章节正文
"She?" he answered, raising his eyes heaven-
ward and smiling complacently. "I am sorry for
you, Pechorin!" . . .
He took his departure.
In the evening, a numerous company set off to
walk to the hollow.
In the opinion of the learned of Pyatigorsk, the
hollow in question is nothing more nor less than
an extinctcrater. It is situated on a slope of
Mount Mashuk, at the distance of a verst from
the town, and is approached by a narrow path
between brushwood and rocks. In climbing up
the hill, I gave Princess Mary my arm, and
she did not leave it during the whole excur-
sion.
Our conversation commenced with slander; I
proceeded to pass in review our present and
absent acquaintances; at first I exposed their
ridiculous, and then their bad, sides. My choler
rose. I began in jest, and ended in genuine
malice. At first she was amused, but afterwards
frightened.
"You are a dangerous man!" she said. "I
would rather perish in the woods under the knife
of an assassin than under your tongue. . . In all
earnestness I beg of you: when it comes into
your mind to speak evil of me, take a knife instead
and cut my throat. I think you would not find
that a very difficult matter."
"Am I like an assassin, then?" . . .
"You are worse" . . .
I fell into thought for a moment; then,
assuming a deeply moved air, I said:
"Yes, such has been my lot from very child-
hood! All have read upon my countenance the
marks of bad qualities, which were not existent;
but they were assumed to exist -- and they were
born. I was modest -- I was accused of slyness: I
grew secretive. I profoundly" target="_blank" title="ad.深深地">profoundly felt both good and
evil -- no one caressed me, all insulted me: I
grew vindictive. I was gloomy -- other children
merry and talkative; I felt myself higher than
they -- I was rated lower: I grew envious. I
was prepared to love the whole world -- no one
understood me: I learned to hate. My colour-
less youth flowed by in conflict with myself and
the world; fearing ridicule, I buried my best
feelings in the depths of my heart, and there they
died. I spoke the truth -- I was not believed: I
began to deceive. Having acquired a thorough
knowledge of the world and the springs of
society, I grew skilled in the science of life; and I
saw how others without skill were happy, en-
joying gratuitously the advantages which I so
unweariedly sought. Then despair was born
within my breast -- not that despair which is cured
at the muzzle of a pistol, but the cold, powerless
despair concealed beneath the mask of amiability
and a good-natured smile. I became a moral
cripple. One half of my soul ceased to exist; it
dried up, evaporated, died, and I cut it off and
cast it from me. The other half moved and
lived -- at the service of all; but it remained un-
observed, because no one knew that the half
which had perished had ever existed. But, now,
the memory of it has been awakened within me
by you, and I have read you its epitaph. To
many, epitaphs in general seem ridiculous, but
to me they do not; especially when I remember
what reposes beneath them. I will not, however,
ask you to share my opinion. If this outburst
seems absurd to you, I pray you, laugh! I fore-
warn you that your laughter will not cause me the
least chagrin."
At that moment I met her eyes: tears were
welling in them. Her arm, as it leaned upon
mine, was trembling; her cheeks were aflame;
she pitied me! Sympathy -- a feeling to which
all women yield so easily, had dug its talons into
her inexperienced heart. During the whole
excursion she was preoccupied, and did not flirt
with anyone -- and that is a great sign!
We arrived at the hollow; the ladies left their
cavaliers, but she did not let go my arm. The
witticisms of the local dandies failed to make
her laugh; the steepness of the declivity beside
which she was standing caused her no alarm,
although the other ladies uttered shrill cries and
shut their eyes.
On the way back, I did not renew our melan-
choly conversation, but to my idle questions
and jests she gave short and absent-minded
answers.
"Have you ever been in love?" I asked her at
length.
She looked at me intently, shook her head and
again fell into a reverie. It was evident that she
was wishing to say something, but did not know
how to begin. Her breast heaved. . . And,
indeed, that was but natural! A muslinsleeve is
a weak protection, and an electric spark was
running from my arm to hers. Almost all passions
have their beginning in that way, and frequently
we are very much deceived in thinking that a
woman loves us for our moral and physical merits;
of course, these prepare and predispose the heart
for the reception of the holy flame, but for all that
it is the first touch that decides the matter.
