第5章

类别:其他 作者:Anton Checkov字数:6512更新时间:18/12/18 13:21:33
TRIGORIN。[Glancingabouthim]GototheHotelSlavianskiBazar。 Letmeknowassoonasyougetthere。IshallbeattheGrosholskiHouseinMoltchanofkaStreet。Imustgonow。[A pause。] NINA。Justonemoreminute! TRIGORIN。[Inalowvoice]Youaresobeautiful!WhatblisstothinkthatIshallseeyouagainsosoon![Shesinksonhisbreast]Ishallseethosegloriouseyesagain,thatwonderful,ineffablytendersmile,thosegentlefeatureswiththeirexpressionofangelicpurity!Mydarling![Aprolongedkiss。] Thecurtainfalls。 Twoyearselapsebetweenthethirdandfourthacts。 ACTIV Asitting—roominSORIN’Shouse,whichhasbeenconvertedintoawriting—roomforTREPLIEFF。Totherightandleftaredoorsleadingintoinnerrooms,andinthecentreisaglassdooropeningontoaterrace。Besidestheusualfurnitureofasitting—roomthereisawriting—deskintheright—handcorneroftheroom。ThereisaTurkishdivannearthedoorontheleft,andshelvesfullofbooksstandagainstthewalls。Booksarelyingscatteredaboutonthewindowsillsandchairs。Itisevening。Theroomisdimlylightedbyashadedlamponatable。Thewindmoansinthetreetopsandwhistlesdownthechimney。Thewatchmaninthegardenisheardsoundinghisrattle。MEDVIEDENKOandMASHA comein。 MASHA。[CallingTREPLIEFF]Mr。Constantine,whereareyou? [Lookingabouther]Thereisnoonehere。HisolduncleisforeveraskingforConstantine,andcan’tlivewithouthimforaninstant。 MEDVIEDENKO。Hedreadsbeingleftalone。[Listeningtothewind] Thisisawildnight。Wehavehadthisstormfortwodays。 MASHA。[Turningupthelamp]Thewavesonthelakeareenormous。 MEDVIEDENKO。Itisverydarkinthegarden。Doyouknow,Ithinkthatoldtheatreoughttobeknockeddown。Itisstillstandingthere,nakedandhideousasaskeleton,withthecurtainflappinginthewind。IthoughtIheardavoiceweepinginitasIpassedtherelastnight。 MASHA。Whatanidea![Apause。] MEDVIEDENKO。Comehomewithme,Masha。 MASHA。[Shakingherhead]Ishallspendthenighthere。 MEDVIEDENKO。[Imploringly]Docome,Masha。Thebabymustbehungry。 MASHA。Nonsense,Matrionawillfeedit。[Apause。] MEDVIEDENKO。Itisapitytoleavehimthreenightswithouthismother。 MASHA。Youaregettingtootiresome。Youusedsometimestotalkofotherthingsbesideshomeandthebaby,homeandthebaby。 ThatisallIeverhearfromyounow。 MEDVIEDENKO。Comehome,Masha。 MASHA。Youcangohomeifyouwantto。 MEDVIEDENKO。Yourfatherwon’tgivemeahorse。 MASHA。Yes,hewill;askhim。 MEDVIEDENKO。IthinkIshall。Areyoucominghometo—morrow? MASHA。Yes,yes,to—morrow。 Shetakessnuff。TREPLIEFFandPAULINAcomein。TREPLIEFFiscarryingsomepillowsandablanket,andPAULINAiscarryingsheetsandpillowcases。Theylaythemonthedivan,andTREPLIEFFgoesandsitsdownathisdesk。 MASHA。Whoisthatfor,mother? PAULINA。Mr。SorinaskedtosleepinConstantine’sroomto—night。 MASHA。Letmemakethebed。 Shemakesthebed。PAULINAgoesuptothedeskandlooksatthemanuscriptslyingonit。[Apause。] MEDVIEDENKO。Well,Iamgoing。Good—bye,Masha。[Hekisseshiswife’shand]Good—bye,mother。[Hetriestokisshismother—in—law’shand。] PAULINA。[Crossly]Beoff,inGod’sname! TREPLIEFFshakeshandswithhiminsilence,andMEDVIEDENKOgoesout。 PAULINA。[Lookingatthemanuscripts]Nooneeverdreamed,Constantine,thatyouwouldonedayturnintoarealauthor。Themagazinespayyouwellforyourstories。[Shestrokeshishair。] Youhavegrownhandsome,too。Dear,kindConstantine,bealittlenicertomyMasha。 MASHA。[Stillmakingthebed]Leavehimalone,mother。 PAULINA。Sheisasweetchild。[Apause]Awoman,Constantine,asksonlyforkindlooks。