章节正文
man, but a pitiable and ridiculous one!' And he threw back the
folds of his cassock and smiled as he looked at his thin legs in
their underclothing.
Then he dropped the folds of the cassock again and began reading
the prayers, making the sign of the cross and prostrating
himself. 'Can it be that this couch will be my bier?' he read.
And it seemed as if a devil whispered to him: 'A solitary couch
is itself a bier. Falsehood!' And in imagination he saw the
shoulders of a widow with whom he had lived. He shook himself,
and went on reading. Having read the precepts he took up the
Gospels, opened the book, and happened on a passage he often
repeated and knew by heart: 'Lord, I believe. Help thou my
unbelief!'--and he put away all the doubts that had arisen. As
one replaces an object of insecure equilibrium, so he carefully
replaced his belief on its shaky pedestal and carefully stepped
back from it so as not to shake or upset it. The blinkers were
adjusted again and he felt tranquillized, and repeating his
childhood's prayer: 'Lord, receive me, receive me!' he felt not
merely at ease, but thrilled and joyful. He crossed himself and
lay down on the bedding on his narrow bench, tucking his summer
cassock under his head. He fell asleep at once, and in his light
slumber he seemed to hear the tinkling of sledge bells. He did
not know whether he was dreaming or awake, but a knock at the
door aroused him. He sat up, distrusting his senses, but the
knock was repeated. Yes, it was a knock close at hand, at his
door, and with it the sound of a woman's voice.
'My God! Can it be true, as I have read in the Lives of the
Saints, that the devil takes on the form of a woman? Yes--it is
a woman's voice. And a tender, timid, pleasant voice. Phui!'
And he spat to exorcise the devil. 'No, it was only my
imagination,' he assured himself, and he went to the corner where
his lectern stood, falling on his knees in the regular and
habitual manner which of itself gave him consolation and
satisfaction. He sank down, his hair hanging over his face, and
pressed his head, already going bald in front, to the cold damp
strip of drugget on the draughty floor. He read the psalm old
Father Pimon had told him warded off temptation. He easily
raised his light and emaciated body on his strong sinewy legs and
tried to continue saying his prayers, but instead of doing so he
involuntarily strained his hearing. He wished to hear more. All
was quiet. From the corner of the roof regular drops continued
to fall into the tub below. Outside was a mist and fog eating
into the snow that lay on the ground. It was still, very still.
And suddenly there was a rustling at the window and a voice--that
same tender, timid voice, which could only belong to an
attractive woman--said:
'Let me in, for Christ's sake!'
It seemed as though his blood had all rushed to his heart and
settled there. He could hardly breathe. 'Let God arise and let
his enemies be scattered . . .'
'But I am not a devil!' It was obvious that the lips that
uttered this were smiling. 'I am not a devil, but only a sinful
woman who has lost her way, not figuratively but literally!' She
laughed. 'I am freeze 的过去分词">frozen and beg for shelter.'
He pressed his face to the window, but the little icon-lamp was
reflected by it and shone on the whole pane. He put his hands to
both sides of his face and peered between them. Fog, mist, a
tree, and--just opposite him--she herself. Yes, there, a few
inches from him, was the sweet, kindly frightened face of a woman
in a cap and a coat of long white fur, leaning towards him.
Their eyes met with instantrecognition: not that they had ever
known one another, they had never met before, but by the look
they exchanged they--and he particularly--felt that they knew and
understood one another. After that glance to imagine her to be a
devil and not a simple, kindly, sweet, timid woman, was
impossible.
'Who are you? Why have you come?' he asked.
'Do please open the door!' she replied, with capricious
authority. 'I am freeze 的过去分词">frozen. I tell you I have lost my way.'
'But I am a monk--a hermit.'
'Oh, do please open the door--or do you wish me to freeze under
your window while you say your prayers?'
'But how have you . . .'
'I shan't eat you. For God's sake let me in! I am quite
freeze 的过去分词">frozen.'
She really did feel afraid, and said this in an almost tearful
voice.
