Chapter 2 "Duel" One

"duel" one It was eight o'clock in the morning, and the officers, civil servants, and tourists had already survived the hot and stuffy night, and as usual they would go for a swim in the sea, and then drink coffee or tea in the pavilion.Ivan Andreitch Laevsky, a lean, fair-haired youth of about twenty-eight, wearing a Treasury cap and sandals, also came to swim, and met many acquaintances on the shore, among them There was his friend, military medical officer Samoylenko. This Samoylenko had a large head, cropped hair, an almost invisible neck, a red face, a large nose, bushy black eyebrows, gray sideburns, a short, stout figure, and a talking head. He came to use a soldier's gruff bass, which left an unpleasant impression on every new visitor, as if he were a hoarse voice, but within two or three days of knowing each other, people began to I felt that his face was very kind and lovely, even beautiful.Despite his clumsy appearance and rough voice, he was meek, infinitely kind, soft-hearted, and considerate.He addressed everyone in the city with "you," lent them money, saw their doctors, acted as a matchmaker, mediated disputes, and arranged picnics.When there was a picnic, he always made kebabs, and a very good mullet soup; he was always asking for other people's affairs, and was always happy about something.According to everyone's opinion, there is nothing wrong with him, and there are only two weaknesses in his dealings with people: first, he is always ashamed of his kindness, which he tries to cover up with stern eyes and deliberate roughness; second, he likes doctors and soldiers Calling him "Master", he is actually just a fifth-rank civil servant.

"Answer me a question, Alexander Daviditch," Laevsky began, while the two of them, he and Samoylenko, had gone into the water up to their shoulders. "Suppose you fell in love with a woman and lived with her; and suppose you lived with her for more than two years. Later, as often happens, you stopped loving her and began to feel that you couldn't get along with her. Here In such a situation, what would you do?" "It's simple. 'Go your way, honey,' and it's over." "It's easy to say! But what if she has no place to go? She's a lonely woman with no relatives, no money around her, and she doesn't know how to work..." "So what? Give her five hundred dollars at a time." Rubles or twenty-five rubles a month, and that's it. It's easy."

"Even if you have five hundred rubles, you can still give her twenty-five rubles a month, but the woman I'm talking about is an intellectual and has a lot of self-esteem. Do you dare to give her money? And how to give the Fa? " Samoylenko was going to answer, but at that moment a big wave rushed over their heads, hit the bank, and rolled back with a clatter of gravel.The two friends went ashore and began to dress. "Of course, it's difficult to live with a woman if you don't love her," said Samoylenko, shaking the sand out of his boots. "But, Vanya, one has to think humanely. If it happened to me, I wouldn't show her that I didn't love her any more, and I'd live with her to the end of my life." .”

Suddenly he was ashamed of what he said, and he felt something was wrong, so he said: "If I want to say, there should be no women. Tell them to go to hell!" The two friends get dressed and walk into the kiosk.Here, Samoylenko is a regular customer, and there is even a special set of tableware prepared for him.Every morning they brought him a cup of coffee and a brandy on a tray, and a tall cut glass with water and ice.He drank the brandy first, then the hot coffee, and finally the ice water, which must have been very tasty, for afterward his eyes became oily.He stroked his sideburns with both hands, looked at the sea and said, "This scenery is surprisingly beautiful!"

Laevsky had passed the long night last night with all kinds of depressing and useless thoughts, he had not slept well, and those thoughts made the night's heat and darkness seem to be even more intense.By this time he was out of spirits and weak.Swimming and coffee didn't lift his spirits either. "Alexander Daviditch, let us continue our conversation," he said. "I don't want to hide it from you, but I want to tell you honestly as a friend: I have a bad relationship with Nadezhda Fyodorovna, . . . very bad! Forgive me, I keep my I told you, but I have to." Samoylenko had a premonition of what was going to be discussed next, so he lowered his eyes and tapped his finger on the table.

"I lived with her for two years, and I don't love her anymore..." Laevsky went on, "or rather, there was no love at all between us. . . That's all." Laevsky had a habit of looking attentively at his pink palms when he was speaking, biting his nails, or rubbing his cuffs with his fingers.Now he is doing it. "I know very well that you can't help me," he said, "but I tell you this because for us, the frustrated and superfluous, it's all about getting saved." By babbling. I have to sum up my every action, I have to find an explanation and justification for my absurd life in someone's theory, in a literary model, for example, that we nobles are degenerating, etc.  … Last night, for example, I consoled myself and kept thinking: Ah, how right Tolstoy was, how ruthlessly right! It made me feel a little easier that way. Really, man, he was a great man. Writer! Say what you will, he's a great writer!"

