A GENTLEMAN FRIEND 白日風(fēng)塵

原作契訶夫 Translated by Constance Garnett 1886

THE charming Vanda, or, as she was described in her passport, the “Honourable Citizen Nastasya Kanavkin,” found herself, on leaving the hospital, in a position she had never been in before: without a home to go to or a farthing in her pocket. What was she to do?

走出醫(yī)院，藝名花見羞、原名牛百花的這位姑娘發(fā)現(xiàn)自己來到了前所未有的境地：身上沒錢，眼前無路。這可怎么辦？?

The first thing she did was to visit a pawn-broker’s and pawn her turquoise ring, her one piece of jewellery. They gave her a rouble for the ring... but what can you get for a rouble? You can’t buy for that sum a fashionable short jacket, nor a big hat, nor a pair of bronze shoes, and without those things she had a feeling of being, as it were, undressed. She felt as though the very horses and dogs were staring and laughing at the plainness of her dress. And clothes were all she thought about: the question what she should eat and where she should sleep did not trouble her in the least.

她首先去當(dāng)鋪把她的玉戒指當(dāng)了，結(jié)果只當(dāng)了一塊錢……一塊錢能干什么？這點(diǎn)錢買不了時(shí)髦的小夾克，買不了大檐帽，買不了銅光閃閃的舞鞋，沒了這些東西，花見羞感覺跟光著似的，連街上的牲口都在嘲笑她那身便宜貨。她滿腦子都是衣服，至于吃飯睡覺的事一點(diǎn)沒放在心上。

“If only I could meet a gentleman friend,” she thought to herself, “I could get some money.... There isn’t one who would refuse me, I know. . .”

“有男人就好辦了，”她思忖道，“有男人就有錢……只要我一開口誰能不給呢……”

But no gentleman she knew came her way. It would be easy enough to meet them in the evening at the “Renaissance,” but they wouldn’t let her in at the “Renaissance “in that shabby dress and with no hat. What was she to do?

可大街上一個(gè)熟人也沒有。男人每晚都在“夜未央”扎堆，但憑她這身打扮根本進(jìn)不了門。這可如何是好？

After long hesitation, when she was sick of walking and sitting and thinking, Vanda made up her mind to fall back on her last resource: to go straight to the lodgings of some gentleman friend and ask for money.

想了很久，想到她走累了、坐夠了、也想膩味了，花見羞決定拿出殺手锏：直接上門要。

She pondered which to go to. “Misha is out of the question; he’s a married man.... The old chap with the red hair will be at his office at this time. . .”

她琢磨著該找誰。“不行，姓劉的有媳婦…姓王的這會(huì)兒在上班……”

Vanda remembered a dentist, called Finkel, a converted Jew, who six months ago had given her a bracelet, and on whose head she had once emptied a glass of beer at the supper at the German Club. She was awfully pleased at the thought of Finkel.

花見羞想起一個(gè)牙醫(yī)，那人姓馮，半年前送過她一只鐲子，有天晚上她陪客的時(shí)候還澆了他一腦袋啤酒。一想起姓馮的她止不住地笑。

“He’ll be sure to give it me, if only I find him at home,” she thought, as she walked in his direction. “If he doesn’t, I’ll smash all the lamps in the house.”

“找他要吧，他要是在家的話肯定給我?！彼\所走去，心想著，“要是這孫子不給，我就把他家的燈全砸了?！?/p>

Before she reached the dentist’s door she thought out her plan of action: she would run laughing up the stairs, dash into the dentist’s room and demand twenty-five roubles. But as she touched the bell, this plan seemed to vanish from her mind of itself. Vanda began suddenly feeling frightened and nervous, which was not at all her way. She was bold and saucy enough at drinking parties, but now, dressed in everyday clothes, feeling herself in the position of an ordinary person asking a favour, who might be refused admittance, she felt suddenly timid and humiliated. She was ashamed and frightened.

一路上花見羞美滋滋地計(jì)劃著：等會(huì)兒大笑著跑上樓，沖進(jìn)屋里就管他要二百塊錢?？梢幻介T鈴，先前的計(jì)劃卻打起了退堂鼓?；ㄒ娦咄蝗缓ε铝?，一反常態(tài)地緊張起來。宴樂玩鬧的時(shí)候她潑辣放肆，可現(xiàn)在穿著平常的衣服、打著求情的算盤，自己只不過是個(gè)小百姓，能不能進(jìn)得去還得看人家的臉色。她頓時(shí)泄了氣，自覺得低人一等、戰(zhàn)戰(zhàn)兢兢。

“Perhaps he has forgotten me by now,” she thought, hardly daring to pull the bell. “And how can I go up to him in such a dress, looking like a beggar or some working girl?”