He stepped back from the window and looked at an icon of the
Saviour in His crown of thorns. 'Lord, help me! Lord, help me!'
he exclaimed, crossing himself and bowing low. Then he went to
the door, and opening it into the tiny porch, felt for the hook
that fastened the outer door and began to lift it. He heard
steps outside. She was coming from the window to the door.
'Ah!' she suddenly exclaimed, and he understood that she had
stepped into the puddle that the dripping from the roof had
formed at the threshold. His hands trembled, and he could not
raise the hook of the tightly closed door.
'Oh, what are you doing? Let me in! I am all wet. I am freeze 的过去分词">frozen!
You are thinking about saving your soul and are letting me freeze
to death . . .'
He jerked the door towards him, raised the hook, and without
considering what he was doing, pushed it open with such force
that it struck her.
'Oh--PARDON!' he suddenly exclaimed, reverting completely to his
old manner with ladies.
She smiled on hearing that PARDON. 'He is not quite so terrible,
after all,' she thought. 'It's all right. It is you who must
pardon me,' she said, stepping past him. 'I should never have
ventured, but such an extraordinary circumstance . . .'
'If you please!' he uttered, and stood aside to let her pass him.
A strong smell of fine scent, which he had long not encountered,
struck him. She went through the little porch into the cell
where he lived. He closed the outer door without fastening the
hook, and stepped in after her.
'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner! Lord,
have mercy on me a sinner!' he prayed unceasingly, not merely to
himself but involuntarily moving his lips. 'If you please!' he
said to her again. She stood in the middle of the room, moisture
dripping from her to the floor as she looked him over. Her eyes
were laughing.
'Forgive me for having disturbed your solitude. But you see what
a position I am in. It all came about from our starting from
town for a sledge-drive, and my making a bet that I would walk
back by myself from the Vorobevka to the town. But then I lost
my way, and if I had not happened to come upon your cell . . .'
She began lying, but his face confused her so that she could not
continue, but became silent. She had not expected him to be at
all such as he was. He was not as handsome as she had imagined,
but was nevertheless beautiful in her eyes: his greyish hair and
beard, lightly" target="_blank" title="ad.轻微地；细长的">slightly curling, his fine, regular nose, and his eyes
like glowing coal when he looked at her, made a strong impression
on her.
He saw that she was lying.
'Yes . . . so,' said he, looking at her and again lowering his
eyes. 'I will go in there, and this place is at your disposal.'
And taking down the little lamp, he lit a candle, and bowing low
to her went into the small cell beyond the partition, and she
heard him begin to move something about there. 'Probably he is
barricading himself in from me!' she thought with a smile, and
throwing off her white dogskin cloak she tried to take off her
cap, which had become entangled in her hair and in the woven
kerchief she was wearing under it. She had not got at all wet
when standing under the window, and had said so only as a pretext
to get him to let her in. But she really had stepped into the
puddle at the door, and her left foot was wet up to the ankle and
her overshoe full of water. She sat down on his bed--a bench
only covered by a bit of carpet--and began to take off her boots.
The little cell seemed to her charming. The narrow little room,
some seven feet by nine, was as clean as glass. There was
nothing in it but the bench on which she was sitting, the
book-shelf above it, and a lectern in the corner. A sheepskin
coat and a cassock hung on nails by the door. Above the lectern
was the little lamp and an icon of Christ in His crown of thorns.
The room smelt strangely of perspiration and of earth. It all
pleased her--even that smell. Her wet feet, especially one of
them, were uncomfortable, and she quickly began to take off her
boots and stockings without ceasing to smile, pleased not so much
at having achieved her object as because she perceived that she
had abashed that charming, strange, striking, and attractive man.
'He did not respond, but what of that?' she said to herself.
'Father Sergius! Father Sergius! Or how does one call you?'
'What do you want?' replied a quiet voice.
'Please forgive me for disturbing your solitude, but really I
could not help it. I should simply have fallen ill. And I don't
know that I shan't now. I am all wet and my feet are like ice.'
'Pardon me,' replied the quiet voice. 'I cannot be of any
assistance to you.'
'I would not have disturbed you if I could have helped it. I am
only here till daybreak.'
He did not reply and she heard him muttering something, probably
his prayers.
