Chapter 47 The Old Bachelor Bloom Feder

One evening old bachelor Blumfeld went upstairs to his house, which was a difficult task, since he lived on the seventh floor.As he often did, he thought as he climbed the stairs that these days of solitude were hard, that he had to walk six floors in secret to reach his empty room upstairs, and then Secretly put on pajamas, smoke a pipe, glance at the French magazines he has subscribed to for several years, drink a glass of kirsch made by himself, and finally go to bed after half an hour, and have to make the quilt thoroughly before going to bed After all, no matter how much you teach the maid, it's useless, she always stacks the baskets as she pleases.Whoever can accompany him in doing these things, whoever can watch him do them, Blumfeld welcomes.He has considered whether to buy a puppy.Such an animal is very interesting, especially gracious and loyal; one of Blumfeld's colleagues had such a dog, which would follow no one but the master, and if it didn't see the master for a while, it would immediately grow up. It screamed and pounced on it, which obviously meant that it had hit its master again, and found this extremely charitable person again.But dogs also have their downsides.Even after getting it so clean, it's going to get the house dirty.This is absolutely unavoidable. It is impossible to give it a hot bath every time it enters the house. Besides, the dog's health cannot bear such a toss.But Blumfeld couldn't stand a dirty house, keeping the house clean was indispensable to him, and he had to quarrel several times a week with the maid, who was unfortunately not so serious about this.Because of her hard of hearing, he usually took her by the arm to the not-so-clean places in the house that he found.With such strict requirements, he managed to keep the order of the house roughly in line with his wishes.A dog would naturally bring into the house the filth so carefully resisted hitherto.The dog's companion lice will be born.If there were lice, it wouldn't be long before Blumfeld gave up his cozy room to the dog and found another for himself.Uncleanliness is only one of the disadvantages of owning a dog.Dogs can get sick too, but no one really understands how dogs get sick.That's when the brute has to crouch in a corner or limping around and whine and cough and retch in dirty places and you have to wrap him in a blanket and whistle at him and push milk to him , in short, it is possible to take care of it and hope it gets better, however it can also be a serious, nasty contagion.Even if the dog is healthy and not sick, it will always be old in the future. If you decide to give away this faithful animal in time, then one day in the future, you will see your actual age from the tearful dog's eyes.Then one would have to suffer with this half-blind, lung-defective, immobile animal, and pay dearly for the past pleasures of the dog.No matter how much Blumfeld wants a dog now, he would rather climb the stairs alone for thirty years than suffer later from such an old dog, who pants and sighs louder than himself, He shuffled up the stairs next to him.

In this way, Blumfeld is still living alone, he does not have the mind of a spinster, and wants to keep a living creature of his own by his side.She can be protective of it, tender and considerate to it, always willing to serve it, and so can have a cat, a canary, or even a few goldfish for this purpose.And if that fails, even a few pots of flowers by the window will please her.And Blumfeld just wants an animal that can keep him company, he doesn't have to take care of it too much, it doesn't matter to give it a kick sometimes, it can also spend the night in the alley if necessary, but it should be in Blumfeld. When De needs it, he will bark, jump and lick his palm immediately.Blumfeld wanted something like this, but since he saw that it was impossible without major disadvantages, he had to give it up, but, in connection with his meticulous nature, from time to time , For example, like this evening, he came back to the same idea.

As he was taking the keys from his pocket before the upstairs door, a noise in the house caught his attention.It was a strange, boisterous, regular rattling sound.Because Blumfeld was thinking about the dog, the sound reminded him of the sound of a dog's paws slapping the ground alternately.But the paw didn't snap, it wasn't a paw.He hurriedly opened the door and turned on the light.He hadn't expected this to happen.It was magic, two small white celluloid balloons with blue stripes bouncing up and down the floor side by side; game.In middle school, Blumfeld once saw a similar ball jumping in a famous electrical experiment, but it was two rather large balls jumping in an empty room, not doing an electrical experiment.Blumfeld bent over them to have a closer look.Undoubtedly it was a normal ball, perhaps with several smaller ones in it, and it was these that made the rattling noise.Blumfeld clawed at the air to see if they were tied to some kind of string, no, they were moving entirely by themselves.It is a pity that Blumfeld is not a child, otherwise two such balls must have been a surprise to him, and now all this only makes him more unhappy.It is not for nothing that an unremarkable bachelor lives only in secret, and now someone, whoever he is, has given away the secret by sending him in these two strange balloons.

He tried to catch one, but they eluded him, luring him behind them in the house.This is so silly, he thought, running around behind the balloons, and he stopped to look at them, and since there seemed to be no one chasing them, the two balls stayed where they were.I still have to catch them, he thought again, and he went after them.The two balls fled immediately, but Blumfeld drove them with his legs apart to a corner of the room, where he finally caught one of the boxes in front of the box.It was a cool little ball, twirling in his hand, obviously trying to slip away desperately.The other ball, as if seeing the plight of its partner, jumped higher and harder than before, until it touched Blumfeld's palm.It hit the palm, hitting faster and faster, changing its attack point.Then, because it slaps the palm, which completely surrounds it, it loses its bearings, so it jumps higher, perhaps onto Blumfeld's face.Blumfeld could have seized the ball too, and locked the two balls somewhere, but he felt that it would be too demeaning to take such measures with these two small balls.Besides, having these two balls is also very interesting, and they will get tired after a while, and they will roll under the cabinet and stay quietly.Although Blumfeld thought so, he still threw the ball on the ground angrily. The strange thing is that the two soft, almost transparent balloons did not shatter at this time.The two balls followed up with the low and coordinated jump just now.

