They are playing with zest2. The greatest excitement is expressed on the face of Grisha. He is a small boy of nine, with a head cropped so that the bare skin shows through, chubby3 cheeks, and thick lips like a negro’s. He is already in the preparatory class, and so is regarded as grown up, and the cleverest. He is playing entirely4 for the sake of the money. If there had been no kopecks in the saucer, he would have been asleep long ago. His brown eyes stray uneasily and jealously over the other players’ cards. The fear that he may not win, envy, and the financial combinations of which his cropped head is full, will not let him sit still and concentrate his mind. He fidgets as though he were sitting on thorns. When he wins, he snatches up the money greedily, and instantly puts it in his pocket. His sister, Anya, a girl of eight, with a sharp chin and clever shining eyes, is also afraid that someone else may win. She flushes and turns pale, and watches the players keenly. The kopecks do not interest her. Success in the game is for her a question of vanity. The other sister, Sonya, a child of six with a curly head, and a complexion5 such as is seen only in very healthy children, expensive dolls, and the faces on bonbon6 boxes, is playing loto for the process of the game itself. There is bliss7 all over her face. Whoever wins, she laughs and claps her hands. Alyosha, a chubby, spherical8 little figure, gasps9, breathes hard through his nose, and stares open-eyed at the cards. He is moved neither by covetousness10 nor vanity. So long as he is not driven out of the room, or sent to bed, he is thankful. He looks phlegmatic11, but at heart he is rather a little beast. He is not there so much for the sake of the loto, as for the sake of the misunderstandings which are inevitable12 in the game. He is greatly delighted if one hits another, or calls him names. He ought to have run off somewhere long ago, but he won’t leave the table for a minute, for fear they should steal his counters or his kopecks. As he can only count the units and numbers which end in nought13, Anya covers his numbers for him. The fifth player, the cook’s son, Andrey, a dark-skinned and sickly looking boy in a cotton shirt, with a copper14 cross on his breast, stands motionless, looking dreamily at the numbers. He takes no interest in winning, or in the success of the others, because he is entirely engrossed15 by the arithmetic of the game, and its far from complex theory; “How many numbers there are in the world,” he is thinking, “and how is it they don’t get mixed up?”
They all shout out the numbers in turn, except Sonya and Alyosha. To vary the monotony, they have invented in the course of time a number of synonyms16 and comic nicknames. Seven, for instance, is called the “ovenrake,” eleven the “sticks,” seventy-seven “Semyon Semyonitch,” ninety “grandfather,” and so on. The game is going merrily.
“Thirty-two,” cries Grisha, drawing the little yellow cylinders17 out of his father’s cap. “Seventeen! Ovenrake! Twenty-eight! Lay them straight. . . .”
Anya sees that Andrey has let twenty-eight slip. At any other time she would have pointed18 it out to him, but now when her vanity lies in the saucer with the kopecks, she is triumphant19.
“Twenty-three!” Grisha goes on, “Semyon Semyonitch! Nine!”
“A beetle20, a beetle,” cries Sonya, pointing to a beetle running across the table. “Aie!”
“Don’t kill it,” says Alyosha, in his deep bass21, “perhaps it’s got children . . . .”
Sonya follows the black beetle with her eyes and wonders about its children: what tiny little beetles22 they must be!
“Forty-three! One!” Grisha goes on, unhappy at the thought that Anya has already made two fours. “Six!”
“Game! I have got the game!” cries Sonya, rolling her eyes coquettishly and giggling23.
The players’ countenances24 lengthen25.
“Must make sure!” says Grisha, looking with hatred26 at Sonya.
Exercising his rights as a big boy, and the cleverest, Grisha takes upon himself to decide. What he wants, that they do. Sonya’s reckoning is slowly and carefully verified, and to the great regret of her fellow players, it appears that she has not cheated. Another game is begun.
“I did see something yesterday!” says Anya, as though to herself. “Filipp Filippitch turned his eyelids27 inside out somehow and his eyes looked red and dreadful, like an evil spirit’s.”
“I saw it too,” says Grisha. “Eight! And a boy at our school can move his ears. Twenty-seven!”
Andrey looks up at Grisha, meditates28, and says:
“I can move my ears too. . . .”
“Well then, move them.”
Andrey moves his eyes, his lips, and his fingers, and fancies that his ears are moving too. Everyone laughs.
“He is a horrid29 man, that Filipp Filippitch,” sighs Sonya. “He came into our nursery yesterday, and I had nothing on but my chemise . . . And I felt so improper30!”
“Game!” Grisha cries suddenly, snatching the money from the saucer. “I’ve got the game! You can look and see if you like.”
The cook’s son looks up and turns pale.
“Then I can’t go on playing any more,” he whispers.
“Why not?”
“Because . . . because I have got no more money.”
“You can’t play without money,” says Grisha.
Andrey ransacks31 his pockets once more to make sure. Finding nothing in them but crumbs32 and a bitten pencil, he drops the corners of his mouth and begins bDlinking miserably33. He is on the point of crying. . . .
“I’ll put it down for you!” says Sonya, unable to endure his look of agony. “Only mind you must pay me back afterwards.”