'You will not be coming in here?' she asked, smiling. 'For I must
undress to dry myself.'
He did not reply, but continued to read his prayers.
'Yes, that is a man!' thought she, getting her dripping boot off
with difficulty. She tugged at it, but could not get it off.
The absurdity of it struck her and she began to laugh almost
inaudibly. But knowing that he would hear her laughter and would
be moved by it just as she wished him to be, she laughed louder,
and her laughter--gay, natural, and kindly--really acted on him
just in the way she wished.
'Yes, I could love a man like that--such eyes and such a simple
noble face, and passionate too despite all the prayers he
mutters!' thought she. 'You can't deceive a woman in these
things. As soon as he put his face to the window and saw me, he
understood and knew. The glimmer of it was in his eyes and
remained there. He began to love me and desired me.
Yes--desired!' said she, getting her overshoe and her boot off at
last and starting to take off her stockings. To remove those
long stockings fastened with elastic it was necessary to raise
her skirts. She felt embarrassed and said:
'Don't come in!'
But there was no reply from the other side of the wall. The
steady muttering continued and also a sound of moving.
'He is prostrating himself to the ground, no doubt,' thought she.
'But he won't bow himself out of it. He is thinking of me just
as I am thinking of him. He is thinking of these feet of mine
with the same feeling that I have!' And she pulled off her wet
stockings and put her feet up on the bench, pressing them under
her. She sat a while like that with her arms round her knees and
looking pensively before her. 'But it is a desert, here in this
silence. No one would ever know. . . .'
She rose, took her stockings over to the stove, and hung them on
the damper. It was a queer damper, and she turned it about, and
then, stepping lightly on her bare feet, returned to the bench
and sat down there again with her feet up.
There was complete silence on the other side of the partition.
She looked at the tiny watch that hung round her neck. It was
two o'clock. 'Our party should return about three!' She had not
more than an hour before her. 'Well, am I to sit like this all
alone? What nonsense! I don't want to. I will call him at
folds of his cassock and smiled as he looked at his thin legs in
their underclothing.
Then he dropped the folds of the cassock again and began reading
the prayers, making the sign of the cross and prostrating
himself. 'Can it be that this couch will be my bier?' he read.
And it seemed as if a devil whispered to him: 'A solitary couch
is itself a bier. Falsehood!' And in imagination he saw the
shoulders of a widow with whom he had lived. He shook himself,
and went on reading. Having read the precepts he took up the
Gospels, opened the book, and happened on a passage he often
repeated and knew by heart: 'Lord, I believe. Help thou my
unbelief!'--and he put away all the doubts that had arisen. As
one replaces an object of insecure equilibrium, so he carefully
replaced his belief on its shaky pedestal and carefully stepped
back from it so as not to shake or upset it. The blinkers were
adjusted again and he felt tranquillized, and repeating his
childhood's prayer: 'Lord, receive me, receive me!' he felt not
merely at ease, but thrilled and joyful. He crossed himself and
lay down on the bedding on his narrow bench, tucking his summer
cassock under his head. He fell asleep at once, and in his light
slumber he seemed to hear the tinkling of sledge bells. He did
not know whether he was dreaming or awake, but a knock at the
door aroused him. He sat up, distrusting his senses, but the
knock was repeated. Yes, it was a knock close at hand, at his
door, and with it the sound of a woman's voice.
'My God! Can it be true, as I have read in the Lives of the
Saints, that the devil takes on the form of a woman? Yes--it is
a woman's voice. And a tender, timid, pleasant voice. Phui!'
And he spat to exorcise the devil. 'No, it was only my
imagination,' he assured himself, and he went to the corner where
his lectern stood, falling on his knees in the regular and
habitual manner which of itself gave him consolation and
satisfaction. He sank down, his hair hanging over his face, and
pressed his head, already going bald in front, to the cold damp
strip of drugget on the draughty floor. He read the psalm old
Father Pimon had told him warded off temptation. He easily
raised his light and emaciated body on his strong sinewy legs and
tried to continue saying his prayers, but instead of doing so he
involuntarily strained his hearing. He wished to hear more. All
was quiet. From the corner of the roof regular drops continued
to fall into the tub below. Outside was a mist and fog eating
into the snow that lay on the ground. It was still, very still.
