"Heaven be thanked!" he muttered to himself; "the child is washed, combed, and well-fed. What need is there for spending money and engaging a Mossoo, as if there were not enough of our own people!"
Beaupré had been a hairdresser in his own country, then a soldier in Prussia, then he had come to Russia pour être outchitel,[2] without very well understanding the meaning of the word. He was a good sort of fellow, but extremely flighty and thoughtless. His chief weakness was a passion for the fair sex; but his tenderness not unfrequently met with rebuffs, which would cause him to sigh and lament8 for the whole twenty-four hours. Moreover, to use his own expression, he was no enemy of the bottle, or, in other words, he loved to drink more than was good for him. But as, with us, wine was only served out at dinner, and then in small glasses only, and as, moreover, the teacher was generally passed over on these occasions, my Beaupré very soon became accustomed to Russian drinks, and even began to prefer them to the wines of his own country, as being more beneficial for the stomach. We soon became very good friends, and although, by the terms of the contract, he was engaged to teach me French, German, and all the sciences, yet he much preferred learning from me to chatter9 in Russian, and then each of us occupied himself with what seemed best to him. Our friendship was of the most intimate character, and I wished for no other mentor10. But fate soon separated us, owing to an event which I will now proceed to relate.
The laundress, Palashka, a thick-set woman with a face scarred by the small-pox, and the one-eyed cowkeeper, Akoulka, made up their minds together one day and went and threw themselves at my mother's feet, accusing themselves of certain guilty weaknesses, complaining, with a flood of tears, that the Mossoo had taken advantage of their inexperience, and had effected their ruin. My mother did not look upon such matters in the light of a joke, so she consulted my father upon the subject. An inquiry11 into the matter was promptly12 resolved upon. He immediately sent for the rascally13 Frenchman. He was informed that Monsieur was engaged in giving me my lesson. My father came to my room. At that particular moment Beaupré was lying on the bed, sleeping the sleep of innocence14. I was occupied in a very different manner. I ought to mention that a map had been obtained from Moscow, in order that I might be instructed in geography. It hung upon the wall without ever being made use of, and as it was a very large map, and the paper thick and of good quality, I had long been tempted15 to appropriate it to my own use. I resolved to make it into a kite, and, taking advantage of Beaupré's slumber16, I set to work. My father entered the room just at the moment when I was adjusting a tail to the Cape17 of Good Hope. Seeing me so occupied with geography, my father saluted18 me with a box on the ear, then stepped towards Beaupré, and waking him very unceremoniously, overwhelmed him with reproaches. In his confusion, Beaupré wanted to rise up from the bed, but he was unable to do so: the unfortunate Frenchman was hopelessly intoxicated19. There was only one course to take after so many acts of misdemeanour. My father seized hold of him by the collar, lifted him off the bed, hustled20 him out of the room, and dismissed him that very same day from his service—to the unspeakable delight of Savelitch. Thus ended my education.
I now lived the life of a spoiled child, frightening the pigeons, and playing at leap-frog with the boys on the estate. I continued to lead this kind of life until I was sixteen years of age. Then came the turning-point in my existence.
One day in autumn, my mother was boiling some honey preserves in the parlour, and I was looking on and licking my lips as the liquid simmered and frothed. My father was sitting near the window, reading the "Court Calendar," which he received every year. This book always had a great effect upon him; he used to read it with especial interest, and the reading of it always stirred his bile in the most astonishing manner. My mother, who was perfectly21 well acquainted with his whims22 and peculiarities23, always endeavoured to keep this unfortunate book out of the way as much as she possibly could, and, on this account, his eyes would not catch a glimpse of the volume for months together. But when he did happen to find it, he would sit with it in his hands for hours at a stretch.... As I have said, my father was reading the "Court Calendar," every now and then shrugging his shoulders, and muttering to himself: "Lieutenant-General!... He used to be a sergeant in my company!... Knight24 of both Russian Orders!... How long is it since we——"
At last my father flung the "Calendar" down upon the sofa, and sank into a reverie—a proceeding25 that was always of evil augury26.
