AN exceedingly lean little peasant, in a striped hempen shirt and patched drawers, stands facing the investigating magistrate. —
一个非常瘦小的农民，穿着一件带条纹的麻布衬衣和修补过的裤子，站在审讯法官面前。 —

His face overgrown with hair and pitted with smallpox, and his eyes scarcely visible under thick, overhanging eyebrows have an expression of sullen moroseness. —
他满脸长满了胡须和小痘痘，眼睛几乎被浓密的眉毛遮挡，带着一种阴郁的脾气。 —

On his head there is a perfect mop of tangled, unkempt hair, which gives him an even more spider-like air of moroseness. He is barefooted.
他的头上一团纠缠不清、凌乱的头发，使他看起来更像一只蜘蛛，更加阴沉。他赤脚而立。

“Denis Grigoryev!” the magistrate begins. “Come nearer, and answer my questions. —
“丹尼斯·格里戈里耶夫！”法官开始说。“靠近点，回答我的问题。 —

On the seventh of this July the railway watchman, Ivan Semyonovitch Akinfov, going along the line in the morning, found you at the hundred-and-forty-first mile engaged in unscrewing a nut by which the rails are made fast to the sleepers. —
七月七号，铁路看守伊万·谢苗诺维奇·阿金福夫在早上沿线巡视时，在第一百四十一英里处发现你正在拧松一颗将轨道固定在枕木上的螺母。 —

Here it is, the nut!… With the aforesaid nut he detained you. Was that so?”
就是这个螺母！…有了这个螺母，他扣留了你。是这样吧？”

“Wha-at?”
“什么？”

“Was this all as Akinfov states?”
“事情是不是就如阿金福夫所说的那样？”

“To be sure, it was.”
“当然，就是这样。”

“Very good; well, what were you unscrewing the nut for?”
“非常好，那么，你拧松螺母是为了什么？”

“Wha-at?”
“什么？”

“Drop that ‘wha-at’ and answer the question; what were you unscrewing the nut for?”
“别说‘什么’，回答问题；你拧松螺母是为了什么？”

“If I hadn’t wanted it I shouldn’t have unscrewed it,” croaks Denis, looking at the ceiling.
“如果我不想要它，我就不会拧松它。”丹尼斯低声说着，看着天花板。

“What did you want that nut for?”
“你想拧松那个螺母干什么？”

“The nut? We make weights out of those nuts for our lines.”
“这个螺母？我们用那些螺母来做我们的铁皮。”

“Who is ‘we’?”
“‘我们’是指谁？”

“We, people…. The Klimovo peasants, that is.”
“我们，人们…… 克利莫沃的农民们，就是。”

“Listen, my man; don’t play the idiot to me, but speak sensibly. —
“听着，朋友；别跟我耍傻，说点明白的。” —

It’s no use telling lies here about weights!”
“在这里说重量的事是没用的！”

“I’ve never been a liar from a child, and now I’m telling lies…” mutters Denis, blinking. —
“我从小就不是个说谎者，现在我在撒谎……” 丹尼斯眨眼说。 —

“But can you do without a weight, your honour? —
“但是您能不用重物吗，阁下？ —

If you put live bait or maggots on a hook, would it go to the bottom without a weight?. —
如果你在鱼钩上放活饵或蛆，它会沉到水底吗？ —

.. I am telling lies,” grins Denis…. “What the devil is the use of the worm if it swims on the surface! —
“我在说谎，”丹尼斯咧嘴笑道。 “这蠕虫要是在水面游泳有何用处！ —

The perch and the pike and the eel-pout always go to the bottom, and a bait on the surface is only taken by a shillisper, not very often then, and there are no shillispers in our river. —
鲈鱼、梭子鱼和鳝鱼总是游到水底，水面上的鱼饵只有鱼虫才会吃，而且不经常，我们河里也没有鱼虫。 —

… That fish likes plenty of room.”
“……那种鱼喜欢有足够的空间。”

“Why are you telling me about shillispers?”
“你为什么告诉我鱼虫的事？”

“Wha-at? Why, you asked me yourself! The gentry catch fish that way too in our parts. —
“什么？为什么，你自己问的！绅士们也在我们这里那样钓鱼。 —

The silliest little boy would not try to catch a fish without a weight. —
“再傻的小孩也不会不用重物来钓鱼。 —

Of course anyone who did not understand might go to fish without a weight. —
“当然，不明白的人可能会去钓鱼而不用重物。 —

There is no rule for a fool.”
“蠢人没法律可言。”

“So you say you unscrewed this nut to make a weight for your fishing line out of it?”
“所以你说你拧下这个螺母用来做钓鱼线的重物？”

“What else for? It wasn’t to play knuckle-bones with!”
“还能有什么用呢？又不是用来玩杀手棋！”

“But you might have taken lead, a bullet… a nail of some sort….”
“但你本可以拿铅、子弹…或者一根钉子什么的…”

“You don’t pick up lead in the road, you have to buy it, and a nail’s no good. —
“在路上是找不到铅的，得买的，而钉子不好用。 —

