Chapter 47 Chapter 09

But he had her in his arms! ... He put his arms around her, picked her up like a child, carried her to the easy chair he was sitting on, made her sit down, and knelt down in front of her.He kisses her hand, he kisses her leg; he kisses her, he wants to see her enough , as if he still didn't believe that she was with him again, that he could see her again, hear her speak--she, his daughter, his Natasha!Anna Andreyevna put her arms around her, wept, and threw her head Clinging tightly to his chest, just hugging each other like this, motionless, unable to speak a word. "My child! . . . my life! . . . my joy! . . . " cried the old man incoherently, seizing Natasha's hands, and gazed like a lover at her pale, thin, yet Looking at her beautiful face, her eyes full of

Crystal clear teardrop eyes. "My joy, my child!" he repeated, and then fell silent, looking at her with a most reverent ecstasy. "Why, why did you tell me that she lost weight!" He said anxiously, as if The Buddha said to us with a childlike smile, and he was still kneeling in front of her. "Thinner, yes, and a little paler, but look at her, how pretty! Prettier than ever, yes, prettier!" he added, but in his heart The pain, a pain born of pleasure, made him hesitant to speak, this pain seemed to split his heart in two. "Dad, stand up! Stand up!" said Natasha, "you know, I want to kiss you too..."

"Oh, dear! Do you hear, do you hear, Annushka, how well she said that," and he gave her another convulsive hug. "No, Natasha, I will, I will lie at your feet until my heart hears that you have forgiven me, for I will never, never have your forgiveness now! I forsake you, and I curse you, do you hear, natasha, i curse For you——I can do such a thing!And you, and you, Natasha: can you believe I cursed you!You believed it—didn't you believe it!You shouldn't believe it!Don't believe it, just don't believe it!your heart is good Ruthless!Why don't you come to me?Don't you know how I will treat you? ... Oh, Natasha, you remember how much I loved you: well, now and all this time, I love you twice as much, twice as much.

Added a thousand times!I love you so much that my heart bleeds!I can't wait to take out my heart and blood for you, I can't wait to cut my heart open and put it at your feet! ... Oh, my joy! " "Kiss me, you cruel man, kiss me on the mouth and on the face, just like mother!" cried Natasha in a mournful, feeble voice full of tears of joy. "Kiss the eyes! Kiss the eyes! Remember, just like the old days," the old man repeated after a long, sweet embrace with his daughter. "Oh, Natasha! Have you ever dreamed of us? But I dream almost every night Seeing you, and you came to see me every night, I hugged you and cried, once you came, you looked very small, remember, you were only ten years old at the time, and you just learned to play the piano—— Here you are, wearing a short skirt, wearing a beautiful little shoes, little hands

Red... Annushka, remember, didn't she have such red hands back then? ——You came to me, sat on my lap, put your arms around me... You, you, what a bad girl!how would you think if you come back Alright, I'll curse you, don't you! ... You know, I... Listen to me, Natasha: You know, I often go to see you, your mother doesn't know, no one knows; sometimes I stand under your window, sometimes I wait outside Written by: outside the gate Find a spot on the sidewalk and wait all day or all night!I only hope that you can come out and let me take a look at you from a distance!Otherwise, every night, there is always a candle on your window sill, even if you look at your candle and see your reflection in the window.

Qianying on the Internet, let me wish you a good night.And you, did you wish me good night before going to bed?Have you thought about me?Did your heart feel like I was standing under your window?And in winter, how many times have I climbed your stairs late at night, in the dark Standing in the painted aisle, eavesdropping through the crack of the door: Can I hear your voice?hear you laugh?I cursed you?Just say that night, I went to you too, trying to forgive you, but I came back when I walked to your door... Oh, Nata Sarah! " ①Anna's nickname. He stood up, lifted Natasha from the easy chair, and pressed her tightly, firmly to his heart.

"Here she is again, close to my heart again!" he cried, "Oh, I thank you, God, for everything, for everything, for your exasperation, and for your kindness! . . . Thank you for shining on us now after the storm sunshine!For this golden moment, I want to thank you!oh!Although we are insulted, although we are injured, we are together again, let those who are arrogant, let those who have insulted and hurt us Let our people go proud now!Let them stone us!Don't be afraid, Natasha... We will go out hand in hand, and I will say to them: This is my daughter, this is my daughter, this is my innocent daughter,

She has been insulted and damaged by you, but I love her, and I want to bless her forever and ever! ..." "Vanya! Vanya! . . . " said Natasha in a soft voice, holding out her hand from her father's arms to me. oh!I will never forget her thinking of me and calling me at such moments! "Where's Nellie?" asked the old man, looking round. "Why, where has she gone?" cried the old lady, "my dear! We've all forgotten her!" But she was not in the room; she crept quietly into the bedroom.Everyone ran to the bedroom.Nellie stood in a corner, behind a door, timidly avoiding us.

