Next morning. Typical holiday weather. Temperature below freezing, a cutting wind, rain, mud, and a smell of naphthaline, because my maman has taken all her wraps out of her trunks. A devilish morning! It is the 7th of August, 1887, the date of the solar eclipse. I may here remark that at the time of an eclipse every one of us may, without special astronomical knowledge, be of the greatest service. Thus, for example, anyone of us can (1) take the measurement of the diameters of the sun and the moon; (2) sketch the corona of the sun; (3) take the temperature; (4) take observations of plants and animals during the eclipse; (5) note down his own impressions, and so on.

第二天一早，天氣好得沒話說。那叫一個凍得扎肉，風如刀割，爛泥遍地，大雨瓢潑，家里還彌漫著一股染料的味道，誰叫我媽從大衣柜里把她的圍巾全拿出來了。這天是八七年八月七號，有日食。在這里我要說明一下，我們每一個人無論懂不懂天文，都可以在日食的時候作出極大的貢獻。舉例來說，①記錄日月直徑；②畫出日冕；③測量溫度；④觀察日食時植物和動物的反應；⑤記錄個人感想，等等等等。

It is a matter of such exceptional importance that I lay aside the “Past and Future of the Dog Licence” and make up my mind to observe the eclipse.

日食面前我破例扔下了“論養(yǎng)犬證之沿革”，決定觀測這難得的奇遇。

We all get up very early, and I divide the work as follows: I am to measure the diameter of the sun and moon; the wounded officer is to sketch the corona; and the other observations are undertaken by Mashenka and the variegated young ladies.

我們都起了個大早，我分配了各人的任務(wù)：我來測日月直徑，大爺負責畫日冕，其他的工作都交給雅婷和那幫姑娘去干。

We all meet together and wait.

我們聚到一起，靜靜等著。

“What is the cause of the eclipse? “ asks Mashenka.

“為什么會日食？”雅婷問道。

I reply: “A solar eclipse occurs when the moon, moving in the plane of the ecliptic, crosses the line joining the centres of the sun and the earth.”

我回答說：“當月球運動到太陽和地球中間，如果三者正好處在一條直線時，月球就會擋住太陽射向地球的光，月球身后的黑影正好落到地球上，這時發(fā)生日食現(xiàn)象。”

“And what does the ecliptic mean?”

“真的有天狗嗎？”

I explain. Mashenka listens attentively.

我解釋了一通。雅婷聚精會神地聽著。

“Can one see through the smoked glass the line joining the centres of the sun and the earth?” she enquires.

“用煙熏玻璃能看見連著太陽和地球的那條線嗎？”她問道。

I reply that this is only an imaginary line, drawn theoretically.

我回答說根本沒這么條線，這只是設(shè)想出來的。

“If it is only an imaginary line, how can the moon cross it?” Varenka says, wondering.

“可要是沒這條線月亮怎么會擋住它呢？”婭寧不解道。

I make no reply. I feel my spleen rising at this na?ve question.

我沒說話，覺得血壓有點高。

“It’s all nonsense,” says Mashenka’s maman. “Impossible to tell what’s going to happen. You’ve never been in the sky, so what can you know of what is to happen with the sun and moon? It’s all fancy.”

“胡說八道?！毖沛脣屨f道，“你們又沒上過天，怎么知道天上是怎么回事？都是人編出來的?！?/p>

At that moment a black patch begins to move over the sun. General confusion follows. The sheep and horses and cows run bellowing about the fields with their tails in the air. The dogs howl. The bugs, thinking night has come on, creep out of the cracks in the walls and bite the people who are still in bed.

這時一個黑點漸漸遮住了太陽。四下亂成了一團。牲口們嗷嗷吼叫著在草場奔騰，尾巴飄揚在身后。狗也跟著一塊嗥。蟲子們以為晚上了，紛紛從犄角旮旯爬出來，叮咬那些還沒起床的人。

The deacon, who was engaged in bringing some cucumbers from the market garden, jumped out of his cart and hid under the bridge; while his horse walked off into somebody else’s yard, where the pigs ate up all the cucumbers. The excise officer, who had not slept at home that night, but at a lady friend’s, dashed out with nothing on but his nightshirt, and running into the crowd shouted frantically: “Save yourself, if you can!”

