“For my part, I did not remember at all that he had promised any score. It had seemed to me on Sunday evening that he took a definite leave, and for this reason the news gave me a disagreeable surprise. I read the letter again. There was something tender and timid about it. It produced an extremely painful impression upon me. My heart swelled4, and the mad beast of jealousy5 began to roar in his lair6, and seemed to want to leap upon his prey7. But I was afraid of this beast, and I imposed silence upon it.
“What an abominable8 sentiment is jealousy! ‘What could be more natural than what she has written?’ said I to myself. I went to bed, thinking myself tranquil again. I thought of the business that remained to be done, and I went to sleep without thinking of her.
“During these assemblies of the Zemstvo I always slept badly in my strange quarters. That night I went to sleep directly, but, as sometimes happens, a sort of sudden shock awoke me. I thought immediately of her, of my physical love for her, of Troukhatchevsky, and that between them everything had happened. And a feeling of rage compressed my heart, and I tried to quiet myself.
“‘How stupid!’ said I to myself; ‘there is no reason, none at all. And why humiliate9 ourselves, herself and myself, and especially myself, by supposing such horrors? This mercenary violinist, known as a bad man,— shall I think of him in connection with a respectable woman, the mother of a family, MY wife? How silly!’ But on the other hand, I said to myself: ‘Why should it not happen?’
“Why? Was it not the same simple and intelligible10 feeling in the name of which I married, in the name of which I was living with her, the only thing I wanted of her, and that which, consequently, others desired, this musician among the rest? He was not married, was in good health (I remember how his teeth ground the gristle of the cutlets, and how eagerly he emptied the glass of wine with his red lips), was careful of his person, well fed, and not only without principles, but evidently with the principle that one should take advantage of the pleasure that offers itself. There was a bond between them, music,— the most refined form of sensual voluptuousness11. What was there to restrain them? Nothing. Everything, on the contrary, attracted them. And she, she had been and had remained a mystery. I did not know her. I knew her only as an animal, and an animal nothing can or should restrain. And now I remember their faces on Sunday evening, when, after the ‘Kreutzer Sonata,’ they played a passionate12 piece, written I know not by whom, but a piece passionate to the point of obscenity.
“‘How could I have gone away?’ said I to myself, as I recalled their faces. ‘Was it not clear that between them everything was done that evening? Was it not clear that between them not only there were no more obstacles, but that both — especially she — felt a certain shame after what had happened at the piano? How weakly, pitiably, happily she smiled, as she wiped the perspiration13 from her reddened face! They already avoided each other’s eyes, and only at the supper, when she poured some water for him, did they look at each other and smile imperceptibly.’
“Now I remember with fright that look and that scarcely perceptible smile. ‘Yes, everything has happened,’ a voice said to me, and directly another said the opposite. ‘Are you mad? It is impossible!’ said the second voice.
“It was too painful to me to remain thus stretched in the darkness. I struck a match, and the little yellow-papered room frightened me. I lighted a cigarette, and, as always happens, when one turns in a circle of inextricable contradiction, I began to smoke. I smoked cigarette after cigarette to dull my senses, that I might not see my contradictions. All night I did not sleep, and at five o’clock, when it was not yet light, I decided14 that I could stand this strain no longer, and that I would leave directly. There was a train at eight o’clock. I awakened15 the keeper who was acting16 as my servant, and sent him to look for horses. To the assembly of Zemstvo I sent a message that I was called back to Moscow by pressing business, and that I begged them to substitute for me a member of the Committee. At eight o’clock I got into a tarantass and started off.
点击收听单词发音
1 tranquil | |
adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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2 lodgings | |
n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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3 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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4 swelled | |
增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 ); 肿胀; (使)凸出; 充满(激情) | |
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5 jealousy | |
n.妒忌,嫉妒,猜忌 | |
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6 lair | |
n.野兽的巢穴;躲藏处 | |
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7 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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8 abominable | |
adj.可厌的,令人憎恶的 | |
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9 humiliate | |
v.使羞辱,使丢脸[同]disgrace | |
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10 intelligible | |
adj.可理解的,明白易懂的,清楚的 | |
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11 voluptuousness | |
n.风骚,体态丰满 | |
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12 passionate | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
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13 perspiration | |
n.汗水;出汗 | |
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14 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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15 awakened | |
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到 | |
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16 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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