AN OLD FRIEND.

"Terrible," said Nekhludoff, as he went out into the waiting-room with the advocate, who was arranging the papers in his portfolio¹. "In a matter which is perfectly² clear they attach all the importance to the form and reject the appeal. Terrible!"

"The case was spoiled in the Criminal Court," said the advocate.

"And Selenin, too, was in favour of the rejection³. Terrible! terrible!" Nekhludoff repeated. "What is to be done now?"

"We will appeal to His Majesty⁴, and you can hand in the petition yourself while you are here. I will write it for you."

At this moment little Wolf, with his stars and uniform, came out into the waiting-room and approached Nekhludoff. "It could not be helped, dear Prince. The reasons for an appeal were not sufficient," he said, shrugging his narrow shoulders and closing his eyes, and then he went his way.

After Wolf, Selenin came out too, having heard from the Senators that his old friend Nekhludoff was there.

"Well, I never expected to see you here," he said, coming up to Nekhludoff, and smiling only with his lips while his eyes remained sad. "I did not know you were in Petersburg."

"And I did not know you were Public Prosecutor-in-Chief."

"How is it you are in the Senate?" asked Selenin. "I had heard, by the way, that you were in Petersburg. But what are you doing here?"

"Here? I am here because I hoped to find justice and save a woman innocently condemned⁵."

"What woman?"

"The one whose case has just been decided⁶."

"Oh! Maslova's case," said Selenin, suddenly remembering it. "The appeal had no grounds whatever."

"It is not the appeal; it's the woman who is innocent, and is being punished."

Selenin sighed. "That may well be, but----"

"Not _may be_, but is."

"How do you know?"

"Because I was on the jury. I know how we made the mistake."

点击收听单词发音  

1 portfolio
n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位
参考例句：
He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。 He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

2 perfectly
adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地
参考例句：
The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。 Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

3 rejection
n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃
参考例句：
He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。 The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

4 majesty
n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权
参考例句：
The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。 Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

5 condemned
adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词
参考例句：
He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。 The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

6 decided
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
参考例句：
This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。 There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 repeal
n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消
参考例句：
He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。 He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

8 infringing
v.违反（规章等）( infringe的现在分词 )；侵犯（某人的权利）；侵害（某人的自由、权益等）
参考例句：
The material can be copied without infringing copyright. 这份材料可以复制，不会侵犯版权。 The media is accused of infringing on people's privacy. 人们指责媒体侵犯了大家的隐私。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 apparently
adv.显然地；表面上，似乎
参考例句：
An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。 He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

11 vexed
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
参考例句：
The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。 He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 manifestation
n.表现形式；表明；现象
参考例句：
Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。 What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。

13 folly
n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话
参考例句：
Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。 Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

14 usher
n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员
参考例句：
The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。 They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。