Samoylenko had never read Tolstoy's works, and planned to read them every day. At this time, he was embarrassed and said: "Yes, all writers write things based on fantasy, but what he writes is Practical life. . . . " "My God," sighed Laevsky. "How civilized we are! I'm in love with a married woman, and she loves me too. . . . At first we were kisses, and quiet evenings, and eachother, and Spencer again , an ideal, and a common interest. . . . What hypocrisy! Actually we eloped from her husband's house, but we deceived ourselves that we had escaped the emptiness of our intellectual life. We paint our Future: I came to the Caucasus first. In order to get acquainted with the place and people, I temporarily put on a civil service uniform and went to work in an agency. A piece of land, etc. If it were not me, but you or your zoologist von Koren, you might live with Nadezhda Fyodorovna for thirty years, and leave it to your heirs. The next bountiful vineyard and a thousand dessiacres of corn, and I felt like a bankrupt from the first day. I lived in the city, unbearably hot, stuffy, and without company. , Go to the field, but feel that in every bush, under every stone, there seems to be hiding sunworms, scorpions, and snakes. Beyond the fields are mountains and wilderness. Strange people, strange nature, Poor culture, all this, my dear boy, is not as easy as walking on Nevsky Prospekt in a fur coat, on Nadezhda Fedorovna's arm, dreaming of a warm place. What is needed here is a life-and-death struggle, But where am I a warrior? I am a poor neurasthenic, a poor man who cannot do menial work. . Gotta tell you, living with a woman who's read Spencer and is willing to go all over the world with you is as boring as living with an Anfisa or an Akulina. There's still irons and makeup , the smell of medicines, the same curling papers every morning, and the same self-deception. . . . " "I can't do without an iron," said Samoylenko, hearing Laevsky tell him so frankly. Talking blushingly about a woman he knew. "You, Vanya, are in a bad mood today, I can see that. Nadyezhda Fyodorovna is a good educated woman, and you are a man of great intellect.

...Of course, you are not officially married," Samoylenko went on, looking at the neighboring tables, "but it is not your fault, and besides ... you should abandon your prejudices and stand on the level of contemporary thinking. That's right.I am in favor of free association myself, yes. ... But in my opinion, once you live together, you should live together until you die. " "Is it supposed to be like this without love?" "I'll explain it to you right away," Samoylenko said. "About eight years ago we had an old agent here, a very sensible man. He used to say this: The main thing in family life is patience. Do you hear that, Vanya? Not love, but Patience. Love cannot last long. You have lived in love for two years, and now, your family life is obviously entering a new stage. At this time, in order to maintain the so-called balance, you must use all your patience. Strength is what it takes.

..." "You trust your old agent, but to me, his advice doesn't make sense. Your old man can be hypocritical, he can exercise his patience, and treat someone he doesn't love as his own." An indispensable object for exercise. But I haven't fallen so far.If I want to exercise patience, I'll buy a pair of dumbbells or a stubborn horse, but not a living person. " Samoylenko ordered white wine on the rocks.After they each drank a large glass, Laevsky suddenly asked: "Excuse me, tell me, what is softening of the brain?" "Well, how should I explain it to you... This is such a disease: the brain becomes soft,... as if it has become thinner."

"Is this disease cured?" "As long as there is no delay, it will be cured....Cold water shower, mylabris plaster....Take some internal medicine." "Oh. . . Then look at where I am. I can't live with her, I can't bear it. I can talk and smile when I'm with you, but When I got home, I was completely discouraged. I was so scared that if someone told me that I had to live with her, even if it was only for a month, I would feel like it would be in my head At the same time, it is impossible to break up with her. She is alone and can't work. She has no money, and I have no money.... What will she do? Who should she tell her to go to? I can't think Come out....Yeah, tell me, what should I do?"

