Chapter 18 green sand beach

green sand beach Chekhov short novel Chapter One On the shore of the Black Sea, on the little spot that my diaries and those of my hero and heroine call "Green Sands," stands a beautiful villa.From the point of view of an architect, from the point of view of a man who loves everything serious, perfect, and elegant, the villa may be worthless, but from the point of view of poets and painters it is wonderfully beautiful.I like it because of its modest beauty, because it does not overwhelm the surrounding beauty with its own beauty, because it does not exude the coolness of marble and the arrogance of columns.

It looks intimate, warm, and quite romantic. ... It was set among the tall silver poplars, with its spires and pinnacles, and its saw-toothed walls and tall poles, it looked like a medieval building.Looking at it, I thought of those German sentimental novels, with their knights, castles, doctors of philosophy, and mysterious countesses. ... This villa is built on a hill.The villa is surrounded by verdant gardens, including tree-lined paths, fountains, and greenhouses.Below, at the foot of the mountain, was the harsh, rippling sea. ...with a damp and charming breeze always blowing in the air, the variety of bird calls, the sky is always clear, the sea is crystal clear, what a wonderful little place it is!

The dacha's mistress, Marya Yegorovna Lakeshadsky, was a princess, and her husband was either a Georgian or a Circassian.She was in her fifties, tall and plump, and had undoubtedly been a famous beauty in her former life.She is a kind, lovely, hospitable woman, but too severe of a temperament.However, she is not so much strict as she is willful. . . . She entertained us with good wine and food, lent us great sums of money, and at the same time made us miserable.Etiquette is something she especially values.Another thing she particularly valued was that she was a duchess.She was obsessed with these two things, and she always went too far.For example, she never wore a smile on her face, probably because she decided that it was inappropriate for her, and for grandes-dames in general, to smile.Anyone who is only one year younger than her is a baby.In her opinion, aristocratic family status is a virtue, and everything else is a trivial matter.Her enemies are frivolity and impetuosity, she loves to be silent, etc., etc.Sometimes we can hardly stand this lady.If it weren't for her daughter, maybe we might not be happy to recall Green Beach now.That kind woman became one of the grayest blots in our memory.Adding splendor to the green beach was Marya Yegorovna's daughter Olya.Olga was a fair-haired girl of about nineteen, petite, slender, and pretty.She is lively without being silly.She was good at painting, studied botany, spoke French very well but German badly, read a lot, and could dance as well as Toshiku herself.She had studied music at the conservatory and played the piano very well.

We men like the blue-eyed girl, not "in love" with her, but liking her.All of us feel that she is like a relative, one of our own. …It is unimaginable for us to be without her in Green Beach.Without her, the poetry of Green Beach would not be complete.She is like a beautiful woman painted on a lovely landscape, and I don't like pictures without people.The sound of the waves of the ocean and the rustling of the trees is very pleasant, but if you add Olya's soprano, and our bass and tenor accompaniment and piano accompaniment, then the ocean and the garden will become a paradise on earth . ...we all love the Duchess.It couldn't have been otherwise.We all called her our gang's daughter.Olya likes us too.She enjoyed the society of our group of men, and felt happy only among us.Whenever we are not around her, she looks haggard and doesn't sing anymore.Some of our group were guests, the summer tenants of Green Beach, and some were neighbors.Among the first group were Dr. Yakovkin, the Odessa newspaper worker Muxin, the Physicist Phyveysky (now an associate professor), three university students, and the painter Chekhov. ③, there was a baron and jurist from Kharkov, and I, who used to be Olya's governess (at that time I taught her to speak bad German and to catch goldfinch).Every May we met on Green Beach, and we filled the spare rooms and all the annexes of the medieval castle all summer long.Every year in March, two letters arrive, asking us to go to Green Beach, one of which is written by the Duchess, with solemn and stern words, full of teachings, and the other is written by the memory of our Princess, which is full of content. Long, lively, and full of plans.We'll be visiting there until September.Neighbors come to us every day. There is Yegorov, a retired artillery lieutenant, a young man who twice entered the Military Academy and failed both times. He is very intelligent and read a lot; The student Korobov and his wife Ekaterina Ivanovna; the landowner Aleutov, and many others, some ex-military, some not yet retired, some happy , some are boring, some are prodigal sons, and some are waste.