And suddenly there was a rustling at the window and a voice--that
same tender, timid voice, which could only belong to an
attractive woman--said:
'Let me in, for Christ's sake!'
It seemed as though his blood had all rushed to his heart and
settled there. He could hardly breathe. 'Let God arise and let
his enemies be scattered . . .'
'But I am not a devil!' It was obvious that the lips that
uttered this were smiling. 'I am not a devil, but only a sinful
woman who has lost her way, not figuratively but literally!' She
laughed. 'I am freeze 的过去分词">frozen and beg for shelter.'
He pressed his face to the window, but the little icon-lamp was
reflected by it and shone on the whole pane. He put his hands to
both sides of his face and peered between them. Fog, mist, a
tree, and--just opposite him--she herself. Yes, there, a few
inches from him, was the sweet, kindly frightened face of a woman
in a cap and a coat of long white fur, leaning towards him.
Their eyes met with instantrecognition: not that they had ever
known one another, they had never met before, but by the look
they exchanged they--and he particularly--felt that they knew and
understood one another. After that glance to imagine her to be a
devil and not a simple, kindly, sweet, timid woman, was
impossible.
'Who are you? Why have you come?' he asked.
'Do please open the door!' she replied, with capricious
authority. 'I am freeze 的过去分词">frozen. I tell you I have lost my way.'
'But I am a monk--a hermit.'
'Oh, do please open the door--or do you wish me to freeze under
your window while you say your prayers?'
'But how have you . . .'
'I shan't eat you. For God's sake let me in! I am quite
freeze 的过去分词">frozen.'
She really did feel afraid, and said this in an almost tearful
voice.
He stepped back from the window and looked at an icon of the
Saviour in His crown of thorns. 'Lord, help me! Lord, help me!'
he exclaimed, crossing himself and bowing low. Then he went to
the door, and opening it into the tiny porch, felt for the hook
that fastened the outer door and began to lift it. He heard
steps outside. She was coming from the window to the door.
'Ah!' she suddenly exclaimed, and he understood that she had
stepped into the puddle that the dripping from the roof had
formed at the threshold. His hands trembled, and he could not
raise the hook of the tightly closed door.
'Oh, what are you doing? Let me in! I am all wet. I am freeze 的过去分词">frozen!
You are thinking about saving your soul and are letting me freeze
to death . . .'
He jerked the door towards him, raised the hook, and without
considering what he was doing, pushed it open with such force
that it struck her.
'Oh--PARDON!' he suddenly exclaimed, reverting completely to his
old manner with ladies.
She smiled on hearing that PARDON. 'He is not quite so terrible,
after all,' she thought. 'It's all right. It is you who must
pardon me,' she said, stepping past him. 'I should never have
ventured, but such an extraordinary circumstance . . .'
'If you please!' he uttered, and stood aside to let her pass him.
A strong smell of fine scent, which he had long not encountered,
struck him. She went through the little porch into the cell
where he lived. He closed the outer door without fastening the
hook, and stepped in after her.
'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner! Lord,
have mercy on me a sinner!' he prayed unceasingly, not merely to
himself but involuntarily moving his lips. 'If you please!' he
said to her again. She stood in the middle of the room, moisture
dripping from her to the floor as she looked him over. Her eyes
were laughing.
'Forgive me for having disturbed your solitude. But you see what
a position I am in. It all came about from our starting from
town for a sledge-drive, and my making a bet that I would walk
back by myself from the Vorobevka to the town. But then I lost
my way, and if I had not happened to come upon your cell . . .'
She began lying, but his face confused her so that she could not
continue, but became silent. She had not expected him to be at
all such as he was. He was not as handsome as she had imagined,
but was nevertheless beautiful in her eyes: his greyish hair and
beard, lightly" target="_blank" title="ad.轻微地；细长的">slightly curling, his fine, regular nose, and his eyes
like glowing coal when he looked at her, made a strong impression
on her.
He saw that she was lying.