“也許他把我忘了?！被ㄒ娦叩氖衷陂T鈴上猶豫，“我穿得跟要飯的似的可怎么見人哪？”

And she rang the bell irresolutely.

她遲疑著摁響了鈴。

She heard steps coming: it was the porter.

一陣腳步聲響起：看門的來了。

“Is the doctor at home?” she asked.

“馮大夫在家嗎？”她問道。

She would have been glad now if the porter had said “No,” but the latter, instead of answering ushered her into the hall, and helped her off with her coat. The staircase impressed her as luxurious, and magnificent, but of all its splendours what caught her eye most was an immense looking-glass, in which she saw a ragged figure without a fashionable jacket, without a big hat, and without bronze shoes. And it seemed strange to Vanda that, now that she was humbly dressed and looked like a laundress or sewing girl, she felt ashamed, and no trace of her usual boldness and sauciness remained, and in her own mind she no longer thought of herself as Vanda, but as the Nastasya Kanavkin she used to be in the old days....

她滿心希望聽到一句“不在”，誰知道看門的一句話沒說就把她請(qǐng)了進(jìn)去，還幫她脫了外套。樓梯裝修得富麗堂皇，可最惹眼的還要屬一面巨大的鏡子，鏡子里映照著一個(gè)邋邋遢遢的身影，沒有時(shí)髦的小夾克，沒有大檐帽，也沒有銅光閃閃的鞋。說來奇怪，一換上普通人的衣服，花見羞一貫的潑辣和放肆全都沒影了，就連花見羞這個(gè)名號(hào)也仿佛離她而去，她又變成了從前那個(gè)牛百花……

“Walk in, please,” said a maidservant, showing her into the consulting-room. “The doctor will be here in a minute. Sit down.”

“請(qǐng)進(jìn)?！币粋€(gè)女傭把她領(lǐng)進(jìn)了候診室，“請(qǐng)坐。大夫馬上就到?！?/p>

Vanda sank into a soft arm-chair.

花見羞坐進(jìn)柔軟的扶手椅。

“I’ll ask him to lend it me,” she thought; “that will be quite proper, for, after all, I do know him. If only that servant would go. I don’t like to ask before her. What does she want to stand there for?”

“還是讓他借錢給我吧?！彼氲?，“本來也沒什么交情，哪兒好意思白要人家的。那女的怎么還不走，我可不想在她面前求人。她老站在這兒干什么？”

Five minutes later the door opened and Finkel came in. He was a tall, dark Jew, with fat cheeks and bulging eyes. His cheeks, his eyes, his chest, his body, all of him was so well fed, so loathsome and repellent! At the “Renaissance” and the German Club he had usually been rather tipsy, and would spend his money freely on women, and be very long-suffering and patient with their pranks (when Vanda, for instance, poured the beer over his head, he simply smiled and shook his finger at her): now he had a cross, sleepy expression and looked solemn and frigid like a police captain, and he kept chewing something.

過了一會(huì)兒，門開了，馮大夫走了進(jìn)來。他是個(gè)黑大個(gè)兒，臉肥得直顫悠，兩只眼向外凸。他渾身上下肥的流油，活像個(gè)大肉坨，讓人看了想吐。“夜未央”這種夜店他常去，每每要喝個(gè)酩酊大醉，他在女人身上特別舍得砸錢，脾氣還挺好，小姐開多少玩笑也不追究（上次被花見羞澆了一腦袋啤酒之后，他只是笑了笑，朝她擺了擺手）：此時(shí)的他一臉的起床氣，滿臉嚴(yán)肅，頗有幾分警察的氣勢(shì)，嘴里還嚼著東西。

“What can I do for you?” he asked, without looking at Vanda.

“什么事？”他問道，看都沒看她一眼。

Vanda looked at the serious countenance of the maid and the smug figure of Finkel, who apparently did not recognize her, and she turned red.

花見羞看了看一臉嚴(yán)肅的女傭，又瞅了瞅盛氣凌人的馮大夫，眼見他壓根沒認(rèn)出自己是誰，她臉紅了。

“What can I do for you?” repeated the dentist a little irritably.

“什么事？”牙醫(yī)有點(diǎn)不耐煩了。

“I’ve got toothache,” murmured Vanda.

