A SULTRY, stifling midday. Not a cloudlet in the sky. —
一个悶熱而讓人窒息的中午。天空中没有一朵雲。 —

… The sun-baked grass had a disconsolate, hopeless look: —
…被太陽烤焦的草地帶有一種沮喪、絕望的樣子： —

even if there were rain it could never be green again. —
就算下雨 ，也永遠不可能再變得翠綠。 —

… The forest stood silent, motionless, as though it were looking at something with its tree-tops or expecting something.
… 森林靜靜地、一動不動，仿佛在用樹梢看著什麼，或者在期待著什麼。

At the edge of the clearing a tall, narrow-shouldered man of forty in a red shirt, in patched trousers that had been a gentleman’s, and in high boots, was slouching along with a lazy, shambling step. —
在空地的邊緣，一個穿著紅色襯衫、穿著曾經是紳士裤子的修補過的四十歲左右的瘦高男子，穿著高筒靴，懶散地蹣跚行走。 —

He was sauntering along the road. On the right was the green of the clearing, on the left a golden sea of ripe rye stretched to the very horizon. —
他在道路上漫步。右邊是空地的綠色，左邊是一片金黃色的成熟大麥海一直延伸到地平線。 —

He was red and perspiring, a white cap with a straight jockey peak, evidently a gift from some open-handed young gentleman, perched jauntily on his handsome flaxen head. —
他滿臉通紅地流著汗，一頂白色遮陽帽戴在他英俊的金色頭上，顯然是某位慷慨的年輕紳士送的。 —

Across his shoulder hung a game-bag with a blackcock lying in it. —
橫掛在他肩膀上的是一只裝著一只黑琵鳥的獵袋。 —

The man held a double-barrelled gun cocked in his hand, and screwed up his eyes in the direction of his lean old dog who was running on ahead sniffing the bushes. —
他手中握著一支上了彈的雙管獵槍，瞇著眼睛看著前方奔跑著聞著灌木叢的瘦狗。 —

There was stillness all round, not a sound. —
四周一片寂靜，沒有任何聲音。 —

.. everything living was hiding away from the heat.
… 所有的生物都躲避著炎熱。

“Yegor Vlassitch!” the huntsman suddenly heard a soft voice.
“叶戈尔·弗拉西奇！”猎人突然听到一個柔和的聲音。

He started and, looking round, scowled. Beside him, as though she had sprung out of the earth, stood a pale-faced woman of thirty with a sickle in her hand. —
他嚇了一跳，回頭看時皺起了眉頭。就在他身旁，彷彿是從地裡冒出來的，站著一個拿著鐮刀的蒼白面容的三十歲女人。 —

She was trying to look into his face, and was smiling diffidently.
她試著看著他的臉，並矜持地微笑著。

“Oh, it is you, Pelagea!” said the huntsman, stopping and deliberately uncocking the gun. —
“哦，是你，佩拉格亚！”獵人說，停下腳步，故意拿下了槍桿上的扳機。 —

“H’m!… How have you come here?”
“嗯！… 你是怎么到这里来的？”

“The women from our village are working here, so I have come with them. —
“我们村庄的妇女在这里工作，所以我跟她们一起来了。” —

… As a labourer, Yegor Vlassitch.”
“…作为一个劳动者，叶戈·弗拉西奇。”

“Oh…” growled Yegor Vlassitch, and slowly walked on.
“哦…” 叶戈·弗拉西奇咆哮一声，然后慢慢走开。

Pelagea followed him. They walked in silence for twenty paces.
佩拉盖亚跟着他走。他们保持沉默，走了二十步。

“I have not seen you for a long time, Yegor Vlassitch. —
“很久没见到你了，叶戈·弗拉西奇。” —

..” said Pelagea looking tenderly at the huntsman’s moving shoulders. —
“…” 佩拉盖亚温柔地看着猎人的动态肩膀说。 —

“I have not seen you since you came into our hut at Easter for a drink of water. —
“我自从你复活节来我们小屋喝水后就没见到过你。 —

.. you came in at Easter for a minute and then God knows how… drunk. —
“… 你复活节来了一会儿，然后神知道… 喝醉了。 —

.. you scolded and beat me and went away… I have been waiting and waiting. —
“… 你责骂、打我又走了… 我一直在等待。 —

.. I’ve tired my eyes out looking for you. —
“… 我盼着盼着都要把眼睛瞎了找你。 —

Ah, Yegor Vlassitch, Yegor Vlassitch! you might look in just once!”
“啊，叶戈·弗拉西奇，叶戈·弗拉西奇！你可以看看啊！”

“What is there for me to do there?”
“那里有什么事情让我去做？”