Suddenly he turned to my mother:
"Avdotia Vassilevna,[3] how old is Petrousha?"[4]
"He is getting on for seventeen," replied my mother: "Petrousha was born in the same year that aunt Nastasia Gerasimovna[5] lost her eye, and——"
"Very well," said my father, interrupting her; "it is time that he entered the service. He has had quite enough of running about the servants' rooms and climbing up to the dovecots."
The thought of soon having to part with me produced such an effect upon my mother, that she let the spoon fall into the saucepan, and the tears streamed down her cheeks. As for myself, it would be difficult to describe the delight that I felt. The thought of the service was associated in my mind with thoughts of freedom and the pleasures of a life in St. Petersburg. I imagined myself an officer in the Guards, that being, in my opinion, the summit of human felicity.
My father loved neither to change his intentions, nor to delay putting them into execution. The day for my departure was fixed27. On the evening before, my father informed me that he intended to write to my future chief, and asked for pens and paper.
"Do not forget, Andrei Petrovitch,"[6] said my mother, "to send my salutations to Prince B——, and say that I hope he will take our Petrousha under his protection."
"What nonsense!" exclaimed my father, frowning. "Why should I write to Prince B——"
"Why, you said just now that you wanted to write to Petrousha's chief."
"Well, and what then?"
"Why, Prince B—— is Petrousha's chief. You know Petrousha is enrolled in the Semenovsky Regiment."
"Enrolled! What care I whether he is enrolled or not? Petrousha is not going to St. Petersburg. What would he learn by serving in St. Petersburg? To squander28 money and indulge in habits of dissipation. No, let him enter a regiment of the Line; let him learn to carry knapsack and belt, to smell powder, to become a soldier, and not an idler in the Guards. Where is his passport? Bring it here."
My mother went to get my passport, which she preserved in a small box along with the shirt in which I was christened, and delivered it to my father with a trembling hand. My father read it through very attentively29, placed it in front of him upon the table, and commenced to write his letter.
I was tortured with curiosity. Where was I to be sent to, if I was not going to St. Petersburg? I kept my eyes steadfastly30 fixed upon the pen, which moved slowly over the paper. At last he finished the letter, enclosed it in a cover along with my passport, took off his spectacles, and, calling me to him, said:
"Here is a letter for Andrei Karlovitch R——, my old comrade and friend. You are going to Orenburg to serve under his command."
All my brilliant hopes were thus brought to the ground! Instead of a life of gaiety in St. Petersburg, there awaited me a tedious existence in a dreary31 and distant country. The service, which I had thought of with such rapture32 but a moment before, now presented itself to my eyes in the light of a great misfortune. But there was no help for it, and arguing the matter would have been of no avail.
Early the next morning a travelling carriage drew up before the door; my portmanteau was placed in it, as well as a small chest containing a tea-service and a tied-up cloth full of rolls and pies—the last tokens of home indulgence. My parents gave me their blessing33. My father said to me:
"Good-bye, Peter! Serve faithfully whom you have sworn to serve; obey your superior officers; do not run after their favours; be not too eager in volunteering for service, but never shirk a duty when you are selected for it; and remember the proverb: 'Take care of your coat while it is new, and of your honour while it is young.'"
My mother, with tears in her eyes, enjoined34 me to take care of my health, at the same time impressing upon Savelitch to look well after the child. A cloak made of hare-skin was then put over my shoulders, and over that another made of fox-skin. I seated myself in the carriage with Savelitch, and started off on my journey, weeping bitterly.