Blumfeld undressed calmly and put the clothes in the closet. He always checked carefully whether the maid had packed everything.He glanced over his shoulder at the balloons once or twice, apparently, he ignored them, but the balls were even following him now, they were chasing him, jumping closely behind him.Blumfeld put on his pajamas and went to the opposite wall to fetch a pipe hanging from a bracket.Before turning around, he involuntarily kicked back with one foot, but the ball knew to avoid it and was not kicked.When he was almost at the pipe, the two balls surrounded him at once. He was in slippers, and his steps were large and small, but with each step he took, the balls struck almost without stopping, and their movements were in sync with him. .Blumfeld suddenly turned around, trying to see what to do with the two balls.But as soon as he turned around, the two balls made a semicircle and came behind him again. As long as he turned around, the balls would repeat this action.Like their companions, they avoid stopping in front of Blumfeld.It seemed that before this they had only dared to introduce themselves to him, but now they were already at his service.

Before that, Blumfeld always used the method of pretending to be invisible when encountering special situations where his own strength was not enough to control the situation.This expedient often works, and in most cases at least improves the situation.So now he does the same thing, standing in front of the pipe rack, pursing his lips, choosing a pipe, taking out the tobacco leaves from the pouches that are lying there, and filling them carefully, he lets the two balls behind him dance. .It was just that he was going to the table, which made him hesitate, and it almost pained him to hear the bounce of the ball meet his own footsteps.So he just stood there, unnecessarily prolonging the refill, estimating the distance to the table.At last he overcame his weakness and covered the distance at such a pace that he could not hear the ball jump.But when he sat down, he heard two balls jumping behind his chair as before.

Above the table, within reach of the wall, was a board on which stood the bottle of kirsch, surrounded by small glasses.Next to the bottle was a stack of French magazines. (A new issue of the magazine just arrived today, and Blumfeld took it down. He completely forgot about the wine, and he even felt as if today was just a way of masturbating, not letting other things get in the way of his habits Yes, he didn't really want to read either. Contrary to his usual habit of flipping through pages carefully, he opened a page at random and saw a large photo on it. He forced himself to look carefully. The photo was of the Russian Tsar The scene of the meeting with the President of France. The meeting was held on a ship. Around the ship, far away, there were many other ships, and the smoke from the funnel of the ship dissipated into the bright sky. The Tsar and The two presidents strode towards each other and shook hands in greeting. The tsar and the president stood behind each of two gentlemen. The tsar and the president were smiling, while their entourage was stern. The entourage on both sides looked at them separately Apparently all this took place at the highest point of the cabin deck, and a few rows of saluting sailors stood in the lower part of the ship, and the long line was cut off at the edge of the photo. Lumfeld looked at the picture with growing interest, then moved it a little farther away, and squinted at it. He had always been able to understand such grand occasions before. He felt that the leader was so free and enthusiastic. The cordial and casual handshakes corresponded to the situation. And the entourage—who, by the way, were of course gentlemen of high responsibilities, whose names are printed below the photograph—

Equally right is the demeanor to protect the solemnity of this historic moment. ) Blumfeld did not remove what he wanted, but sat quietly looking at his still unlit pipe.He waited secretly like this, and suddenly, he stopped being dazed and turned around on the chair suddenly.But the two balls are also prepared accordingly, or they carelessly follow the rules they have mastered, and when Blumfeld turns around, they also change their positions and hide behind him.And so Blumfeld sat with his back to the table, a cold pipe in his hand.Then the balloons jumped under the table, and as there was a rug there they could not hear anything.This is a great benefit; there are only very faint muffled sounds, and it takes a lot of attention to hear them with your ears.Blumfeld listened intently and carefully.But that's all for now, after a while he might lose his hearing.Blumfeld felt that the lack of sound the balloons made on the carpet was their major weakness.Just push a rug or preferably two rugs under them and they can do little.But it's just that they can't do anything for a certain period of time, and their existence already means that they still have some kind of power.

Now Blumfeld desperately needs a dog, such a little wild animal can take care of the balloons in a moment, and he imagines how the dog paws at them, how he paws them, drives them away Run around the room and end up with their teeth on them.It probably won't be long before Blumfeld buys a dog. But the balloons can only be afraid of Blumfeld for the time being, he has no intention of breaking them now, maybe all he lacks is the determination to break them.He came home exhausted at night and it had given him such a surprise when he needed some quiet.Only then did he realize how tired he was.He must burst the balloon, and he will do it very soon, but not yet, maybe tomorrow.Besides, the Balloon's demeanor was modest enough if the whole situation were viewed objectively.For example, they can jump to the front from time to time, show themselves, and then return to the original place, or they can also jump higher, hit the table, and break themselves so as not to make noise on the carpet.But they didn't do that, they didn't want to annoy Blumfeld, they obviously limited themselves to what was absolutely necessary.