“Of course there is nothing for you to do… though to be sure. —
“当然那里没有你需要做的事情… 尽管确实有那地方要照看… 看看事情进行得怎么样… 你是主人。” —

.. there is the place to look after…. To see how things are going…. You are the master. —
“到那里看看怎么样吧。” —

… I say, you have shot a blackcock, Yegor Vlassitch! —
我说，叶戈尔·弗拉西奇，你射杀了一只黑琵鸟！ —

You ought to sit down and rest!”
你应该坐下来休息！

As she said all this Pelagea laughed like a silly girl and looked up at Yegor’s face. —
当佩拉格雅说完这些话时，像个愚蠢的姑娘一样笑了起来，抬头看着叶戈尔的脸。 —

Her face was simply radiant with happiness.
她的脸上充满了幸福的光芒。

“Sit down? If you like…” said Yegor in a tone of indifference, and he chose a spot between two fir-trees. —
“坐下吗？如果你愿意的话…” 叶戈尔漠不关心地说着，选择了两棵冷杉之间的一个地方坐下。 —

“Why are you standing? You sit down too.”
“为什么还站着？你也坐下吧。”

Pelagea sat a little way off in the sun and, ashamed of her joy, put her hand over her smiling mouth. —
佩拉格雅在阳光下坐得离他稍远，羞于掩盖自己的喜悦，用手掩住笑脸。 —

Two minutes passed in silence.
沉默中度过了两分钟。

“You might come for once,” said Pelagea.
“你可以来一次吧，” 佩拉格雅说道。

“What for?” sighed Yegor, taking off his cap and wiping his red forehead with his hand. —
“干嘛？” 叹息着的叶戈尔拿下帽子，用手擦拭着发红的额头。 —

“There is no object in my coming. To go for an hour or two is only waste of time, it’s simply upsetting you, and to live continually in the village my soul could not endure. —
“我过来没什么目的。一两个小时的行程只是浪费时间，简直是让你心烦意乱，而且在村里住着我的灵魂无法承受。 —

… You know yourself I am a pampered man. —
… 你自己也知道，我是个被宠坏的人。 —

… I want a bed to sleep in, good tea to drink, and refined conversation. —
… 我想要一张床来睡觉，喝上好茶，有高雅的谈话。 —

… I want all the niceties, while you live in poverty and dirt in the village. —
… 我想要所有的品味，而你在村子里生活在贫困和肮脏之中。 —

… I couldn’t stand it for a day. Suppose there were an edict that I must live with you, I should either set fire to the hut or lay hands on myself. —
… 我无法忍受一天。假设有一道法令规定我必须和你一起生活，我要么放火烧了小屋，要么自杀。” —

From a boy I’ve had this love for ease; —
从小我就对舒适享有过爱情； —

there is no help for it.”
对此也无法改变。”

“Where are you living now?”
“你现在住在哪里？”

“With the gentleman here, Dmitry Ivanitch, as a huntsman. —
“和这位绅士一起，迪米特里·伊万尼奇，作为一个猎人。 —

I furnish his table with game, but he keeps me. —
我给他供应猎物，但他留着我。 —

.. more for his pleasure than anything.”
..更多是为了他的快乐而不是其他什么。”

“That’s not proper work you’re doing, Yegor Vlassitch. —
“叶戈尔·弗拉西奇，你所做的不是正经活计。 —

… For other people it’s a pastime, but with you it’s like a trade. —
..对别人来说是娱乐，但对你来说像是一门手艺。 —

.. like real work.”
..像是真正的工作。”

“You don’t understand, you silly,” said Yegor, gazing gloomily at the sky. —
“你太傻了，你不明白，” 叶戈尔沮丧地望着天空说。 —

“You have never understood, and as long as you live you will never understand what sort of man I am. —
“你从来没有明白过，你一生都不会明白我是什么样的人。 —

… You think of me as a foolish man, gone to the bad, but to anyone who understands I am the best shot there is in the whole district. —
..你认为我是一个愚蠢的人，走上了不归路，但对于任何了解我的人来说，我是整个地区最好的射手。 —

The gentry feel that, and they have even printed things about me in a magazine. —
绅士们都感觉到了，他们甚至在一本杂志上刊登了有关我的事。 —

There isn’t a man to be compared with me as a sportsman. —
在这个地区，无人能与我相比作为一个运动员。 —

… And it is not because I am pampered and proud that I look down upon your village work. —
..这不是因为我娇纵和骄傲才看不起你们村里的工作。” —

From my childhood, you know, I have never had any calling apart from guns and dogs. —
从我小时候开始，你知道，我除了枪和狗，从来没有其他爱好。 —

