This every-day work was executed rapidly and in silence. The grey mass of the nets seemed to crawl from the sand into the boats, where it lay heaped at the bottom.
Sereja, as usual bare-headed and scantily3 clothed, was in the bows, shouting directions about the work in a hoarse4 voice, that betrayed last night's over-indulgence in vodka. The wind played with his ragged7 clothing, and his unkempt hair.
"Vassili, where are the green oars5?" cried some one.
Vassili, as gloomy as a late autumn day, was arranging the net in the boat, and Sereja was watching him from behind. He was licking his lips, which meant that he was thirsty, and wanted a drink.
"Have you got any vodka?" he asked.
"Yes," muttered Vassili.
"All right! then I shall stay on dry land."
"All aboard?" they called out from the cape.
"Shove her off!" ordered Sereja, as he got out of the boat "Off you go!... I stay behind. Look out there!... Full ahead into the open, so as not to tangle8 the net ... and tell it out carefully. Don't make any knots.... Go ahead!"
They pushed off the boat; the fishermen climbed in, and each taking an oar6, raised them in the air, ready for the word of command.
"One!"
The oars struck the water together; the boat swept forward into the vast plane of glistening9 water.
"Two!" sang out the steersman.
And like the legs of an enormous tortoise the oars moved in the rowlocks.
"One!...' Two!..."
On the shore, at the dry end of the nets, there remained five men—Sereja, Vassili, and three others. One of the three stretched himself on the sand, and said—
"We might perhaps get a nap."
The two others followed his example, and three ragged bodies threw themselves down in a heap.
"Why did you not come Sunday?" Vassili asked Sereja, as he led him towards the hut.
"I couldn't come."
"You were drunk?"
"No, I was watching your son and his mother-in-law," said Sereja, unmoved.
"That's new sort of work for you," said Vassili, with a constrained10 smile. "After all, they are not children!"
"They are worse; one is a fool, and the other is mad."
"Is it Malva who is the mad one?" asked Vassili.
And his eyes shone with sad anger.
"That's it!"
"Since when?"
"She has always been mad. She has, brother Vassili, a soul which does not fit her body. Can you understand that?"
"It's not difficult to understand!... Her soul is vile11."
Sereja glanced obliquely12 at him, and replied with an accent of contempt—
"Vile? Oh! you earth-grubbers!... you!... you understand nothing of life. All you want in a woman is great fat bosoms13; her temperament14 does not matter to you in the least But it's in the temperament that one finds all the colour of a human being. A woman without temperament is like bread without salt Can you get any pleasure out of a balalaika without strings15? You dog!"
"It's yesterday's wine that makes you talk so well!" Interjected Vassili.
He longed to know where and how Sereja had seen Malva and Jakoff the day before, but a feeling of shame prevented him from asking. In the hut he poured out a full glass of vodka for Sereja, in the hope that the fellow might get drunk and would himself tell him all, without waiting to be questioned. But Sereja drank, coughed, and, as if refreshed, sat down at the open door, stretching himself and yawning.
"Drinking is like swallowing fire," he said.
"At all events, you know how to drink!" replied Vassili, astonished with the rapidity with which Sereja had swallowed the vodka.
"Ah! yes," said the other, shaking his tawny16 head; he wiped his moustache with the back of his hand, and began talking in a confident, didactic tone—"I know how to drink, brother! I do everything short and quick, that's all about it!... Make no mistake, I go straight ahead!... It doesn't matter what happens!... If you start from the ground, you can only fall on the ground...."
"I thought you were going into the Caucasus?" questioned Vassili, who was trying carefully to work round towards his object.
"Yes, I shall go when I want to. When I have quite made up my mind.... Then I go straight ahead: one, two! and it's done.... Either I succeed, or else I come a cropper.... It's all as plain as a pikestaff."
"Yes, very plain; you might as well have no brain." Sereja continued in a mocking tone—
"And you, who are so intelligent!... How many times have you been beaten with birch-rods in the village?"
Vassili glanced at him and remained silent "Very often I should think.... And it's a capital idea of your village authorities to drive wisdom upwards18, from down below.... And you, what can you do with your brain? Where would you go? What would you invent? Say! Whereas I, without bothering myself about anything, I go straight ahead, and there's an end of it. And I believe I shall go further than you."
