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1、【英文读物】The Lady With The Dog and Other StoriesChapter 1 IT was said that a new person had appeared on the sea-front: a lady with a little dog. Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov, who had by then been a fortnight at Yalta, and so was fairly at home there, had begun to take an interest in new arrivals. Sitting in
2、Verneys pavilion, he saw, walking on the sea-front, a fair-haired young lady of medium height, wearing a bret; a white Pomeranian dog was running behind her.And afterwards he met her in the public gardens and in the square several times a day. She was walking alone, always wearing the same bret, and
3、 always with the same white dog; no one knew who she was, and every one called her simply the lady with the dog.If she is here alone without a husband or friends, it wouldnt be amiss to make her acquaintance, Gurov reflected.He was under forty, but he had a daughter already twelve years old, and two
4、 sons at school. He had been married young, when he was a student in his second year, and by now his wife seemed half as old again as he. She was a tall, erect woman with dark eyebrows, staid and dignified, and, as she said of herself, intellectual. She read a great deal, used phonetic spelling, cal
5、led her husband, not Dmitri, but Dimitri, and he secretly considered her unintelligent, narrow, inelegant, was afraid of her, and did not like to be at home. He had begun being unfaithful to her long agohad been unfaithful to her often, and, probably on that account, almost always spoke ill of women
6、, and when they were talked about in his presence, used to call them the lower race.It seemed to him that he had been so schooled by bitter experience that he might call them what he liked, and yet he could not get on for two days together without the lower race. In the society of men he was bored a
7、nd not himself, with them he was cold and uncommunicative; but when he was in the company of women he felt free, and knew what to say to them and how to behave; and he was at ease with them even when he was silent. In his appearance, in his character, in his whole nature, there was something attract
8、ive and elusive which allured women and disposed them in his favour; he knew that, and some force seemed to draw him, too, to them.Experience often repeated, truly bitter experience, had taught him long ago that with decent people, especially Moscow peoplealways slow to move and irresoluteevery inti
9、macy, which at first so agreeably diversifies life and appears a light and charming adventure, inevitably grows into a regular problem of extreme intricacy, and in the long run the situation becomes unbearable. But at every fresh meeting with an interesting woman this experience seemed to slip out o
10、f his memory, and he was eager for life, and everything seemed simple and amusing.One evening he was dining in the gardens, and the lady in the bret came up slowly to take the next table. Her expression, her gait, her dress, and the way she did her hair told him that she was a lady, that she was mar
11、ried, that she was in Yalta for the first time and alone, and that she was dull there. The stories told of the immorality in such places as Yalta are to a great extent untrue; he despised them, and knew that such stories were for the most part made up by persons who would themselves have been glad t
12、o sin if they had been able; but when the lady sat down at the next table three paces from him, he remembered these tales of easy conquests, of trips to the mountains, and the tempting thought of a swift, fleeting love affair, a romance with an unknown woman, whose name he did not know, suddenly too
13、k possession of him.He beckoned coaxingly to the Pomeranian, and when the dog came up to him he shook his finger at it. The Pomeranian growled: Gurov shook his finger at it again.The lady looked at him and at once dropped her eyes.He doesnt bite, she said, and blushed.May I give him a bone? he asked
14、; and when she nodded he asked courteously, Have you been long in Yalta?Five days.And I have already dragged out a fortnight here.There was a brief silence.Time goes fast, and yet it is so dull here! she said, not looking at him.Thats only the fashion to say it is dull here. A provincial will live i
15、n Belyov or Zhidra and not be dull, and when he comes here its Oh, the dulness! Oh, the dust! One would think he came from Grenada.She laughed. Then both continued eating in silence, like strangers, but after dinner they walked side by side; and there sprang up between them the light jesting convers
16、ation of people who are free and satisfied, to whom it does not matter where they go or what they talk about. They walked and talked of the strange light on the sea: the water was of a soft warm lilac hue, and there was a golden streak from the moon upon it. They talked of how sultry it was after a
