NEKHLUDOFF'S SISTER AND HER HUSBAND.

The gang of prisoners, with Maslova among them, was to start on the 5th July. Nekhludoff arranged to start on the same day.

The day before, Nekhludoff's sister and her husband came to town to see him.

Nekhludoff's sister, Nathalie Ivanovna Rogozhinsky, was 10 years older than her brother. She had been very fond of him when he was a boy, and later on, just before her marriage, they grew very close to each other, as if they were equals, she being a young woman of 25, he a lad of 15. At that time she was in love with his friend, Nikolenka Irtenieff, since dead. They both loved Nikolenka, and loved in him and in themselves that which is good, and which unites all men. Since then they had both been depraved, he by military service and a vicious life, she by marriage with a man whom she loved with a sensual love, who did not care for the things that had once been so dear and holy to her and to her brother, nor even understand the meaning of those aspirations¹ towards moral perfection and the service of mankind, which once constituted her life, and put them down to ambition and the wish to show off; that being the only explanation comprehensible to him.

Nathalie's husband had been a man without a name and without means, but cleverly steering² towards Liberalism or Conservatism, according to which best suited his purpose, he managed to make a comparatively brilliant judicial³ career. Some peculiarity⁴ which made him attractive to women assisted him when he was no longer in his first youth. While travelling abroad he made Nekhludoff's acquaintance, and managed to make Nathalie, who was also no longer a girl, fall in love with him, rather against her mother's wishes who considered a marriage with him to be a misalliance for her daughter. Nekhludoff, though he tried to hide it from himself, though he fought against it, hated his brother-in-law.

Nekhludoff had a strong antipathy⁵ towards him because of the vulgarity of his feelings, his assurance and narrowness, but chiefly because of Nathalie, who managed to love him in spite of the narrowness of his nature, and loved him so selfishly, so sensually, and stifled

点击收听单词发音  

1 aspirations
强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音
参考例句：
I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。 The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

2 steering
n.操舵装置
参考例句：
He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。 Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

3 judicial
adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的
参考例句：
He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。 Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

4 peculiarity
n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖
参考例句：
Each country has its own peculiarity.每个国家都有自己的独特之处。 The peculiarity of this shop is its day and nigth service.这家商店的特点是昼夜服务。

5 antipathy
n.憎恶；反感，引起反感的人或事物
参考例句：
I feel an antipathy against their behaviour.我对他们的行为很反感。 Some people have an antipathy to cats.有的人讨厌猫。

6 stifled
（使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵
参考例句：
The gas stifled them. 煤气使他们窒息。 The rebellion was stifled. 叛乱被镇压了。

7 stuffy
adj.不透气的，闷热的
参考例句：
It's really hot and stuffy in here.这里实在太热太闷了。 It was so stuffy in the tent that we could sense the air was heavy with moisture.帐篷里很闷热，我们感到空气都是潮的。

8 simplicity
n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯
参考例句：
She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。 The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

9 portfolios
n.投资组合( portfolio的名词复数 )；（保险）业务量；（公司或机构提供的）系列产品；纸夹
参考例句：
Price risk arises in non-trading portfolios, as well as in trading portfolios. 价格风险中出现的非贸易投资，以及在贸易投资组合。 来自互联网 How do we fatten our portfolios and stay financially healthy? 我们怎样育肥我们的投资结构和维持财政健康呢？ 来自互联网

10 utensils
器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物
参考例句：
Formerly most of our household utensils were made of brass. 以前我们家庭用的器皿多数是用黄铜做的。 Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

11 crooked
adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的
参考例句：
He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。 You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

12 resoluteness
参考例句：
His resoluteness carried him through the battle. 他的果敢使他通过了战斗考验。

13 horrified
a.(表现出)恐惧的
参考例句：
The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。 We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

14 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。

15 brag
v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的
参考例句：
He made brag of his skill.他夸耀自己技术高明。 His wealth is his brag.他夸张他的财富。

16 verges
边，边缘，界线( verge的名词复数 )
参考例句：
The small stream verges to the north. 这条小河向北延伸。 The results ob-tained agree well with those given by Verges using random Bethe lattice model. 所得结果与Verges用非晶的Bethe晶格模型的计算结果相符。

17 insanity
n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐
参考例句：
In his defense he alleged temporary insanity.他伪称一时精神错乱，为自己辩解。 He remained in his cell,and this visit only increased the belief in his insanity.他依旧还是住在他的地牢里，这次视察只是更加使人相信他是个疯子了。

18 guardianship
n. 监护, 保护, 守护
参考例句：
They had to employ the English language in face of the jealous guardianship of Britain. 他们不得不在英国疑忌重重的监护下使用英文。 You want Marion to set aside her legal guardianship and give you Honoria. 你要马丽恩放弃她的法定监护人资格，把霍诺丽娅交给你。