CHAPTER VIII THE DAY AFTER THE FEAST

 THE day after a church festival is always the Feast of St Lombard. Outside all the pawnbrokers’ establishments one sees crowds of poor people drawn² up in line—men, women, children, but mostly women. It is a pitiable sight. Each person is carrying the article to be pledged, and whether it be a samovar or a chair, or a petticoat or a pair of trousers, it is never wrapped up. Russians are not ashamed. The queue which I saw near the Tverskaya a street long, the day after my return from Sergievo, would have been thought a disgrace to any English city, but the Russians looked on with equanimity³. And to walk from end to end, from the pawnbroker’s door to the last person who has just hurried up with a pledge, was like reading a chapter from the darkest pages of Gorky. One sees children of sad aspect, with bewildered eyes; young girls as yet honest and clean, but selling the last things of a home; raging women, weeping women and laughing women, drunkards and drudges⁴; or besotted men of the sort who drink away their wives’ and daughters’ honour, 95hopeless home thieves who would steal away even the clothes from a bed and turn them into vodka. It is notable that in Russia, as yet, it is chiefly the men who drink; a drunken woman is very rare. The woman in Russia is the wisest and strongest person in the home. One poor woman, stout⁵ and rubicund⁶, but of countenance⁷ preternaturally solemn, seemed to me weighed down with responsibility. She had a copper⁸ samovar under her arm, and I asked her what misfortune had overtaken her. It was the old story; her husband was a cabman, he ought to have taken no holiday yesterday, the streets were full of people and he might have had many fares, but he went to a tavern⁹ in the morning, and spent all his money and fought with a man and was arrested by a gendarme¹⁰. I asked her how much she would get “on” the samovar. “Seventy-five copecks, barin,” she replied. “Have you got another samovar?” I asked. “No, barin, we shall have to borrow water; I don’t know what the table will look like without the samovar, it won’t be home without it, it has always been on the table; it was my mother’s, and she gave it me when I was married. I am sure we shall never have good fortune after the samovar has gone.”

 

I lent her seventy-five copecks—one shilling and sixpence—and told her to take her beloved samovar home again. She accepted without hesitation¹¹. She put the samovar down on the pavement and embraced 96me with both arms. “Bless you, barin, the Lord bless you; come along and have some tea.”

 

I went to her poor little home—two rooms—in which there was no furniture beyond the bed, a table, some boxes and the Ikons. Two pallid¹², starved daughters, girls of thirteen and sixteen, smiled sweetly and made themselves happy over our party. I had bought some barankas, dry Russian biscuits, en route.

 

The woman told me the story of how her husband had nearly been cured of drunkenness by God. A year or two ago a most holy priest at Sergievo had been empowered by God to cure drunkenness. Thousands and thousands, tens of thousands of drunkards had made pilgrimages from Moscow and Kiev and Odessa and the country, and had been cured by the priest by miracle, and Vania had gone from Moscow and had been a whole month sober, because of the prayer of the holy man. Then suddenly the holy man was removed and Vania got drunk again.

 

It was like this. Vania went on foot to Sergievo and saw the monk¹³. First he was anointed, and then received communion, and then he went to the priest’s house, where he had to tell his story to the holy man. Then they prayed before the Ikon that God would have mercy upon Vania. After the prayer the priest rose and said, “God knows now that you want to become sober and lead a new life. You must remember that 97He is looking at you particularly, just as He would at a new plant that was beginning to bud. To-day He sees you all White and beautiful, and He says to the angels, ‘Look at my servant Vania, how well he is living.’ Each morning and evening God will say how much brighter and more beautiful he is becoming.”

 

“Slav Bogou, Glory be to God,” replied Vania.

 

“Now,” said the priest, “for how many days can you keep sober, for how many days can you live without touching¹⁴ a drop of beer or vodka?”

 

“For ever, a thousand days,” replied Vania.

 

“A thousand days is only three years; it’s not for ever,” said the priest.

 

Vania blinked his eyes.

 

“You must kneel on your knees and swear to God that you will not drink,” said the priest. “But if you break the vow¹⁵ it will be very dreadful.”

 

“Yes,” said Vania, “I shall swear it.”

 

“You are very weak,” said the priest; “you must pray God each morning when you get up and each night before you go to bed that He may give you strength. Perhaps you will fail, perhaps you are lost, but God is going to give you a chance. He’s going to watch you for one week first, for one little week. You must swear to God that you will not drink vodka or beer for one week.”

 

Vania, on his knees, repeated the oath after the priest.