"Nellie, what's the matter with you, my boy!" cried the old man, wanting to embrace her.But she didn't know why she looked at him for a long time... "Where is mother, where is mother?" she said, as if delirious, "where is my mother, where is she?" A most dreadful cry uttered from within; There was a twitch in her face, a terrible relapse of her old habit, and she fell to the ground... ① Originated from the eighth chapter of the New Testament John's Gospel, some scribes and Pharisees seized the woman who was caught in adultery and wanted to stone her to death.Jesus said, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." (Seventh

Festival) Epilogue - Last Memories Epilogue - Last Memories mid-June.It's hot and stuffy; the city can't stay: it's dusty, it's covered with lime, houses are being overturned, hot stones are everywhere, the air is polluted by all sorts of evaporating smells... But listen, oh, how happy it is!Where There was thunder; gradually, the sky became densely covered with clouds; the wind picked up, and the wind rose, and the dust flew up and down the street and swirled forward.A few large drops of rain fell heavily on the ground, and then, the whole sky seemed to be split, and the sky above the city was pouring

The heavy rain poured down like a torrential river.After half an hour, the sun came out again, I pushed open the window of my shabby room, greedily opened my tired chest, and took a breath of fresh air.I was so intoxicated that I already wanted to drop my Bald pen, abandoning all work and the boss, went to Vasily Island to find my old friends.Although this was very tempting to me, I suppressed my inner impulse and started writing at my desk again: no matter what, I must finish it! The boss has an order, otherwise no money will be given.It's waiting for me, but by night I'm free, free as the wind, I've written three and a half sheets in two days and nights, and tonight will be my reward. Well, this piece is done at last; I put down my pen and stand up with backaches, chest pains, and dizziness.I know that my nerves are extremely weak at this time, and I seem to have heard what the old doctor who saw me said to me recently. Saying: "No, no healthy body can handle this, because it can't be done!" But for the time being it's done!My head was dizzy; I could hardly stand up, but joy, boundless joy filled my heart.mine The novella is finally finished. Although I owe the boss a lot of money, but now that the booty has been obtained, I should give me some money—even if it is only fifty rubles. Such a large sum of money. Freedom and money! . . . I happily grabbed my top hat, grabbed my manuscript, and ran out like a bird, hoping to meet my dearest Alexander Petrovich while he was still at home. ① The payment unit for manuscript fees in old Russia and now Russia, one printed sheet is equivalent to about 50,000 printing symbols. He was going out when I met him.He, too, had just finished a very profitable, if not a literary, business, and after sitting for two hours straight in his study with a dark-faced Jew, he finally sent him away. up.He extended his hand politely to me, and at the same time inquired about my health in his soft and pleasant bass.This is a really nice guy, no kidding, and I have a huge debt of gratitude to him.He spent his whole life in the literary world as a businessman Boss—what's his fault?He understood that to engage in literature one must have a publishing boss, and he understood this truth in time. He deserves to be respected, and for this he deserves to be honored--of course, I mean the honor of a businessman. He smiled when he heard that my novel was finished, so that the main column of the next issue of the magazine would be guaranteed. He was surprised, how could I finish the draft on time? When he said this, he said a few words A very useful one-liner.Then He went up to his tin box, gave me the promised fifty rubles, and at the same time handed me a thick magazine that was hostile to me, and pointed to an article in the criticism section, There are two sentences there that refer to a novella I recently published Fiction. I took a look: the article was signed "Wen Chao Gong".The article neither scolded me nor praised me, so I am very satisfied.But "Wen Chao Gong" said again.My writing always has a "sweaty smell" which means I sweat a lot writing it , put in a lot of effort to change it back and forth, which makes people feel disgusted②. I laughed with my book publisher.I told him that my last novella had been written in two nights.And now it took another two days and two nights to write three and a half printed sheets—if this person who once accused me of writing novels too laboriously and too slowly "Wenchao Gong" did not know how to feel after knowing this. "Again, Ivan Petrovitch, you're to blame for that too. Why do you keep putting off and writing all night?" ① Refers to Dostoevsky's publisher and magazine editor A. A．