THE bells are ringing for service in the village of Shalmovo. —
沙尔莫沃村里的钟声为服侍而响起。 —

The sun is already kissing the earth on the horizon; it has turned crimson and will soon disappear. —
太阳已在地平线亲吻大地；它变成了深红色，很快将消失。 —

In Semyon’s pothouse, which has lately changed its name and become a restaurant—a title quite out of keeping with the wretched little hut with its thatch torn off its roof, and its couple of dingy windows—two peasant sportsmen are sitting. —
最近改名为餐厅的谢缅的小酒馆——这个名字与破旧小屋、掉了屋顶茅草的窗户完全不匹配，里面坐着两位农民运动员。 —

One of them is called Filimon Slyunka; he is an old man of sixty, formerly a house-serf, belonging to the Counts Zavalin, by trade a carpenter. —
其中一位叫费里莫·斯卢恩卡，他是个已经六十岁的老人，以前是扎瓦林伯爵家的家仆，是个木匠。 —

He has at one time been employed in a nail factory, has been turned off for drunkenness and idleness, and now lives upon his old wife, who begs for alms. —
他曾在一个铆钉工厂工作过，因为酗酒和懒惰被开除，现在靠着老妻乞讨生活。 —

He is thin and weak, with a mangy-looking little beard, speaks with a hissing sound, and after every word twitches the right side of his face and jerkily shrugs his right shoulder. —
他瘦弱，胡须看上去有些褴褛，说话带着嘶嘶声，每说完一句就抽动右边的脸，颇为硬邦邦地耸耸右肩。 —

The other, Ignat Ryabov, a sturdy, broad-shouldered peasant who never does anything and is everlastingly silent, is sitting in the corner under a big string of bread rings. —
另一位伊格纳特·柳博夫，一个结实的、宽肩膀的农民，从不做任何事情，总是保持沉默，坐在角落里一个挂着一串大面包圈的绳子下面。 —

The door, opening inwards, throws a thick shadow upon him, so that Slyunka and Semyon the publican can see nothing but his patched knees, his long fleshy nose, and a big tuft of hair which has escaped from the thick uncombed tangle covering his head. —
门往里打开，把一个厚厚的影子投到他身上，以至于斯卢恰和店主谢缅只能看到他打着补丁的膝盖、长长的肉鼻子和一撮从浓密的乱蓬蓬头发中疏忽出来的大团发丝。 —

Semyon, a sickly little man, with a pale face and a long sinewy neck, stands behind his counter, looks mournfully at the string of bread rings, and coughs meekly.
病弱的谢缅，脸色苍白，脖子又细又长，站在柜台后，哀伤地看着那串面包圈，咳嗽着。

“You think it over now, if you have any sense,” Slyunka says to him, twitching his cheek. —
“你现在好好想想，如果你还有点良心的话，” 斯卢恰对他说，抽动着脸颊。 —

“You have the thing lying by unused and get no sort of benefit from it. While we need it. —
“你将那东西当作赊账，知道吧！”谢缅用细细的女性般声音说着，深深地叹了口气，眼不离那串面包圈。 —

A sportsman without a gun is like a sacristan without a voice. —
一个没有枪的运动员就像一个没有嗓音的教堂神职人员。 —

You ought to understand that, but I see you don’t understand it, so you can have no real sense. —
你应该明白这一点，但我看你是不明白的，所以你没真正的良心。 —

… Hand it over!”
“把它交出来！”

“You left the gun in pledge, you know!” says Semyon in a thin womanish little voice, sighing deeply, and not taking his eyes off the string of bread rings. —
“你把枪当抵押留下的，你知道！”谢缅用细细的女性般声音说着，深深的叹了一口气，眼睛不离那串面包圈。 —

“Hand over the rouble you borrowed, and then take your gun.”
“将你借的卢布交出来，然后拿起你的枪。”

“I haven’t got a rouble. I swear to you, Semyon Mitritch, as God sees me: —
“我没有卢布。我向你发誓，塞缪恩·米特里奇，上帝可以作证： —

you give me the gun and I will go to-day with Ignashka and bring it you back again. —
你把枪给我，我今天就和伊格纳什卡一起拿回来。 —