"I have been very amiable to-day, have I
not?" Princess Mary said to me, with a forced
smile, when we had returned from the walk.
We separated.
She is dissatisfied with herself. She accuses
herself of coldness. . . Oh, that is the first, the
chief triumph!
To-morrow, she will be feeling a desire to
recompense me. I know the whole proceeding
by heart already -- that is what is so tiresome!
CHAPTER IX
12th June.
I HAVE seen Vera to-day. She has begun to
plague me with her jealousy. Princess Mary
has taken it into her head, it seems, to confide
the secrets of her heart to Vera: a happy choice,
it must be confessed!
"I can guess what all this is leading to," said
Vera to me. "You had better simply tell me at
once that you are in love with her."
"But supposing I am not in love with
her?"
"Then why run after her, disturb her, agitate
her imagination! . . . Oh, I know you well!
Listen -- if you wish me to believe you, come to
Kislovodsk in a week's time; we shall be moving
thither the day after to-morrow. Princess Mary
will remain here longer. Engage lodgings next
door to us. We shall be living in the large house
near the spring, on the mezzanine floor. Princess
Ligovski will be below us, and next door there
is a house belonging to the same landlord,
which has not yet been taken. . . Will you
come?" . . .
I gave my promise, and this very same day I
have sent to engage the lodgings.
Grushnitski came to me at six o'clock and
announced that his uniform would be ready
to-morrow, just in time for him to go to the
ball in it.
"At last I shall dance with her the whole
evening through. . . And then I shall talk to
my heart's content," he added.
"When is the ball?"
"Why, to-morrow! Do you not know, then?
A great festival -- and the local authorities have
undertaken to organize it" . . .
"Let us go to the boulevard" . . .
"Not on any account, in this nasty cloak" . . .
"What! Have you ceased to love it?" . . .
I went out alone, and, meeting Princess
Mary I asked her to keep the mazurka for me.
She seemed surprised and delighted.
"I thought that you would only dance from
necessity as on the last occasion," she said, with a
very charming smile. . .
She does not seem to notice Grushnitski's
absence at all.
"You will be agreeably surprised to-morrow,"
I said to her.
"At what?"
"That is a secret. . . You will find it out
yourself, at the ball."
I finished up the evening at Princess Ligovski's;
there were no other guests present except Vera
and a certain very amusing, little old gentleman.
I was in good spirits, and improvised various
extraordinary stories. Princess Mary sat opposite
me and listened to my nonsense with such deep,
strained, and even tender attention that I grew
ashamed of myself. What had become of her
vivacity, her coquetry, her caprices, her haughty
mien, her contemptuous smile, her absent-
minded glance? . . .
Vera noticed everything, and her sickly coun-
tenance was a picture of profound grief. She was
sitting in the shadow by the window, buried in
a wide arm-chair. . . I pitied her.
Then I related the whole dramatic story of our
acquaintanceship, our love -- concealing it all, of
course, under fictitious names.
So vividly did I portray my tenderness, my
anxieties, my raptures; in so favourable a light
did I exhibit her actions and her character, that
involuntarily she had to forgive me for my
flirtation with Princess Mary.
She rose, sat down beside us, and brightened
up . . . and it was only at two o'clock in the
morning that we remembered that the doctors
had ordered her to go to bed at eleven.
CHAPTER X
13th June.
HALF an hour before the ball, Grushnitski
ward and smiling complacently. "I am sorry for
you, Pechorin!" . . .
He took his departure.
In the evening, a numerous company set off to
walk to the hollow.
In the opinion of the learned of Pyatigorsk, the
hollow in question is nothing more nor less than
an extinctcrater. It is situated on a slope of
Mount Mashuk, at the distance of a verst from
the town, and is approached by a narrow path
between brushwood and rocks. In climbing up
the hill, I gave Princess Mary my arm, and
she did not leave it during the whole excur-
sion.
