Twilight6 was coming on; we were driving rather quickly.
“Is it far from here to the fort?” I asked the driver.
“Why, you can see it from here,” replied he.
I began looking all round, expecting to see high bastions, a wall, and a ditch. I saw nothing but a little village, surrounded by a wooden palisade. On one side three or four haystacks, half covered with snow; on another a tumble-down windmill, whose sails, made of coarse limetree bark, hung idly down.
“But where is the fort?” I asked, in surprise.
“There it is yonder, to be sure,” rejoined the driver, pointing out to me the village which we had just reached.
I noticed near the gateway7 an old iron cannon8. The streets were narrow and crooked9, nearly all the izbás29 were thatched. I ordered him to take me to the Commandant, and almost directly my kibitka stopped before a wooden house, built on a knoll10 near the church, which was also in wood.
No one came to meet me. From the steps I entered the ante-room. An old pensioner11, seated on a table, was busy sewing a blue patch on the elbow of a green uniform. I begged him to announce me.
“Come in, my little father,” he said to me; “we are all at home.”
I went into a room, very clean, but furnished in a very homely12 manner. In one corner there stood a dresser with crockery on it. Against the wall hung, framed and glazed13, an officer’s commission. Around this were arranged some bark pictures,30 representing the “Taking of Kustrin” and of “Otchakóf,”31 “The Choice of the Betrothed,” and the “Burial of the Cat by the Mice.” Near the window sat an old woman wrapped in a shawl, her head tied up in a handkerchief. She was busy winding14 thread, which a little, old, one-eyed man in an officer’s uniform was holding on his outstretched hands.
“What do you want, my little father?” she said to me, continuing her employment.
I answered that I had been ordered to join the service here, and that, therefore, I had hastened to report myself to the Commandant. With these words I turned towards the little, old, one-eyed man, whom I had taken for the Commandant. But the good lady interrupted the speech with which I had prepared myself.
“Iván Kouzmitch32 is not at home,” said she. “He is gone to see Father Garassim. But it’s all the same, I am his wife. Be so good as to love us and take us into favour.33 Sit down, my little father.”
She called a servant, and bid her tell the “ouriadnik”34 to come. The little, old man was looking curiously15 at me with his one eye.
“Might I presume to ask you,” said he to me, “in what regiment16 you have deigned17 to serve?”
I satisfied his curiosity.
“And might I ask you,” continued he, “why you have condescended19 to exchange from the Guard into our garrison?”
I replied that it was by order of the authorities.
“Probably for conduct unbecoming an officer of the Guard?” rejoined my indefatigable20 questioner.
“Will you be good enough to stop talking nonsense?” the wife of the Commandant now said to him. “You can see very well that this young man is tired with his journey. He has something else to do than to answer your questions. Hold your hands better. And you, my little father,” she continued, turning to me, “do not bemoan21 yourself too much because you have been shoved into our little hole of a place; you are not the first, and you will not be the last. One may suffer, but one gets accustomed to it. For instance, Chvabrine, Alexey Iványtch,35 was transferred to us four years ago on account of a murder. Heaven knows what ill-luck befel him. It happened one day he went out of the town with a lieutenant22, and they had taken swords, and they set to pinking one another, and Alexey Iványtch killed the lieutenant, and before a couple of witnesses. Well, well, there’s no heading ill-luck!”
At this moment the “ouriadnik,” a young and handsome Cossack, came in.
“Maximitch,” the Commandant’s wife said to him, “find a quarter for this officer, and a clean one.”
“I obey, Vassilissa Igorofna,”36 replied the “ouriadnik.” “Ought not his excellency to go to Iwán Poléja?eff?”
“You are doting23, Maximitch,” retorted the Commandant’s wife; “Poléja?eff has already little enough room; and, besides, he is my gossip; and then he does not forget that we are his superiors. Take the gentleman — What is your name, my little father?”
“Petr’ Andréj?tch.”