"Well, yes..." said Samoylenko in a muffled voice, not knowing what to say in reply. "Does she love you?" "Yes, she loves me because, at her age, with her temperament, she needs a man. Parting from me is as difficult for her as putting off powder or curling paper. In her mind, I've become an integral part of her boudoir." Samoylenko was embarrassed. "You, Vanya, are in a bad mood today," he said. "Most likely you didn't sleep well." "Yeah, I didn't sleep well. . . . Anyway, man, I don't feel well. My mind was empty, my heart seemed to have stopped beating, and I had no strength in my body. ...should run away! " "Where are you going?" "Run over there, to the north. To a place where there are pines, fungi, people, and thoughts. . . . A bath in the creek, a bit of freezing, and a three-hour stroll and chat with even the worst college student. . . . What a nice smell of hay there! Do you remember? By evening Go for a walk in the garden, listen to the sound of the piano wafting from the main house, and hear a train pass by..." Laevsky laughed happily, and then tears welled up in his eyes.Instead of standing up to hide his tears, he leaned forward and reached for a match from an adjacent table. "I haven't been to Russia for eighteen years," Samoylenko said. "I've forgotten what it's like there. In my opinion, there's nowhere more beautiful than the Caucasus." "Vereshchagin6 has this picture: several condemned people are tormented at the bottom of a deep well. You wonderful Caucasus is such a well to me. If someone asks me to walk between two roads Choose one: either be a chimney sweep in Petersburg, or come here and become a prince, then I'd rather be a chimney sweep." Laevsky pondered.Samoylenko looked at his stooped figure, at his dreamy eyes, at his pale, sweaty face and sunken temples, at his bitten fingernails. , looking at his sandals, which had slipped from the heels, revealing badly mended socks, could not help feeling pity; and, probably because Laevsky reminded him of lonely children, asked: "Is your mother still alive?" "Alive, but I fell out with her. She can't forgive me for this union with a woman." Samoylenko liked his friends.He regarded Laevsky as a good man, a student, a frank man, with whom one could drink, laugh, and chat freely, and in Laevsky's demeanor there was nothing He disliked everything Samoylenko knew.Laevsky drank a lot, often at bad times, liked to play cards, despised his work, lived beyond his means, often used offensive words in conversation, walked the streets in sandals, in front of outsiders quarreled with Nadezhda Fyodorovna in front of him, which Samoylenko disliked very much.As for Laevsky, who once studied in the language department of the university, now subscribes to two thick magazines, talks often in a profound way that only a few people can understand, and lives with an educated woman, these are Samo What Ilenko didn't understand, on the contrary, made him like him. He thought Laevsky was better than himself, so he respected him. "One more thing," said Laevsky, shaking his head. "But you can't tell the story. I'm keeping it from Nadezhda Fyodorovna, so don't let it slip in her presence. . . . I received a letter the day before yesterday saying it was her husband. Got encephalomalacia and died." "May he go to heaven..." sighed Samoylenko. "But why did you keep it from her?" "Showing her this letter is like saying, let's go to church and have a wedding. But first, we have to figure out our relationship.I did not show her the letter until she was convinced that we could no longer live together.Then there will be no danger. " "You know, Vanya," said Samoylenko, and suddenly his face took on a sad and beseeching expression, as if he was going to ask for something very nice and was afraid of being rejected. "You get married, good friend!" "why?" "Do your duty to this good woman! Her husband is dead, and God Himself is telling you what to do!" "But you must understand, monstrous man, that's not right. To marry without love is as vile as to go to Mass without religion." "But you have a duty to marry!" "Why am I responsible?" asked Laevsky angrily. "Because you were responsible for taking her away from her husband." "But I've made it clear to you in Russian: I don't love her!" "Well, if you don't love her, then respect her and please her..." "Respect her and please her ..." Laevsky sneered. "As if she were a priory. . . . You're a terrible psychologist and physiologist if you think you can live with a woman on the basis of respect and respect alone. Women need bedrooms first." .” "Vanya, Vanya . . . " Samoylenko was embarrassed. "You're an old boy, a theoretician, and I'm a little old man, a practical man, and we'll never understand each other. We'd better stop talking, Mustafa!" Laevsky called to the waiter. road. "How much are we here?" "No, no..." the medical officer panicked, grabbing Laevsky's arm. "I pay. It's my drink. Charge it to my account!" he shouted to Mustafa. The two friends got up and walked silently along the bank.At the entrance to the boulevard they stopped and shook hands and said goodbye. "You guys are spoiled, sir!" sighed Samoylenko. "Fate gave you a young, beautiful and educated woman, but you don't want it. I, even if God gave me a crooked old woman, as long as she is gentle and kind, I will be satisfied! I will be with her Live in a vineyard, and..." Samoylenko suddenly felt that this was wrong, and said, "And asked her, an old witch, to make a samovar for me." After parting from Laevsky, he walked along the boulevard.Whenever he was a heavy, dignified man with a stern expression on his face, he wore a snow-white military jacket, a pair of well-polished boots, his chest was straight out, and a Wearing the Order of Vladimir with a ribbon, walking along the avenue, he was always admiring himself, and it seemed as if the whole world was looking at him with pleasure.Without turning his head, he looked at both sides of the road, and felt that this tree-lined road was perfectly built. The young cypress trees, eucalyptus trees, and thin and ugly palm trees were very beautiful, and they would spread a lot of shade in the future. The Sri Lankans are an honest and hospitable people. "It's strange that Laevsky doesn't like the Caucasus," he thought to himself, "it's very strange." On the road he met five soldiers with guns, and they saluted him.On the right side of the boulevard, there is a civil servant's wife walking with her son (a middle school student) on the sidewalk. "Good morning, Marya Konstantinovna!" Samoylenko called to her, smiling cheerfully. "Are you going swimming? Hahaha. . . . Say hello to Nikodim Alexandritch for me!" He walked forward again, still smiling happily, but when he saw an army doctor approaching, he suddenly frowned, stopped him, and asked, "Is there anyone in the clinic?" "No, my lord." "what?" "No, my lord." "Okay, let's go..." He swaggers over to a lemonade stand, and at the counter sits a busty old Jewish woman posing as a Georgian.He spoke to her loudly, as if giving an order to a crowd: "Please, bring me a soda!" "Notes" ①In the era of imperial Russia, civil servants of the third and fourth grades were called "adults". ②Ivan's pet name. ③ Spencer (1820-1903), British idealist philosopher and sociologist, one of the founders of positivism. ④ One Russian mu is equal to 1.09 hectares. ⑤The name often given by rural women in the imperial Russian era. ⑥ Vereshchagin (1842-1909), a Russian realist painter.