You can’t find anything better than a nut. —
没什么比螺母更好了。 —

… It’s heavy, and there’s a hole in it.”
“…它既沉，又有一个洞。”

“He keeps pretending to be a fool! as though he’d been born yesterday or dropped from heaven! —
“他还装傻充愣的！好像刚出生似的还是从天上掉下来的！ —

Don’t you understand, you blockhead, what unscrewing these nuts leads to? —
“你这个木头，难道不明白拧下这些螺母会导致什么后果吗？ —

If the watchman had not noticed it the train might have run off the rails, people would have been killed—you would have killed people.”
“如果那个警卫没发现，火车可能就会脱轨，人们会丧命—你会害死人。”

“God forbid, your honour! What should I kill them for? Are we heathens or wicked people? —
“天垂怜！大人，请问我为什么要伤人？我们是异教徒还是坏人？ —

Thank God, good gentlemen, we have lived all our lives without ever dreaming of such a thing. —
“感谢上帝，善良的绅士们，我们一生中从未想过这种事。 —

… Save, and have mercy on us, Queen of Heaven!. —
“求你拯救，天堂之后！ —

.. What are you saying?”
“你在说什么？”

“And what do you suppose railway accidents do come from? —
“你以为铁路事故是怎么引起的？ —

Unscrew two or three nuts and you have an accident.”
“拧下两三个螺母就会出事故。”

Denis grins, and screws up his eye at the magistrate incredulously.
丹尼斯露出狡黠的微笑，对着法官瞪大眼睛。

“Why! how many years have we all in the village been unscrewing nuts, and the Lord has been merciful; —
“咦！我们村里多少年来都在 unscrew nuts，上帝一直很仁慈； —

and you talk of accidents, killing people. —
你们竟然谈论意外，杀人。 —

If I had carried away a rail or put a log across the line, say, then maybe it might have upset the train, but… pouf! a nut!”
如果我带走了一根轨道或是在铁路上横放一根木头，那么也许会让火车出轨，但是… 噗！一颗螺母！”

“But you must understand that the nut holds the rail fast to the sleepers!”
“但你必须了解螺母将轨道固定在枕木上！”

“We understand that…. We don’t unscrew them all… we leave some. —
“我们明白… 我们并没有全部拧开…我们留了一些。 —

… We don’t do it thoughtlessly… we understand….”
…我们并不是毫无谨慎地行事…我们了解…”

Denis yawns and makes the sign of the cross over his mouth.
丹尼斯打了个哈欠，在嘴巴上划了一个十字。

“Last year the train went off the rails here,” says the magistrate. “Now I see why!”
“去年火车在这里脱轨过，”法官说。“现在我明白为什么了！”

“What do you say, your honour?”
“你是说，阁下？”

“I am telling you that now I see why the train went off the rails last year…. I understand!”
“我告诉你，现在我知道为什么去年火车在这里脱轨了…我明白了！”

“That’s what you are educated people for, to understand, you kind gentlemen. —
“这就是你们这些受过教育的人，会理解的原因，亲爱的绅士们。 —

The Lord knows to whom to give understanding. —
上帝知道该给谁理解。 —

… Here you have reasoned how and what, but the watchman, a peasant like ourselves, with no understanding at all, catches one by the collar and hauls one along. —
…你们怎么会做的头头是道，但看守员，就像我们一样是个农民，一点也不明白，就抓住一个人的领子拖走。 —

… You should reason first and then haul me off. —
… 你们应该先理智思考，再来抓我。” —

It’s a saying that a peasant has a peasant’s wit. —
有句谚语说，农民就有农民的聪明。 —

… Write down, too, your honour, that he hit me twice—in the jaw and in the chest.”
写下来，你的尊贵，他打了我两次——分别是下巴和胸部。”

“When your hut was searched they found another nut. —
“你的小屋被搜查时，还找到了另一个螺母。 —

… At what spot did you unscrew that, and when?”
在哪个地方你拧下的，还有是什么时候?”

“You mean the nut which lay under the red box?”
“你是说那个螺母，就在红盒子下面吗?”

“I don’t know where it was lying, only it was found. When did you unscrew it?”
“我不知道它在哪里，只是它被找到了。你什么时候拧下它的?”

“I didn’t unscrew it; Ignashka, the son of one-eyed Semyon, gave it me. —
“我没拧下它; 是一眼塞缪斯的儿子伊格纳什卡给我的。 —

I mean the one which was under the box, but the one which was in the sledge in the yard Mitrofan and I unscrewed together.”
我是说在那个盒子下面的那个，而在车厢里的那个是米特罗凡和我一起拧下的。”

“What Mitrofan?”
“米特罗凡是谁?”