... All summer long, this great company eats, drinks, plays the piano, sings, sets off fireworks, and tells witty words ... Olya likes these people very much.She yelled and yelled, turned around, and made more noise than everyone else.She became the soul of the gang. Every evening the Duchess called us into the drawing-room, blushed, accused us of behaving "inappropriately," humiliated us, and swore we'd give her a headache.She loves to teach, speaks earnestly, and has a deep belief that her teachings are good for us.Olya was the most scolded.According to her opinion, the culprit is Olya.Olya is afraid of her mother.She respected her mother and stood there listening to her teaching without saying a word, blushing.The Duchess regarded Olya as a child.She punished Olya to stand in a corner and forbade her to have breakfast or lunch.Whoever wants to fight Olya's injustice will add fuel to the flames.The Duchess would have made us stand in a corner, too, if possible.She sent us to vespers, ordered us to read from the Acts of the Saints, cleaned our underwear, and meddled in our private affairs. . . . We have repeatedly taken her scissors and misplaced them, or forgotten where she put her alcohol, or could not find where her thimble was.

"Careless fellow!" she used to shout. "You walked through this place, and you didn't pick up things you dropped! Pick them up! Pick them up right away! This is what the Lord sent you to punish me.... Avoid me! Don't stand in the wind!" Sometimes we have someone do something wrong on purpose just for fun.When the old woman got the news, she called him. "Did you trample the garden?" the judge began. "How dare you do such a thing?" "I accidentally..." "Shut up! How dare you do such a thing, I ask you?" The trial ended with a pardon and the criminal kissed her hand.

When the judge walked out of the room, everyone burst into laughter.The Duchess never made out to us.She only spoke affectionate words to old women and children. I never saw her smile once.An old general drove to her house every Sunday to play cards, and she always assured him in a low voice that although we had doctors and masters, some of us were barons, painters, and writers, without her intelligence, we would be It will be over. ... We're not going to contradict her either. ... We thought to ourselves: Let her be complacent. ... The Duchess would not have been a nuisance if she hadn't made us get up at eight o'clock at the latest and go to bed at twelve o'clock.Poor Olga had to go to bed by eleven o'clock.Talking back is not okay.But we played tricks on the old woman, who violated our liberty so unreasonably!We went to her in droves to make amends, to write her congratulatory poems in the style of Lomonosov, to draw her a tree of the Duke's house on Mikshad's day, and so on.The Duchess believed it all, and we laughed aloud.The Duchess likes us.Whenever she expressed regret to us that we were not dukes, she would sigh earnestly.She has become so familiar with us that she considers us her children. . . . Lieutenant Yegorov was the only thing she didn't like.She hated him with all her heart, and held a deep hatred for him.The reason why she received him was only because she had a financial relationship with him, and she wanted to respect etiquette.The lieutenant had been favored by her in the past.He was good-looking, witty, quiet, and a soldier (which the Duchess took very seriously).Sometimes, however, Yegorov was a little eccentric. ...he sat there, propping his head on his fists, and began to curse viciously.He satirized everything and everyone, dead and living.Whenever he spoke harsh words, the Duchess got angry and threw us all out of the room.

Once at a meal, Yegorov rested his head on his fist and talked about the princes of the Caucasus for no reason, then took a copy of "Dragonfly" from his pocket, and openly read the following in front of Princess Mikshadsky: The text of the verse: "Tiflis ⑤ is a good city. It has the advantages that a good city should have. For example, in this city, the 'dukes' even sweep the streets and polish boots in hotels..." and so on.The Duchess got up from the table and went out without a word.She hated him all the more when he wrote our names on her list of deceased persons.Since the lieutenant longs to marry Olga, and Olya falls in love with the lieutenant, this hatred appears particularly inappropriate and disappointing.Although the Lieutenant did not quite believe that his desire could be realized, he still desired it fervently.Olya loves him secretly, secretively and shyly, only she knows it, and outsiders can hardly see it. ...Love is tantamount to smuggling for her, and this feeling is suppressed by the cruel veto⑦.She is not allowed to fall in love.