If they took away my gun, I used to go out with the fishing-hook, if they took the hook I caught things with my hands. —
如果他们拿走了我的枪，我就会用钓鱼钩出去，如果他们拿走了钩子，我就用手捕捉。 —

And I went in for horse-dealing too, I used to go to the fairs when I had the money, and you know that if a peasant goes in for being a sportsman, or a horse-dealer, it’s good-bye to the plough. —
我还从事过买卖马，有钱时我会去集市，你知道，如果一个农民从事体育运动或买卖马，他就再也不会回到犁头了。 —

Once the spirit of freedom has taken a man you will never root it out of him. —
一旦自由的精神占据了一个人，你永远无法将其根除。 —

In the same way, if a gentleman goes in for being an actor or for any other art, he will never make an official or a landowner. —
同样，如果绅士从事演员或其他艺术，他永远也不会成为官员或地主。 —

You are a woman, and you do not understand, but one must understand that.”
你是一个女人，你不理解，但必须要明白这一点。

“I understand, Yegor Vlassitch.”
“我理解，叶戈尔·弗拉西奇。”

“You don’t understand if you are going to cry….”
“如果你要哭的话，那就说明你不理解。”

“I… I’m not crying,” said Pelagea, turning away. “It’s a sin, Yegor Vlassitch! —
“我…我没有哭，”佩拉格亚转过脸说。“叶戈尔·弗拉西奇，这是一种罪恶！ —

You might stay a day with luckless me, anyway. It’s twelve years since I was married to you, and. —
你至少可以和我这个倒霉的人呆上一天。结婚已经十二年了，我们之间从来没有爱情！ —

.. and… there has never once been love between us! —
…我…我没有哭。” —

… I… I am not crying.”
“爱情…”叶戈尔咕哝着，挠了挠头。“我们只是名义上的夫妻；实际上并不是真的。

“Love…” muttered Yegor, scratching his hand. “There can’t be any love. —
在你看来，我是一个野人，而在我的眼中，你只是一个简单的农家妇女，毫无理解。 —

It’s only in name we are husband and wife; we aren’t really. —
在我们之间不存在爱情。 —

In your eyes I am a wild man, and in mine you are a simple peasant woman with no understanding. —
在我们之间爱是虚置的；我们并不真正地是夫妻。 —

Are we well matched? I am a free, pampered, profligate man, while you are a working woman, going in bark shoes and never straightening your back. —
我们是否相配？我是一个自由、被宠坏的、挥霍无度的男人，而你是一个工作的女人，穿着树皮鞋，从不挺直背脊。 —

The way I think of myself is that I am the foremost man in every kind of sport, and you look at me with pity. —
我自认为在各种运动中都是第一流的人，而你却用怜悯的眼光看着我。 —

… Is that being well matched?”
…这算是相配吗？

“But we are married, you know, Yegor Vlassitch,” sobbed Pelagea.
“但我们结婚了，你知道的，叶戈尔·弗拉西奇”，佩拉格娅哽咽着说。

“Not married of our free will…. Have you forgotten? —
“不是我们自愿结婚的… 你忘了吗？ —

You have to thank Count Sergey Paylovitch and yourself. —
你得感谢谢尔盖·帕洛维奇伯爵和你自己。 —

Out of envy, because I shot better than he did, the Count kept giving me wine for a whole month, and when a man’s drunk you could make him change his religion, let alone getting married. —
他因为嫉妒，因为我比他射击准，整整一个月都给我酒喝，一个人喝醉了就可以让他改变宗教信仰，更别说结婚了。 —

To pay me out he married me to you when I was drunk…. A huntsman to a herd-girl! —
为了报复我，他趁我醉酒时把我嫁给了你… 一个猎人嫁给了一个牧女！ —

You saw I was drunk, why did you marry me? You were not a serf, you know; you could have resisted. —
你明明知道我喝醉了，为什么还要和我结婚？你也不是农奴，你本可以抵抗的。 —

Of course it was a bit of luck for a herd-girl to marry a huntsman, but you ought to have thought about it. —
当然，对一个牧女来说能嫁给一个猎人算是运气，但你本该考虑清楚。 —

Well, now be miserable, cry. It’s a joke for the Count, but a crying matter for you. —
现在开始痛苦吧，哭吧。对伯爵来说这是个笑话，但对你来说是个哭泣的事。 —

… Beat yourself against the wall.”
…往墙上撞吧。”

A silence followed. Three wild ducks flew over the clearing. —
之后是一片寂静。三只野鸭飞过空地。 —

Yegor followed them with his eyes till, transformed into three scarcely visible dots, they sank down far beyond the forest.
叶戈尔注视着它们，直到它们变成三个几乎看不见的点，在远处的森林之外消失。

“How do you live?” he asked, moving his eyes from the ducks to Pelagea.
“你是怎么生活的？”他把目光从野鸭转向佩拉格娅。

“Now I am going out to work, and in the winter I take a child from the Foundling Hospital and bring it up on the bottle. —
“现在我要出去工作了，在冬天我会从收容所带一个孩子回来，然后用奶瓶养大它。 —

They give me a rouble and a half a month.”
他们每个月给我一个卢布半。”

“Oh….”
“哦….”