“Mitrofan Petrov…. Haven’t you heard of him? —
“米特罗凡·彼得罗…. 你没听说过他吗? —

He makes nets in our village and sells them to the gentry. —
他在我们村里编渔网，并卖给绅士们。 —

He needs a lot of those nuts. Reckon a matter of ten for each net.”
他需要大量这些螺母。大约每张渔网需要十个。”

“Listen. Article 1081 of the Penal Code lays down that every wilful damage of the railway line committed when it can expose the traffic on that line to danger, and the guilty party knows that an accident must be caused by it. —
“听着。刑法1081条规定，每当铁路线遭受故意损坏，而且可能对该线路的交通造成危险，并且犯罪者知道这可能会导致事故。 —

.. (Do you understand? Knows! And you could not help knowing what this unscrewing would lead to. —
..（你明白吗？知道! 你不可能没意识到这个拧下会导致什么后果。 —

..) is liable to penal servitude.”
..）是需要接受苦役的。”

“Of course, you know best…. We are ignorant people…. What do we understand?”
“当然，你最懂….我们是无知的人….我们懂什么？”

“You understand all about it! You are lying, shamming!”
“你全都懂！你在说谎，装腔作势！”

“What should I lie for? Ask in the village if you don’t believe me. —
“我干嘛要撒谎？不信可以去村里问问。” —

Only a bleak is caught without a weight, and there is no fish worse than a gudgeon, yet even that won’t bite without a weight.”
只有无铅子的钓鱼竿才能抓住乌鲁鱼，再也找不到比搀鱼更差的鱼了，即使那样也不会再也不在没有下沉物的情况下咬钩。”

“You’d better tell me about the shillisper next,” said the magistrate, smiling.
“你最好接着告诉我什么是shillisper，”法官笑着说。

“There are no shillispers in our parts. —
“我们这里没有shillisper。” —

… We cast our line without a weight on the top of the water with a butterfly; —
…我们把装有蝴蝶的无铅子鱼钩抛到水面上； —

a mullet may be caught that way, though that is not often.”
也许会有人用这种方式钓到鲻鱼，尽管这种情况并不常见。”

“Come, hold your tongue.”
“好了，闭嘴吧。”

A silence follows. Denis shifts from one foot to the other, looks at the table with the green cloth on it, and blinks his eyes violently as though what was before him was not the cloth but the sun. —
一阵沉默接着来临。Denis不停地在两脚间踱步，瞥着桌上覆着绿布的桌布，眼睛猛地眨了起来，似乎眼前的是太阳而非桌布。 —

The magistrate writes rapidly.
法官迅速写着。

“Can I go?” asks Denis after a long silence.
“我可以走了吗？”长时间的沉默后，Denis问。

“No. I must take you under guard and send you to prison.”
“不行。我得带你去监狱。”

Denis leaves off blinking and, raising his thick eyebrows, looks inquiringly at the magistrate.
Denis停止了眨眼动作，挑起浓密的眉毛，疑惑地看着法官。

“How do you mean, to prison? Your honour! —
“你什么意思，去监狱？阁下！ —

I have no time to spare, I must go to the fair; —
我没有时间浪费，我必须去集市； —

I must get three roubles from Yegor for some tallow!…”
我必须向叶戈尔拿三卢布买些牛脂！

“Hold your tongue; don’t interrupt.”
“闭嘴；不要打断。”

“To prison…. If there was something to go for, I’d go; but just to go for nothing! What for? —
“去监狱… 如果有事情可做，我会去；但白白去做什么呢？” —

I haven’t stolen anything, I believe, and I’ve not been fighting. —
我想我没有偷过什么，也没有打过架。 —

… If you are in doubt about the arrears, your honour, don’t believe the elder. —
…如果您对欠款有疑问，您尊贵的，不要相信那个长老。 —

… You ask the agent… he’s a regular heathen, the elder, you know.”
…您去问那位经纪人… 他是个彻头彻尾的异教徒，您知道长老的意思。

“Hold your tongue.”
“闭嘴。”

“I am holding my tongue, as it is,” mutters Denis; —
“我已经闭着嘴了，”丹尼斯嘀咕道； —

“but that the elder has lied over the account, I’ll take my oath for it. —
“但大哥在账目上撒了谎，我可以发誓。 —

… There are three of us brothers: Kuzma Grigoryev, then Yegor Grigoryev, and me, Denis Grigoryev.”
…我们三兄弟：库兹马·格里戈里耶夫，叶戈尔·格里戈里耶夫，还有我，丹尼斯·格里戈里耶夫。”

“You are hindering me…. Hey, Semyon,” cries the magistrate, “take him away!”
“你在阻碍我……嘿，谢缅恩，”法官喊道，“把他带走！”

“There are three of us brothers,” mutters Denis, as two stalwart soldiers take him and lead him out of the room. —
“我们三兄弟，”丹尼斯嘀咕着，两名魁梧的士兵把他带出了房间。 —

“A brother is not responsible for a brother. —
“兄弟不需要为兄弟负责。 —

Kuzma does not pay, so you, Denis, must answer for it…. Judges indeed! —
庫茨馬不付款，所以你，丹尼斯，必须为此负责…法官们啊！ —

Our master the general is dead—the Kingdom of Heaven be his—or he would have shown you judges. —
我们的主人将军已经去世了，愿天堂赐福给他，否则他会向你们展示法官们。 —

… You ought to judge sensibly, not at random. —
…你们应该理智地判案，而不是随意。 —

… Flog if you like, but flog someone who deserves it, flog with conscience.”
…若需鞭刑，就来得其所者，要带着良知来鞭打。