But these necessary jumps are enough to spoil Blumfeld's enjoyment at the table.He'd only been sitting there for a few minutes before he wanted to go to sleep.One of the reasons for going to bed was also that he couldn't smoke here because his matches were on the bedside table.That is, he needed a match for a cigarette, but if he got to the bedside table, he'd better stay there and lie down.In this case, there was another thought in his mind, and he thought that the balloons, blindly eager to follow him behind him, would jump into the bed, and crush them in the bed if he lay down, whether he wanted to or not. .He didn't think the rest of the broken balloon would jump either.There is always a limit to even extraordinary phenomena.As usual, whole balls would jump, even if they couldn't without a break, but a broken balloon would never jump, and therefore wouldn't jump here.

"Get up!" he yelled almost deliberately because of this thought, and he stomped to the bed with the balloon behind him.As if to confirm his hope, when he deliberately approached the bed, a balloon immediately jumped onto the bed.Instead, as no one expected, another ball jumped into the bed.It never occurred to Blumfeld that the ball could bounce under the bed.He was angry with the ball, even though he felt it was unfair, because perhaps the ball would do its job better by jumping under the bed than the one that jumped on the bed.Now it all depends on where the ball decides to choose, as Blumfeld doesn't think they will be separated for long.And after a while, the ball below really jumped onto the bed.Now I can grab them, Blumfeld thought with great joy, unfastening his pajamas from him so he could throw himself on the bed.But at the same time, the ball jumped under the bed again.Blumfeld was so disappointed that he sat there slumped in despondency.It seems that the ball just went up to see it, and it doesn't like it.At this time the other ball followed it, and of course stayed below, because it was better below. "Now I'll have to listen to noises all night," Blumfeld thought, biting his lip and nodding. He was sullen, and he didn't really know how two balloon nights would get in his way.He sleeps very well, and this little noise is easily overcome by him.To be absolutely sure, he pushed them down two rugs according to his experience.As if he had a puppy and he wanted to cushion it softer.The two balls also seemed tired and sleepy, and they jumped lower and slower than before.When Blumfeld knelt in front of the bed with the lamp shining down, sometimes it seemed to him that the balloons on the carpet would freeze forever, they fell so feebly, and rolled forward a little bit so slowly. Son.But then they dutifully lifted up.When Blumfeld looks under the bed in the morning, it might be easy to spot the two children's balloons in quiet harmony. But the two balloons didn't seem to last until the next morning, because when Blumfeld lay in bed, he couldn't hear them at all.He listened with difficulty, rose from the bed and listened—no sound. ——The effect of the carpet can’t be so great. The only explanation is that the two balls couldn’t jump up, maybe they hit the soft carpet, and they didn’t have enough rebound force, so they gave up jumping temporarily, or, more likely Unfortunately, they can never dance.Blumfeld could get up and see what was going on, but he was satisfied with being quiet at last, so he would rather lie still than touch the two quiet balloons with his eyes.He was even willing to give up smoking, and he turned away and fell asleep instantly. But, as usual, he didn't sleep soundly; this time he didn't dream, but it was restless.He was awakened countless times during the night, always thinking that someone was knocking on the door.He also knew perfectly well that there was no knock at the door; who would knock at the door in the middle of the night, and that of a lonely bachelor at that.Although he knew it all too well, he would start again and again, staring nervously at the door for a while, mouth open, eyes wide, a lock of hair shaking