Krajewski (1811-1889), known for his unscrupulous exploitation of writers.Dostoevsky once said that he "did not regard literary career as a It is not a business, but a business." ②Here is an allusion to the Russian critic Druzhinin (1824-1864) published in the "Modern Man" magazine "Letters from Foreign Readers", the article is not signed, and Dostoev is mentioned in the letter Ski's novella Netochka Nezvan Nova", and said that the author's novel was written "very strenuously", "smells like sweat", and some embellishments and processing were also "redundant". ③ Due to Dostoevsky's urgent need for money and the urging of the publisher, the deadline for the manuscript was very tight, so he wrote in a hurry. Aleksandr Petrovich was certainly a very lovable man, though he had a peculiar weakness--a tendency to flaunt his literary opinions in front of those whom he himself suspected knew very well of him.but i don't want to discuss with him Literary question, I took my hat when I got my money.Aleksandr Petrovich was going to his dacha on the island, and when he heard that I was going to Vasilievsky Island, he offered to take me in his car. "I've got a new carriage; don't you see it? It's very pretty." We went downstairs to the gate.The carriage was indeed very beautiful, and therefore Alexander Petrovich was so proud of it at first that he even felt an inner need to let his friends ride in his carriage and see him off on the way. Can't send them. In the carriage Alexander Petrovich again spoke several times about contemporary literature.In front of me, he is not ashamed, but calmly picks up the wisdom of others, and parrots the various opinions he has recently heard from some writers. To repeat, he trusts these writers and respects their opinions.However, sometimes, he also respects some strange talk.Sometimes, he also often misunderstood other people's opinions, or used them inappropriately , As a result, he talked nonsense and made people laugh.As I sat and listened to him in silence, I couldn't help being amazed at the breadth and variety of tastes that some people have. "Just take this man," I thought to myself, "this man is desperately earning Money is not enough, he also needs fame, fame in the literary world, the fame of a good publisher and critic! " And now he is trying to explain to me a literary idea he had heard from me about three days ago, and which he had objected to and argued with me about three days ago, but Now he takes it for himself, As his own idea.But such amnesia was not uncommon in Alexander Petrovitch, and his innocuous weakness was therefore well known to all his acquaintances and friends.He is now sitting in his How comfortable it is to talk and talk in the carriage, how full of ambition, and how leisurely it is!He was talking about academic issues in the literary world, and even his genteel bass showed a scholarly air.Gradually, he was guilty of liberalism again. erroneous, to adopt a naive skepticism, saying that in our literary world, and in any circle, at any time and with anyone, there is no such thing as honesty and modesty, but only "slapping each other in the face". "--in particular At the beginning of the contract.I thought to myself that Aleksandar Petrovich was inclined to regard any honest and sincere writer (just because they were too honest and too sincere) as a fool, if not a fool.No need to It is said that such a view was formed only because Alexander Petrovich was too naive. ① There are many islands of different sizes in the mouth of the Neva River in Petersburg, which are part of the urban area of ​​Petersburg. Some places are very lively, and some places are very quiet. But I don't listen to him anymore.On Vasilievsky Island, he let me out of the carriage, and I hurried to my two old men.Finally arrived at Shisantiao, and finally saw their hut.Anna Andreyevna stretched out as soon as she saw me Throwing out a finger to warn me, waving to me again and again, hissing repeatedly, telling me to keep my voice down and stop shouting. "Nellie has just fallen asleep, poor child!" she whispered to me hastily, "for God's sake don't wake her! But my darling is too weak, and we are all worried about her. Said the doctor, It doesn't matter for now. But from your big What can I ask from my husband's mouth!Ivan Petrovich, are you not doing something wrong?We've been waiting for you, waiting for you to come to dinner... you know.You haven't come for two days and two nights! ..." "But, didn't I tell you the day before yesterday that I couldn't come for two days," I whispered to Anna Andreyevna, "I must finish that article..." "Didn't you promise to come to lunch today! Why didn't you come? My little angel Nellie got out of bed on purpose, and we put her in the easy chair and carried her out to eat. She said, 'I'm going with You wait for Vanya', but we Vanya just won't come.You know, it's almost six o'clock!Where have you wandered?You're all bums!You make her so