It was a beautiful sunny day. No sooner had I entered the auditorium1 than I felt my personality entirely2 disappear amid the swarm3 of light-hearted youths who were seething4 tumultuously through every doorway5 and corridor under the influence of the sunlight pouring through the great windows. I found the sense of being a member of this huge community very pleasing, yet there were few among the throng6 whom I knew, and that only on terms of a nod and a “How do you do, Irtenieff?”
All around me men were shaking hands and chatting together — from every side came expressions of friendship, laughter, jests, and badinage7. Everywhere I could feel the tie which bound this youthful society in one, and everywhere, too, I could feel that it left me out. Yet this impression lasted for a moment only, and was succeeded, together with the vexation which it had caused, by the idea that it was best that I should not belong to that society, but keep to my own circle of gentlemen; wherefore I proceeded to seat myself upon the third bench, with, as neigh~ hours, Count B., Baron8 Z., the Prince R., Iwin, and some other young men of the same class with none of whom, however, was acquainted save with Iwin and Count B. Yet the look which these young gentlemen threw at me at once made me feel that I was not of their set, and I turned to observe what was going on around me. Semenoff, with grey, matted hair, white teeth, and tunic9 flying open, was seated a little distance off, and leaning forward on his elbows as he nibbled10 a pen, while the gymnasium student who had come out first in the examinations had established himself on the front bench, and, with a black stock coming half-way up his cheek, was toying with the silver watch- chain which adorned11 his satin waistcoat. On a bench in a raised part of the hall I could descry12 Ikonin (evidently he had contrived13 to enter the University somehow!), and hear him fussily14 proclaiming, in all the glory of blue piped trousers which completely hid his boots, that he was now seated on Parnassus. Ilinka — who had surprised me by giving me a bow not only cold, but supercilious15, as though to remind me that here we were all equals — was just in front of me, with his legs resting in free and easy style on another bench (a hit, somehow I thought, at myself), and conversing16 with a student as he threw occasional glances in my direction. Iwin’s set by my side were talking in French, yet every word which I overheard of their conversation seemed to me both stupid and incorrect (“Ce n’est pas francais,” I thought to myself), while all the attitudes, utterances17, and doings of Semenoff, Ilinka, and the rest struck me as uniformly coarse, ungentlemanly, and “comme il ne faut pas.”
Thus, attached to no particular set, I felt isolated18 and unable to make friends, and so grew resentful. One of the students on the bench in front of me kept biting his nails, which were raw to the quick already, and this so disgusted me that I edged away from him. In short, I remember finding my first day a most depressing affair.
When the professor entered, and there was a general stir and a cessation of chatter19, I remember throwing a scornful glance at him, as also that he began his discourse20 with a sentence which I thought devoid21 of meaning. I had expected the lecture to be, from first to last, so clever that not a word ought to be taken from or added to it. Disappointed in this, I at once proceeded to draw beneath the heading “First Lecture” with which I had adorned my beautifully-bound notebook no less than eighteen faces in profile, joined together in a sort of chaplet, and only occasionally moved my hand along the page in order to give the professor (who, I felt sure, must be greatly interested in me) the impression that I was writing something. In fact, at this very first lecture I came to the decision which I maintained to the end of my course, namely, that it was unnecessary, and even stupid, to take down every word said by every professor.
At subsequent lectures, however, I did not feel my isolation23 so strongly, since I made several acquaintances and got into the way of shaking hands and entering into conversation. Yet for some reason or another no real intimacy24 ever sprang up between us, and I often found myself depressed25 and only feigning26 cheerfulness. With the set which comprised Iwin and “the aristocrats,” as they were generally known, I could not make any headway at all, for, as I now remember, I was always shy and churlish to them, and nodded to them only when they nodded to me; so that they had little inducement to desire my acquaintance. With most of the other students, however, this arose from quite a different cause. As soon as ever I discerned friendliness27 on the part of a comrade, I at once gave him to understand that I went to luncheon28 with Prince Ivan Ivanovitch and kept my own drozhki. All this I said merely to show myself in the most favourable30 light in his eyes, and to induce him to like me all the more; yet almost invariably the only result of my communicating to him the intelligence concerning the drozhki and my relationship to Prince Ivan Ivanovitch was that, to my astonishment31, he at once adopted a cold and haughty32 bearing towards me.