I’ll bring it back, strike me dead. May I have happiness neither in this world nor the next, if I don’t.”
我会还回来的，打死我。如果我不还，愿我今生来世都不得幸福。”

“Semyon Mitritch, do give it,” Ignat Ryabov says in his bass, and his voice betrays a passionate desire to get what he asks for.
“塞缪恩·米特里奇，就请给我们吧，”伊格纳特·里亚博夫用他的低音说道，他的声音流露出强烈的渴望得到他所要求的东西。

“But what do you want the gun for?” sighs Semyon, sadly shaking his head. —
“但你们要枪干什么？”塞缪恩叹了口气，悲伤地摇着头说。 —

“What sort of shooting is there now? It’s still winter outside, and no game at all but crows and jackdaws.”
“现在还有什么射击呢？外面还是冬天，除了乌鸦和喜鹊外没有什么猎物。”

“Winter, indeed,” says Slyunka, hooing the ash out of his pipe with his finger, “it is early yet of course, but you never can tell with the snipe. —
“冬天，的确是”，斯柳卡用手指敲出烟斗里的烟灰，“当然还早，但鹬鸟就是个要关注的鸟。 —

The snipe’s a bird that wants watching. —
鹬鸟是需要看的。 —

If you are unlucky, you may sit waiting at home, and miss his flying over, and then you must wait till autumn. —
如果你运气不好，你可能坐在家里等，错过了他飞过的机会，那么你必须等到秋天。 —

… It is a business! The snipe is not a rook… . —
… 这可是一门生意！鹬鸟不是乌鸦。 … —

Last year he was flying the week before Easter, while the year before we had to wait till the week after Easter! —
去年复活节前一周他就开始飞，而前年我们等到了复活节后的一周！ —

Come, do us a favour, Semyon Mitritch, give us the gun. Make us pray for you for ever. —
塞缪恩·米特里奇，求您给我们一个帮助，把枪给我们吧。我们会永远为您祈祷。 —

As ill-luck would have it, Ignashka has pledged his gun for drink too. —
不幸的是，伊格纳什卡也把他的枪抵押了去喝酒。 —

Ah, when you drink you feel nothing, but now … —
啊，喝酒时什么都不觉得，但现在…” —

ah, I wish I had never looked at it, the cursed vodka! —
啊，我真希望我从未看过那瓶被诅咒的伏特加！ —

Truly it is the blood of Satan! Give it us, Semyon Mitritch!”
真的，这是撒旦的血！把它给我们，谢缅奥·米特里奇！

“I won’t give it you,” says Semyon, clasping his yellow hands on his breast as though he were going to pray. —
“我不会给你们的。”谢缅安双手抱在胸前，仿佛要祈祷一样说道。 —

“You must act fairly, Filimonushka… . A thing is not taken out of pawn just anyhow; —
“你必须公平行事，菲利莫努什卡…一件典当品不是随便就可以拿回去的； —

you must pay the money… . Besides, what do you want to kill birds for? —
你必须付钱…而且，你们为什么要杀鸟呢？ —

What’s the use? It’s Lent now—you are not going to eat them.”
没有意义啊！现在是大斋期，你们不会吃它们。”

Slyunka exchanges glances with Ryabov in embarrassment, sighs, and says: —
斯卢恩卡尴尬地和里亚博夫交换了眼神，叹了口气，说道： —

“We would only go stand-shooting.”
“我们只是想去站着射击。”

“And what for? It’s all foolishness. You are not the sort of man to spend your time in foolishness. —
“干嘛呢？这都是愚蠢的事情。你不是那种浪费时间在愚蠢事情上的人。 —

… Ignashka, to be sure, is a man of no understanding, God has afflicted him, but you, thank the Lord, are an old man. —
伊格纳什卡肯定是个没有头脑的人，上帝降祸于他，但你，感谢主，是个老人了。 —

It’s time to prepare for your end. Here, you ought to go to the midnight service.”
是时候为你的结局做准备了。你应该去参加午夜弥撒。”

The allusion to his age visibly stings Slyunka. —
对年龄的提醒显然刺痛了斯卢恩卡。 —

He clears his throat, wrinkles up his forehead, and remains silent for a full minute.
他清了清嗓子，皱起了额头，沉默了整整一分钟。

