第 14 节
作者:不是就是      更新:2021-02-27 02:46      字数:9322
  orders; in my paying a round of calls which he had written out
  for me on a piece of paperhis first solicitude on our account
  being not so much for our morals or our education as for our due
  observance of the convenances。 On the piece of paper was written
  in his swift; broken hand…writing: 〃(1) Prince Ivan Ivanovitch
  WITHOUT FAIL; (2) the Iwins WITHOUT FAIL; (3) Prince Michael; (4)
  the Princess Nechludoff and Madame Valakhina if you wish。〃 Of
  course I was also to call upon my guardian; upon the rector; and
  upon the professors。
  These last…mentioned calls; however; Dimitri advised me not to
  pay: saying that it was not only unnecessary to do so; but not
  the thing。 However; there were the other visits to be got
  through。 It was the first two on the listthose marked as to be
  paid 〃WITHOUT FAIL〃that most alarmed me。 Prince Ivan Ivanovitch
  was a commander…in…chief; as well as old; wealthy; and a
  bachelor。 Consequently; I foresaw that vis…a…vis conversation
  between him and myselfmyself a sixteen…year…old student!was
  not likely to be interesting。 As for the Iwins; they too were
  richthe father being a departmental official of high rank who
  had only on one occasion called at our house during my
  grandmother's time。 Since her death; I had remarked that the
  younger Iwin had fought shy of us; and seemed to give himself
  airs。 The elder of the pair; I had heard; had now finished his
  course in jurisprudence; and gone to hold a post in St。
  Petersburg; while his brother Sergius (the former object of my
  worship) was also in St。 Petersburg; as a great fat cadet in the
  Corps of Pages。
  When I was a young man; not only did I dislike intercourse with
  people who thought themselves above me; but such intercourse was;
  for me; an unbearable torture; owing partly to my constant dread
  of being snubbed; and partly to my straining every faculty of my
  intellect to prove to such people my independence。 Yet; even if I
  failed to fulfil the latter part of my father's instructions; I
  felt that I must carry out the former。 I paced my room and eyed
  my clothes ready disposed on chairsthe tunic; the sword; and
  the cap。 Just as I was about to set forth; old Grap called to
  congratulate me; bringing with him Ilinka。 Grap pere was a
  Russianised German and an intolerably effusive; sycophantic old
  man who was more often than not tipsy。 As a rule; he visited us
  only when he wanted to ask for something; and although Papa
  sometimes entertained him in his study; old Grap never came to
  dinner with us。 With his subserviency and begging propensities
  went such a faculty of good…humour and a power of making himself
  at home that every one looked upon his attachment to us as a
  great honour。 For my part; however; I never liked him; and felt
  ashamed when he was speaking。
  I was much put out by the arrival of these visitors; and made no
  effort to conceal the fact。 Upon Ilinka I had been so used to
  look down; and he so used to recognise my right to do so; that it
  displeased me to think that he was now as much a matriculated
  student as myself。 In some way he appeared to me to have made a
  POINT of attaining that equality。 I greeted the pair coldly; and;
  without offering them any refreshment (since it went against the
  grain to do so; and I thought they could ask for anything; if
  they wanted it; without my first inviting them to state their
  requirements); gave orders for the drozhki to be got ready。
  Ilinka was a good…natured; extremely moral; and far from stupid
  young fellow; yet; for all that; what people call a person of
  moods。 That is to say; for no apparent reason he was for ever in
  some PRONOUNCED frame of mindnow lachrymose; now frivolous; now
  touchy on the very smallest point。 At the present moment he
  appeared to be in the last…named mood。 He kept looking from his
  father to myself without speaking; except when directly
  addressed; at which times he smiled the self…deprecatory; forced
  smile under which he was accustomed to conceal his feelings; and
  more especially that feeling of shame for his father which he
  must have experienced in our house。
  〃So; Nicolas Petrovitch;〃 the old man said to me; following me
  everywhere about the room as I went through the operation of
  dressing; while all the while his fat fingers kept turning over
  and over a silver snuff…box with which my grandmother had once
  presented me; 〃as soon as ever I heard from my son that you had