17、hot day. Gurov told her that he came from Moscow, that he had taken his degree in Arts, but had a post in a bank; that he had trained as an opera-singer, but had given it up, that he owned two houses in Moscow. And from her he learnt that she had grown up in Petersburg, but had lived in S since her
18、marriage two years before, that she was staying another month in Yalta, and that her husband, who needed a holiday too, might perhaps come and fetch her. She was not sure whether her husband had a post in a Crown Department or under the Provincial Counciland was amused by her own ignorance. And Guro
19、v learnt, too, that she was called Anna Sergeyevna.Afterwards he thought about her in his room at the hotelthought she would certainly meet him next day; it would be sure to happen. As he got into bed he thought how lately she had been a girl at school, doing lessons like his own daughter; he recall
20、ed the diffidence, the angularity, that was still manifest in her laugh and her manner of talking with a stranger. This must have been the first time in her life she had been alone in surroundings in which she was followed, looked at, and spoken to merely from a secret motive which she could hardly
21、fail to guess. He recalled her slender, delicate neck, her lovely grey eyes.Theres something pathetic about her, anyway, he thought, and fell asleep.Chapter 2 A week had passed since they had made acquaintance. It was a holiday. It was sultry indoors, while in the street the wind whirled the dust ro
22、und and round, and blew peoples hats off. It was a thirsty day, and Gurov often went into the pavilion, and pressed Anna Sergeyevna to have syrup and water or an ice. One did not know what to do with oneself.In the evening when the wind had dropped a little, they went out on the groyne to see the st
23、eamer come in. There were a great many people walking about the harbour; they had gathered to welcome some one, bringing bouquets. And two peculiarities of a well-dressed Yalta crowd were very conspicuous: the elderly ladies were dressed like young ones, and there were great numbers of generals.Owin
24、g to the roughness of the sea, the steamer arrived late, after the sun had set, and it was a long time turning about before it reached the groyne. Anna Sergeyevna looked through her lorgnette at the steamer and the passengers as though looking for acquaintances, and when she turned to Gurov her eyes
25、 were shining. She talked a great deal and asked disconnected questions, forgetting next moment what she had asked; then she dropped her lorgnette in the crush.The festive crowd began to disperse; it was too dark to see peoples faces. The wind had completely dropped, but Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna st
26、ill stood as though waiting to see some one else come from the steamer. Anna Sergeyevna was silent now, and sniffed the flowers without looking at Gurov.The weather is better this evening, he said. Where shall we go now? Shall we drive somewhere?She made no answer.Then he looked at her intently, and
27、 all at once put his arm round her and kissed her on the lips, and breathed in the moisture and the fragrance of the flowers; and he immediately looked round him, anxiously wondering whether any one had seen them.Let us go to your hotel, he said softly. And both walked quickly.The room was close and
28、 smelt of the scent she had bought at the Japanese shop. Gurov looked at her and thought: What different people one meets in the world! From the past he preserved memories of careless, good-natured women, who loved cheerfully and were grateful to him for the happiness he gave them, however brief it
29、might be; and of women like his wife who loved without any genuine feeling, with superfluous phrases, affectedly, hysterically, with an expression that suggested that it was not love nor passion, but something more significant; and of two or three others, very beautiful, cold women, on whose faces h
30、e had caught a glimpse of a rapacious expressionan obstinate desire to snatch from life more than it could give, and these were capricious, unreflecting, domineering, unintelligent women not in their first youth, and when Gurov grew cold to them their beauty excited his hatred, and the lace on their
31、 linen seemed to him like scales.But in this case there was still the diffidence, the angularity of inexperienced youth, an awkward feeling; and there was a sense of consternation as though some one had suddenly knocked at the door. The attitude of Anna Sergeyevnathe lady with the dogto what had hap
32、pened was somehow peculiar, very grave, as though it were her fallso it seemed, and it was strange and inappropriate. Her face dropped and faded, and on both sides of it her long hair hung down mournfully; she mused in a dejected attitude like the woman who was a sinner in an old-fashioned picture.I
33、ts wrong, she said. You will be the first to despise me now.There was a water-melon on the table. Gurov cut himself a slice and began eating it without haste. There followed at least half an hour of silence.Anna Sergeyevna was touching; there was about her the purity of a good, simple woman who had