廟里的僧人出來拉了一車黃瓜，這會兒嚇得撂下車躲到橋底下去了，拉車的馬溜溜達達進了別人家院子，那家養(yǎng)的豬一呼隆把黃瓜全吃了。鄉(xiāng)里的收稅官昨晚沒在家睡，下榻在一位女性朋友家，只見他穿著睡衣就沖了出來，一股腦擠進人堆里，沒命地大喊道：“快跑啊！天狗食日啦！”

Numbers of the lady visitors, even young and pretty ones, run out of their villas without even putting their slippers on. Scenes occur which I hesitate to describe.

不少姑娘，包括年輕漂亮的在內(nèi)紛紛跑出家門，腳上連拖鞋都沒穿。總之是亂了。

“Oh, how dreadful!” shriek the variegated young ladies. “It’s really too awful!”

“怕死人了！”那幫姑娘尖叫道，“怕死人了！”

“Mesdames, watch!” I cry. “Time is precious!”

“日食，日食！幾位快看哪！”我高聲道，“時間不等人！”

And I hasten to measure the diameters. I remember the corona, and look towards the wounded officer. He stands doing nothing.

我剛要記下直徑，突然想起來日冕的事，于是瞅了瞅那位大爺。誰知他就那么站著啥事也不干。

“What’s the matter?” I shout. “How about the corona?

“畫啊！”我咆哮道，“你倒是畫?。　?/p>

He shrugs his shoulders and looks helplessly towards his arms. The poor fellow has variegated young ladies on both sides of him, clinging to him in terror and preventing him from working. I seize a pencil and note down the time to a second. That is of great importance. I note down the geographical position of the point of observation. That, too, is of importance. I am just about to measure the diameter when Mashenka seizes my hand, and says:

他聳聳肩，無奈地朝兩邊看了看。一大幫姑娘貼的貼靠的靠，抓的抓抱的抱，整個把他圍滿了，根本騰不出手畫圖。我抄起一根鉛筆，記下了日食的時間。這可不是小事。我也沒忘寫下觀測點的地理位置，這同樣非同小可。我正要測量直徑，雅婷突然竄出來抓著我的手說：

“Do not forget to-day, eleven o’clock.”

“別忘了，十一點見?！?/p>

I withdraw my hand, feeling every second precious, try to continue my observations, but Varenka clutches my arm and clings to me. Pencil, pieces of glass, drawings — all are scattered on the grass. Hang it! It’s high time the girl realized that I am a man of violent temper, and when I am roused my fury knows no bounds, I cannot answer for myself.

我抽出手，心想時間不等人哪，得趕緊完成測量，結(jié)果婭寧揪著我胳膊就不松開了，死死纏著我不放。這下可好，鉛筆、玻璃、圖畫——統(tǒng)統(tǒng)掉在了草地上。夠了！該叫這倒霉娘們兒知道知道本大爺?shù)膮柡α?，老虎一發(fā)威可不是鬧著玩的。

I try to continue, but the eclipse is over.

我正要測繪，日食結(jié)束了。

“Look at me!” she whispers tenderly.

“看著我！”她柔聲耳語道。

Oh, that is the last straw! Trying a man’s patience like that can but have a fatal ending. I am not to blame if something terrible happens. I allow no one to make a laughing stock of me, and, God knows, when I am furious, I advise nobody to come near me, damn it all! There’s nothing I might not do! One of the young ladies, probably noticing from my face what a rage I am in, and anxious to propitiate me, says:

我忍不了了！她吃了熊心豹子膽了敢這么惹我。把我惹急了真干出什么來我可不負責。我最恨別人拿我當笑話看，我火了，我真火了，誰再敢近我一步我撕了他！真把我惹急了誰也跑不了！有個姑娘大概看見了我臉上的火氣，急忙解勸道：

“I did exactly what you told me, Nikolay Andreitch; I watched the animals. I saw the grey dog chasing the cat just before the eclipse, and wagging his tail for a long while afterwards.”