The money is brought and the game goes on.
“I believe they are ringing somewhere,” says Anya, opening her eyes wide.
They all leave off playing and gaze open-mouthed at the dark window. The reflection of the lamp glimmers34 in the darkness.
“It was your fancy.”
“At night they only ring in the cemetery,” says Andrey.
“And what do they ring there for?”
“To prevent robbers from breaking into the church. They are afraid of the bells.”
“And what do robbers break into the church for?” asks Sonya.
“Everyone knows what for: to kill the watchmen.”
A minute passes in silence. They all look at one another, shudder35, and go on playing. This time Andrey wins.
“He has cheated,” Alyosha booms out, apropos36 of nothing.
“What a lie, I haven’t cheated.”
Andrey turns pale, his mouth works, and he gives Alyosha a slap on the head! Alyosha glares angrily, jumps up, and with one knee on the table, slaps Andrey on the cheek! Each gives the other a second blow, and both howl. Sonya, feeling such horrors too much for her, begins crying too, and the dining-room resounds37 with lamentations on various notes. But do not imagine that that is the end of the game. Before five minutes are over, the children are laughing and talking peaceably again. Their faces are tear-stained, but that does not prevent them from smiling; Alyosha is positively38 blissful, there has been a squabble!
Vasya, the fifth form schoolboy, walks into the dining-room. He looks sleepy and disillusioned39.
“This is revolting!” he thinks, seeing Grisha feel in his pockets in which the kopecks are jingling40. “How can they give children money? And how can they let them play games of chance? A nice way to bring them up, I must say! It’s revolting!”
But the children’s play is so tempting41 that he feels an inclination42 to join them and to try his luck.
“Wait a minute and I’ll sit down to a game,” he says.
“Put down a kopeck!”
“In a minute,” he says, fumbling43 in his pockets. “I haven’t a kopeck, but here is a rouble. I’ll stake a rouble.”
“No, no, no. . . . You must put down a kopeck.”
“You stupids. A rouble is worth more than a kopeck anyway,” the schoolboy explains. “Whoever wins can give me change.”
“No, please! Go away!”
The fifth form schoolboy shrugs44 his shoulders, and goes into the kitchen to get change from the servants. It appears there is not a single kopeck in the kitchen.
“In that case, you give me change,” he urges Grisha, coming back from the kitchen. “I’ll pay you for the change. Won’t you? Come, give me ten kopecks for a rouble.”
Grisha looks suspiciously at Vasya, wondering whether it isn’t some trick, a swindle.
“I won’t,” he says, holding his pockets.
Vasya begins to get cross, and abuses them, calling them idiots and blockheads.
“I’ll put down a stake for you, Vasya!” says Sonya. “Sit down.” He sits down and lays two cards before him. Anya begins counting the numbers.
“I’ve dropped a kopeck!” Grisha announces suddenly, in an agitated45 voice. “Wait!”
He takes the lamp, and creeps under the table to look for the kopeck. They clutch at nutshells and all sorts of nastiness, knock their heads together, but do not find the kopeck. They begin looking again, and look till Vasya takes the lamp out of Grisha’s hands and puts it in its place. Grisha goes on looking in the dark. But at last the kopeck is found. The players sit down at the table and mean to go on playing.
“Sonya is asleep!” Alyosha announces.
Sonya, with her curly head lying on her arms, is in a sweet, sound, tranquil46 sleep, as though she had been asleep for an hour. She has fallen asleep by accident, while the others were looking for the kopeck.
“Come along, lie on mamma’s bed!” says Anya, leading her away from the table. “Come along!”
They all troop out with her, and five minutes later mamma’s bed presents a curious spectacle. Sonya is asleep. Alyosha is snoring beside her. With their heads to the others’ feet, sleep Grisha and Anya. The cook’s son, Andrey too, has managed to snuggle in beside them. Near them lie the kopecks, that have lost their power till the next game. Good-night!
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1
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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chubby
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| adj.丰满的，圆胖的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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bonbon
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| n.棒棒糖；夹心糖 | |
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bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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spherical
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| adj.球形的；球面的 | |
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gasps
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| v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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covetousness
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phlegmatic
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| adj.冷静的，冷淡的，冷漠的，无活力的 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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synonyms
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| 同义词( synonym的名词复数 ) | |
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cylinders
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| n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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beetle
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| n.甲虫，近视眼的人 | |
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bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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beetles
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| n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 ) | |
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giggling
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 ) | |
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countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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lengthen
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| vt.使伸长，延长 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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meditates
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的第三人称单数 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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29
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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improper
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| adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的 | |
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ransacks
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的第三人称单数 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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crumbs
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| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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glimmers
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| n.微光，闪光( glimmer的名词复数 )v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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apropos
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| adv.恰好地；adj.恰当的；关于 | |
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resounds
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的第三人称单数 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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disillusioned
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| a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的 | |
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40
jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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42
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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43
fumbling
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| n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理 | |
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44
shrugs
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| n.耸肩（以表示冷淡，怀疑等）( shrug的名词复数 ) | |
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45
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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