sad, I don't know how to persuade her... Fortunately, I fell asleep, my little baby.Besides, Ni Gula Sergeyitch is in town again (back for tea!); I'm alone, messing about... Ivan Petrovich, he's got a job; It's half cold..." "Where's Natasha?" "In the little garden, my darling, in the little garden! Go and find her... Somehow, she looks like that too... I don't understand... Oh, Ivan Petrovitch, I feel so sad! She insisted that she was happy Heart, and contentment, but I don't believe it... Go to her, Vanya, and then whisper to me what's the matter with her... Do you hear me? " But I stopped listening to Anna Andreevna's nagging, and ran into the little garden.Adjacent to the house was this little garden, about twenty-five paces long and wide, rich in vegetation and verdant everywhere.There are three tall old trees with whirling branches and leaves in the garden. There were a few young birches, a few bushes of lilac and honeysuckle, a corner of marlin fruit, two rows of strawberries, and two narrow paths criss-crossing the garden.The old man was very proud of this small garden, and insisted that mushrooms would grow in the garden soon. mushroom.In fact, the most important thing is that Nellie fell in love with this little garden. She was often carried out while sitting in the Annenberg, and placed on the path of the garden. Now, Nellie has become the darling of the whole family.But look, Natasha is here; she welcomes with joy me, and reached out to me.How thin she was, and how pale she was!She also recovered from a serious illness. ①Perm is near Siberia, in the eastern part of the European part of Russia. "All finished, Vanya?" she asked me. "Done, finished! Completely free, all night." "Okay, thank God, missed the manuscript? Ripped it up and rewritten it?" "Is there any way! But it doesn't matter. I have practiced it. When I write, I am highly nervous and my nerves are very tense; my imagination is clearer, my feelings are deeper and more vivid, and my thoughts are flowing. I can't stop, so writing though Nervous, the effect is not bad.everything is fine……" "Oh, Vanya, Vanya!" I found that of late, Natasha was very keen on my literary achievements and my reputation.She has read all the works I published in the last year, and often asks me about my next creation plan, cares about and comments on each of my articles, and reads some She was still very angry about these articles, and she insisted that I make a name for myself in the literary world.She expressed this wish so strongly and so firmly that her present inclination surprised me even. "You'll be exhausted writing like this, Vanya," she said to me, "you'll be exhausted one day when you're thinking like this; besides, your health may be ruined. C** *Well, he wrote and wrote within two years, and it was still in that novel. It took N* ten years to write a novel.However, their works are so carefully crafted and written so delicately!Can't find any sloppy place. " "Yes, their lives are secure, they write without deadlines; and I'm a mail-horse! Well, it's all nonsense! Don't talk about it, my friend. Well, there's no news ?" "That's a lot. First, he's written." "Another letter?" "There's another letter," she said, and handed me a letter from Alyosha.This is the third letter after parting.The first letter was from Moscow. He seemed to be ill when he wrote this letter, and he wrote it upside down.He told her that because All things came together, and it was impossible for him to return from Moscow to Petersburg, as he had imagined at parting.In a second letter he hastened to inform us that he would be returning to us within a few days in order to marry Natasha as soon as possible, He also said that this has been decided and cannot be stopped by any force. However, judging from Quanxin's tone, he is clearly in a state of despair. The influence exerted on him by outsiders has made him unable to control himself, and he no longer believes in it. himself.He also mentioned in passing Katya, said Katya is his God, only she is comforting him and supporting him.I can't wait to open the third letter he has now sent. ①This may refer to Leo Tolstoy and Goncharov.Tolstoy published his trilogy (1852) and The Boy (1854) two years apart; Goncharov took ten years to write Oblomov During the period (1849-1859), Dostoevsky often complained that his writing time was too hasty.In 1870, he wrote in a letter to Ivanova: "Believe it or not, I am very sure that if I can be like Goncharov and Turgene If I had given me two or three years to write this novel, as I did with Husband and Tolstoy, then I would have written a work that would be talked about in a hundred years" The letter was written on two sheets of paper, intermittently, topsy-turvy, hastily and scribbled, with a few drops of ink and tears dripping from the letter.The letter began by saying that he, Alyosha, was breaking away from Natasha, and advised her to forget about him.he tried his best