Chapter 9 seven

Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov, like his brother, was first educated at home and then entered the Nobility Academy.He has been beautiful since he was a child, very confident, and has a naughty and unpleasant temper, which wins everyone's love.Since becoming an officer, he has been almost everywhere and favored everywhere.He let himself go, even to the point of absurd nonsense.But it only added to his charm, women were fascinated by him, men called him a dude, but secretly envied him.As has been said, he lived with his brother, whom he loved with all his heart, though they were very different.Nikolai Petrovich walked with a limp, was small and melancholy, with small black eyes and thick soft hair, lazy, socially afraid, and fond of reading.But Pavel Petrovich did not spend a night at home, he was famous for his intelligence and daring (he was the first to introduce gymnastics into the circle of aristocratic youths, and made it fashionable), and he had read no more than five or six books A French novel, promoted to captain at the age of twenty-eight.However, just as a bright future was waiting for him, everything changed suddenly.

A young woman who was often seen in Petersburg society at that time and has not been forgotten until now was Princess P. Duchess P has a well-bred, polite but stupid husband, but no children.She often goes abroad suddenly and returns to Russia suddenly, and her life style is very peculiar.She is flippant and coquettish.For some kind of satisfaction, even to get carried away, one can dance to the point of exhaustion.She entertained young people in her half-dark drawing-room, talked and laughed with them, and at night wept, prayed, restless, walked up and down the room all night, wringed her hands in agony, or sat still, With a pale and indifferent face, he quietly read the psalms in the Old Testament.But in the daytime of the next day, she became a noble lady again, went out to visit again, and started chatting and laughing again, as if looking for opportunities to have fun.She was slim and richly dressed, with long, heavy braids of gold falling to her knees.However, no one said that she was a peerless beauty. Her eyes were the most beautiful in her face, but they were too small and gray.But her eyes, the unfathomable eyes, were so quick and deep, sometimes bold as if they wanted to, and sometimes so thoughtful that they seemed lonely.There is always an extraordinary twinkle in her eyes, even when she is making endless small talk.Pavel Petrovich met her at a ball, invited her to dance a mazurka, and fell in love with her passionately, though he did not hear a single serious word from her during the dance.He is a man who often wins, and this time he quickly achieved his goal.The goal has been achieved, but the passion has not diminished a little. On the contrary, he is firmly bound to this woman.There was something precious and unfathomable about this woman, even in her irretrievable innocence once donated, which was impossible to see through.What is buried in her heart? —God only knows!It seemed that she was subject to a mysterious force against which she herself could not fight.This power teased her at will, and kept her little head bound.Her every move is so abnormal, the only letter that can arouse her husband's suspicion is to a man she doesn't know well, but love makes her sad: don't laugh at her lover, don't make trouble, just listen to him said, casting him a puzzled look.Sometimes, mostly suddenly, from confusion to indifference, with a death-like expression on her face, she locked herself in the bedroom, and the maid put her ear above the keyhole and could hear her weeping.On more than one occasion, Kirsanov returned home after a tryst and suddenly felt a tear in his heart of regret, and this kind of regret usually only occurs when he has suffered a complete failure. "What more do I want?" he asked himself, his heart aching.Once he gave her a jeweled ring engraved with the face of a sphinx.

"What is this?" she asked. "Sphinx?" "Yes," he replied. "The sphinx is you." "Me?" She raised her head slowly and looked at him with her unpredictable eyes, "Isn't this a compliment to me?" She said, with a nameless smile on her face, her eyes were still so strange when looking at people. Pavel Petrovich heart when Duchess P loved him Head heavy, and when indifference to him--which happened quickly--was almost mad: restlessness, pain, jealousy, stalking her, keeping her from peace.Impatient with pestering, she went abroad, but Pavel Petrovich, ignoring the persuasion of his friends and the advice of his superiors, resigned from the army and set off abroad to find Princess P.He spent four years in a foreign country, sometimes following her, sometimes avoiding her, he was ashamed of himself, angry at his own weakness... But there was no way, her image was indescribable The almost meaningless, yet seductive image of him was engraved on his mind and could never be erased.In Baden, they were reconciled, and even she had never loved him more than this time... But after a month, it was over, and the fire of love was extinguished forever after its last spark.He had a premonition that they were about to break up, and hoped to be her friend in the future. It seemed that he could still maintain some kind of friendship with such a woman... But she quietly left Baden, and since then she has avoided seeing Kirsanov.He had wanted to return to his old life, he had drifted like a maniac, he had gone abroad again, he retained all the habits of aristocratic society, and he could boast of two or three new victories in love. , but he no longer aspired to any special achievement, nor made such efforts, he was old and his hair was gray.Sitting in the clubs every night and having cold arguments with the bachelor circles had become a necessity of his life.But we know that this is a bad phenomenon.Of course he didn't even think about getting married.Ten years passed by, time was frighteningly fast, with neither color nor fruit.Nowhere in Russia does time pass so quickly, and it is said that time passes even faster in a cell.One day Pavel Petrovich was having lunch at the club when he received news that the Duchess P. had died, in Paris, almost in a state of mental insanity.He stood up and wandered around the various rooms of the club for a long time, sometimes standing beside his poker players in a daze, motionless.However, he did not return to his apartment early because of this.Some time later he received a package containing a diamond ring he had presented to Duchess P.She made the sign of the cross on the sphinx, and bade the sender tell him that the cross was the answer to the riddle.