"It's possible," Vassili agreed. "Perhaps you will even go as far as Siberia...."
"Ah! no fear!"
And Sereja burst into a frank laugh.
In spite of Vassili's hope, Sereja did not lose his head; and that vexed19 the elder man, who would not offer him a second glass; but Sereja himself solved the difficulty.
"Why don't you ask me news of Malva?"
"What can it matter to me?" said Vassili indifferently, although he felt a secret presentiment20. "As she did not come here on Sunday, you ought to inquire what she was up to. I know you are jealous, you old devil!"
"There are plenty like her," said Vassili carelessly.
"Many indeed!" said Sereja, imitating him. "Ah! you brutal21 peasants! Whether you get honey or tar17 it's all the same to you!"
"What do you want to praise her up for? Have you come to offer her to me in marriage? But I married her long ago on my own account!" said Vassili.
Sereja looked at him, was silent a moment, and then placing his hand on Vassili's shoulder began speaking to him seriously.
"I know that ... I know very well what she is with you. I did not get in your way.... I neither tried to get her nor wanted her. But now this Jakoff, your son, is hanging round her all day; beat him till you make the blood come; do you hear me? If not, it's I who will do the beating.... You are a strong fellow, although you are a regular fool.... But just remember this, I never got in your way."
"That's what's the matter then! It's you now who are in love with her?" Vassili questioned, in a thick voice.
"Get along with you; if I were sure of myself I would have kicked you all out of the way long ago! But what could I want with her?"
"Then why are you meddling22?"
Sereja opened his eyes wide and laughed.
"Why am I meddling?... The devil only knows.... She's a woman, and a spicy23 one. She pleases me. Or, perhaps, I pity her...."
Vassili felt uncomfortable. He realized by the frank laughter of Sereja that the lad was sincere, and that he was not himself running after Malva. But he said—
"If she were a virtuous24 girl one might pity her. But as it is ... it seems rather queer, doesn't it?" The other man did not answer; he watched the boat making a circle, and turning its bows towards land. Sereja's ruddy face wore an open, good, and simple expression.
As he watched him, Vassili's feelings grew softer.
"You are right, she is a good woman ... she is only light-hearted; I shall have something to say to Jakoff, the young dog!"
"I can't stand him.... He smells of the village, and that's a smell I can't put up with!" Sereja declared.
"Is he running after her?" Vassili asked between his teeth, whilst he stroked his beard.
"I should rather think so! You'll see, he'll put himself between you two like a wall."
"I would not advise him to try!"
Far out over the sea the rosy25 rays of the morning sun opened out fan-shaped, as the sun rose from the gilded26 water. Over the noise of the waves a faint cry came from the boat "Heave!... Ahoy!..
"Up with you, lads! Give way with the rope!" cried Sereja, jumping to his feet And soon all the five were hauling at their end of the net There stretched from the water to the shore a long rope, supple27 and vibrating, at which the fishermen, holding on to the extreme end, pulled and shouted.
The other end of the net was being drawn28 ashore29 by the boat which glided30 through the waves, whilst the mast as it swung from side to side seemed to cut the air to right and left The sun, brilliant and dazzling, shed its beams across the sea.
"When you see Jakoff, tell him to come and see me to-morrow," said Vassili to Sereja.
"All right!"
The boat ran up on the beach, and the fishermen, jumping on to the sand, pulled up their end of the net The two groups were gradually merged31 one in the other, whilst the cork32 floats, bobbing about on the waves, showed a regular outline in the water.
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收听单词发音
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1
slumbered
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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2
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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3
scantily
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| adv.缺乏地；不充足地；吝啬地；狭窄地 | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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5
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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7
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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8
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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9
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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10
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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11
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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12
obliquely
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| adv.斜； 倾斜； 间接； 不光明正大 | |
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13
bosoms
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| 胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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14
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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15
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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16
tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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17
tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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18
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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19
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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20
presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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21
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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22
meddling
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| v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 ) | |
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23
spicy
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| adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的 | |
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24
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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26
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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27
supple
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| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
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28
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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29
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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30
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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31
merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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32
cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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