That same night I arrived at Simbirsk, where I was compelled to remain for the space of twenty-four hours, to enable Savelitch to purchase several necessary articles which he had been commissioned to procure35. I stopped at an inn. In the morning Savelitch sallied out to the shops. Tired of looking out of the window into a dirty alley36, I began to wander about the rooms of the inn. As I entered the billiard-room, my eyes caught sight of a tall gentleman of about thirty-five years of age, with long, black moustaches; he was dressed in a morning-gown, and had a cue in his hand and a pipe between his teeth. He was playing with the marker, who drank a glass of brandy when he scored, but crept on all-fours beneath the table when he failed. I stopped to look at the game. The longer it continued, the more frequent became the crawling on all-fours, until at last the marker crept beneath the table and remained there.
The gentleman uttered a few strong expressions over him, as a sort of funeral oration37, and then invited me to play a game with him. I declined, on the score that I did not know how to play. This evidently seemed very strange to him, and he looked at me with an air of commiseration38. However, we soon fell into conversation. I learned that his name was Ivan Ivanovitch Zourin; that he was a captain in a Hussar regiment; that he was then stopping in Simbirsk, waiting to receive some recruits, and that he was staying at the same inn as myself.
Zourin invited me to dine with him, in military fashion, upon whatever Heaven should be pleased to set before us. I accepted his invitation with pleasure. We sat down to table. Zourin drank a great deal, and pressed me to do the same, saying that it was necessary for me to get accustomed to the ways of the service. He related to me several military anecdotes39, which convulsed me with laughter, and when we rose from the table we had become intimate friends Then he offered to teach me how to play at billiards40.
"It is an indispensable game for soldiers like us," said he. "When on the march, for instance, you arrive at some insignificant41 village, what can you do to occupy the time? You cannot always be thrashing the Jews. You involuntarily make your way to the inn to play at billiards, and to do that, you must know how to play."
I was completely convinced, and I commenced to learn the game with great assiduity. Zourin encouraged me with loud-voiced praise, being astonished at my rapid progress; and after a few lessons he proposed that we should play for money, for the smallest sums possible, not for the sake of gain, but merely for the sake of not playing for nothing, which, according to his opinion, was an exceedingly bad habit.
I agreed to his proposal, and Zourin ordered a supply of punch, which he persuaded me to partake of, saying that it was necessary to become accustomed to it in the service; for what would the service be without punch! I followed his advice. In the meantime we continued our game. The more frequently I had recourse to the punch, the more emboldened42 I became. The balls kept continually flying in the wrong direction; I grew angry, abused the marker—who counted the points, Heaven only knows how,—increased the stakes from time to time—in a word, I behaved like a boy just out of leading-strings. In the meanwhile the time had passed away without my having observed it. Zourin glanced at the clock, laid down his cue, and informed me that I had lost a hundred roubles.[7] I was considerably43 confounded by this piece of information. My money was in the hands of Savelitch. I began to make some excuses. Zourin interrupted me:
"Pray, do not be uneasy. I can wait; and now let us go to Arinoushka."[8]
What more shall I add? I finished the day as foolishly as I had commenced it. We took supper with Arinoushka. Zourin kept continually filling my glass, observing as he did so, that it was necessary to become accustomed to it in the service. When I rose from the table, I was scarcely able to stand on my legs; at midnight, Zourin conducted me back to the inn.
Savelitch came to the doorstep to meet us. He uttered a groan44 on perceiving the indubitable signs of my zeal45 for the service.
"What has happened to you?" he said, in a voice of lamentation46. "Where have you been drinking so? Oh, Lord! never did such a misfortune happen before!"
"Hold your tongue, you old greybeard!" I replied, in an unsteady voice; "you are certainly drunk. Go to sleep ... and put me to bed."
The next morning I awoke with a violent headache, and with a confused recollection of the events of the day before. My reflections were interrupted by Savelitch, who brought me a cup of tea.
"You are beginning your games early, Peter Andreitch,"[9] he said, shaking his head. "And whom do you take after? As far as I know, neither your father nor grandfather were ever drunkards; as for your mother, I will say nothing; she has never drunk anything except kvas[10] since the day she was born. And who is to blame for all this? Why, that cursed Mossoo, who was ever running to Antipevna with: 'Madame, je vous prie, vodka.'[11] You see what a pretty pass your je vous prie has brought you to! There's no denying that the son of a dog taught you some nice things! It was worth while to hire such a heathen for your tutor, as if our master had not enough of his own people!"