“I say, Semyon Mitritch,” he says hotly, getting up and twitching not only in his right cheek but all over his face. —
“我说，谢缅奥·米特里奇，”他激动地站起来，不仅右脸颊抽搐，整张脸都是。 —

“It’s God’s truth… . May the Almighty strike me dead, after Easter I shall get something from Stepan Kuzmitch for an axle, and I will pay you not one rouble but two! —
“这是上帝的真理…天佑我，复活节后我会从斯捷潘·库兹米奇那里拿到一辆车轴的东西，我不会只还你一卢布，而是两卢布！” —

May the Lord chastise me! Before the holy image, I tell you, only give me the gun!”
愿主责罚我！在神圣的像前，我告诉你，只给我枪吧！

“Gi-ive it,” Ryabov says in his growling bass; —
“给-给我,” Ryabov 用他的低沉嗓音说; —

they can hear him breathing hard, and it seems that he would like to say a great deal, but cannot find the words. “Gi-ive it.”
他们可以听到他喘着粗气，似乎想说很多话，但无法找到合适的词语。“给-给我。”

“No, brothers, and don’t ask,” sighs Semyon, shaking his head mournfully. —
“不，兄弟们，别问了”，Semyon 悲伤地摇着头说。 —

“Don’t lead me into sin. I won’t give you the gun. —
“别让我陷入罪恶。我不会给你枪的。 —

It’s not the fashion for a thing to be taken out of pawn and no money paid. —
把东西从当铺取出来而不付钱，是不合适的。 —

Besides—why this indulgence? Go your way and God bless you!”
再说 - 为什么要这种宽容？你们走吧，愿上帝保佑你们！”

Slyunka rubs his perspiring face with his sleeve and begins hotly swearing and entreating. —
Slyunka 用袖子擦拭着满是汗水的脸，开始激动地咒骂和恳求。 —

He crosses himself, holds out his hands to the ikon, calls his deceased father and mother to bear witness, but Semyon sighs and meekly looks as before at the string of bread rings. —
他战战兢兢地为像敬十字，伸出手向像求情，召唤已故的父母做见证，但Semyon 叹息着，温顺地目视着面前那串面包环。 —

In the end Ignashka Ryabov, hitherto motionless, gets up impulsively and bows down to the ground before the innkeeper, but even that has no effect on him.
最后，迄今不动的 Ignashka Ryabov 冲动地站起来，在店主面前俯下身，但甚至这也没有效果。

“May you choke with my gun, you devil,” says Slyunka, with his face twitching, and his shoulders, shrugging. —
“愿你被我的枪噎死，你这恶魔”，Slyunka 说着，脸部抽搐，肩膀耸动。 —

“May you choke, you plague, you scoundrelly soul.”
“愿你被噎死，你这瘟疫，你这无耻的灵魂。”

Swearing and shaking his fists, he goes out of the tavern with Ryabov and stands still in the middle of the road.
咒骂着，摇动拳头，他和 Ryabov 一起走出酒馆，站在路中央。

“He won’t give it, the damned brute,” he says, in a weeping voice, looking into Ryabov’s face with an injured air.
“他不给，这该死的畜生”，他用一副哭泣的声音说着，带着一种受伤的表情看着 Ryabov 的脸。

“He won’t give it,” booms Ryabov.
“他不给,” Ryabov 低沉地回应。

The windows of the furthest huts, the starling cote on the tavern, the tops of the poplars, and the cross on the church are all gleaming with a bright golden flame. —
远处小屋的窗户、酒馆上的燕舍、白杨树的树梢以及教堂上的十字架都闪耀着明亮的金色火焰。 —

Now they can see only half of the sun, which, as it goes to its night’s rest, is winking, shedding a crimson light, and seems laughing gleefully. —
现在他们只能看到太阳的一半，太阳正在沉入夜晚，眨眼间散发出一抹深红的光芒，看起来欢快地笑着。 —

Slyunka and Ryabov can see the forest lying, a dark blur, to the right of the sun, a mile and a half from the village, and tiny clouds flitting over the clear sky, and they feel that the evening will be fine and still.
斯柳卡和柳雅博夫看到森林位于太阳的右侧，离村庄一英里半远，是一个黑暗的模糊背景，还有微小的云朵在晴朗的天空中飘动，他们感到晚上将会很美好、宁静。