34、seen little of life. The solitary candle burning on the table threw a faint light on her face, yet it was clear that she was very unhappy.How could I despise you? asked Gurov. You dont know what you are saying.God forgive me, she said, and her eyes filled with tears. Its awful.You seem to feel you n
35、eed to be forgiven.Forgiven? No. I am a bad, low woman; I despise myself and dont attempt to justify myself. Its not my husband but myself I have deceived. And not only just now; I have been deceiving myself for a long time. My husband may be a good, honest man, but he is a flunkey! I dont know what
36、 he does there, what his work is, but I know he is a flunkey! I was twenty when I was married to him. I have been tormented by curiosity; I wanted something better. There must be a different sort of life, I said to myself. I wanted to live! To live, to live!. I was fired by curiosity . you dont unde
37、rstand it, but, I swear to God, I could not control myself; something happened to me: I could not be restrained. I told my husband I was ill, and came here. And here I have been walking about as though I were dazed, like a mad creature; . and now I have become a vulgar, contemptible woman whom any o
38、ne may despise.Gurov felt bored already, listening to her. He was irritated by the na?ve tone, by this remorse, so unexpected and inopportune; but for the tears in her eyes, he might have thought she was jesting or playing a part.I dont understand, he said softly. What is it you want?She hid her fac
39、e on his breast and pressed close to him.Believe me, believe me, I beseech you . she said. I love a pure, honest life, and sin is loathsome to me. I dont know what I am doing. Simple people say: The Evil One has beguiled me. And I may say of myself now that the Evil One has beguiled me.Hush, hush!.
40、he muttered.He looked at her fixed, scared eyes, kissed her, talked softly and affectionately, and by degrees she was comforted, and her gaiety returned; they both began laughing.Afterwards when they went out there was not a soul on the sea-front. The town with its cypresses had quite a deathlike ai
41、r, but the sea still broke noisily on the shore; a single barge was rocking on the waves, and a lantern was blinking sleepily on it.They found a cab and drove to Oreanda.I found out your surname in the hall just now: it was written on the boardVon Diderits, said Gurov. Is your husband a German?No; I
42、 believe his grandfather was a German, but he is an Orthodox Russian himself.At Oreanda they sat on a seat not far from the church, looked down at the sea, and were silent. Yalta was hardly visible through the morning mist; white clouds stood motionless on the mountain-tops. The leaves did not stir
43、on the trees, grasshoppers chirruped, and the monotonous hollow sound of the sea rising up from below, spoke of the peace, of the eternal sleep awaiting us. So it must have sounded when there was no Yalta, no Oreanda here; so it sounds now, and it will sound as indifferently and monotonously when we
44、 are all no more. And in this constancy, in this complete indifference to the life and death of each of us, there lies hid, perhaps, a pledge of our eternal salvation, of the unceasing movement of life upon earth, of unceasing progress towards perfection. Sitting beside a young woman who in the dawn
45、 seemed so lovely, soothed and spellbound in these magical surroundingsthe sea, mountains, clouds, the open skyGurov thought how in reality everything is beautiful in this world when one reflects: everything except what we think or do ourselves when we forget our human dignity and the higher aims of
46、 our existence.A man walked up to themprobably a keeperlooked at them and walked away. And this detail seemed mysterious and beautiful, too. They saw a steamer come from Theodosia, with its lights out in the glow of dawn.There is dew on the grass, said Anna Sergeyevna, after a silence.Yes. Its time
47、to go home.They went back to the town.Then they met every day at twelve oclock on the sea-front, lunched and dined together, went for walks, admired the sea. She complained that she slept badly, that her heart throbbed violently; asked the same questions, troubled now by jealousy and now by the fear
48、 that he did not respect her sufficiently. And often in the square or gardens, when there was no one near them, he suddenly drew her to him and kissed her passionately. Complete idleness, these kisses in broad daylight while he looked round in dread of some ones seeing them, the heat, the smell of t
49、he sea, and the continual passing to and fro before him of idle, well-dressed, well-fed people, made a new man of him; he told Anna Sergeyevna how beautiful she was, how fascinating. He was impatiently passionate, he would not move a step away from her, while she was often pensive and continually urged him to confess that he did not respect her, di