Darya Mihailovna's house was regarded as almost the first in the whole province. It was a huge stone mansion, built after designs of Rastrelli in the taste of last century, and in a commanding position on the summit of a hill, at whose base flowed one of the principal rivers of central Russia. Darya Mihailovna herself was a wealthy and distinguished lady, the widow of a privy councillor. Pandalevsky said of her, that she knew all Europe and all Europe knew her! However, Europe knew her very little; even at Petersburg she had not played a very prominent part; but on the other hand at Moscow every one knew her and visited her. She belonged to the highest society, and was spoken of as a rather eccentric woman, not wholly good-natured, but excessively clever. In her youth she had been very pretty. Poets had written verses to her, young men had been in love with her, distinguished men had paid her homage. But twenty-five or thirty years had passed since those days and not a trace of her former charms remained. Every one who saw her now for the first time was impelled to ask himself, if this woman-skinny, sharp-nosed, and yellow-faced, though still not old in years—could once have been a beauty, if she was really the same woman who had been the inspiration of poets.... And every one marvelled inwardly at the mutability of earthly things. It is true that Pandalevsky discovered that Darya Mihailovna had preserved her magnificent eyes in a marvellous way; but we have seen that Pandalevsky also maintained that all Europe knew her.

达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜的宅邸在全省都是首屈一指的。这是一座由拉斯特列利设计的石筑大豪宅，带有上个世纪的风格。它建在山顶，而俄罗斯中部一条主要河流就从这山脚下流过。达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜本人高贵富有，是一位枢密院官员的遗孀。潘达列夫斯基说她了解整个欧洲，而整个欧洲也同样对她了如指掌！然而，欧洲没多少人知道她；就算在彼得堡她也不算是个有头有脸的人物；不过在莫斯科人人都认识她，争相来拜访她。她属于上流社会，是个脾气非常古怪的女人，虽然性情并非十分温和，但是绝顶聪明。年轻时她貌美如花。诗人为她写诗赋词，年轻人对她情有独钟，达官贵人对她尊敬有加。不过，这都是二十五年或者三十年前的事了，往日的美艳早已了无痕迹。第一次看到她的人都会忍不住问自己，这个不算老但是却枯瘦干瘪、鼻子尖翘、脸色蜡黄的女人曾经会是个美女吗？她真的是当年那个让诗人文思泉涌的绝代佳人吗……人们不禁要感叹世事变迁。不过潘达列夫斯基发现达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜的双眸依旧动人；不过别忘了，潘达列夫斯基也坚持说整个欧洲都对她了如指掌。

Darya Mihailovna went every summer to her country place with her children (she had three: a daughter of seventeen, Natalya, and two sons of nine and ten years old). She kept open house in the country, that is, she received men, especially unmarried ones; provincial ladies she could not endure. But what of the treatment she received from those ladies in return?

达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜每年夏天都要带着她的孩子们去乡间别墅避暑（她有三个孩子：女儿娜塔利娅，十七岁，还有两个分别为十岁和九岁大的儿子）。在乡间，她的房门为宾客们大开着，男士们，尤其是单身男士是她的门前常客；至于省内的夫人们嘛，她可受不了她们。但是看看这些太太们是怎么对待她的吧！

Darya Mihailovna, according to them, was a haughty, immoral, and insufferable tyrant, and above all—she permitted herself such liberties in conversation, it was shocking! Darya Mihailovna certainly did not care to stand on ceremony in the country, and in the unconstrained frankness of her manners there was perceptible a slight shade of the contempt of the lioness of the capital for the petty and obscure creatures who surrounded her. She had a careless, and even a sarcastic manner with her own set; but the shade of contempt was not there.

她们说达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜是个自命清高、伤风败俗、令人不堪忍受的专制者；最要命的是，她说话的时候竟然如此放肆，真是让人咋舌！达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜在乡村可不想被繁文缛节束缚着，这从她待人接物时的那种豪放而直率的态度可以略微感觉到，这位来自首都的贵妇人像狮子蔑视弱小无能的动物一般，鄙视那些她周围的人们。她跟她自己的朋友交往时也是这样漫不经心，甚至还有点儿嘲讽的意味，但是没有这种鄙夷的神情。

By the way, reader, have you observed that a person who is exceptionally nonchalant with his inferiors, is never nonchalant with persons of a higher rank? Why is that? But such questions lead to nothing.

顺便问一下读者们，你们注意到了吗？对地位低于自己的人极其冷漠的人，决不会对地位高于自己的人表现冷漠。这是什么原因呢？这样的问题通常得不出什么结论。

When Konstantin Diomiditch, having at last learnt by heart the etude of Thalberg, went down from his bright and cheerful room to the drawing-room, he already found the whole household assembled. The salon was already beginning. The lady of the house was reposing on a wide couch, her feet gathered up under her, and a new French pamphlet in her hand; at the window behind a tambour frame, sat on one side the daughter of Darya Mihailovna, on the other, Mlle. Boncourt, the governess, a dry old maiden lady of sixty, with a false front of black curls under a parti-coloured cap and cotton wool in her ears; in the corner near the door was huddled Bassistoff reading a paper, near him were Patya and Vanya playing draughts, and leaning by the stove, his hands clasped behind his back, was a gentleman of low stature, with a swarthy face covered with bristling grey hair, and fiery black eyes—a certain African Semenitch Pigasov.