Our conversation commenced with slander; I
proceeded to pass in review our present and
absent acquaintances; at first I exposed their
ridiculous, and then their bad, sides. My choler
rose. I began in jest, and ended in genuine
malice. At first she was amused, but afterwards
frightened.
"You are a dangerous man!" she said. "I
would rather perish in the woods under the knife
of an assassin than under your tongue. . . In all
earnestness I beg of you: when it comes into
your mind to speak evil of me, take a knife instead
and cut my throat. I think you would not find
that a very difficult matter."
"Am I like an assassin, then?" . . .
"You are worse" . . .
I fell into thought for a moment; then,
assuming a deeply moved air, I said:
"Yes, such has been my lot from very child-
hood! All have read upon my countenance the
marks of bad qualities, which were not existent;
but they were assumed to exist -- and they were
born. I was modest -- I was accused of slyness: I
grew secretive. I profoundly" target="_blank" title="ad.深深地">profoundly felt both good and
evil -- no one caressed me, all insulted me: I
grew vindictive. I was gloomy -- other children
merry and talkative; I felt myself higher than
they -- I was rated lower: I grew envious. I
was prepared to love the whole world -- no one
understood me: I learned to hate. My colour-
less youth flowed by in conflict with myself and
the world; fearing ridicule, I buried my best
feelings in the depths of my heart, and there they
died. I spoke the truth -- I was not believed: I
began to deceive. Having acquired a thorough
knowledge of the world and the springs of
society, I grew skilled in the science of life; and I
saw how others without skill were happy, en-
joying gratuitously the advantages which I so
unweariedly sought. Then despair was born
within my breast -- not that despair which is cured
at the muzzle of a pistol, but the cold, powerless
despair concealed beneath the mask of amiability
and a good-natured smile. I became a moral
cripple. One half of my soul ceased to exist; it
dried up, evaporated, died, and I cut it off and
cast it from me. The other half moved and
lived -- at the service of all; but it remained un-
observed, because no one knew that the half
which had perished had ever existed. But, now,
the memory of it has been awakened within me
by you, and I have read you its epitaph. To
many, epitaphs in general seem ridiculous, but
to me they do not; especially when I remember
what reposes beneath them. I will not, however,
ask you to share my opinion. If this outburst
seems absurd to you, I pray you, laugh! I fore-
warn you that your laughter will not cause me the
least chagrin."
At that moment I met her eyes: tears were
welling in them. Her arm, as it leaned upon
mine, was trembling; her cheeks were aflame;
she pitied me! Sympathy -- a feeling to which
all women yield so easily, had dug its talons into
her inexperienced heart. During the whole
excursion she was preoccupied, and did not flirt
with anyone -- and that is a great sign!
We arrived at the hollow; the ladies left their
cavaliers, but she did not let go my arm. The
witticisms of the local dandies failed to make
her laugh; the steepness of the declivity beside
which she was standing caused her no alarm,
although the other ladies uttered shrill cries and
shut their eyes.
On the way back, I did not renew our melan-
choly conversation, but to my idle questions
and jests she gave short and absent-minded
answers.
"Have you ever been in love?" I asked her at
length.
She looked at me intently, shook her head and
again fell into a reverie. It was evident that she
was wishing to say something, but did not know
how to begin. Her breast heaved. . . And,
indeed, that was but natural! A muslinsleeve is
a weak protection, and an electric spark was
running from my arm to hers. Almost all passions
have their beginning in that way, and frequently
we are very much deceived in thinking that a
woman loves us for our moral and physical merits;
of course, these prepare and predispose the heart
for the reception of the holy flame, but for all that
it is the first touch that decides the matter.
"I have been very amiable to-day, have I
not?" Princess Mary said to me, with a forced
smile, when we had returned from the walk.
We separated.
She is dissatisfied with herself. She accuses
herself of coldness. . . Oh, that is the first, the
chief triumph!
To-morrow, she will be feeling a desire to
recompense me. I know the whole proceeding
by heart already -- that is what is so tiresome!
CHAPTER IX
12th June.
