我的童年(外研社双语读库)(txt+pdf+epub+mobi电子书下载)

作者：Maxim Gorky 高尔基

出版社：外语教学与研究出版社

格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT

我的童年(外研社双语读库)试读：

CHAPTER I

第一章

IN a narrow, darkened room, my father, dressed in a white and unusually long garment, lay on the floor under the window. The toes of his bare feet were curiously extended, and the fingers of the still hands, which rested peacefully upon his breast, were curved; his merry eyes were tightly closed by the black disks of two copper coins; the light had gone out of his still face, and I was frightened by the ugly way he showed his teeth.

在一间狭窄又黑暗的房间里，我的父亲，穿着奇长的白色外衣，躺在窗户下的地板上。他那裸露的脚趾好奇地向前伸着，纹丝不动的手指弯曲着，安静地放在胸口；他那双常常微笑的眼睛也紧闭着，像是被两枚黑黑的铜币压着一般；他那慈祥的面孔已经失去光泽，而且他那露出牙齿的丑陋样子也让我感到害怕。

My mother, only half clad in a red petticoat, knelt and combed my father's long, soft hair, from his brow to the nape of his neck, with the same black comb which I loved to use to tear the rind of watermelons; she talked unceasingly in her low, husky voice, and it seemed as if her swollen eyes must be washed away by the incessant flow of tears.

我的母亲，只半裹着一件红色内裙，跪在父亲旁边，梳理着他柔软的长发，从前额到脖子；她用的那把木梳，就是我以前很喜欢用来削西瓜皮的黑木梳；她不停地说着什么，声音低沉沙哑，她那双水肿的眼睛看起来也要被不断流下的泪水冲走。

Holding me by the hand was my grandmother, who had a big, round head, large eyes, and a nose like a sponge—a dark, tender, wonderfully interesting person. She also was weeping, and her grief formed a fitting accompaniment to my mother's, as, shuddering the while, she pushed me towards my father; but I, terrified and uneasy, obstinately tried to hide myself against her. I had never seen grown-up people cry before, and I did not understand the words which my grandmother uttered again and again:

把我抱在怀里的是我的外祖母；她头很大，很圆，大眼睛，鼻子像一块海绵——一个皮肤黝黑、性格温和又很有趣的女人。她也在哭，跟母亲的哭声相称；她颤抖着，把我推向了我的父亲。但是，我因为害怕和不安，一个劲儿地想把自己藏在她的身后。我以前从来没有看过大人哭，而且我也不明白外祖母一遍又一遍地说着什么。

"Say good-by to daddy. You will never see him any more. He is dead—before his time.”“和父亲说再见。你永远都不会再见到他了。他要死了——不该这么早死啊。”

I had been very ill, had only just left my bed in fact, and I remember perfectly well that at the beginning of my illness my father used to merrily bustle about me. Then he suddenly disappeared and his place was taken by my grandmother, a stranger to me.

之前我一直在生病，实际上刚刚离开病床；我还完全清楚地记得，在我生病初期，父亲总是在我的周围乐呵呵地忙碌着。然后他突然消失了，外祖母取而代之，那时对我来说她还是个陌生人。

"Where did you come from?" I asked her.“你从哪里来的？”我问她。

"From up there, from Nijni," she answered; "but I did not walk here, I came by boat. One does not walk on water, you little imp."“我从尼日尼来，”她回答，“但我不是走来的，我是坐船来的。人不能在水上走，你这个小淘气。”

This was ludicrous, incomprehensible, and untrue; upstairs there lived a bearded, gaudy Persian, and in the cellar an old, yellow Kalmuck who sold sheepskins. One could get upstairs by riding on the banisters, or if one fell that way, one could roll. I knew this by experience. But where was there room for water? It was all untrue and delightfully muddled.

这有些荒唐，无法理解，更不真实；楼上住着一位长满胡子穿着俗丽的波斯人；阁楼里住着一位上了年纪、黄色皮肤的卡尔梅克人，他以卖羊皮为生。人可以骑着栏杆上楼，一旦摔倒了，便会滚下来（“尼日尼”在俄语里有“往下”的意思）。我经历过，所以才知道。但是哪里会有水呢？真是瞎话，荒唐可笑。

"And why am I a little imp?"“而且为什么我是小淘气？”

"Why? Because you are so noisy," she said, laughing.“为什么？因为你很吵。”她笑着说道。

She spoke sweetly, merrily, melodiously, and from the very first day I made friends with her; all I wanted now was for her to make haste and take me out of that room.

她说话时柔声细语，欢快悦耳；从见到她的第一天起，我就和她成为了朋友；我现在想要的只是让她快点带我离开那个房间。

My mother pressed me to her; her tears and groans created in me a strange feeling of disquietude. It was the first time I had seen her like this. She had always appeared a stern woman of few words; neat, glossy, and strongly built like a horse, with a body of almost savage strength, and terribly strong arms. But now she was swollen and palpitating, and utterly desolate. Her hair, which was always coiled so neatly about her head, with her large, gaily trimmed cap, was tumbled about her bare shoulders, fell over her face, and part of it which remained plaited, trailed across my father's sleeping face. Although I had been in the room a long time she had not once looked at me; she could do nothing but dress my father's hair, sobbing and choking with tears the while.

妈妈把我抱过去；她的泪水和哭声，使我感到了一种莫名的不安。这是我第一次看到她这样。她从来都是很严厉的样子，而且话也不多；干净整洁，健壮如牛，充满了几乎是野性力量的身体，和非常结实的胳膊。但是现在她眼睛红肿，浑身颤抖，很是凄惨。她的头发，以前总是很整齐地盘在头上，上面还戴一顶硕大华丽的修边女帽，而如今却披散在裸露的双肩上，遮住了脸。依然盘在头上的头发，偶尔还会掉下来，落在我父亲那张熟睡的脸上。虽然我在房间里呆了很久，但是她都没有看我一眼；她只是一个劲儿地梳理父亲的头发，一边哽咽着，泪水流个不停。

Presently some swarthy gravediggers and a soldier peeped in at the door.

不一会儿，一些黑黝黝的掘墓工人们和一个士兵在门口向里张望。

The latter shouted angrily: "Clear out now! Hurry up!"

那个士兵生气地大喊：“马上清理！快点！”

The window was curtained by a dark shawl, which the wind inflated like a sail. I knew this because one day my father had taken me out in a sailing-boat, and without warning there had come a peal of thunder. He laughed, and holding me against his knees, cried, "It is nothing. Don't be frightened, Luke!"

窗户上挂着一块黑色披肩，被风一吹，像是扬起的船帆。我知道船帆，因为我父亲有一天曾带我坐着帆船出游；还遭遇了一场电闪雷鸣，令人始料不及。他笑着紧紧地把我抱在他的膝盖上，喊道：“这没有什么。不要害怕，卢克！”

Suddenly my mother threw herself heavily on the floor, but almost at once turned over on her back, dragging her hair in the dust; her impassive, white face had become livid, and showing her teeth like my father, she said in a terrible voice, "Close the door!... Alexis... go away!"

突然妈妈把自己狠狠摔在地上，但是又马上面朝上转过来，头发在扬起的尘土中散开；她冷漠而苍白的脸已经变成了青紫色，像父亲那样露出牙齿；用可怕的声音喊道：“把门关上！……亚历克西斯……走开！”

Thrusting me on one side, grandmother rushed to the door crying:

外祖母把我推向一边，冲到门口喊道：

"Friends! Don't be frightened; don't interfere, but go away, for the love of Christ. This is not cholera but childbirth.... I beg of you to go, good people!"“朋友们！不用害怕；什么都别管，都走开，看在耶稣的份上。这不是霍乱，只是生孩子……我求你们了，走吧，好人们！”

I hid myself in a dark corner behind a box, and thence I saw how my mother writhed upon the floor, panting and gnashing her teeth; and grandmother, kneeling beside her, talked lovingly and hopefully.

我躲藏在箱子后面一个黑暗的角落里，在那里看着母亲在地板上翻腾，牙关紧咬，呼吸急促；外祖母跪在她的旁边和她说话，语气充满爱意和希望。

"In the name of the Father and of the Son...! Be patient, Varusha! Holy Mother of God!...Our Defense...!"“看在父亲和儿子的份上……！有点耐心吧，瓦鲁撒！上帝的圣母！……保佑我们吧！”

I was terrified. They crept about on the floor close to my father, touching him, groaning and shrieking, and he remained unmoved and actually smiling. This creeping about on the floor lasted a long time; several times my mother stood up, only to fall down again, and grandmother rolled in and out of the room like a large, black, soft ball. All of a sudden a child cried.

我很害怕。他们爬到父亲的身边，抚摸他，呻吟着，尖叫着，而他仍是纹丝不动，实际上还面带微笑。她们在地上爬了很长时间；有几次，我母亲站起来，但又倒下去；外祖母在房间里进进出出，好像是一个又黑又柔软的大球。突然，一个孩子哭了。

"Thank God!" said grandmother. "It is a boy!"And she lighted a candle.“感谢上帝！”外祖母说道，“是个男孩儿！”她点燃一根蜡烛。

I must have fallen asleep in the corner, for I remember nothing more.

我肯定是在角落里睡着了，因为之后的事情我都不记得了。

The next impression which my memory retains is a deserted corner in a cemetery on a rainy day. I am standing by a slippery mound of sticky earth and looking into the pit wherein they have thrown the coffin of my father. At the bottom there is a quantity of water, and there are also frogs, two of which have even jumped on to the yellow lid of the coffin.

记忆中的下一个场景就是墓地里一个荒芜的角落，那天还淅淅沥沥地下着雨。我站在一个光滑的粘土堆旁，痴痴地看着他们安置父亲棺材的土坑。坑底有很多水，还有几只青蛙，有两只甚至跳到了棺材的黄色盖子上。

At the graveside were myself, grandmother, a drenched sexton, and two cross gravediggers with shovels.

坟墓旁，站着我、外祖母、一个湿透了的教堂司事，还有两个拿着铁锹相对而站的挖墓者。

We were all soaked with the warm rain which fell in fine drops like glass beads.

我们都被温热的雨水淋湿了。细小的雨滴像玻璃珠一样滴落。

"Fill in the grave," commanded the sexton, moving away.“填土吧。”司事命令道，后退了一步。

Grandmother began to cry, covering her face with a corner of the shawl which she wore for a head-covering. The gravediggers, bending nearly double, began to fling the lumps of earth on the coffin rapidly, striking the frogs, which were leaping against the sides of the pit, down to the bottom.

外祖母开始哭泣，扯起裹头的围巾的一角，遮住她的脸。挖墓者弯下腰，飞快地把土掷向棺材。粘土打到了那两只青蛙，于是它们沿着坑的两边往下跳，一直下到坑底。

"Come along, Lenia," said grandmother, taking hold of my shoulder; but having no desire to depart, I wriggled out of her hands.“过来，莱尼雅。”外祖母紧抱着我的肩膀说道；但是我没有离开的打算，所以从她的手里逃脱出来。

"What next, O Lord?" grumbled grandmother, partly to me, and partly to God, and she remained for some time silent, with her head drooping dejectedly.“哦，上帝啊，要做什么？”外祖母咕哝着，也许是对我说，也许是对上帝说；她在那里站了一会儿，默默无声，沮丧地低着头。

The grave was filled in, yet still she stood there, till the gravediggers threw their shovels to the ground with a resounding clangor, and a breeze suddenly arose and died away, scattering the raindrops; then she took me by the hand and led me to a church some distance away, by a path which lay between a number of dark crosses.

坟墓填平了，她还是站在那里，直到挖墓者咣当一声把铁锹扔在地上；一阵微风一闪而过，吹散了雨滴；然后她牵起我的手，走过一条两边都是黑色十字架的小路，把我领到了远处的一个教堂。

"Why don't you cry?" she asked, as we came away from the burial-ground. "You ought to cry."“你为什么不哭？”当我们远离坟地的时候，她问道，“你应该哭。”

"I don't want to," was my reply.“我不想哭。”我回答道。

"Well, if you don't want to, you need not," she said gently.“好吧，如果你不想哭，就不必哭了。”她温和地说。

This greatly surprised me, because I seldom cried, and when I did it was more from anger than sorrow; moreover, my father used to laugh at my tears, while my mother would exclaim, "Don't you dare to cry!"

这让我非常惊讶，因为我很少哭泣，而且即使我哭了，也常常是因为生气而不是悲伤。另外，我父亲也经常嘲笑我哭鼻子，而我的母亲则会喊道：“难道你不敢哭吗？”

After this we rode in a droshky through a broad but squalid street, between rows of houses which were painted dark red.

后来，我们坐着一辆无棚的四轮马车，走在一条宽敞但很泥泞的街道上，两边是一排排粉刷成暗红色的房子。

As we went along, I asked grandmother, "Will those frogs ever be able to get out?"

路上，我问外祖母：“那些青蛙能从里面出来吗？”

"Never!" she answered. "God bless them!"I reflected that my father and my mother never spoke so often or so familiarly of God.“永远不会！”她答道，“上帝保佑它们！”我认识到，我的父母从来都没有这么频繁或者这么亲切地提到上帝。

A few days later my mother and grandmother took me aboard a steamboat, where we had a tiny cabin.

几天之后，母亲和外祖母就把我带到了一条汽船上，我们有一间小船舱。

My little brother Maxim was dead, and lay on a table in the corner, wrapped in white and wound about with red tape. Climbing on to the bundles and trunks I looked out of the porthole, which seemed to me exactly like the eye of a horse. Muddy, frothy water streamed unceasingly down the pane. Once it dashed against the glass with such violence that it splashed me, and I involuntarily jumped back to the floor.

我的弟弟马克西姆死了，躺在角落里的一张桌子上，用白布裹着，还缠绕着红色的带子。我爬到箱子上的包裹上，透过舷窗向外看；对我来说，这个舷窗就像是马的眼睛。海水浑浊多泡，不停地沿着窗格流淌。偶尔它会凶猛地拍打玻璃，水花便溅到我身上；于是我极不情愿地跳回到地板上。

"Don't be afraid," said grandmother, and lifting me lightly in her kind arms, restored me to my place on the bundles.“别害怕。”外祖母把我抱起来，轻轻地搂在怀里说道；然后又把我放回到箱子上的包裹处。

A gray, moist fog brooded over the water; from time to time a shadowy land was visible in the distance, only to be obscured again by the fog and the foam. Everything about us seemed to vibrate, except my mother who, with her hands folded behind her head, leaned against the wall fixed and still, with a face that was grim and hard as iron, and as expressionless. Standing thus, mute, with closed eyes, she appeared to me as an absolute stranger. Her very frock was unfamiliar to me.

暗淡潮湿的雾气笼罩在水面上；偶尔可以看见远处模糊的陆地，但马上又在雾气和浪花中变得难以辨认了。周围所有的东西似乎都在颤动，唯独只有我的母亲，双手交叉，放在脑后。她一动不动地紧紧斜靠在墙上，脸上毫无表情，冷若冰霜。她就那样站着，双眼紧闭，一言不发。对我来说，她看起来完全是个陌生人。她穿的那件上衣我没怎么见过。

More than once grandmother said to her softly "Varia, won't you have something to eat?"

外祖母不止一次对她温柔地说：“瓦里亚，不想吃点东西吗？”

My mother neither broke the silence nor stirred from her position.

我的母亲既没有打破沉寂，也没有任何行动。

Grandmother spoke to me in whispers, but to my mother she spoke aloud, and at the same time cautiously and timidly, and very seldom. I thought she was afraid of her, which was quite intelligible, and seemed to draw us closer together.

外祖母和我说话时很小声，但是和母亲说话时声音很大，同时谨慎小心，话并不多。我想外祖母是害怕母亲，这是可以理解的。而且这也似乎把我们拉得更近了。

"Saratov!" loudly and fiercely exclaimed my mothe with startling suddenness. "Where is the sailor?" Strange, new words to me! Saratov? Sailor?“萨拉托夫！”母亲突然大声疯狂地喊道，吓了我们一跳。“那个水手在哪？”奇怪，对我来说都是生词！萨拉托夫？水手？

A broad-shouldered, gray-headed individual dressed in blue now entered, carrying a small box which grand mother took from him, and in which she proceeded to place the body of my brother. Having done this she bore the box and its burden to the door on her out stretched hands; but, alas! being so stout she could only get through the narrow doorway of the cabir sideways, and now halted before it in ludicrous uncertainty.

一个身穿蓝色衣服，肩膀很宽、头发花白的人走了进来，拿着一个小箱子；外祖母把箱子接过去，然后把我弟弟的尸体放了进去。之后，她伸出双手，吃力地把箱子搬到门口；但是，哎！因为过胖，她只能在到达船舱旁边那狭窄的门口后停了下来，左右为难的样子十分滑稽。

"Really, Mama!" exclaimed my mother impatiently, taking the tiny coffin from her. Then they both disappeared, while I stayed behind in the cabir regarding the man in blue.“真是的，妈妈！”我的母亲不耐烦地喊道，然后从她那里夺回了小棺材。然后，她们两个人就都不见了，而我还呆在船舱里，面对着那个穿蓝衣服的人。

"Well, mate, so the little brother has gone?" he said, bending down to me. "Who are you?""I am a sailor.""And who is Saratov?"“喂，小家伙，小弟弟已经死了？”他俯身向我问道。“你是谁？”“我是一个水手。”“谁是萨拉托夫？”

"Saratov is a town. Look out of the window. There it is!"“萨拉托夫是一个城镇。看看窗户外面，这就是了！”

Observed from the window, the land seemed to oscillate; and revealing itself obscurely and in a fragmentary fashion, as it lay steaming in the fog, it reminded me of a large piece of bread just cut off a hot loaf.

从窗户看去，陆地好像在晃动，笼罩在雾气之中，冒着蒸汽，时隐时现。这让我想起了刚切下的大片热面包。

"Where has grandmother gone to?"“外祖母去哪里了？”

"To bury her little grandson."“去埋她的外孙子了。”

"Are they going to bury him in the ground?"“她们是要把他埋在地里吗？”

"Yes, of course they are."“是啊，当然啦。”

I then told the sailor about the live frogs that had been buried with my father.

然后，我告诉了水手那两只和父亲一起被埋在土里的青蛙。

He lifted me up, and hugging and kissing me, cried, "Oh, my poor little fellow, you don't understand. It is not the frogs who are to be pitied, but your mother. Think how she is bowed down by her sorrow."

他把我举了起来，抱着我吻了吻，说道：“哦，我可怜的小家伙，你不明白。不是那两只青蛙应该受到同情，而是你的母亲。想想，她是怎样为悲伤所折磨。”

Then came a resounding howl overhead. Having already learned that it was the steamer which made this noise, I was not afraid; but the sailor hastily set me down on the floor and darted away, exclaiming, "I must run!"

这时，头顶传来了一声轰响。我已经知道那是汽笛发出的声音，因而并不害怕；但是水手慌忙把我放下来，飞快地离去，一边喊道：“我必须走了！”

The desire to escape seized me. I ventured out of the door. The dark, narrow space outside was empty, and not far away shone the brass on the steps of the staircase. Glancing upwards, I saw people with wallets and bundles in their hands, evidently going off the boat. This meant that I must go off too.

我也有了逃跑的欲望。我冒险跑出了门。外面黑暗又狭窄，空荡荡的；不远处的楼梯的台阶上发出了铜的光亮。我抬头看，发现人们手里都拿着行囊和包裹，显然是在下船。这意味着我也要离开。

But when I appeared in front of the gangway, amidst the crowd of peasants, they all began to yell at me.

但是当我出现在通道前，夹杂在成群的农民中时，他们都开始冲我大声喊叫。

"Who does he belong to? Who do you belong to?"“他是谁家的孩子？你是谁家的孩子？”

No one knew.

没有人知道。

For a long time they jostled and shook and poked me about, until the gray-haired sailor appeared and seized me, with the explanation:

他们不停地推挤，摇晃以及戳我，直到那个花白头发的水手出现在我面前，抱起我，并解释说：

"It is the Astrakhan boy from the cabin."“这是船舱里的来自阿斯特拉罕的孩子。”

And he ran off with me to the cabin, deposited me on the bundles and went away, shaking his finger at me, as he threatened, "I'11 give you something!”

他抱着我跑回到了船舱，把我放在包裹上，向我挥动着手指，威胁我：“我会给你教训的。”然后就匆匆离开了。

The noise overhead became less and less. The boat had ceased to vibrate, or to be agitated by the motion of the water. The window of the cabin was shut in by damp walls; within it was dark, and the air was stifling. It seemed to me that the very bundles grew larger and began to press upon me; it was all horrible, and I began to wonder if I was going to be left alone forever in that empty boat.

头上的喧闹声渐渐消失了。船停止了颤动，也不再因为水的流动而晃动了。船舱的窗户被封闭在潮湿的墙角里。里面漆黑，空气也很沉闷。似乎那个包裹在变大，开始向我挤压过来；一切都那么恐怖，我开始怀疑是否我会永远被遗忘在这条空荡荡的船上。

I went to the door, but it would not open; the brass handle refused to turn, so I took a bottle of milk and with all my force struck at it. The only result was that the bottle broke and the milk spilled over my legs, and trickled into my boots. Crushed by this failure, I threw myself on the bundles crying softly, and so fell asleep.

我向门走去，但打不开；黄铜扶手不肯转动，于是我拿了一个奶瓶，使尽全身的力气向它砸去。结果奶瓶碎了，牛奶飞溅在我的腿上，还滴进了我的靴子里。这失败令人沮丧，我躺在包裹上，轻声地哭起来，就这样睡着了。

When I awoke the boat was again in motion, and the window of the cabin shone like the sun.

当我醒来的时候，船又在航行，而且船舱的窗户像太阳般闪耀。

Grandmother, sitting near me, was combing her hair and muttering something with knitted brow. She had an extraordinary amount of hair which fell over her shoulders and breast to her knees, and even touched the floor. It was blue-black. Lifting it up from the floor with one hand and holding it with difficulty, she introduced an almost toothless wooden comb into its thick strands. Her lips were twisted, her dark eyes sparkled fiercely, while her face, encircled in that mass of hair, looked comically small. Her expression was almost malignant, but when I asked her why she had such long hair she answered in her usual mellow, tender voice:

外祖母正坐在我旁边梳头，眉头紧锁，低声嘟哝着什么。她头发极多，从肩膀、胸前一直到垂到膝盖，甚至及地。头发是蓝黑色的。她用一只手吃力地把头发从地上举起来，然后把几乎没有了齿的木梳插进厚密的头发里。她咬着嘴唇，黑亮的眼睛闪烁着光芒，而她的脸，被包在浓密的头发里，显得特别小，有点滑稽。她的表情几乎充满恶意，但是当我问她为什么有这么长的头发时，她的回答还是和往常一样甜美温柔：

"Surely God gave it to me as a punishment.... Even when it is combed, just look at it!... When I was young I was proud of my mane, but now I am old I curse it. But you go to sleep. It is quite early. The sun has only just risen."“当然了，上帝把它给了我是作为惩罚的……看看这又浓又密的头发！梳理起来很费力……当我年轻的时候，我为我的头发感到骄傲，但是现在，我诅咒它。你接着睡吧，天还很早呢，太阳才刚刚升起来。”

"But I don't want to go to sleep again."“但是我不想再睡了。”

"Very well, then don't go to sleep," she agreed at once, plaiting her hair and glancing at the berth on which my mother lay rigid, with upturned face. "How did you smash that bottle last evening? Tell me about it quietly."“好吧，那么就不睡吧。”她马上同意了，她扎好辫子，又看了看脸朝上躺在那里的母亲。“昨天晚上，你怎么把瓶子打碎了？悄悄告诉我。”

So she always talked, using such peculiarly harmonious words that they took root in my memory like fragrant, bright, everlasting flowers. When she smiled the pupils of her dark, luscious eyes dilated and beamed with an inexpressible charm, and her strong white teeth gleamed cheerfully. Apart from her multitudinous wrinkles and her swarthy complexion, she had a youthful and brilliant appearance. What spoiled her was her bulbous nose, with its distended nostrils, and red lips, caused by her habit of taking pinches of snuff from her black snuff-box mounted with silver, and by her fondness for drink. Everything about her was dark, but within she was luminous with an inextinguishable, joyful and ardent flame, which revealed itself in her eyes. Although she was bent, almost humpbacked, in fact, she moved lightly and softly, for all the world like a huge cat, and was just as gentle as that caressing animal.

她说起话来总是特别悦耳，这些话在我的记忆里扎了根，好像是芳香、鲜亮、永不衰败的花朵。她笑起来的时候，乌黑甜美的眼睛里，瞳孔便扩大了，闪着光，有一种无法表达的魅力，而且她的牙齿很白，也闪烁着令人愉悦的光芒。除了她满脸的皱纹和略黑的皮肤，她看起来很年轻，也很精明。让她的脸失色的是她的鼻子和嘴。那蒜头鼻有着扩张的鼻孔；她的嘴唇很红，因为她习惯从裱有白银的黑色鼻烟壶里吸食鼻烟，也因为她喜欢喝酒。她什么都黑，但是，她的内心却闪闪发亮，就像有不可磨灭、又热情洋溢的火焰，从她的眼睛里透露出来。虽然她身躯已经不再挺拔，几乎已经驼背，实际上，她行动起来灵活轻便，仿佛是一只肥猫，并和这种可爱的动物一样温柔。

Until she came into my life I seemed to have been asleep, and hidden away in obscurity; but when she appeared she woke me and led me to the light of day.

在她闯入我的生活之前，我好像一直都在沉睡，躲藏在阴暗之中；而她的出现唤醒了我，将我带入了光明。

Connecting all my impressions by a single thread, she wove them into a pattern of many colors, thus making herself my friend for life, the being nearest my heart, the dearest and best known of all; while her disinterested love for all creation enriched me, and built up the strength needful for a hard life.

她用一根线连接了我所有的记忆，将它们编织成缤纷的图案。于是，她成为我一生的挚友，是我内心最亲近、最珍贵、最重要的人。她的博爱影响着我，而且也为我在艰难的生活中树立了必要的勇气。

Forty years ago boats traveled slowly; we were a long time getting to Nijni, and I shall never forget those days almost overladen with beauty.

四十年前，船走得很慢；我们花了很长时间才到达尼日尼。我永远都不会忘记那些美丽的日子。

Good weather had set in. From morning till night I was on the deck with grandmother, under a clear sky, gliding between the autumn-gilded shores of the Volga, without hurry, lazily; and, with many resounding groans, as she rose and fell on the gray-blue water, a barge attached by a long rope was being drawn along by the bright red steamer. The barge was gray, and reminded me of a wood-louse.

天气变好了。我和外祖母从早到晚都呆在甲板上，头顶上的天空明朗干净，轮船悠闲懒散地穿梭于伏尔加河两边那染满秋色的河岸间；伴随着隆隆的马达声，船体在灰蓝色的河面上起伏有致，一艘驳船用一根长绳拴在了亮红色的轮船上，也被拉着前行。这条驳船是灰色的，这使我想起了土鳖虫。

Unperceived, the sun floated over the Volga. Every hour we were in the midst of fresh scenes; the green hills rose up like rich folds on earth's sumptuous vesture; on the shore stood towns and villages; the golden autumn leaves floated on the water.

不知不觉中，太阳已经照耀着伏尔加河。每时每刻，我们都环抱在云蒸霞蔚的美景之中；绿色的山林高耸，好似大地华丽外衣的褶皱；两岸坐落着城镇和村落；金黄的秋叶漂流在河面上。

"Look how beautiful it all is!" grandmother exclaimed every minute, going from one side of the boat to the other, with a radiant face, and eyes wide with joy. Very often, gazing at the shore, she would forget me; she would stand on the deck, her hands folded on her breast, smiling and in silence, with her eyes full of tears. I would tug at her skirt of dark, sprigged linen.“看，这里的一切多么美丽！”外祖母总会从船头走到另一头，大声感叹。她脸色红润，大大的眼睛里满是愉悦。她经常会盯着河岸，把我给忘了；她站在甲板上，双手合在胸前，默不作声，但脸上挂着微笑，眼里闪烁着泪花。我会用力拉她那带有枝条图案的黑色麻布裙子。

"Ah!" she would exclaim, starting. "I must have fallen asleep, and begun to dream.""But why are you crying?"“啊！”她开始喊道，“我肯定睡着了，开始做梦了。”“但你为什么哭呢？”

"For joy and for old age, my dear," she would reply, smiling. "I am getting old, you know—sixty years have passed over my head.”“因为高兴，因为年老，我的宝贝儿。” 她会笑着回答，“我老了，你知道——脑海里已经闪过六十个年头了。”

And taking a pinch of snuff, she would begin to tell me some wonderful stories about kind-hearted brigands, holy people, and all sorts of wild animals and evil spirits.

吸了一下鼻烟之后，她会给我讲很多关于热心海盗，圣人的故事，还有各种各样的野兽和恶鬼的故事。

She would tell me these stories softly, mysteriously, with her face close to mine, fixing me with her dilated eyes, thus actually infusing into me the strength which was growing within me. The longer she spoke, or rather sang, the more melodiously flowed her words. It was inexpressibly pleasant to listen to her.