当康斯坦丁·季奥米德奇最终记熟了塔尔贝格的练习曲之后，便走出了自己明亮舒适的房间来到客厅，看到一家人已经聚在那里了。沙龙已经开始了。女主人盘膝坐在一张宽大的沙发上，手中拿着一本最新的法语小册子；窗子前面的绣架两旁坐着两个人，一个是达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜的女儿，另一个是女家庭教师邦古小姐，她是个六十岁的干瘪老姑娘，黑色的假发上带着杂色的包发帽，耳朵里塞着棉绒；在门口的角落里巴西斯托夫正在读着报纸，瓦尼亚和彼娃在他身旁玩着跳棋；一位先生背着双手靠在壁炉上，他叫阿夫里坎·谢苗内奇·皮加索夫，这位先生身材并不高，皮肤黝黑，花白的头发一根根翘着，眼睛很黑，炯炯有神。

This Pigasov was a strange person.

这位皮加索夫是个怪人。

Full of acerbity against everything and every one—especially against women—he was railing from morning to night, sometimes very aptly, sometimes rather stupidly, but always with gusto. His ill-humour almost approached puerility; his laugh, the sound of his voice, his whole being seemed steeped in venom. Darya Mihailovna gave Pigasov a cordial reception; he amused her with his sallies. They were certainly absurd enough. He took delight in perpetual exaggeration. For example, if he were told of any disaster, that a village had been struck by lightning, or that a mill had been carried away by floods, or that a peasant had cut his hand with an axe, he invariably asked with concentrated bitterness, "And what's her name?" meaning, what is the name of the woman responsible for this calamity, for according to his convictions, a woman was the cause of every misfortune, if you only looked deep enough into the matter. He once threw himself on his knees before a lady he hardly knew at all, who had been effusive in her hospitality to him and began tearfully, but with wrath written on his face, to entreat her to have compassion on him, saying that he had done her no harm and never would come to see her for the future. Once a horse had bolted with one of Darya Mihailovna's maids, thrown her into a ditch and almost killed her. From that time Pigasov never spoke of that horse except as the "good, good horse," and he even came to regard the hill and the ditch as specially picturesque spots. Pigasov had failed in life and had adopted this whimsical craze. He came of poor parents. His father had filled various petty posts, and could scarcely read and write, and did not trouble himself about his son's education; he fed and clothed him and nothing more. His mother spoiled him, but she died early. Pigasov educated himself, sent himself to the district school and then to the gymnasium, taught himself French, German, and even Latin, and, leaving the gymnasiums with an excellent certificate, went to Dorpat, where he maintained a perpetual struggle with poverty, but succeeded in completing his three years' course. Pigasov's abilities did not rise above the level of mediocrity; patience and perseverance were his strong points, but the most powerful sentiment in him was ambition, the desire to get into good society, not to be inferior to others in spite of fortune. He had studied diligently and gone to the Dorpat University from ambition. Poverty exasperated him, and made him watchful and cunning. He expressed himself with originality; from his youth he had adopted a special kind of stinging and exasperated eloquence. His ideas did not rise above the common level; but his way of speaking made him seem not only a clever, but even a very clever, man. Having taken his degree as candidate, Pigasov decided to devote himself to the scholastic profession; he understood that in any other career he could not possibly be the equal of his associates. He tried to select them from a higher rank and knew how to gain their good graces; even by flattery, though he was always abusing them. But to do this he had not, to speak plainly, enough raw material. Having educated himself through no love for study, Pigasov knew very little thoroughly. He broke down miserably in the public disputation, while another student who had shared the same room with him, and who was constantly the subject of his ridicule, a man of very limited ability who had received a careful and solid education, gained a complete triumph. Pigasov was infuriated by this failure, he threw all his books and manuscripts into the fire and went into a government office. At first he did not get on badly, he made a fair official, not very active, extremely self-confident and bold, however; but he wanted to make his way more quickly, he made a false step, got into trouble, and was obliged to retire from the service. He spent three years on the property he had bought himself and suddenly married a wealthy half-educated woman who was captivated by his unceremonious and sarcastic manners. But Pigasov's character had become so soured and irritable that family life was unendurable to him. After living with him a few years, his wife went off secretly to Moscow and sold her estate to an enterprising speculator; Pigasov had only just finished building a house on it. Utterly crushed by this last blow, Pigasov began a lawsuit with his wife, but gained nothing by it. After this he lived in solitude, and went to see his neighbours, whom he abused behind their backs and even to their faces, and who welcomed him with a kind of constrained half-laugh, though he did not inspire them with any serious dread. He never took a book in his hand. He had about a hundred serfs; his peasants were not badly off.