①French: Lady. ②One of the nine muses in ancient Greek mythology, the dancer. ③ refers to the author's second brother, the painter Nikolai Pavlovich. ——Russian text editor's note ④ refers to the author's classmate Nikolai Ivanovich Korobov when he was studying at the Faculty of Medicine of Moscow State University. ——Russian text editor's note ⑤ Tiflis is the old name of Tbilisi, the capital of the present-day Soviet Republic of Georgia. ⑥ This register records the names of people who need to be recommended, and the priests of the church read these names aloud during prayers.

⑦Latin: ban. Chapter two A medieval folly almost happened in this medieval castle. About seven years ago, while Prince Mikshaddez was still alive, his good friend, the landowner of the Ekaterinoslavka province, Prince Zahiddezev, came to visit the Green Beach. He is a very rich man.All his life he had been a merry-go-round, and a madman at that, but for all that he remained a rich man until his death.Once upon a time Mikshad Day was his drinking buddy.He conspired with Mikshad to abduct a girl from her parents' house, and she later became Duchess Zahiddev.This event united the two dukes, who became best friends.Zahid Jifu came with his son as a guest. The young man with big eyes, narrow chest and black hair is a middle school student.The first thing Zehidjar did was to reminisce and drink with Mikshadjar, the young man who courted Olya when she was a girl of thirteen.This gallantry was discovered.Their parents winked and said that the young man and Olya would make a good couple.The two drunken dukes ordered the children to kiss, and they themselves shook hands and kissed each other.Mikshad Day was even moved to tears. "This is done by God!" said Zahid Jifu. "You have a daughter, and I have a son. . . . This is what God has done!"

They gave each child a ring and asked them to take a group photo.The photograph hung in the hall, and Yegorov was disturbed for a long time.For her part, she became the object of ridicule, and made more witticisms than can be counted.Princess Marya Yegorovna solemnly blessed the future couple.She felt very satisfied that the fathers of both parties came up with such an idea when they were bored.One month after Zahid Jafu and his son left, Olya received a batch of extremely luxurious gifts from the post office.She has received such gifts every year since then.Surprisingly, young Zahid Jifu took the matter very seriously.He is a very undeveloped person.He came to Green Beach every year, stayed for a whole week, but kept silent, hid in his room and wrote love letters, which he sent to Olya.Olga read the letters and felt ashamed.The clever girl was secretly surprised, not understanding how such a big man could write such stupid words!He wrote really stupid things too. …Mickshad Day died two years ago.On his deathbed he said the following to Olya: "Be careful, you don't marry a fool! To marry Chahid Jifu.He is a smart and promising man. "Olya knew how intelligent Zahid Chaf was, but she didn't contradict her father. She promised him that she would marry Zahid Chaf. "It's my father's will!" she said to us, with a little pride in her voice, as if she were accomplishing a feat unparalleled in the world.She takes pride in the fact that her father took her promise to the grave.What an unusual promise, so romantic! But nature and reason prevailed: Yegorov, the retired lieutenant, kept turning around before her eyes, and Zehidtief grew more and more stupid every year in her eyes. ... Once, the lieutenant had the guts to reveal his love to her, and she asked him not to mention it to her again, and told him the promise she had made to her father, and she cried all night afterwards.The Duchess wrote weekly to Zahid Tiev, who was then living in Moscow and studying at the university.She told him to finish his studies quickly. "I don't have people with beards like you who come to visit me; they've all graduated," she wrote him.Zahid Jifu wrote her back with the utmost respect on pink letter paper, explaining in two pages that it was impossible to finish his studies earlier than the stipulated deadline.Olya also wrote to him.Olya's letters to me are far better than those to her fiancé.The Duchess believes that Olya will become Zahid's wife in the future, otherwise she will not allow her daughter to have fun with a group of naughty, godless, "not dukes" and "do some silly