“Now is just the time,” says Slyunka, with his face twitching. —
“现在正是时候了”，斯柳卡说，脸上抽搐着。 —

“It would be nice to stand for an hour or two. —
“站上一两个小时会很不错。” —

He won’t give it us, the damned brute. May he …”
“他不会让我们的，这该死的畜生。愿他……”

“For stand-shooting, now is the very time … —
“现在正是站立射击的好时机……” —

” Ryabov articulated, as though with an effort, stammering.
柳雅博夫费力地说，结结巴巴地。

After standing still for a little they walk out of the village, without saying a word to each other, and look towards the dark streak of the forest. —
他们在小声地走出村庄，不相互说话，朝着森林的黑色犁地之处望去。 —

The whole sky above the forest is studded with moving black spots, the rooks flying home to roost. —
森林上方满布移动的黑色斑点，是飞回窝巢的秃鼻鸦。 —

The snow, lying white here and there on the dark brown plough-land, is lightly flecked with gold by the sun.
留在深褐色耕地上的雪，在太阳的照射下轻轻泛着金色光芒。

“This time last year I went stand-shooting in Zhivki,” says Slyunka, after a long silence. —
“去年这个时候我在日夫基进行站立射击”，斯柳卡在长时间的沉默后说道。 —

“I brought back three snipe.”
“我带回了三只沙锥。”

Again there follows a silence. Both stand a long time and look towards the forest, and then lazily move and walk along the muddy road from the village.
又一次陷入沉默。两人长时间站着望向森林，然后懒散地移动，沿着泥泞的村庄小路走去。

“It’s most likely the snipe haven’t come yet,” says Slyunka, “but may be they are here.”
“很可能沙锥还没来”，斯柳卡说，“但也许它们已经在这里。”

“Kostka says they are not here yet.”
“科斯卡说他们还没到。”

“Maybe they are not, who can tell; one year is not like another. But what mud!”
“也许他们还没到，谁能说得准；一年不同于另一年。但这泥巴！”

“But we ought to stand.”
“但我们应该站着。”

“To be sure we ought—why not?”
“当然我们应该——为什么不呢？”

“We can stand and watch; it wouldn’t be amiss to go to the forest and have a look. —
“我们可以站在这里观望；最好去森林里看看。 —

If they are there we will tell Kostka, or maybe get a gun ourselves and come to-morrow. —
如果他们在那里，我们会告诉科斯卡，或者也许自己拿枪明天过来。 —

What a misfortune, God forgive me. It was the devil put it in my mind to take my gun to the pothouse! —
“多么不幸，上帝原谅我。当初就是魔鬼让我带枪去酒馆！ —

I am more sorry than I can tell you, Ignashka.”
“我比能告诉你的还难过，伊格纳什卡。”

Conversing thus, the sportsmen approach the forest. —
“这样交谈着，猎人们走近森林。 —

The sun has set and left behind it a red streak like the glow of a fire, scattered here and there with clouds; —
“太阳已经落山，只留下一个像火焰的红色光带，零零散散掺着云彩； —

there is no catching the colours of those clouds: —
“那些云彩的颜色无法捉摸。 —

their edges are red, but they themselves are one minute grey, at the next lilac, at the next ashen.
“它们的边缘是红色的，但它们本身一会是灰色，一会是丁香色，一会是苍白色。

In the forest, among the thick branches of fir-trees and under the birch bushes, it is dark, and only the outermost twigs on the side of the sun, with their fat buds and shining bark, stand out clearly in the air. —
“在森林中，松树浓密的树枝下，白桦丛之下，漆黑一片，只有阳光那一侧最外围的嫩枝，肥厚的芽和闪亮的树皮，在空气中清晰可见。 —

There is a smell of thawing snow and rotting leaves. It is still; —
“周围弥漫着融化的雪和腐烂树叶的气味。一切都静止着； —

nothing stirs. From the distance comes the subsiding caw of the rooks.
“没有一点动静。远处传来乌鸦时隐时现的叫声。”