她讲这些故事时，声音轻柔、神秘。她的脸紧贴着我的脸，大大的眼睛紧盯着我。确实，她向我灌输了力一种量，这力量在我的心田滋长。她讲得越久，或是说唱得越久，她的声音就越发优美。听她说话唱歌，有一种难以言表的乐趣。

I would listen and beg for another, and this is what I got:

我会在听完后，再求她讲一个，这就是我当时听到的：

"In the stove there lives an old goblin; once he got a splinter into his paw, and rocked to and fro whimpering, 'Oh, little mice, it hurts very much; oh, little mice, I can't bear it!'"“炉子里住着一个老鬼；有一次他的爪子里扎进去一块碎片，他前后摇晃地哀怨：‘噢，小东西，太疼了；噢，小东西，我受不了了！’”

Raising her foot, she took it in her hands and wagged it from side to side, wrinkling up her face so funnily, just as if she herself had been hurt.

外祖母抬起她的脚，把它拿在手里左右摇晃，一脸皱纹，很是滑稽，好像她自己受了伤似的。

The sailors who stood round—bearded, good-natured men—listening and laughing, and praising the stories, would say:

那些站在周围的海员们——他们个个都是长满胡子，脾气和善的人——边听边笑，说故事讲得好，还说：

"Now, Grandmother, give us another."“现在，外祖母，再给我们讲一个吧。”

Afterwards they would say:

之后，他们还会说：

"Come and have supper with us."“来和我们吃晚饭吧。”

At supper they regaled her with vodka, and me with water-melon; this they did secretly, for there went to and fro on the boat a man who forbade the eating of fruit, and used to take it away and throw it in the river. He was dressed like an official, and was always drunk; people kept out of his sight.

晚饭时，他们给她伏尔加酒，给我吃西瓜；这是他们偷偷给我的，因为在船上有人来回走动监察，不允许吃水果，通常会把它拿走扔到河里。那人穿得像一个军官，而且经常醉醺醺的；人们都不愿让他看见。

On rare occasions my mother came on deck, and stood on the side farthest from us. She was always silent. Her large, well-formed body, her grim face, her heavy crown of plaited, shining hair—all about her was compact and solid, and she appeared to me as if she were enveloped in a fog or a transparent cloud, out of which she looked unamiably with her gray eyes, which were as large as grandmother's.

我的母亲难得会来到甲板上，站在离我们最远的那一边。她总是沉默无语。她那高大有形的身体，严肃的面孔，紧锁的眉头，闪亮的头发——她的一切都是紧凑而坚固。在我看来，她好像是包裹在雾气里，或者是透明的云彩里，这让她看起来很不亲切，灰色的眼睛跟外祖母的一般大。

Once she exclaimed sternly:

有一次她严厉地喊道：

"People are laughing at you, Mama!"“人们在嘲笑你，妈妈！”

"God bless them!" answered grandmother, quite unconcerned. "Let them laugh, and good luck to 'em."“上帝保佑他们！”外祖母毫不介意地回答道，“让他们笑吧，祝他们好运。”

I remember the childish joy grandmother showed at the sight of Nijni. Taking my hand, she dragged me to the side, crying:

我至今记得在看到尼日尼的时候，外祖母那孩子般的快乐。她拉起我的手，把我拽到身旁，喊道：

"Look! Look how beautiful it is! That's Nijni, that is! Look at the church too! There's something heavenly about it. Doesn't it seem to have wings?"And she turned to my mother, nearly weeping. "Varusha, look, won't you? Come here! You seem to have forgotten all about it. Can't you show a little gladness?"“看！它多美！那就是尼日尼，那就是！它好似天堂。再看看那个教堂，难道它不像是有翅膀吗？”她转身面向我的母亲，几乎流泪。“瓦鲁撒，看看，行吗？过来！你似乎把一切都忘记了。难道你不能表现得高兴点吗？”

My mother, with a frown, smiled bitterly.

我的母亲，皱了一下眉头，痛苦地笑了笑。

When the boat arrived outside the beautiful town between two rivers blocked by vessels, and bristling with hundreds of slender masts, a large boat containing many people was drawn alongside it. Catching the boat-hook in the gangway, one after another the passengers came on board. A short, wizened man, dressed in black, with a red-gold beard, a bird-like nose, and green eyes, pushed his way in front of the others.

我们的船来到了那座夹在两条河之间的美丽的镇外的时候，看到河里到处都是有着细长桅杆的船，还有一艘大船，上面有很多乘客，也正在靠岸。艇钩挂在通道上后，乘客们一个接一个地上了船。一个小个子的瘦削男人，穿着黑色的衣服，留有金红色的胡子，长着鸟一样的鼻子和一双绿色的眼睛，挤出了一条路，冲在其他人的前面。

"Papa!" my mother cried in a hoarse, loud voice, as she threw herself into his arms; but he, taking her face in his little red hands and hastily patting her cheeks, cried:“爸爸！”我的母亲用沙哑的声音大喊，然后就一头扑进他的怀里；而他，用他红色的小手捧起她的脸，急速地拍着她的脸颊，喊道：

"Now, silly! What's the matter with you?..."“嗳，小傻瓜！你怎么了？”

Grandmother embraced and kissed them all at once, turning round and round like a peg-top; she pushed me towards them, saying quickly:

外祖母一下子把他们两个抱住，亲吻着他们，像个陀螺一样转啊转；她把我推向他们，赶紧说道：

"Now—make haste! This is Uncle Michael, this is Jaakov, this is Aunt Natalia, these are two brothers both called Sascha, and their sister Katerina. This is all our family. Isn't it a large one?"“嗳——快点！这是迈克尔舅舅，这是扎科夫，这是娜塔莉亚舅妈，这是你的两位哥哥，都叫萨沙，还有他们的妹妹卡特里娜。这都是我们的家人。难道不是一大家子吗？”

Grandfather said to her:

外祖父对她说道：

"Are you quite well, Mother?" and they kissed each other three times.“你还好吧，孩子妈？”然后他们互相亲吻了三下。

He then drew me from the dense mass of people, and laying his hand on my head, asked:

然后，从密集的人群中，他把我拉过来，把他的手放在我的头上，问道：

"And who may you be?"“你能是谁呢？”

"I am the Astrakhan boy from the cabin."“我是从船舱里出来的，来自阿斯特拉罕”。

"What on earth is he talking about?"Grandfather turned to my mother, but without waiting for an answer, shook me and said: "You are a chip of the old block. Get into the boat."“他究竟在说什么？”外祖父转向母亲，没有等到她回答，晃了晃我，说道：“你跟你的爸爸长得一模一样。上船吧。”

Having landed, the crowd of people wended its way up the hill by a road paved with rough cobblestones between two steep slopes covered with trampled grass.

登陆之后，人们都向山上走去。路上铺有粗糙的鹅卵石，两边是很陡的斜坡，上面的草都被践踏了。

Grandfather and mother went in front of us all. He was a head shorter than she was, and walked with little hurried steps; while she, looking down on him from her superior height, appeared literally to float beside him. After them walked dark, sleek-haired Uncle Michael, wizened like grandfather, bright and curly-headed Jaakov, some fat women in brightly colored dresses, and six children, all older than myself and all very, quiet. I was with grandmother and little Aunt Natalia. Pale, blue-eyed and stout, she frequently stood still, panting and whispering: "Oh, I can't go any farther!"

外祖父和外祖母走在最前面。他比她矮一头，而且步伐小而急促；高个头的她俯视他时，看起来像飘浮在他的身旁一样。他们后面跟着头发黑亮光滑的迈克尔舅舅，他和外祖父一样瘦削；头发油亮卷曲的扎科夫；一些穿着亮色裙子的胖女人，还有六个孩子，他们个个都比我大，而且都非常安静。我呆在外祖母和娜塔莉亚舅妈的旁边。她脸色苍白，长着一双蓝色眼睛，又矮又胖；她总是停下来，喘息着低声说：“哦，我走不动了！”

"Why did they trouble you to come?" grumbled grandmother angrily. "They are a silly lot!"“他们为什么还要麻烦你来呢？”外祖母生气地咕哝着，“真是一群傻瓜！”

I did not like either the grown-up people nor the children; I felt myself to be a stranger in their midst—even grandmother had somehow become estranged and distant.

我既不喜欢这些大人，也不喜欢这些孩子；我感觉在他们中间我是一个陌生人——甚至连外祖母也变得冷漠和疏远。

Most of all I disliked my uncle; I felt at once that he was my enemy, and I was conscious of a certain feeling of cautious curiosity towards him.

我最不喜欢的是我的舅舅；我马上就意识到他是我的敌人，而且我也意识到，对他，我有一种既小心又好奇的感觉。

We had now arrived at the end of our journey.

现在我们的旅途已经到达终点。

At the very top, perched on the right slope, stood the first building in the street—a squat, one-storied house, decorated with dirty pink paint, with a narrow overhanging roof and bow-windows. Looked at from the street it appeared to be a large house, but the interior, with its gloomy, tiny rooms, was cramped. Everywhere, as on the landing-stage, angry people strove together, and a vile smell pervaded the whole place.

在最上面，右边的斜坡上，矗立着街道上的第一所建筑物——一个低矮的平房；房子外面粉刷着脏兮兮的粉色油漆，屋顶狭窄吊在上面，窗户外凸。从街道上看它，好像是一个大房子，但实际上，里面阴暗，房间小而狭窄。好像在码头上一样，到处都聚集着愤怒的人们，而且整个地方都弥漫着难闻的气味。

I went out into the yard. That also was unpleasant. It was strewn with large, wet cloths and lumbered with tubs, all containing muddy water, of the same hue, in which other cloths lay soaking. In the corner of a half-tumbled-down shed the logs burned brightly in a stove, upon which something was boiling or baking, and an unseen person uttered these strange words:

我走进出房子，来到院子里。那里也很不舒服。到处都挂着大块潮湿的布，而且堆满了盆，里面装着同样浑浊的水，浸泡着一些布块。在摇摇欲坠的棚子里的一个角落，炉子里的木头烧得火红，上面煮着或者烘烤着什么东西，还有一个没有看见的人在说着一些奇怪的话：

"Santaline, fuchsin, vitriol!"“紫檀色，品红，硫酸盐！”

CHAPTER II

第二章

THEN began and flowed on with astonishing rapidity an intense, varied, inexpressibly strange life. It reminded me of a crude story, well told by a good-natured but irritatingly truthful genius. Now, in recalling the past, I myself find it difficult to believe, at this distance of time, that things really were as they were, and I have longed to dispute or reject the facts—the cruelty of the drab existence of an unwelcome relation is too painful to contemplate. But truth is stronger than pity, and besides, I am writing not about myself but about that narrow, stifling environment of unpleasant impressions in which lived—aye, and to this day lives—the average Russian of this class.

一种紧张、多变、无法表达的奇怪生活，以惊人的速度开始了。它使我想起了一个原始的故事，是由一个和善可亲，但犀利得一针见血的天才讲述的。现在，回想起过去，在相隔很远的今天，我依旧很难相信，当时竟是那般情形。我一直不想承认或是接受那些事实——那种处在不受人欢迎的亲戚关系中的单调生活的残酷性，想起来就让人万分痛苦。但是事实高于怜悯。另外，我所描写的不是我自己，而是那个狭隘、沉闷、令人不悦的生活环境。普通的俄国平民阶层曾在这里生活，而且至今仍生活在这样的环境当中。

My grandfather's house simply seethed with mutual hostility; all the grown people were infected and even the children were inoculated with it. I had learned, from overhearing grandmother's conversation, that my mother arrived upon the very day when her brothers demanded the distribution of the property from their father. Her unexpected return made their desire for this all the keener and stronger, because they were afraid that my mother would claim the dowry intended for her, but withheld by my grandfather because she had married secretly and against his wish. My uncles considered that this dowry ought to be divided amongst them all. Added to this, they had been quarreling violently for a long time among themselves as to who should open a workshop in the town, or on the Oka in the village of Kunavin.

外祖父家里，人们彼此间充满了敌意,所有大人都受其感染，甚至是孩子们也受到影响。我无意间从外祖母的谈话中得知，母亲到的那天，就是她的兄弟们要求分割外祖父财产的日子。而她的突然出现让他们的这种欲望变得更加热切和强烈。因为他们都担心，我的母亲会索取本为她准备却被外祖父扣下的嫁妆.她当时违背了外祖父的意愿，偷偷地结了婚。我的舅舅们认为这份嫁妆应该在他们中间分割。除此之外，他们曾经一度吵得很凶，争执谁应该在镇里或者在库纳维诺村里的奥卡河边开一家工厂。

One day, very shortly after our arrival, a quarrel broke out suddenly at dinner-time. My uncles started to their feet and, leaning across the table, began to shout and yell at grandfather, snarling and shaking themselves like dogs; and grandfather, turning very red, rapped on the table with a spoon and cried in a piercing tone of voice, like the crowing of a cock: "I will turn you out of doors!"

就在我们到达后不久，他们吃着饭突然吵了起来。我的舅舅们站起来，靠着桌子，开始对外祖父大喊大叫，像狗一样咆哮着，晃动着；外祖父满脸通红，用勺子敲打着桌子，声音好像是公鸡的啼叫，他刺耳地喊道：“我会把你们都赶出门！”

With her face painfully distorted, grandmother said: "Give them what they ask, Father; then you will have some peace."

外祖母的脸痛苦地扭曲着，说道：“孩子爸，把他们想要的东西都给他们，那样你耳根才能清静。”

"Be quiet, simpleton!" shouted my grandfather with flashing eyes; and it was wonderful, seeing how small he was, that he could yell with such deafening effect.“安静，傻瓜！”外祖父喊道，眼睛闪烁着怒火；看到他那么瘦小，声音却震耳欲聋，倒有几分趣味。

My mother rose from the table, and going calmly to the window, turned her back upon us all.

我的母亲从桌子边站起来，平静地走向窗户，转过身去，背对我们。

Suddenly Uncle Michael struck his brother on the face with the back of his hand. The latter, with a howl of rage, grappled with him; both rolled on the floor growling, gasping for breath and abusing each other. The children began to cry, and my Aunt Natalia, who was with child, screamed wildly; my mother seized her round the body and dragged her somewhere out of the way; the lively little nursemaid, Eugenia, drove the children out of the kitchen; chairs were knocked down; the young, broad-shouldered foreman, Tsiganok, sat on Uncle Michael's back, while the head of the works, Gregory Ivanovitch, a bald-headed, bearded man with colored spectacles, calmly bound up my uncle's hands with towels.

突然，米哈伊尔舅舅的手背打在了他弟弟的脸上。他弟弟愤怒地大喊一声，和他扭打成一团；两个人咆哮着，喘息着，吵骂着，滚到了地上。孩子们开始哭，娜塔莉亚舅妈在孩子们的旁边，疯狂地尖叫着；我母亲抱住她，把她从中拉了出来；活泼的女佣小尤金妮娅把孩子们带出了厨房；椅子打翻在地；肩膀宽宽的年轻领班茨甘诺克，骑在米哈伊尔舅舅的背上，而秃顶、长满胡子、戴着有色眼镜的工头格雷戈里·伊万诺维奇，则镇静地把舅舅的手用毛巾绑了起来。

Turning his head and letting his thin, straggly, black beard trail on the floor, Uncle Michael cursed horribly, and grandfather, running round the table, exclaimed bitterly: "And these are brothers!... Blood relations!... Shame on you!"

米哈伊尔舅舅转过头，他稀少凌乱的黑胡子拖在地上，他拼命地大骂着；外祖父在桌子周围到处乱跑，悲痛地喊道：“你们可是兄弟啊！亲兄弟啊！可耻啊，你们！”

At the beginning of the quarrel I had jumped on to the stove in terror; and thence, with painful amazement, I had watched grandmother as she washed Uncle Jaakov's battered face in a small basin of water, while he cried and stamped his feet, and she said in a sad voice: "Wicked creatures! You are nothing better than a family of wild beasts. When will you come to your senses?"

争吵开始的时候，我害怕地跳到了炉子上，既痛苦又惊讶地看着外祖母用一小盆水清洗雅科夫被打破的脸。而他哭喊着，跺着脚，外祖母悲伤地说道：“真不是东西！禽兽不如啊。什么时候你能动动脑子？”

Grandfather, dragging his torn shirt over his shoulder, called out to her: "So you have brought wild animals into the world, eh, old woman?"

外祖父把他撕破的衬衫从肩上脱下来，向她喊道：“是你把这些野兽带到这个世界来的，啊，老婆子？”

When Uncle Jaakov went out, grandmother retired to a corner and, quivering with grief, prayed: "Holy Mother of God, bring my children to their senses."

雅科夫舅舅出去后，外祖母躲到角落里，悲伤地战栗着，祈祷道：“天主圣母啊，让我的孩子们恢复理性吧。”

Grandfather stood beside her, and, glancing at the table, on which everything was upset or spilled, said softly:

外祖父站在她的旁边，看了一眼乱七八糟的桌子，轻声说道：

"When you think of them, Mother, and then of the little one they pester Varia about... who has the best nature?"“孩子妈，想想他们，再想想他们纠缠瓦里娅的那点事，谁是个好东西？”

"Hold your tongue, for goodness' sake! Take off that shirt and I will mend it...."And laying the palms of her hands on his head, grandmother kissed his forehead; and he—so small compared to her—pressing his face against her shoulder, said:“看在上帝的份上，别说了！把衬衫脱下来，我给你缝上……”外祖母双手放在他的头上，亲了一下他的前额；他——和她相比如此之小——把脸靠在她的肩上，说道：

"We shall have to give them their shares, Mother, that is plain."“我们得把他们的那一份给他们了，孩子妈，这没啥说的了。”

"Yes, Father, it will have to be done."“是啊，孩子爸，不得不这样做了。”

Then they talked for a long time; amicably at first, but it was not long before grandfather began to scrape his feet on the floor like a cock before a fight, and holding up a threatening finger to grandmother, said in a fierce whisper:

然后他们谈了很长时间；开始还很亲切，但是没过多长时间，我的外祖父就开始像一只备战的公鸡，双脚蹭地，向外祖母举起一根威胁的手指，愤怒地低声说道：

"I know you! You love them more than me.... And what is your Mischka?—a Jesuit! And Jaaschka—a Freemason! And they live on me.... Hangers-on! That is all they are.”“我知道！你爱他们胜过爱我……你的米哈伊尔是什么样的人？一个耶稣会的！雅科夫，这个共济会的！他们都靠我养活……寄生虫！那就是他们。”

Uneasily turning on the stove, I knocked down an iron, which fell with a crash like a thunder-clap.

我不安地打开了炉子，无意间碰掉了熨斗。熨斗轰隆一声掉在地上，像雷鸣一样。

Grandfather jumped up on the step, dragged me down, and stared at me as if he now saw me for the first time.

外祖父跳上台阶，把我拽下来，盯着我看，就像是第一次看到我一样。

"Who put you on the stove? Your mother?""I got up there by myself.""You are lying!"“谁把你放到了炉子上？你的妈妈？”“我自己上去的。”“你说谎！”

"No I'm not. I did get up there by myself. I was frightened."“我没有说谎，我确实是自己上去的。我害怕。”

He pushed me away from him, lightly striking me on the head with the palm of his hand.

他把我推开，用手掌轻轻地拍着我的头。

"Just like your father! Get out of my sight!"And I was only too glad to run out of the kitchen.“真像你的爸爸！滚出去！”我迫不及待地跑出了厨房。

I was very well aware that grandfather's shrewd, sharp green eyes followed me everywhere, and I was afraid of him. I remember how I always wished to hide myself from that fierce glance. It seemed to me that grandfather was malevolent; he spoke to every one mockingly and offensively, and, being provocative, did his best to put every one else out of temper.

我很清楚，外祖父的那双敏锐有神的绿眼睛一直在跟随着我，我很害怕他。我还记得我总是多么希望能从他凶恶的视线里躲开。对我来说，外祖父似乎很坏，他和每个人说话都是用愚弄和冒犯的语气，而且喜欢挑衅别人，尽可能地惹人恼火。

"Ugh! Rou!" he exclaimed frequently.“嘿！你们这群人！”他经常这么说。

The long-drawn-out sound "U-gh!" always reminds me of a sensation of misery and chill. In the recreation hour, the time for evening tea, when he, my uncles and the workmen came into the kitchen from the workshop weary, with their hands stained with santaline and burnt by sulphuric acid, their hair bound with linen bands, all looking like the dark-featured icon in the corner of the kitchen—in that hour of dread my grandfather used to sit opposite to me, arousing the envy of the other grandchildren by speaking to me oftener than to them. Everything about him was trenchant and to the point. His heavy satin waistcoat embroidered with silk was old; his much-scrubbed shirt of colored cotton was crumpled; great patches flaunted themselves on the knees of his trousers; and yet he seemed to be dressed with more cleanliness and more refinement than his sons, who wore false shirtfronts and silk neckties.

声音拖很长的“嘿”总是让我有一种悲惨和惊悚的感觉。在喝晚茶的休息时间，外祖父、我的两个舅舅和那些工人们疲惫地来到厨房，他们的手染成了紫檀色，被硫酸灼烧得通红，头发上绑着亚麻带子，个个看起来就像是厨房角落里黑乎乎的画像——在那个可怕的时刻，外祖父总是坐在我的对面，因为和我说话比较多，便引起了其他孙子们的嫉妒。他想法尖锐，总能切中要害。他那件厚实的绣边绸缎马甲已经很旧了，精致的花布棉衬衫到处都是褶皱，裤子上的补丁显眼地贴在膝盖处，然而他的穿着看起来要比他的儿子们干净华丽得多，因为儿子们只是穿假领衬衫，戴丝绸领带。

Some days after our arrival he set me to learn the prayers. All the other children were older than myself, and were already being taught to read and write by the clerk of Uspenski Church. Timid Aunt Natalia used to teach me softly. She was a woman with a childlike countenance, and such transparent eyes that it seemed to me that, looking into them, one might see what was inside her head. I loved to look into those eyes of hers without shifting my gaze and without blinking; they used to twinkle as she turned her head away and said very softly, almost in a whisper: "That will do....Now please say 'Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name...'" And if I asked, "What does 'hallowed be Thy name' mean?" She would glance round timidly and admonish me thus: "Don't ask questions. It is wrong. Just say after me 'Our Father...'"

我们到后的那几天，他让我学着祷告。其他孩子都比我大，早已从乌斯别基教堂的助祭那里学着读书写字了。胆小的娜塔莉娅舅妈过去也总是柔声柔气地教我。她长着娃娃脸，眼睛透亮，似乎透过她的眼睛，可以让人看到她脑子里的东西。我喜欢目不转睛、一眨不眨地看她的眼睛，她的眼睛亮晶晶的，尤其是在她转过头轻声说话时，几乎是耳语一般：“那样就可以……现在请说‘我们的在天之父，因为你的名字而变得神圣……’”如果我问她：“因为你的名字而神圣是什么意思？”她就会胆小地环视周围，然后警告我：“不要问问题。这样做不对。来跟我读‘天父……’”

Her words troubled me. Why was it wrong to ask questions? The words "hallowed be Thy name" acquired a mysterious significance in my mind, and I purposely mixed them up in every possible way.

她的话让我很困惑。问问题为什么是错的？于是“因为你的名字而神圣”这句话，在我的脑海里有一种非同寻常的神秘感，而且我还有意地在每一个可能的地方都把它搅和进去。

But my aunt, pale and almost exhausted, patiently cleared her throat, which was always husky, and said, "No, that is not right. Just say 'hallowed be Thy name.' It is plain enough."

但是我的舅妈，脸色苍白，几乎精疲力竭，却很有耐心地清清那总是很沙哑的嗓子，说道：“不，那是不对的。就说‘因为你的名字。’这已经足够了。”

But my aunt, pale and almost exhausted, patiently irritated me, and hindered me from remembering the prayer.

但是我的舅妈脸色苍白，几乎精疲力竭，渐渐地激怒了我，让我无法记住祷告词。

One day my grandfather inquired:

一天，我的外祖父问道：

"Well, Oleysha, what have you been doing today? Playing? The bruises on your forehead told me as much. Bruises are got cheaply. And how about 'Our Father'? Have you learnt it?"“哎，欧利沙，你今天一直在忙什么？玩吗？你头上的伤这么告诉我的。伤是很容易就有的。《天父》背得怎么样了？已经学会了吗？”

"He has a very bad memory," said my aunt softly.“他记忆力很差。”我的舅妈轻声说道。

Grandfather smiled as if he were glad, lifting his sandy eyebrows. "And what of it? He must be whipped; that's all."

外祖父笑了，挑起他那脏兮兮的眉毛，好像还很高兴。“那怎么办？他该挨鞭打了，就这样。”

And again he turned to me.

他又一次转向我。

"Did your father ever whip you?"“你爸爸用鞭子打过你吗？”

As I did not know what he was talking about, I was silent, but my mother replied:

我不知道他在说什么，便没有说话，但是我的母亲回答道：

"No, Maxim never beat him, and what is more, forbade me to do so."“不，马克西姆从来不打他，而且也不让我打他。”

"And why, may I ask?"“那我想问，为什么呢？”

"He said that beating is not education."“他说殴打不是教育。”

"He was a fool about everything—that Maxim. May God forgive me for speaking so of the dead!" exclaimed grandfather distinctly and angrily. He saw at once that these words enraged me. "What is that sullen face for?" he asked. "Ugh!...Rou!..."And smoothing down his reddish, silver-streaked hair, he added:' "And this very Saturday I am going to give Sascha a hiding."“他是个一无所知的傻子——那个马克西姆。但愿上帝会原谅我这么说一个死去的人！”外祖父字正腔圆地生气地喊道。他立即注意到这些话让我很愤怒。“你那么阴沉着脸干什么？” 他问道，“嘿！你们这群人……”整理了一下他那泛白的红头发，他又说道：“就这个星期六，我要给萨沙一顿痛打。”

"What is a hiding?" I asked.“什么是痛打？”我问道。

They all laughed, and grandfather said: "Wait a bit, and you shall see."

他们都笑了，然后外祖父说道：“等着，你会看到的。”

In secret I pondered over the word "hiding."Apparently it had the same meaning as to whip and beat. I had seen people beat horses, dogs and cats, and in Astrakhan the soldiers used to beat the Persians; but I had never before seen any one beat little children. Yet here my uncles hit their own children over the head and shoulders, and they bore it without resentment, merely rubbing the injured part; and if I asked them whether they were hurt, they always answered bravely:

我偷偷地思考着“痛打”这个单词。很明显，它和鞭打、拍打是一个意思。我以前见过有人打马，打狗，打猫，阿斯特拉罕的士兵也总打波斯人，但是却从没见过大人打小孩子。然而在这里，我的两个舅舅打他们自己的孩子的头和肩膀，但是孩子们毫无怨言地忍受着，只是揉一揉被打的部位。如果我问他们疼不疼，他们总是勇敢地回答道：

"No, not a bit."“不，一点都不疼。”

Then there was the famous story of the thimble.

后来就有了闹得沸沸扬扬的顶针的故事。

In the evenings, from tea-time to supper-time, my uncles and the head workman used to sew portions of dyed material into one piece, to which they affixed tickets. Wishing to play a trick on half-blind Gregory, Uncle Michael had told his nine-year-old nephew to make his thimble red-hot in the candle-flame. Sascha heated the thimble in the snuffers, made it absolutely red-hot, and contriving, without attracting attention, to place it close to Gregory's hand, hid himself by the stove; but as luck would have it, grandfather himself came in at that very moment and, sitting down to work, slipped his finger into the red-hot thimble.

每到晚上，在晚茶到晚饭期间，舅舅们和工头常要把部分染好的布料缝制成一块，然后在上面贴上标签。米哈伊尔舅舅想捉弄一下视力很差的格雷戈里，于是就叫九岁的侄子把格雷戈里的顶针在烛火上烧成红色。萨沙用剪烛刀夹着顶针进行加热，直到顶针完全变成红色，然后他趁着没人注意设法把顶针放到了格雷戈里手边，自己则躲到炉子后面。但真不凑巧，外祖父就在那个时候进来了，他坐下来干活，于是把烧得通红的顶针戴到了手指上。

Hearing the tumult, I ran into the kitchen, and I shall never forget how funny grandfather looked nursing his burnt finger as he jumped about and shrieked:

听到吵闹声，我便跑进厨房。我永远都不会忘记外祖父的样子有多么滑稽：他摸着烫伤的手指上蹿下跳，并大声喊道：

"Where is the villain who played this trick?"“哪个坏蛋这么捉弄人？”

Uncle Michael, doubled up under the table, snatched up the thimble and blew upon it; Gregory unconcernedly went on sewing, while the shadows played on his enormous bald patch. Then Uncle Jaakov rushed in, and, hiding himself in the corner by the stove, stood there quietly laughing; grandmother busied herself with grating up raw potatoes.

米哈伊尔舅舅弯着身子钻到桌子下面，抓起顶针对着它吹气。格雷戈里漠不关心，继续缝制布料，烛影在他的秃顶上闪动着。然后雅科夫舅舅冲了进来，藏在炉子边的角落里，站在那里偷偷地笑着。外祖母忙着磨生土豆。

"Sascha Jaakov did it!" suddenly exclaimed Uncle Michael.“这是萨沙·雅科夫做的！”米哈伊尔舅舅突然喊道。

"Liar!" cried Jaakov, darting out from behind the stove.“胡说！”雅科夫大叫一声，从炉子后面冲了出来。

But his son, from one of the corners, wept and wailed:

但是雅科夫舅舅的儿子在一个角落里哭着喊道：

"Papa! don't believe him. He showed me how to do it himself."“爸爸，别相信他！是他叫我这么做的！”

My uncles began to abuse each other, but grandfather all at once grew calm, put a poultice of grated potatoes on his finger, and silently went out, taking me with him.