on his wet forehead.He tried to count the times he had been woken up, but was so dazzled by the large numbers that he fell asleep again.He thought he knew where the knock was coming from, it couldn't be on the door, it must be somewhere else, but he was so sleepy that he couldn't think of any basis for his guess.All he knew was that there were many small, unpleasant slaps coming together before the big one.He would have put up with all the nasty little slaps if he could have avoided the big ones, but for some reason it was too late, he couldn't act now, the opportunity was missed, he couldn't say a word, he could only He yawned silently with his mouth open, bumped his face against the pillow angrily, and passed the night like this. Waking him early in the morning by the maid's knock at the door, he greeted the soft knock with a sigh of relief, which he had always complained he couldn't hear when he was about to call "Come in" At the same time, I heard another brisk knocking sound, although it was weak, but it was completely like a war.This is the balloon under the bed.They were awake, were they different from him, had they gathered new strength in the night? "Come on," Blumfeld called to the maid, jumped out of bed, and carefully, as if he had a balloon on his back, sat down on the ground with his back to the balloon, and turned his head to see looking at them—he almost cursed.Like a child pushing away a nasty quilt at night, perhaps the two balls, with their little incessant shaking all night, pushed the rug so far under the bed that they could again make noise by themselves on the empty floor . "Go back to the rug," said Blumfeld grimly, calling the maid in when the balloon had quieted down again due to the rug.The fat, dull, bosom-walking woman put breakfast on the table and handed him the necessary things, while Blumfeld stood motionless by the bed in his pajamas, clutching the ball beneath.His eyes followed the maid to see if she noticed anything.Her hard of hearing made it unlikely that she would notice anything, Blumfeld attributed his hypersensitivity to a lack of sleep, he thought he saw the maid dawdling here and there, standing on the edge of some piece of furniture He stood still and raised his eyebrows to eavesdrop.He would be glad to get the maid through her work a little faster, but she was almost slower than usual.She sloppily took Blumfeld's clothes and boots to the corridor and did not return for a long time, when her monotonous slapping of clothes came from outside.The whole time Blumfeld had to stay in bed, and if he didn't put the balloon behind his back, his favorite coffee, as hot as possible, had to be cooled, and he could only stare blankly. Looking at the drawn curtains, behind the curtains, the sky gradually turned white and high.The maid finally finished her work and said good morning to leave.But before she left completely, she stood at the door for a while, moved her lips, and looked at Blumfeld from a distance.Blumfeld was about to confront her when she finally left.He wanted to open the door and shout at her, she was a stupid, old, dull woman.But when he considered what it was he hated about her, he just thought it ridiculous that she pretended to be aware of something when she had no doubt noticed it.How confused his thoughts are!Just because I didn't sleep well all night!He found a small explanation for his poor sleep, which was that he did not follow his old habits last night, did not smoke or drink.If I don't smoke or drink once, I don't sleep well, that's the conclusion of his thinking. From now on, he has to pay more attention to his body, starting with taking out cotton wool from the family medicine box hanging on the bedside table, and plugging his ears with two cotton balls.Then he stood up and tried to take a step.Although the balloons followed him, he could barely hear them, and with a little more cotton wool he couldn't hear them at all.Blumfeld took a few more steps, feeling nothing particularly uncomfortable.Now they, Blumfeld and the balloon, are separate and independent