Chapter X

Volintsev got up at ten o’clock. When he heard that Lezhnyov was sitting in the balcony, he was much surprised, and sent to ask him to come to him.

‘What has happened?’ he asked him. ‘I thought you meant to drive home?’

‘Yes; I did mean to, but I met Rudin. . . . He was wandering about the country with such a distracted countenance¹. So I turned back at once.’

‘You came back because you met Rudin?’

‘That’s to say — to tell the truth, I don’t know why I came back myself, I suppose because I was reminded of you; I wanted to be with you, and I have plenty of time before I need go home.’

Volintsev smiled bitterly.

‘Yes; one cannot think of Rudin now without thinking of me. . . . Boy!’ he cried harshly, ‘bring us some tea.’

The friends began to drink tea. Lezhnyov talked of agricultural matters — of a new method of roofing barns with paper . . . .

Suddenly Volintsev leaped up from his chair and struck the table with such force that the cups and saucers rang.

‘No!’ he cried, ‘I cannot bear this any longer! I will call out this witty² fellow, and let him shoot me — at least I will try to put a bullet through his learned brains!’

‘What are you talking about? Upon my word!’ grumbled³ Lezhnyov, ‘how can you scream like that? I dropped my pipe. . . . What’s the matter with you?’

‘The matter is, that I can’t hear his name and keep calm; it sets all my blood boiling!’

‘Hush⁴, my dear fellow, hush! aren’t you ashamed?’ rejoined Lezhnyov, picking up his pipe from the ground. ‘Leave off! Let him alone!’

‘He has insulted me,’ pursued Volintsev, walking up and down the room. ‘Yes! he has insulted me. You must admit that yourself. At first I was not sharp enough; he took me by surprise; and who could have expected this? But I will show him that he cannot make a fool of me. . . . I will shoot him, the damned philosopher, like a partridge.’

‘Much you will gain by that, indeed! I won’t speak of your sister now. I can see you’re in a passion . . . how could you think of your sister! But in relation to another individual — what! do you imagine, when you’ve killed the philosopher, you can improve your own chances?’

Volintsev flung himself into a chair.

‘Then I must go away somewhere! For here my heart is simply being crushed by misery⁵; only I can find no place to go.’

‘Go away . . . that’s another matter! That I am ready to agree to. And do you know what I should suggest? Let us go together — to the Caucasus, or simply to Little Russia to eat dumplings. That’s a capital idea, my dear fellow!’

‘Yes; but whom shall we leave my sister with?’

‘And why should not Alexandra Pavlovna come with us? Upon my soul, it will be splendid. As for looking after her — yes, I’ll undertake that! There will be no difficulty in getting anything we want: if she likes, I will arrange a serenade under her window every night; I will sprinkle the coachmen with eau de cologne and strew⁶ flowers along the roads. And we shall both be simply new men, my dear boy; we shall enjoy ourselves so, we shall come back so fat that we shall be proof against the darts⁷ of love!’

‘You are always joking, Misha!’

‘I’m not joking at all. It was a brilliant idea of yours.’

‘No; nonsense!’ Volintsev shouted again. ‘I want to fight him, to fight him! . . .’

‘Again! What a rage you are in!’

A servant entered with a letter in his hand.

‘From whom?’ asked Lezhnyov.

‘From Rudin, Dmitri Nikolaitch. The Lasunsky’s servant brought it.’

‘From Rudin?’ repeated Volintsev, ‘to whom?’

‘To you.’

‘To me! . . . give it me!’

Volintsev seized the letter, quickly tore it open, and began to read. Lezhnyov watched him attentively⁸; a strange, almost joyful⁹ amazement¹⁰ was expressed on Volintsev’s face; he let his hands fall by his side.

‘What is it?’ asked Lezhnyov.

‘Read it,’ Volintsev said in a low voice, and handed him the letter.