我的两个舅舅相互辱骂起来，但外祖父倒是突然平静下来。他把磨碎的土豆泥敷到手指上，然后就带着我一声不吭地走了出去。

They all said that Uncle Michael was to blame. I asked naturally if he would be whipped, or get a hiding.

大家都说这是米哈伊尔舅舅的错。我自然要问外祖父要不要打他一顿。

"He ought to," answered grandfather, with a sidelong glance at me.“他应该受到惩罚。”外祖父斜眼瞧了我一下，说道。

Uncle Michael, striking his hand upon the table, bawled at my mother: "Varvara, make your pup hold his jaw before I knock his head off."

米哈伊尔舅舅一拳打在在桌子上，对我母亲大喊大嚷道：“瓦尔瓦拉，让你的犊子闭上嘴巴，否则我把他的脑袋揪下来。”

"Go on, then; try to lay your hands on him!" replied my mother. And no one said another word.“那你试试！看你敢动他！”我母亲回答道。于是没有人再说一句话。

She had a gift of pushing people out of her way, brushing them aside as it were, and making them feel very small by a few brief words like these. It was perfectly clear to me that they were all afraid of her; even grandfather spoke to her more quietly than he spoke to the others. It gave me great satisfaction to observe this, and in my pride I used to say openly to my cousins: "My mother is a match for all of them."And they did not deny it.

我母亲说话总是简短有力，几句话就能拉大和别人的距离，甩得他们远远的，让他们自惭形秽。我心里非常明白，他们都害怕她。甚至外祖父和她说话时也比和其他人说话声音更轻。这让我很满意，所以我常常很骄傲地当面跟我的表兄弟们说：“我的妈妈是最厉害的。”他们并不否认。

But the events which happened on Saturday diminished my respect for my mother.

但是星期六发生的事情，让我对母亲少了几分尊敬。

By Saturday I also had had time to get into trouble. I was fascinated by the ease with which the grown-up people changed the color of different materials; they took something yellow, steeped it in black dye, and it came out dark blue. They laid a piece of gray stuff in reddish water and it was dyed mauve. It was quite simple, yet to me it was inexplicable. I longed to dye something myself, and I confided my desire to Sascha Yaakovitch, a thoughtful boy, always in favor with his elders, always good-natured, obliging, and ready to wait upon every one.

星期六之前我也陷入麻烦之中。大人们能轻易地使不同布料变色，这让我很好奇。他们将黄布浸在黑色染料里，拿出来的时候就变成了深蓝色。他们把灰布放进红色染料里，灰布就被染成了淡紫色。这很简单，但我却不懂其中的道理。我很想自己染点什么东西，于是就把我的想法告诉了萨沙·雅克维奇。他很体贴人，总是很受长辈的宠爱，脾气也很好，随时准备着帮助别人。

The adults praised him highly for his obedience and his cleverness, but grandfather looked on him with no favorable eye, and used to say:

大人们都对他赞赏有加，因为他听话、机灵，但是外祖父却看不上他，总是说：

"An artful beggar that!"“一个狡猾的乞丐！”

Thin and dark, with prominent, watchful eyes, Sascha Yaakov used to speak in a low, rapid voice, as if his words were choking him, and all the while he talked he glanced fearfully from side to side as if he were ready to run away and hide himself on the slightest pretext. The pupils of his hazel eyes were stationary except when he was excited, and then they became merged into the whites. I did not like him. I much preferred the despised idler, Sascha Michailovitch. He was a quiet boy, with sad eyes and a pleasing smile, very like his kind mother. He had ugly, protruding teeth, with a double row in the upper jaw; and being very greatly concerned about this defect, he constantly had his fingers in his mouth, trying to loosen his back ones, very amiably allowing any one who chose to inspect them. But that was the only interesting thing about him. He lived a solitary life in a house swarming with people, loving to sit in the dim corners in the daytime, and at the window in the evening; quite happy if he could remain without speaking, with his face pressed against the pane for hours together, gazing at the flock of jackdaws which, now rising high above it, now sinking swiftly earthwards, in the red evening sky, circled round the dome of Uspenski Church, and finally, obscured by an opaque black cloud, disappeared somewhere, leaving a void behind them. When he had seen this he had no desire to speak of it, but a pleasant languor took possession of him.

萨沙·雅克维奇很瘦也很黑，眼睛突出，充满了警惕。他说起话来声音很低，语速很快，好像透不过气来似的。而且他说话时会一直不安地左顾右盼，就好像随时准备找个什么借口逃脱，然后藏起来一样。瞳孔在他那双淡褐色的眼睛里一动不动，除非在他兴奋的时候，然后就又和眼白球融为一体，一动不动了。我不喜欢他。我更喜欢游手好闲、被人看不起的萨沙·米切尔克维奇。他是一个安静的男孩，眼睛看起来有点悲伤但笑起来很亲切，很像他那善良的母亲。他的牙齿很丑并且向外凸出，上颚长着两排牙齿。他对这个缺陷很在乎，所以总是把手指放进嘴里，想松动后排的牙齿。无论谁想要看看他的牙齿，他都很乐意地答应。但这是他唯一让人感到有趣的地方。尽管有一大家子人，他的生活依然孤单。他喜欢白天坐在阴暗的角落里，晚上坐在窗户旁。要是不用说话，他会很高兴地把脸贴在窗户上，一呆就是几个小时，看着一群寒鸦一会儿升向高空，一会儿又快速地俯冲向地面，映衬在红色的晚霞里，盘旋在乌斯别斯基教堂的圆屋顶周围，最后遮蔽在浓密的黑云里，消失在某个地方，不留痕迹。看到这幅景象，他并不愿说什么，但是心里被一种愉悦的惆怅占据。

Uncle Jaakov's Sascha, on the contrary, could talk about everything fluently and with authority, like a grown-up person. Hearing of my desire to learn the process of dyeing, he advised me to take one of the best white tablecloths from the cupboard and dye it blue.

雅科夫舅舅的萨沙正好相反，他谈论任何事情都可以滔滔不绝、一本正经，像一个成年人。听说我想了解染色的过程，他建议我从衣柜里拿一块最好的白色桌布，然后把它染成蓝色。

"White always takes the color better, I know," he said very seriously.“白色总是能更好地吸收颜色，这个我很清楚。”他一本正经地说。

I dragged out a heavy tablecloth and ran with it to the yard, but I had no more than lowered the hem of it into the vat of dark-blue dye when Tsiganok flew at me from somewhere, rescued the cloth, and wringing it out with his rough hands, cried to my cousin, who had been looking on at my work from a safe place:

我拽出一块很重的桌布，拿着它跑到院子里，但是我刚把桌布的一角浸到染缸里，茨甘诺克就不知道从什么地方向我飞奔过来，夺过桌布，用他粗糙的手把桌布拧干，冲着站在安全地方袖手旁观的表哥喊道：

"Call your grandmother quickly."“去叫你的奶奶，快点！”

And shaking his black, dishevelled head ominously, he said to me:

他面露不祥地晃动着黑黑的、头发蓬乱的脑袋对我说道：

"You will catch it for this."“你会因此而受惩罚的。”

Grandmother came running on to the scene, wailing, and even weeping, at the sight, and scolded me in her ludicrous fashion:

外祖母跑着来到了现场，哀叹着，甚至是哭泣着看了看，然后用她那滑稽的方式责备我道：

"Oh, you young pickle! I hope you will be spanked for this."“哦，你这个小鬼！真该被打屁股！”

Afterwards, however, she said to Tsiganok: "You needn't say anything about this to grandfather, Vanka. I'll manage to keep it from him. Let us hope that something will happen to take up his attention."

然后，她对茨甘诺克说道：“你不必把这件事告诉老头子，万卡。“我会想办法不让他知道。让我们祈祷会发生什么事情分散他的注意力。”

Vanka replied in a preoccupied manner, drying his hands on his multi-colored apron:

万卡在他五颜六色的围裙上擦了擦手，心事重重地说：

"Me? I shan't tell: but you had better see that that Sascha doesn't go and tell tales."“我？我是不会说的。但是你最好看着那个萨沙，别让他讲出来。”

"I will give him something to keep him quiet," said grandmother, leading me into the house.“我会给他点东西让他守口风。”外祖母说着，就把我领进了屋子里。

On Saturday, before vespers, I was called into the kitchen, where it was all dark and still. I remember the closely shut doors of the shed and of the room, and the gray mist of an autumn evening, and the heavy patter of rain. Sitting in front of the stove on a narrow bench, looking cross and quite unlike himself, was Tsiganok; grandfather, standing in the chimney corner, was taking long rods out of a pail of water, measuring them, putting them together, and flourishing them in the air with a shrill whistling sound. Grandmother, somewhere in the shadows, was taking snuff noisily and muttering:

星期六晚课前，我被叫到了漆黑而寂静的厨房里。我至今仍记得工棚和房间紧闭的门，还有秋日夜晚灰蒙蒙的雾气和雨滴沉重的拍打声。茨甘诺克坐在炉子前的细长凳上，看起来很生气，完全不像平日的他；外祖父站在靠近烟囱的一角，从水桶里拿出几根长枝条，量了量，然后把它们放在一起，在空中挥舞着，使枝条发出尖锐的哨声。外祖母在阴暗处呼哧呼哧地吸着鼻烟，咕哝道：

"Now you are in your element, tyrant!"“现在你得意了，暴君！”

Sascha Jaakov was sitting in a chair in the middle of the kitchen, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles, and whining like an old beggar in a voice quite unlike his usual voice:

萨沙·雅科夫坐在厨房中间的椅子上，用指关节揉着眼睛，像个老乞丐一样哀求着，声音一点都不像平时：

"Forgive me, for Christ's sake....!"“原谅我吧，看在耶稣的份上……”

Standing by the chair, shoulder to shoulder, like wooden figures, stood the children of Uncle Michael, brother and sister.

椅子旁边是米哈伊尔舅舅家的表哥和表姐，他们像木头人一样肩并肩站着。

"When I have flogged you I will forgive you," said grandfather, drawing a long, damp rod across his knuckles.“我打了你之后，就会原谅你了。”外祖父说着，将一根又长又湿的枝条在手上捋了捋。

"Now then... take down your breeches!"“现在脱掉你的裤子！”

He spoke very calmly, and neither the sound of his voice nor the noise made by the boy as he moved on the squeaky chair, nor the scraping of grandmother's feet, broke the memorable stillness of that almost dark kitchen, under the low, blackened ceiling.

他说得很平静，但是不管是他说话的声音，是萨沙表哥在椅子上移动时发出的吱吱声，还是外祖母的脚擦在地上的声音，都没有打破在漆黑的厨房里、低黑的棚顶下那令人难忘的寂静。

Sascha stood up, undid his trousers, letting them down as far as his knees, then bending and holding them up with his hands, he stumbled to the bench. It was painful to look at him, and my legs also began to tremble.

萨沙站起来，松开裤子，让它一直滑到膝盖处，然后弯下腰，用双手扒住裤子，费劲地向凳子走去。他的样子让我很痛苦，我的腿也开始发抖了。

But worse was to come, when he submissively lay down on the bench face downwards, and Vanka, tying him to it by means of a wide towel placed under his arms and round his neck, bent under him and with black hands seized his legs by the ankles.

但接下来更糟。当萨沙顺从地脸朝下趴在凳子上以后，万卡用一条宽毛巾从腋下和脖颈处把他绑到凳子上，然后弯下身来，用他那双黑色的手抓住了萨沙的脚踝。

"Lexei!" called grandfather. "Come nearer! Come!Don't you hear me speaking to you? Look and see what a flogging is....One!"“列克谢，”外祖父叫道，“过来！来！难道你没有听见我和你说话吗？看看什么是鞭打……一下！”

With a mild flourish he brought the rod down on the naked flesh, and Sascha set up a howl.

他轻轻地挥动枝条，打在了萨沙光着的屁股上。萨沙发出一声嚎叫。

"Rubbish!" said grandfather. "That's nothing!...But here's something to make you smart."“垃圾！”外祖父说道，“这算什么！接下来就让你受点皮肉之苦。”

And he dealt such blows that the flesh was soon in a state of inflammation and covered with great red weals, and my cousin gave a prolonged howl.

外祖父打得很重，表哥的屁股很快就肿了，上面尽是红色的伤痕。表哥发出长长的嚎叫声。

"Isn't it nice?" asked grandfather, as his hand rose and fell. "You don't like it?...That's for the thimble!"“舒服吗？”外祖父问道，他的手扬起又落下。“你难道不喜欢吗？这几下是为了顶针的事！”

When he raised his hand with a flourish my heart seemed to rise too, and when he let his hand fall something within me seemed to sink.

他扬起手挥舞枝条的时候，我的心似乎也跟着提了起来，而当他的手落下来的时候，我感到心里什么东西在下沉。

"I won't do it again," squealed Sascha, in a dread—fully thin, weak voice, unpleasant to hear. "Didn't I tell—didn't I tell about the tablecloth?"“我再也不敢了。”萨沙害怕地尖叫道——声音十分微弱纤细，听起来很不舒服。“我不是告诉过你……我不是告诉过你那块桌布的事了吗？”

Grandfather answered calmly, as if he were reading the "Psalter":

外祖父好像是在读圣诗似的，平静地回答道：

"Talebearing is no justification. The informer gets whipped first, so take that for the tablecloth."“告密也没用。告密的人得先挨鞭打，这一下是为了桌布的事。”

Grandmother threw herself upon me and seized my hand, crying: "I won't allow Lexei to be touched! I won't allow it, you monster!"And she began to kick the door, calling: "Varia! Varvara!"

外祖母站起来挡住我，抓住我的手喊道：“我不会让列克谢挨打的！我不会允许的，你个禽兽！”她开始踢门，喊道：“瓦里娅！瓦尔瓦拉！”

Grandfather darted across to her, threw her down, seized me and carried me to the bench. I struck at him with my fists, pulled his sandy beard, and bit his fingers. He bellowed and held me as in a vice. In the end, throwing me down on the bench, he struck me on the face.

外祖父穿过房间冲向外祖母，把她推到在地，然后拽住我朝凳子走去。我用拳头打他，扯他的浅棕色胡子，咬他的手指。他抱着我，像恶鬼一样咆哮着。最后，他把我扔到凳子上，打了我的脸。

I shall never forget his savage cry: "Tie him up! I'm going to kill him!" nor my mother's white face and great eyes as she ran along up and down beside the bench, shrieking:

我永远都不会忘记他残暴地喊道：“把他绑起来！我要打死他！”我也不会忘记母亲苍白的脸和瞪大的眼睛。她在凳子旁来回乱跑，尖声叫道：

"Father! You mustn't! Let me have him!"“爸爸！你不能打他！把他交给我吧！”

Grandfather flogged me till I lost consciousness, and I was unwell for some days, tossing about, face downwards, on a wide, stuffy bed, in a little room with one window and a lamp which was always kept burning before the case of icons in the corner. Those dark days had been the greatest in my life. In the course of them I had developed wonderfully, and I was conscious of a peculiar difference in myself. I began to experience a new solicitude for others, and I became so keenly alive to their sufferings and my own that it was almost as if my heart had been lacerated, and thus rendered sensitive.

外祖父一直把我打到失去知觉，我因此病了好些日子。我在一个小房间里，脸朝下，趴在一张宽大闷热的床上，翻来覆去。房间只有一扇窗户，一盏灯搁在角落里那个装满圣像的箱子前，一直亮着。那些阴暗的日子成为我一生中最难忘的时光。那段时间，我成长的很快，意识到自己的某种特殊的变化。我开始学会关心别人，对自己和别人的痛苦变得十分敏感，就好像是我的心曾受过伤，因此变得敏感了。

For this reason the quarrel between my mother and grandmother came as a great shock to me—when grandmother, looking so dark and big in the narrow room, flew into a rage, and pushing my mother into the corner where the icons were, hissed:

因此母亲和外祖母之间的争吵使我感到震惊——我的外祖母在那间狭窄的房间里看起来又黑又高，她怒气冲天，把我的母亲推到堆放圣像的角落里，怒声道：

"Why didn't you take him away?"“你为什么不把他带走？”

"I was afraid."“我害怕。”

"A strong, healthy creature like you! You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Varvara! I am an old woman and I am not afraid. For shame!"“一个像你这样强壮又健康的人！你应该为自己感到羞耻，瓦尔瓦拉！我一个老太太都不害怕。真可耻！”

"Do leave off, Mother; I am sick of the whole business."“别再说了，妈妈。我对整件事感到很难受。”

"No, you don't love him! You have no pity for the poor orphan!"“不，你不爱他！你压根就不可怜这个没有父亲的孤儿！”

"I have been an orphan all my life," said my mother, speaking loudly and sadly.“我这一辈子都是个孤儿。”我的母亲大声说道，充满悲伤。

After that they both cried for a long time, seated on a box in a corner, and then my mother said:

后来，她们两个坐在角落的箱子上哭了很久，然后我的母亲说道：

"If it were not for Alexei, I would leave this place—and go right away. I can't go on living in this hell, Mother, I can't! I haven't the strength."“如果不是因为阿列克谢，我会立刻离开这个地方。我无法在这样的地狱里继续生活下去，妈妈，我不能！我没有勇气。”

"Oh! My own flesh and blood!" whispered grandmother.“哦！我的骨肉啊！”外祖母低语道。

I kept all this in my mind. Mother was weak, and, like the others, she was afraid of grandfather, and I was preventing her from leaving the house in which she found it impossible to live. It was very unfortunate. Before long my mother really did disappear from the house, going somewhere on a visit.

这一切都留在了我的印象里。母亲性情柔弱。和其他人一样，她也害怕外祖父。我要阻止母亲离开这个让她无法生活下去的家。然而很不幸。不久我的母亲果然从家里消失了，不知到什么地方做客去了。

Very soon after this, as suddenly as if he had fallen from the ceiling, grandfather appeared, and sitting on the bed, laid his ice-cold hands on my head.

之后不久，外祖父突然出现了，就像从天花板上掉下来一样。他坐在我的床上，把他冰凉的手放在我的头上。

"How do you do, young gentleman? Come! answer me. Don't sulk! Well? What have you to say?"“你还好吗，小家伙？来！回答我。别生气！好啦，你有什么要说的吗？”

I had a great mind to kick away his legs, but it hurt me to move. His head, sandier than ever, shook from side to side uneasily; his bright eyes seemed to be looking for something on the wall as he pulled out of his pocket a gingerbread goat, a horn made of sugar, an apple and a cluster of purple raisins, which he placed on the pillow under my very nose.

我很想踢开他的腿，但是我一动就很疼。他的头发比以前更黄了，脑袋不安地左右摇动，他明亮的眼睛似乎在墙上找着什么东西。他从兜里掏出一块山羊形姜饼，一个糖做成的喇叭，一个苹果还有一把青葡萄干，然后把它们放在我的枕头上，紧挨着我的鼻子。

"There you are! There's a present for you."“看！这是送你的礼物！”

And he stooped and kissed me on the forehead.

他弯下腰，在我的前额上亲了一下。

Then, stroking my head with those small, cruel hands, yellow-stained about the crooked, claw-like nails, he began to speak.

然后，他用那双残忍的小手抚摸着我的头，手指甲像动物爪子上弯曲的指甲，指甲附近有斑斑的黄点。他开口说道：

"I left my mark on you then, my friend. You were very angry. You bit me and scratched me, and then I lost my temper too. However, it will do you no harm to have been punished more severely than you deserved. It will go towards next time. You must learn not to mind when people of your own family beat you. It is part of your training. It would be different if it came from an outsider, but from one of us it does not count. You must not allow outsiders to lay hands on you, but it is nothing coming from one of your own family. I suppose you think I was never flogged? Oleysha! I was flogged harder than you could ever imagine even in a bad dream. I was flogged so cruelly that God Himself might have shed tears to see it. And what was the result? I—an orphan, the son of a poor mother—have risen in my present position—the head of a guild, and a master workman.”“我的朋友，我是打了你。你那时很生气，对我又咬又抓，就把我也惹急了。但是，过重的惩罚对你毫无害处。下次你会记住的。你必须清楚，挨自家人的打不要介意。这是教育的一部分，如果遭外人打就不一样了，但是挨自家人打没有关系。你一定不能让外人动你一下，但是如果是自己的家人就没有什么了。我猜你认为我从来没有挨过打吧，欧利沙？我曾经被打得很重，重得甚至你做恶梦都想不到。我被打得太重了，连上帝看到也会掉眼泪的。结果是什么？我——一个孤儿，一个可怜女人的儿子——有了现在这样的地位——当上了行会的头儿，成了一个工头。

Bending his withered, well-knit body towards me, he began to tell me in vigorous and powerful language, with a felicitous choice of words, about the days of his childhood. His green eyes were very bright, and his golden hair stood rakishly on end as, deflecting his high-pitched voice, he breathed in my face.

他把瘦小结实的身体弯向我，开始用生动有力、措辞恰当的语言给我讲述他小时候的故事。他绿色的眼眸非常明亮，金色的头发俏皮地竖立着，尖细的嗓音变得粗重。他冲着我的脸说道：

"You traveled here by steamboat... steam will take you anywhere now; but when I was young I had to tow a barge up the Volga all by myself. The barge was in the water and I ran barefoot on the bank, which was strewn with sharp stones.... Thus I went from early in the morning to sunset, with the sun beating fiercely on the back of my neck, and my head throbbing as if it were full of molten iron. And sometimes I was overcome by three kinds of ill-luck... my poor little bones ached, but I had to keep on, and I could not see the way; and then my eyes brimmed over, and I sobbed my heart out as the tears rolled down. Ah! Oleysha! it won't bear talking about.“你是坐着汽船来到这里的……现在汽船可以带你到任何地方，而我年轻的时候，只能一个人拖着驳船沿着伏尔加河逆流而行。船在河里，我光着脚在河岸跑，而河岸上到处都是锋利的石头。就这样，我从一大早走到太阳落山。阳光猛烈地烤着我的脖颈，我的头像盛满了烧化了的铁水一样不断地震颤着。有时候我还会遭遇各种不幸……我可怜的小骨头疼得厉害，但是还得继续走，连路都看不见了。眼泪溢满了我的双眼，不住地往下淌。我伤心至极。啊！欧利沙！我讲不下去了。

I went on and on till the towing-rope slipped from me and I fell down on my face, and I was not sorry for it either! I rose up all the stronger. If I had not rested a minute I should have died.

我走啊走啊，直到拖绳从身上掉下来，我趴在了地上。即使这样我也没有难过！我站起来，变得更加坚强。如果我不休息一会儿的话，我就早死了。

That is the way we used to live then in the sight of God and of our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ. This is the way I took the measure of Mother Volga three times, from Simbirsk to Ribinsk, from there to Saratov, as far as Astrakhan and Markarev, to the Fair—more than three thousand versts. And by the fourth year I had become a free waterman. I had shown my master what I was made of.”

这就是我们当时的生活状况，在上帝和我们神圣的救世主耶稣的眼皮子底下。就这样，我三次走过伏尔加母亲河，从辛比尔斯克到立宾斯克，从雷宾斯克到萨拉托夫，远至阿斯特拉罕和马卡里耶夫的集市，超过三千俄里远。到了第四年，我就成了一个自由的纤夫。我已经向头儿展现了我的才能。”

As he spoke he seemed to increase in size like a cloud before my very eyes, being transformed from a small, wizened old man to an individual of fabulous strength. Had he not pulled a great gray barge up the river all by himself? Now and again he jumped up from the bed and showed me how the barges traveled with the towing-rope round them, and how they pumped water, singing fragments of a song in a bass voice; then, youthfully springing back on the bed, to my ever-increasing astonishment, he would continue hoarsely and impressively.

在他说话的时候，他似乎变得越来越高大，好像是一朵云在我的眼前，从一个瘦小干瘪的老头变成了一个力大无比的巨人。他真的独自一人拉着一条灰色的驳船逆流而上吗？他会不时地从床上跳起来，给我演示怎样用拖绳缠绕着驳船前进，他们又是怎么排水，而且低声唱着断断续续的曲子。让我更惊讶的是，他轻快地跳回床上，用沙哑的声音继续讲述着他的故事，令人印象深刻。

"Well, sometimes, Oleysha, on a summer's evening when we arrived at Jigulak, or some such place at the foot of the green hills, we used to sit about lazily cooking our supper while the boatmen of the hill-country used to sing sentimental songs, and as soon as they began the whole crew would strike up, sending a thrill through one, and making the Volga seem as if it were running very fast like a horse, and rising up as high as the clouds; and all kinds of trouble seemed as nothing more than dust blown about by the wind. They sang till the porridge boiled over, for which the cook had to be flicked with a cloth. 'Play as much as you please, but don't forget your work,' we said."“有时候，欧利沙，在夏天的夜晚，当我们到达日古拉，或者是绿色的山脚下类似日古拉这种地方的时候，我们总是懒散地坐在一起，做着晚饭。而这个时候，几个来自山区的纤夫则唱起感伤的曲子。他们一开始唱，全体纤夫就会都跟着唱起来。齐唱的声音让人振奋，甚至伏尔加河看起来都像是骏马一样在奔跑，像云彩一样在飞腾，所有的烦恼似乎都烟消云散了。大家唱得忘了形，粥都溢了出来，害得厨子被布抽了一下。‘爱怎么玩都行，但是不能忘了工作，’我们说。”

Several times people put their heads in at the door to call him, but each time I begged him not to go.

人们从门口把脑袋探进来叫了他好几次，但是每一次我都央求他别走。

And he laughingly waved them away, saying, "Wait a bit."

于是他乐呵呵地挥手示意他们离开，说道：“等一会儿。”

He stayed with me and told me stories until it was almost dark, and when, after an affectionate farewell, he left me, I had learned that he was neither malevolent nor formidable. It brought the tears into my eyes to remember that it was he who had so cruelly beaten me, but I could not forget it.

他和我呆在一起，给我讲故事，直到天都要黑了。他亲切地说完再见就离开了。我也明白了他心肠并不恶毒，也并不可怕。但是每每想到他残忍地打我，我就会哭，并且怎么都忘不了。

This visit of my grandfather opened the door to others, and from morning till night there was always somebody sitting on my bed, trying to amuse me; I remember that this was not always either cheering or pleasant.

外祖父的来访为其他人打开了门。从早到晚总是有人坐在我的床上，想逗我开心。但我记得这并不总是让人高兴或欣慰。

Oftener than any of them came my grandmother, who slept in the same bed with me. But it was Tsiganok who left the clearest impression on me in those days. He used to appear in the evenings—square-built, broad-chested, curly headed, dressed in his best clothes—a gold-embroidered shirt, plush breeches, boots squeaking like a harmonium. His hair was glossy, his squinting, merry eyes gleamed under his thick eyebrows, and his white teeth under the shadow of his young mustache; his shirt glowed softly as if reflecting the red light of the image-lamp.

我的外祖母来的最勤，她和我睡在一张床上。但是，那些日子里给我留下印象最深的，却是茨甘诺克。他胸膛宽阔，头发卷曲，总是在晚上来看我，穿着他最好的衣服——镶有金边的衬衫，长绒马裤还有一走路就发出风琴一样声音的靴子。他头发光亮，浓密的眉毛下有点斜视的双眼欢快地闪着光，牙齿在小胡子的衬托下白白的。他的衬衫发出柔弱的光，好像是反射了长明灯的红光。

"Look here!" he said, turning up his sleeve and displaying his bare arm to the elbow. It was covered with red scars. "Look how swollen it is; and it was worse yesterday—it was very painful. When your grandfather flew into a rage and I saw that he was going to flog you, I put my arm in the way, thinking that the rod would break, and then while he was looking for another your grandmother or your mother could take you away and hide you. I am an old bird at the game, my child.”“看这里！”他说着，把袖子撸到臂弯处，给我看他裸露的胳膊。上面都是红色的伤疤。“看它肿的！昨天比这更糟，很疼。你的外祖父一大发雷霆，我就知道他要打你，便用胳膊挡住了，心想枝条会被打折，这样在他找另一根枝条的时候，你的外祖母或母亲就会把你带走藏起来。我是这方面的老手，我的孩子。”

He laughed gently and kindly, and glancing again at the swollen arm, went on:

他友善地微微一笑，瞥了一眼红肿的胳膊，继续说道：

"I was so sorry for you that I thought I should choke. It seemed such a shame!...But he lashed away at you!"“我为你难过地都要窒息了。这太可耻了！但是他还是打了你！”

Snorting and tossing his head like a horse, he went on speaking about the affair. This childish simplicity seemed to draw him closer to me. I told him that I loved him very much, and he answered with a simplicity which always lives in my memory.

他像马一样哼着鼻子，摇着脑袋，继续说着那件事。他孩子般的单纯似乎使他离我更亲近了。我告诉他我非常喜欢他，他给了我回答，单纯得令人难忘。

"And I love you too! That is why I let myself be hurt—because I love you. Do you think I would have done it for any one else? I should be making a fool of myself.”“我也喜欢你呀！这就是为什么我宁愿自己受伤——因为我喜欢你。你认为我会为别人做这样的事情吗？我才不会这样蠢呢！”

Later on he gave me whispered instructions, glancing frequently at the door. "Next time he beats you don't try to get away from him, and don't struggle. It hurts twice as much if you resist. If you let yourself go he will deal lightly with you. Be limp and soft, and don't scowl at him. Try and remember this; it is a good advice."