他对任何事、任何人都横挑鼻子竖挑眼——特别是对女人——他从早到晚都在抱怨，有时抱怨得还算适当，但有时候又很愚蠢，不过他总能骂得津津有味。他恶劣的性情近乎幼稚；他的笑、他的声音……他从头到脚都像是浸泡在毒液中一样。达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜盛情招待他，他就用他的俏皮话来逗她开心。的确，他的那些话着实可笑。他总是以夸大其词为乐。比如说，如果有人告诉他任何不幸的事，像是一个小村子被雷击啦，磨坊被大水冲走啦，或者有个农夫用斧子剁掉了自己的一只手啦这类的事情时，他一定会怨气十足地问：“她叫什么名字？”他是在问该为此灾难负责的那个女人的名字，因为根据他的说法，如果您想得深入一些的话，女人是一切不幸的源头。有一次他给一位不太熟却对他殷勤接待的夫人下跪，他双眼饱含泪水，但是脸上写满了愤怒，求她可怜可怜他，说他没做任何伤害她的事，还说以后再也不会去她家了。有一次一匹马脱了缰，将达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜的一个女仆掀进了沟里，差点儿把她摔死。从此以后皮加索夫就将那匹马视为“好马”，并且把出事的那座小山和那条水沟当作是风景独特的地方。皮加索夫一生颇为失败，于是他变得这么怪异痴狂。他出身贫寒。他父亲谋过各种各样不起眼的小职位，大字不识几个，对儿子的教育也漠不关心，除了供他吃穿，其他方面很少在意。他母亲非常宠爱他，可惜去世太早。皮加索夫先是自学考入一所乡村学校，接着又考入高级中学，自学了法语、德语以及拉丁语，以优异的成绩从高级中学毕业，然后进了杰尔普特大学，在那里他饱尝了贫困之苦，但还是顺利完成了三年的学业。皮加索夫才华并不出众，耐力和毅力才是他的强项，不过他心比天高，一心想要挤入上流社会，他不甘心比别人低等，尽管没什么财产。在野心的驱使下他努力学习，考上了杰尔普特大学。贫穷将他激怒，所以他变得警惕而狡猾。他所说的话总跟别人不同；年轻时候他就易怒，并且有着雄辩锋利的口才。他思想平庸，不过他说话的方式让人觉得他是个聪明，甚至聪明绝顶的人。拿到副博士学位之后，皮加索夫决定投身于学术研究；因为他知道在别的行业他很可能赶不上他的那些同伴们。他费尽心思从上流社会的圈子里将他们挑选出来，努力争取他们的友谊；甚至于巴结他们，即便他总是在辱骂他们。但是，老实说，他在学术方面没什么真材实料。皮加索夫并不是因为热爱学习而去自学的，所以他了解的知识并不深入透彻。学术公开辩论会上他一败涂地，然而另外一个和他共住一室，经常受他奚落的人却大获全胜。那人才华虽不出众，但是受过严格正规的教育。这次失利彻底激怒了皮加索夫，他一气之下把所有的书籍、手稿付之一炬，去政府部门谋了份差事。起初他尽管并不积极，有点儿过于自负，也太过武断，但还是干得不错。不过他太过于急功近利，想一步登天，结果走错了一步，陷入困境，最后被迫辞职了。他在自己购置的一座房子里生活了三年，突然娶了一个有钱但是没受过良好教育的女人，他用他那不羁、嘲讽的风格彻底俘获了她的心。但是皮加索夫的性格变得极为尖刻，动辄就发火，家庭生活让他无法忍受。他的妻子跟他生活了几年以后，偷偷地跑到莫斯科去了，把自己的田产卖给了一个精明的投机商；而此前不久皮加索夫才在那里建了一座庄园。这致命的最后一棒彻底击跨了他，皮加索夫跟他妻子打起了官司，但是一无所获。这件事之后他就过上了独居的生活，常常去拜访邻居们，由于他曾在背后甚至当面骂过他们，他们对他也并不十分热心，虽然他们倒也不是真的惧怕他。他的手再没碰过书。他有一百来个农奴；这些农奴的酬劳也还不错。

"Ah! Constantin," said Darya Mihailovna, when Pandalevsky came into the drawing-room, "is Alexandrine coming?"

“啊！康斯坦丁，”看到潘达列夫斯基进了客厅后达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜说道，“亚历山德里娜要来吗？”

"Alexandra Pavlovna asked me to thank you, and they will be extremely delighted," replied Konstantin Diomiditch, bowing affably in all directions, and running his plump white hand with its triangular cut nails through his faultlessly arranged hair.

“亚历山德拉·巴甫洛芙娜让我转达对您的谢意，他们很高兴能来。”康斯坦丁·季奥米德奇答道，殷勤地向每个人鞠躬，用他又白又胖的手摸着梳得整整齐齐的头发；他的指甲修剪成倒三角形。

"And is Volintsev coming too?" "Yes."

“沃伦采夫也会来吗？”“是的。”

"So, according to you, African Semenitch," continued Darya Mihailovna, turning to Pigasov, "all young ladies are affected?"

“那么，阿夫里坎·谢苗内奇，照您这么说，”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜转向皮加索夫，接着说道，“所有的年轻小姐们都很做作了？”

Pigasov's mouth twitched, and he plucked nervously at his elbow.

皮加索夫撇了撇嘴巴,不安地扯了扯自己的臂肘。

"I say," he began in a measured voice—in his most violent moods of exasperation he always spoke slowly and precisely. "I say that young ladies, in general—of present company, of course, I say nothing."

“我是说，”他用谨慎的口吻说道——即使是在恼羞成怒之时，他也会慢吞吞地、咬文嚼字地说话，“我是说一般而言，年轻女士们都是这样，当然，至于在座的各位则另当别论。”

"But that does not prevent your thinking of them," put in Darya Mihailovna.