things" up. . . . she would allow no doubts in that respect. . . . the will of her husband is to her the divine will. ... Olya also believes that she will change her surname to Chahidjiewa in the future. ...but that didn't happen.The proposals of the two fathers collapsed when they were about to be realized.Chahid Jifu's love affair did not work out.This love affair is destined to end in a light-hearted comedy. At the end of June last year, Zahid Jifu came to Green Beach.When he came this time, he was no longer a college student studying at school, but a college graduate.When the Duchess saw him, she embraced him solemnly and ceremoniously, and lectured him at length.Olya was wearing a luxurious dress, which was specially made to meet her fiancé.The servants brought champagne from the city, the fireworks were lit, and the next morning, everyone who lived on Green Sands was talking in unison about the wedding ceremony, which was said to have been fixed for the end of July. "Poor Olya!" We murmured in low voices as we walked from one end of the room to the other, looking angrily at the garden window of the room of the Oriental we hated. "Poor Olya!" Olya walked up and down in the garden, her face pale and haggard, showing a half-dead look. "My papa and mamma want me to do that!" she replied, as we clung to her with friendly advice. "But it's so stupid! It's ridiculous!" we shouted at her.She shrugged and turned her sad face away from us.Her fiancé sat in his room and wrote tender letters, which were sent to Olya by footman.He looked out of the window and was amazed to see that we had the audacity to talk and deal with Olya.He only came out of the room when he was eating.When it came time to eat, he didn't say a word, didn't look at anyone, and answered our questions dryly.Only once did he venture to tell a ridiculous story, but even that was vulgar with banality.After dinner the Duchess made him sit beside her, and taught him how to play pikai.Zahid Jifu played very seriously, often thinking for a long time, his lower lip drooped, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. . . . This attitude of playing cards pleased the Duchess. Once, after dinner, Zahid Jifu played around for a while, slipped away quietly, and ran to find Olya, who was walking into the garden. "Olga Andreyevna!" he began. "I know you don't love me. Our combination is, really, ridiculously stupid.But me, but I hope you will love me in the future. ..." After he said these words, he was very embarrassed, and walked out of the garden sideways, and went back to his room. Lieutenant Yegorov stayed on his own estate and didn't go anywhere.He can't stand Chahid Jifu. Early in the morning on Sunday (the second Sunday after Zahid Jifu's arrival), which seemed to be the fifth of July, the Duchess' nephew, a student, came to our wing to give us orders.The Duchess ordered us all to dress up this evening, black, white tie, gloves, serious, smart, funny, obedient, curly hair like a poodle, and no noise, Our room needs to be tidy.A grand ceremony similar to an engagement ceremony will be held on the green sand beach.Wine, liquor, and cold meat dishes were brought from the city. . . . The servants who waited on us were called away to work in the kitchen.After lunch, the guests came one after another and stayed until late at night.At eight o'clock, after the rowing, the dance began. Before the dance, we men had a meeting.At the meeting we unanimously decided that Olya should get rid of Zahid Dayef no matter what, even if it would cause us great trouble.Immediately after the meeting I set off to find Lieutenant Yegorov.He lived on his estate, twenty versts from the green sandy beach.I drove up to him and found him at home, but what a state he has become!The lieutenant was very drunk and slept like a dead man.I pushed the lieutenant awake, washed him, dressed him, kicked and swore, and brought him to Green Beach. At ten o'clock, the ball was in full swing.People danced in four rooms to the accompaniment of two fine pianos.During the break, another piano played on the hill in the garden.Even the princess admired our fireworks.We lighted fireworks in gardens, on shore, and in boats far across the ocean.On the roof, colorful Bengal fireworks are set off one after another, illuminating the entire green beach.People drink in two restaurants: one in the gazebo in the garden and one in the main house.The protagonist