然后，他不停地扫视着门口，小声对我说：“下次他打再你，你不要跑，也别挣扎。如果你反抗，会加倍地疼。如果你任由他打，他会打得很轻。温顺一些，不要怒视他。要牢牢记住，这是一个好建议。”

"Surely he won't whip me again!" I exclaimed.“当然了，他不会再打我了！”我说道。

"Why, of course!" replied Tsiganok calmly. "Of course he will whip you again, and often too!"“当然会！”茨甘诺克平静地回答道，“他当然还会打你的，而且会经常打！”

"But why?"“但这是为什么？”

"Because grandfather is on the watch for you."And again he cautiously advised me: "When he whips you he brings the rod straight down. Well, if you lie there quietly he may possibly hold the rod lower so that it won't break your skin....Now, do you understand? Move your body towards him and the rod, and it will be all the better for you.”“因为你的外祖父在留意你呢。”他再一次认真地建议我：“当他打你的时候，枝条是竖直落下的。那么，如果你安静地躺在那里，他就可能会把枝条压得低一点，那样就不会打破你的皮肤……现在，你明白了吗？把你的身体移向他和枝条，这对你更好。”

Winking at me with his dark, squinting eyes, he added: "I know more about such matters than a policeman even. I have been beaten on my bare shoulders till the skin came off, my boy!"

他用斜视的黑眼睛向我眨了眨，又说道：“这些事情我甚至比警察知道得都多。以前我光着的膀子被打得皮都掉了，我的朋友！”

I looked at his bright face and remembered grandmother's story of Ivan-Czarevitch and Ivanoshka-dour-achka.

我看着他红润的脸，想起了外祖母讲的伊凡王子和伊凡傻子的童话。

CHAPTER III

第三章

WHEN I was well again I realized that Tsiganok occupied an important position in the household. Grandfather did not storm at him as he did at his sons, and would say behind his back, half-closing his eyes and nodding his head:

身体好了之后，我意识到茨甘诺克在外祖父家中有着不一般的地位。外祖父不会像对他的儿子那样冲着茨甘诺克咆哮，而且还会背着他，半闭着眼睛，点着头说：

"He is a good workman—Tsiganok. Mark my words, he will get on; he will make his fortune.”“茨甘诺克是一个出色的工人。记住我的话：他会有长进，会有出息的。”

My uncles too were polite and friendly with Tsiganok, and never played practical jokes on him as they did on the head workman, Gregory, who was the object of some insulting and spiteful trick almost every evening. Sometimes they made the handles of his scissors red-hot, or put a nail with the point upwards on the seat of his chair, or placed ready to his hand pieces of material all of the same color, so that when he, being half blind, had sewed them all into one piece, grandfather should scold him for it.

我的舅舅们对茨甘诺克也是礼貌友善，从来不会像对工头格雷戈里那样对他搞恶作剧，而格雷戈里几乎每晚都是某种恶意的、带有侮辱性花招的攻击对象。有时候他们把他的剪刀柄烧成红色，或者在他椅子上头朝上放一颗钉子，或者在他手头放置几块颜色相同的布料，这样眼神很差的他就会因为把它们缝在一起受到外祖父的责备。

One day when he had fallen asleep after dinner in the kitchen, they painted his face with fuchsin, and he had to go about for a long time a ludicrous and terrifying spectacle, with two round, smeared eyeglasses looking out dully from his gray beard, and his long, livid nose drooping dejectedly, like a tongue.

一天晚饭后，当格雷戈里在厨房里睡着后，他们把他的脸涂成了品红色。有很长一段时间，他就带着这样一张滑稽甚至有些吓人的脸到处走动：两片脏兮兮的圆镜片从灰色的胡子中露出来，长长的青灰色鼻子像舌头一样沮丧地耷拉着。

They had an inexhaustible fund of such pranks, but the head workman bore it all in silence, only quackling softly, and taking care before he touched either the iron, the scissors, the needlework or the thimble, to moisten his fingers copiously with saliva. This became a habit with him, and even at dinner-time before he took up his knife and fork he slobbered over his fingers, causing great amusement to the children. When he was hurt, his large face broke into waves of wrinkles, which curiously glided over his forehead, and, raising his eyebrows, vanished mysteriously on his bald cranium.

他们总是不断地做着这样的恶作剧，但是这位工头总是默默地忍受着，只是轻轻地嘟囔几句，每次拿熨斗、剪子、针线或者顶针前都用唾液润湿他的手指。这已经成为他的一个习惯，甚至在晚饭时拿起刀叉前他也舔舔手指。这让孩子们笑开了怀。他被弄疼时，那宽大的脸上便堆满褶皱，皱纹奇怪地从脸上荡向额头，随着他挑起的眉毛，又神秘地消失在他光秃秃的头顶上。

I do not remember how grandfather bore himself with regard to his sons' amusements, but grandmother used to shake her fist at them, crying:

我不记得外祖父对儿子们这样的消遣怎么看，但是外祖母总是向他们挥舞着拳头，喊道：

"Shameless, ill-natured creatures!”“无耻的坏东西！”

But my uncles spoke evil of Tsiganok too behind his back; they made fun of him, found fault with his work, and called him a thief and an idler.

不过对于茨甘诺克，我的舅舅们也在背后说他的坏话。他们取笑他，挑他工作上的错，叫他小偷或者懒蛋。

I asked grandmother why they did this. She explained it to me without hesitation, and, as always, made the matter quite clear to me. "You see, each wants to take Vaniushka with him when he sets up in business for himself; that is why they run him down to each other. Say they, 'He's a bad workman'; but they don't mean it. It is their artfulness. In addition to this, they are afraid that Vaniushka will not go with either of them, but will stay with grandfather, who always gets his own way, and might set up a third workshop with Ivanka, which would do your uncles no good. Now do you understand?" She laughed softly. "They are crafty about everything, setting God at naught; and grandfather, seeing their artfulness, teases them by saying: 'I shall buy Ivan a certificate of exemption so that they won't take him for a soldier. I can't do without him.'

我问外祖母他们为什么要这么做。像往常一样，她爽快地向我解释，让我茅塞顿开。“你知道，只要他们想开自己的染坊，就都想带走万纽什卡，那就是他们彼此说他坏话的原因。他们会说，‘他是一个很糟糕的工人’，但是他们并不是这么想的。这就是他们的诡计。另外，他们都害怕万纽什卡哪一边都不去，而是留在你外祖父的身边。你外祖父总是一意孤行，可能会跟伊万卡开设第三家染坊，这样对你的舅舅们没有任何好处。现在你明白了？”她轻声地笑道。“他们做什么事情都很鬼，不把上帝放在眼里。你的外祖父知道他们的诡计，总是这样取笑他们：‘我会给伊万买一个免役证，那样他就不会被带去当兵了。我不能没有他。’

This makes them angry; it is just what they don't want; besides, they grudge the money. Exemptions cost money."

这番话让你的舅舅们很生气，这正是他们不想看到的结果，可他们又舍不得掏钱——买免役证是要花钱的。”

I was living with grandmother again, as I had done on the steamer, and every evening before I fell asleep she used to tell me fairy stories, or tales about her life, which were just like a story. But she spoke about family affairs, such as the distribution of the property amongst the children, and grandfather's purchase of a new house, lightly, in the character of a stranger regarding the matter from a distance, or at the most that of a neighbor, rather than that of the person next in importance to the head of the house.

我又和外祖母住在一起了，就像在汽船上时一样。她每天在我睡觉前都会给我讲童话或者她自己童话般的生活经历。但是当她谈到家务事的时候——比如儿子们分配财产，外祖父买新房等等——总是轻描淡写，就好像她只是一个冷眼旁观的陌生人，或者最多像是一个邻居，而不像是家里的二把手。

From her I learned that Tsiganok was a foundling; he had been found one wet night in early spring, on a bench in the porch.

从她那里，我得知茨甘诺克是个弃儿。他是在一个初春的雨夜，在门廊的长凳上被人发现的。

"There he lay," said grandmother pensively and mysteriously, "hardly able to cry, for he was nearly numb with cold."“他躺在那里，”外祖母悲伤又神秘地说道，“哭都哭不动了，因为他几乎要被冻僵了。”

"But why do people abandon children?"“但是为什么人们要扔掉孩子？”

"It is because the mother has no milk, or anything to feed her baby with. Then she hears that a child which has been born somewhere lately is dead, and she goes and leaves her own there."“因为母亲没有奶水，也没有其他任何东西来喂她的孩子。后来她听说什么地方的一个新生的婴儿死去了，所以她把自己的孩子抱过去扔在了那里。”

She paused and scratched her head; then sighing and gazing at the ceiling, she continued:

她停下来挠了挠头，然后叹了口气，仰视着天花板，继续说道：

"Poverty is always the reason, Oleysha; and a kind of poverty which must not be talked about, for an unmarried girl dare not admit that she has a child—people would cry shame upon her.“欧利沙，这总是贫困所致，一种无法言说的贫穷，因为一个没有结婚的女孩不敢承认她生了孩子——这样人们会看不起她的。

Grandfather wanted to hand Vaniushka over to the police, but I said 'No, we will keep him ourselves to fill the place of our dead ones.'For I have had eighteen children, you know. If they had all lived they would have filled a street—eighteen new families! I was married at eighteen, you see, and by this time I had had fifteen children, but God so loved my flesh and blood that He took all of them—all my little babies to the angels, and I was sorry and glad at the same time.”

外祖父想把万纽什卡交到警察局，但是我说：‘不行，我们自己养他，让他代替我们死去的孩子。’因为，你知道，我有十八个孩子。如果他们还都活着，他们会住满一条街——十八个新家庭！你知道，我十八岁结婚，发现茨甘诺克时已经有过十五个孩子。但是上帝太宠爱我的骨肉了，所以把他们都带走了，带给了天使们。我是既悲伤又高兴。”

Sitting on the edge of the bed in her nightdress, huge and dishevelled, with her black hair falling about her, she looked like the bear which a bearded woodman from Cergatch had led into our yard not long ago.

她穿着睡袍坐在床边，看起来身材高大，头发凌乱，黑色的头发垂下来，好像是一只刚刚被一个长满胡须的樵夫从塞尔加奇赶到院子里的熊。

Making the sign of the cross on her spotless, snow-white breast, she laughed softly, always ready to make light of everything.

她在白皙的胸前划着十字架，轻声地笑着，总是准备轻描淡写地看待一切事情。

"It was better for them to be taken, but hard for me to be left desolate, so I was delighted to have Ivanka—but even now I feel the pain of my love for you, my little ones!... Well, we kept him, and baptized him, and he still lives happily with us. At first I used to call him 'Beetle,' because he really did buzz sometimes, and went creeping and buzzing through the rooms just like a beetle. You must love him. He is a good soul."“被带走对他们来说是好事，但我却孤单地留了下来，悲伤难过，所以我很愿意收留伊万卡——但是即使是现在，我还是因为爱你们而感到心痛，我的孩子！于是，我们收留了他，给他做了洗礼，他也就和我们幸福地生活在一起。开始的时候，我总是叫他‘甲虫’，因为他有时候确实会嗡嗡叫，就像是一只甲虫在房间里爬来爬去嗡嗡地叫。你应该爱他。他是一个好人。”

I did love Ivan, and admired him inexpressibly. On Saturday when, after punishing the children for the transgressions of the week, grandfather went to vespers, we had an indescribably happy time in the kitchen.

我确实很爱伊万，对他的敬仰难以言表。星期六，外祖父在为孩子们一周犯的错而惩罚完他们以后就去做晚课了，于是我们在厨房里度过了一段特别愉快的时光。

Tsiganok would get some cockroaches from the stove, make a harness of thread for them with great rapidity, cut out a paper sledge, and soon two pairs of black horses were prancing on the clean, smooth, yellow table. Ivan drove them at a canter, with a thin splinter of wood as a whip, and urged them on, shouting:

茨甘诺克从炉子里捉了几只蟑螂，迅速地用线做一套马具，再剪一张纸做成雪橇。不久，在干净光滑的黄桌子上就跳跃着四匹黑马。伊万用一个细木条当鞭子，驱赶它们慢跑，催促它们前进，同时喊道：

"Now they have started for the Bishop's house."“现在他们要出发去主教家喽！”

Then he gummed a small piece of paper to the back of one of the cockroaches and sent him to run behind the sledge.

然后他用胶在一只蟑螂的背上粘上一张纸，让它跟在雪橇的后面跑。

"We forgot the bag," he explained. "The monk drags it with him as he runs. Now then, gee-up!”“我们把包给忘了，”他解释道，“修道士正拽着包在跑。现在，快！”

He tied the feet of another cockroach together with cotton, and as the insect hopped along, with its head thrust forward, he cried, clapping his hands:

他把另一只蟑螂的脚用棉绳绑起来。当它朝前跳的时候，头也向前伸。他拍着手喊道：

"This is the deacon coming out of the wineshop to say vespers."“这是执事从酒店里出来要做晚课了。”

After this he showed us a mouse which stood up at the word of command, and walked on his hind legs, dragging his long tail behind him and blinking comically with his lively eyes, which were like black glass beads.

之后，他给我们看了一只老鼠。那只老鼠一听到命令就站起来，用两条后腿走路，后面拖着长长的尾巴，闪亮的眼睛滑稽地眨着，好像是黑色的玻璃球。

He made friends of mice, and used to carry them about in his bosom, and feed them with sugar and kiss them.

他和老鼠交朋友，总是在怀里揣着它们，而且给它们吃糖，也亲吻它们。

"Mice are clever creatures," he used to say in a tone of conviction. "The house-goblin is very fond of them, and whoever feeds them will have all his wishes granted by the old hob-goblin.”“老鼠是聪明的动物，”他总是用深信不疑的口气说，“家里的精灵非常喜欢它们，无论谁喂它们食吃，老精灵都会满足他的愿望。”

He could do conjuring tricks with cards and coins too, and he used to shout louder than any of the children; in fact, there was hardly any difference between them and him. One day when they were playing cards with him they made him "booby" several times in succession, and he was very much offended. He stuck his lips out sulkily and refused to play any more, and he complained to me afterward, his nose twitching as he spoke:

他也会用扑克和硬币变魔术，也总是比其他的孩子嗓门大。实际上，他和孩子几乎没有区别。有一天，孩子们和他玩扑克，连续几次都使他当了“傻子”，这让他非常恼火。他生气地撅着嘴，不再玩了。后来他抽着鼻子跟我抱怨：

"It was a put-up job! They were signaling to one another and passing the cards about under the table. Do you call that playing the game? If it comes to trickery I'm not so bad at it myself."“这是一个骗局！他们彼此打信号，在桌子下面传扑克牌。你能把这叫作游戏吗？如果是耍花招，我也不差。”

Yet he was nineteen years old and bigger than all four of us put together.

不过有他十九岁，比我们四个人加起来都大。

I have special memories of him on holiday evenings, when grandfather and Uncle Michael went out to see their friends, and curly headed, untidy Uncle Jaakov appeared with his guitar while grandmother prepared tea with plenty of delicacies, and vodka in a square bottle with red flowers cleverly molded in glass on its lower part. Tsiganok shone bravely on these occasions in his holiday attire. Creeping softly and sideways came Gregory, with his colored spectacles gleaming; came Nyanya Eugenia—pimply, red-faced and fat like a Toby-jug, with cunning eyes and a piping voice; came the hirsute deacon from Uspenski, and other dark slimy people bearing a resemblance to pikes and eels. They all ate and drank a lot, breathing hard the while; and the children had wineglasses of sweet syrup given them as a treat, and gradually there was kindled a warm but strange gaiety.

在假期的晚上，我对他的记忆尤为深刻。外祖父和米哈伊尔舅舅出去见朋友，头发卷曲、衣冠不整的雅科夫舅舅带着吉他出现了，而外祖母准备了茶水和点心，把伏尔加酒装在方瓶里，在玻璃杯的下部插上了别致的红花。茨甘诺克穿着假期的服装，在这些场合总是容光焕发。格雷戈里悄悄地从旁边爬过来，眼镜发出多彩的光；尼安亚·尤金妮娅也来了——红色的脸庞上到处都是疙瘩，身材像是一个矮胖老人形酒杯，眼睛闪着狡黠的光，声音尖尖的；还有来自乌斯别斯基的毛发浓密的司事，和其他一些看起来好像梭鱼和鳗鱼，皮肤黝黑又脏兮兮的人们。他们喘着粗气，狂吃狂喝；孩子们则享用着酒杯里的甜果汁。渐渐地，一种温暖而奇特的欢快气氛弥漫开来。

Uncle Jaakov tuned his guitar amorously, and as he did so he always uttered the same words:

雅科夫舅舅陶醉地弹着吉他，而且每次他总是说同样的话：

"Well, now let us begin!"“那么，现在让我们开始吧！”

Shaking his curly head, he bent over the guitar, stretching out his neck like a goose; the expression on his round, careless face became dreamy, his passionate, elusive eyes were obscured in an unctuous mist, and lightly touching the chords, he played something disjointed, involuntarily rising to his feet as he played. His music demanded an intense silence. It rushed like a rapid torrent from somewhere far away, stirring one's heart and penetrating it with an incomprehensible sensation of sadness and uneasiness. Under the influence of that music we all became melancholy, and the oldest present felt themselves to be no more than children. We sat perfectly still—lost in a dreamy silence. Sascha Michailov especially listened with all his might as he sat upright beside our uncle, gazing at the guitar open-mouthed, and slobbering with delight. And the rest of us remained as if we had been frozen, or had been put under a spell. The only sound besides was the gentle murmur of the samovar which did not interfere with the complaint of the guitar.

他晃动着他那一头卷发，俯身弹起吉他，像鹅一样把脖子探出来，他淡漠的圆脸变得柔和，他那热情难懂的眼睛在做作的气氛中飘忽不定，他轻触琴弦，断断续续地弹起了曲子，而且还不知不觉地站了起来。他的音乐带来了无限的寂静。音乐节奏很快，就像是来自远方的一股激流，激荡人的心灵，又带有一种不可言状的伤感和不安，刺入人心。在音乐的影响下，我们都变得很忧伤，甚至在场的最年长的人也感觉自己只是一个孩子。我们纹丝不动地坐在那里——沉思在梦幻般的寂静里。萨沙·米切勒夫笔直地坐在我们舅舅的旁边，听得格外认真，同时张着嘴，盯着吉他，入神得似乎要流口水。其余的人都好像已经被冻成了冰，或者是被念了咒语。除此之外的唯一的声音就是茶壶的嗤嗤声，这并没有干扰吉他忧伤的曲调。

Two small square windows threw their light into the darkness of the autumn night, and from time to time some one tapped on them lightly. The yellow lights of two tallow candles, pointed like spears, flickered on the table.

光亮透过两块小方窗照向秋日漆黑的夜晚，偶尔还会听到有人轻轻地敲着窗户。两盏油灯在桌子上闪烁着，发出的黄光好像长矛一样。

Uncle Jaakov grew more and more rigid, as though he were in a deep sleep with his teeth clenched; but his hands seemed to live with a separate existence. The bent fingers of his right hand quivered indistinctly over the dark keyboard, just like fluttering and struggling birds, while his left passed up and down the neck with elusive rapidity.

雅科夫舅舅变得越来越严肃，牙齿紧咬，好像已经熟睡，而两只手却不停地动弹着。他右手弯曲的手指在黑色的琴弦上莫名地颤动着，好像是扑打着翅膀挣扎的小鸟，而他的左手迅速地在琴颈上上下移动。

When he had been drinking he nearly always sang through his teeth in an unpleasantly shrill voice, an endless song:

他喝酒的时候，几乎总是透过牙缝，发出很不好听的尖锐的声音，没完没了的唱着：

"If Jaakove were a dog He'd howl from morn to night. Oie! I am a-weary! Oie! Life is dreary! In the streets the nuns walk, On the fence the ravens talk. Oie! I am a-weary! The cricket chirps behind the stove And sets the beetles on the move. Oie! I am a-weary! One beggar hangs his stockings up to dry, The other steals it away on the sly. Oie! I am a-weary! Yes! Life is very dreary!”“如果雅科夫是一条狗，他会从早到晚地嚎叫。喔！我很烦！喔！生活很枯燥！街道上走着修女，篱笆上乌鸦在唱歌。喔！我很烦！炉子后蟋蟀在叫，甲虫不得不离开。喔！我很烦！乞丐把他的长袜挂起来晾干，另一个偷偷地把它偷走。喔！我很烦！是的！生活很枯燥！”

I could not bear this song, and when my uncle came to the part about the beggars I used to weep in a tempest of ungovernable misery.

我无法忍受这支歌，尤其是当我的舅舅唱到乞丐那部分的时候，我总是感到无法控制地痛苦，会突然大哭。

The music had the same effect on Tsiganok as on the others; he listened to it, running his fingers through his black, shaggy locks, and staring into a corner, half-asleep.

音乐对茨甘诺克有着和对其他人同样的影响，他边听边把手指伸进他黑色浓密的头发里，直直地盯着一个角落，进入半睡眠状态。

Sometimes he would exclaim unexpectedly in a complaining tone, "Ah! if I only had a voice. Lord! how I should sing."

有时候他会突然抱怨道：“啊！如果我有一副好嗓子多好啊。上帝啊！我会尽情地唱。”

And grandmother, with a sigh, would say: "Are you going to break our hearts, Jaasha?... Suppose you give us a dance, Vanyatka?"

这时外祖母会叹口气说：“你要把我们的心都弄碎吗，雅沙？给我们跳一支舞，怎么样，万雅卡？”

Her request was not always complied with at once, but it did sometimes happen that the musician suddenly swept the chords with his hands, then, doubling up his fists with a gesture as if he were noiselessly casting an invisible something from him to the floor, cried sharply:

她的请求不会马上得到回应，但有时这位音乐家突然双手扫过琴弦，然后举起两只拳头，好像是在无声地往地板上狠劲地扔了什么看不见的东西，尖声地喊道：

"Away, melancholy! Now, Vanka, stand up!"“走开，忧郁！现在，万卡，站起来！”

Looking very smart, as he pulled his yellow blouse straight, Tsiganok would advance to the middle of the kitchen, very carefully, as if he were walking on nails, and blushing all over his swarthy face and simpering bashfully, would say entreatingly:

茨甘诺克看起来很精明。他拉了拉黄色的上衣，非常小心地走到厨房的中间，就好像走在钉子上。他黝黑的面庞泛着红润，羞怯地傻笑着，哀求着说道：

"Faster, please, Jaakov Vassilitch!"“请再快点，雅科夫·瓦斯里奇！”

The guitar jingled furiously, heels tapped spasmodically on the floor, plates and dishes rattled on the table and in the cupboard, while Tsiganok blazed amidst the kitchen lights, swooping like a kite, waving his arms like the sails of a windmill, and moving his feet so quickly that they seemed to be stationary; then he stooped to the floor, and spun round and round like a golden swallow, the splendor of his silk blouse shedding an illumination all around, as it quivered and rippled, as if he were alight and floating in the air. He danced unweariedly, oblivious of everything, and it seemed as though, if the door were to open, he would have danced out, down the street, and through the town and away... beyond our ken.

吉他疯狂地响着，鞋跟不断地打击着地板，桌子上和橱柜里的盘子和碟子都在响；茨甘诺克晃动在厨房的烛光里，像一只风筝上下猛蹿，挥舞的胳膊好像是风车上的风轮，双脚飞速地移动，看起来如同静止一般；然后他弯腰伏地，在地上转来转去，好像一只金色的燕子；他那丝绸上衣的光彩颤动着，荡起涟漪，向四周反射着光，就好像是他漂浮在半空中闪闪发光。他忘我地跳着，不知疲倦，好像一旦门开了，他就会跳出门去，沿着街道，穿过小城，一直跳到很远……远离我们的视线。

"Cross over!" cried Uncle Jaakov, stamping his feet, and giving a piercing whistle; then in an irritating voice he shouted the old, quaint saying:“交叉！”雅科夫舅舅喊道，一边跺着脚，一边打着刺耳的口哨；然后他用尖锐的声音，喊出了那句古老又精妙的谚语：

"Oh, my! if I were not sorry to leave my spade I'd from my wife and children a break have made."

哦，我的上帝啊！如果我能够抛下铲子而不感到遗憾的话，我便会离我的妻儿而去。

The people sitting at table pawed at each other, and from time to time shouted and yelled as if they were being roasted alive. The bearded chief workman slapped his bald head and joined in the uproar. Once he bent towards me, brushing my shoulder with his soft beard, and said in my ear, just as he might speak to a grown-up person:

人们坐在桌子旁，彼此打闹，还不时地喊叫着，好像他们被活活地烘烤了。长满胡子的工头拍打着他光秃秃的脑门，也一起喊了起来。一次他向我弯腰过来，软软的胡子滑过我的肩膀，他凑到我耳边，像和一个大人说话那样说道：

"If your father were here, Alexei Maximitch, he would have added to the fun. A merry fellow he was—always cheerful. You remember him, don't you?"“如果你的父亲阿列克谢·马克西米奇也在，这里会更有趣的。他是一个快乐的人——总是很高兴。你记得他，是吗？”

"No."“不记得了。”

"You don't? Well, once he and your grandmother—but wait a bit.”“不记得了？好吧，他曾经和你的外祖母——等等。”

Tall and emaciated, somewhat resembling a conventional icon, he stood up, and bowing to grandmother, entreated in an extraordinarily gruff voice:

他又高又瘦，有点像古老的圣像。他站起来，向我的外祖母鞠了鞠躬，用极其粗哑的嗓音恳求道：

"Akulina Ivanovna, will you be so kind as to dance for us as you did once with Maxim Savatyevitch? It would cheer us up."“阿库林娜·伊凡诺芙娜，你愿意为我们跳一支舞吗，就像你曾经和马克西姆·萨瓦杰维奇那样？这会让我们很高兴的。”

"What are you talking about, my dear man? What do you mean, Gregory Ivanovitch?" cried grandmother, smiling and bridling. "Fancy me dancing at my time of life! I should only make people laugh."“你在说什么，我的朋友？你什么意思，格雷戈里·伊万诺维奇？”外祖母忍住笑，说道，“想想我跳舞的样子！我只会惹人们笑。”

But suddenly she jumped up with a youthful air, arranged her skirts, and very upright, tossed her ponderous head and darted across the kitchen, crying:

但是她像一个年轻人一样猛的站了起来，整理了一下裙子，挺胸昂首，快速穿过厨房，叫道：

"Well, laugh if you want to! And a lot of good may it do you. Now, Jaasha, play up!"“好吧，你们愿意笑就笑吧！会对你们有好处的。现在，扎沙，弹起来！”

My uncle let himself go, and, closing his eyes, went on playing very slowly. Tsiganok stood still for a moment, and then leaped over to where grandmother was and encircled her, resting on her haunches, while she skimmed the floor without a sound, as if she were floating on air, her arms spread out, her eyebrows raised, her dark eyes gazing into space. She appeared very comical to me, and I made fun of her; but Gregory held up his finger sternly, and all the grown-up people looked disapprovingly over to my side of the room.

我的舅舅又弹起了吉他，闭上眼睛，慢慢地弹着。茨甘诺克站了一会儿，然后跳到外祖母那里，环抱着她，把手放在她的腰部。而她悄无声息地滑过地板，好像是飘在空中，同时胳膊探出，眼眉高挑，黑色的眼睛注视着远方。对我来说，她看起来很滑稽，于是我就取笑她；格雷戈里严肃地举起他的手指，屋子里所有的大人都不赞成地向我这边看了过来。

"Don't make a noise, Ivan," said Gregory, and Tsiganok obediently jumped to one side, and sat by the door, while Nyanya Eugenia, thrusting out her Adam's apple, began to sing in her low-pitched, pleasant voice:“别出声，伊万。”格雷戈里说道。茨甘诺克顺从地跳到一边，坐在门边。而尼安亚·尤金妮娅亮出了她的歌喉，开始用她那愉快的低音唱起歌：

"All the week till Saturday She does earn what e'er she may, Making lace from morn till night Till she's nearly lost her sight."“直到星期六的整整一周，她竭尽所能地赚钱，从早到晚地编织蕾丝，直到几乎要失明。”

Grandmother seemed more as if she were telling a story than dancing. She moved softly, dreamily; swaying slightly, sometimes looking about her from under her arms, the whole of her huge body wavering uncertainly, her feet feeling their way carefully. Then she stood still as if suddenly frightened by something; her face quivered and became overcast... but directly after it was again illuminated by her pleasant, cordial smile. Swinging to one side as if to make way for some one, she appeared to be refusing to give her hand, then letting her head droop seemed to die; again, she was listening to some one and smiling joyfully... and suddenly she was whisked from her place and turned round and round like a whirligig, her figure seemed to become more elegant, she seemed to grow taller, and we could not tear our eyes away from her—so triumphantly beautiful and altogether charming did she appear in that moment of marvelous rejuvenation. And Nyanya Eugenia piped:

外祖母似乎更像是在讲故事，而不是在跳舞。她恍恍惚惚地、轻柔地舞动着，轻轻地摆动着身子，有时候举着双手，从腋下环视四周，整个高大的身体摇晃着，脚下小心地挪动着舞步。突然她停下来，好像被什么东西吓到了，她的脸抽动着，越来越阴暗……但是这之后，她的脸在愉悦热忱的微笑下又光彩熠熠了。她转到一边，好像是在给别人让路，看起来不想把手伸出来，然后低下头，像是死了一般；她又听到了人说话，然后高兴地笑了……突然她又迅速地从原地离开，像陀螺一样转啊转啊，体形看起来愈发优美，身材也愈发高挑，我们目不转睛地看着——此刻外祖母活力四射，看起来惊艳美丽。尼安亚·尤金妮娅尖声唱道：

"Then on Sundays after Mass Till midnight dances the lass, Leaving as late as she dare, Holidays with her are rare.”“星期日，少女做完弥撒，跳舞直到午夜，迟迟不愿离开，假日少得可怜。”

When she had finished dancing, grandmother returned to her place by the samovar. They all applauded her, and as she put her hair straight, she said:

跳完了舞，外祖母回到茶壶的位置。大家都为她鼓掌。她把头发放下来，说道：

"That is enough! You have never seen real dancing. At our home in Balakya, there was one young girl—I have forgotten her name now, with many others—but when you saw her dance you cried for joy. To look at her was a treat. You didn't want anything else. How I envied her—sinner that I was!”“得了吧！你们从来没有见过真正的舞蹈。在我们的老家巴拉基亚，有一个年轻女孩——我现在已经忘记了她和其他许多人的名字——看她跳舞的时候，你会高兴地大叫。看她跳舞是一种享受,你会觉得此生无憾。我那时很嫉妒她——我真是一个罪人！”

"Singers and dancers are the greatest people in the world," said Nyanya Eugenia gravely, and she began to sing something about King David, while Uncle Jaakov, embracing Tsiganok, said to him:“歌手和舞者是世界上最伟大的人。”尼安亚·尤金妮娅庄重地说道。然后她开始唱起了关于大卫国王的歌，而雅科夫舅舅抱着茨甘诺克对他说道：

"You ought to dance in the wineshops. You would turn people's heads."“你应该在酒馆里跳舞。你会让人神魂颠倒的。”

"I wish I could sing!" complained Tsiganok. "If God had given me a voice I should have been singing ten years by now, and should have gone on singing if only as a monk."“我希望我会唱歌！”茨甘诺克抱怨道，“如果上帝赋予我一副好嗓子，我会从十年前开始唱歌，而且还会继续唱的，即使是做一个修道士。”

They all drank vodka, and Gregory drank an extra lot. As she poured out glass after glass for him, grandmother warned him:

他们都喝伏尔加酒，格雷戈里喝得格外地多。外祖母一边不停地给他倒酒，一边警告他道：

"Take care, Grisha, or you'll become quite blind."“小心点，格里沙，否则你会瞎的。”

"I don't care! I've no more use for my eyesight," he replied firmly.“我不在乎！我的视力已经没有用了 。”他坚定地回答道。

He drank, but he did not get tipsy, only becoming more loquacious every moment; and he spoke to me about my father nearly all the time.