Lezhnyov began to read. This is what Rudin wrote:

‘SIR—

‘I am going away from Darya Mihailovna’s house to-day, and leaving it for ever. This will certainly be a surprise to you, especially after what passed yesterday. I cannot explain to you what exactly obliges me to act in this way; but it seems to me for some reason that I ought to let you know of my departure. You do not like me, and even regard me as a bad man. I do not intend to justify¹¹ myself; time will justify me. In my opinion it is even undignified in a man and quite unprofitable to try to prove to a prejudiced man the injustice¹² of his prejudice. Whoever wishes to understand me will not blame me, and as for any one who does not wish, or cannot do so — his censure¹³ does not pain me. I was mistaken in you. In my eyes you remain as before a noble and honourable¹⁴ man, but I imagined you were able to be superior to the surroundings in which you were brought up. I was mistaken. What of that? It is not the first, nor will it be the last time. I repeat to you, I am going away. I wish you all happiness. Confess that this wish is completely disinterested¹⁵, and I hope that now you will be happy. Perhaps in time you will change your opinion of me. Whether we shall ever meet again, I don’t know, but in any case I remain your sincere well-wisher,

‘D. R.

‘P.S. The two hundred roubles I owe you I will send directly I reach my estate in T—— province. Also I beg you not to speak to Darya Mihailovna of this letter.

‘P.P.S. One last, but important request more; since I am going away, I hope you will not allude¹⁶ before Natalya Alexyevna to my visit to you.’

‘Well, what do you say to that?’ asked Volintsev, directly Lezhnyov had finished the letter.

‘What is one to say?’ replied Lezhnyov, ‘Cry “Allah! Allah!” like a Mussulman and sit gaping¹⁷ with astonishment¹⁸ — that’s all one can do. . . . Well, a good riddance! But it’s curious: you see he thought it his duty to write you this letter, and he came to see you from a sense of duty . . . these gentlemen find a duty at every step, some duty they owe . . . or some debt,’ added Lezhnyov, pointing with a smile to the postscript¹⁹.

‘And what phrases he rounds off!’ cried Volintsev. ‘He was mistaken in me. He expected I would be superior to my surroundings. What a rigmarole! Good God! it’s worse than poetry!’

Lezhnyov made no reply, but his eyes were smiling. Volintsev got up.

‘I want to go to Darya Mihailovna’s,’ he announced. ‘I want to find out what it all means.’

‘Wait a little, my dear boy; give him time to get off. What’s the good of running up against him again? He is to vanish, it seems. What more do you want? Better go and lie down and get a little sleep; you have been tossing about all night, I expect. But everything will be smooth for you.’

‘What leads you to that conclusion?’

‘Oh, I think so. There, go and have a nap; I will go and see your sister. I will keep her company.’

‘I don’t want to sleep in the least. What’s the object of my going to bed? I had rather go out to the fields,’ said Volintsev, putting on his out-of-door coat.

‘Well, that’s a good thing too. Go along, and look at the fields . . . .’

And Lezhnyov betook himself to the apartments of Alexandra Pavlovna. He found her in the drawing-room. She welcomed him effusively²⁰. She was always pleased when he came; but her face still looked sorrowful. She was uneasy about Rudin’s visit the day before.

‘You have seen my brother?’ she asked Lezhnyov. ‘How is he to-day?’

‘All right, he has gone to the fields.’

Alexandra Favlovna did not speak for a minute.

‘Tell me, please,’ she began, gazing earnestly at the hem²¹ of her pocket-handkerchief, ‘don’t you know why . . .’

‘Rudin came here?’ put in Lezhnyov. ‘I know, he came to say good-bye.’

Alexandra Pavlovna lifted up her head.

‘What, to say good-bye!’

‘Yes. Haven’t you heard? He is leaving Darya Mihailovna’s.’

‘He is leaving?’

‘For ever; at least he says so.’

‘But pray, how is one to explain it, after all? . . .’

‘Oh, that’s a different matter! To explain it is impossible, but it is so. Something must have happened with them. He pulled the string too tight — and it has snapped.’

‘Mihailo Mihailitch!’ began Alexandra Pavlovna, ‘I don’t understand; you are laughing at me, I think . . . .’

‘No indeed! I tell you he is going away, and he even let his friends know by letter. It’s just as well, I daresay, from one point of view; but his departure has prevented one surprising enterprise from being carried out that I had begun to talk to your brother about.’

‘What do you mean? What enterprise?’

‘Why, I proposed to your brother that we should go on our travels, to distract his mind, and take you with us. To look after you especially I would take on myself . . . .’

‘That’s capital!’ cried Alexandra Pavlovna. ‘I can fancy how you would look after me. Why, you would let me die of hunger.’