“阿肅，我都按你說的做了，我去看了動物在干什么。那條灰狗日食之前在追貓，日食之后搖了好久的尾巴。”

So nothing came of the eclipse after all.

得，這場日食算白費了。

I go home. Thanks to the rain, I work indoors instead of on the balcony. The wounded officer has risked it, and has again got as far as “I was born in . . .” when I see one of the variegated young ladies pounce down on him and bear him off to her villa.

我回了家。拜雨天所賜，我沒去陽臺，直接進了屋。隔壁大爺勇氣可嘉，提筆剛寫到“我出生在……”，結(jié)果就被一幫姑娘拉著上她們家去了。

I cannot work, for I am still in a fury and suffering from palpitation of the heart. I do not go to the arbour. It is impolite not to, but, after all, I can’t be expected to go in the rain.

我血往上涌，心臟病都快犯了，根本沒心思動筆。我沒赴亭子的約，照理說有點不對，不過下著雨我實在不想去。

At twelve o’clock I receive a letter from Mashenka, a letter full of reproaches and entreaties to go to the arbour, addressing me as “thou.” At one o’clock I get a second letter, and at two, a third. . . . I must go. . . . But before going I must consider what I am to say to her. I will behave like a gentleman.

十二點我收到雅婷的一封信，滿篇都在怪我放她鴿子，還一個勁請我趕緊過去，信里她管我叫“郎”。一點鐘我又收著一封，接著是第二封，第三封……我還是去吧，再不去我快瘋了……不過我得先想想待會兒說什么，小姑娘家的總得給她留點面子。

To begin with, I will tell her that she is mistaken in supposing that I am in love with her. That’s a thing one does not say to a lady as a rule, though. To tell a lady that one’s not in love with her, is almost as rude as to tell an author he can’t write.

首先我得跟她講明白，我對她壓根就沒意思。當然這話對女人家講有點太無情，跟人家說你看不上她就好比跟作家說他不會寫作一樣。

The best thing will be to explain my views of marriage.

所以最好還是和她講講我對婚姻的看法。

I put on my winter overcoat, take an umbrella, and walk to the arbour.

我披上大衣，拿上雨傘，往亭子去了。

Knowing the hastiness of my temper, I am afraid I may be led into speaking too strongly; I will try to restrain myself.

我脾氣急，一不注意容易把話說重了，得盡量控制點。

I find Nadenka still waiting for me. She is pale and in tears. On seeing me she utters a cry of joy, flings herself on my neck, and says:

到了亭子，雅寧還在那兒等我，臉色蒼白，淚流不止。一見著我，她高興得一聲尖嘯，撲啦一下?lián)ё∥业牟弊樱_口道：

“At last! You are trying my patience. . . . Listen, I have not slept all night. . . . I have been thinking and thinking. . . . I believe that when I come to know you better I shall learn to love you. . . .”

“你可來了！我等你等得好苦……阿肅，我昨天一宿都沒合眼……我想過來想過去……我想等相處久了我一定會愛上你的……”

I sit down, and begin to unfold my views of marriage. To begin with, to clear the ground of digressions and to be as brief as possible, I open with a short historical survey. I speak of marriage in ancient Egypt and India, then pass to more recent times, a few ideas from Schopenhauer. Mashenka listens attentively, but all of a sudden, through some strange incoherence of ideas, thinks fit to interrupt me:

我坐下來，講起了我的婚姻觀。那么首先，為了縮短篇幅，避免誤解，我想簡單談一談歷史。我講了講古埃及和古印度的婚嫁，然后講了講老年間的娶親，又引用了叔本華的一些看法。雅婷聚精會神地聽著，可突然間也不知怎么想的，她一下子打斷了我，說道：

“Nicolas, kiss me!” she says.