他喝酒，但没有喝醉，只是话变得越来越多，另外他几乎一直对我讲我父亲的事情。

"A man with a large heart was my friend Maxim Savatyevitch..."“我的朋友马克西姆·萨瓦杰维奇可是一个心胸宽阔的人呐……”

Grandmother sighed as she corroborated:

外祖母叹了口气，证实道：

"Yes, indeed he was—a true child of God.”“是啊，确实如此，他是真正的上帝之子。”

All this was extremely interesting, and held me spellbound, and filled my heart with a tender, not unpleasant sadness. For sadness and gladness live within us side by side, almost inseparable; the one succeeding the other with an elusive, unappreciable swiftness.

所有这些都非常有趣，令我着迷，让我的心里充满一种淡淡的、愉悦的哀伤。伤感与愉悦在我们的内心同时存在，几乎不可分离，它们以一种难以表述的迅速彼此交替。

Once Uncle Jaakov, being rather tipsy, began to rend his shirt, and to clutch furiously at his curly hair, his grizzled mustache, his nose and his pendulous lip.

一次雅科夫舅舅喝得烂醉，开始撕扯自己的衬衫，对着自己的卷发、灰白的胡子、鼻子和下垂的嘴唇狂怒地乱抓一通。

"What am I?" he howled, dissolved in tears. "Why am I here?"And striking himself on the cheek, forehead and chest, he sobbed: "Worthless, degraded creature! Lost soul!"“我是谁？”他两眼泪汪汪地吼着，“为什么我在这里？”他抽着自己的脸，拍打着额头，捶着胸，啜泣道：“我是一个没用又堕落的东西！迷途的羔羊！”

"A—ah! You're right!" growled Gregory.“啊——哎！说得没错！”格雷戈里喊道。

But grandmother, who was also not quite sober, said to her son, catching hold of his hand:

但是外祖母也有点微醉，抓住儿子的手说道：

"That will do, Jaasha. God knows how to teach us."“会好起来的，雅沙。上帝知道怎么指引我们。”

When she had been drinking, she was even more attractive; her eyes grew darker and smiled, shedding the warmth of her heart upon every one. Brushing aside the handkerchief which made her face too hot, she would say in a tipsy voice:

她喝了酒之后会变得更加迷人：眼眸愈加乌黑，带着盈盈笑意；她将心灵的温暖传递给了每一个人。头巾裹得她脸颊发烫，于是她把头巾摘掉，然后用微醺的语气说道：

"Lord! Lord! How good everything is! Don't you see how good everything is?"“主啊！主啊！这一切多么美好！难道你没有看到这一切有多么美好吗？”

And this was a cry from her heart—the watchword of her whole life.

这是发自她内心的呼唤，是她一生的座右铭。

I was much impressed by the tears and cries of my happy-go-lucky uncle, and I asked grandmother why he cried and scolded and beat himself so.

一向无忧无虑的舅舅又哭又喊，让我十分震撼，于是我就问外祖母为什么他会哭，还这么责备、折磨自己。

"You want to know everything!" she said reluctantly, quite unlike her usual manner. "But wait a bit. You will be enlightened about this affair quite soon enough."“你什么事情都想知道！”她很不愿意说，和往常一点都不一样。“再等等吧，不久你就会明白这件事的。”

My curiosity was still more excited by this, and I went to the workshop and attacked Ivan on the subject, but he would not answer me. He just laughed quietly with a sidelong glance at Gregory, and hustled me out, crying:

听她这么一说我更加好奇了。于是我来到工厂，问了伊万同样的问题，但是他不回答我。他只是斜眼瞅了一下格雷戈里，默默地笑了一下，然后推搡着我说：

"Give over now, and run away. If you don't I'll put you in the vat and dye you."“别再问啦，快走吧，不然我就把你扔进染缸里！”

Gregory, standing before the broad, low stove, with vats cemented to it, stirred them with a long black poker, lifting it up now and again to see the colored drops fall from its end. The brightly burning flames played on the skin-apron, multi-colored like the chasuble of a priest, which he wore. The dye simmered in the vats; an acrid vapor extended in a thick cloud to the door. Gregory glanced at me from under his glasses, with his clouded, bloodshot eyes, and said abruptly to Ivan:

格雷戈里站在连接着染缸的宽大低矮的炉子前，拿着一根长长的黑棒在染缸里搅动着，不时把它拿出来，看着彩色的水滴从棒底滑落。明亮的火焰在他的围裙上跳动着，仿佛他穿着的是神父彩色的十字搭。燃料在染缸里慢慢地熬着，刺鼻的气体聚成一团，蔓延到门口。格雷戈里透过眼镜看了我一眼，眼睛暗淡，充满血丝。突然他对伊万说道：

"You are wanted in the yard. Can't you see?"“院子里有人找你。难道你没有看见吗？”

But when Tsiganok had gone into the yard, Gregory, sitting on a sack of santalin, beckoned me to him.

茨甘诺克走进院子后，格雷戈里坐在一麻袋紫檀色素上，招呼我过去。

"Come here!"“过来！”

Drawing me on to his knee, and rubbing his warm, soft beard against my cheek, he said in a tone of reminiscence:

他把我放到膝盖上，用他那温暖柔软的胡子蹭我的脸，然后回忆着说道：

"Your uncle beat and tortured his wife to death, and now his conscience pricks him. Do you understand? You want to understand everything, you see, and so you get muddled."“你的舅舅殴打他的妻子，把她折磨死了，现在正受着良心的折磨。你明白吗？你瞧，你想弄明白一切，所以就会有疑问。”

Gregory was as simple as grandmother, but his words were disconcerting, and he seemed to look through and through every one.

格雷戈里和外祖母一样单纯朴素，但是他的话会令人不安，好像他能看穿每一个人。

"How did he kill her?" he went on in a leisurely tone. "Why, like this. He was lying in bed with her, and he threw the counterpane over her head, and held it down while he beat her. Why? He doesn't know himself why he did it."“他是怎么把她弄死的？”他语气轻松地继续说道，“好吧，是这样的。他和她躺在床上，突然把床单蒙在她的头上，一边按住床单，一边打她。为什么？他也不知道自己为什么要这么做。”

And paying no attention to Ivan, who, having returned with an armful of goods from the yard, was squatting before the fire, warming his hands, the head workman suggested:

这时伊万从院子里抱了很多东西回来，蹲到火堆旁暖手。工头没有注意到伊万，接着说：

"Perhaps it was because she was better than he was, and he was envious of her. The Kashmirins do not like good people, my boy. They are jealous of them. They cannot stand them, and try to get them out of the way. Ask your grandmother how they got rid of your father. She will tell you everything; she hates deceit, because she does not understand it. She may be reckoned among the saints, although she drinks wine and takes snuff. She is a splendid woman. Keep hold of her, and never let her go."“也许是因为她比他好，而他嫉妒她。卡什米润家的人不喜欢好人，我的孩子。他们嫉妒好人。他们不能忍受他们，想除掉他们。去问问你的外祖母他们是怎么甩掉了你的父亲。她会告诉你一切的。她讨厌说谎，因为她从来不说谎。她可称得上是个圣人，即使她喝酒还吸鼻烟。她是一个很好的女人。你要陪伴着她，永远都不要让她离开。”

He pushed me towards the door, and I went out into the yard, depressed and scared. Vaniushka overtook me at the entrance of the house, and whispered softly:

他把我推到门口，我来到了院子里，感到沮丧和害怕。万纽什卡在房门口处追上我，轻声安慰道：

"Don't be afraid of him. He is all right. Look him straight in the eyes. That's what he likes."“不要害怕他。他人很好。直视他的眼睛，他喜欢这样。”

It was all very strange and distressing. I hardly knew any other existence, but I remembered vaguely that my father and mother used not to live like this; they had a different way of speaking, and a different idea of happiness. They always went about together and sat close to each other. They laughed very frequently and for a long time together, in the evenings, as they sat at the window and sang at the top of their voices; and people gathered together in the street and looked at them. The raised faces of these people as they looked up reminded me comically of dirty plates after dinner. But here people seldom laughed, and when they did it was not always easy to guess what they were laughing at. They often raged at one another, and secretly muttered threats against each other in the corners. The children were subdued and neglected; beaten down to earth like the dust by the rain. I felt myself a stranger in the house, and all the circumstances of my existence in it were nothing but a series of stabs, pricking me on to suspicion, and compelling me to study what went on with the closest attention.

一切都非常奇怪，令人烦恼。我不知道其他人怎么生活，但依稀记得父亲和母亲过去的生活不是这个样子：他们两个有不同的说话方式，对幸福的理解也不一样。他们总是到哪里都在一起，形影不离。晚上，他们坐在窗户旁边，大声唱歌，两个人频繁地发出长时间的笑声，引得路人聚集在街上看他们。这些人在眺望时仰起的脸让我想起了晚饭过后留下的脏兮兮的盘子，十分滑稽。然而在这里，人们很少笑，即使笑，也总是很难猜出他们在笑什么。他们动不动就相互大发脾气，或者悄悄地在某个角落里相互威胁。孩子们性情温顺，无人照顾，经常挨打，就像被雨水拍打在地的尘土。我感到自己在这个家里是个陌生人，在这里的种种生活境遇于我不过是一系列的伤痛，刺痛促使我不断发出疑问，驱使着我对所发生的事情加以密切的关注。

My friendship with Tsiganok grew apace. Grandmother was occupied with household duties from sunrise till late at night, and I hung round Tsiganok nearly the whole day. He still used to put his hand under the rod whenever grandfather thrashed me, and the next day, displaying his swollen fingers, he would complain:

我和茨甘诺克的友谊发展神速。外祖母从早到晚都忙着家务，所以我整天都跟在茨甘诺克的屁股后面。每次外祖父一打我，他仍旧用手挡在枝条和我之间。第二天他就给我看已经肿胀的手指，抱怨道：

"There's no sense in it! It does not make it any lighter for you, and look what it does to me. I won't stand it any longer, so there!"“这一点儿用都没有！不但没减轻你受的罪，我也被打成这样。就这样吧，我下次不帮你挡鞭子了！”

But the next time he put himself in the way of being needlessly hurt just the same.

但是下一次，他仍然要置自己于无谓的伤害之中。

"But I thought you did not mean to do it again?" I would say.“可我原以为你不想再这样做了？”我会问。

"I didn't mean to, but it happened somehow. I did it without thinking."“我本来不想，但还是做了，不假思索地。”

Soon after this I learned something about Tsiganok which increased my interest in and love for him.

之后不久，我了解到茨甘诺克的一些事情，这使我我对他愈发感兴趣，也愈发地爱他。

Every Friday he used to harness the bay gelding Sharapa, grandmother's pet—a cunning, saucy, dainty creature—to the sledge. Then he put on his fur coat, which reached to his knees, and his heavy cap, and tightly buckling his green belt, set out for the market to buy provisions. Sometimes it was very late before he returned, and the whole household became uneasy. Some one would run to the window every moment, and breathing on the panes to thaw the ice, would look up and down the road.

每逢周五，他都会给外祖母最宠爱的枣红色阉马沙拉帕套上雪橇。沙拉帕既狡猾，又调皮，还挑嘴。然后他穿上长及膝盖的皮大衣，戴上厚厚的帽子，扣紧绿色的腰带，出发去市场买必需品。有时候到了很晚他还没有回来，这时候全家人都坐不住了。时不时就会有人跑到窗户前，朝玻璃上哈气把玻璃上的冰融化掉，透过窗户朝街上来回张望。

"Isn't he in sight yet?"“还看不见他吗？”

"No."“看不见。”

Grandmother was always more concerned than any of them.

外祖母总是最着急的一个。

"Alas!" she would exclaim to her sons and my grandfather, "you have ruined both the man and the horse. I wonder you aren't ashamed of yourselves, you conscienceless creatures! Ach! You family of fools, you tipplers! God will punish you for this."“哎呀！”她会向她的儿子和老伴大声喊，“是你们毁掉了人和马。我怀疑你们还有没有廉耻，没良心的东西！哎呀！一家子傻瓜，你们这群酒鬼！上帝会因此而惩罚你们的。”

"That is enough!" growled grandfather, scowling. "This is the last time it happens."“够了！”外祖父生气地吼道，“这是最后一次了还不行吗！”

Sometimes Tsiganok did not return till midday. My uncles and grandfather hurried out to the yard to meet him, and grandmother ambled after them like a bear, taking snuff with a determined air, because it was her hour for taking it. The children ran out, and the joyful unloading of the sledge began. It was full of pork, dead birds, and joints of all kinds of meat.

有时候茨甘诺克直到中午才会回来。我的舅舅们和外祖父会急忙跑到院子里迎接他，外祖母像熊一样跟在他们后面蹒跚而行，神情坚定地吸着鼻烟——因为那是她吸鼻烟的时间。孩子们也跑出去，然后就兴高采烈地开始从雪橇上卸东西。上面有猪肉，死掉的禽类，和成块的各种肉类。

"Have you bought all we told you to?" asked grandfather, probing the load with a sidelong glance of his sharp eyes.“你把我们要你买的东西都买全了吗？”外祖父敏锐的眼神斜着扫了一眼货物，问道。

"Yes, it is all right," answered Ivan gaily, as he jumped about the yard, and slapped his mittened hands together, to warm himself.“是的，都买了。”伊万高兴地回答。他在院子里跳来跳去，拍打着带着手套的手，好能暖和一下。

"Don't wear your mittens out. They cost money," said grandfather sternly. "Have you any change?"“别把手套拍坏了，手套也值几个钱的。”外祖父严厉地说道，“你有零钱吗？”

"No."“没有。”

Grandfather walked quietly round the load and said in a low tone:

外祖父静静地绕着货物踱来踱去，低声说道：

"Again you have bought too much. However, you can't do it without money, can you? I'll have no more of this." And he strode away scowling.“你又买多了。但是，没有钱你买不了，是吧？我不会再管这事了。”他皱着眉头大步走开了。

My uncles joyfully set to work on the load, whistling as they balanced bird, fish, goose-giblets, calves' feet, and enormous pieces of meat on their hands.

我的舅舅们则高兴地搬运起货物来。他们吹着口哨，手里掂量着鸡、鱼、鹅杂，小牛腿和诸多肉类。

"Well, that was soon unloaded!" they cried with loud approval.“一会儿就卸完货了！”他们一致地大声喊道。

Uncle Michael especially was in raptures, jumping about the load, sniffing hard at the poultry, smacking his lips with relish, closing his restless eyes in ecstasy. He resembled his father; he had the same dried-up appearance, only he was taller and his hair was dark.

米哈伊尔舅舅尤其高兴，在货物周围又蹦又跳，使劲地闻着家禽肉，颇有食欲地抿着嘴，沉醉地闭上他不安的眼睛。他和外祖父一样，瘦瘦的，不过他要高一些，头发是黑色的。

Slipping his chilled hands up his sleeves, he inquired of Tsiganok:

他用冰凉的手把袖子撸起来，问茨甘诺克：

"How much did my father give you?""Five roubles."“我父亲给了你多少钱？”“五个卢布。”

"There is fifteen roubles' worth here! How much did you spend?"“这些东西可是值十五卢布呐！你实际花了多少钱？”

"Four roubles, ten kopecks."“四卢布十戈比。”

"Perhaps the other ninety kopecks is in your pocket. Haven't you noticed, Jaakov, how money gets all over the place?"“也许剩余的九十戈比你装到自己的腰包了吧。你瞧，雅科夫，钱可真容易挣啊！”

Uncle Jaakov, standing in the frost in his shirtsleeves, laughed quietly, blinking in the cold blue light.

雅科夫舅舅穿着衬衫在严寒中站着，默默地笑了笑，眼睛在寒冷的空气中眨了眨。

"You have some brandy for us, Vanka, haven't you?" he asked lazily.“怎么样，请我们喝白兰地吧？”

Grandmother meanwhile was unharnessing the horse.

此时，外祖母在卸马具。

"There, my little one! There! Spoiled child! There, God's plaything!"“喂，我的小东西！好啦！宠坏了的孩子！哎，上帝的玩物！”

Great Sharapa, tossing his thick mane, fastened his white teeth in her shoulder, pushed his silky nose into her hair, gazed into her face with contented eyes, and shaking the frost from his eyelashes, softly neighed.

高大的沙拉帕晃动着他浓密的马鬃，洁白的牙齿摩擦着外祖母的肩膀，柔滑的鼻子擦着她的头发，一双眼睛满足地看着她的脸。它甩掉眉毛上的霜，轻声地叫着。

"Ah! you want some bread."“啊！你想要面包。”

She thrust a large, salted crust in his mouth, and making her apron into a bag under his nose, she thoughtfully watched him eat.

于是外祖母往他嘴里塞了一大块咸面包，然后把围裙包成袋子的形状放在他的鼻子下，若有所思地看着它吃东西。

Tsiganok, himself as playful as a young horse, sprang to her side.

茨甘诺克自己也好似一匹嬉戏的马，跳到外祖母身旁。

"He is such a good horse, Grandma! And so clever!"“奶奶，它真是一匹好马！又机灵！”

"Get away! Don't try your tricks on me!" cried grandmother, stamping her foot. "You know that I am not fond of you today."“走开！别想作弄我！”外祖母跺着脚说道，“你知道我今天不喜欢你。”

She afterwards explained to me that Tsiganok had not bought so much in the market as he had stolen. "If grandfather gives him five roubles, he spends three and steals three roubles' worth," she said sadly. "He takes a pleasure in stealing. He is like a spoiled child. He tried it once, and it turned out well; he was laughed at and praised for his success, and that is how he got into the habit of thieving. And grandfather, who in his youth ate the bread of poverty till he wanted no more of it, has grown greedy in his old age, and money is dearer to him now than the blood of his own children! He is glad even of a present! As for Michael and Jaakov..."

后来外祖母向我解释说，茨甘诺克那次偷得比买得多。“如果你外祖父给他五卢布，他就会花三卢布，再偷三卢布的东西。”她悲伤地说，“他喜欢偷。他就像是一个被宠坏了的孩子。他偷过一次，结果没事儿。大伙儿笑一笑，夸他机灵，于是就养成了他偷东西的习性。还有你外祖父，他年轻的时候尝够了贫穷的滋味，所以上了年纪后，变得贪婪起来，爱财甚至超过爱自己的亲骨肉！别人送他一件礼物，他就高兴得跟什么似的！至于米哈伊尔和雅科夫……”

She made a gesture of contempt and was silent a moment; then looking fixedly at the closed lid of her snuff-box, she went on querulously:

她轻蔑地挥了挥手，沉默了片刻。然后她把目光集中在鼻烟壶紧闭的盖子，继续抱怨道：

"But there, Lenya, that's a bit of work done by a blind woman... Dame Fortune... there she sits spinning for us and we can't even choose the pattern.... But there it is! If they caught Ivan thieving they would beat him to death."“哎，莱雅，那个是一个盲女做的活儿……命运女士……她坐在那里为我们纺纱，我们甚至都不能选图案……但事实是，如果他们抓到伊万偷东西，他们会打死他的。”

And after another silence she continued quietly:

又沉默了一会儿之后，她平静地继续说：

"Ah! we have plenty of principles, but we don't put them into practice."“啊！我们心里有很多规矩，但是从不照做。”

The next day I begged Vanka not to steal any more. "If you do they'll beat you to death."

第二天，我请求万卡不要再偷东西了。“如果你偷东西，他们会打死你的。”

"They won't touch me... I should soon wriggle out of their clutches. I am as lively as a mettlesome horse," he said, laughing; but the next minute his face fell. "Of course I know quite well that it is wrong and risky to steal. I do it... just to amuse myself, because I am bored. And I don't save any of the money. Your uncles get it all out of me before the week is over. But I don't care! Let them take it. I have more than enough."“他们抓不到我的……我会很快逃掉的。我就像是一匹骁勇的骏马。”他笑着说，但随即脸色变得很难看，“当然了，我很清楚偷东西是错的，也很危险。我偷东西……只是为了好玩，因为我很无聊。我并没有存下钱。一周还没过，你的舅舅们就都把钱从我这里拿走了。但是我不在乎！他们要拿就拿，我还有很多。”

Suddenly he took me up in his arms, shaking me gently.

突然他把我抱了起来，轻轻摇晃着我。

"You will be a strong man, you are so light and slim, and your bones are so firm. I say, why don't you learn to play on the guitar? Ask Uncle Jaakov! But you are too small yet, that's a pity! You're little, but you have a temper of your own! You don't like your grandfather much, do you?"“你会长成一个很强壮的人。虽然你这么轻，又这么瘦，但你的骨头很硬。我说，你为什么不学吉他？叫雅科夫舅舅教你！不过你还太小，很遗憾！你虽然小，但有自己的脾气！你不是很喜欢你外祖父是吧？”

"I don't know."“我不知道。”

"I don't like any of the Kashmirins except your grandmother. Let the devil like them!""What about me?"“除了你的外祖母，我不喜欢卡什迷润家任何人。只有恶魔才喜欢他们！”“我呢？你喜欢我吗？”

"You? You are not a Kashmirin. You are a Pyeshkov.... That's different blood—a different stock altogether.”“你？你不是卡什迷润家的。你是彼什科夫家的。这是两个不同的家族。”

Suddenly he gave me a violent squeeze.

突然他狠狠地捏了我一下。

"Ah!" he almost groaned. "If only I had a good voice for singing! Good Lord! what a stir I should make in the world!... Run away now, old chap. I must get on with my work."“啊！”他几乎是在呻吟，“如果我有一副好嗓子多好啊！我的上帝！那样，我会在世界上引起多么大的轰动啊！你走吧，老弟，我要干活了。”

He set me down on the floor, put a handful of fine nails into his mouth, and began to stretch and nail damp breadths of black material on a large square board.

他把我放到地上，往嘴里放了一把小钉子，把潮湿的黑色布料铺开并钉在一块方形木板上。

His end came very soon after this.

他的死亡不久就来临了。

It happened thus. Leaning up against a partition by the gate in the yard was placed a large oaken cross with stout, knotty arms. It had been there a long time. I had noticed it in the early days of my life in the house, when it had been new and yellow, but now it was blackened by the autumn rains. It gave forth the bitter odor of barked oak, and it was in the way in the crowded, dirty yard.

事情是这样的。院子门口处的一个挡板上靠放着一个很大的橡木十字架，它的枝干粗大多节。十字架放在那里很长时间了。刚来到这个家的时候我就注意过它，当时它还是崭新的黄色，但是现在被秋雨淋成了黑色。十字架散发出去皮橡木难闻的气味，而且在拥挤肮脏的院子里也很碍事。

Uncle Jaakov had bought it to place over the grave of his wife, and had made a vow to carry it on his shoulders to the cemetery on the anniversary of her death, which fell on a Saturday at the beginning of winter.

雅科夫舅舅把它买来，打算放在他死去妻子的坟上，还发誓在妻子去世周年的时候把它扛到墓地上。这一天正巧赶上初冬的一个星期六。

It was frosty and windy and there had been a fall of snow. Grandfather and grandmother, with the three grandchildren, had gone early to the cemetery to hear the requiem; I was left at home as a punishment for some fault.

那天很冷，刮着风，还下了雪。外祖父和外祖母，带着三个孙子孙女，很早就去了墓地做弥撒；我因为犯了点错误，被留在家里作为惩罚。

My uncles, dressed alike in short black fur coats, lifted the cross from the ground and stood under its arms. Gregory and some men not belonging to the yard raised the heavy beams with difficulty, and placed the cross on the broad shoulders of Tsiganok. He tottered, and his legs seemed to give way.

两个舅舅都穿着黑色短皮衣，他们俩站在十字架两端，把它从地上抬起来。格雷戈里和几个外人费力地举起沉重的木头，把十字架放在了茨甘诺克的宽宽的肩上。他蹒跚着，双腿好像支撑不起来。

"Are you strong enough to carry it?" asked Gregory.“搬得动吗？”格雷戈里问道。

"I don't know. It seems heavy.""Open the gate, you blind devil!" cried Uncle Michael angrily.“不知道。好像很重。”“快把门打开，眼睛瞎了！”米哈伊尔舅舅生气地喊道。

And Uncle Jaakov said:

雅科夫舅舅说道：

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Vanka. You are stronger than the two of us together."“你应该感到羞耻，万卡。你比我们两个人加起来都强壮。”

But Gregory, throwing open the gate, persisted in advising Ivan:

但是格雷戈里打开门之后，还是不停地叮嘱伊万：

"Take care you don't break down! Go, and may God be with you!"“小心点，别倒了！去吧，愿上帝保佑你！”

"Bald-headed fool!" cried Uncle Michael, from the street.“秃头的傻瓜！”米哈伊尔舅舅从街上喊道。

All the people in the yard, meanwhile, laughed and talked loudly, as if they were glad to get rid of the cross.

与此同时，院子里所有的人都笑了，大声地讨论着，好像他们很高兴除掉这个十字架。

Gregory Ivanovitch took my hand and led me to the workshop, saying kindly:

格雷戈里·伊万诺维奇拉着我的手，把我领到作坊，温和地说：

"Perhaps, under the circumstances, grandfather won't thrash you today."“也许在今天这种场合外祖父不会打你了。”

He sat me on a pile of woolens ready for dyeing, carefully wrapping them round me as high as my shoulders; and inhaling the vapor which rose from the vats, he said thoughtfully:

他把我放在一堆待染的毛纺品上面，用它们把我小心地包裹起来，一直裹到肩膀处，然后他深吸一口从染缸里升起的蒸汽，若有所思地说：

"I have known your grandfather for thirty-seven years, my dear. I saw his business at its commencement, and I shall see the end of it. We were friends then—in fact, we started and planned out the business together. He is a clever man, is your grandfather! He meant to be master, but I did not know it. However, God is more clever than any of us. He has only to smile and the wisest man will blink like a fool. You don't understand yet all that is said and done, but you must learn to understand everything. An orphan's life is a hard one. Your father, Maxim Savatyevitch, was a trump. He was well-educated too. That is why your grandfather did not like him, and would have nothing to do with him.”“我跟你的外祖父相识有三十七个年头了，我的小宝贝。我看着他的染坊开始做起，也会看着它结束。那时候我们还是朋友——实际上我们是一起出主意并建立起这家染坊的。你的外祖父是个精明的人！他打算做老板，但是我就不知道这样想。然而，上帝比我们任何人都高明。他只要微微一笑，最聪明的人也只能像傻瓜一样眨着眼睛。你现在还不明白人们的一言一行，但是你必须学着理解这一切。孤儿的生活是很艰难的。你的父亲，马克西姆·萨瓦杰维奇是个好样的人。他也受到过良好的教育。那就是你的外祖父不喜欢他，也不愿意和他有任何关系的原因。”

It was pleasant to listen to these kind words and to watch the red and gold flames playing in the stove, and the milky cloud of steam which rose from the vats and settled like a dark blue rime on the slanting boards of the roof, through the uneven chinks of which the sky could be seen, like strands of blue ribbon. The wind had fallen; the yard looked as if it were strewn with glassy dust; the sledges gave forth a sharp sound as they passed up the street; a blue smoke rose from the chimneys of the house; faint shadows glided over the snow... also telling a story.