‘You say so, Alexandra Pavlovna, because you don’t know me. You think I am a perfect blockhead, a log; but do you know I am capable of melting like sugar, of spending whole days on my knees?’

‘I should like to see that, I must say!’

Lezhnyov suddenly got up. ‘Well, marry me, Alexandra Pavlovna, and you will see all that’

Alexandra Pavlovna blushed up to her ears.

‘What did you say, Mihailo Mihailitch?’ she murmured in confusion.

‘I said what it has been for ever so long,’ answered Lezhnyov, ‘on the tip of my tongue to say a thousand times over. I have brought it out at last, and you must act as you think best. But I will go away now, so as not to be in your way. If you will be my wife . . . I will walk away . . . if you don’t dislike the idea, you need only send to call me in; I shall understand . . . .’

Alexandra Pavlovna tried to keep Lezhnyov, but he went quickly away, and going into the garden without his cap, he leaned on a little gate and began looking about him.

‘Mihailo Mihailitch!’ sounded the voice of a maid-servant behind him, ‘please come in to my lady. She sent me to call you.’

Mihailo Mihailitch turned round, took the girl’s head in both his hands, to her great astonishment, and kissed her on the forehead, then he went in to Alexandra Pavlovna.

1 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。

2 witty   

adj.机智的，风趣的

参考例句：

• Her witty remarks added a little salt to the conversation.她的妙语使谈话增添了一些风趣。
• He scored a bull's-eye in their argument with that witty retort.在他们的辩论中他那一句机智的反驳击中了要害。

3 grumbled   

抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
• The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏，水手们边干活边发着牢骚。

4 hush   

int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静

参考例句：

• A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
• Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

5 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

6 strew   

vt.撒；使散落；撒在…上，散布于

参考例句：

• Their custom is to strew flowers over the graves.他们的风俗是在坟墓上撒花。
• Shells of all shapes and sizes strew the long narrow beach.各种各样的贝壳点缀着狭长的海滩。

7 darts   

n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• His darts trophy takes pride of place on the mantelpiece. 他将掷镖奖杯放在壁炉顶上最显著的地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I never saw so many darts in a bodice! 我从没见过紧身胸衣上纳了这么多的缝褶！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 attentively   

adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神

参考例句：

• She listened attentively while I poured out my problems. 我倾吐心中的烦恼时，她一直在注意听。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She listened attentively and set down every word he said. 她专心听着，把他说的话一字不漏地记下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

10 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

11 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

12 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

13 censure   

v./n.责备；非难；责难

参考例句：

• You must not censure him until you know the whole story.在弄清全部事实真相前不要谴责他。
• His dishonest behaviour came under severe censure.他的不诚实行为受到了严厉指责。

14 honourable   

adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的

参考例句：

• I don't think I am worthy of such an honourable title.这样的光荣称号，我可担当不起。
• I hope to find an honourable way of settling difficulties.我希望设法找到一个体面的办法以摆脱困境。

15 disinterested   

adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的

参考例句：

• He is impartial and disinterested.他公正无私。
• He's always on the make,I have never known him do a disinterested action.他这个人一贯都是唯利是图，我从来不知道他有什么无私的行动。

16 allude   

v.提及，暗指

参考例句：

• Many passages in Scripture allude to this concept.圣经中有许多经文间接地提到这样的概念。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles.她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。

17 gaping   

adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• Ahead of them was a gaping abyss. 他们前面是一个巨大的深渊。
• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

19 postscript   

n.附言，又及；(正文后的)补充说明

参考例句：

• There was the usual romantic postscript at the end of his letter.他的信末又是一贯的浪漫附言。
• She mentioned in a postscript to her letter that the parcel had arrived.她在信末附笔中说包裹已寄到。

20 effusively   

adv.变溢地，热情洋溢地

参考例句：

• We were effusively welcomed by the patron and his wife. 我们受到老板和他妻子的热忱欢迎。 来自辞典例句
• The critics praised her effusively. 评论家们热情洋溢地表扬了她。 来自互联网

21 hem   

n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制

参考例句：

• The hem on her skirt needs sewing.她裙子上的褶边需要缝一缝。
• The hem of your dress needs to be let down an inch.你衣服的折边有必要放长1英寸。