This happened in 1948, just as Nikolai Petrovich came to Petersburg after his widowhood.Pavel Petrovich had hardly seen his brother since he had settled in the country, and his brother's wedding took place at exactly the same time as his acquaintance with Princess P.Pavel Petrovich had been a guest with his brother after returning from abroad, intending to stay for a couple of months to see how happy he was, but in the end he only stayed for a full week—the situation between the two brothers was very different.By 1948, however, the gap between them had narrowed: Nikolai Petrovich had lost his wife, Pavel Petrovich had lost his memory—after the death of Princess P he tried not to think of her anymore.But in Nikolai, seeing his son grow up, he has the feeling that his life has not been wasted. As for Pavel, it is just the opposite: alone, it is getting closer to dusk, that is, the period when regrets are like hopes, and hopes are like regrets. Not yet come, but youth is gone.

This period was more difficult for Pavel Petrovich than for others, because he lost his past and everything else. "I no longer invite you to Marino," Nikolai Petrovich once said to him (Nicholas named his village Marino in honor of his late wife), "you were at the It was lonely there, and now, I don't think you can stay there at all." "I was stupid and restless then," replied Pavel Petrovich. "I have since grown quieter, though not wiser. On the contrary, I would like to stay longer, if you allow me." Nikolai Petrovich gave an embrace instead of an answer.A year and a half later Pavel fulfilled his promise, stayed there and never left, not even during the three winters when Nikolai Petrovich went to Petersburg to be with his son.He started to read, mostly in English.In general, his daily life is generally in the British way.He rarely socialized with his neighbors, and only went out during elections, but there he was silent more than speaking, and occasionally said a few words. Get close to representatives of the younger generation.Representatives of the old and new generations thought he was conceited, but respected him for his outstanding aristocratic manners; respected him also because he was heard that he was often proud of his love, he was well-dressed, he often lived in the first-class hotels, the best rooms, and had plenty of food. and even lunched once with Wellington at Louis-Philippe's; respect him, for he always carried silver and a traveling tub with him when he went out, and always had a peculiar " Noble and nice" perfume, who loves to play whist and loses every time; finally, because his honesty is impeccable.The ladies thought he possessed a charming melancholy temperament, but it was a pity that they rarely interacted with them...

-------- ①Louis Philippe (Louis Philippe, 1830-1848), the last monarch of France, was abolished during the February Revolution in 1848 and fled to England. ② Wellington (A.W. Wellington, 1869-1852), British commander-in-chief and state minister, a Conservative Party member, once cooperated with the Prussian army and defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. "You see, Yevgeny," concluded Arkady after his history, "how unfairly you have judged my uncle! I did not mention that he gave more than once to save my father from adversity. As you may not know, they never separated; he was happy to help anyone, even to the peasants, though he frowned when he spoke to them and kept sniffing his perfume..."

"It's obvious: the nerves are weak," Bazarov interrupted. "Perhaps so, but he had a good heart and was by no means a blind man. He gave me a lot of good advice . . . especially in dealing with women." "Ha! Once the milk scalds your mouth, blow three breaths when you see water, I know that!" "In short," continued Arkady, "he is unfortunate. Believe me: to despise him—that is a crime." "Who despises him?" Bazarov retorted, "but I still want to say that if a man spends his whole life on the card of women's love, if he loses the card and becomes depressed, nothing will happen." If he can't, he's not a man, he's just a male animal. You say he's unlucky, and of course you know better than I do, but there's nothing wrong with his stupidity. I'm sure he still looks like a He regards himself as a man of business, because he reads the newspaper "Galinyas" and speaks for the peasants once a month, so that the peasants will not be whipped."

"You have to take into account his education and the era he was in." "Education?" Bazarov interjected, "everyone should educate himself, like me... As for the times, why should I adapt to the times? I should let the times adapt to me. No, brother, all this is boring Extreme! What is the mystery of the relationship between a man and a woman? We, who study biology, understand what it is. You read the anatomy of the eye, how can you find the mysterious eyes you say? This is all romanticism, nonsense, Old rotten corn, artistic imagination, better let's go to the beetles."

The two friends went to Bazarov's bedroom.The bedroom smelled of surgical alcohol and cheap tobacco.