of each other, although they are next to each other, they do not interfere with each other.It's only when Blumfeld turns quickly and a balloon doesn't move fast enough in the opposite direction that his leg touches it.This is the only conflict between them, the rest of the time Blumfeld can drink his coffee in peace.He was hungry, as if he had walked a long night without sleep, washed his face in cold, refreshing water, and dressed.He didn't pull up the curtains before, but out of caution, he would rather stay in such a semi-darkness. For these two balls, he doesn't need strange eyes.But when he was about to go out now, he had to guard against two balls daring—he didn’t believe it—to follow him into the alley.He had a good idea, he opened the big wardrobe and stood with his back to it.The balloons seemed to have a premonition of what was going to happen. They refused to enter the cabinet anyway. They made full use of any small space between Blumfeld and the cabinet. When they couldn't do it, they jumped into the cabinet. For a while, but because it was too dark in the cupboard, they fled immediately, and they couldn't get them in from the corner of the cupboard. They preferred to renege on their obligations and almost stayed by Blumfeld's side.But their tricks were of no use at all, because now Blumfeld turned and went into the cupboard by himself, and the two balloons had to follow him.But one point had a decisive influence on the balloon, because under the cabinet there were many small things, boots, cardboard boxes, small boxes, which although - now Blumfeld felt a pity - were all put away. Neat and tidy, but very obstructive to the balloon.Blumfeld was about to close the cupboard door, taking a big leap he hadn't skipped in years, leaving the cupboard, closing the door and turning the key, the balloon locked inside. "It worked," thought Blumfeld, wiping the sweat off his face.How loud the balloons are in the cupboard!As if they were desperate.But Blumfeld is very proud.He left the room, feeling that even the empty hallway made him feel at home.He freed his ears from the cotton balls, ecstatically delighted by the many sounds of the revived room.It's just that no one can be seen, and it's still very early. In the hallway downstairs, through the low door, you arrive at the basement house of the maid. In front of the door stands her ten-year-old son.He looked exactly like his mother, and the ugliness of the old woman was reproduced on the child's face intact.He stood there with bowed legs and his hands in his trouser pockets, screaming because he had a thyroid tumor and was struggling to breathe.Usually, when Blumfeld met this boy on the road, he would take a few quick steps to avoid seeing him as much as possible. Today he almost wanted to stand by his side for a while.Even though this boy was born of that woman and retains all the features of the original, he is still a child at present, and in this unformed head is still a child's thoughts, if you greet him in words he understands, ask him something , he will most likely answer questions with a loud, virginal respectful voice, and after some thought struggle, you will touch this little face too.Blumfeld thought so, but still walked past the child.In the alley, he felt that the weather was better than he had imagined in the house.The morning mist is clearing, and the wind-blown sky is blue.Blumfeld credited the balloons for getting out of the house much earlier than usual, and he even forgot to read the newspaper on the table, which bought him a lot of time anyway, and he could now walk slowly.Strangely, since he parted from the balloons, they hadn't bothered him much.As long as they were with him, they could be seen as part of him, as something to be considered in evaluating him as a person, and now they were just a toy in the closet at home.It occurred to Blumfeld then that perhaps it would be best to dispose of the balloons as they were intended so as not to damage them.The boy is still standing in the aisle, and Blumfeld is going to give him the balloons, not