Their union was proved impossible, the hostile influence from outside was too great, and in the end it was inevitable that he and Natasha could never be happy together, because they were not compatible.But when he wrote this, he couldn't bear it anymore, and put aside himself in the front He neither tore up nor crossed out the first half of the letter, but out of the blue, he immediately confessed that he was guilty, I'm sorry Natasha, he was finished, he couldn't resist him who had also come to the country. Father's wishes.he wrote , he could not tell how much pain he had in his heart; then he admitted that he was fully aware that he could make Natasha happy, and at this point he suddenly began to argue that they were perfectly compatible; he firmly, Angrily dismissed his father's arguments ;In pessimism and disappointment, he described the happy scene when he and Natasha were married at first sight, they would love each other and grow old together, he cursed his weakness, and then——Farewell!This letter was written with pain; But I got carried away and couldn't help it; I burst into tears after reading it... Natasha handed me another letter, from Katya.This letter was in the same envelope as Alyosha's, but it was sealed separately and sent together.katya writes rather briefly , told Natasha in a few lines that Alyosha was indeed very sad, often cried, seemed desperate, and even had a little illness, but with her, he would be happy.By the way, Katya tried to explain to Natasha, begging her not to miss Yes, it seemed that Alyosha was quickly relieved, that his grief was playful and not serious.Katya added: "He will never forget you, and he will never be able to forget you, because he doesn't have such a heart, he loves you infinitely, so , if one day he doesn't love you, or if he doesn't feel sad when thinking of you one day, then I will not love him at once for that..." I returned both letters to Natasha; we looked at each other without saying a word.It was the same when I was writing the first two letters. Anyway, now we try to avoid talking about the past, as if we have discussed it between the two of us.she's in pain, pain It was unbearable, I saw this, but even in front of me, she refused to show it.After returning to her hometown, she lay in bed with a fever for three weeks, and now she barely recovered.We rarely even talk about our upcoming changes, though She also knew that her old father was about to find a job and we would be breaking up soon.Although during this period of time, she was very gentle and considerate to me, and she was very concerned about everything related to me; everything I wanted to tell her about me She listened attentively and attentively to all the situations, which even made me feel depressed at first: I always felt that she wanted to make up for me because of the past.But this oppressive feeling soon disappeared: I knew that she was completely in her heart. It's all another idea, she just loves me, loves me infinitely, she can't live without me, and she can't help caring about everything related to me, so I think, there will never be a sister who loves me like Natasha I love my brother.I know It was quite clear that our impending parting weighed on her heart, and Natasha was suffering; she knew, too, that I could not live without her; Talk about things that are going to happen... I asked about Nikolai Sergeyitch. "I think he will be back soon," answered Natasha; "he promised to come back for tea." "Has he been busy with work?" "Yes; but, at present, there is no doubt that there will be work; it does not seem necessary for him to go out to-day," she added, thinking, "to-morrow might as well." "What's the matter with him going out?" "That's because I got the letter. . . I'm his problem," Natasha added after a moment's silence. "It's even depressing me, Vanya. He seems to be dreaming only of me." .I believe, except what am I doing? , how am I doing, what am I thinking about now, he doesn't think about anything.Any troubles I have will be reflected on him.I saw that sometimes he clumsily tried to restrain his feelings and pretended to be cheerful that he didn't worry about me. He looked like he was pretending to be laughing, and wanted to make us laugh.At this time, even my mother became uneasy, and she didn't believe that his smile was real, so she sighed... She also found it strange... He is a straight-hearted person! " she again Added with a smile, "Look, I got the letter today, and he had to run away so he wouldn't look me in the eye... I love him more than I love myself, and more than anyone else in the world, Vanya." ,' she added, bowing her head and shaking my hand, ' Even better than loving you..." We walked back and forth in the garden twice, and she said again: "Masloboyev came to our house today, as he did yesterday," she said. "Yes, he has been coming to the house a lot lately." "You know what he's here for? Mother trusts him, and I don't