“We ought to be standing in Zhivki now,” whispers Slyunka, looking with awe at Ryabov; —
“我们应该站在日夜基现在。”斯鲁因卡低声说着，惊叹地看着里亚博； —

“there’s good stand-shooting there.”
“那里有很好的站立射击。”

Ryabov too looks with awe at Slyunka, with unblinking eyes and open mouth.
里亚博也惊叹地看着斯鲁因卡，眼睛直勾勾地盯着，嘴巴张得大大的。

“A lovely time,” Slyunka says in a trembling whisper. “The Lord is sending a fine spring … —
“美好的时光。”斯鲁因卡颤抖着低声说道。“上帝送来了一个美好的春天… —

and I should think the snipe are here by now… . Why not? The days are warm now… —
而且我想现在应该会有千鸟出现了… 是吧？现在天气温暖了… —

. The cranes were flying in the morning, lots and lots of them.”
早上有很多鹤在飞。”

Slyunka and Ryabov, splashing cautiously through the melting snow and sticking in the mud, walk two hundred paces along the edge of the forest and there halt. —
斯鲁因卡和里亚博小心翼翼地在融化的雪地和泥泞中行走两百步沿着森林边缘，然后停下来。 —

Their faces wear a look of alarm and expectation of something terrible and extraordinary. —
他们脸上露出一种恐惧和期待着某种可怕和非凡的表情。 —

They stand like posts, do not speak nor stir, and their hands gradually fall into an attitude as though they were holding a gun at the cock… .
他们像木头一样站着，不说话也不动，他们的手逐渐摆出一种好像握着枪扳机的姿势… .

A big shadow creeps from the left and envelops the earth. The dusk of evening comes on. —
一个大影子从左边爬过来，笼罩了大地。傍晚的幽暗降临。 —

If one looks to the right, through the bushes and tree trunks, there can be seen crimson patches of the after-glow. —
如果向右看，可以看到灌木丛和树干间有暮色的红斑。 —

It is still and damp… .
这里寂静而潮湿。…

“There’s no sound of them,” whispers Slyunka, shrugging with the cold and sniffing with his chilly nose.
“听不到它们的声音了，”斯鲁因卡低声说着，因寒意耸了耸肩膀，闻了闻冻得通红的鼻子。

But frightened by his own whisper, he holds his finger up at some one, opens his eyes wide, and purses up his lips. —
但被自己的低语吓着了，他向某个人伸出手指，睁大眼睛，嘟起嘴唇。 —

There is a sound of a light snapping. The sportsmen look at each other significantly, and tell each other with their eyes that it is nothing. —
听到了一声轻微的劈啪声。两位运动员意味深长地互相看了看，用眼神告诉彼此这没什么大不了的。 —

It is the snapping of a dry twig or a bit of bark. —
这是一根干枝或一小块树皮的断裂声。 —

The shadows of evening keep growing and growing, the patches of crimson gradually grow dim, and the dampness becomes unpleasant.
夜幕的阴影越来越浓，深红的斑块逐渐变暗，潮湿变得令人讨厌。

The sportsmen remain standing a long time, but they see and hear nothing. —
体育人物们站了很长时间，但他们什么也看不见听不见。 —

Every instant they expect to see a delicate leaf float through the air, to hear a hurried call like the husky cough of a child, and the flutter of wings.
他们时刻期待着看到一片娇嫩的叶子漂浮在空中，听到匆匆的呼喊，如同一个孩子的沙哑咳嗽声，和翅膀的振动声。

“No, not a sound,” Slyunka says aloud, dropping his hands and beginning to blink. —
“不，没有声音，” 斯柳卡大声说着，放下手，开始眨巴眼睛。 —

“So they have not come yet.”
“他们还没来呢。”

“It’s early!”
“现在太早！”

“You are right there.”
“你说的对。”

The sportsmen cannot see each other’s faces, it is getting rapidly dark.
体育人员看不见彼此的脸，天色迅速变暗。

“We must wait another five days,” says Slyunka, as he comes out from behind a bush with Ryabov. —
“我们必须再等五天，” 斯柳卡和里亚博夫一起走出灌木丛。 —

“It’s too early!”
“现在还太早！”

They go homewards, and are silent all the way.
他们开始往家走，整个路程保持沉默。