天给350人，而只是十个人，然后说这就是救济，慈善，说这样一来你的妻子和我们所有人都特别善良，为我们的人道主义欢呼。 —

That is it, my dear soul! Ah! if we would talk less of being humane and calculated more, reasoned, and took a conscientious attitude to our duties! —
这就是，我亲爱的灵魂！啊！如果我们能少说一些关于人道主义，更多地考虑，理性地思考，并对我们的责任采取认真的态度！ —

How many such humane, sensitive people there are among us who tear about in all good faith with subscription lists, but don’t pay their tailors or their cooks. —
我们中有多少这样的人道主义者，敏感的人，他们怀着良好的信念在四处奔走，带着捐款清单，但却不付给裁缝或厨师。 —

There is no logic in our life; that’s what it is! No logic!”
我们的生活中缺乏逻辑；就是这样！毫无逻辑可言！

We were silent for a while. I was making a mental calculation and said:
我们沉默了一会儿。我在脑海中做了一个计算，然后说：

“I will feed a thousand families for two hundred days. —
“我会给一千个家庭提供两百天的食物。” —

Come and see me tomorrow to talk it over.”
明天来找我，我们再谈谈。”

I was pleased that this was said quite simply, and was glad that Sobol answered me still more simply:
我很高兴这样简单地说出来，也很高兴索博尔更加简单地回答我：

“Right.”
“好。”

We paid for what we had and went out of the tavern.
我们付了账走出了酒馆。

“I like going on like this,” said Sobol, getting into the sledge. —
“我喜欢这样继续下去，”索博尔上了雪橇说。 —

“Eccellenza, oblige me with a match. I’ve forgotten mine in the tavern.”
“殿下，给我一根火柴。我在酒馆里忘了我的。”

A quarter of an hour later his horses fell behind, and the sound of his bells was lost in the roar of the snow-storm. —
一刻钟后，他的马拉落后了，铃铛声消失在暴风雪的呼啸声中。 —

Reaching home, I walked about my rooms, trying to think things over and to define my position clearly to myself; —
回到家，我在房间里走来走去，试图思考让我自己清晰地定义我的立场； —

I had not one word, one phrase, ready for my wife. My brain was not working.
我对我妻子一个字、一个短语也没有准备好。我的大脑不灵光。

But without thinking of anything, I went downstairs to my wife. —
不过没有想什么，我走下楼去找我的妻子。 —

She was in her room, in the same pink dressing-gown, and standing in the same attitude as though screening her papers from me. —
她在她的房间，穿着同样的粉色睡袍，摆出同样的姿势，像是在挡着她的文件不让我看见。 —

On her face was an expression of perplexity and irony, and it was evident that having heard of my arrival, she had prepared herself not to cry, not to entreat me, not to defend herself, as she had done the day before, but to laugh at me, to answer me contemptuously, and to act with decision. —
她脸上带着一丝困惑和讽刺的表情，显然是听说我回来了，已经准备好不哭泣，不恳求我，不为自己辩护，就像前一天那样，而是要嘲笑我，轻蔑地回答我，并且果断地行动。 —

Her face was saying: “If that’s how it is, good-bye.”
她的脸上写着：“既然如此，再见。”

“Natalie, I’ve not gone away,” I said, “but it’s not deception. —
“娜塔莉，我没有离开，”我说，“但这并不是欺骗。 —

I have gone out of my mind; I’ve grown old, I’m ill, I’ve become a different man—think as you like. —
我疯了，我变老了，我病了，我变成了另一个人–你随意想吧。 —

… I’ve shaken off my old self with horror, with horror; —
…我把旧的自己恐惧地甩掉了，用恐惧; —

I despise him and am ashamed of him, and the new man who has been in me since yesterday will not let me go away. —
我鄙视他，为他感到羞耻，而昨天起就潜在我内心的新人不放我离去。 —

Do not drive me away, Natalie!”
不要把我赶走，娜塔莉！”

She looked intently into my face and believed me, and there was a gleam of uneasiness in her eyes. —
她凝视着我的脸，相信了我，她的眼里带着一丝不安。 —

Enchanted by her presence, warmed by the warmth of her room, I muttered as in delirium, holding out my hands to her:
在她的存在下陶醉，被她房间里的温暖感动，我嘟囔着，伸出双手向她:

“I tell you, I have no one near to me but you. —
“我告诉你，除了你以外，我旁边没有任何人。 —

I have never for one minute ceased to miss you, and only obstinate vanity prevented me from owning it. —
我从未停止想念你，只是固执的虚荣阻止我承认。 —

The past, when we lived as husband and wife, cannot be brought back, and there’s no need; —
我们作为夫妻生活的过去不可能重现，也没必要; —

but make me your servant, take all my property, and give it away to any one you like. —
但请让我成为你的仆人，拿走我所有的财产，把它送给任何你喜欢的人。 —

I am at peace, Natalie, I am content…. I am at peace.”
我平静，娜塔莉，我满足……我平静。

My wife, looking intently and with curiosity into my face, suddenly uttered a faint cry, burst into tears, and ran into the next room. —
我的妻子专注地凝视着我的脸，突然发出微弱的叫声，哭了起来，跑进隔壁房间。 —

I went upstairs to my own storey.
我上楼到了自己的那层。

An hour later I was sitting at my table, writing my “History of Railways,” and the starving peasants did not now hinder me from doing so. —
一个小时后，我坐在桌前写着我的“铁路史”，而那些挨饿的农民现在已经不再妨碍我了。 —

Now I feel no uneasiness. Neither the scenes of disorder which I saw when I went the round of the huts at Pestrovo with my wife and Sobol the other day, nor malignant rumours, nor the mistakes of the people around me, nor old age close upon me—nothing disturbs me. —
现在我感到毫不不安，不管是我和妻子以及索博尔前几天去彼斯特罗沃小屋周围巡视时看到的混乱场面，还是恶毒的谣言，还是身边人的错误，还是逐渐逼近我的老年 —— 一切都不再困扰我。 —

Just as the flying bullets do not hinder soldiers from talking of their own affairs, eating and cleaning their boots, so the starving peasants do not hinder me from sleeping quietly and looking after my personal affairs. —
就像飞来的子弹并不妨碍士兵们谈论自己的生活，进食和擦洗靴子一样，那些挨饿的农民也并不妨碍我安静入睡和照顾个人事务。 —

In my house and far around it there is in full swing the work which Dr. Sobol calls “an orgy of philanthropy. —
在我家里和周围，正处于索博尔博士所说的“慈善狂欢”的工作中。 —

” My wife often comes up to me and looks about my rooms uneasily, as though looking for what more she can give to the starving peasants “to justify her existence,” and I see that, thanks to her, there will soon be nothing of our property left and we shall be poor; —
我妻子经常走到我身边，不安地看着我的房间，仿佛在寻找她可以给那些挨饿的农民的更多东西，“为了证明她的存在”，我看到，多亏了她，我们的财产很快就会被耗尽，我们会变得贫穷； —

but that does not trouble me, and I smile at her gaily. —
但那不困扰我，我开心地朝她微笑。 —

What will happen in the future I don’t know.
将来会发生什么，我不知道。