“Take Petr’ Andréj?tch to Séméon Kouzoff’s. The rascal24 let his horse get into my kitchen garden. Is everything in order, Maximitch?”
“Thank heaven! all is quiet,” replied the Cossack. “Only Corporal Prokoroff has been fighting in the bathhouse with the woman Oustinia Pegoulina for a pail of hot water.”
“Iwán Ignatiitch,”37 said the Commandant’s wife to the little one-eyed man, “you must decide between Prokoroff and Oustinia which is to blame, and punish both of them; and you, Maximitch, go, in heaven’s name! Petr’ Andréj?tch, Maximitch will take you to your lodging25.”
I took leave. The “ouriadnik“ led me to an izbá, which stood on the steep bank of the river, quite at the far end of the little fort. Half the izbá was occupied by the family of Séméon Kouzoff, the other half was given over to me. This half consisted of a tolerably clean room, divided into two by a partition.
Savéliitch began to unpack26, and I looked out of the narrow window. I saw stretching out before me a bare and dull steppe; on one side there stood some huts. Some fowls27 were wandering down the street. An old woman, standing28 on a doorstep, holding in her hand a trough, was calling to some pigs, the pigs replying by amicable29 grunts30.
And it was in such a country as this I was condemned31 to pass my youth!
Overcome by bitter grief, I left the window, and went to bed supperless, in spite of Savéliitch’s remonstrances32, who continued to repeat, in a miserable33 tone —
“Oh, good heavens! he does not deign18 to eat anything. What would my mistress say if the child should fall ill?”
On the morrow, I had scarcely begun to dress before the door of my room opened, and a young officer came in. He was undersized, but, in spite of irregular features, his bronzed face had a remarkably34 gay and lively expression.
“I beg your pardon,” said he to me in French,38 “for coming thus unceremoniously to make your acquaintance. I heard of your arrival yesterday, and the wish to see at last a human being took such possession of me that I could not resist any longer. You will understand that when you have been here some time!”
I easily guessed that this was the officer sent away from the Guard in consequence of the duel35.
We made acquaintance. Chvabrine was very witty36. His conversation was lively and interesting. He described to me, with, much raciness and gaiety, the Commandant’s family, the society of the fort, and, in short, all the country where my fate had led me.
I was laughing heartily37 when the same pensioner whom I had seen patching his uniform in the Commandant’s ante-room, came in with an invitation to dinner for me from Vassilissa Igorofna.
Chvabrine said he should accompany me.
As we drew near the Commandant’s house we saw in the square about twenty little old pensioners38, with long pigtails and three-cornered hats. They were drawn39 up in line. Before them stood the Commandant, a tall, old man, still hale, in a dressing-gown and a cotton nightcap.
As soon as he perceived us he came up, said a few pleasant words to me, and went back to the drill. We were going to stop and see the manoeuvres, but he begged us to go at once to Vassilissa Igorofna’s, promising40 to follow us directly. “Here,” said he, “there’s really nothing to see.”
Vassilissa Igorofna received us with simplicity41 and kindness, and treated me as if she had known me a long time. The pensioner and Palashka were laying the cloth.
“What possesses my Iván Kouzmitch today to drill his troops so long?” remarked the Commandant’s wife. “Palashka, go and fetch him for dinner. And what can have become of Masha?”39
Hardly had she said the name than a young girl of sixteen came into the room. She had a fresh, round face, and her hair was smoothly42 put back behind her ears, which were red with shyness and modesty43. She did not please me very much at first sight; I looked at her with prejudice. Chvabrine had described Marya, the Commandant’s daughter, to me as being rather silly. She went and sat down in a corner, and began to sew. Still the “chtchi”40 had been brought in. Vassilissa Igorofna, not seeing her husband come back, sent Palashka for the second time to call him.
“Tell the master that the visitors are waiting, and the soup is getting cold. Thank heaven, the drill will not run away. He will have plenty of time to shout as much as he likes.”
The Commandant soon appeared, accompanied by the little old one-eyed man.