I HAVE seen Vera to-day. She has begun to
plague me with her jealousy. Princess Mary
has taken it into her head, it seems, to confide
the secrets of her heart to Vera: a happy choice,
it must be confessed!
"I can guess what all this is leading to," said
Vera to me. "You had better simply tell me at
once that you are in love with her."
"But supposing I am not in love with
her?"
"Then why run after her, disturb her, agitate
her imagination! . . . Oh, I know you well!
Listen -- if you wish me to believe you, come to
Kislovodsk in a week's time; we shall be moving
thither the day after to-morrow. Princess Mary
will remain here longer. Engage lodgings next
door to us. We shall be living in the large house
near the spring, on the mezzanine floor. Princess
Ligovski will be below us, and next door there
is a house belonging to the same landlord,
which has not yet been taken. . . Will you
come?" . . .
I gave my promise, and this very same day I
have sent to engage the lodgings.
Grushnitski came to me at six o'clock and
announced that his uniform would be ready
to-morrow, just in time for him to go to the
ball in it.
"At last I shall dance with her the whole
evening through. . . And then I shall talk to
my heart's content," he added.
"When is the ball?"
"Why, to-morrow! Do you not know, then?
A great festival -- and the local authorities have
undertaken to organize it" . . .
"Let us go to the boulevard" . . .
"Not on any account, in this nasty cloak" . . .
"What! Have you ceased to love it?" . . .
I went out alone, and, meeting Princess
Mary I asked her to keep the mazurka for me.
She seemed surprised and delighted.
"I thought that you would only dance from
necessity as on the last occasion," she said, with a
very charming smile. . .
She does not seem to notice Grushnitski's
absence at all.
"You will be agreeably surprised to-morrow,"
I said to her.
"At what?"
"That is a secret. . . You will find it out
yourself, at the ball."
I finished up the evening at Princess Ligovski's;
there were no other guests present except Vera
and a certain very amusing, little old gentleman.
I was in good spirits, and improvised various
extraordinary stories. Princess Mary sat opposite
me and listened to my nonsense with such deep,
strained, and even tender attention that I grew
ashamed of myself. What had become of her
vivacity, her coquetry, her caprices, her haughty
mien, her contemptuous smile, her absent-
minded glance? . . .
Vera noticed everything, and her sickly coun-
tenance was a picture of profound grief. She was
sitting in the shadow by the window, buried in
a wide arm-chair. . . I pitied her.
Then I related the whole dramatic story of our
acquaintanceship, our love -- concealing it all, of
course, under fictitious names.
So vividly did I portray my tenderness, my
anxieties, my raptures; in so favourable a light
did I exhibit her actions and her character, that
involuntarily she had to forgive me for my
flirtation with Princess Mary.
She rose, sat down beside us, and brightened
up . . . and it was only at two o'clock in the
morning that we remembered that the doctors
had ordered her to go to bed at eleven.
CHAPTER X
13th June.