能一边听着这些友善的话语，一边看着炉子里外红里黄的火焰，我感到很愉悦。团团白色的蒸汽从染缸里冉冉升起，在屋顶的斜梁上像结成深蓝色的霜，透过屋顶参差的裂缝可以看到天空，好像是一缕缕蓝色的飘带。风停了下来。院子里好像洒满了玻璃状的尘土，雪橇滑过街道发出尖锐的响声，一缕蓝烟从烟囱里袅袅升起，浅浅的影子在雪地上滑动，也在讲述着故事。

Lean, long-limbed Gregory, bearded and hatless, large-eared, just like a good-natured wizard, stirred the boiling dye, instructing me the while.

格雷戈里很瘦，四肢细长，胡子浓密，头上没戴帽子，耳朵大大的，像是一个和善的巫师。他搅动着沸腾的染料，同时引导着我。

"Look every one straight in the eyes. And if a dog should fly at you, do the same; he will let you alone then."“不管看谁都要直视对方。既使一条狗向你扑来也要这样做，这样它就会放过你了。”

His heavy spectacles pressed on the bridge of his nose, the tip of which was blue like grandmother's—and for the same reason.

沉重的眼镜架在他的鼻梁上，因为同样的原因，鼻尖像外祖母的一样，也是蓝色。

"What is that?" he exclaimed suddenly, listening; then closing the door of the stove with his foot, he ran, or rather hopped, across the yard, and I dashed after him. In the middle of the kitchen floor lay Tsiganok, face upwards; broad streaks of light from the window fell on his head, his chest, and on his feet. His forehead shone strangely; his eyebrows were raised; his squinting eyes gazed intently at the blackened ceiling; a red-flecked foam bubbled from his discolored lips, from the corners of which also flowed blood over his cheeks, his neck, and on to the floor; and a thick stream of blood crept from under his back. His legs were spread out awkwardly, and it was plain that his trousers were wet; they clung damply to the boards, which had been polished with sand, and shone like the sun. The rivulets of blood intersected the streams of light, and, showing up very vividly, flowed towards the threshold.“什么声音？”他竖起耳朵，突然问道；随后他用脚关上炉门，跑过——或者干脆说是跃过——院子。我也跟在他后面跑了起来。在厨房地板的中央，茨甘诺克仰面躺着，大束阳光从窗户射进来，照在他的头上、身上和脚上。他的前额奇怪地闪着光亮，眉毛高扬，斜视的眼睛紧紧盯着黑色的屋顶，没有血色的唇边冒出红色的血泡，嘴角里流出的血淌过他的脸和脖子，流到地板上，一大片血从他后背流了出来。他的腿奇怪地伸着，很显然他的裤子是湿的，裤子潮湿地粘在早已经用沙子打磨过的、像太阳般闪闪发亮的地板上。血流与光线相交，向门槛流去，十分清晰。

Tsiganok was motionless, except for the fact that as he lay with his hands alongside his body, his fingers scratched at the floor, and his stained fingernails shone in the sunlight.

茨甘诺克一动不动地躺在那里，只有身旁的手指在地板上划动，染有鲜血的指甲在阳光下闪闪发光。

Nyanya Eugenia, crouching beside him, put a slender candle into his hand, but he could not hold it and it fell to the floor, the wick being drenched in blood. Nyanya Eugenia picked it up and wiped it dry, and made another attempt to fix it in those restless fingers. A gentle whispering made itself heard in the kitchen; it seemed to blow me away from the door like the wind, but I held firmly to the doorpost.

尼安亚·尤金妮娅蹲在他身边，把一根细长的蜡烛放在他的手里。但是他没有握住。蜡烛掉在地板上，烛芯浸入血里。尼安亚·尤金妮娅把蜡烛捡起来擦干，再次试图放进茨甘诺克不断抽动的手指间。厨房里升起一片低语声，似乎要像风一样把我从门口吹走，但是我紧紧地抓住了门柱。

"He stumbled!"Uncle Jaakov was explaining, in a colorless voice, shuddering and turning his head about. His face was gray and haggard; his eyes had lost their color, and blinked incessantly. "He fell, and it fell on top of him... and hit him on the back. We should have been disabled if we had not dropped the cross in time."“他绊了一跤！”雅科夫舅舅声音平淡地解释着，脑袋不住地颤动和摇晃。他脸色灰白，神情疲惫，眼睛暗淡无光，不停地眨着。“然后就摔倒了，十字架从他头上落了下来，砸到他的后背。如果我们没有及时扔掉十字架，我们就残废了。”

"This is your doing," said Gregory dully.“是你们把他害死的！”格雷戈里黯然地说道。

"But how...?"“但是怎么……”

"You did it!"“是你们害死他的！”

All this time the blood was flowing, and by the door had already formed a pool which seemed to grow darker and deeper. With another effusion of blood-flecked foam, Tsiganok roared out as if he were dreaming, and then collapsed, seeming to grow flatter and flatter, as if he were glued to the floor, or sinking through it.

血一直在流，在门口积了一摊，颜色越来越暗、越来越深。茨甘诺克嘴角又浮出了鲜红的血泡，他像做梦一样呻吟了一声，然后便昏死过去。他似乎变得越来越扁，就像粘在了地板上，或是沉了下去一样。

"Michael went on horseback to the church to find father," whispered Uncle Jaakov, "and I brought him here in a cab as quickly as I could. It is a good job that I was not standing under the arms myself, or I should have been like this."“米哈伊尔骑马去教堂找父亲了，”雅科夫舅舅小声说道，“我尽可能快地用车把他拉了回来。幸运的是我自己没有站在十字架下面，不然，弄成现在这个样子的就是我了。”

Nyanya Eugenia again fixed the candle in Tsiganok's hand, dropping wax and tears in his palm.

尼安亚·尤金妮娅再次把蜡烛放在茨甘诺克的手里，她的泪滴和蜡滴一起落在了他的手掌上。

"That's right! Glue his head to the floor, you careless creature," said Gregory gruffly and rudely.“好啊！让他的头粘到地板上，蠢货！”格雷戈里粗暴无礼地说道。

"What do you mean?"“你什么意思？”

"Why don't you take off his cap?"“你为什么不摘下他的帽子？”

Nyanya dragged Ivan's cap from his head, which struck dully on the floor. Then it fell to one side and the blood flowed profusely from one side of his mouth only. This went on for a terribly long time.

尼安亚从伊万的头上摘下帽子。伊万的头碰到地板，发出一声闷响。然后他的头侧向一边，血源源不断地从他一边的嘴角里流出来。就这样持续了很久。

At first, I expected Tsiganok to sit up on the floor with a sigh, and say sleepily, "Phew! It is baking hot!" as he used to do after dinner on Sundays.

开始的时候，我还想着茨甘诺克会叹口气从地板上坐起来，然后困倦地说：“哟！热死了！”就像他每次在周日晚饭后做的一样。

But he did not rise; on the contrary he seemed to be sinking into the ground. The sun had withdrawn from him now; its bright beams had grown shorter, and fell only on the window-sill. His whole form grew darker; his fingers no longer moved; the froth had disappeared from his lips. Round his head three candles stood out from the darkness, waving their golden flames, lighting up his dishevelled blue-black hair, and throwing quivering yellow ripples on his swarthy cheek, illuminating the tip of his pointed nose and his blood-stained teeth.

但是这次他没有起来，反而像已经陷进了地里。太阳已经照不到他了，阳光在后退，只能照到窗台上。他整个身体变得更黑，手指不再颤动，嘴里也不再冒血泡了。他头顶周围点燃了三根蜡烛，金黄色的火苗在黑暗中摇曳着，照亮了他蓬乱的深蓝色头发，在他的黝黑的脸颊上投上闪烁着的黄色波纹，同时也照亮了他尖尖的鼻子和染血的牙齿。

Nyanya, kneeling at his side, shed tears as she lisped: "My little dove! My bird of consolation!"

尼安亚跪在他的旁边，流着眼泪含糊地说：“我的小鸽子！我安慰人心的鸽子啊！”

It was painfully cold. I crept under the table and hid myself there. Then grandfather came tumbling into the kitchen, in his coat of racoon fur; with him came grandmother in a cloak with a fur collar, Uncle Michael, the children, and many people not belonging to the house.

天冷得刺骨。我爬到桌子下，把自己藏在那里。这时，外祖父穿着他那件熊皮大衣，跌跌撞撞地跑进厨房；外祖母穿着带毛领的斗篷跟着也进来了；米哈伊尔舅舅、孩子们和很多外人也进来了。

Throwing his coat on the floor, grandfather cried:

外祖父把大衣扔到地上，大声喊道：

"Riff-raff! See what you have done for me, between you, in your carelessness! He would have been worth his weight in gold in five years—that's certain!"“垃圾！看看你们都给我做了些什么，这么粗心！他本可以在五年之内体现出他的价值的——那是肯定的！”

The coats which had been thrown on the floor hindered me from seeing Ivan, so I crept out and knocked myself against grandfather's legs. He hurled me to one side, as he shook his little red fist threateningly at my uncles.

扔在地板上的衣服挡住了我的视线，我看不到伊万，所以我从桌子底下爬了出来，正好碰到外祖父的腿。他把我摔在一边，然后挥舞着他那红色的小拳头威胁我的两个舅舅说：

"You wolves!"“你们这两头恶狼！”

He sat down on a bench, and resting his arms upon it, burst into dry sobs, and said in a shrill voice:

他坐到一张凳子上，胳膊垂在上面，突然干嚎起来，声音让人毛骨悚然：

"I know all about it!... He stuck in your gizzards! That was it! Oh, Vaniushka, poor fool! What have they done to you, eh? 'Rotten reins are good enough for a stranger's horse!'God has not loved us for the last year, has He? Mother!"“我都知道！他是你们的眼中钉！就是这样！哦，万纽什卡，可怜的傻瓜！他们都对你做了什么啊？‘腐缰对陌生人的马来说就足以致命！’孩子妈！上帝在过去的一年里没有关爱我们，是吧？”

Grandmother, doubled up on the floor, was feeling Ivan's hands and chest, breathing upon his eyes, holding his hands and chafing them. Then, throwing down all the candles, she rose with difficulty to her feet, looking very somber in her shiny black frock, and with her eyes dreadfully wide open, she said in a low voice: "Go, accursed ones!"

外祖母俯身在地板上，摸着伊万的双手和胸膛，亲吻着他的眼睛，攥着他的双手抚摸着。然后，她费力地站起来，打翻了地上所有的蜡烛，神色黯淡，黑色的衣服发着光亮。她的眼睛瞪得大的可怕，声音低沉地说道：“都给我滚，天杀的！”

All, with the exception of grandfather, straggled out of the kitchen.

除了外祖父，所有的人都溜出了厨房。

Tsiganok was buried without fuss, and was soon forgotten.

人们静静地把茨甘诺克埋掉了，不久他就被人们遗忘了。

CHAPTER IV

第四章

I was lying in a wide bed, with a thick blanket folded four times around me, listening to grandmother, who was saying her prayers. She was on her knees; and pressing one hand against her breast, she reverently crossed herself from time to time with the other. Out in the yard a hard frost reigned; a greenish moonlight peeped through the ice patterns on the window-panes, falling flatteringly on her kindly face and large nose, and kindling a phosphorescent light in her dark eyes. Her silky, luxuriant tresses were lit up as if by a furnace; her dark dress rustled, falling in ripples from her shoulders and spreading about her on the floor.

我躺在一张宽大的床上，身上裹着一张叠成了四层的厚毯子，听外祖母做祈祷。她跪在那里，一只手按住胸口，另一只手不时地划着十字，十分虔诚。院子里下了一层冷霜，绿色的月光透过窗户上的冰花，讨人地照在她的慈祥的脸上和大鼻子上，在她黑色的眼睛里燃起了闪闪光亮。月光像火炉一般照亮了她那一头柔顺浓密的长发。她黑色的裙子沙沙作响，像波浪一般从肩膀处一直垂到地上。

When she had finished her prayers grandmother undressed in silence, carefully folding up her clothes and placing them on the trunk in the corner. Then she came to bed. I pretended to be fast asleep.

做完祷告，外祖母静静地脱下衣服，小心地叠起来，把它们放在角落里的箱子上。然后她就上床了。我假装在熟睡。

"You are not asleep, you rogue, you are only making believe," she said softly. "Come, my duck, let's have some bedclothes!"“你没有睡着，你这个小鬼，别装了，”她轻柔地说，“过来，我的宝贝，让我们盖上被子！”

Foreseeing what would happen, I could not repress a smile, upon seeing which she cried: "So this is how you trick your old grandmother?"And taking hold of the blanket she drew it towards her with so much force and skill that I bounced up in the air, and turning over and over fell back with a squash into the soft feather bed, while she said with a chuckle: "What is it, little Hop o' my Thumb? Have you been bitten by a mosquito?"

料想到接下来会发生什么，我忍不住笑了。一见我笑，她叫道：“这就是你欺骗外祖母的方法吗？”她抓住毯子，娴熟地向她那一侧用力一拉，我便弹了起来，翻转之后又掉进柔软的羽绒床里。她咯咯地笑起来，说道：“怎么样，我的小家伙？你被蚊子咬了吗？”

But sometimes she prayed for such a long time that I really did fall asleep, and did not hear her come to bed.

但有时候她祈祷的时间太长，我真的睡着了，就没有听到她上床的声音。

The longer prayers were generally the conclusion of a day of trouble, or a day of quarreling and fighting; and it was very interesting to listen to them. Grandmother gave to God a circumstantial account of all that had happened in the house. Bowed down, looking like a great mound, she knelt, at first whispering rapidly and indistinctly, then hoarsely muttering:

较长的祷告一般都是对有麻烦事的一天，或者是有争吵和打斗的一天的总结，听这样的祷告也非常有趣。外祖母详实地向上帝讲述家里发生的一切。她弯着腰，跪在地上，看起来好像是一个大土堆。开始的时候她很快、很含糊地小声说着，随后声音变得沙哑：

"O Lord, Thou knowest that all of us wish to do better. Michael, the elder, ought to have been set up in the town—it will do him harm to be on the river; and the other is a new neighborhood and not overdone. I don't know what will come of it all! There's father now. Jaakov is his favorite. Can't it be right to love one child more than the others? He is an obstinate old man; do Thou, O Lord, teach him!"“哦，上帝啊，你知道，我们都希望做得更好。老大米哈伊尔本应该在镇里发展——这样做对他来说是不公平的，况且那边就没有住过什么人。我不知道会发生什么事！现在是老头子了。雅科夫是他的心头肉。难道偏袒就对吗？他是一个固执的老头儿。哦，上帝啊，请教化教化他吧！”

Gazing at the dark-featured icon, with her large, brilliant eyes, she thus counseled God:

她的一双大眼镜闪闪发光，她注视着黑色的圣像，这样向上帝祈祷：

"Send him a good dream, O Lord, to make him understand how he ought to treat his children!"“哦，上帝啊，让他做一个好梦，好让他知道该怎么样对待他的孩子们！”

After prostrating herself and striking her broad forehead on the floor, she again straightened herself, and said coaxingly:

她俯下身，用宽敞的前额碰了碰地板，然后立起身，甜言蜜语道：

"And send Varvara some happiness! How has she displeased Thee? Is she more sinful than the others? Why should a young woman be so afflicted? And remember Gregory, O Lord! His eyes are getting worse and worse. If he goes blind he will be sent adrift. That will be terrible! He has used up all his strength for grandfather, but do you think it likely that grandfather will help him? O Lord! Lord!"“给瓦尔瓦拉一些快乐吧！她让你不高兴了吗？难道她比别人更加罪孽深重吗？为什么一个年轻的女人要遭这样的罪？哦，上帝啊，还有格雷戈里！他的视力越来越糟糕。如果他瞎了，就得去流浪了，这太可怕了！他为了帮老头子已经卖尽了所有力气，但是老头子可是不大会帮助他的！哦，上帝啊！我的上帝！”

She remained silent for a long time, with her head bowed meekly, and her hands hanging by her sides, as still as if she had fallen asleep, or had been suddenly frozen.

她沉默了很长时间，头虔诚地低着，双手垂在身子两边。她一动不动，好像睡着了，或是被突然冻住了一样。

"What else is there?" she asked herself aloud, wrinkling her brows.“还有什么呢？”她大声地问着自己，皱了皱眉头。

"O Lord, save all the faithful! Pardon me—accursed fool as I am!—Thou knowest that I do not sin out of malice but out of stupidity.”And drawing a deep breath she would say lovingly and contentedly: "Son of God, Thou knowest all! Father, Thou seest all things."“哦，主啊，救救所有虔诚的人吧！请原谅我——我这样一个该受诅咒的傻瓜——你知道，我做的错事都是出于愚笨无知，而非邪恶。”随后她深吸一口气，亲切又满足地说：“上帝之子，你无所不知！天父，你无所不见。”

I was very fond of grandmother's God Who seemed so near to her, and I often said:

我非常喜欢外祖母的上帝，因为他离外祖母好像很近，所以我经常说：

"Tell me something about God."“给我讲讲上帝吧。”

She used to speak about Him in a peculiar manner—very quietly, strangely drawing out her words, closing her eyes; and she made a point of always sitting down and arranging her head-handkerchief very deliberately before she began.

外祖母通常都以一种很独特的方式讲上帝：她闭上眼，静静地、又很奇怪地拉长嗓音；每次开始之前，她都要坐下来，刻意地整理好她的头巾。

"God's seat is on the hills, amidst the meadows of Paradise; it is an altar of sapphires under silver linden trees which flower all the year round, for in Paradise there is no winter, nor even autumn, and the flowers never wither, for joy is the divine favor. And round about God many angels fly like flakes of snow; and it may be even that bees hum there, and white doves fly between Heaven and earth, telling God all about us and everybody. And here on earth you and I and grandfather each has been given an angel. God treats us all equally. For instance, your angel will go and tell God: 'Lexei put his tongue out at grandfather.'And God says: 'All right, let the old man whip him.'And so it is with all of us; God gives to all what they deserve—to some grief, to others joy. And so all is right that He does, and the angels rejoice, and spread their wings and sing to Him without ceasing: 'Glory be unto Thee, O God; Glory be unto Thee.'And He just smiles on them, and it is enough for them—and more.”And she would smile herself, shaking her head from side to side.“上帝住在伊甸园的山林草地之间，在银色的菩提树下，有一座镶有蓝宝石的圣坛，那就是上帝的宝座。菩提树终年花开不败，因为伊甸园里没有冬天，甚至没有秋天；花儿永不凋谢，因为快乐是神的偏爱。上帝周围环绕着很多天使，天使们像雪花一样飞舞，甚至蜜蜂都在嗡嗡地飞着，白鸽往返于天堂和大地之间，告诉上帝关于我们每一个人的事情。在这个世上，上帝为你、我、还有你外祖父各送了一个天使。上帝平等地对待我们每一个人。比如，你的天使会告诉上帝：‘列克谢向外祖父做鬼脸。’然后上帝会说：‘那么，就让老头儿鞭打他吧。’我们都是如此。上帝赋予人们应得的东西——赋予一些人痛苦，赋予另一些人快乐。他所做的一切都是正确的，天使们充满喜悦，张开翅膀，不停地为他唱歌：‘荣耀属于你，哦，上帝，荣耀属于你。’他只是冲天使们笑笑，而这对天使们就足够了——很多了。”外祖母自己也笑起来，来回地摇摆着头。

"Have you seen that?"“你见过这场景吗？”

"No, I have not seen it, but I know."“不，我没有见过，但是我知道。”

When she spoke about God, or Heaven, or the angels, she seemed to shrink in size; her face grew younger, and her liquid eyes emitted a curious warm radiance. I used to take her heavy, satiny plait in my hands, and wind it round my neck as I sat quite still and listened to the endless but never tedious story.

一提到上帝、天堂或者天使的时候，外祖母似乎变小了，脸庞也变得更年轻，水汪汪的眼睛里闪烁着奇特的、温馨的光芒。我总是拿起外祖母浓密光滑的辫子，把它绕在我的脖子上，静静地坐着，听她讲述长长的、有趣的故事。

"It is not given to men to see God—their sight is dim! Only the saints may look upon Him face to face. But I have seen angels myself; they reveal themselves sometimes to souls in a state of grace. I was standing in church at an early Mass, and I saw two moving about the altar like clouds. One could see everything, through them, growing brighter and brighter, and their gossamer-like wings touched the floor. They moved about the altar, helping old Father Elia, and supporting his elbows as he raised his feeble hands in prayer. He was very old, and being almost blind, stumbled frequently; but that day he got through the Mass quickly, and was finished early. When I saw them I nearly died of joy. My heart seemed as if it would burst; my tears ran down. Ah, how beautiful it was! Oh, Lenka, dear heart, where God is—whether in Heaven or earth—all goes well.”“人类是看不到上帝的——他们的视力模糊！只有圣人才能面对面地直视他。但是我亲眼见过天使，当灵魂处在圣洁的状态下时，他们便会现身。有一次做早弥撒时，我站在教堂里，看到了两个天使像云一样在圣坛附近徘徊。透过他们，你可以看到一切都变得越来越亮，他们薄纱般的翅膀碰到了地板。他们在圣坛上飞舞，帮助年迈的伊利亚神父。在神父举起虚弱无力的双手做祷告时，天使们帮他抬起胳膊。神父很老了，眼睛都要看不见了，经常摔倒，但是那天他很快就做完了弥撒，不久也辞世了。当我看到天使的时候，快乐得几乎要死掉了。我的心好像要爆炸似的，眼泪簌簌地流了下来。它是多么漂亮啊！哦，莱卡，小宝贝，上帝所在之地——无论天堂还是俗世——一切都平安无事。”

"But you don't mean to say that everything goes well here—in our house?”“你不会是要说在我们家里也是平安无事吧？”

Making the sign of the cross grandmother answered: "Our Lady be praised—everything goes well.”This irritated me. I could not agree that things were going well in our household. From my point of view they were becoming more and more intolerable.

外祖母划了个十字，回答道：“感谢圣母，一切平安无事。”外祖母的回答让我恼怒。我不能同意在我们家里一切平安无事的说法。在我看来，这个家正变得越来越难以忍受。

One day, as I passed the door of Uncle Michael's room I saw Aunt Natalia, not fully dressed, with her hands folded on her breast, pacing up and down like a creature distraught, and moaning, not loudly, but in a tone of agony:

一天，经过米哈伊尔舅舅的房间时，我看到了娜塔莉亚舅妈。她衣衫不整，双手叠在胸前，像一头发疯的野兽走来走去，呻吟着，虽然声音不大，但是很痛苦：

"My God, take me under Thy protection! Remove me from here!"“我的上帝啊，保佑我吧！把我从这里带走吧！”

I could sympathize with her prayer as well as I could understand Gregory when he growled:

我能理解舅母的祈祷，就像我能理解格雷戈里的怨言一样：

"As soon as I am quite blind they will turn me out to beg; it will be better than this, anyhow."“我一旦完全失明，他们就会把我赶出去乞讨。但无论如何，那样也比现在要好。”

And I wished that he would make haste and go blind, for I meant to seize the opportunity to go away with him so that we could start begging together. I had already mentioned the matter to Gregory, and he had replied, smiling in his beard:

我希望他赶快失明，因为我想借此机会和他一起离开，这样我们就可以一起乞讨。我跟格雷戈里提过此事，他笑着回答说：

"That's right! We will go together. But I shall show myself in the town. There's a grandson of Vassili Kashmirin's there—his daughter's son; he may give me something to do."“好吧！我们一起走。但是我会在镇里大肆炫耀：这是瓦西里·卡什米润的外孙——他女儿的儿子——他的外孙会给我找事情做的。”

More than once I noticed a blue swelling under the sunken eyes of Aunt Natalia; and sometimes a swollen lip was thrown into relief by her yellow face.

不止一次，我注意到娜塔莉亚舅妈深陷的眼睛下有青色的肿块，有时候黄色的面庞能稍稍掩饰红肿的嘴唇。

"Does Uncle Michael beat her, then?" I asked grandmother. And she answered with a sigh:“米哈伊尔舅舅打她吗？”我问外祖母。她叹口气回答道：

"Yes, he beats her, but not very hard—the devil! Grandfather does not object so long as he does it at night. He is ill-natured, and she—she is like a jelly!“是，他打她，但是打得不重——那个恶棍！只要他在晚上动手，你外祖父就不管。你舅舅脾气暴躁，而你舅母太软弱了！

"But he does not beat her as much as he used to," she continued in a more cheerful tone. "He just gives her a blow on the mouth, or boxes her ears, or drags her about by the hair for a minute or so; but at one time he used to torture her for hours together. Grandfather beat me one Easter Day from dinner-time till bed-time. He kept on; he just stopped to get his breath sometimes, and then started again. And he used a strap too!”“不过现在他不像以前那么经常打她了，”外祖母继续说，声音稍微愉快了一些，“他只是打她的嘴巴，或是扇她耳光，或是拽她的头发，过一两分钟就停下了。但是有一次他一连折磨了她好几个小时。有一年的复活节，你外祖父从晚饭到睡觉前一直打我。他一直打，只是有时候停下来喘口气，然后接着打。而且他还用皮带！”

"But why did he do it?"“但是他为什么打你？”

"I forget now. Another time he knocked me about till I was nearly dead, and then kept me without food for five hours. I was hardly alive when he had finished with me."“我现在忘记了。还有一次我几乎要被他打死了，然后五个小时他没有给我吃东西。他打完我，我已经奄奄一息了。”

I was thunderstruck. Grandmother was twice as big as grandfather, and it was incredible that he should be able to get the better of her like this.

我感到很惊诧。外祖母比外祖父要高大一倍，竟然被他如此欺负，真是不可思议。

"Is he stronger than you, then?" I asked.“那就是他比你强壮了？”我问道。

"Not stronger, but older. Besides, he is my husband, he has to answer for me to God; but my duty is to suffer patiently."“不是比我强壮，而是比我大。另外，他是我丈夫，他得替我回应上帝，而我的责任就是耐心地忍受。”

It was an interesting and pleasing sight to see her dusting the icon and cleaning its ornamentation; it was richly adorned with pearls, silver and colored gems in the crown, and as she took it gently in her hands she gazed at it with a smile, and said in a tone of feeling:

我喜欢看着她打扫神像上的尘土，清洗上面的饰物。圣像装饰着很多珍珠，皇冠上镶嵌着银色和彩色的宝石。她把圣像轻轻地拿在手里，盯着它，脸上挂着微笑，动情地说道：

"See what a sweet face it is!"And crossing herself and kissing it, she went on: "Dusty art thou, and begrimed, Mother, Help of Christians, Joy of the Elect! Look, Lenia, darling, how small the writing is, and what tiny characters they are; and yet it is all quite distinct. It is called 'The Twelve Holy-Days' and in the middle you see the great Mother of God by predestination immaculate; and here is written: 'Mourn not for me, Mother, because I am about to be laid in the grave.'"“看看这是一张多美的脸啊！”她划着十字，吻了吻圣像，继续说道：“圣母啊，你的身上满是尘土，你是基督教徒的恩人，是上帝选民的慰藉！看，莱卡，我的亲爱，这字写得多小，字母也很小，但是都很清晰。这是‘十二圣日’，在中间你会看到圣母准确的预言。这里写道：‘不要为我悲伤，圣母，因为我马上就要进入坟墓。’”

Sometimes it seemed to me as if she played with the icon as earnestly and seriously as my Cousin Ekaterina with her doll.

有时候我觉得她是在和神像玩耍，和艾卡特里娜表姐玩玩具时一样地认真严肃。

She often saw devils, sometimes several together, sometimes one alone.

她经常看到鬼，有时候看到几个，有时候只看到一个。

"One clear moonlight night, during the great Fast, I was passing the Rudolphovs' house, and looking up I saw, on the roof, a devil sitting close to the chimney! He was all black, and he was holding his horned head over the top of the chimney and sniffing vigorously.“斋戒日一个晴朗的月夜，我经过鲁道夫家，抬头往上一看，屋顶上的烟囱旁竟坐了一个鬼！它全身漆黑，在烟囱顶上探出长角的脑袋，使劲地打着喷嚏。

There he sat sniffing and grunting, the great, unwieldy creature, with his tail on the roof, scraping with his feet all the time. I made the sign of the Cross at him and said: 'Christ is risen from the dead, and His enemies are scattered.'At that he gave a low howl and slipped head over heels from the roof to the yard—so he was scattered! They must have been cooking meat at the Rudolphovs' that day, and he was enjoying the smell of it."