of this evening is clearly Zahid Chaf.He danced with Olya, flushed on his cheeks, sweating on his nose, wearing a tight dress, smiling sickly, and feeling uncomfortable.As he dances, he pays attention to his steps.He longed to show some ability, but he had nothing to show.Olya told me afterwards that she was sorry for the poor prince that evening.She felt sorry for him. He used to think of his fiancée in every class at the university, when he went to sleep or when he woke up, but now he seemed to have a premonition that she was going to be taken away. ... Presently he looks at us with imploring eyes.He already has a premonition that we are formidable and ruthless opponents. The goblets were ready, and the Duchess was looking at her watch, so we concluded that the solemn hour of the official ceremony was approaching, and that at about twelve o'clock Zahidejoff would be given permission to kiss Olya.Action must be taken.eleven At half past one, I powdered my face to make it look whiter, pulled my tie awry, pulled my hair out, and walked up to Olya with an anxious expression on my face. "Olga Andreyevna," I said, taking her by the hand, "for God's sake!" "What happened?" "For God's sake. . . . Don't be afraid, Olga Andreevna. . . . It's impossible not to get this way. It should have been expected. . . . " "What the hell? What's going on?" "Don't be afraid. . . . that . . . for God's sake, my dear! Yevgraf ②..." "What's up with him?" Olya's face was pale, and she stared at me with big trusting and kind eyes. ... "Evgraf is going to die..." Olya swayed and stroked her pale forehead with her fingers. "I've expected this to happen," I went on. "He is dying. . . . Help him, Olga Andreyevna!" Olya grabbed my hand. "Where... is he...?" "Here it is, in the garden pavilion. Terrible, my dear! But . . . people are watching us. Let us go out on the terrace. . . . ...but he said that you treated him..." "He... what happened to him?" "Not good, very bad!!" "Let's go. . . . I'm going to see him. . . . I don't want him because I . . . because I . . . " We walked out onto the terrace.Olya bent her knees.I made a gesture of wiping my tears. ... Among our group, people kept running past us with pale and worried faces and frightened expressions. "The bleeding has stopped..." the Master of Physics whispered to me just enough for Olya to hear. "Let's go!" Olya whispered, taking my arm. We'll just walk off the terrace. ...the night is quiet and bright. ...... The sound of the piano, the rustling of the black trees, and the chirping of the weeds all combined into a pleasant sound.Below, the slow sound of waves in the ocean. Olya could hardly walk. ... Her legs were bowed down, wrapped in her heavy dress, and it was difficult to move.She trembled all over, terrified, and pressed against my shoulder. "But then again, I can't blame me for this..." she whispered. "I swear to you, it's not my fault. Daddy's gonna do it. . . . He ought to know. . . . Is he in danger?" "I don't know. . . . Mikhail Pavlovitch has tried everything. He's a good doctor and likes Yegorov. . . . Let's go to him, Olga Andrei." Yevna..." "I... can't I see something frightening? I'm afraid.... I won't be able to bear it. Why is he acting like this?" Olya was in tears. "It can't be my fault...he has to understand. I have to explain it to him." We went to the gazebo. "Right here," I said. She closed her eyes and grabbed me with both hands. "I can't stand..." "Don't be afraid. . . . Yegorov, you're not dead yet?" I called to the gazebo. "It's not dead yet... What's the matter?" In the moonlight the lieutenant stood at the entrance to the gazebo, disheveled and pale from drinking, in a waistcoat unbuttoned. ... "What is it?" he repeated. Olya looked up and saw Yegorov. . . . She looked at me, at Yegorov, and then at me. ...I laughed. ... Her face brightened. She cried out with joy and took a step forward. ...I thought she was going to be mad at us. ... But this girl is not someone who gets angry easily. ... She took a step forward, hesitated, and rushed towards Yegorov.Yegorov quickly buttoned his waistcoat and spread his arms.Olya threw herself into his arms. Yegorov laughed with delight, turned his head away so as not to breathe into Olya, and muttered something meaningless. "You have no right to do that. . . . It's not my fault," murmured Olya. "It's my parents' claim," etc. I turned around and walked quickly to