“阿肅，來親一個！”

I am embarrassed and don’t know what to say to her. She repeats her request. There seems no avoiding it. I get up and bend over her long face, feeling as I do so just as I did in my childhood when I was lifted up to kiss my grandmother in her coffin. Not content with the kiss, Mashenka leaps up and impulsively embraces me. At that instant, Mashenka’s maman appears in the doorway of the arbour. . . . She makes a face as though in alarm, and saying “sh-sh” to someone with her, vanishes like Mephistopheles through the trapdoor.

我臊得通紅，把要說的話全忘了。她又說了一遍。我心想估計躲不開了，于是站起來在她那張長臉上俯下身，按著小時候我奶奶裝棺材時親她的那一下來了一口。結(jié)果光親還不夠，雅婷又跳起來咔嚓抱了我一下。說時遲那時快，雅婷媽出現(xiàn)在我們面前……她裝作很吃驚的樣子，對旁邊的大娘說了聲“噓”，又悄沒聲不見了。

Confused and enraged, I return to our villa. At home I find Varenka’s maman embracing my maman with tears in her eyes. And my maman weeps and says:

我氣得暈頭轉(zhuǎn)向，又回了家。一開門，整撞見婭寧媽和我媽抱在一塊，老姐倆都噙著淚。我媽哭著說道：

“I always hoped for it!”

“這天我終于等到了！”

And then, if you please, Nadenka’s maman comes up to me, embraces me, and says:

這時雅寧媽走過來，抱了抱我，說道：

“May God bless you! . . . Mind you love her well. . . . Remember the sacrifice she is making for your sake!”

“祝你們幸福美滿！好好對她……別忘了她為你付出的那么多！”

And here I am at my wedding. At the moment I write these last words, my best man is at my side, urging me to make haste. These people have no idea of my character! I have a violent temper, I cannot always answer for myself! Hang it all! God knows what will come of it! To lead a violent, desperate man to the altar is as unwise as to thrust one’s hand into the cage of a ferocious tiger. We shall see, we shall see!

我在婚禮現(xiàn)場。留下最后這幾句話的時候，我朋友正在邊上催我呢。你們把我想得太好欺負了！我可不是沒脾氣的人！老虎一發(fā)威你們就知道了！敢讓我和人成家無異于把她往火坑里送。瞧好吧！瞧好吧！

* * * * *

And so, I am married. Everybody congratulates me and Varenka keeps clinging to me and saying:

就這樣，我結(jié)婚了。大家都跟我道喜，婭寧還是壓在我胳膊上，說道：

“Now you are mine, mine; do you understand that? Tell me that you love me!” And her nose swells as she says it.

“你是我的了，我的了，快說你愛我！你說呀！”她說著話鼻孔一張一張的。

I learn from my best man that the wounded officer has very cleverly escaped the snares of Hymen. He showed the variegated young lady a medical certificate that owing to the wound in his temple he was at times mentally deranged and incapable of contracting a valid marriage. An inspiration! I might have got a certificate too. An uncle of mine drank himself to death, another uncle was extremely absent-minded (on one occasion he put a lady’s muff on his head in mistake for his hat), an aunt of mine played a great deal on the piano, and used to put out her tongue at gentlemen she did not like. And my ungovernable temper is a very suspicious symptom.

我從朋友那兒聽說那位大爺就巧妙逃過了釣女婿的套兒。他直接拿出醫(yī)學證明，說自己負傷后心理受創(chuàng)，無法簽訂婚約。好計策?。≡缰牢乙哺阋粡埲チ?。首先說我有家族病史：我有個叔叔喝酒喝死了，還有個叔叔是個馬大哈（有次他把女人的暖手筒當帽子戴了），我有個嬸嬸天天彈鋼琴，一遇見不順眼的男的就沖人伸舌頭。其次我這個暴脾氣很可以算作有病。

But why do these great ideas always come too late? Why?

我后悔??！這些好辦法我怎么早就沒想到呢？