borrow them, but actually give them to him, and that must mean ordering him to destroy them.Even if they can be well preserved, they are better kept in the cabinet in the hands of the boy. People in the whole building will see how the boy plays with balloons, and other children will also play with them. The average person will think that this is a toy. , not Blumfeld's life partner, the perception is unshakable and irresistible.Blumfeld walks back to the house.The boy was walking down the basement steps to open the door.Blumfeld had to stop the boy and call out his name, which was as ridiculous as everything about the boy. "Alfred, Alfred," he called.The boy hesitated for a long time. "Come here," shouted Blumfeld, "I'll give you something. The two little girls from the housekeeper came out of the opposite door and stood curiously to the left and right of Blumfeld. The children understood much faster, and they wondered why he didn't come right away. They waved at the boy without taking their eyes off Blumfeld, but they couldn't figure out what gift was waiting for Alfred. Curious Their hearts tormented them, their feet jumped up and down. Blumfeld smiled at the little girl, and also at the boy. It seemed that the boy finally understood all this, and he went up the steps stiffly and slowly. In the passage Here he pretended not to see his own mother who appeared at the basement door downstairs. Blumfeld shouted so loudly that the maid could hear her, so that she could supervise the work he had commissioned if necessary. Things." I have two nice balloons in the upstairs room.Do you want it? The boy just grinned, he didn't know what to do, he turned around and looked at his mother below with questioning eyes. The two little girls immediately danced around Blumfeld asking for balloons. "You can play too. said Blumfeld to them, but he was still waiting for the boy's answer. He could have given the ball to the little girls right away, but he thought they were too frivolous, and now he trusted the boy even more. The boy didn't speak to his mother, which He had already obtained his mother's opinion at the time, and when Blumfeld asked him again, he nodded in agreement. "Listen, then," said Blumfeld, who wished he hadn't seen him discussing the gift at this time. There is no expression of thanks, "Your mother has the key to my door, you have to borrow it from her, here I give you the key to my closet, the balloon is in the closet.Carefully lock the cabinet and the room again.You can play with the ball as you like without sending it back.understand? Unfortunately the boy didn't understand. Blumfeld wanted to explain everything very clearly to the elm head, but because of this, he repeated everything, now about the key, now about the room, and then again cabinet, so the boy stared at him, not at his well-wishers, but at a seducer. But the two girls understood at once, and urged Blumfeld, holding out his hand Go get the keys. "Wait," said Blumfeld, annoyed with the three children. Time was running out and he couldn't stay longer. If the maid could say something she would understand He meant that it would be nice if the boys would do everything right. But she still stood by the door below, smiling unnaturally like an embarrassed hard of hearing person, perhaps she thought that Bruce from above Blumfeld suddenly loved her child in every possible way, and listened to his nonsense that one plus one equals two. But Blumfeld couldn't go down to the basement steps and shout into the maid's ear, begging God to be kind Let her son get the balloons away from him quickly. He's good enough to let the family hold his keys all day. He's handing the keys to the boy here instead of taking him upstairs to get the balls himself To him, it's not that he spares himself. But he can't give the ball upstairs first, and then, as it is expected to happen, when the ball follows him, it is equivalent to immediately taking it away from the boy. Blumfeld started to repeat it again, but when he saw the child's glazed eyes, he immediately interrupted his