know what to trust him. She thinks he knows everything about it (like the law and whatnot) and he can do anything. Guess what is she thinking now ?Because I failed to become a duchess, she secretly felt pain and regret.This idea made her unwilling to eat, and it seemed that she had fully disclosed her thoughts to Masloboyev.She dared not say this to her father, so she Thinking: Can Masloboyev help her a little?Can it even be done in accordance with the law?It seems that Masloboyev did not disappoint her, so she bought him a drink," Natasha added mockingly. "The rascal can do anything. How do you know?" "Mom herself told me that she slipped the tongue... she said it in a roundabout way..." "How's Nellie? How's she?" I asked. "I even wonder, Vanya: why haven't you asked her yet!" Natasha reproached. Nellie was the darling of the family.Natasha loved her very much, and Nellie finally gave her her whole heart.poor child!She never expected that one day, she would find such good people and so many Love, I am also happy to see that the cynical heart finally softened and opened up to all of us.She returned the general love for her with a morbid passion, which, like all her past, was entangled in her past. The distrust, resentment and rebelliousness in her heart are completely opposite and very different.And then again, even now, Nellie hid for a long time, long and willfully, from us the tears of reconciliation that had pent up in her heart, until the end That's why we fully agree with each other.She loved Natasha very much, and then fell in love with the old man.I also became someone she couldn't leave for a moment. If I didn't go for a long time, her illness would get worse.This time recently, in order to finish the book that I was delayed I want to say goodbye for two days. Before leaving, I said a lot of words to comfort her... Of course, I said it around the corner.Nellie is still too embarrassed to show her feelings too bluntly and without scruples... Her situation is very disturbing for all of us.It was settled in silence and without a word that she should stay forever at Nikolai Sergeyitch's, but as the day of leaving Petersburg drew nearer, her condition worsened. Her illness began on the day I took her to see two old people, and they made up with Natasha.Then again, where did I go, she was already sick.Her illness was gradually getting worse in the past, but now it is developing at a very fast speed. started to deteriorate.I don't know, and I can't correctly determine what kind of disease she has.It is true that she was a little more ill than she used to be, but the main thing was a certain weakness, weakness and exhaustion, constant fits of cold and heat and nervous tension. Zhang—all these things have made her condition worse in the past few days, and she can no longer get out of bed.Strange to say: the more ill she was, the more tender, affectionate, and frank she became towards us.Three days ago I walked past her crib and she grabbed me hand, pulling me to her side.There was no one in the house.Her face was burning (she was much thinner) and her eyes were glowing like fire.She leaned over me with convulsive enthusiasm, and when I bent over her she stretched out her neck and faded away. Throwing her thin arms around my neck, she kissed me twice, and immediately asked for Natasha to come to her; I called her; Nellie insisted that Natasha sit beside her. on the bed, and looking at her... "I'd like to see you too," she said. "I had a dream yesterday of you, and I'm sure I'll dream of you tonight... I dream of you often... every night..." She clearly had something to say, and there was an unspeakable feeling in her heart; but she didn't know what it was, and she didn't know how to express it... She loved Nikolai Sergeyitch almost all but me.It must be said that Nikolai Sergeyitch loved her almost as much as he loved Natasha.He has an astonishing kn Lie's room, she would giggle, and even start to be naughty.This sick girl was as happy as a little child. She acted like a baby with his old man, laughed at him, and told him her dreams, and always made up something to force him to tell it again. Once again, the old man looked at his "little daughter Nellie", and he was even more happy and proud, because with her, he was very happy every day, and he became happier and happier. "Because we have suffered so much, God has given her to us all," he said to me once, after he had just come from Nellie's room, and had crossed her as usual, and wished her good night. Every evening, when we all got together (Masloboyev came almost every evening), sometimes the old doctor came, who had fallen in love with the Ikhmenevs with all his heart, and was very attached to them. She; Nellie also sits in comfort The chair was lifted out and sat next to us at the round table.The door to the terrace was open.The small garden, which is illuminated by the setting sun and full of shade, has a panoramic view.From