Chapter XXVII

Bersenyev’s words turned out only partly true; the danger was over, but Insarov gained strength slowly, and the doctor talked of a complete undermining of the whole system. The patient left his bed for all that, and began to walk about the room; Bersenyev went home to his own lodging¹, but he came every day to his still feeble friend; and every day as before he informed Elena of the state of his health. Insarov did not dare to write to her, and only indirectly² in his conversations with Bersenyev referred to her; but Bersenyev, with assumed carelessness, told him about his visits to the Stahovs, trying, however, to give him to understand that Elena had been deeply distressed³, and that now she was calmer. Elena too did not write to Insarov; she had a plan in her head.

One day Bersenyev had just informed her with a cheerful face that the doctor had already allowed Insarov to eat a cutlet, and that he would probably soon go out; she seemed absorbed, dropped her eyes.

‘Guess, what I want to say to you,’ she said. Bersenyev was confused. He understood her.

‘I suppose,’ he answered, looking away, ‘you want to say that you wish to see him.’

Elena crimsoned⁴, and scarcely audibly, she breathed, ‘Yes.’

‘Well, what then? That, I imagine, you can easily do.’—‘Ugh!’ he thought, ‘what a loath-some feeling there is in my heart!’

‘You mean that I have already before . . .’ said Elena. ‘But I am afraid — now he is, you say, seldom alone.’

‘That’s not difficult to get over,’ replied Bersenyev, still not looking at her. ‘I, of course, cannot prepare him; but give me a note. Who can hinder your writing to him as a good friend, in whom you take an interest? There’s no harm in that. Appoint — I mean, write to him when you will come.

‘I am ashamed,’ whispered Elena.

‘Give me the note, I will take it.’

‘There’s no need of that, but I wanted to ask you — don’t be angry with me, Andrei Petrovitch — don’t go to him to-morrow!’

Bersenyev bit his lip.

‘Ah! yes, I understand; very well, very well,’ and, adding two or three words more, he quickly took leave.

‘So much the better, so much the better,’ he thought, as he hurried home. ‘I have learnt nothing new, but so much the better. What possessed⁵ me to go hanging on to the edge of another man’s happiness? I regret nothing; I have done what my conscience told me; but now it is over. Let them be! My father was right when he used to say to me: “You and I, my dear boy, are not Sybarites, we are not aristocrats⁶, we’re not the spoilt darlings of fortune and nature, we are not even martyrs⁷ — we are workmen and nothing more. Put on your leather apron⁸, workman, and take your place at your workman’s bench, in your dark workshop, and let the sun shine on other men! Even our dull life has its own pride, its own happiness!”’

The next morning Insarov got a brief note by the post. ‘Expect me,’ Elena wrote to him, ‘and give orders for no one to see you. A. P. will not come.’

1 lodging   

n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍

参考例句：

• The bill is inclusive of the food and lodging. 账单包括吃、住费用。
• Where can you find lodging for the night? 你今晚在哪里借宿?

2 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

3 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

4 crimsoned   

变为深红色（crimson的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• His face crimsoned when he saw her. 他一看到她就满脸通红。
• Tu Hsueh-shih took this attitude of his nephew as a downright insult and crimsoned violently. 这在杜学诗看来，简直是对于他老叔的侮辱。他满脸通红了！ 来自子夜部分

5 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

6 aristocrats   

n.贵族( aristocrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many aristocrats were killed in the French Revolution. 许多贵族在法国大革命中被处死。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• To the Guillotine all aristocrats! 把全部贵族都送上断头台！ 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

7 martyrs   

n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情）

参考例句：

• the early Christian martyrs 早期基督教殉道者
• They paid their respects to the revolutionary martyrs. 他们向革命烈士致哀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。