“但是这样也不会让您改变对她们的看法。”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜说。

"I say nothing of them," repeated Pigasov. "All young ladies, in general, are affected to the most extreme point—affected in the expression of their feelings. If a young lady is frightened, for instance, or pleased with anything, or distressed, she is certain first to throw her person into some such elegant attitude (and Pigasov threw his figure into an unbecoming pose and spread out his hands) and then she shrieks—ah! or she laughs or cries. I did once though (and here Pigasov smiled complacently) succeed in eliciting a genuine, unaffected expression of emotion from a remarkably affected young lady!"

“我没说一句针对她们的话。”皮加索夫重复说道，“所有的年轻女士们都矫揉造作到了极点——表达感情时更是如此。举个例子来说，如果有什么事让一位年轻女士感到高兴、害怕或焦虑时，她一定先摆出这样优雅的姿势（皮加索夫摆出了一个并不得体的姿势，伸出双手），然后大声尖叫——啊！之后要么笑要么哭。不过有一次（此时皮加索夫得意地笑了笑）我确实让一个平时做作至极的年轻女士露出了真实的、毫不做作的表情！”

"How did you do that?" Pigasov's eyes sparkled. "I poked her in the side with an aspen stake, from behind. She did shriek, and I said to her, "Bravo, bravo! that's the voice of nature, that was a genuine shriek! Always do like that for the future!"' Every one in the room laughed. "What nonsense you talk, African Semenitch," cried Darya Mihailovna. "Am I to believe that you would poke a girl in the side with a stake!"

“您是怎么做到的呢？”皮加索夫两眼放着光。“我从背后用山杨树棍戳了一下她的背。她立刻发出了尖叫声，然后我跟她说：‘太好了，太好了！这才是您真正天然的声音，这才是地地道道的尖叫呢！您以后也要这样叫！’”屋里立刻发出了哄堂大笑。“您在乱说些什么呀，阿夫里坎·谢苗内奇，”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜大声说道，“我会相信您用一根棍子去戳一位女士的背吗！”

"Yes, indeed, with a stake, a very big stake, like those that are used in the defence of a fort."

“千真万确，就是用棍子，一根很粗的棍子，就像守卫堡垒时用的棍子一样。”

' Mais c'est un horreur ce que vous dites la, Monsieur ," cried Mlle. Boncourt, looking angrily at the boys, who were in fits of laughter.

“先生，您说的这些话真是吓人。”邦古小姐生气地看着大笑不止的孩子们，叫道。

"Oh, you mustn't believe him," said Darya Mihailovna. "Don't you know him?"

“哦，别信他的话。”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜说，“您还不了解他吗？”

But the offended French lady could not be pacified for a long while, and kept muttering something to herself. "You need not believe me," continued Pigasov coolly, "but I assure you I told the simple truth. Who should know if not I? After that perhaps you won't believe that our neighbour, Madame Tchepuz, Elena Antonovna, told me herself, mind herself, that she had murdered her nephew?"

可是这个气愤的法国女人很久都没能消气，嘴里一直在嘟嘟囔囔。“你们大可不用相信我，”皮加索夫继续冷冷地说道，“但是我向你们保证我说的都是实话。除了我谁还会知道这件事呢？这样的话，还有一件事你们应该更加不会相信了，我们的邻居，叶列娜·安东诺夫娜·切普佐娃太太亲口告诉我，注意是亲口，她谋杀了自己的侄子！”

"What an invention!"

“您在瞎编乱造些什么呀！”

"Wait a minute, wait a minute! Listen and judge for yourselves. Mind, I don't want to slander her, I even like her as far as one can like a woman. She hasn't a single book in her house except a calendar, and she can't read except aloud, and that exercise throws her into a violent perspiration, and she complains then that her eyes feel bursting out of her head.... In short, she's a capital woman, and her servant girls grow fat. Why should I slander her?"

“别着急，别着急！听我说完您再作判断。请注意，我并不是在诽谤她，我甚至像喜欢一个普通女人一样喜欢她。她的家里除了日历以外，一本书都没有，她阅读时非得出声才行，这会让她大汗淋漓，之后她抱怨说她感到自己的眼球都要掉出来了……总之，她是个顶好的女人，她的女仆们也都心宽体胖。我又何必诋毁她呢？”

"You see," observed Darya Mihailovna, "African Semenitch has got on his hobbyhorse, now he will not be off it tonight."

“你们看，”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜说，“阿夫里坎·谢苗内奇发表长篇大论的怪癖又上来了，今天晚上他是停不下来了。”

"My hobby! But women have three at least, which they are never off, except, perhaps, when they're asleep."

“我的怪癖！可是女人的怪癖至少有三个呢，她们决不会善罢甘休，除非，也许是，晚上睡着后。”

"What three hobbies are those?"

“那么是哪三个怪癖呢？”

"Reproof, reproach, recrimination."

“非难，数落，责骂。”

"Do you know, African Semenitch," began Darya Mihailovna, "you cannot be so bitter against women for nothing. Some woman or other must have—"

“要知道，阿夫里坎·谢苗内奇，”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜说，“您不能这样拿这些莫须有的罪名指责女人。肯定是有些女人让您——”

"Done me an injury, you mean?" Pigasov interrupted.