“牙疼。”花見羞嘀咕道。

“Aha!... Which is the tooth? Where?”

“牙疼……哪顆？”

Vanda remembered she had a hole in one of her teeth.

花見羞想起來有顆牙壞了。

“At the bottom... on the right . . .” she said.

“最里頭那顆…右邊……”她說道。

“Hm!... Open your mouth.”

“知道了。張嘴。”

Finkel frowned and, holding his breath, began examining the tooth.

馮大夫皺著眉，憋著氣看了看那顆牙。

“Does it hurt?” he asked, digging into it with a steel instrument.

“疼嗎？”他用一根鋼棍撥拉著，問道。

“Yes,” Vanda replied, untruthfully.

“疼?！被ㄒ娦呷鲋e道。

“Shall I remind him?” she was wondering. “He would be sure to remember me. But that servant! Why will she stand there?”

“要不要提醒他一聲？”她心想道，“他應(yīng)該能想起來的。那女的怎么還在那兒！她有完沒完？”

Finkel suddenly snorted like a steam-engine right into her mouth, and said:

馮大夫突然朝她嘴里吐了口氣，說道：

“I don’t advise you to have it stopped. That tooth will never be worth keeping anyhow.”

“拔了吧。這顆牙留著也沒用?！?/p>

After probing the tooth a little more and soiling Vanda’s lips and gums with his tobacco-stained fingers, he held his breath again, and put something cold into her mouth. Vanda suddenly felt a sharp pain, cried out, and clutched at Finkel’s hand.

馮大夫又仔細(xì)看了看那顆牙，滿手的煙灰把花見羞的嘴唇和牙齦都染黑了，他又憋了一口氣，把某件冰冷的工具伸進(jìn)她嘴里?；ㄒ娦咭魂噭⊥?，喊了出來，一把攥住馮大夫的手。

“It’s all right, it’s all right,” he muttered; “don’t you be frightened! That tooth would have been no use to you, anyway... you must be brave. . .”

“沒事，沒事，”他低聲道，“怕什么！反正都是顆壞牙了，留著也沒用…不用怕……”

And his tobacco-stained fingers, smeared with blood, held up the tooth to her eyes, while the maid approached and put a basin to her mouth.

他捏起那顆牙舉到花見羞眼前，指頭上沾滿了煙灰和鮮血。女傭端著臉盆走了過來，在她嘴邊接著。

“You wash out your mouth with cold water when you get home, and that will stop the bleeding,” said Finkel.

“回去拿涼水漱漱口就不流血了?！瘪T大夫說道。

He stood before her with the air of a man expecting her to go, waiting to be left in peace.

他站起身，擺出送客的姿勢(shì)。

“Good-day,” she said, turning towards the door.

“再見?！被ㄒ娦咿D(zhuǎn)身要走。

“Hm!... and how about my fee?” enquired Finkel, in a jesting tone.

“我說…就這么走啦？”馮大夫打趣著提醒道。

“Oh, yes!” Vanda remembered, blushing, and she handed the Jew the rouble that had been given her for her ring.

“哦，對(duì)！”花見羞臉上一紅，拿出當(dāng)戒指的一塊錢交了出去。

When she got out into the street she felt more overwhelmed with shame than before, but now it was not her poverty she was ashamed of. She was unconscious now of not having a big hat and a fashionable jacket. She walked along the street, spitting blood, and brooding on her life, her ugly, wretched life, and the insults she had endured, and would have to endure to-morrow, and next week, and all her life, up to the very day of her death.

走到街上，莫大的恥辱在花見羞心里翻騰。這次可不是愁錢、愁沒有好衣服穿那么簡(jiǎn)單了。她邊走邊吐著血沫，回想著自己丑陋的人生、回想著自己受過的屈辱，這樣的日子還有明天，還有下周，還有一輩子，直到她死為止。

“Oh! how awful it is! My God, how fearful!”

“我怎么這么命苦！這哪兒是人過的日子啊！”

Next day, however, she was back at the “Renaissance,” and dancing there. She had on an enormous new red hat, a new fashionable jacket, and bronze shoes. And she was taken out to supper by a young merchant up from Kazan.

第二天，她又回到了“夜未央”跳舞。她戴著嶄新的紅色大檐帽，穿著時(shí)髦的小夾克，踩著銅光閃閃的舞鞋。她還被一個(gè)做生意的小伙子帶出去吃飯。