Among us we had a Crown student named Operoff — a very modest, industrious33, and clever young fellow, who always offered one his hand like a slab34 of wood (that is to say, without closing his fingers or making the slightest movement with them); with the result that his comrades often did the same to him in jest, and called it the “deal board” way of shaking hands. He and I nearly always sat next to one another, and discussed matters generally. In particular he pleased me with the freedom with which he would criticise35 the professors as he pointed22 out to me with great clearness and acumen36 the merits or demerits of their respective ways of teaching and made occasional fun of them. Such remarks I found exceedingly striking and diverting when uttered in his quiet, mincing37 voice. Nevertheless he never let a lecture pass without taking careful notes of it in his fine handwriting, and eventually we decided38 to join forces, and to do our preparation together. Things had progressed to the point of his always looking pleased when I took my usual seat beside him when, unfortunately, I one day found it necessary to inform him that, before her death, my mother had besought39 my father never to allow us to enter for a government scholarship, as well as that I myself considered Crown students, no matter how clever, to be- “well, they are not GENTLEMEN,” I concluded, though beginning to flounder a little and grow red. At the moment Operoff said nothing, but at subsequent lectures he ceased to greet me or to offer me his board-like hand, and never attempted to talk to me, but, as soon as ever I sat down, he would lean his head upon his arm, and purport40 to be absorbed in his notebooks. I was surprised at this sudden coolness, but looked upon it as infra dig, “pour un jeune homme de bonne maison” to curry41 favour with a mere29 Crown student of an Operoff, and so left him severely42 alone — though I confess that his aloofness43 hurt my feelings. On one occasion I arrived before him, and, since the lecture was to be delivered by a popular professor whom students came to hear who did not usually attend such functions, I found almost every seat occupied. Accordingly I secured Operoff’s place for myself by spreading my notebooks on the desk before it; after which I left the room again for a moment. When I returned I perceived that my paraphernalia44 had been relegated45 to the bench behind, and the place taken by Operoff himself. I remarked to him that I had already secured it by placing my notebooks there.
“I know nothing about that,” he replied sharply, yet without looking up at me.
“I tell you I placed my notebooks there,” I repeated, purposely trying to bluster46, in the hope of intimidating47 him. “Every one saw me do it,” I added, including the students near me in my glance. Several of them looked at me with curiosity, yet none of them spoke48.
“Seats cannot be booked here,” said Operoff. “Whoever first sits down in a place keeps it,” and, settling himself angrily where he was, he flashed at me a glance of defiance49.
“Well, that only means that you are a cad,” I said.
I have an idea that he murmured something about my being “a stupid young idiot,” but I decided not to hear it. What would be the use, I asked myself, of my hearing it? That we should brawl50 like a couple of manants over less than nothing? (I was very fond of the word manants, and often used it for meeting awkward junctures51.) Perhaps I should have said something more had not, at that moment, a door slammed and the professor (dressed in a blue frockcoat, and shuffling52 his feet as he walked) ascended53 the rostrum.
Nevertheless, when the examination was about to come on, and I had need of some one’s notebooks, Operoff remembered his promise to lend me his, and we did our preparation together.
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1
auditorium
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| n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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7
badinage
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| n.开玩笑，打趣 | |
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baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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nibbled
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| v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的过去式和过去分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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descry
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| v.远远看到；发现；责备 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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fussily
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| adv.无事空扰地，大惊小怪地，小题大做地 | |
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supercilious
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| adj.目中无人的，高傲的；adv.高傲地；n.高傲 | |
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conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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utterances
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| n.发声( utterance的名词复数 )；说话方式；语调；言论 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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feigning
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| 假装，伪装( feign的现在分词 )； 捏造（借口、理由等） | |
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friendliness
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| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
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luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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criticise
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| v.批评，评论；非难 | |
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acumen
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| n.敏锐，聪明 | |
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mincing
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| adj.矫饰的；v.切碎；切碎 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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besought
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| v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的过去式和过去分词 )；(beseech的过去式与过去分词) | |
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purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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curry
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| n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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aloofness
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| 超然态度 | |
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paraphernalia
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| n.装备；随身用品 | |
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45
relegated
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| v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类 | |
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46
bluster
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| v.猛刮；怒冲冲的说；n.吓唬，怒号；狂风声 | |
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47
intimidating
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| vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词) | |
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48
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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50
brawl
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| n.大声争吵，喧嚷；v.吵架，对骂 | |
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51
junctures
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| n.时刻，关键时刻( juncture的名词复数 )；接合点 | |
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52
shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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53
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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