the garden came the fresh scent of grass and fresh lilacs.nelly sitting Watching us all lovingly from his easy chair and listening to us.Sometimes she came alive and began to say something without knowing it... But at such moments we all listened to her with trepidation, because There are topics in her recollections that we dare not touch upon.That day, when she was disturbed and in great pain, and wanted to tell us about her life experience, Natasha, Ihmenev, I, and I all felt that we were very sorry for her.doctor I am particularly opposed to making such memories, and everyone always tries to change the subject.Under such circumstances, Uchimaki tried not to reveal it to us, she understood our painstaking efforts, but deliberately joked with the doctor or Nikolai Sergeyitch... However, her condition got worse and worse.She has become extremely sensitive.Her heart was beating irregularly.The doctor even told me that she might die soon. I did not tell the Ikhmenevs this, so as not to disturb them.尼古拉・谢尔盖伊奇坚信――她的病在动身前肯定会康复。 “听，爸爸也回来啦，”娜塔莎听见他说话的声音后说道，“咱们进去吧，万尼亚。” 尼古拉・谢尔盖伊奇按照老习惯一跨过门槛便开始大声说话。安娜・安德烈耶芙娜向他连连摆手。老爷子便立刻安静下来，看见我和娜塔莎后，他连忙心急火燎地悄声告诉我 们他此番奔走的收获：他为之奔走的那份工作已经到手了，因此他很高兴。 “再过两星期就可以走马上任啦，”他握着两手说道，关切地斜过眼去看了一眼娜塔莎。但是娜塔莎笑而不答，走过来拥抱他，他见状心中的疑虑便一下子烟消云散了。 “要走马上任啦，要走马上任啦，我的朋友们，要走马上任啦！”他欢天喜地地说道，“不过就是你，万尼亚，要跟你分别让人觉得难过……（我要指出，他一次也没建议让 我跟他们一起去，按照他的性格，他是一定会提出这一建议的……如果换了种情况，也就是说，如果他不知道我爱娜塔莎的话。 ) “嗯，但是有什么办法呢，朋友们，有什么办法呢！我感到很难过，万尼亚；但是换个地方就会使我们大家焕发出生机……换个地方――也就是换了一切”他又一次瞥了娜塔 莎一眼，补充道。 他相信这个，而且对自己的这一信念感到高兴。 “那内莉呢？”安娜・安德烈耶芙娜问。 “内莉？那有什么……宝贝儿，她有点小毛病，但是到走的时候她肯定会好起来的。现在，她就好些了：你看呢，万尼亚？”他仿佛害怕似的问道，又担心地看着我，仿佛只 有我才能解决他的困惑似的。 “她怎么样？她睡得好吗？她没出什么问题吧？她现在是不是醒了？安娜・安德烈耶芙娜，你知道吗：咱们快把小桌搬到露台上去，等茶饮一拿来，咱们的人都来了，咱们就 坐下，那时候内莉也就会出来跟咱们坐在一块了……瞧，这多好呀。难道她还没醒吗7我进去看看她。就看她一眼……你放心，不会吵醒她的！”他看到安娜・安德烈耶芙娜又向他 连连摆手，便加了一句。 但是内莉已经醒了。十分钟后，我们大家照老样子又围坐在茶桌旁，喝起了晚茶。 内莉坐在安乐椅上被抬到露台。大夫来了，马斯洛博耶夫也来了。他给内莉带来了一大束丁香；但是他自己却似乎心事重重，好像挺懊恼似的。 顺便说说：马斯洛博耶夫几乎每天都来。我已经说过，大家，尤其是安娜・安德烈耶芙娜非常喜欢他，但是我们从来只字不提亚历山德拉・谢苗诺芙娜；连马斯洛博耶夫也不 提她。因为安娜・安德烈耶芙娜听我说过，亚历山德拉・谢苗诺芙娜还没来得及成为他的合法妻子，因此就暗自决定，在家里既不能接待她，也不许谈到她。于是大家也就照此办 理，这活画出安娜・安德烈耶芙娜的性格。不过话又说回来，如果她没有娜塔莎，而主要是不曾发生过已经发生过的那些事，说不定她也就不会这么挑剔了。 这天晚上，内莉不知道为什么特别闷闷不乐，甚至好像有什么心事似的。仿佛她做了一个噩梦，现在在想这梦似的。不过，她非常喜欢马斯洛博耶夫的礼物，喜孜孜地观赏着 插在她面前一只玻璃杯里的这束鲜花。 “那么说，你非常喜欢花噗，内莉？”老爷子问，“等等！”他精神振奋地加了一句，“明天吧……嗯，你会亲眼看到的！……” “喜欢，”内莉答道，“我还记得，我们曾用鲜花欢迎过妈妈。我们还在那儿（那儿，现在指国外）的时候，有一次妈妈病了整整一个月。我和宇里希说好了，等她能够下床 ，第一次走出自己卧室的时候（她已经整整一个月没出房间了），我们就用鲜花把所有的房间布置起来。我们也就这么做了。头天晚上妈妈就告诉我们，明天早上她一定要出来跟 我们一起用早点。那天，我们起得很早。亭里希拿来了好多好多鲜花，于是我们就把整个房间用绿叶和花带装饰起来。有常春藤，还有一种叶子很宽很宽的――我也不知道叫什么 名字――还有一些带小毛毛的叶子，抓住什么东西就不放，还有不少白色的很大的花，还有水仙花，我最喜欢水仙花了，还有月季花，很漂亮的月季花，花多极了多极了。我们把 它们全连成串地和种在花盆里摆设起来，还有一些花大极了，像棵树，种在大木桶里；我们把它们布置在房间的四角和妈妈坐的安乐椅旁，妈妈一出来，惊讶极了，可开心啦，字 里希也很高兴……到现在我还记得这事……” 这天晚上内莉显得特别衰弱，神经也特别脆弱。大夫不安地注视着她。但是她非常想说话。她说了很长时间，一直说到天黑，说的都是她过去在国外的生活；我们没有打断她 if.她在国外同妈妈和亭里希游览了许多地方，昔日的回忆鲜明如画地出现在她的脑海。她激动地谈到湛蓝的天空，她看到和路过的白雪皑皑、遍地冰雪的高山和山间瀑布；然 后她又谈到意大利的湖泊和溪谷，谈到鲜花和树木，谈到乡村的居民，谈到他们的服饰，谈到他们晒得黑黑的脸和乌黑的眼睛；她还谈到他们遇到的形形色色的人和事。然后她又 谈到一座座大城市和一座座宫殿，谈到一座带圆顶的高高的教堂，圆顶上装饰着各种灯彩，霎时间整个圆顶灯火通明，好看极了；然后她又谈到一座炎热的南方城市，碧空如洗， 碧波荡漾……内莉从来没有给我们这么详细地说过她自己的回忆。我们都全神贯注地听着她讲。迄今为止，我们大家知道的只是她的另外一些回忆――在一座阴霾蔽日的阴森森的 城市里，到处是一片使人感到压抑和头昏脑胀的气氛，到处是被污染的空气，珍贵的宫殿总是斑斑驳驳，脏兮兮的；阳光暗淡，了无生气，这里的人也都坏，而且都是些疯子，她 和妈妈受够了这些人的罪。于是我眼前浮现出：过去，她俩住在一个肮脏的地下室里，在一个潮湿而又明暗的夜晚，两人互相偎依着，躺在她们贫寒的床铺上，回忆着过去，回忆 着已故的亭里希和他国的奇异景色……我也浮想联翩地想到内莉，这时她已没有了妈妈，只能独自回忆这一切，而布勒诺娃却想用殴打和残酷的兽行压服她，迫使她去干见不得人 的事…… 但是内莉终于觉得不对劲了，只能把她送回房间。老爷子很害怕，也很懊恼，悔不该让她说这么多话的。她好像老毛病犯了，仿佛不省人事似的。她这种旧病复发已闹过好几 I'm back.这次发作完以后，内莉坚决要求见我。她有话要跟我一个人说。她再三央求，以致这次大夫也主张应当满足她的愿望，于是大家都走出了房间。 “是这么回事，万尼亚，”就剩下我们两人的时候，内莉说，“我知道，他们以为我会跟他们一起走；但是我是不会走的，因为我不能走，我准备暂时留在你身边，因此，我 要把这事告诉你。 " 我开始劝她；我说，在伊赫梅涅夫家，大家都很喜欢她，把她当作自己的亲生女儿。而且大家会非常舍不得她的。再说，住我那儿，她会觉得很不方便的，虽说我非常爱她， 但是没办法，只好分手。 “不，不成！”内莉固执地答道，“因为最近我常常梦见妈妈，而且她让我别跟她们走，要留在这里；她说我撇下外公一个人，罪孽就大了，她说这话的时候还一个劲地哭。 我要留在这儿侍候外公，万尼亚。 " “但是你外公不是已经死了吗，内莉，”我诧异地听完了她的话，说道。 她想了想，定睛看了看我。 “万尼亚，你再告诉我一遍外公是怎么死的，”她说，“全都告诉我，什么事也不要漏掉。” 我对她的这一要求感到很诧异，不过我还是详详细细地向她重述了一遍。我疑心她在说胡话，起码，旧病复发后，她的脑袋还没完全清醒。 她注意地听完了我的叙述，我记得，在我讲的时候，她那黑眼睛闪耀着涌苦的、激动的光芒，她一直目不转睛地盯着我。屋里已经黑了。 “不，万尼亚，他没有死！”她把我的话都听完了，又想了想，然后坚决地说道。“妈妈最近常常向我说到外公，可是我昨天对她说'外公不是死了吗'的时候，她很伤心， 哭了，她告诉我外公没有死，是人家放意说他死了的，他现在在要饭，'就像咱俩过去常常要饭一样，'妈妈说，'他常常在老地方要饭，就是咱俩头一次遇到他，我趴在他脚下 ，阿佐尔卡认出了我的那地方……'” “内莉，这是梦呀，是病人在做梦，因为你现在有病呀，”我对她说。 “我自己也老想，这不过是梦，”内莉说，“因此我没对任何人说。我想把这一切就告诉你一个人。但是今天，你没来，我就睡着了，我居然梦见厂外公。他坐在他家里等我 ，他的样子是那么可怕，那么瘦。他说他已经有两天什么东西也没有吃了，阿佐尔卡也什么都没有吃，他很生我的气，责备我。他还对我说，他一点鼻烟也没有了，而没有鼻烟他 是活不下去的。万尼亚，这倒是真的，他这话过去就对找说过一次，也就是妈妈死了，我去看他的时候。当时他病得很重，几乎不省人事。因此我今天一听到他说这话，我就想， 我要去讨钱，站在桥头，讨到钱后就去给他买面包，买煮熟的土豆和鼻烟。仿佛我就站在那里向人讨钱似的，我看到外公在附近走来走去，他迟疑了一下，便向我走过来，看了看 ，把我讨到的钱统统拿走了。他说，这是买面包的，现在再去要点买烟的钱。我讨到了钱，他就过来把钱抢走了。我对他说，他不向我拿，我也会把钱统统给他的，决不给自己藏 一文钱。他说：'不，你会偷我的东西的；连布勒诺娃也跟我说过你是小偷，因此我再不让你上我那儿去了，决不。还有一个五戈比的钢(钅崩)儿你藏哪儿啦？'因为他不相信我 ，我哭了，可是他根本不理我，还是一个劲地嚷嚷：'你偷了一个五戈比的钢(钅崩)儿！'说罢就开始打我，就在那儿桥头，打得可疼了。我就大哭……万尼亚，因此现在我想， 他一定还活着，一个人在什么地方走来走去，等我上他那儿去哩……”我又开始劝她，劝她不要相信莫须有的事，末了她好像给我说服了。她回答说，她现在就怕睡着，因为一睡 着就会梦见外公。末了，她紧紧地拥抱了我…… “不过，我还是不能离开你，万尼亚！”她用她的小脸蛋贴着我的脸，说道，“就算外公不在了，我也不能跟你分开。” 全家上下都给内莉的这次旧病复发吓坏了。我把她的种种梦幻告诉了大夫，并斩钉截铁地问他，他到底对她的病怎么看。 “暂时还无可奉告，”他一边考虑一边答道，“眼下我还在猜测、思考和观察，但是……一切都不能肯定。