I felt ashamed of myself. I turned my back to him, and said:
"Go away, Savelitch; I do not want any tea."
But it was a difficult matter to quiet Savelitch when he had set his mind upon preaching a sermon.
"You see now, Peter Andreitch, what it is to get drunk. You have a headache, and you do not want to eat or drink anything. A man who gets drunk is good for nothing. Have some cucumber pickle47 with honey; or perhaps half a glass of fruit wine would be better still. What do you say?"
At that moment a boy entered the room and handed me a note from Zourin. I opened it and read the following lines:
"DEAR PETER ANDREIVITCH,
"Be so good as to send me, by my boy, the hundred roubles which you lost to me yesterday. I am in great need of money.
"Yours faithfully,
"IVAN ZOURIN."
There was no help for it. I assumed an air of indifference48, and turning to Savelitch, who was my treasurer49 and caretaker in one, I ordered him to give the boy a hundred roubles.
"What? why?" asked the astonished Savelitch.
"I owe them to him," I replied, with the greatest possible coolness.
"Owe!" ejaculated Savelitch, becoming more and more astonished. "When did you get into his debt? It looks a very suspicious piece of business. You may do as you like, my lord, but I shall not give the money."
I thought that, if in this decisive moment I did not gain the upper hand of the obstinate50 old man, it would be difficult for me to liberate51 myself from his tutelage later on; so, looking haughtily52 at him, I said:
"I am your master, and you are my servant. The money is mine. I played and lost it because I chose to do so; and I advise you not to oppose my wishes, but to do what you are ordered."
Savelitch began to weep.
"Father, Peter Andreitch," he stammered55 in a quivering voice, "do not break my heart with grief. You are the light of my life, so listen to me—to an old man: write to this robber, and tell him that you were only joking, that we have not got so much money. A hundred roubles! Merciful Heaven! Tell him that your parents have strictly56 forbidden you to play for anything except nuts——"
"That will do; let me have no more of your chatter! Give me the money, or I will put you out by the neck!"
Savelitch looked at me with deep sadness, and went for the money. I pitied the poor old man; but I wanted to assert my independence and to show that I was no longer a child.
The money was paid to Zourin. Savelitch hastened to get me away from the accursed inn. He made his appearance with the information that the horses were ready. With an uneasy conscience, and a silent feeling of remorse57, I left Simbirsk without taking leave of my teacher of billiards, and without thinking that I should ever see him again.
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1
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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2
enrolled
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| adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起 | |
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3
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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5
Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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6
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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7
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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8
lament
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| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
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9
chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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10
mentor
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| n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导 | |
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11
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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12
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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13
rascally
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| adj. 无赖的，恶棍的 adv. 无赖地，卑鄙地 | |
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14
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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15
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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16
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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17
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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18
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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19
intoxicated
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| 喝醉的，极其兴奋的 | |
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20
hustled
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| 催促（hustle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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22
WHIMS
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| 虚妄，禅病 | |
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23
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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24
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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25
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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augury
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| n.预言，征兆，占卦 | |
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27
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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28
squander
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| v.浪费，挥霍 | |
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29
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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30
steadfastly
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| adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝 | |
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31
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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32
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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33
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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34
enjoined
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| v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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36
alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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37
oration
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| n.演说，致辞，叙述法 | |
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38
commiseration
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| n.怜悯，同情 | |
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39
anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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40
billiards
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| n.台球 | |
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41
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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42
emboldened
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| v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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44
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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45
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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46
lamentation
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| n.悲叹，哀悼 | |
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47
pickle
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| n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡 | |
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48
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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49
treasurer
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| n.司库，财务主管 | |
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50
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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51
liberate
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| v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由 | |
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52
haughtily
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| adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
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53
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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54
petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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55
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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57
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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