explanation, "You still don't understand? He was almost pathetic as he asked the question. This glazed look is helpless. It can induce a man to say more than he wants to say, with the sole purpose of filling the void with intelligence. "Let's get him the ball," the girls yelled.They were cunning enough to see that they could only get the ball through the boy, and that they themselves had to make the middleman work.The clock in the building boy's room rang, urging Blumfeld to leave. "Take this key, then," said Blumfeld, not so much as giving it away as having it taken from him.His sense of security in giving the boy the keys was incomparably greater. "You take the key to the house from the woman downstairs," Blumfeld went on, "and you have to give the key to the woman when you get the balloon back." "Yes, yes," the girls shouted, ran down the steps.They understood everything, everything, Blumfeld seemed to be affected by the boy's dullness, and now he couldn't understand how they could understand his explanation so quickly. The two little girls are already dragging the maid's skirts below, and although this is very interesting, Blumfeld can't keep watching how they complete the task, not only because it is late, but also because the balloon is released He didn't want to be there.When the girls upstairs opened the door to his room, he even wanted to go out a few alleys first.He had no idea why he had kept the balloon from seeing him.In this way, he came outside for the second time this morning.He also saw how the maid was struggling with the two girls, and how the boy wriggled his bandy legs to help his mother.Blumfeld couldn't understand how people like maids could flourish and multiply in the world. On the way to the garment factory where Blumfeld works, the thought of work gradually takes over the other thoughts.This quickened his pace, and despite the boy's delay, he reached the office first.The office, a room closed by glass doors, contains a desk for Blumfeld and two sloped desks for standing work for Blumfeld's interns.Although the inclined table is small and narrow, it seems to be used by elementary school students, but this office is crowded, and the interns cannot sit, otherwise Blumfeld's swivel chair will not be able to fit.In this way, the interns are crowded and standing at the desk all day to work.It must have been uncomfortable for them, but it also made it difficult for Blumfeld to observe them.The two of them often huddled together at the table, not to work, but to whisper, or even to doze off.Blumfeld is very annoyed with them, given Blumfeld a lot of work, and they don't help Blumfeld enough.His job was to be in charge of the financing of the entire shipment with the domestic women workers employed by the factory for the production of certain delicate products.In order to judge the workload of this job, it is necessary to have a better understanding of the overall situation of the factory.Since Blumfeld's immediate boss died a few years ago, no one has known this further, so Blumfeld does not recognize the right of others to judge his work.比如工厂主奥托玛先生显然就低估了他的工作，他虽然承认布鲁姆费德二十几年对厂里作出的贡献，他承认这些，不仅是因为必须，而且也是因为他尊重他是一个忠实可信的人，——可他仍然轻视布鲁姆费德的工作，因为他认为，这工作可以比布鲁姆费德干得更简单、因此从各方面来说可以带来更大的好处。据说，并且这也许并非不可信，奥托玛之所以很少到布鲁姆费德的科里来，是为了少生看到布鲁姆费德的工作方法时的那份气。被人这样错误地理解一定使布鲁姆费德感到悲哀，但这是没法子的事，因为他总不能强迫奥托玛一个月不间断地呆在布鲁姆费德的科室里，研究这里所需完成的工作的的多样性，运用他自己所谓的更好的工作方法，——其后果是科里工作必定是一踏糊涂——从而相信布鲁姆费德的正确性。因此布鲁姆费德一如既往坚定不移地完成他的工作，要是过了很长时间奥托玛出现那么一次，他便感到有点惊慌，不过仍以下级的义务心理稍微尝试着给奥托玛讲解这个或那个设备，而后者总是沉默不语，低着眼睛点着头继续走他的路，另外，使他难受的还不是这种错误的判断，而是这种想法，即要是有一天他被解除了职务，其立杆见影的后果就是会产生任何人都对付不了的乱七八糟的局面，因为他不知道厂里还有谁能代替他，能以某种方式使厂子几个月都能避免最严重的生产停顿的局面。要是上司低估某人的能力，那么当然他的职员会做得比他还有过之而无不及。因此厂里的每个人都轻视布鲁姆费德的工作，没有人认为有必要为了自己的业务应该到布鲁姆费德的科室去工作一段时间，要是招收新职员，没有一个人主动愿意分到布鲁姆费德手下去工作。因此布鲁姆费德的科室缺少后备力量。当布鲁姆费德在科室里只有一个勤杂工搭把手，所有的事情都得一人干、要求派一个实习生作帮手时，他费了好几周的唇舌。布鲁姆费德差不多每天都去奥托玛的办公室，心平气和地、详详细细地给他解释为什么这个科室需要一个实习生。实习生必不可少并不是因为布鲁姆费德舍不得自己干，布鲁姆费德并不打算珍惜自己，他还是做他的那份过多的工作，并不想停止，但奥托玛先生应该考虑考虑公司的整个发展情况，所有的科室都在相应地扩大，只有布鲁姆费德的科室总是被遗忘。可要知道，正是那个科室的工作量增加了多少！当布鲁姆费德进厂时，奥托玛先生肯定记不起他进厂的时间了，那个科室只和大约十个女工打交道，而今天女工的数字已经介于五十至六十之间。