HALF an hour before the ball, Grushnitski
- situated [´sitʃueitid]
a.位于；处于....境地 (初中英语单词) - princess [,prin´ses] n.公主；王妃；亲王夫人 (初中英语单词)
- review [ri´vju:] v.&n.复习；回顾；检查 (初中英语单词)
- perish [´periʃ] v.灭亡；消灭；(使)死去 (初中英语单词)
- throat [θrəut] n.咽喉；嗓子；出入口 (初中英语单词)
- countenance [´kauntinəns] n.面部表情；脸色；面容 (初中英语单词)
- modest [´mɔdist] a.谦虚的；朴素的 (初中英语单词)
- conflict [´kɔnflikt, kən´flikt] n.&vi.战斗；抵触 (初中英语单词)
- deceive [di´si:v] vt.欺骗，欺诈 (初中英语单词)
- despair [di´speə] vi.&n.绝望 (初中英语单词)
- pistol [´pistl] n.手枪 vt.用手枪射击 (初中英语单词)
- absurd [əb´sə:d] a.荒谬的，可笑的 (初中英语单词)
- laughter [´lɑ:ftə] n.笑，笑声 (初中英语单词)
- sympathy [´simpəθi] n.同情，怜悯 (初中英语单词)
- standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
- evident [´evidənt] a.明显的，明白的 (初中英语单词)
- sleeve [sli:v] n.袖子；袖套 (初中英语单词)
- protection [prə´tekʃən] n.警戒；护照；通行证 (初中英语单词)
- beginning [bi´giniŋ] n.开始，开端；起源 (初中英语单词)
- physical [´fizikəl] a.物质的；有形的 (初中英语单词)
- coldness [´kəuldnis] n.寒冷；冷淡 (初中英语单词)
- disturb [di´stə:b] vt.扰乱；使不安；打乱 (初中英语单词)
- organize [´ɔ:gənaiz] v.组织；编组；建立 (初中英语单词)
- account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中英语单词)
- charming [´tʃɑ:miŋ] a.可爱的；极好的 (初中英语单词)
- dramatic [drə´mætik] a.戏剧的；戏剧般的 (初中英语单词)
- exhibit [ig´zibit] vt.展出 n.展览品 (初中英语单词)
- character [´kæriktə] n.特性；性质；人物；字 (初中英语单词)
- forgive [fə´giv] vt.原谅，谅解，宽恕 (初中英语单词)
- learned [´lə:nid] a.有学问的，博学的 (高中英语单词)
- gloomy [´glu:mi] a.昏暗的；忧郁的 (高中英语单词)
- skilled [skild] a.有技能的，熟练的 (高中英语单词)
- ridiculous [ri´dikjuləs] a.荒谬的；可笑的 (高中英语单词)
- shrill [ʃril] a.(声音)尖锐的 (高中英语单词)
- reception [ri´sepʃən] n.接待；欢迎；招待会 (高中英语单词)
- jealousy [´dʒeləsi] n.妒忌；猜忌 (高中英语单词)
- festival [´festivəl] n.节日；庆祝；欢庆 (高中英语单词)
- amusing [ə´mju:ziŋ] a.有趣的 (高中英语单词)
- nonsense [´nɔnsəns] n.胡说 int.胡说!废话 (高中英语单词)
- profound [prə´faund] a.深奥的；渊博的 (高中英语单词)
- related [ri´leitid] a.叙述的；有联系的 (高中英语单词)
- tenderness [´tendənis] n.娇嫩；柔软；温柔 (高中英语单词)
- extinct [ik´stiŋkt] a.熄灭的；灭绝的 (英语四级单词)
- slander [´slɑ:ndə] vt.&n.诽谤(罪) (英语四级单词)
- profoundly [prə´faundli] ad.深深地 (英语四级单词)
- envious [´enviəs] a.妒忌的，羡慕的 (英语四级单词)
- ridicule [´ridikju:l] vi.&n.嘲笑；奚落 (英语四级单词)
- muzzle [´mʌzəl] n.枪口，炮口 (英语四级单词)
- good-natured [´gud-´neitʃəd] a.脾气好的，温厚的 (英语四级单词)
- intently [in´tentli] ad.专心地 (英语四级单词)
- muslin [´mʌzlin] n.平纹细布，薄纱织物 (英语四级单词)
- amiable [´eimiəbəl] a.亲切的，温和的 (英语四级单词)
- sickly [´sikli] a.多病的；病态的 (英语四级单词)
- crater [´kreitə] n.火山口；弹坑 (英语六级单词)
- assassin [ə´sæsin] n.刺客，暗杀者 (英语六级单词)
- epitaph [´epitɑ:f] n.墓志铭 (英语六级单词)
- inexperienced [,iniks´piəriənst] a.缺乏经验的 (英语六级单词)
- preoccupied [pri´ɔkjupaid] a.被先占的；出神的 (英语六级单词)
- dissatisfied [´dis,sætis´fækʃən] a.不满的；显出不满的 (英语六级单词)
- contemptuous [kən´temptjuəs] a.蔑视的；傲慢的 (英语六级单词)
- vividly [´vividli] ad.活泼地；生动地 (英语六级单词)
- portray [pɔ:´trei] v.画；描写；扮演 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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