Iknowthatfromexperience。 TREPLIEFFgetsupfromhisdeskandgoesoutwithoutaword。 MASHA。Therenow!Youhavevexedhim。Itoldyounottobotherhim。 PAULINA。Iamsorryforyou,Masha。 MASHA。MuchIneedyourpity! PAULINA。Myheartachesforyou。Iseehowthingsare,andunderstand。 MASHA。Youseewhatdoesn’texist。Hopelessloveisonlyfoundinnovels。Itisatrifle;allonehastodoistokeepatightreinononeself,andkeepone’sheadclear。Lovemustbepluckedoutthemomentitspringsupintheheart。Myhusbandhasbeenpromisedaschoolinanotherdistrict,andwhenwehaveonceleftthisplaceIshallforgetitall。Ishalltearmypassionoutbytheroots。[Thenotesofamelancholywaltzareheardinthedistance。] PAULINA。Constantineisplaying。Thatmeansheissad。 MASHAsilentlywaltzesafewturnstothemusic。 MASHA。Thegreatthing,mother,isnottohavehimcontinuallyinsight。IfmySimoncouldonlygethisremoveIshouldforgetitallinamonthortwo。Itisatrifle。 DORNandMEDVIEDENKOcomeinthroughthedoorontheleft,wheelingSORINinanarm—chair。 MEDVIEDENKO。Ihavesixmouthstofeednow,andflourisatseventykopecks。 DORN。Ahardriddletosolve! MEDVIEDENKO。Itiseasyforyoutomakelightofit。Youarerichenoughtoscattermoneytoyourchickens,ifyouwantedto。 DORN。YouthinkIamrich?Myfriend,afterpractisingforthirtyyears,duringwhichIcouldnotcallmysoulmyownforoneminuteofthenightorday,Isucceededatlastinscrapingtogetheronethousandroubles,allofwhichwent,notlongago,inatripwhichItookabroad。Ihaven’tapenny。 MASHA。[Toherhusband]Soyoudidn’tgohomeafterall? MEDVIEDENKO。[Apologetically]HowcanIgohomewhentheywon’tgivemeahorse? MASHA。[Underherbreath,withbitteranger]WouldImightneverseeyourfaceagain! SORINinhischairiswheeledtotheleft—handsideoftheroom。 PAULINA,MASHA,andDORNsitdownbesidehim。MEDVIEDENKOstandssadlyaside。 DORN。Whatalotofchangesyouhavemadehere!Youhaveturnedthissitting—roomintoalibrary。 MASHA。Constantinelikestoworkinthisroom,becausefromithecanstepoutintothegardentomeditatewheneverhefeelslikeit。[Thewatchman’srattleisheard。] SORIN。Whereismysister? DORN。ShehasgonetothestationtomeetTrigorin。Shewillsoonbeback。 SORIN。Imustbedangerouslyillifyouhadtosendformysister。[Hefallssilentforamoment]Anicebusinessthisis! HereIamdangerouslyill,andyouwon’tevengivemeanymedicine。 DORN。WhatshallIprescribeforyou?Camomiletea?Soda? Quinine? SORIN。Don’tinflictanyofyourdiscussionsonmeagain。[Henodstowardthesofa]Isthatbedforme? PAULINA。Yes,foryou,sir。 SORIN。Thankyou。 DORN。[Sings]\"Themoonswimsintheskyto—night。\" SORIN。IamgoingtogiveConstantineanideaforastory。Itshallbecalled\"TheManWhoWished——L’Hommequiavoulu。\"WhenI wasyoung,Iwishedtobecomeanauthor;Ifailed。Iwishedtobeanorator;Ispeakabominably,[Excitinghimself]withmyeternal\"andall,andall,\"draggingeachsentenceonandonuntilI sometimesbreakoutintoasweatallover。Iwishedtomarry,andIdidn’t;Iwishedtoliveinthecity,andhereIamendingmydaysinthecountry,andall。 DORN。YouwishedtobecomeStateCouncillor,and——youareone! SORIN。[Laughing]Ididn’ttryforthat,itcameofitsownaccord。 DORN。Come,youmustadmitthatitispettytocavilatlifeatsixty—twoyearsofage。 SORIN。Youarepig—headed!Can’tyouseeIwanttolive? DORN。Thatisfutile。Naturehascommandedthateverylifeshallcometoanend。 SORIN。Youspeaklikeamanwhoissatiatedwithlife。Yourthirstforitisquenched,andsoyouarecalmandindifferent,butevenyoudreaddeath。 DORN。Thefearofdeathisananimalpassionwhichmustbeovercome。