它坐在那里不停地闻着，咕哝着。这只笨拙庞大的鬼，一直用双脚蹭着地，尾巴拖在屋顶上。我在它面前划着十字说：‘耶稣死而复活，而他的敌人遍及各处。’它听到这些便发出了一声低沉的哀号，头朝下从屋顶栽到院子里，就这样消散了。鲁道夫家那天肯定在做肉，那个小鬼是在享受美味呢。”

I laughed at her picture of the devil flying head over heels off the roof, and she laughed too as she said:

听到她描述小鬼头朝下从屋顶飞下来，我笑了，她也笑了笑说道：

"They are as fond of playing tricks as children. One day I was doing the washing in the washhouse and it was getting late, when suddenly the door of the little room burst open and in rushed lots of little red, green and black creatures like cockroaches, and all sizes, and spread themselves all over the place. I flew towards the door, but I could not get past; there I was unable to move hand or foot amongst a crowd of devils! They filled the whole place so that I could not turn round. They crept about my feet, plucked at my dress, and crowded round me so that I had not even room to cross myself. Shaggy, and soft, and warm, somewhat resembling cats, though they walked on their hind legs, they went round and round me, peering into everything, showing their teeth like mice, blinking their small green eyes, almost piercing me with their horns, and sticking out their little tails—they were like pigs' tails. Oh, my dear! I seemed to be going out of my mind. And didn't they push me about too! The candle nearly went out, the water in the copper became luke-warm, the washing was all thrown about the floor. Ah! your very breath was trouble and sorrow.”“它们和孩子一样喜欢恶作剧。一天，我正在洗衣房洗衣服，天也渐渐黑了。突然门开了，冲进来很多红色的、绿色的和黑色的像蟑螂一样的东西，大小不一，散的满地都是。我飞奔向门口，但是出不了门。我站在那里，被一群恶魔包围着，手脚都动弹不得。它们把整个地方都塞得满满的，我都转不过身来了。它们在我的脚边爬着，扯我的裙子，把我围住，我甚至没有划十字的空间了。它们毛发蓬松、柔软又暖和，有点像猫，只不过是用后腿走路。它们环绕在我周围，像老鼠那样露着牙齿，窥视着一切。它们还眨着绿色的小眼睛，用头上的尖角扎我，还把它们的小尾巴伸出来——好像是猪的尾巴。哦，我的天啊！我似乎要发疯了。它们千万不要推我！旁边的蜡烛快要灭了，盆里的水也变凉了，洗好的衣服扔得满地都是。哎，当时的感受真是麻烦和惋惜！”

Closing my eyes, I could visualize the threshold of the little chamber with its gray cobble-stones, and the unclean stream of shaggy creatures of diverse colors which gradually filled the washhouse. I could see them blowing out the candle and thrusting out their impudent pink tongues. It was a picture both comical and terrifying.

闭上眼睛，我可以想象出那间小屋由鹅卵石砌成的门槛，还有那群不同颜色的毛绒绒脏兮兮的小鬼，它们渐渐地挤满了整个洗衣房。我能看见它们吹灭蜡烛，肆无忌惮地伸出它们粉色的舌头。这是一幅可笑又可怕的画面。

Grandmother was silent a minute, shaking her head, before she burst out again:

有一分钟外祖母没有说话，只是摇着头，随后她突然说：

"And I saw some fiends too, one wintry night, when it was snowing. I was coming across the Dinkov Causeway—the place where, if you remember, your Uncle Michael and your Uncle Jaakov tried to drown your father in an ice-hole—and I was just going to take the lower path, when there came the sounds of hissing and hooting, and I looked up and saw a team of three raven-black horses tearing towards me. On the coachman's place stood a great fat devil, in a red nightcap, with protruding teeth. He was holding the reins, made of forged iron chains, with outstretched arms, and as there was no way round, the horses flew right over the pond, and were hidden by a cloud of snow. All those sitting in the sledge behind were devils too; there they sat, hissing and screaming and waving their nightcaps. In all, seven troikas like this tore by, as if they had been fire-engines, all with black horses, and all carrying a load of thoroughbred devils. They pay visits to each other, you know, and drive about in the night to their different festivities. I expect that was a devil's wedding that I saw."“我还看到过一些魔鬼，那是在一个很冷的晚上，还下着雪呢。我正经过丁克夫堤道的时候——如果你还记得，那就是你米哈伊尔舅舅和雅科夫舅舅想在冰窟窿里淹死你父亲的地方——我刚要走那条较低洼的小路时，传来了嗡嗡和呜呜的响声，我抬头一看，原来是一辆三匹黑马组成的三驾马车向我疾驰而来。在马夫的位置上站着一个肥胖的恶鬼，戴一顶红色睡帽，牙齿外凸。它拿着铁链做成的缰绳，伸着胳膊。因为前方没有路，马匹径直飞过了池塘，不久就消失在皑皑白雪中了。坐在雪橇后面的都是小鬼，它们坐在那里吵闹着，尖叫着，挥舞着它们的睡帽。共有七辆这样的三驾马车飞过，像消防车一样。马匹都是黑色的，上面坐的也都是训练有素的魔鬼。你知道，它们彼此拜访，在夜里赶着马车去参加不同的宴会。估计我看到的是一只小鬼的婚礼。”

One had to believe grandmother, because she spoke so simply and convincingly.

你不得不相信外祖母，因为她说得毫不夸张，让人信服。

But the best of all her stories was the one which told how Our Lady went about the suffering earth, and how she commanded the woman-brigand, or the "Amazon-chief" Engalichev, not to kill or rob Russian people. And after that came the stories about Blessed Alexei; about Ivan the Warrior, and Vassili the Wise; of the Priest Kozlya, and the beloved child of God; and the terrible stories of Martha Posadnitz, of Baba Ustye the robber chief, of Mary the sinner of Egypt, and of sorrowing mothers of robber sons. The fairytales, and stories of old times, and the poems which she knew were without number.

但是她讲得最好的故事是关于我们的圣母如何来到人间以及她如何命令女强盗，也就是“亚马逊首领”安加雷柴娃不要杀害或抢劫俄罗斯人的故事。还有受上帝保佑的阿列克谢的故事，伊万士兵和聪明的瓦西里的故事，克兹亚牧师和上帝可爱的孩子们的故事，玛莎·波萨德尼兹的可怕的故事，强盗头目巴巴·乌兹台的故事，埃及罪人玛利亚以及强盗母亲的悲伤故事等等。她知道的神话、旧时的故事和诗歌，数不胜数。

She feared no one—neither grandfather, nor devils, nor any of the powers of evil; but she was terribly afraid of black cockroaches, and could feel their presence when they were a long way from her. Sometimes she would wake me in the night whispering:

她不害怕任何人，包括外祖父、鬼怪和任何邪恶的力量，但是她非常害怕黑色的蟑螂，即使还离得很远，她都能感受到蟑螂的存在。有时候她会在半夜叫醒我，小声说：

"Oleysha, dear, there is a cockroach crawling about. Do get rid of it, for goodness'sake."“欧利沙，亲爱的，有一只蟑螂在周围爬。看在上帝的份上，除掉它吧。”

Half-asleep, I would light the candle and creep about on the floor seeking the enemy—a quest in which I did not always succeed at once.

于是我便会睡眼惺忪地点燃蜡烛，趴到地板上寻找敌人，不过我并不是总能立刻就找到。

"No, there's not a sign of one," I would say; but lying quite still with her head muffled up in the bedclothes, she would entreat me in a faint voice:“连蟑螂的影子都没有。”我说道。然而外祖母却把头埋在被子里，一动不动，用微弱的声音请求我：

"Oh, yes, there is one there! Do look again, please. I am sure there is one about somewhere."“哦，是的，那儿有一只！再看一看吧，求你了。我肯定有一只在附近。”

And she was never mistaken. Sooner or later I found the cockroach, at some distance from the bed; and throwing the blanket off her she would breathe a sigh of relief and smile as she said:

她从来都不会弄错。在离床还有一段距离的地方，我迟早总能发现蟑螂，然后外祖母会掀开被子，大松一口气，微笑着说：

"Have you killed it? Thank God! Thank you."“你把它弄死了吗？谢天谢地！谢谢你！”

If I did not succeed in discovering the insect, she could not go to sleep again, and I could feel how she trembled in the silence of the night; and I heard her whisper breathlessly:

如果我没有找到那只蟑螂，外祖母就再也睡不着了。我能感到她在寂静的夜晚里瑟瑟发抖，她呼吸急促地轻声说道：

"It is by the door. Now it has crawled under the trunk."“它在门口。现在已经爬到箱子下面了。”

"Why are you so frightened of cockroaches?"“你为什么这么害怕蟑螂？”

"I don't know myself," she would answer, reasonably enough. "It is the way the horrid black things crawl about. God has given a meaning to all other vermin: woodlice show that the house is damp; bugs mean that the walls are dirty; lice foretell an illness, as every one knows; but these creatures!—who knows what powers they possess, or what they live on?”“我自己也不知道，”她又颇有理由地回答道，“是因为那些可怕的黑色东西到处乱爬。上帝给其它所有的虫子都赋予了意义：有潮虫说明家里潮湿；有臭虫说明墙皮太脏；人人都知道，虱子预示着疾病的到来；但是蟑螂这种东西！谁知道它们有什么力量或者靠什么生存？”

One day when she was on her knees, conversing earnestly with God, grandfather, throwing open the door, shouted hoarsely:

一天，外祖母正跪在地上虔诚地同上帝交谈。外祖父一脚踢开门，声音沙哑着喊道：

"Well, Mother, God has afflicted us again. We are on fire."“孩子妈，上帝又折磨我们了，着火啦！”

"What are you talking about?" cried grandmother, jumping up from the floor; and they both rushed into the large parlor, making a great noise with their feet. "Eugenia, take down the icons. Natalia, dress the baby."“你说什么？”外祖母从地上跳起来喊道。他们两个马上咣咣地冲向了客厅。“尤金妮娅，取下神像。娜塔莉亚，给孩子穿上衣服。”

Grandmother gave her orders in a stern voice of authority, but all grandfather did was to mutter: "Ug—h!”

外祖母威严地发号施令，而外祖父只顾着咕哝：“啊——哟！”

I ran into the kitchen. The window looking on to the yard shone like gold, and yellow patches of light appeared on the floor, and Uncle Jaakov, who was dressing, trod on them with his bare feet, and jumped about as if they had burned him, shrieking:

我跑进了厨房。面向院子的窗户像金子一样闪闪发亮，地板上亮起斑驳的黄光。雅科夫舅舅穿衣服的时候，光脚踩在了地面的玻璃上，像被火烧到一样乱蹦乱跳，大声尖叫：

"This is Mischka's doing. He started the fire, and then went out."“这是米什卡做的。他放了火，然后离开了。”

"Peace, cur!" said grandmother, pushing him towards the door so roughly that he nearly fell.“安静，小杂种！”外祖母说着，使劲地把他推向门口，他差一点就摔倒了。

Through the frost on the window-panes the burning roof of the workshop was visible, with the curling flames pouring out from its open door. It was a still night, and the color of the flames was not spoiled by any admixture of smoke; while just above them hovered a dark cloud which, however, did not hide from our sight the silver stream of the Mlethchna Road. The snow glittered with a livid brilliance, and the walls of the house tottered and shook from side to side, as if about to hurl themselves into that burning corner of the yard where the flames disported themselves so gaily as they poured through the broad red cracks in the walls of the workshop, dragging crooked, red-hot nails out with them. Gold and red ribbons wound themselves about the dark beams of the roof, and soon enveloped it entirely; but the slender chimney-pot stood up straight in the midst of it all, belching forth clouds of smoke. A gentle crackling sound like the rustle of silk beat against our windows, and all the time the flames were spreading till the workshop, adorned by them, as it were, looked like the iconostasis in church, and became more and more attractive to me.

透过窗玻璃上的寒霜可以看见正在燃烧的染坊屋顶，滚滚火焰从门里往外蹿出来。夜很静，火焰并没有夹杂很多的烟，火焰上方悬浮着一团黑云，不过云并没有遮住天上的银河。雪在火光的照耀下显得格外明亮；房子摇摇欲坠的墙体左摇右晃，好像要冲进院子着火的角落里；那里，火焰烧得正欢，穿过染坊的墙上宽大的红色裂缝，把一根根烧得弯曲通红的钉子带了出来。金色和红色的火舌缠绕着黑色的房梁，不久就把房顶全部吞噬了，但是细长的烟囱还笔直地挺立着，不断地冒着烟。火苗敲打着我们的窗户，发出轻微的劈啪声，恰如摩擦丝绸的沙沙声；大火蔓延到了染坊，看起来好像是教堂里的圣障，越来越令我着迷。

Throwing a heavy fur coat over my head and thrusting my feet into the first boots that came handy, I ran out to the porch and stood on the steps, stupefied and blinded by the brilliant play of light, dazed by the yells of my grandfather, and uncles, and Gregory, and alarmed by grandmother's behavior, for she had wrapped an empty sack round her head, enveloped her body in a horse-cloth, and was running straight into the flames. She disappeared, crying, "The vitriol, you fools! It will explode!"

我头顶一件重重的皮大衣，一脚蹬上离自己最近的一双的靴子，跑到门廊下，站在台阶上。看着漫天的火光我目瞪口呆，只觉一片眩晕；听到外祖父、舅舅和格雷戈里的喊叫，我也不知所措；外祖母的行为让我惊恐起来，她头上裹着空袋子，身上包裹着马鞍毯，径直向火里跑去。她消失在大火中时喊着：“硫酸！你们这些傻瓜！它会爆炸的！”

"Keep her back, Gregory!" roared grandfather. "Aie! she's done for—!”“把她拽回来，格雷戈里！”外祖父吼道，“哎呀！她完蛋了……”

But grandmother reappeared at this moment, blackened with smoke, half-fainting, bent almost double over the bottle of vitriolic oil which she was carrying in her stretched-out hands.

就在这个时候，外祖母重新出现了，她全身被烟熏得黑黑的，有点神智不清。她几乎是弓着身子，两手伸得笔直，抱着盛着硫酸的瓶子。

"Father, get the horse out!" she cried hoarsely, coughing and spluttering, "and take this thing off my shoulders. Can't you see it is on fire?"“孩子爸，把马牵出去！”她一边咳嗽一边急促地大声说着，“把这个东西从我的肩上拿开。难道你没有看见它已经着火了吗？”

Gregory dragged the smoldering horse-cloth from her shoulders, and then, working hard enough for two men, went on shoveling large lumps of snow into the door of the workshop. My uncle jumped about him with an ax in his hands, while grandfather ran round grandmother, throwing snow over her; then she put the bottle into a snowdrift, and ran to the gate, where there were a great many people gathered together. After greeting them, she said:

格雷戈里把那块熏黑的马鞍毯从外祖母的肩上拽下来，然后使出两个人的劲铲下大块的雪从门里送进染坊。我的舅舅拿着一把斧头在格雷戈里身旁忙碌着；外祖父围着外祖母，往她的身上扔雪；然后外祖母把硫酸瓶子放进雪堆，跑向大门口——此时那里聚集了很多人。和他们打了招呼后，外祖母说道：

"Save the warehouse, neighbors! If the fire fastens upon the warehouse and the hay-loft, we shall be burnt out; and it will spread to your premises. Go and pull off the roof and drag the hay into the garden! Gregory, why don't you throw some of the snow on top, instead of throwing it all on the ground? Now, Jaakov, don't dawdle about! Give some axes and spades to these good folk. Dear neighbors, behave like true friends, and may God reward you!"“帮忙救一下染坊吧，邻居们！如果火势蔓延到了仓房和草棚，那么我们的东西就会烧光了，那样火也会蔓延到你们的房子。去把屋顶推倒，把干草运到花园里！格雷戈里，你为什么不往上面扔雪？仍在地上有什么用!现在，雅科夫，别闲着！给这些好心人分一些斧子和铲子。亲爱的邻居们，像真正的朋友那样做点事吧，上帝会保佑你们的！”

She was quite as interesting to me as the fire. Illuminated by those flames which had so nearly devoured her, she rushed about the yard—a black figure, giving assistance at all points, managing the whole thing, and letting nothing escape her attention.

她就像火一样让我着迷。在火光的映照下，刚刚几乎被火吞噬的外祖母在院子里跑来跑去——一个黑色的身影，哪里需要就去哪里，统管大局，不让任何事情逃脱她的注意。

Sharapa ran into the yard, rearing and nearly throwing grandfather down. The light fell on his large eyes which shone expressively; he breathed heavily as his forefeet pawed the air, and grandfather let the reins fall, and jumping aside called out: "Catch hold of him, Mother!"

沙拉帕跑进院子里，立了起来，差一点把外祖父撞倒。火光照在它的大眼睛上，闪闪发光，它呼吸沉重，抬起前蹄在空中挥舞。外祖父放开缰绳，跳到一边喊道：“孩子妈，抓住它！”

She threw herself almost under the feet of the rearing horse, and stood in front of him, with outstretched arms in the form of a cross; the animal neighed pitifully and let himself be drawn towards her, swerving aside at the flames.

外祖母几乎冲到了立起来的马蹄下。她站在马的面前，伸出胳膊形成一个十字，马可怜地嘶叫一声，顺从地被外祖母牵过来，渐渐远离了大火。

"Now, you are not frightened," said grandmother in a low voice, as he patted his neck and grasped the reins, "Do you think I would leave you when you are in such a state? Oh, you silly little mouse!"“现在你不害怕了吧，”外祖母一边低声说，一边抓着缰绳拍着它的脖子，“你认为我会把你留在这样的处境里不管吗？哦，你这个傻傻的小老鼠！”

And the little "mouse," who was twice as large as herself, submissively went to the gate with her, snuffling, and gazing at her red face.

而这只小“老鼠”虽然是她的两倍大，却乖乖地跟着她走到门口，喘息着，盯着她那红彤彤的脸颊。

Nyanya Eugenia had brought some muffled-up youngsters, who were bellowing in smothered tones, from the house.

尼安亚·尤金妮娅从房间里带出来几个裹得严严实实的孩子，他们用闷闷的声音大喊大叫着。

"Vassili Vassilitch," she cried, "we can't find Alexei anywhere!"“瓦西里·瓦西里奇，”她喊道，“我们到处都找不到阿列克谢！”

"Go away! Go away!" answered grandfather, waving his hands, and I hid myself under the stairs so that Nyanya should not take me away.“走开！走开！”外祖父挥动着他的双手喊道。我藏到了楼梯的下面，这样尼安亚就不能把我带走。

The roof of the workshop had fallen in by this time, and the stanchions, smoking, and glittering like golden coal, stood out against the sky. With a howl and a crash a green, blue and red tornado burst inside the building, and the flames threw themselves with a new energy on the yard and on the people who were gathered round and throwing spadefuls of snow on the huge bonfire.

此时，染坊的屋顶已经掉了下来，而房柱冒着烟，烧得像火红的煤块，依然挺立在那里。伴随着一阵呼啸和爆裂声，房子里突然爆发出绿色、蓝色、红色的旋风；火焰好像有了新的能量一样，喷发到院子里，也喷到了聚集在周围用铁锹铲雪灭火的人们身上。

The heat caused the vats to boil furiously; a thick cloud of steam and smoke arose, and a strange odor, which caused one's eyes to water, floated into the yard. I crept out from beneath the stairs and got under grandmother's feet.

热量使染缸里的燃料狂沸；一团浓烟和热气升起，一股奇怪的气味也飘到院子里，刺得眼睛直流泪。我从楼梯下面爬了出来，来到了外祖母的脚下。

"Get away!" she shrieked. "You will get trampled on. Get away!"“走开！”她尖声叫道，“你会被踩死的。走开！”

At this moment a man on horseback, with a copper helmet, burst into the yard. His roan-colored horse was covered with froth, and he raised a whip high above his head and shouted threateningly:

就在此时，一个骑着马、戴着铜质头盔的人闯进了院子。那匹杂毛的马，浑身都是泡沫。他把辫子高高地举过头顶，用威胁性的语气喊道：

"Make way there!"“闪开！”

Bells rang out hurriedly and gaily; it was just as beautiful as a festival day.

马铃声急速欢快地响着，和节日里的声音一样好听。

Grandmother pushed me back towards the steps.

外祖母把我推回到台阶处。

"What did I tell you? Go away!"“我怎么告诉你的？走开！”

I could not disobey her at such a time, so I went back to the kitchen and glued myself once more to the window; but I could not see the fire through that dense mass of people—I could see nothing but the gleam of copper helmets amongst the winter caps of fur.

此时此刻我无法违背她的命令，只能回到厨房，再次靠在窗户上，但是我无法透过拥挤的人群看到大火——除了铜质头盔在一片冬日皮帽中闪闪发光，我什么都看不见。

In a short time the fire was got under, totally extinguished, and the building submerged. The police drove the onlookers away, and grandmother came into the kitchen.

不久，火势减小了，最后火完全熄灭了，而房子也倒塌了。警察把围观的人群赶走了，外祖母来到厨房。

"Who is this? Oh, it is you! Why aren't you in bed? Frightened, eh? There's nothing to be frightened about; it is all over now."“谁在那里？哦，是你！你为什么不躺在床上？害怕了，嗯？没有什么可怕的，现在都结束了。”

She sat beside me in silence, shaking a little. The return of the quiet night with its darkness was a relief. Presently grandfather came in, and standing in the doorway said:

她默默地坐在我的旁边，晃动了一下身子。夜的寂静和黑暗重新回来了，这让人感到一丝安慰。不久，外祖父进来了，他站在门口说道：

"Mother?"“孩子妈？”

"Yes?"“嗯？”

"Were you burned?"“你被烫着了吗？”

"A little—nothing to speak of.”“有点儿，不过不碍事。”

He lit a brimstone match, which lit up his soot-begrimed face, looked for and found the candle on the table, and then came over swiftly and sat beside grandmother.

外祖父用硫磺石点燃火柴，火光照亮了他被烟熏黑的脸。他找到了桌子上的蜡烛，然后迅速走过来，坐在了外祖母的旁边。

"The best thing we can do is to wash ourselves," she said, for she was covered with soot too, and smelt of acrid smoke.“我们能做的最好的事情就是好好洗洗。”她说道。因为她身上也满是灰尘，闻起来还有酸酸的烟味。

"Sometimes," said grandfather, drawing a deep breath, "God is pleased to endue you with great good-sense.”And stroking her shoulder he added with a grin: "Only sometimes, you know, just for an hour or so; but there it is all the same."“有时候，”外祖父深吸了一口气说道，“上帝很愿意赋予你很好的判断力。”他拍打着她的肩膀，又笑着说道：“只是有时候，你知道的，只是一个小时左右，过后还是老样子。”

Grandmother smiled too, and began to say something, but grandfather stopped her, frowning:

外祖母也笑了。她想要说些什么，但是外祖父皱着眉头打断了她：

"We shall have to get rid of Gregory. All this trouble has been caused by his neglect. His working days are over. He is worn out. That fool Jaaschka is sitting on the stairs crying; you had better go to him."“我们应该打发掉格雷戈里。所有这些麻烦都是因为他的疏忽引起的。他工作的日子已经到了尽头。他没有价值了。那个傻蛋雅什卡正坐在楼梯上哭呢，你最好去看看他。”

She stood up and went out, holding her hand up to her face and blowing on her fingers; and grandfather, without looking at me, asked softly:

她站了起来，把手抬起来放在面前，吹了吹她的手指，出去了。外祖父没有看我，却轻声地问道：

"You saw it all from the beginning of the fire, didn't you? Then you saw how grandmother behaved, didn't you? And that is an old woman, mind you!—crushed and breaking-up—and yet you see—! U—ugh, you!”“你从头到尾都看到了，是吗？那你也看到了外祖母是怎么做的，是吗？提醒你，那可是一个老太太——老了，几乎要垮掉了——但是你看到了——唔——啊，你！”

After a long silence, during which he sat huddled up, he rose and snuffed the candle, as he asked me: "Were you frightened?""No."

他坐在那里，身子蜷缩着，很长时间没有说话。然后他站起来，剪了剪烛花，问我：“你害怕了吗？”“没有。”

"Quite right! There was nothing to be frightened about."“很好！没有什么可怕的。”

Irritably dragging his shirt from his shoulder, he went to the washstand in the corner, and I could hear him in the darkness stamping his feet as he exclaimed:

他生气地拽了一下肩部的衬衫，走向角落的脸盆架，我能听到他在黑暗中跺着脚，大声地喊道：

"A fire is a silly business. The person who causes a fire ought to be beaten in the market-place. He must be either a fool or a thief. If that was done there would be no more fires. Go away now, and go to bed! What are you sitting there for?”“一场火灾是一件愚蠢的事情。引起火灾的人应该放到集市上挨打。他不是一个傻瓜，就是一个小偷。只要打了他们就不会再发生火灾了。现在走吧，上床去！你还坐在那里干吗？”

I did as he told me, but sleep was denied to me that night. I had no sooner laid myself down when an unearthly howl greeted me, which seemed to come from the bed. I rushed back to the kitchen, in the middle of which stood grandfather, shirtless, holding a candle which flickered violently as he stamped his feet on the floor, crying:

我依照他的话上床了，但是那晚我还是没能睡成觉。我刚刚躺下，就听到了一声怪异的咆哮，好像是从床上传出来的。我跑回厨房，看见外祖父站在中间，没穿衬衫，手里拿着忽闪着亮光的蜡烛，在地板上跺着脚大声喊道：

"Mother! Jaakov! What is that?"“孩子妈！雅科夫！怎么啦？”

I jumped on the stove and hid myself in a corner, and the household was once more in a state of wild commotion; a heartrending howl beat against the ceiling and walls, increasing in sound every moment.

我跳到炉子上，把自己藏在角落里。全家人又一次陷入了狂乱的骚动，一个悲惨的哀号声在屋顶和墙壁间回荡，声音越来越大。

It was all just the same as it had been during the fire. Grandfather and uncle ran about aimlessly; grandmother shouted as she drove them away from one place to another; Gregory made a great noise as he thrust logs into the stove and filled the iron kettle with water. He went about the kitchen bobbing his head just like an Astrakhan camel.

这一切都和刚才的火灾一样。外祖父和舅舅漫无目的地到处乱跑；外祖母一边到处驱赶着他们，一边大声喊着；格雷戈里把一根原木扔进了炉子里，在铁壶里灌满了水，弄出了很大的声响。他在厨房里走来走去，来回地上下摆着头，好像是一头阿斯特拉罕的骆驼。

"Heat the stove first," said grandmother in a tone of authority.“先把炉子烧起来。”外祖母威严地说道。

He rushed to do her bidding, and fell over my legs.

他赶忙去按外祖母的命令去做，却绊在我的腿上摔倒了。

"Who is there?" he cried, greatly flustered. "Phew! How you frightened me! You are always where you ought not to be."“谁在那里？”他极其狼狈地叫道，“哟！你吓死我了！你总是呆在不该你呆的地方。”

"What has happened?"“发生了什么事？”

"Aunt Natalia has had a little baby born to her," he replied calmly, jumping down to the floor.“娜塔莉亚舅妈刚刚生了一个婴儿。” 他跳到地板上，平静地回答道。

I remembered that my mother had not screamed like that when her little baby was bom.

我记得妈妈在生孩子的时候没有像舅妈那样尖叫。

Having placed the kettle over the fire, Gregory climbed up to me on the stove, and drawing a long pipe from his pocket, showed it to me.

格雷戈里把壶放在了炉子上，然后爬到炉子上来到我跟前，从兜里拿出一根长烟斗给我看。

"I am taking to a pipe for the good of my eyes," he explained. "Grandmother advised me to take snuff, but I think smoking will do me more good."“我要开始抽烟了，因为这对我的眼睛有好处。”他解释说，“外祖母建议我吸鼻烟，但我想吸烟对我更好。”

He sat on the edge of the stove with his legs crossed, looking down at the feeble light of the candle; his ears and cheeks were smothered in soot, one side of his shirt was torn, and I could see his ribs—as broad as the ribs of a cask. One of his eyeglasses was broken; almost half of the glass had come out of the frame, and from the empty space peered a red, moist eye, which had the appearance of a wound.

他坐在炉子的边上，两腿交叉，低头看着昏暗的烛光。他的耳朵和面颊上都是烟尘，衬衫的一边已经破了，我能看到他的肋骨——和木桶的侧板一样宽。他的一只眼镜片已经碎了，几乎一半的镜片已经从镜框里掉了出来，从空隙里可以看见他的一只眼睛红红的，湿湿的，好像是受了伤。

Filling his pipe with coarse-cut tobacco, he listened to the groans of the travailing woman, and murmured disjointedly, like a drunken man:

他把一些粗糙的烟叶填进烟斗，然后，听着分娩的舅母发出的呻吟声，他像醉汉一样断断续续地低声说：

"That grandmother of yours has burned herself so badly that I am sure I don't know how she can attend to the poor creature. Just hear how your aunt is groaning. You know, they forgot all about her. She was taken bad when the fire first broke out. It was fright that did it. You see what pain it costs to bring children into the world, and yet women are thought nothing of! But, mark my words—women ought to be thought a lot of, for they are the mothers—”“你的外祖母被烧得那么严重，我都不知道她怎么还能照顾这个可怜的小东西。听听你的舅妈是怎样呻吟的吧。你知道，大家把她忘得一干二净。大火一爆发，她就开始疼痛。这是受到惊吓的缘故。你看到了，生孩子是多么痛苦，但是人们却都不把女人当回事。但是，记着我的话，女人应该受到人们重视，因为她们是母亲……”

Here I dozed, and was awakened by a tumult: a banging of doors, and the drunken cries of Uncle Michael; these strange words floated to my ears:

我正在打着盹，又被一阵喧闹吵醒了：门砰的一声响，夹杂着米哈伊尔舅舅的醉骂声，这些奇怪的话飘进了我的耳朵：

"The royal doors must be opened—!”“高贵的门必须打开……”

"Give her holy oil with rum, half a glass of oil, half a glass of rum, and a tablespoonful of soot—”“给她加朗姆酒的圣油，半杯的油，半杯的朗姆酒，再加一大匙的烟灰……”

Then Uncle Michael kept asking like a tiresome child:

然后米哈伊尔舅舅像个无聊的孩子一样一直说着：

"Let me have a look at her!"“让我看看她吧！”

He sat on the floor with his legs sprawling, and kept spitting straight in front of him, and banging his hands on the floor.

他伸开两腿坐在地板上，不停地向前面的地上吐痰，用手拍打着地板。

I began to find the stove unbearably hot, so I slid down, but when I got on a level with uncle he seized and held me by the legs, and I fell on the back of my head.

