Chapter 53 pink stockings

pink stockings Cloudy rainy day.The sky is full of dark clouds, which linger for a long time, and it is hard to see when the rain will stop.Outside the house are mud, puddles, and drenched jackdaws.The room was dimly lit and cold enough to wish the stove had been lit. Ivan Petrovich Somov was walking from corner to corner in his study, complaining about the weather.The raindrops on the window and the darkness in the room filled him with distress.He was so bored that he couldn't pass the time. ... The newspaper has not been delivered yet, and it is impossible to go hunting, and there will be no dinner for a while. ... Somov was not alone in the study.Beside his desk sat Frau Somov.She was a small, pretty woman in a light blouse and pink stockings.She is absorbed in writing the letter.Ivan Petrovitch, who was walking up and down, always looked over her shoulder and glanced at her handwriting whenever he passed her.He saw large crooked characters, long and thin, with ugly tails and little hooks.There were blots, smudges, fingerprints, and more.Mrs. Somov didn't like the use of transliteration marks, and every line of writing on the edge of the page would twitch horribly and flow downstream like a waterfall. ... "Lidochka, to whom have you written all this?" Somov asked, seeing his wife begin to write the sixth letter.

"To my sister Varya. . . . " "Hey,...it's so long! You can read it to me, and it will relieve your boredom!" "Go ahead and read it, it's just not interesting to read..." Somov took the written letter paper, continued to walk up and down, and began to read.Lidochka leaned her elbows on the back of the armchair and watched the expression on his face.As he read the first page, his face stretched into something resembling panic. ... On the third page, Somov frowned and scratched the back of his head slowly.He stopped on the fourth page, looked at his wife fearfully from time to time, and fell silent in thought.He pondered for a moment, sighed, and began to read the letter again. . . . he had a perplexed, even frightened look on his face. ... "Ah, I don't know why!" After reading the letter, he threw the letter paper on the table and murmured. "Simply inexplicable!"

"What's the matter?" Lidochka asked in alarm. "What's wrong! It took me two hours to write six sheets of letter paper, but...but I didn't write anything at all! I didn't even have a little thought! I read and read, and the more I read, the more confused I became, just like recognizing the tea box. It looks like a strange and difficult Chinese character in ancient times! Oops!" "Yes, it's true, Vanya..." said Lidochka, flushing. "I write scribbled..." "What scribbled? A scribbled letter always has meaning, structure, and content, but your letter... I'm sorry, I don't even know what to call it! It's pure nonsense Nonsense! There are words and sentences, but there is no content at all. From the beginning to the end of your letter, it is like two naughty children talking. One said: "Today we are making pancakes at home!" ’ said another: “A soldier has come to our house!” Bland!

It dragged on for a long time, and it was the same thing over and over again. . . . Your poor thoughts dance like devils in a sieve, and no one can tell where it begins and ends. ...Hey, how can it be written like this? " "If I write carefully," Lidochka argued, "there will be no mistakes. ..." "Oh, I haven't even talked about typos yet! Poor grammar screams! There's not a single line that isn't an insult to grammar! No commas, no periods, and no words, . 'Written as 'Throat Dragon'. Where is the handwriting? That's not writing, it's killing people!I'm not joking, Lidochka. . . . I was surprised and shocked by your letter. ... Don't be offended, my dear, but I, to be honest with God, didn't expect your grammar to be so bad. ... But, in terms of status, you belong to the educated intelligentsia, you are the wife of a man who has studied at the university, and you are the daughter of a general!I said, have you ever been to school? "

"Do you even need to ask? I graduated from von Meberger's boarding school for noble girls..." Somov shrugged his shoulders, sighed, and continued to walk up and down.Realizing that she was ignorant and ashamed, Lidochka sighed and lowered her eyes. ...about ten minutes passed in silence. . . . "Listen, Lidochka, this is terrible!" said Somov, stopping suddenly before his wife, looking into her face in horror. "You must know that you are a mother... Do you understand? You are a mother! If you don't know anything yourself, how can you teach your children? You have a good brain, but if you don't even have basic knowledge, what is the use of such a brain? Use? Oh, let's not talk about knowledge for now...Knowledge is what children can learn in school, but you have to know that even you have mental problems!

Yes, sometimes you talk nonsense and it's hard to listen to! " Somov shrugged his shoulders again, wrapped his robe tightly around his body, and continued to walk up and down. . . . He was troubled and angry, and at the same time pitied Lidochka.She didn't talk back, just her eyes. ... Both of them felt heavy and heartbroken. ... The two of them were only concerned with their melancholy, but they didn't notice that the time was passing and it was time to eat. ... Somov, who always liked to eat with relish and peace of mind, sat down to eat this time, drank a large glass of white wine, and began to talk about other things.Lidochka listened to him, and followed him, but when the soup was brought out, her eyes suddenly filled with tears, and she began to sob.

"It's all my mother's fault!" she said, wiping her tears with a napkin. "At the beginning, everyone persuaded her to send me to middle school. After I graduate from middle school, I will definitely enter a senior girls' school!" "Go to the girls' high school, ... go to the middle school ..." Somov murmured. "That's going to extremes, little mother! What's the use of wearing blue stockings? Blue stockings, . Not a donkey, not a horse....I hate blue stockings! I will never marry a pedant. ..." "Nobody can tell what's the matter with you..." said Lidochka. "You are angry when you see that I am uneducated, and at the same time you hate educated women. You are annoyed when you see that I have no ideas in my letters, and you are against my going to school."

"You're catching my tongue, my dear," said Somov, yawning, and pouring himself a second glass of wine out of boredom. ... Under the influence of drinking and eating, Somov became happier, kinder, and gentler. ... He looked at his beautiful wife with a worried look, mixing cold dishes, and a feeling of love, tolerance, and forgiveness for his wife suddenly surged into his heart. ... "I've made poor wretch her depressed today for no reason..." he thought. "Why should I say such nonsense to her? Yes, she's a bit stupid, ill-informed, a little narrow-minded, but... After all, there are two sides to a medal, audiatur et altera pars. It may be true that the superficiality of a woman is determined by a woman's vocation. Let us suppose that a woman is born to love her husband, to bear children, and to chop lettuce, so what the hell is she going to do with knowledge? No! "

At this moment he could not help remembering that educated women are generally difficult to live with, they are harsh, strict, and do not give an inch, while life with the somewhat stupid Lidochka, on the contrary, is quite easy, she I don’t ask anything, I don’t know much, and I don’t find fault with him or criticize him.Being with Lidochka gave peace of mind and no danger of being controlled by her. . . . "To hell with them, those clever and learned women! Life is much more comfortable and peaceful with simpler women," he thought to himself, and took it from Lidochka. A plate of broiler chicken comes. ... He remembered that sometimes a civilized man really wants to talk to a smart and learned woman and exchange ideas. ... "What does that matter?" thought Somov. "If I'm going to talk to a smart woman, I'll go to Natalya Andreevna...or Maria Frantsevna. . . . It's easy. !"

"Notes" ① Ivan's pet name. ② A metaphor for "female pedant". ③It means "if there is a disadvantage, there must be an advantage". ④Latin: You should also listen to the other side.