'Yes . . . so,' said he, looking at her and again lowering his
eyes. 'I will go in there, and this place is at your disposal.'
And taking down the little lamp, he lit a candle, and bowing low
to her went into the small cell beyond the partition, and she
heard him begin to move something about there. 'Probably he is
barricading himself in from me!' she thought with a smile, and
throwing off her white dogskin cloak she tried to take off her
cap, which had become entangled in her hair and in the woven
kerchief she was wearing under it. She had not got at all wet
when standing under the window, and had said so only as a pretext
to get him to let her in. But she really had stepped into the
puddle at the door, and her left foot was wet up to the ankle and
her overshoe full of water. She sat down on his bed--a bench
only covered by a bit of carpet--and began to take off her boots.
The little cell seemed to her charming. The narrow little room,
some seven feet by nine, was as clean as glass. There was
nothing in it but the bench on which she was sitting, the
book-shelf above it, and a lectern in the corner. A sheepskin
coat and a cassock hung on nails by the door. Above the lectern
was the little lamp and an icon of Christ in His crown of thorns.
The room smelt strangely of perspiration and of earth. It all
pleased her--even that smell. Her wet feet, especially one of
them, were uncomfortable, and she quickly began to take off her
boots and stockings without ceasing to smile, pleased not so much
at having achieved her object as because she perceived that she
had abashed that charming, strange, striking, and attractive man.
'He did not respond, but what of that?' she said to herself.
'Father Sergius! Father Sergius! Or how does one call you?'
'What do you want?' replied a quiet voice.
'Please forgive me for disturbing your solitude, but really I
could not help it. I should simply have fallen ill. And I don't
know that I shan't now. I am all wet and my feet are like ice.'
'Pardon me,' replied the quiet voice. 'I cannot be of any
assistance to you.'
'I would not have disturbed you if I could have helped it. I am
only here till daybreak.'
He did not reply and she heard him muttering something, probably
his prayers.
'You will not be coming in here?' she asked, smiling. 'For I must
undress to dry myself.'
He did not reply, but continued to read his prayers.
'Yes, that is a man!' thought she, getting her dripping boot off
with difficulty. She tugged at it, but could not get it off.
The absurdity of it struck her and she began to laugh almost
inaudibly. But knowing that he would hear her laughter and would
be moved by it just as she wished him to be, she laughed louder,
and her laughter--gay, natural, and kindly--really acted on him
just in the way she wished.
'Yes, I could love a man like that--such eyes and such a simple
noble face, and passionate too despite all the prayers he
mutters!' thought she. 'You can't deceive a woman in these
things. As soon as he put his face to the window and saw me, he
understood and knew. The glimmer of it was in his eyes and
remained there. He began to love me and desired me.
Yes--desired!' said she, getting her overshoe and her boot off at
last and starting to take off her stockings. To remove those
long stockings fastened with elastic it was necessary to raise
her skirts. She felt embarrassed and said:
'Don't come in!'
But there was no reply from the other side of the wall. The
steady muttering continued and also a sound of moving.
'He is prostrating himself to the ground, no doubt,' thought she.
'But he won't bow himself out of it. He is thinking of me just
as I am thinking of him. He is thinking of these feet of mine
with the same feeling that I have!' And she pulled off her wet
stockings and put her feet up on the bench, pressing them under
her. She sat a while like that with her arms round her knees and
looking pensively before her. 'But it is a desert, here in this
silence. No one would ever know. . . .'
She rose, took her stockings over to the stove, and hung them on
the damper. It was a queer damper, and she turned it about, and
then, stepping lightly on her bare feet, returned to the bench
and sat down there again with her feet up.
There was complete silence on the other side of the partition.