“您是不是想说让我受了伤害？”皮加索夫插嘴道。

Darya Mihailovna was rather embarrassed; she remembered Pigasov's unlucky marriage, and only nodded.

达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜有点儿尴尬；她想起了皮加索夫不幸的婚姻，只能点点头。

"One woman certainly did me an injury," said Pigasov, "though she was a good, very good one."

“确实有一个女人让我受了伤害，”皮加索夫说道，“虽然她十分善良。”

"Who was that?"

“是谁？”

"My mother," said Pigasov, dropping his voice.

“是家母。”皮加索夫放低了声音说道。

"Your mother? What injury could she have done you?"

“您的母亲？她能让您受到什么伤害呢？”

"She brought me into the world." Darya Mihailovna frowned. "Our conversation," she said, "seems to have taken a gloomy turn. Constantin, play us Thalberg's new etude . I daresay the music will soothe African Semenitch. Orpheus soothed savage beasts."

“她把我带到了这个世界上。”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜不禁皱起了眉头。“看起来，”她说，“我们的谈话开始变得让人忧郁起来了。康斯坦丁，为我们弹奏那首塔尔贝格的新练习曲吧。我相信音乐准能抚慰阿夫里坎·谢苗内奇。俄耳甫斯就曾经征服了野兽。”

Konstantin Diomiditch took his seat at the piano, and played the etude very fairly well. Natalya Alexyevna at first listened attentively, then she bent over her work again.

康斯坦丁·季奥米德奇坐到钢琴前，将这首曲子演奏得美妙动听。娜塔利娅·阿列克谢耶芙娜起初在认真地听，接着便重新开始做自己的事去了。

"Merci, c'est charmant," observed Darya Mihailovna, "I love Thalberg. Il est si distingue. What are you thinking of, African Semenitch?"

“谢谢，真是太美妙了。”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜说道，“我很喜欢塔尔贝格。他很特别。您在想什么呢，阿夫里坎·谢苗内奇？”

"I thought," began African Semenitch slowly, "that there are three kinds of egoists; the egoists who live themselves and let others live; the egoists who live themselves and don't let others live; and the egoists who don't live themselves and don't let others live. Women, for the most part, belong to the third class."

“我在想，”阿夫里坎·谢苗内奇缓缓地说道，“利己主义者有三种：自己活着，也让别人活着的；自己活着却断了别人活路的；自己不想活也让别人活不下去的。而大部分女人都属第三种。”

"That's polite! I am very much astonished at one thing, African Semenitch; your confidence in your convictions; of course you can never be mistaken."

“真是委婉！阿夫里坎·谢苗内奇，我对一件事感到非常惊讶，那就是您对于自己所持的观点如此深信不疑，好像确信您绝不会出错似的。”

"Who says so? I make mistakes; a man, too, may be mistaken. But do you know the difference between a man's mistakes and a woman's? Don't you know? Well, here it is; a man may say, for example, that twice two makes not four, but five, or three and a half; but a woman will say that twice two makes a wax candle."

“怎么能这么说呢？我也会犯错；男人也是会做错事的。但是您知道男人犯的错和女人犯的错有何不同吗？您不知道吗？譬如，男人可能会说二乘以二不是四，是五或者三点五；但是女人则会说二乘以二是支蜡烛。”

"I fancy I've heard you say that before. But allow me to ask what connection had your idea of the three kinds of egoists with the music you have just been hearing?"

“我想我之前听您说过这些。但是请允许我问一句，您说的三种利己主义者和刚刚听到的音乐之间有何关联？”

"None at all, but I did not listen to the music."

“毫无关联，我根本没有听音乐。”

"Well, "incurable I see you are, and that is all about it,"' answered Darya Mihailovna, slightly altering Griboyedov's line. "What do you like, since you don't care for music? Literature?"

“得了，‘我看您是无可救药了，的确是这样’”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜回答道，她稍稍改动了下格里鲍耶陀夫的诗句，“如果不喜欢音乐，您还能喜欢什么呢？文学？”

"I like literature, only not our contemporary literature."

“我喜欢文学，不过不是我们当代的文学。”

"Why?"

“为什么呢？”

"I'll tell you why. I crossed the Oka lately in a ferry boat with a gentleman. The ferry got fixed in a narrow place; they had to drag the carriages ashore by hand. This gentleman had a very heavy coach. While the ferrymen were straining themselves to drag the coach on to the bank, the gentleman groaned so, standing in the ferry, that one felt quite sorry for him.... Well, I thought, here's a fresh illustration of the system of division of labour! That's just like our modern literature; other people do the work, and it does the groaning." Darya Mihailovna smiled.

“请听我说。我曾和一位先生一起坐船渡过奥卡河。渡船在一处很窄的河道上卡住了，船夫们只能用手把马车拖上岸去。而那位先生的马车偏偏又非常沉重。当船夫们拼命地把马车往岸上拖的时候，这位先生却站在渡船上唉声叹气，真让人觉得可怜……我想，这就是新的劳动分工体系的很好说明吧！这就好比我们当代的文学；别人在辛勤劳作，而它却在唉声叹气。”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜脸上绽开了笑容。

"And that is called expressing contemporary life," continued Pigasov indefatigably, "profound sympathy with the social question and so on.... Oh, how I hate those grand words!"