the brightly lit main room. At this moment, the guests in the main room were about to congratulate their fiancé and fiancée, anxiously looking at their watches. . . . Pages crowded the antechamber, carrying trays with bottles and glasses.Zahid Jifu impatiently rubbed his right hand with his left hand and raised his eyes to look for Olya.The princess went about the rooms, looking for Olya, trying to teach her how to bow, what to say to her mother, and so on.Our group is smiling. "Do you know where Olya is?" asked the Duchess. "have no idea." "Then go find it." I walked into the garden, with my hands behind my back, and walked around the main house twice.Our painter blows his trumpet.This meant: "You must keep her, don't let her go!" Yegorov hooted from the arbor.That means saying, "Okay! I keep her! " I walked for a while and went back to the main room.The bellboys in the antechamber put trays on the tables and stood empty-handed, staring at the guests.The guests themselves were baffled and kept looking at their watches, and the long hands on the watches were already pointing to a quarter of an hour.The piano stopped playing.There was a deep, irritating, desolate silence in all the rooms. "Where is Olya?" asked the flushed princess. "I don't know. . . . She's not in the garden." The Duchess shrugged her shoulders. "Doesn't she know the time has come?" asked the Duchess, pulling my sleeve. I shrugged.The Duchess walked away from me and whispered something to Zahid Jaf.Zahid Jifu also shrugged.The Duchess also tugged at his sleeve. "Stupid girl!" she complained, running all over the main room.Maids, middle-school students, and relatives of the princess ran up and down the stairs, going deep into the garden, looking for the missing fiancée.I also went into the garden.I'm worried that Yegorov won't be able to keep Olya, and will ruin our original plan to make trouble.I go to the gazebo.I worry for nothing!It turned out that Olya was sitting beside Yegorov, gesticulating with her little finger in front of his eyes, and whispering, endlessly. ... When Olya stopped talking, Yegorov began to murmur.He instilled in her what the Duchess called "thoughts". ... He kissed her affectionately after each sentence.He kept talking, leaning over to kiss her at any time, and at the same time turning his mouth away, afraid that Olya would smell his alcohol.They were both happy, apparently oblivious to the world, and oblivious to the passing of time.I stood at the door of the gazebo for a while, full of joy, and didn't want to disturb their happiness and peace, so I walked towards the main room. The Duchess was so impatient that she was sniffing alcohol. ③She couldn't figure out the reason, and she became angry and embarrassed to see the guests and her fiancé. ... She never beat anyone, but when the maid came to report that the princess was nowhere to be found, she slapped the maid.The guests, who had waited a long time without champagne or congratulations, smiled, said something malicious, and danced again. The clock struck one, and the princess was nowhere to be seen.The Duchess was in a frenzy. "It's all a game of yours!" she would whine, passing any one of our gang, under her breath. "I want to show her some greatness! where is she " At last a benevolent man came and told her where Olya was. ... This gracious man turned out to be a small, fat schoolboy, the Duchess' nephew.The schoolboy hurried from the garden, came up to the princess, sat down on her knee, put his arms around her neck, made her bow her head, and whispered in her ear. ... The Duchess turned pale immediately, and bit her lip, almost bleeding. "In the gazebo?" she asked. "right." The princess stood up, made an ugly face, smiled almost forcedly, and declared to the guests that Olya had a headache, please forgive me, and so on.The guests expressed their regrets, hurriedly finished their dinner, and began to separate. At two o'clock (Egorov had managed to keep Olya until two o'clock), I stopped behind a row of phlox bushes at the entrance to the terrace, and waited for Olya's return.I want to see Olya's face.I like the happy face of a woman.I wanted to see how love for Yegorov and fear of his mother were expressed on the same face, and which one was stronger: love or fear?I haven't smelled the aroma of oleander for a long time.Olya will be here soon.I fixed my eyes on her face.She walked slowly, lifting her dress