Onlythosewhobelieveinafuturelifeandtrembleforsinscommitted,canlogicallyfeardeath;butyou,foronething,don’tbelieveinafuturelife,andforanother,youhaven’tcommittedanysins。YouhaveservedasaCouncillorfortwenty—fiveyears,thatisall。 SORIN。[Laughing]Twenty—eightyears! TREPLIEFFcomesinandsitsdownonastoolatSORIN’Sfeet。 MASHAfixeshereyesonhisfaceandneveroncetearsthemaway。 DORN。WearekeepingConstantinefromhiswork。 TREPLIEFF。Nomatter。[Apause。] MEDVIEDENKO。Ofallthecitiesyouvisitedwhenyouwereabroad,Doctor,whichonedidyoulikethebest? DORN。Genoa。 TREPLIEFF。WhyGenoa? DORN。Becausethereissuchasplendidcrowdinitsstreets。Whenyouleavethehotelintheevening,andthrowyourselfintotheheartofthatthrong,andmovewithitwithoutaimorobject,sweptalong,hitherandthither,theirlifeseemstobeyours,theirsoulflowsintoyou,andyoubegintobelieveatlastinagreatworldspirit,liketheoneinyourplaythatNinaZarietchnayaacted。Bytheway,whereisNinanow?Isshewell? TREPLIEFF。Ibelieveso。 DORN。Ihearshehasledratherastrangelife;whathappened? TREPLIEFF。Itisalongstory,Doctor。 DORN。Tellitshortly。[Apause。] TREPLIEFF。SheranawayfromhomeandjoinedTrigorin;youknowthat? DORN。Yes。 TREPLIEFF。Shehadachildthatdied。Trigorinsoontiredofherandreturnedtohisformerties,asmighthavebeenexpected。Hehadneverbrokenthem,indeed,butoutofweaknessofcharacterhadalwaysvacillatedbetweenthetwo。AsfarasIcanmakeoutfromwhatIhaveheard,Nina’sdomesticlifehasnotbeenaltogetherasuccess。 DORN。Whataboutheracting? TREPLIEFF。Ibelieveshemadeanevenworsefailureofthat。ShemadeherdebutonthestageoftheSummerTheatreinMoscow,andafterwardmadeatourofthecountrytowns。AtthattimeIneverletheroutofmysight,andwherevershewentIfollowed。Shealwaysattemptedgreatanddifficultparts,butherdeliverywasharshandmonotonous,andhergesturesheavyandcrude。Sheshriekedanddiedwellattimes,butthosewerebutmoments。 DORN。Thenshereallyhasatalentforacting? TREPLIEFF。Inevercouldmakeout。Ibelieveshehas。Isawher,butsherefusedtoseeme,andherservantwouldneveradmitmetoherrooms。Iappreciatedherfeelings,anddidnotinsistuponameeting。[Apause]WhatmorecanItellyou?ShesometimeswritestomenowthatIhavecomehome,suchclever,sympatheticletters,fullofwarmfeeling。Shenevercomplains,butIcantellthatsheisprofoundlyunhappy;notalinebutspeakstomeofanaching,breakingnerve。Shehasonestrangefancy;shealwayssignsherself\"TheSea—gull。\"Themillerin\"Rusalka\" calledhimself\"TheCrow,\"andsosherepeatsinallherlettersthatsheisasea—gull。Sheisherenow。 DORN。Whatdoyoumeanby\"here?\" TREPLIEFF。Inthevillage,attheinn。Shehasbeenthereforfivedays。Ishouldhavegonetoseeher,butMashaherewent,andsherefusestoseeanyone。Someonetoldmeshehadbeenseenwanderinginthefieldsamilefromhereyesterdayevening。 MEDVIEDENKO。Yes,Isawher。Shewaswalkingawayfromhereinthedirectionofthevillage。Iaskedherwhyshehadnotbeentoseeus。Shesaidshewouldcome。 TREPLIEFF。Butshewon’t。[Apause]Herfatherandstepmotherhavedisownedher。Theyhaveevenputwatchmenallaroundtheirestatetokeepheraway。[Hegoeswiththedoctortowardthedesk]Howeasyitis,Doctor,tobeaphilosopheronpaper,andhowdifficultinreallife! SORIN。Shewasabeautifulgirl。EventheStateCouncillorhimselfwasinlovewithherforatime。 DORN。YouoldLovelace,you! SHAMRAEFF’Slaughisheard。 PAULINA。Theyarecomingbackfromthestation。 TREPLIEFF。Yes,Ihearmymother’svoice。 ARKADINAandTRIGORINcomein,followedbySHAMRAEFF。 