我开始感到炉子太热了，所以就滑了下来，但是当我走近舅舅时，他一把抓住我的腿，我摔倒了，后脑勺碰到地上。

"Fool!" I exclaimed.“傻瓜！”我叫道。

He jumped to his feet, grabbed me again, and roared:

他跳起来，又一次抓住我，喊道：

"I'll smash you against the stove—”“我会把你在炉子上摔碎！”

I escaped to a corner of the best parlor, under the image, and ran against grandfather's knees; he put me aside, and gazing upwards, went on in a low voice:

我逃到客厅的一个角落里，来到圣像的下面，跑到了外祖父的膝边。他把我放在一旁，抬头仰望，然后低声说道：

"There is no excuse for any of us—”“我们每一个人都没有理由……”

The image-lamp burned brightly over his head, a candle stood on the table in the middle of the room, and the light of a foggy winter's morning was already peeping in at the window.

外祖父头上方，圣像上的灯发出明亮的光，屋子中间的桌子上放着一根蜡烛。在这个朦胧的冬日早上，晨光透过窗户已经开始向屋里窥视。

Presently he bent towards me, and asked:

过了一会儿，他俯身问我：

"What's the matter with you?"“你怎么啦？”

Everything was the matter with me—my head was clammy, my body sorely weary; but I did not like to say so because everything about me was so strange. Almost all the chairs in the room were occupied by strangers; there were a priest in a lilac-colored robe, a gray-headed old man with glasses, in a military uniform, and many other people who all sat quite still like wooden figures, or figures frozen, as it were, in expectation of something, and listened to the sound of water splashing somewhere near. By the door stood Uncle Jaakov, very upright, with his hands behind his back. "Here!" said grandfather to him, "take this child to bed."

一切对我来说都有问题——我的头湿湿的，身体极其疲惫。但是我不想说出来，因为我周围的一切都很奇怪。屋子里几乎所有的椅子上都坐着陌生人：一个穿着紫色长袍的牧师；一个身穿军服，戴着眼镜，一头花白头发的老人；还有很多其他的人都坐在那里一动不动，像木头雕像一样，又好像是被冰冻了似的，在期待着什么，听着附近什么地方水花溅起的声音。雅科夫舅舅在门口笔直地站着，双手放在背后。“过来！”外祖父向他说道，“把孩子带回去睡觉。”

My uncle beckoned me to follow him, and led the way on tiptoe to the door of grandmother's room, and when I had got into bed he whispered:

我的舅舅示意我跟着他，蹑手蹑脚地来到了外祖母的房间。我上了床后，他小声说：

"Your Aunt Natalia is dead."“你的娜塔莉亚舅妈死了。”

I was not surprised to hear it. She had not been visible for a long time, either in the kitchen or at meals.

我听到后并没有感到惊讶。她很长一段时间都没有出现过，不管是在厨房还是饭桌上。

"Where is grandmother?" I asked.“外祖母在哪儿？”我问道。

"Down there," he replied, waving his hand, and went out of the room, still going softly on his bare feet.“在下面。”他挥了挥手回答道，然后光着脚轻轻地走出了房间。

I lay in bed and looked about me. I seemed to see hairy, gray, sightless faces pressed against the window-pane, and though I knew quite well that those were grandmother's clothes hanging over the box in the corner, I imagined that some living creature was hiding there and waiting. I put my head under the pillow, leaving one eye uncovered so that I could look at the door, and wished that I dared jump out of bed and run out of the room. It was very hot, and there was a heavy, stifling odor which reminded me of the night when Tsiganok died, and that rivulet of blood ran along the floor.

我躺在床上，看着周围。我似乎看到了一些毛绒绒、灰蒙蒙、隐形的脸挤压在窗玻璃上。虽然我很清楚那些是角落里外祖母挂在箱子上方的衣服，但是我还是想象着有什么活物藏在那里等待着。我把头蒙在枕头下，留一只眼睛看着门，希望我有勇气跳下床，跑出房间。天很热，一股浓密的、令人窒息的气味使我想起了茨甘诺克死去的夜晚和地板上流淌的血。

Something in my head or my heart seemed to be swelling; everything that I had seen in that house seemed to stretch before my mind's eye, like a train of winter sledges in the street, and to rise up and crush me.

我心里或是脑袋里好像有什么东西在膨胀。我在那个房子里看到的一切似乎都在我的脑海里回放，好像是大街上成串的雪橇，升起来，然后把我压扁。

The door opened very slowly, and grandmother crept into the room, and closing the door with her shoulder, came slowly forward; and holding out her hand to the blue light of the image-lamp, wailed softly, pitifully as a child:

门慢慢地开了，外祖母走进屋里，用肩膀把门关上，慢慢地向前移动。她把手伸向圣像上的灯发出的蓝色灯光下，轻轻地叹息着，可怜得像一个孩子：

"Oh, my poor little hand! My poor hand hurts me so!"“哦，我可怜的小手！我可怜的手好疼！”

CHAPTER V

第五章

WHEN the spring came my uncles separated—Jaakov remained in the town and Michael established himself by the river, while grandfather bought a large, interesting house in Polevoi Street, with a tavern on the ground-floor, comfortable little rooms under the roof, and a garden running down to the causeway which simply bristled with leafless willow branches.

春天一到，舅舅们就分家了——雅科夫舅舅仍然在镇里，米哈伊尔舅舅则搬到河边去了，而外祖父在伯莱沃街买了一幢很大又很漂亮的房子。房子的一楼是一个酒馆，房子有很多舒适的小房间，还有一座花园一直延伸到堤道，堤道两边只种着还没长出叶子的柳树。

"Canes for you!" grandfather said, merrily winking at me, as after looking at the garden, I accompanied him on the soft, slushy road. "I shall begin teaching you to read and write soon, so they will come in handy."

在参观完花园之后，我陪着外祖父来到了柔软泥泞的路上散步。这时他高兴地向我眨着眼睛说道：“藤条，给你的！我很快就会开始教你读书写字，所以这些藤条会派上用场的。”

The house was packed full of lodgers, with the exception of the top floor, where grandfather had a room for himself and for the reception of visitors, and the attic, in which grandmother and I had established ourselves. Its window gave on to the street, and one could see, by leaning over the sill, in the evenings and on holidays, drunken men crawling out of the tavern and staggering up the road, shouting and tumbling about. Sometimes they were thrown out into the road, just as if they had been sacks, and then they would try to make their way into the tavern again; the door would bang, and creak, and the hinges would squeak, and then a fight would begin. It was very interesting to look down on all this.

房子里住满了房客，除了顶楼是个例外。外祖父在顶楼留了一间屋子给自己，同时用来招待客人；阁楼也留着，供我和外祖母住。窗户面向街道，所以在晚上和假日里，靠着窗台可以看见喝醉了的人从酒馆里蹒跚地走出来，在街道上晃晃悠悠地走着，喊叫着，不时还跌一跤。有时候他们像麻袋一样被扔到街上，然后他们会挣扎着再回到酒馆；门发出砰砰和嘎吱的响声，合页也吱吱作响，随后便会发生一场打斗。从窗户上俯看这一切非常有意思。

Every morning grandfather went to the workshops of his sons to help them to get settled, and every evening he would return tired, depressed, and cross.

每天早上，外祖父都会去他儿子们的作坊帮忙，而晚上回来时总是会疲惫不堪，闷闷不乐。

Grandmother cooked, and sewed, and pottered about in the kitchen and flower gardens, revolving about something or other all day long, like a gigantic top set spinning by an invisible whip; taking snuff continually, and sneezing, and wiping her perspiring face as she said:

外祖母做饭，做针线活，或者在厨房里和花园里忙活，一整天不停地忙这忙那，好像一个巨大的陀螺被看不见的鞭子抽打而不停地旋转。她会不断地吸鼻烟，打喷嚏，一边擦着满脸的汗水，一边说道：

"Good luck to you, good old world! Well now, Oleysha, my darling, isn't this a nice quiet life now? This is thy doing, Queen of Heaven—that everything has turned out so well!”“祝你好运，美好又古老的世界！我亲爱的欧利沙，现在的生活难道不是美好而宁静的吗？这是你的功劳，圣母——一切都变得这么美好！”

But her idea of a quiet life was not mine. From morning till night the other occupants of the house ran in and out and up and down tumultuously, thus demonstrating their neighborliness—always in a hurry, yet always late; always complaining, and always ready to call out: "Akulina Ivanovna!"

但是在我眼里这可不是什么平静的生活。从早到晚，房客们进进出出，跑上跑下，喧闹不堪，以此来证明着彼此的睦邻友好。他们总是很赶，却仍旧来不及，又总是抱怨，随时准备喊：“阿库林娜·伊凡诺芙娜！”

And Akulina Ivanovna, invariably amiable, and impartially attentive to them all, would help herself to snuff and carefully wipe her nose and fingers on a red check handkerchief before replying,

阿库林娜·伊凡诺芙娜总是很友善，无私地关心着所有的人。她会吸着鼻烟，小心地用一块红色的格子手帕擦着她的鼻子和手指，回应着：

"To get rid of lice, my friend, you must wash yourself oftener and take baths of mint-vapor; but if the lice are under the skin, you should take a tablespoonful of the purest goose-grease, a teaspoonful of sulphur, three drops of quicksilver—stir all these ingredients together seven times with a potsherd in an earthenware vessel, and use the mixture as an ointment. But remember that if you stir it with a wooden or a bone spoon the mercury will be wasted, and that if you put a brass or silver spoon into it, it will do you harm to use it.”“我的朋友，如果想去掉虱子，你应当经常洗澡，用薄荷水泡澡；如果虱子在皮肤的下面，你应该把一满匙纯鹅油，一茶匙硫磺，三滴水银这三种原料放在一个陶器里，用陶瓷碎片搅拌七次，用来做药膏。但是记住，如果你用木头或骨头匙搅拌，水银就失效了；如果你用的是铜匙或银匙，使用起来对你就有害了。”

Sometimes, after consideration, she would say:

有时候，思索片刻之后，她会说：

"You had better go to Asaph, the chemist at Petchyor, my good woman, for I am sure I don't know how to advise you."“我的好姐妹，你最好去找住在帕奇尔的药剂师阿萨夫，因为我不知道该给你们怎样的建议。”

She acted as midwife, and as peacemaker in family quarrels and disputes; she would cure infantile maladies, and recite the "Dream of Our Lady," so that the woman might learn it by heart "for luck," and was always ready to give advice in matters of housekeeping.

她充当接生婆，在发生家庭矛盾和纠纷时又充当起调解人；她可以治好婴儿的疾病，还会背诵《圣母的梦》，让妇女可以为了“好运”而将此熟记于心，她还随时准备在家务方面给别人建议。

"The cucumber itself will tell you when pickling time comes; when it falls to the ground and gives forth a curious odor, then is the time to pluck it. Kvass must be roughly dealt with, and it does not like much sweetness, so prepare it with raisins, to which you may add one zolotnik to every two and a half gallons.... You can make curds in different ways. There's the Donski flavor, and the Gimpanski, and the Caucasian."“黄瓜本身就可以告诉你什么时候可以腌制了：当它掉在地上，发出古怪的气味，就该摘下来了。克瓦斯酒应当简单地处理，而且它忌甜，所以可以放葡萄干，每2.5加仑酒可以放进1索拉尼葡萄干……你可以用不同的办法做凝乳。有丹斯基味的，有基姆潘斯基味的和高加索味的。”

All day long I hung about her in the garden and in the yard, and accompanied her to neighbors' houses, where she would sit for hours drinking tea and telling all sorts of stories. I had grown to be a part of her, as it were, and at this period of my life I do not remember anything so distinctly as that energetic old woman, who was never weary of doing good.

我整天都跟着她，到花园里或者院子里，有时候陪着她去邻居家。她在那里一坐就是几个小时，边喝茶边讲各种故事。可以说，我已经成为她的一部分。在我生命中的这段时间里，任何事物都没能像这个精力充沛的老太太一样给我留下这么深刻的印象，她是个永远不会厌烦做好事的老太太。

Sometimes my mother appeared on the scene from somewhere or other, for a short time. Lofty and severe, she looked upon us all with her cold gray eyes, which were like the winter sun, and soon vanished again, leaving us nothing to remember her by.

有时候我的妈妈会不知从什么地方出现，但是呆的时间都很短。她高傲又严肃地看着我们，冷冷的灰色眼眸好像是冬天里的太阳。不久她又离开了，没有留下任何可以让我们记住她的东西。

Once I asked grandmother: "Are you a witch?"

有一次我问外祖母：“你是一个巫婆吗？”

"Well! What idea will you get into your head next?" she laughed. But she added in a thoughtful tone: "How could I be a witch? Witchcraft is a difficult science. Why, I can't read and write even; I don't even know my alphabet. Grandfather—he's a regular cormorant for learning, but Our Lady never made me a scholar."“呦！接下来你的脑子里又会有什么鬼主意？”她笑道。不过她还是会沉思着说：“我怎么能是一个巫婆呢？巫术是一门很难的科学。哎，我既不会读书，甚至不会写字，甚至都不认识字母。你外祖父倒是经常学点东西，但是圣母从来没有让我成为一个文化人。”

Then she presented still another phase of her life to me as she went on:

接着，她继续给我讲述她生命中的另一个阶段：

"I was a little orphan like you, you know. My mother was just a poor peasant woman—and a cripple.“你知道，我像你一样是一个孤儿。我妈妈只是一个贫穷的农妇，而且还是跛子。

She was little more than a child when a gentleman took advantage of her. In fear of what was to come, she threw herself out of the window one night, and broke her ribs and hurt her shoulder so much that her right hand, which she needed most, was withered... and a noted lace-worker, too! Well, of course her employers did not want her after that, and they dismissed her—to get her living as well as she could. How can one earn bread without hands? So she had to beg, to live on the charity of others; but in those times people were richer and kinder... the carpenters of Balakhana, as well as the lace-workers, were famous, and all the people were for show.

她还是个孩子的时候，就被一个男人占了便宜。因为害怕接下来的事情，一天晚上，她从窗户跳了出去，摔断了肋骨，严重地伤到了肩膀，导致她的右手残废了。可她是习惯用右手的啊，还是一个很出名的绣花能手呢！当然了，在这之后她的雇主就不再需要她，把她解雇了。她只能靠自己生存。但是一个没有手的人该如何谋生呢？于是她不得不乞讨，靠别人的救济生活。但当时人们比现在更富裕、更善良。巴拉克哈纳的木匠和绣花工人都很出名，所以人们都慕名而来。

"Sometimes my mother and I stayed in the town for the autumn and winter, but as soon as the Archangel Gabriel waved his sword and drove away the winter, and clothed the earth with spring, we started on our travels again, going whither our eyes led us. To Mourome we went, and to Urievitz, and by the upper Volga, and by the quiet Oka. It was good to wander about the world in the spring and summer, when all the earth was smiling and the grass was like velvet; and the Holy Mother of God scattered flowers over the fields, and everything seemed to bring joy to one, and speak straight to one's heart. And sometimes, when we were on the hills, my mother, closing her blue eyes, would begin to sing in a voice which, though not powerful, was as clear as a bell; and listening to her, everything about us seemed to fall into a breathless sleep. Ah! God knows it was good to be alive in those days!“有时候我和妈妈在镇里度过秋天和冬天，但是只要大天使加百列一舞动它的长剑将冬天赶走，给大地披上春服，我们便又要开始旅途，目之所及便是所到之处。我们去过茅罗姆、尤利乌兹，还经过伏尔加河的上游和安静的奥卡河。春夏之际，随意游荡是一件很美的事情，因为那个时候到处欢声笑语，草地又似天鹅绒，圣母在田地里播散鲜花，一切都带给人欢乐，沁人心脾。有时候我们会登上山冈，妈妈闭上她的蓝眼睛，开始唱歌，声音虽然不是很有力量，但像铃声一样清脆。听着她的歌声，我们周围的一切似乎都安静地睡着了。啊！上帝知道，那段生活真是太美好了！

"But by the time that I was nine years old, my mother began to feel that she would be blamed if she took me about begging with her any longer; in fact, she began to be ashamed of the life we were leading, and so she settled at Balakhana, and went about the streets begging from house to house—taking up a position in the church porch on Sundays and holidays, while I stayed at home and learned to make lace. I was an apt pupil, because I was so anxious to help my mother; but sometimes I did not seem to get on at all, and then I used to cry. But in two years I had learned the business, mind you, small as I was, and the fame of of it went through the town. When people wanted really good lace, they came to us at once:“但是到我9岁的时候，妈妈开始觉得她如果继续带着我去乞讨会很不好。实际上，她开始对我们所过的生活感到羞耻。于是她在巴拉克哈纳安家，沿街挨家挨户乞讨。逢星期日或假日，她会在教堂的门廊占据一个位置，而我则呆在家里学绣花。我学得很快，因为我十分渴望能够帮助妈妈。但是有时候我做不好，这样我便会哭。不过在两年之内，我便学会了这门手艺。跟你说吧，虽然我很小，但名声已经传遍了整个镇子。人们想要上等绣花的时候，他们就马上会来找我们：

'Now, Akulina, make your bobbins fly!'‘现在，阿库林娜，让你的线轴飞转吧!'

"And I was very happy... those were great days for me. But of course it was mother's work, not mine; for though she had only one hand and that one useless, it was she who taught me how to work. And a good teacher is worth more than ten workers.“我非常高兴。那些日子对我来说很美。当然了，那是我妈妈的功劳，虽然她只有一只手，另一只手残废了，但正是她教会了我绣花。一个好师傅抵得过十个工人。

"Well, I began to be proud. 'Now, my little mother,' I said, 'you must give up begging, for I can earn enough to keep us both.'“于是，我开始有点骄傲了。‘现在，妈妈，’我说道，‘你应该停止乞讨了，因为我能赚钱养活我们两个了。’

'Nothing of the sort!' she replied. 'What you earn shall be set aside for your dowry.'‘瞎说！’她回答道，‘你赚的钱应该攒起来当嫁妆。’

"And not long after this, grandfather came on the scene. A wonderful lad he was—only twenty-two, and already a free waterman. His mother had had her eye on me for some time. She saw that I was a clever worker, and being only a beggar's daughter, I suppose she thought I should be easy to manage; but—! Well, she was a crafty, malignant woman, but we won't rake up all that.... Besides, why should we remember bad people? God sees them; He sees all they do; and the devils love them."“之后不久，你的外祖父就出现了。他是一个好小伙子——只有22岁，便已经是个自由的纤夫了。他的妈妈注意我有很长时间了。她见我干活伶俐，又只是一个乞丐的女儿，我想她认为我会很好对付。但是……嗯，她是一个狡猾且恶毒的女人。算了，我们不去重提旧事了。另外，我们为什么要记得坏人呢？上帝看着他们呢，他看着他们的所作所为，而且魔鬼爱着他们。”

And she laughed heartily, wrinkling her nose comically, while her eyes, shining pensively, seemed to caress me, more eloquent even than her words.

她开心地笑了，滑稽地皱了皱鼻子，炯炯有神的的眼睛像在抚摸着我，比她的话语更有说服力。

I remember one quiet evening having tea with grandmother in grandfather's room. He was not well, and was sitting on his bed undressed, with a large towel wrapped round his shoulders, sweating profusely and breathing quickly and heavily. His green eyes were dim, his face puffed and livid; his small, pointed ears also were quite purple, and his hand shook pitifully as he stretched it out to take his cup of tea. His manner was gentle too; he was quite unlike himself.

记得一个宁静的夜晚，我和外祖母一起在外祖父的房间里喝茶。外祖父身体不舒服，光着身子坐在床上，肩膀上裹着一块大毛巾。他不出了很多汗，呼吸急促而沉重。他绿色的眼睛暗淡无光，脸色苍白，脸上的肌肉松弛，他尖尖的小耳朵也变成了紫色，手在伸出去取茶杯的时候可怜地抖着。他的态度也很温和，不大像平日的他。

"Why haven't you given me any sugar?" he asked pettishly, like a spoiled child.“你为什么没有给我加点糖？”他使着性子问道，像是被宠坏的孩子。

"I have put honey in it; it is better for you," replied grandmother kindly but firmly.“我在里面放了蜂蜜，这对你更有好处。”外祖母柔和但坚定地答道。

Drawing in his breath and making a sound in his throat like the quacking of a duck, he swallowed the hot tea at a gulp.

他深吸一口气，一口喝掉了热茶，如同鸭子叫一样发出了嘎的一声。

"I shall die this time," he said; "see if I don't!"“这次我会死的，”他说道，“看我会不会！”

"Don't you worry! I will take care of you."“别担心！我会照顾你的。”

"That's all very well; but if I die now I might as well have never lived. Everything will fall to pieces."“那就好。如果我现在死了，我宁愿没有活过这一遭。一切都将化为乌有。”

"Now, don't you talk. Lie quiet."“现在，别说话，安静地躺着。”

He lay silent for a minute with closed eyes, twisting his thin beard round his fingers, and smacking his discolored lips together; but suddenly he shook himself as if some one had run a pin into him, and began to utter his thoughts aloud:

他闭上眼睛，静静地躺了一分钟，用手指捻着稀薄的胡子，咂着没有血色的嘴。突然他抖动了一下身子，好像有人用针扎了他一下似的，然后开始大声地说出了他的想法：

"Jaaschka and Mischka ought to get married again as soon as possible. New ties would very likely give them a fresh hold on life. What do you think?"Then he began to search his memory for the names of eligible brides in the town.“雅什卡和米什卡应该尽快再婚。新的婚姻很有可能给他们生活上一个全新的开始。你认为呢？”然后他开始在记忆里搜寻镇里适合成为新娘的人。

But grandmother kept silence as she drank cup after cup of tea, and I sat at the window looking at the evening sky over the town as it grew redder and redder and cast a crimson reflection upon the windows of the opposite houses. As a punishment for some misdemeanor, grandfather had forbidden me to go out in the garden or the yard. Round the birch trees in the garden circled beetles, making a tinkling sound with their wings; a cooper was working in a neighboring yard, and not far away some one was sharpening knives. The voices of children who were hidden by the thick bushes rose up from the garden and the causeway. It all seemed to draw me and hold me, while the melancholy of eventide flowed into my heart. Suddenly grandfather produced a brand-new book from somewhere, banged it loudly on the palm of his hand, and called me in brisk tones.

但是外祖母一杯一杯地喝着茶，没有说话；我坐在窗户旁边，看着镇子上方的夜空变得越来越红，在对面房屋的窗户上反射出深红色的光。我因为做错事而受到惩罚，外祖父不许我到花园或院子里去。花园里，甲壳虫绕着白桦树飞舞着，翅膀发出叮当声；一个修桶匠正在隔壁院子里做工，不远处还有人在磨刀。藏在浓密的灌木丛中的孩子们发出的喊声从花园里和堤道旁升起。一切似乎都在吸引着我，而黄昏时分的忧郁流进了我的心田。突然外祖父不知从什么地方拿出一本崭新的书，砰的一声拍在他的手上，轻快地呼唤我：

"Now, you young rascal, come here! Sit down! Now do you see these letters? This is 'Az'. Say after me 'Az', 'Buki', 'Viedi'. What is this one?""Buki."“现在，你这个小调皮，过来！坐下！现在你看到这些字母了吗？这是'Az'。跟我读'Az'，'Buki'，'Viedi'。这个是什么？”“Buki。”

"Right! And what is this?""Viedi."“正确！这个呢？”“Viedi。”

"Wrong! It is 'A'.“错了！这是'A'。

"Look at these—'Glagol', 'Dobro', 'Yest'. What is this one?""Dobro."“看这些——'Glagol'，'Dobro'，'Yest'。这个是什么？”“Dobro。”

"Right! And this one?""Glagol."“正确！这个呢？”“Glagol。”

"Good! And this one?""Az."“很好！这个呢？”“Az。”

"You ought to be lying still, you know, Father," put in grandmother.“你知道，你应该安静地躺着，孩子爸，”外祖母插话道。

"Oh, don't bother! This is just the thing for me; it takes my thoughts off myself. Go on, Lexei!"“哦，别烦了！这就是我要做的事，这能让我的脑子不乱想。继续，列克谢！”

He put his hot, moist arm round my neck, and ticked off the letters on my shoulder with his fingers. He smelled strongly of vinegar, to which an odor of baked onion was added, and I felt nearly suffocated; but he flew into a rage and growled and roared in my ear:

外祖父把他那热乎乎的、湿漉漉的胳膊搭在我的脖子上，用手指在我的肩上画出那些字母。他身上发出一股很浓的醋味，还混杂有烤洋葱的味道，我都感到快要喘不过来气了。可是他大怒起来，在我的耳边咆哮道：

"'Zemlya', 'Loodi'!"

"'Zemlya'，'Loodi'!"

The words were familiar to me, but the Slav characters did not correspond with them. "Zemlya" (Z) looked like a worm; "Glagol" (G) like round-shouldered Gregory; "Ya" resembled grandmother and me standing together; and grandfather seemed to have something in common with all the letters of the alphabet.

这些单词我很熟悉，但是我没办法把它们和斯拉夫字母对上号。”Zemlya"（Z）看起来像一条虫子，"Glagol"（G）看起来像驼背的格雷戈里，"Ya"好像是我和外祖母站在一起，而外祖父似乎与字母表中的所有字母都有着共同点。

He took me through it over and over again, sometimes asking me the names of the letters in order, sometimes "dodging"; and his hot temper must have been catching, for I also began to perspire, and to shout at the top of my voice—at which he was greatly amused. He clutched his chest as he coughed violently and tossed the book aside, wheezing:

他一遍一遍地教我，有时候按着顺序问我字母的名称，有时候会打乱顺序。他急躁的脾气肯定是感染了我，因为我也开始出汗，还扯着嗓子喊。他被我的举动逗乐了。他一边抓着胸脯，一边剧烈地咳嗽，然后把书扔到一边，喘着气说道：

"Do you hear how he bawls, Mother? What are you making that noise for, you little Astrakhan maniac? Eh?"“你听到他的声音多么洪亮了吗，孩子妈？你干吗那么大声，你这个来自阿斯特拉罕的小疯子？嗯？”

"It was you that made the noise."“大声吵吵的是你吧。”

It was a pleasure to me then to look at him and at grandmother, who, with her elbows on the table, and cheek resting on her hand, was watching us and laughing gently as she said:

看看外祖父，又看看外祖母，我开心极了。外祖母把胳膊支在桌子上，用手托着脸，看着我们，温柔地笑着说：

"You will burst yourselves with laughing if you are not careful."“如果你不小心点，你会笑破肚皮的。”

"I am irritable because I am unwell," grandfather explained in a friendly tone. "But what's the matter with you, eh?"“我着急是因为我身体不舒服，”外祖父声音柔和地解释道，“但是你怎么回事，嗯？”

"Our poor Natalia was mistaken," he said to grandmother, shaking his damp head, "when she said he had no memory. He has a memory, thank God! It is like a horse's memory. Get on with it, snub-nose!”“我们可怜的娜塔莉娅错了，”他摇着出汗的脑袋对外祖母说道，“她说他没有记忆力。他有记忆，感谢上帝！好像是马的记忆。继续，你这个小狮子鼻！”

At last he playfully pushed me off the bed.

最后，他玩笑地把我推下床。

"That will do. You can take the book, and tomorrow you will say the whole alphabet to me without a mistake, and I will give you five kopecks."“那就好。你可以拿着那本书，明天要是没有一点错误地背出全部的字母，我会给你5个小铜板。”

When I held out my hand for the book, he drew me to him and said gruffly:

当我伸手接过书的时候，他把我拽到跟前粗声地说道：

"That mother of yours does not care what becomes of you, my lad."“你那个妈妈不关心你的事情，我的小伙子。”

Grandmother started.

外祖母说话了。

"Oh, Father, why do you say such things?"“哦，孩子爸，你怎么说这样的话？”

"I ought not to have said it—my feelings got the better of me. Oh, what a girl that is for going astray!”

我本不应该说这个，但是没有控制住情绪。哦，多好的一个女孩，却误入歧途！”

He pushed me from him roughly.

他粗鲁地把我推开。

"Run along now! You can go out, but not into the street; don't you dare to do that. Go to the yard or the garden."“走吧！你可以出去，但不能上街。看你敢！去院子或花园吧。”

The garden had special attractions for me. As soon as I showed myself on the hillock there, the boys in the causeway started to throw stones at me, and I returned the charge with a will.

花园对我有特殊的吸引力。我一出现在小山丘上，堤道上的孩子就开始向我扔石头，我也起劲地进行还击。

"Here comes the ninny," they would yell as soon as they saw me, arming themselves hastily. "Let's skin him!"“傻子来了，”他们一看见我就会一边大喊，一边匆忙地武装自己，“让我们剥他的皮！”

As I did not know what they meant by "ninny," the nickname did not offend me; but I liked to feel that I was one alone fighting against the lot of them, especially when a well-aimed stone sent the enemy flying to shelter amongst the bushes. We engaged in these battles without malice, and they generally ended without any one being hurt.

因为我不知道他们说的“傻子”是什么意思，所以这个绰号并不让我生气。我喜欢一个人对付他们很多人，这让我感觉很好，尤其是用石头打中对手，逼得他躲进灌木丛里的时候。我们相互打斗，但彼此并无恶意，结束的时候他们也并没有人受伤。

I learned to read and write easily. Grandmother bestowed more and more attention on me, and whippings became rarer and rarer—although in my opinion I deserved them more than ever before, for the older and more vigorous I grew the more often I broke grandfather's rules, and disobeyed his commands; yet he did no more than scold

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