“这些被称为对现实生活的写照，”皮加索夫不知疲倦地说道，“对社会问题的深切关注等等……啊，这些装腔作势的话真是让我厌恶至极！”

"Well, the women you attack so—they at least don't use grand words." Pigasov shrugged his shoulders. "They don't use them because they don't understand them." Darya Mihailovna flushed slightly. "You are beginning to be impertinent, African Semenitch!" she remarked with a forced smile.

“但是那些被您批判的女人们至少没有讲过这些装腔作势的话呀。”皮加索夫耸了耸肩。“她们不说是因为她们根本就不懂这些话。”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜的脸微微变红了。“阿夫里坎·谢苗内奇，您这就有点儿扯远了！”她勉强挤出一丝笑容。

There was complete stillness in the room.

客厅陷入了一阵沉默。

"Where is Zolotonosha?" asked one of the boys suddenly of Bassistoff.

“佐洛托诺沙在什么地方？”一个男孩忽然向巴西斯托夫问道。

"In the province of Poltava, my dear boy," replied Pigasov, "in the centre of Little Russia." (He was glad of an opportunity of changing the conversation.) "We were talking of literature," he continued, "if I had money to spare, I would at once become a Little Russian poet'

“在波尔塔瓦省呢，我亲爱的孩子，”皮加索夫回答道，“在小俄罗斯的中心。”（他很高兴话题被岔开了）“我们刚刚说到文学，”他继续说道，“假使我足够富有，就一定立刻做个小俄罗斯诗人。”

"What next? a fine poet you would make!" retorted Darya Mihailovna. "Do you know Little Russian?"

“您说您会怎么样？您要当个诗人！”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜不无揶揄地说道，“您懂小俄罗斯语吗？”

"Not a bit; but it isn't necessary."

“一点儿都不懂；不过也用不着懂。”

"Not necessary?"

“用不着？”

"Oh no, it's not necessary. You need only take a sheet of paper and write at the top "A Ballad," then begin like this, "Heigho, alack, my destiny!" or "the Cossack Nalivaiko was sitting on a hill and then on the mountain, under the green tree the birds are singing, grae, voropae, gop, gop!" or something of that kind. And the thing's done. Print it and publish it. The Little Russian will read it, drop his head into his hands and infallibly burst into tears—he is such a sensitive soul!"

“是的，用不着。您只要拿出一张白纸来，写上标题《一首民谣》，然后就开始写：“啊，我的命运！”或者“哥萨克人纳利瓦伊科正坐在山丘上，坐在高峰上；在郁郁葱葱的树林里，鸟儿正在歌唱，格拉耶，沃罗帕耶，啊，啊！”之类的句子。一首诗就这么完成了。接着就可以拿出去印刷发行了。小俄罗斯人会读它，还会把脸埋在双手里，十有八九还会放声大哭——他们就是这么多愁善感！”

"Good heavens!" cried Bassistoff. "What are you saying? It's too absurd for anything. I have lived in Little Russia, I love it and know the language... "grae, grae, voropae" is absolute nonsense."

“我的老天爷！”巴西斯托夫叫道，“您在说些什么啊？这简直太可笑了。我在小俄罗斯住过一段时间，我很热爱那里，并且也通晓那里的语言……根本就没有‘格拉耶，格拉耶，沃罗帕耶’这种说法。”

"It may be, but the Little Russian will weep all the same. You speak of the "language."...

“也许是这样，不过小俄罗斯人还是会哭得稀里哗啦。您说到‘语言’……

But is there a Little Russian language? Is it a language, in your opinion? an independent language? I would pound my best friend in a mortar before I'd agree to that."

有小俄罗斯语这种语言吗?在您看来，这也能称得上是一种语言吗？它也算一种独立的语言吗？就算是把我的患难之交剁成肉泥，我都无法苟同这个说法。”

Bassistoff was about to retort.

巴西斯托夫张口准备反驳。

"Leave him alone!" said Darya Mihailovna, "you know that you will hear nothing but paradoxes from him."

“别理他！”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜说，“您也知道，他总是这样自相矛盾。”

Pigasov smiled ironically. A footman came in and announced the arrival of Alexandra Pavlovna and her brother.

皮加索夫嘲弄地笑了笑。一个仆人进来通报亚历山德拉·巴甫洛芙娜和她弟弟到了。

Darya Mihailovna rose to meet her guests.

达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜起身迎接她的客人。

"How do you do, Alexandrine?" she began, going up to her, "how good of you to come!... How are you, Sergei Pavlitch?"

“您好啊，亚历山德里娜！”她走上前去说道，“您能来真的是太好了！……您好，谢尔盖·巴甫雷奇！”

Volintsev shook hands with Darya Mihailovna and went up to Natalya Alexyevna.

沃伦采夫同达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜握了握手，接着走到娜塔利娅·阿列克谢耶夫娜跟前。

"But how about that baron, your new acquaintance, is he coming today?" asked Pigasov.

“您提到的那位新结识的男爵呢，他今天会来吗？”皮加索夫问道。

"Yes, he is coming."

“是的，他会来的。”

"He is a great philosopher, they say; he is just brimming over with Hegel, I suppose?"

“据说他可是个大哲学家；我想会对黑格尔侃侃而谈吧？”

Darya Mihailovna made no reply, and making Alexandra Pavlovna sit down on the sofa, established herself near her.

