Chapter 23 Chapter 06

Anna Andreyevna was already waiting for me.Yesterday I told her about Natasha's letter, and her curiosity was aroused. She had been waiting for me, hoping that I would come early in the morning, no later than ten o'clock at the latest.but i went to see When she arrived, it was already past one o'clock in the afternoon. The poor old lady was waiting for me not to come, and if she didn't come, she would be so anxious to death.Besides, she wants to announce to me a new hope that she has had since yesterday, and she also wants to talk about Nikolai Sergey Strange; he has been slightly sick since yesterday, and his face is gloomy, but at the same time he is very gentle and considerate to her.After I arrived, she showed me a dissatisfied and indifferent expression, and she ignored me without showing the slightest curiosity.

She almost said: "What are you doing here? You'd be interested, sir, to hang out here." She was mad at me for being late.But because I was in a hurry, so I stopped procrastinating, but stuck to the end, and put yesterday's work in Natasha She was told everything that happened there.As soon as the old lady heard that the old prince was gone, and that Natasha had been solemnly proposed to marry her, all her feigned misery vanished in an instant.Her joy, my Jane It was indescribable, she was even a little bewildered, crossed herself, wept, kowtowed to the holy image, hugged me again and again, and wanted to run to Nikolai Sergeyitch at once, Tell him the good news.

"How can it be, little brother, his sombre face is entirely due to the anger of being oppressed by others, but now he will forget everything as soon as he knows that Natasha has got his wish. " It was hard for me to persuade her.The good old lady knew nothing of her husband, though she had lived with her husband for twenty-five years.She also very much wanted to see Natasha with me at once.I let her understand, Nicholas Xie Not only will Ergeich not approve of what she's doing, maybe we'll screw up the whole thing.She finally changed her mind, but she still clung to me and kept me for half an hour, and she was the only one talking. "so big

Happy event, stay alone within the four walls, after you leave, now, who do I have something to say to? " she said. Finally, I finally convinced her and let her understand that Natasha is waiting for me anxiously. Before leaving, the old lady drew me a few cross, and asked me to bring her special blessings to Natasha. When I said flatly, if nothing special happened to Natasha, I would not come that night again. She almost didn't cry when she heard the words.This time, I didn't see Nikolai Sergey Qi: He didn't sleep all night, so he had a headache and felt cold all over. Now he fell asleep in his study.

Natasha also waited for me all morning.As soon as I entered the room, I saw that she was walking up and down the room thoughtfully, with her fingers crossed, according to her old habit.Even now, when I think of her, I can see her lonely figure: always alone, together In a poor hut, arms folded, eyes lowered, thoughtful, abandoned and expected, walking around aimlessly. As she continued pacing up and down, she asked me in a low voice, why did I come so late?In a few words I told her all about my adventures of the day, but she hardly listened to me.It can be seen that there is something on her mind, she is very anxious

. "What's new?" I asked. "Nothing new," she replied.But her appearance made me understand immediately that something new happened to her here, and the reason why she waited for me was to tell me about it, but, according to old habits I am used to it, she refused to speak immediately, but waited until I was about to leave.It's always been that way between us.She did this, and I was used to it, so I had to wait patiently. Needless to say, let's start with what happened yesterday.What surprised me most was that we both felt the same way about the old prince: she didn't like him in the bottom of her heart, much more than yesterday.When the two of us analyzed his yesterday one by one

When she saw the whole scene of Tian's visit, she said suddenly: "I said, Vanya, if you don't like a person at first, it's almost always a sign that you're going to like him later. It's always been the case. At least, it's often been the case with me." "God bless, I hope so, Natasha. Besides, I have an opinion, an opinion I have come to after much consideration: I have analyzed all the circumstances and have come to the conclusion that treacherous though the prince may be, he agrees with you." their marriage Be real and serious. " Natasha stopped in the middle of the room and gave me a stern look.Her whole face changed; even her lips quivered a little.

"How could he make a fuss about an accident like this, and... lie?" she asked in a tone of haughtiness and bewilderment. "Yes, yes!" I nodded hurriedly. "Needless to say, he didn't lie. I don't think there's any need to think about it. There's not even any need to make excuses for mysteries. In the end, what did I look like to him when he made fun of me so openly? can be so boring so-so? " "Of course, of course!" I affirmed, but I thought to myself: "Poor girl, you are walking around the room now, probably thinking about this matter, maybe you are more suspicious than I am. .”

"Oh, how I wish he'd come back soon!" she said. "He's going to sit with me all night, and then... since he left everything and started at once, there must be something important. You know what it is." anything, vanya? you didn't listen to what? " "Only the Lord knows about him. He's been busy getting rich. I've heard that here, in Petersburg, there's a contract for a job. We don't know anything about it, Natasha." "Of course I don't know anything about it. Alyosha was talking about a letter yesterday." "There is some news in the letter. By the way, has Alyosha been here?"

"came." "Are you early?" "Twelve o'clock: he overslept. Sit down. I sent him to see Katerina Fyodorovna; you can't stay here with me, Vanya." "Isn't he going there himself?" "No, he's planning to go too..." She wanted to say something, but she swallowed it back.I watched her, waiting for her to speak.Her face is sad.I wanted to ask her if she had anything else to say, but she sometimes dislikes being asked questions. "What a puzzling child," she said finally, with a slight curl of her lips, as if trying not to look at me.