  passed your examinations so well (though of course your abilities
  are well…known to everyone); I at once came to congratulate you;
  my dear boy。 Why; I have carried you on my shoulders before now;
  and God knows that I love you as though you were my own son。 My
  Ilinka too has always been fond of you; and feels quite at home
  with you。〃
  Meanwhile the said Ilinka remained sitting silently by the
  window; apparently absorbed in contemplation of my three…cornered
  cap; and every now and then angrily muttering something in an
  undertone。
  〃Now; I also wanted to ask you; Nicolas Petrovitch。〃 His father
  went on; 〃whether my son did well in the examinations? He tells
  me that he is going to be in the same faculty as yourself; and
  that therefore you will be able to keep an eye on him; and advise
  him; and so on。〃
  〃Oh; yes; I suppose he passed well;〃 I replied; with a glance at
  Ilinka; who; conscious of my gaze; reddened violently and ceased
  to move his lips about。
  〃And might he spend the day with you?〃 was the father's next
  request; which he made with a deprecatory smile; as though he
  stood in actual awe of me; yet always keeping so close to me;
  wherever I moved; that the fumes of the drink and tobacco in
  which he had been indulging were constantly perceptible to my
  nostrils。 I felt greatly vexed at his placing me in such a false
  position towards his son; as well as at his distracting my
  attention from what was; to me; a highly important operation
  namely; the operation of dressing; while; over and above all; I
  was annoyed by the smell of liquor with which he followed me
  about。 Accordingly; I said very coldly that I could not have the
  pleasure of Ilinka's company that day; since I should be out。
  〃Ah! I suppose you are going to see your sister?〃 put in Ilinka
  with a smile; but without looking at me。 〃Well; I too have
  business to attend to。〃 At this I felt even more put out; as well
  as pricked with compunction; so; to soften my refusal a little; I
  hastened to say that the reason why I should not be at home that
  day was that I had to call upon the PRINCE Ivan Ivanovitch; the
  PRINCESS Kornakoff; and the Monsieur Iwin who held such an
  influential post; as well as; probably; to dine with the PRINCESS
  Nechludoff (for I thought that; on learning what important folk I
  was in the habit of mixing with; the Graps would no longer think
  it worth while to pretend to me)。 However; just as they were
  leaving; I invited Ilinka to come and see me another day; but he
  only murmured something unintelligible; and it was plain that he
  meant never to set foot in the house again。
  When they had departed; I set off on my round of calls。 Woloda;
  whom I had asked that morning to come with me; in order that I
  might not feel quite so shy as when altogether alone; had
  declined on the ground that for two brothers to be seen driving
  in one drozhki would appear so horribly 〃proper。〃
  XVIII
  THE VALAKHIN FAMILY
  Accordingly I set off alone。 My first call on the route lay at
  the Valakhin mansion。 It was now three years since I had seen
  Sonetchka; and my love for her had long become a thing of the
  past; yet there still lingered in my heart a sort of clear;
  touching recollection of our bygone childish affection。 At
  intervals; also; during those three years; I had found myself
  recalling her memory with such force and vividness that I had
  actually shed tears; and imagined myself to be in love with her
  again; but those occasions had not lasted more than a few minutes
  at a time; and had been long in recurring。
  I knew that Sonetchka and her mother had been abroadthat; in
  fact; they had been so for the last two years。 Also; I had heard
  that they had been in a carriage accident; and that Sonetchka's
  face had been so badly cut with the broken glass that her beauty
  was marred。 As I drove to their house; I kept recalling the old
  Sonetchka to my mind; and wondering what she would look like when
  I met her。 Somehow I imagined that; after her two years' sojourn
  abroad; she would look very tall; with a beautiful waist; and;
  though sedate and imposing; extremely attractive。 Somehow; also;
  my imagination refused to picture her with her face disfigured
  with scars; but; on the contrary; since I had read somewhere of a
  lover who remained true to his adored one in spite of her
  disfigurement with smallpox; strove to imagine that I was in love
  with Sonetchka; for the purpose of priding myself on holding to
  my troth in spite of her scarsYet; as a matter o