达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜并不理睬他，她让亚历山德拉·巴甫洛芙娜挨着她坐在沙发上。

"Philosophies," continued Pigasov, "are elevated points of view! That's another abomination of mine; these elevated points of view. And what can one see from above? Upon my soul, if you want to buy a horse, you don't look at it from a steeple!"

“哲学，”皮加索夫继续说道，“可是高深的学问！而这些所谓高深的学问正是另一件让我很恼火的事情。就算是在高处又都看到了些什么呢？说句良心话，如果您要买匹马的话，总不至于要跑到尖塔上去看它吧！”

"This baron was going to bring you an essay?" said Alexandra Pavlovna.

“这位男爵要给您看一篇文章吗？”亚历山德拉·巴甫洛芙娜问道。

"Yes, an essay," replied Darya Mihailovna, with exaggerated carelessness, "on the relation of commerce to manufactures in Russia.... But don't be afraid; we will not read it here.... I did not invite you for that. Le baron est aussi aimable que savant . And he speaks Russian beautifully! C'est un vrai torrent... il vous entraine !"

“是的。”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜故意装作漫不经心的样子回答道，“一篇关于俄国商业和制造业之间关系的文章……不过别担心，我们不会在这里品读它的……我请你们来可不是为了这个。这位男爵博学多才，招人喜欢。他的俄语说得地道极了！真是有声有色……您一定会听得入迷的！”

"He speaks Russian so beautifully," grumbled Pigasov, "that he deserves a eulogy in French."

“他俄语说得好，”皮加索夫揶揄地小声嘀咕道，“您却用法语赞美他。”

"You may grumble as you please, African Semenitch.... It's in keeping with your ruffled locks.... I wonder, though, why he does not come. Do you know what, messieurs et mesdames' added Darya Mihailovna, looking round, "we will go into the garden. There is still nearly an hour to dinner-time and the weather is glorious."

“您就尽情地抱怨吧，阿夫里坎·谢苗内奇……正好跟您乱蓬蓬的头发很搭配呢……不过，他为什么还不来呢？女士们，先生们，”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜看了看众人，继续说道，“我们进花园去吧。离宴会时间还有一个小时呢，而且外面天气很好。”

All the company rose and went into the garden.

大家纷纷起身往花园走去。

Darya Mihailovna's garden stretched right down to the river. There were many alleys of old lime-trees in it, full of sunlight and shade and fragrance and glimpses of emerald green at the ends of the walks, and many arbours of acacias and lilacs.

达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜的花园正好通到河边。园中满是古老的椴树，树丛中有许多小路，小径深处树影横斜，暗香四溢，一片绿光闪亮耀眼，此外还有许多由洋槐和丁香围成的小凉亭。

Volintsev turned into the thickest part of the garden with Natalya and Mlle. Boncourt.

沃伦采夫跟娜塔利娅以及邦古小姐一起向园中最茂密之处走去。

He walked beside Natalya in silence.

他跟娜塔利娅肩并肩默默地走着。

Mlle. Boncourt followed a little behind.

邦古小姐在后面不远处跟着他们。

"What have you been doing today?" asked Volintsev at last, pulling the ends of his handsome dark brown moustache.

“您今天都做了些什么？”终于，沃伦采夫摸着自己漂亮的深褐色小胡子开口发问了。

In features he resembled his sister strikingly; but there was less movement and life in his expression, and his soft beautiful eyes had a melancholy look.

他和她姐姐长得非常相像；只是脸上不那么富有生气和活力，温柔漂亮的眼睛中透出丝丝忧伤。

"Oh! nothing," answered Natalya, "I have been listening to Pigasov's sarcasms, I have done some embroidery on canvas, and I've been reading."

“啊！没做什么。”娜塔利娅回答道，“一直在听皮加索夫怨东怨西，绣了一会儿花，然后又读了会儿书。”

"And what have you been reading?"

“您看了什么书？”

"Oh! I read a history of the Crusades," said Natalya, with some hesitation.

“啊，我看的是《十字军东征史》。”娜塔利娅带着些许犹豫的口吻说道。

Volintsev looked at her.

沃伦采夫看着她。

"Ah!" he ejaculated at last, "that must be interesting."

“啊！”他忽然说道，“一定很有趣。”

He picked a twig and began to twirl it in the air. They walked another twenty paces.

他折下根小树枝，在空中捻弄起来。他们又一起走了二十步。

"What is this baron whom your mother has made acquaintance with?" began Volintsev again.

“您母亲结识的那位男爵是做什么的？”沃伦采夫又问。

"A Gentleman of the Bedchamber, a new arrival; maman speaks very highly of him."

“一位宫廷侍从，是新来的；家母对他非常赏识。”

"Your mother is quick to take fancies to people."

“您母亲很容易欣赏别人。”

"That shows that her heart is still young," observed Natalya.

“这正说明她的心态依然年轻。”娜塔利娅说。

"Yes. I shall soon bring you your mare. She is almost quite broken in now. I want to teach her to gallop, and I shall manage it soon." "Merci!... But I'm quite ashamed. You are breaking her in yourself ...and they say it's so hard!"