"What's the matter! Probably, what happened to you again?" "No, there's nothing wrong with it; whatever. . . . then again, he's lovely . . . just a little . . . " "Now, however, all his troubles and troubles are over," I said. Natasha looked at me suspiciously.She herself might want to answer me by saying: "Even in the past, his troubles and troubles were very limited"; but she felt that my implication was the same as hers, and she felt sullen. However, she soon became amiable again.This time she was extraordinarily gentle.I sat with her for over an hour.She is very disturbed.The duke frightened her.I noticed from a few of her questions that she wanted to know for sure that yesterday What was her impression on him?Was she behaving properly yesterday?Did she show her happiness too much in front of him?Is it too narrow-minded?Or on the contrary, is it too accommodating?Will he have any ideas?Will you laugh at her? Will you look down on her? ... Thinking of this, her stomach turned red, as if it was on fire. "Is there anything a bad man can think that's worth your excitement? It's up to him to think what he likes!" I said. "Why do you say he's a bad guy?" she asked. Natasha was suspicious, but she was pure-hearted and open-minded.Her suspicion comes from her pure heart.Her pride was strong, but it was a noble one, and she could not bear to be tortured in the presence of that which she held above all else. People laughed.Of course, she could only return contempt for the contempt cast by a villain, but it pained her heart to be ridiculed (whoever it was) for what she held sacred.It's not that she's not strong enough.this part It's because she still doesn't know much about this society, and she's not used to doing bad things to bad people, and it's also because she lives in seclusion and is too closed.She has spent her entire life in her own home, hardly ever going out.Finally, there are some very good-hearted people who have A characteristic (perhaps inherited from her father)--like to praise a person too much, insist that this person is better than he is, and exaggerate his merits when the head is hot--this characteristic is also in her. fully utilized.this kind Once a person is greatly disappointed, he will feel unbearable; what is even more unbearable is that he feels that he has brought the blame on himself.Why do you want to put money on people's faces?And those who wait for such a person all the time are always disappointed.It's better if they stay at home quietly Don't set foot in society; I even found that they really love their homes, and even stay at home, afraid of meeting strangers.On the other hand, Natasha has experienced many misfortunes and many insults.She's a bruised person, yes She couldn't take the blame, if I meant it between my words. But because I was in a hurry, I got up and said goodbye.When she saw that I was leaving, she was startled and almost cried, although when I sat there, she never showed any special affection to me. On the contrary, she seemed to me more than usual. Still cold.She kissed me passionately and stared into my eyes for some reason. "Listen to me," she said, "Alyosha is so ridiculous today that it even puzzles me. From the outside, he is very sweet and happy, and he flies in like a little butterfly, like a dandy. , always turning around and looking in the mirror son.He's a little too familiar and informal now...and doesn't sit around for very long.Think about it: I was also brought candy. " "Candy? Well, it's very cute and innocent. Oh, look at you two! Now you've started watching each other, spying on each other, studying each other's faces to see what's going on in each other's faces (but you The two studied for a long time, but they didn't understand anything! ).He has nothing yet.He's as jovial as ever, like a schoolboy, but what about you, what about you? " Whenever Natasha changed her tone and came up to me, complaining about Alyosha, or trying to solve some difficult business, or telling me some secrets, hoping that I would understand after hearing a few words from her. , as I remember, she always Vermilion lips parted slightly and looked at me, as if begging me to try to solve this matter so that she would be relieved and elated upon hearing this.But I also remember that in such cases, somehow, I always sounded very harsh, as if I was shouting at something. It seems like someone, and I did it completely out of intention, but it has been tried and tested.My sternness and spontaneity are always just right, and therefore more authoritative, you know, sometimes one feels an irresistible need to If only someone came and scolded him severely.At least Natasha sometimes seemed relieved when she left me. "No, you know what, Vanya," she went on, putting one hand on my shoulder and taking my hand with the other, eyeing me flatteringly, looking into my eyes flatteringly, "I think , he is a bit unpredictable...I think he seems to have He used to be such a husband①—you know, he seems to have been married for ten years, but he still makes out with his wife.Is this too early? ...He was smiling and circling around me, but it all seemed to be just this... Only partly because of me, not as in the past... He was very anxious to see Katerina Fyodorovna... I spoke to him, but he didn't listen to him, or he was talking about him , you know, this nasty upper class We have been earnestly trying to persuade him to get rid of his social habits.In a word, he has become so... even cold... Oh, how can I say that!As soon as I opened my mouth, I started nagging!Alas, Vanya, our demands are too high. If others do not give in, ask for complete blame!I didn't see this until now!There are some changes in the face of the man, which is insignificant at all, and we will not forgive him. In fact, only God knows why the change in his face!Vanya, you just blamed I am right!It's all my fault!Asking for trouble and asking for trouble, and blaming others... Thank you, Vanya, for putting my mind at ease.Ah, if only he could come today!what!He is not happy about what happened today Maybe. " "Did you two quarrel!" I exclaimed in surprise. "I didn't show any emotion! I was just a little sad. When he came, he was very happy and then he suddenly became thoughtful. I think he was very cold when he parted with me. I'm going to send someone to invite him. ...Vanya, today you Come too. " "As long as there is one thing that doesn't delay me, I will definitely come." "Look, what can you do?" "I asked for it! But, it seems, I can certainly come." ①The original text is French.