这样的工作需要人力，布鲁姆费德可以保证他全部身心都扑在工作上，但从现在起他不再能保证完全胜任这个工作。不过奥托玛先生从不直截了当地拒绝布鲁姆费德的请求，他不能对一个老职工这样做，可他那种几乎不听他说话、不理睬他的请求而和别人说话，半推半就地答应，可几天以后又忘得精光这种方式——这种方式的确侮辱人。这其实不是对布鲁姆费德的侮辱，布鲁姆费德并不是个空想家，荣誉和赞赏好是好，可布鲁姆费德可以不要，无论如何，只要能做到，他就得坚守岗位，不管怎么说，理在他手里，而最终，有理就能得到承认，哪怕有时需要很长的时间。就这样，布鲁姆费德甚至真的到底有了两个实习生，不过这是什么实习生啊。别人简直可以相信，奥托玛看出，他提供实习生比拒绝提供实习生更能清楚地表示他对这个科室的轻视。甚至，奥托玛之所以这么长时间用空话敷衍布鲁姆费德可能是因为他在找这样两个实习生，而可以理解的是，他这么长时间找不到这样的人。现在布鲁姆费德抱怨不得，人们早就可以预知对他抱怨的回答，他只要一个实习生，却得到了两个；奥托玛这一招实在是妙。当然布鲁姆费德还在抱怨，但那完全是他的处境逼的，而不是因为他现在还需要帮手。他也不是一个劲地抱怨，而只是有适当的机会时顺便提一下。尽管如此，过了不久，在那些不怀好意的同事之间，仍流传着这样的谣言，说有人问过奥托玛，布鲁姆费德现在有了这么了不起的帮手，会不会还在一直抱怨。对此据说奥托玛回答说，是的，布鲁姆费德还在一直抱怨，但他有理由抱怨。他，奥托玛，终于认识到布鲁姆费德是对的，他打算逐步给布鲁姆费德的每个女裁缝分配一个实习生，也就是说一共大约六十个人。要是这还不够，他还会派去更多的人，直到这个疯人院人满为患，而布鲁姆费德的科室几年以来已经正在变成一座疯人院。不过说这番话时，人们把奥托玛说话的口气模仿得惟妙惟肖，而奥托玛自己却绝不会以类似的方式对布鲁姆费德发表这样的意见，对此布鲁姆费德毫不怀疑。这一切是二层办公室的懒蛋们造的谣，布鲁姆费德对此不屑一顾，——他对这两个实习生的存在也这样心安理得就好了。这两人就站在那儿，赶也赶不走。他们两个还是脸色苍白、弱不禁风的孩子。根据他们的档案材料，他们早已到了不用再上学的年龄，可实际上人们不能相信。是的，人们还不愿把他们托付给一位老师，他们的的确确还应该让妈妈领着才对。他们还不能从事理智的活动，开始时，长时间的站立尤其使他们感到疲备不堪。不看着他们吧，他们就立刻任其弱点暴露无遗，歪着身子站着，在墙角里低着头。布鲁姆费德试图使他们明白，要是他们老图舒服，一辈子都会成为残废。让实习生跑点路真是冒险，有一次一个实习生只需走几步路，他却过分热心地跑起来，结果在桌旁把腿磕破了。屋子里满是女裁缝，桌子上堆满了活，可布鲁姆费德不得不放下所有这一切，带着哭鼻子的实习生到办公室给他简单包扎一下。但就是实习生的这种热心也只是表面现象，他们像真正的孩子一样，有时想得到表扬，可更多的情况是，或者可以这么说，他们几乎总是想迷惑这位上司的注意力，欺骗他。有一次在最忙的时候，布鲁姆费德汗流浃背地走过他们身边时，发现他们躲在货包中间交换邮票。他本想用拳头给他们的脑袋几巴掌，对这样的举止这本来是唯一可行的处罚手段，但这是孩子，布鲁姆费德总不能把孩子往死里打。就这样，他继续和他们纠缠着。本来他以为，实习生会直接给他搭把手的，眼下分配活很吃力，并且得留神才是。他本想，他能站在斜面桌子后面的中间，环顾着一切，负责登记就行了，实习生按他的命令来回跑着分活。他以为，在如此拥挤的情况下，他的监督，虽然是这样的严格，也还不够，实习生的留心可以对此进行弥补，实习生慢慢可以积累经验，不必在细微末节之处靠他的命令行事，最终自己学会在对产品的需求和对人的信任程度方面对女裁缝能够区别对待。对两个实习生而言，这都是落空的希望，布鲁姆费德过了不久就看出，他根本不能让他们和女工说话。因为他们从一开始就从不到某些女工那儿去，因为他们讨厌或是害怕她们，而对那些他们偏爱的女工，则经常跑上门去。他们给这些女工愿意要的东西，哪怕是她们应该得到的，这两人也鬼鬼祟祟地把东西塞到她们的手里，在一个空货架上给这些偏爱的人积攒着各种布头，无用的零头，不过也还有用得着的小东西，他们老远就拿着这些东西高兴地在布鲁姆费德的背后朝她们摆手，为此得到的是女工给他们两人嘴里塞糖果。可不久，布鲁姆费德就结束了这种胡作非为的行为，女工一来，就把他们赶到隔开的棚屋里去。可他们俩好长时间都把这样的处置当作最大的不公平，他们反抗，故意折断钢笔，大声地——不过他们不敢把脑袋抬起来——敲着玻璃窗，以便让女工知道他们得忍受布鲁姆费德什么样的对待。 他们不能理解自己的不正当行为。比如他们几乎总是到办公室太晚。他们的上司布鲁姆费德从最年轻的时候起就认为至少在办公开始的半个小时以前到办公室是理所当然的事情，——促使他这样做的不是虚荣心，不是过分的责任感，只是对体面的某种感觉，——大多数情况下，布鲁姆费德得等一个多小时他的实习生。他常常是嘴里嚼着早饭面包站在大厅的桌子后面，在女工的小本子上进行结算。过了一会他便完全埋头于工作，其它什么都不想。这时，他会突然吓一跳，惊得手里拿着的笔抖动好一会儿。那是一个实习生闯了进来，像是要跌倒似的，他一只手随便抓住什么东西，另一只手捂着胸口喘个不停——可这一切都只意味着他在为迟到找个托辞，这种托辞如此可笑，以至布鲁姆费德有意不去理会，因为不然的话，他当痛打这孩子一顿。这样，他只是看他一会儿，然后伸出手来指着棚屋，接着又扭头干他的事去了。你以为实习生会看出上司的慈悲，快步走到他的位子上去。不，他不着急，他跳跳蹦蹦地走，用脚尖走，一步一步地挪。他想嘲弄他的上司吗？Nor is it.这又只不过是害怕和自我满足的一种混合心理，对此人们毫无办法。否则该作何解释呢，今天，布鲁姆费德自己也非同寻常地晚到办公室来了，在等了好半天以后——他没有兴趣去查帐——透过那个愚蠢的勤杂工扫地时用条帚扬起的尘雾，他看见两个实习生在胡同里慢慢悠悠地往这儿走着。他们搭肩勾臂，好像在讲着什么要紧的事情，不过可以肯定的是，他们说的事情和厂里的生意之间即便是有，顶多也是一种不允许存在的关系。他们离玻璃门越近，越是放慢了脚步。最后一个人终于摸到了门把手，可他不往下按，他们还一直说着、听着、笑着。 “给我们的先生开门，”布鲁姆费德扬起手来对勤杂工喊道。不过实习生进来时，布鲁姆费德懒得和他们争吵，他没回答他们的问候，走到他办公桌那边去了。他开始算帐，但时不时地抬起头来看实习生在做什么。一个人好像很累，在揉着眼睛，他把外衣挂在钉子上时，利用这机会又在墙边靠了一小会儿，在胡同里时他还精神抖擞，可一走近工作他就疲倦不堪。另一个实习生倒是有兴致干活，但只是对某些活感兴趣。比如他一直想干的事情就是扫地。可他不应该干这个工作，打扫的事情只应该由勤杂工去做，本来布鲁姆费德并不反对实习生扫地，他可以扫，但他不能比勤杂工干得更差，他要想扫地，那就应该早点来，在勤杂工开始打扫以前来，而不应当仅仅利用该干办公室的工作时扫地。要是这个小男孩不能进行任何理智的思考，起码这个勤杂工，这个头头肯定只允许他到布鲁姆费德的、而不是到其它办公室干活、只能靠上帝和上司恩赐活着的半瞎老头应该让他一下，让这个孩子拿一会帚把，这个笨拙的孩子不一会儿就会失去扫地的兴致，会拿着条帚追着勤杂工跑，好说服他再去扫地。可看来这勤杂工恰恰对扫地有种特殊的责任感，你看，那男孩刚一接近他，他就用哆哆嗦嗦的手更加攒紧了扫把，他宁愿静静地站在那儿不打扫，只把注意力集中到对扫把的占有上。这个实习生不用话语来请求，因为他害怕那个假装结算的布鲁姆费德听见，再说，一般的话说了也没用，因为只有对着勤杂工大喊才起作用。就这样，实习生起先扯扯勤杂工的袖子。勤杂工当然知道他要干什么，他板着脸看着实习生，摇摇头，把条帚抱得更紧，一直抱到胸前。实习生合拢两手请求着。然而他没有指望通过请求达到目的，他只是觉得请求很有意思才这样做。另一个实习生轻声地笑着观察整个过程，显然他以为——尽管他的这种以为让人难以理解——布鲁姆费德听不见他笑。请求对勤杂工丝毫不起任何作用，他转过身，以为现在又可以成竹在胸地使用条帚了。可实习生跳到他的脚尖前搓着两手乞求地跟着他，又从这边向他请求。勤杂工转了好几次身，实习生也跟着跳了好几次。最后勤杂工觉得四面都被堵住了，他发觉，他比实习生更容易累，其实，他头脑简单得不得了，本来一开始他就应该发觉这点的。因此他就找其他人帮忙，他用手指着威胁着实习生，指着布鲁姆费德说，要是实习生不放手，要是实习生不放手，他就告到布鲁姆费德那里去。实习生知道该先下手为强，于是他放肆地去抢条帚。另一个实习生无意识的喊叫意味着即将来到的输赢。虽然这次勤杂工后退一步让了他一下，把扫把仍握在自己手里，但实习生不服输，他张着嘴，瞪着眼跳将起来，勤杂工想跑，可他那不中用的老腿哆哆嗦嗦跑不了，实习生够着了扫把，他虽然也没抓牢，但他却使扫把倒在地上，使勤杂工失去了扫把。不过看来实习生也输了，扫把一倒，三个人，两个实习生和勤杂工起先都发呆了，因为现在布鲁姆费德肯定什么都看见了。事实上，布鲁姆费德是抬起头来在他的观察窗上看见了，他装作现在才发觉似的，严肃地用审视的目光把每个人都打量一番，连倒在地上的扫把都没放过。许是沉默得太长，许是犯了错的实习生不能克制自己扫地的欲望，反正他弯下了腰，不过是小心翼翼地弯下了腰，好像他要抓的不是扫把而是一个动物，他拿起扫把扫着地，但当布鲁姆费德跳起来从棚屋里走出时，他马上又害怕地把扫把扔下了。 “两个都去干活别闹了！”布鲁姆费德吼道，他伸出手给两个实习生指着去桌子那儿的路。他们立刻去了，但不是低着头感到羞愧，而是死板地朝布鲁姆费德那边转过头，呆呆地望着他的眼睛，好像要阻止布鲁姆费德打他们似的。不过经验足以告诉他们，布鲁姆费德基本上从不打人。可是他们过分害怕，因此总是试图着、并且从不带任何温情地维护着他们真正的或者说是虚假的权力。