SHAMRAEFF。Weallgrowoldandwither,mylady,whileyoualone,withyourlightdress,yourgayspirits,andyourgrace,keepthesecretofeternalyouth。 ARKADINA。Youarestilltryingtoturnmyhead,youtiresomeoldman。 TRIGORIN。[ToSORIN]Howdoyoudo,Peter?What,stillill?Howsillyofyou![Withevidentpleasure,ashecatchessightofMASHA]Howareyou,MissMasha? MASHA。Soyourecognisedme?[Sheshakeshandswithhim。 TRIGORIN。Didyoumarryhim? MASHA。Longago。 TRIGORIN。Youarehappynow?[HebowstoDORNandMEDVIEDENKO,andthengoeshesitatinglytowardTREPLIEFF]Yourmothersaysyouhaveforgottenthepastandarenolongerangrywithme。 TREPLIEFFgiveshimhishand。 ARKADINA。[Toherson]HereisamagazinethatBorishasbroughtyouwithyourlateststoryinit。 TREPLIEFF。[ToTRIGORIN,ashetakesthemagazine]Manythanks; youareverykind。 TRIGORIN。Youradmirersallsendyoutheirregards。EveryoneinMoscowandSt。Petersburgisinterestedinyou,andallplymewithquestionsaboutyou。Theyaskmewhatyoulooklike,howoldyouare,whetheryouarefairordark。Forsomereasontheyallthinkthatyouarenolongeryoung,andnooneknowswhoyouare,asyoualwayswriteunderanassumedname。YouareasgreatamysteryastheManintheIronMask。 TREPLIEFF。Doyouexpecttobeherelong? TRIGORIN。No,ImustgobacktoMoscowto—morrow。Iamfinishinganothernovel,andhavepromisedsomethingtoamagazinebesides。 Infact,itisthesameoldbusiness。 DuringtheirconversationARKADINAandPAULINAhaveputupacard—tableinthecentreoftheroom;SHAMRAEFFlightsthecandlesandarrangesthechairs,thenfetchesaboxoflottofromthecupboard。 TRIGORIN。Theweatherhasgivenmearoughwelcome。Thewindisfrightful。IfitgoesdownbymorningIshallgofishinginthelake,andshallhavealookatthegardenandthespot——doyouremember?——whereyourplaywasgiven。Irememberthepieceverywell,butshouldliketoseeagainwherethescenewaslaid。 MASHA。[Toherfather]Father,dopleaseletmyhusbandhaveahorse。Heoughttogohome。 SHAMRAEFF。[Angrily]Ahorsetogohomewith![Sternly]Youknowthehorseshavejustbeentothestation。Ican’tsendthemoutagain。 MASHA。Butthereareotherhorses。[Seeingthatherfatherremainssilent]Youareimpossible! MEDVIEDENKO。Ishallgoonfoot,Masha。 PAULINA。[Withasigh]Onfootinthisweather?[Shetakesaseatatthecard—table]Shallwebegin? MEDVIEDENKO。Itisonlysixmiles。Good—bye。[Hekisseshiswife’shand;]Good—bye,mother。[Hismother—in—lawgiveshimherhandunwillingly]Ishouldnothavetroubledyouall,butthebaby——[Hebowstoeveryone]Good—bye。[Hegoesoutwithanapologeticair。] SHAMRAEFF。Hewillgetthereallright,heisnotamajor—general。 PAULINA。Come,letusbegin。Don’tletuswastetime,weshallsoonbecalledtosupper。 SHAMRAEFF,MASHA,andDORNsitdownatthecard—table。 ARKADINA。[ToTRIGORIN]Whenthelongautumneveningsdescendonuswewhileawaythetimeherebyplayinglotto。Lookatthisoldset;weuseditwhenourmotherplayedwithusaschildren。Don’tyouwanttotakeahandinthegamewithusuntilsuppertime? [SheandTRIGORINsitdownatthetable]Itisamonotonousgame,butitisallrightwhenonegetsusedtoit。[Shedealsthreecardstoeachoftheplayers。] TREPLIEFF。[Lookingthroughthepagesofthemagazine]Hehasreadhisownstory,andhasn’tevencutthepagesofmine。 Helaysthemagazineonhisdeskandgoestowardthedoorontheright,stoppingashepasseshismothertogiveherakiss。 ARKADINA。Won’tyouplay,Constantine? TREPLIEFF。No,excusemeplease,Idon’tfeellikeit。Iamgoingtotakeaturnthroughtherooms。[Hegoesout。] MASHA。Areyouallready?Ishallbegin:twenty—two。 ARKADINA。Hereitis。 MASHA。Three。