 

98“Rise now, Vania,” said the priest; “I think you will keep this little oath, but if you feel you can’t you must come straight to me and I will release you. You mustn’t break it. I can let you off quite easily if you come to me. But if you break it, God may strike you dead, or He may give you to the Devil. The Devil would be very glad to have you, Vania, but it would be very bad for you. To-day is Sunday; I shan’t be angry if you come to me to-morrow or on Tuesday and say, ‘Release me, father.’ I will then release you and pray God to have mercy on you and to send angels to help you.”

 

Vania went away and kept his vow on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, but on Friday, a very cold day, he wanted a drink very badly. Comrades laughed at him, too. He drove up and down the city and got only one little fare the whole morning. There were fifteen copecks in his pocket. He might get two glasses for that. Every tavern tempted¹⁶, and the Devil seemed waiting at every tavern-door. At two o’clock he drove home quickly and gave the fifteen copecks to his wife; at half-past two he rushed home again and begged the fifteen copecks back. He entered the shop and placed his bottle on the counter and asked for vodka. The woman behind the railing of the “monopoly” counter stepped back to pick out what he wanted, and at that moment Vania, all of a tremble, looked up and saw the holy Ikon in the 99shop, a figure of Christ staring at him. The woman, when she brought the bottle, thought the customer had a fit, for he suddenly shrieked¹⁷ and bolted from the shop.

 

“Oh, Lord, have mercy!”

 

On Friday night Vania saw the priest again and asked to be released. The priest praised him and prayed with him and offered him release, and then Vania would not take it. He asked to swear again. So he was sworn in again and this time for ten days.

 

Vania went home and prayed, and successfully resisted temptation for ten days, and very proud he was at the end of that time when he returned to the holy man and the latter praised him and hung a sign of God by a little chain round his neck.

 

The priest prayed with him again and sent him away for a fortnight on the same conditions.

 

Vania was sober in this way for a whole month, and all his family with him, and he prospered¹⁸ with his cab and bought their furniture out of pawn¹. God was evidently very pleased with Vania.

 

But at the end of that time a catastrophe¹⁹ happened. Vania went to the shrine²⁰ to be re-confirmed in his new life, and behold²¹ the priest was not there any more. He had been removed by the Bishop²², and no one knew where he had gone to. There was unutterable sadness and despair in the crowds of drunkards 100that Vania found there, weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

The Government, hearing of the success of the priest, and noting the diminution²³ in the sale of vodka, had suppressed the holy man in order that there might be no shortage in the treasury²⁴. There was the interest on foreign loans to pay!

1 pawn   

n.典当，抵押，小人物，走卒；v.典当，抵押

参考例句：

• He is contemplating pawning his watch.他正在考虑抵押他的手表。
• It looks as though he is being used as a political pawn by the President.看起来他似乎被总统当作了政治卒子。

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 equanimity   

n.沉着，镇定

参考例句：

• She went again,and in so doing temporarily recovered her equanimity.她又去看了戏，而且这样一来又暂时恢复了她的平静。
• The defeat was taken with equanimity by the leadership.领导层坦然地接受了失败。

4 drudges   

n.做苦工的人，劳碌的人( drudge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He drudges daily with no hope of bettering himself. 他每日做苦工，而毫无改善自己境遇的希望。 来自互联网
• I said that professional writers are solitary drudges who seldom see other writers. 我说职业作家是很少能见到其他作家的孤家寡人。 来自互联网

6 rubicund   

adj.(脸色)红润的

参考例句：

• She watched the colour drain from Colin's rubicund face.她看见科林原本红润的脸渐渐失去了血色。
• His rubicund face expressed consternation and fatigue.他那红通的脸显得又惊惶又疲乏。

7 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

8 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

9 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

10 gendarme   

n.宪兵

参考例句：

• A gendarme was crossing the court.一个宪兵正在院子里踱步。
• While he was at work,a gendarme passed,observed him,and demanded his papers.正在他工作时，有个警察走过，注意到他，便向他要证件。

11 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

12 pallid   

adj.苍白的，呆板的

参考例句：

• The moon drifted from behind the clouds and exposed the pallid face.月亮从云朵后面钻出来，照着尸体那张苍白的脸。
• His dry pallid face often looked gaunt.他那张干瘪苍白的脸常常显得憔悴。

13 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

14 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

15 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

16 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

17 shrieked   

v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
• Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城

18 prospered   

成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The organization certainly prospered under his stewardship. 不可否认，这个组织在他的管理下兴旺了起来。
• Mr. Black prospered from his wise investments. 布莱克先生由于巧妙的投资赚了不少钱。

19 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

20 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

21 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

22 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

23 diminution   

n.减少；变小

参考例句：

• They hope for a small diminution in taxes.他们希望捐税能稍有减少。
• He experienced no diminution of his physical strength.他并未感觉体力衰落。

24 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。