总的说，要康复是不可能的。她一定会死。这话我没有告诉他们， 因为您硬要我说，我就说了，但是我很后悔，我建议明天进行一次会诊。会诊以后这病会有转机也说不定。但是，我很可怜这小姑娘，就像可怜我的女儿一样……多可爱，多可爱 的小姑娘啊！瞧她的脑子多活跃呀！ " 尼古拉・谢尔盖伊奇尤其着急。 “万尼亚，我想到这么一个主意，”他说，“她非常喜欢花。你猜怎么着？等她明天一醒过来，咱们就用鲜花来迎接她，就像她今天说的她和那个亨里希把房间布置起来欢迎 她妈妈一样……瞧她说这话的时候多激动呀……＂ “就因为太激动嘛，”我回答，“激动现在对她有害……” “不错，但是愉快的激动是另一回事！要相信，余爱的，要相信我的经验，愉快的激动是不要紧的；愉快的激动甚至能包治百病，有利于健康……＂ 一句话，老爷子想出来的这主意把他自己完全迷住了，他一想到答主意就得意非凡。要不同意他的想法是不可能的。我问了大夫的意见，但是大夫还没来得及考虑好，老爷子 已经一把抓起自己的帽子，跑出去办这事去了。 “告诉你吧，”他临走时对我说，“离这儿不远有个花洞子；这花洞子很阔气。花匠们出售鲜花，可以上那买，而且非常便宜！……甚至便宜得让人吃惊！你可以把这事跟安 娜・安德烈耶芙娜打个招呼，要不她会马上生气的，怪我乱花钱……嗯，就这么回事，朋友：你现在上哪？你不是完稿了吗，干吗还要急着回家？就住我们这儿吧，在楼上，在那 间亮堂堂的小房间里：记得吗，跟从前一样。你的床垫和床――一切都保持原样，没动过。你会像法国国王一样睡得又甜又香的。How about it?别走啦。明天早点儿醒，等花一拿来， 咱俩就在八点前把整个房间布置好。娜塔莎会来帮忙的：要知道，她的审美力比咱俩都强……嗯，你同意吗？愿意在这里住一宿吗？ " 终于决定了，我留在这里过夜。老爷子把买花的事办妥了。大夫和马斯洛博耶夫也告辞走了。伊赫梅涅夫家睡得早，十一点就睡了。临走时，马斯洛博耶夫若有所思，他有话 要跟我说，但是决定推迟到下一回再说。我向两位老人道别后就上楼到我从前住过的那间亮堂堂的小房间里去了，使我惊奇的是我又在那里看见了他。他正坐在小桌旁翻阅一本书 ，在等我。 “半道上又回来了，万尼亚，我想，还不如现在说好。坐。你知道吗，这事真浑，真让人恼火……” “到底是什么事？” “你那公爵真是个卑鄙小人，还在两星期前就把我气得够呛；气得我到现在还一肚子气。” “怎么，怎么回事？难道你跟公爵还有来往？” “哼，瞧你现在说的：'怎么，怎么回事？'倒像上帝知道是怎么回事似的。你呀，万尼亚老弟，你就跟我那亚历山德拉・谢苗诺芙娜一样，总之，跟那些讨厌的娘们没两样 ……我最讨厌娘们了！……一听见乌鸦叫――立刻就'怎么，怎么回事？'” “你别生气嘛。” “我压根儿没生气，万事应当看得平平常常，不要夸大……真是的。” 他沉默了一会儿，好像还在生我的气。我没跟他打岔。 “我说伙计，”他又开口道，“我发现了一条线索……就是说，其实根本没有发现，也没有任何线索，仅仅是我觉得这样罢了……就是说，我根据某些想法推断出，内莉…… 也许是……总之一句话，也许是公爵的合法的女儿。 " “你说什么！” “啊呀，马上又吼起来了：'你说什么！'跟这些人就没法说话！”他使劲挥了挥手，叫道。“我难道跟你说什么肯定的东西了吗，你这个不动脑筋的人？我跟你说她是已经 证实了的公爵的合法的女儿了吗？我有没有说过这话？ ..." “我说老同学，”我非常激动地打断了他的话，“看在上帝分上，你先别嚷嚷，还是丁是丁卯是卯地说说清楚。上帝作证，我会明白你的意思的。你要明白，这事有多重要， 后果有多严重……” “后果的确很严重，但是这后果从何而来呢？证据在哪儿？事情不应当这么办嘛，我现在是秘密告诉你的。我为什么要跟你说这话呢――以后再作解释。就是说，这样做总有 这样做的道理。你老老实实听着，别言语，要知道，这一切都是秘密…… “要知道，是这么回事。还在冬天，还在史密斯没死以前，那时，公爵刚从华沙回来，他就开始调查这事了。就是说，开始调查这事要早得多，早在去年就开始了。但是当时 他只追查一件事，而现在则追查起了另一件事。主要是他断了线。他在巴黎同史密斯那妞分手，抛弃她以后，已经过去了十三年，但是在这十三年中他始终不渝地在监视她的行踪 ，他知道她曾和亨里希同居，今天内莉也谈到了他，他也知道她有一个孩子，叫内莉，他也知道她本人有病；总之，他什么都知道，可是忽然线断了。这似乎发生在亭里希死后不 久，史密斯那妞准备回彼得堡的时候。在彼得堡，不用说，不管她回到俄罗斯后如何隐姓埋名，他也能找到她；问题在于他在国外雇的那帮侦探用假证据欺骗了他：他们硬要他相 信她住在德国南部一个偏僻的小镇里；这帮侦探由于工作马虎也上了当――他们把一个女人当成了另一个女人。这情况继续了一年或者一年多一点。过了一年后，公爵开始怀疑了 ：根据某些事实判断，他过去就觉得这女人不是她。现在的问题是：史密斯的真女儿上哪儿了呢？他忽然想到（不过随便一想，并无真凭实据）：她会不会就在彼得堡呢？他派人 在国外调查的同时，便有意在这里另行调查，但是他显然不愿意经由太官方的途径，于是便认识了我。有人把我推荐给他：说我如何如何，承揽一应业务，是个业余侦探――等等 ，等等…… “嗯，于是他就向我说明了事情原委；不过这龟孙子说得含糊其词，含含糊糊而又让人摸不着头脑。他的话漏洞百出，颠三倒四地说了好几遍，一些事实在同一个时间里用不 同的方式作了不同的说明……嗯，自然，尽管他狡猾透顶，也不能把所有的线索都藏着掖着。不用说，开头我低三下四，显得心地很单纯――总之，显得奴颜婢膝，忠心耿耿；但 是根据我一以贯之的原则，并且也根据自然法则（因为这是自然法则），我想，第一：他之所以需要我，他说的是不是实情？第二：在这个说出来的目的后面是不是还另有没说出 来的目的？如果是后一种情况，我亲爱的，大概连你那诗人的脑瓜也会明白――我就吃了他的大亏了：因为他要达到一个目的。譬如说吧，值一个卢布，而要达到另一个目的，价 钱就应该是原来的四倍，如果我把值四卢布的东西按一卢布卖给他，我岂不成大傻瓜了。我开始深入了解情况，慢慢地终于摸到了一些线索；一条线索是从他那儿套出来的，另一 条线索是从不相干的人那儿探听来的，至于第三条线索嘛，是我自己开动脑筋想出来的。你说不定会问我：你为什么偏要干这事呢？我的回答是：就凭公爵心急火燎，似乎很害怕 的样子，我也得干。因为，说实在的，公爵有什么可害怕的呢？他把他的情人拐跑了，离开了她的父亲，等她怀孕后，又抛弃了她。哼，这有什么稀奇呢？无非是偷香窃玉，少年 风流，逢场作戏罢了。公爵不是这种人，哪会害怕这个呢！嗯，可是他却害怕了……于是我就起了疑心。顺便提一下，老伙计，我通过亨里希发现了一些饶有兴趣的线索。certainly, 亨里希已经死了。但是他有个表妹（在这里，在彼得堡，现在嫁给了一个面包师），过去热烈地爱过他，而且连续十五年一直钟情于他，尽管她跟那个胖面包师无意中生了八个孩 son.不瞒你说，就是从这个表妹身上，经过我连蒙带骗，小施手腕，终于打听到了一件很重要的事：亨里希按照德国人的习惯既爱写信，又爱记日记，临死前又把自己的一些文件 寄给了她。但是她这傻瓜却不懂得这些信的重要，她只懂得在这些信的某些地方讲到了月亮，讲到了我亲爱的奥古斯丁①，好像还讲到了维兰德②。但是我却得到了我所需要的情 报，并通过这些信件发现了新的线索。譬如说，我知道了史密斯先生，知道了被他女儿卷逃的财产，知道了把这笔钱攫为己有的公爵；除此以外，信中在一片长吁短叹、转弯抹角 、别有所指的字里行间，还向我透露出一件真正有用的东西：就是说，万尼亚，你明白吗！一句肯定的话也没有。亨里希这混帐东西故意隐瞒这事，只作了一些暗示，可是我把些 暗示加在一起却得出了一个首尾相应、顺理成章的结论：公爵肯定同史密斯那妞结婚了！在哪儿结的婚？怎么结的婚？究竟在什么时候？在国外还是在这里？结婚证书在哪儿？― ―这一切都不得而知。也就是说，万尼亚老弟，我懊恼得直揪自己的头发，我找呀找呀，没日没夜地到处查找！ “我终于查到了史密斯，他却冷不丁死了。甚至他活着的时候，我都没来得及看到他。就在这时候，也是机缘凑巧，我突然打听到了有一个对我来说可疑的女人在瓦西里岛死 了，我一调查便发现了线索。我急忙跑到瓦西里岛，记得吗，当时咱俩不期而遇。那回我搞到了很多情况。一句话，这事内莉帮了我很大的忙……” “我说，”我打断了他，“难道你认为，内莉知道……” ①见本书第一部第一章注。 ②维兰德（一七三三-一八一三），德国古典作家，着名童话集《奥伯龙》（一七八０）的作者。 "what do you know?" “知道她是公爵的女儿？” “你不是也知道她是公爵的女儿吗？”他愤愤然责怪地看着我，答道，“你这人真无聊，提这种没用的问题做什么？主要的问题并不在这儿，而在于她知道她不仅是公爵的女 儿，而且是公爵的合法女儿――你明白这道理吗？ " “不可能！”我叫道。 “起先我也对自己说'不可能'，甚至现在我有时候也对自己说'不可能'！但是问题就在于这是可能的，而且可以十拿九稳地说，正是这样。” “不，马斯洛博耶夫，不是这样，你想入非非了，”我叫道，“她不仅不知道这事，而且她也真是私生女。如果她母亲手里多少有一些凭据，难道她能在彼得堡贫病交加，苦 度岁月吗？此外，她还撇下自己的孩子孤苦伶仃，无依无靠？得啦吧，这是不可能的。 " “我也想到过这点，就是说，甚至到现在我也百思不得其解。但是话又说回来，问题在于史密斯那妞本人是世界上最没有理智和最不可理喻的女人。她是一个不能用常理推断 的女人；你只要想想所有的情况：要知道，这是一种浪漫主义――这一切乃是一种超然物外的胡闹，非但没有任何道理，而且达到了疯狂的程度。就拿一件事说吧：从一开始，她 幻想的就只是一种类似于人间天堂的东西，周围有天使在翱翔，她舍身忘我地爱上了一个人，而且无限地信任他，我相信，她后来之所以发疯，倒不是因为他不爱她而且抛弃了她 ，而是因为她看错了人，而这人居然会欺骗她和抛弃她；而是因为她心目中的天使变成了臭狗屎，而这堆臭狗屎还居然唾弃她，使她陷于万劫不复的境地、她那浪漫主义的、疯狂 的心受不了这个剧变。此外还有她那说不出的气恼：你明白吗，多气人啊！因为这凄惨的遭遇，而主要是她的自尊心受到了伤害，因此她才以无限的轻蔑与他一刀两断。她与他断 绝了一切关系，撕毁了所有的文件；她唾弃了金钱，甚至忘了这钱并不是她的，而是她父亲的，她不要钱，把钱视同粪土，她想用她的博大胸怀来压倒欺骗她的骗子，为的是可以 把他看作贼，因而有权一辈子蔑视他，当时，她可能还说过，过去，她一度被称为他的妻子，她认为，这无异是奇耻大辱。我国不时兴离婚，但实际上①他俩是离了，既然离了婚 ，她怎能向他请求帮助呢！你想想，她这疯子都快死了，还对内莉说：别去找他们，要干活，哪怕冻死饿死，也不要去找他们，不管是谁来叫你（就是说这时候她还幻想会有人来 叫她去，不去，就多了一个报复的机会，用轻蔑来压倒前来叫她的人――一句话，她不是以面包果腹，而是以怨怼和幻想来苦度岁月）。老伙计，我从内莉的嘴里问出了许多情况 ；甚至现在，有时候我还旁敲侧击地问她。当然，她母亲有病，有痨病；而这病最能助长病人的怨怼和恼怒；但是话又说回来，我有把握，我是通过布勒诺娃的一个亲家知道的， 她给公爵写过信，是的，给公爵，给公爵本人……” “写过信！把信送去了？”我焦急地叫了起来。 “问题就在于我不知道这信有没有送去。有一回，史密斯那妞碰到了干亲家（记得布勒诺娃家有个涂脂抹粉的小妞吗？――这小妞现在进了管教所），她请她把这信捎去，而 且这信她已经写好了，但是她没交给她，又要回去了；这事发生在她死以前三星期……这事是举足轻重的，既然有一回她下过决心要送去，虽然又收回来了，那，反正一样：她也 可能第二次再派人送去。因此，她有没有把这封信送去――我就不知道了；但是我有理由假定，她没有送出去，因为公爵确凿无疑地知道她在彼得堡，而且住在哪里，那似乎已经 是在她死以后的事了。他想必很高兴！ " “