slightly to reveal a pair of small shoes.Her face was well lit by the moon and by the lamps, which hung from the trunks of the trees and flickered and spoiled the moonlight.Her face was serious and pale.Only a slight smile appeared on the corner of her lips.Her eyes were fixed on the ground, the way people usually decide difficult things with that look.As soon as Olya had climbed the first steps, her eyes flickered, she looked right and left: she was thinking of her mother.She raised her hand to slightly touch her messy hair, stood on the first step in hesitation for a while, then shook her head, and boldly walked towards the door. ... But here I am destined to see a spectacle. ... The door opened, and Olya's pale face was illuminated by a bright light.Olya's whole body was shocked, and she took a step back, her body was half shorter. ... It looked as if something had crushed her. ...there was the Duchess standing at the door, her head raised, her face flushed, trembling with anger and shame. ... The silence on both sides lasted about two minutes. ... "The Daughter of the Dignified Duke," the Duchess began, "the fiancée of the Dignified Duke is going to have a tryst with a lieutenant?! And with the worthless Yevgraf! You bitch!" Olya shivered and shivered into a ball, slipped past the princess like a snake, and ran back to her own room.She sat down on the bed, her eyes full of fear and worry, and she looked at the window without relaxing for a moment, and passed the whole night. ... At two o'clock in the middle of the night, we had another meeting.At this meeting, we laughed at Yegorov, who was intoxicated with happiness, and at the same time sent the baron and jurist of Kharkov to negotiate with Zahiddezov.The duke was not asleep yet.The baron and jurist of Kharkov must "kindly" point out to Zahiddezov the embarrassment of his Zahiddezov's situation and ask him, the prince, to take up the task of clarifying this embarrassing situation like a mature man, By the way, ask him to forgive us for interfering in this matter, and do it "friendly", like a mature person. ... Zahid Tsefu replied to the baron that he "knows all this very well" and that he did not pay much attention to his father's last words, but he loved Olya, which is why he was so steadfast in the marriage. ... He shook the Baron's hand affectionately and promised to leave tomorrow. The next morning Olya came to tea, pale and languid, full of desperate apprehension, fear and shame. . . . but when she saw us in the dining-room and heard what we were saying, her face brightened.Our party stood and yelled in front of the Duchess.Everyone shouted in unison.We took off our little masks and loudly preached to the old princess "ideas" very much like those Yegorov had instilled in Olya yesterday.We speak of the personality of women, of the rationality of free choice, and so on.The princess was silent, listening to us gloomyly, and reading a letter sent to her by Yegorov, which was actually written by our group and was full of "due to age and Light", "Due to lack of experience", "I hope you will bless us" and so on.The princess listened to us and read Yegorov's long letter, and then said: "You children are not worthy to teach me this old woman. I understand what I have done. Please leave here after drinking tea, and go to Go elsewhere to fool people's heads. You shouldn't live with an old woman like me. ...You are all smart people, and I am a fool. . . . God be with you, gentlemen! ... I am grateful to you all my life! " The Duchess drove us away.We wrote her a letter of thanks, kissed her hand, and resignedly got into the carriage and went to Yegorov's estate that day.After we left, Zahid Jifu also left.At Yegorov's house, we did nothing but drink, miss Olya, and comfort Yegorov.我们在他家里住了大约两个星期。到第三个星期，我们的男爵兼法学家接到公爵夫人写来的信。公爵夫人请求男爵到绿沙滩去，为她起草一个什么文件。男爵就去了。他走后大约过了三天，我们也到那儿去，装成去找男爵的样子。我们是吃中饭前到达绿沙滩的。我们没有走进正房，光是在园子里溜达，不时看一下窗子。公爵夫人在窗子里看见我们了。 “是你们来了吗？”她叫一声。 “是我们。” "Is there a problem?" “是来找男爵的。” “男爵可没有工夫跟你们这些该绞死的家伙一块儿找人家抬杠！他在写东西呢。” 我们脱掉帽子，往窗前走去。 “您身体可好，公爵夫人？”我问。 “你们何必在外头溜达？”公爵夫人回答说。“到屋子里来吧。” 我们就走进房间里，各自温顺地在椅子上坐下。公爵夫人非常想念我们这伙人，看见我们这样温顺，很满意。她留我们吃中饭。吃饭的时候，我们有人把汤匙掉在地下，她就骂他“粗心的家伙”，指责我们在饭桌上举止不得体。我们跟奥丽雅一块儿散步，后来留下来过夜。……第二天我们又留下来过夜，而且就此在绿沙滩一直住到九月。我们自然而然地和解了。 昨天我接到叶果罗夫写来的信。中尉写道，他去年一冬向公爵夫人“低首下心”，总算把公爵夫人的愤怒化为仁慈了。 她答应他的婚礼今年夏天举行。 我不久一定会接到两封信：一封由公爵夫人写来，措辞严厉，官腔十足，另一封由奥丽雅写来，内容很长，兴致勃勃，写满种种计划。五月间我又要到绿沙滩去了。 ①一种两人玩的纸牌戏。 ②叶果罗夫的名字。 ③为了镇静神经。