She looked at the tiny watch that hung round her neck. It was
two o'clock. 'Our party should return about three!' She had not
more than an hour before her. 'Well, am I to sit like this all
alone? What nonsense! I don't want to. I will call him at
- imagination [i,mædʒi´neiʃən]
n.想象(力) (初中英语单词) - reading [´ri:diŋ] n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中英语单词)
- belief [bi´li:f] n.相信；信仰，信条 (初中英语单词)
- obvious [´ɔbviəs] a.明显的；显而易见的 (初中英语单词)
- frozen [´frəuzn] freeze 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- instant [´instənt] a.立即的 n.紧迫；瞬间 (初中英语单词)
- recognition [,rekəg´niʃən] n.认出；认识；承认 (初中英语单词)
- freeze [fri:z] v.结冰；凝固；冷淡 (初中英语单词)
- opening [´əupəniŋ] n.开放；开端 a.开始的 (初中英语单词)
- pardon [´pɑ:dən] n.&vt.原谅；饶恕；赦免 (初中英语单词)
- extraordinary [ik´strɔ:dinəri] a.非常的；额外的 (初中英语单词)
- fastening [´fɑ:səniŋ] n.(门等)扣绊，拴扣物 (初中英语单词)
- christ [kraist] n.基督 int.天啊! (初中英语单词)
- nevertheless [,nevəðə´les] conj.&ad.然而；不过 (初中英语单词)
- slightly [´slaitli] ad.轻微地；细长的 (初中英语单词)
- standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
- charming [´tʃɑ:miŋ] a.可爱的；极好的 (初中英语单词)
- strangely [´streindʒli] ad.奇怪地；陌生地 (初中英语单词)
- striking [´straikiŋ] a.显著的，明显的 (初中英语单词)
- attractive [ə´træktiv] a.有吸引力；诱人的 (初中英语单词)
- respond [ri´spɔnd] v.回答；响应；有反应 (初中英语单词)
- forgive [fə´giv] vt.原谅，谅解，宽恕 (初中英语单词)
- knowing [´nəuiŋ] a.会意的，心照不宣的 (初中英语单词)
- laughter [´lɑ:ftə] n.笑，笑声 (初中英语单词)
- despite [di´spait] prep.尽管 (初中英语单词)
- deceive [di´si:v] vt.欺骗，欺诈 (初中英语单词)
- lightly [´laitli] ad.轻微地，稍微 (初中英语单词)
- ridiculous [ri´dikjuləs] a.荒谬的；可笑的 (高中英语单词)
- solitary [´sɔlitəri] a.独居的；孤独的 (高中英语单词)
- joyful [´dʒɔifəl] a.高兴的，充满快乐的 (高中英语单词)
- sledge [sledʒ] n.雪橇；大锤 (高中英语单词)
- repeated [ri´pi:tid] a.反复的；重复的 (高中英语单词)
- hanging [´hæŋiŋ] n.绞刑 a.悬挂着的 (高中英语单词)
- temptation [temp´teiʃən] n.引诱，诱惑(物) (高中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
- hearing [´hiəriŋ] n.听力；听证会；审讯 (高中英语单词)
- threshold [´θreʃhəuld] n.门槛；入门；开端 (高中英语单词)
- tightly [´taitli] ad.紧，紧密地 (高中英语单词)
- solitude [´sɔlitju:d] n.孤独；寂寞；荒凉 (高中英语单词)
- partition [pɑ:´tiʃən] n.分割；划分 (高中英语单词)
- uncomfortable [ʌn´kʌmftəbəl] a.不舒服的，不自在的 (高中英语单词)
- passionate [´pæʃənit] a.易动情的；易怒的 (高中英语单词)
- elastic [i´læstik] a.灵活的 n.橡皮带 (高中英语单词)
- arisen [ə´rizn] arise的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
- pedestal [´pedistl] n.垫座 vt.给...装上座 (英语四级单词)
- consolation [,kɔnsə´leiʃən] n.安慰，慰问 (英语四级单词)
- absurdity [əb´sə:diti] n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 (英语四级单词)
- glimmer [´glimə] n.&vi.闪光 (英语四级单词)
- equilibrium [,i:kwi´libriəm] n.平衡；均势 (英语六级单词)
- bedding [´bediŋ] n.寝具；垫草；基础 (英语六级单词)
- assured [ə´ʃuəd] a.确实的 n.被保险人 (英语六级单词)
- involuntarily [in´vɔləntərili] ad.不 自觉地 (英语六级单词)
- taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
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