Again a silence. From the strip that had been reaped floated a soft song which broke off at the very beginning. —
又是一阵沉默。被收割的麦田上漂荡着一首柔和的歌曲，但在刚刚开始时就停了下来。 —

It was too hot to sing.
太热了，唱不下去。

“They say you have put up a new hut for Akulina,” said Pelagea.
“他们说你为阿库琳娜盖了一座新的小屋，”佩拉格亚说。

Yegor did not speak.
叶戈没有说话。

“So she is dear to you….”
“所以她对你很重要….”

“It’s your luck, it’s fate!” said the huntsman, stretching. —
“这是你的运气，是命运！”猎人说着，伸了个懒腰。 —

“You must put up with it, poor thing. But good-bye, I’ve been chattering long enough. —
“你必须接受它，可怜的家伙。但我得走了，我已经唠叨了够久了。 —

… I must be at Boltovo by the evening.”
… 我必须在晚上到达波尔托沃。”

Yegor rose, stretched himself, and slung his gun over his shoulder; Pelagea got up.
叶戈站起身来，伸了个懒腰，把枪挎在肩膀上；佩拉格亚也站了起来。

“And when are you coming to the village?” she asked softly.
“你什么时候来村里？”她轻声问道。

“I have no reason to, I shall never come sober, and you have little to gain from me drunk; —
“我没理由去，我永远不会清醒地来，你也得不到什么好处。 —

I am spiteful when I am drunk. Good-bye!”
我喝醉了就会变得恶毒。再见！”。

“Good-bye, Yegor Vlassitch.”
“再见，叶戈尔·弗拉西奇。”

Yegor put his cap on the back of his head and, clicking to his dog, went on his way. —
叶戈尔把帽子歪戴在脑袋后面，和他的狗一起继续走路。 —

Pelagea stood still looking after him…. She saw his moving shoulder-blades, his jaunty cap, his lazy, careless step, and her eyes were full of sadness and tender affection. —
佩拉格亚站在原地看着他离去… 她看着他活动的肩胛骨、俏皮的帽子、悠闲的步伐，眼中充满了悲伤和温柔的感情。 —

… Her gaze flitted over her husband’s tall, lean figure and caressed and fondled it. —
… 她的目光在丈夫高大瘦削的身影上游走，爱抚着和摩挲着它。 —

… He, as though he felt that gaze, stopped and looked round. —
… 他似乎感觉到了那道目光，停下来回过头。 —

… He did not speak, but from his face, from his shrugged shoulders, Pelagea could see that he wanted to say something to her. —
… 他没有说话，但从他的脸上、耸起的肩膀上可以看出他想对她说些什么。 —

She went up to him timidly and looked at him with imploring eyes.
她羞怯地走到他跟前，带着乞求的眼神看着他。

“Take it,” he said, turning round.
“拿着吧，”他边说边转身。

He gave her a crumpled rouble note and walked quickly away.
他递给她一张皱巴巴的卢布纸币，然后匆匆走开。

“Good-bye, Yegor Vlassitch,” she said, mechanically taking the rouble.
“再见，叶戈尔·弗拉西奇，”她机械地接过了那张卢布。

He walked by a long road, straight as a taut strap. —
他沿着一条笔直如绷带的长路走去。 —

She, pale and motionless as a statue, stood, her eyes seizing every step he took. —
她像雕塑般苍白静止，眼睛紧盯着他的每一步。 —

But the red of his shirt melted into the dark colour of his trousers, his step could not be seen, and the dog could not be distinguished from the boots. —
但他衬衫的红色融入了深色的裤子，他的步伐看不清楚，狗也和靴子无法区分。 —

Nothing could be seen but the cap, and… suddenly Yegor turned off sharply into the clearing and the cap vanished in the greenness.
除了帽子，再也看不见什么… 突然叶戈尔急转弯进入空地，帽子消失在绿色中。

“Good-bye, Yegor Vlassitch,” whispered Pelagea, and she stood on tiptoe to see the white cap once more.
“再见，叶戈尔·弗拉西奇，”佩拉格亚耳语般地说着，她踮起脚尖想看到那顶白色的帽子再一次。