“What does all this mean, my little father?” said his wife to him. “Dinner has been ready a long time, and we cannot make you come.”
“But don’t you see, Vassilissa Igorofna,” replied Iván Kouzmitch, “I was very busy drilling my little soldiers.”
“Nonsense,” replied she, “that’s only a boast; they are past service, and you don’t know much about it. You should have stayed at home, and said your prayers; that would have been much better for you. My dear guests, pray sit down to table.”
We took our places. Vassilissa Igorofna never ceased talking for a moment, and overwhelmed me with questions. Who were my parents, were they alive, where did they live, and what was their income? When she learnt that my father had three hundred serfs —
“Well!” she exclaimed, “there are rich people in this world! And as to us, my little father, we have as to souls41 only the servant girl, Palashka. Well, thank heaven, we get along little by little. We have only one care on our minds — Masha, a girl who must be married. And what dowry has she got? A comb and two-pence to pay for a bath twice a year. If only she could light on some honest man! If not she must remain an old maid!”
I glanced at Marya Ivánofna.42 She had become quite red, and tears were rolling down, even into her plate. I was sorry for her, and I hastened to change the conversation.
“I have heard,” I exclaimed (very much to the point), “that the Bashkirs intend to attack your fort.”
“Who told you that, my little father?” replied Iván Kouzmitch.
“I heard it said at Orenburg,” replied I.
“That’s all rubbish,” said the Commandant. “We have not heard a word of it for ever so long. The Bashkir people have been thoroughly44 awed45, and the Kirghiz, too, have had some good lessons. They won’t dare to attack us, and if they venture to do so I’ll give them such a fright that they won’t stir for ten years at least.”
“And you are not afraid,” I continued, addressing the Commandant’s wife, “to stay in a fort liable to such dangers?”
“It’s all a question of custom, my little father,” answered she. “It’s twenty years ago now since we were transferred from the regiment here. You would never believe how frightened I used to be of those confounded Pagans. If ever I chanced to see their hairy caps, or hear their howls, believe me, my little father, I nearly died of it. And now I am so accustomed to it that I should not budge46 an inch if I was told that the rascals47 were prowling all around the fort.”
“Vassilissa Igorofna is a very brave lady,” remarked Chvabrine, gravely. “Iván Kouzmitch knows something of that.”
“Oh! yes, indeed,” said Iván Kouzmitch, “she’s no coward.”
“And Marya Ivánofna,” I asked her mother, “is she as bold as you?”
“Masha!” replied the lady; “no, Masha is a coward. Till now she has never been able to hear a gun fired without trembling all over. It is two years ago now since Iván Kouzmitch took it into his head to fire his cannon on my birthday; she was so frightened, the poor little dove, she nearly ran away into the other world. Since that day we have never fired that confounded cannon any more.”
We got up from table; the Commandant and his wife went to take their siesta48, and I went to Chvabrine’s quarters, where we passed the evening together.
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1
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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morose
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| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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7
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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8
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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knoll
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| n.小山，小丘 | |
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pensioner
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| n.领养老金的人 | |
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12
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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14
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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15
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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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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deigned
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| v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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deign
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| v. 屈尊, 惠允 ( 做某事) | |
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condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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indefatigable
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| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
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bemoan
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| v.悲叹，哀泣，痛哭；惋惜，不满于 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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doting
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| adj.溺爱的，宠爱的 | |
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rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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unpack
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| vt.打开包裹（或行李），卸货 | |
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27
fowls
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| 鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马 | |
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28
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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amicable
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| adj.和平的，友好的；友善的 | |
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grunts
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈 | |
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31
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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remonstrances
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| n.抱怨，抗议( remonstrance的名词复数 ) | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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pensioners
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| n.领取退休、养老金或抚恤金的人( pensioner的名词复数 ) | |
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39
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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40
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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41
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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42
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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43
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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44
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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45
awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
budge
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| v.移动一点儿；改变立场 | |
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47
rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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48
siesta
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| n.午睡 | |
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