“正是。我尽快把您的马送过来。它已经训练得差不多了。我想让它学会飞奔，很快就可以了。”“谢谢！但我很惭愧。让您亲自训练它……听说这可不是件简单的事！”

"To give you the least pleasure, you know, Natalya Alexyevna, I am ready ... I ... not in such trifles—"

“只要您能得到哪怕一丝快乐，娜塔利娅·阿列克谢耶芙娜，我都可以……我……这点小事别放在心上——”

Volintsev grew confused.

沃伦采夫感到很困惑。

Natalya looked at him with friendly encouragement, and again said "merci!"

娜塔利娅用一种友好的、鼓励的神情看着他，又说了句“谢谢！”

"You know," continued Sergei Pavlitch after a long pause, "that not such things.... But why am I saying this? you know everything, of course."

“您知道，”谢尔盖·巴甫雷奇沉默了许久之后继续又说，“无论什么事情……我干嘛说这个！您一定都知道的。”

At that instant a bell rang in the house.

就在这个时候从房子里传来了铃声。

"Ah! la cloche du diner !" cried Mlle. Boncourt, "rentrons."

“啊！“到时间开饭了！”邦古小姐喊道，“回去吧。”

"Quel dommage," thought the old French lady to herself as she mounted the balcony steps behind Volintsev and Natalya, "quel dommage que ce charmant garcon ait si peu de ressources dans la conversation," which may be translated, "you are a good fellow, my dear boy, but rather a fool."

"Quel dommage,"这位年老的法国小姐边想边跟着沃伦采夫和娜塔利娅走上了露台的台阶，"quel dommage que ce charmant garcon ait si peu de ressources dans la conversation."这句话用俄语就是，“亲爱的孩子，你是个好人，可是有些傻乎乎的。”

The baron did not arrive to dinner.

男爵并没有来吃晚餐。

They waited half-an-hour for him. Conversation flagged at the table. Sergei Pavlitch did nothing but gaze at Natalya, near whom he was sitting, and zealously filled up her glass with water. Pandalevsky tried in vain to entertain his neighbour, Alexandra Pavlovna; he was bubbling over with sweetness, but she hardly refrained from yawning.

他们等了他大约三十分钟。饭桌上谈话并不活跃。谢尔盖·巴甫雷奇坐在娜塔利娅的旁边，一直注视着她，热情地为她倒水。潘达列夫斯基一直在讨好他的邻座亚历山德拉·巴甫洛芙娜，但都是徒劳；他滔滔不绝地说着甜言蜜语，而她却哈欠连连。

Bassistoff was rolling up pellets of bread and thinking of nothing at all; even Pigasov was silent, and when Darya Mihailovna remarked to him that he had not been very polite today, he replied crossly, "When am I polite? that's not in my line;' and smiling grimly he added, "have a little patience; I am only kvas, you know, du simple Russian kvas; but your Gentleman of the Bedchamber—"

巴西斯托夫把面包捏成小球，脑子里空荡荡的；就连皮加索夫都沉默了，当达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜说他今天表现得不太礼貌时，他生气地回答道：“我什么时候礼貌过？礼貌可不是我的专长。”他阴沉地笑了笑，继续说道，“忍耐一下吧；我只是格瓦斯，俄国格瓦斯，仅此而已；您的宫廷侍卫才是……

"Bravo!" cried Darya Mihailovna, "Pigasov is jealous, he is jealous already!"

“太好了！”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜高声说道，“皮加索夫在嫉妒，他已经在嫉妒了！”

But Pigasov made her no rejoinder, and only gave her a rather cross look.

皮加索夫什么也没说，只是生气地撇了她一眼。

Seven o'clock struck, and they were all assembled again in the drawing-room.

七点的钟声敲响了，大家又重新回到了客厅。

"He is not coming, clearly," said Darya Mihailovna. But, behold, the rumble of a carriage was heard: a small tarantass drove into the court, and a few instants later a footman entered the drawing-room and gave Darya Mihailovna a note on a silver salver. She glanced through it, and turning to the footman asked:

“很明显，他不会来了。”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜说道。但是，就在这个时候，响起了马车的隆隆声；一辆不大的四轮马车进了庭院，少顷，一个仆人走进客厅，递给达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜一封放在银盘里的信。她匆匆瞟了一眼信，转身对着仆人问道：

"But where is the gentleman who brought this letter?"

“捎来这封信的那位先生在哪里？”

"He is sitting in the carriage. Shall I ask him to come up?"

“在马车里。要请他进来吗？”

"Ask him to do so." The man went out. "Fancy, how vexatious!" continued Darya Mihailovna, "the baron has received a summons to return at once to Petersburg. He has sent me his essay by a certain Mr. Rudin, a friend of his. The baron wanted to introduce him to me—he speaks very highly of him. But how vexatious it is! I had hoped the baron would stay here for some time."

“请他进来吧。”仆人走了出去。“真是太让人失望了！”达里娅·米哈伊洛芙娜说道，“男爵接到召集令，必须立刻回彼得堡。他托他的朋友罗亭先生将文章送了过来。男爵将这位先生介绍给我——他很欣赏这位先生。不过真是让人失望！我原先还希望男爵在这里逗留一段时间呢。”

"Dmitri Nikolaitch Rudin," announced the servant

“德米特里·尼古拉耶维奇·罗亭先生到。”仆人禀告说。 y2WdsXHNYFHZbut0HXkO7G/sMlaI11eNmDsMUULxVXQXhLCpwA14kGRNYzZ6zbI8