奇书网

第11章 The Death of a Government Clerk（第1页）

第11章TheDeathofaGoverClerk

AntonChekhov

Onefineevening，anolessficlerkcalledIvanDmitritchTchervyakovwassittinginthesedrowofthestalls，gazingthroughanlassattheClochesdeeville。Hegazedaheacmeofbliss。Butsuddenly。。。Instoriesoswiththis"Butsuddenly"。Theauthht:lifeissofullofsurprises!Butsuddenlyhisfacepuckeredup，hiseyesdisappeared，hisbreathingwasarrested。。。hetookthelassfromhiseyes，bentoverand。。。"Aptchee!!!"hesneezedasyouperceive。Itisnotreprehensibleforaosneezeassneezeandsodopolites，aimesevenprivyechervyakovwasfused，hewipedhisfacewithhishandkerdlikeapolitemaoseewhetherhehaddisturbedanyonebyhissthenhewasoverewith。Hesawthatalemansittinginfrontofhimirowofthestallswascarefullywipinghisbaldheadahhisgloveandmutteriohimself。Ileman，TchervyaknisedBrizzhalov，ageneralservimentofTransport。

"Ihavespatteredhim，"thoughtTchervyakov，"heisnottheheadofmydepartment，butstillitisawkward。Imustapologise。"

Tchervyakovgaveathiswholepersonforeredinthegeneral'sear。

"Pardon，yourExcy，Ispatteredyouatally。。。"

"Nevermind，nevermind。"

&quoodnesssakeexcuseme，I。。。Idido。""Oh，please，sitdowen!"Tbarrassed，hesmiledstupidlyaogaziage。Hegazedatitbutwasnbliss。HebegaroubledbyuheiuptoBrizzhalov，walkedbesidehim，andhisshyered:

"Ispatteredyou，yourExe。。。yousee。。。Ididn'tdoitto。。。"

"Oh，that'senough。。。I&apottenit，andyoukeeponaboutit!"saidthegeneral，movinghislowerlipimpatiently。

"Hehasfotten，butthereisafiendishlightihoughtTchervyakov，lookingsuspiciouslyatthege;Andhedoesn'twanttotalk。Ioughttoexplaintohim。。。thatIreallydidn'tiitisthelawofnatureorelsehewillthiospitonhim。Hedoesn'tthinksohi;

&ichervyakovtoldhiswifeoodmaruckhimthathiswifetooktoofrivolousaviewofthei;shewasalittlefrightewhehatBrizzhalovwasidepartment，shewasreassured。

"Still，youhadbettergoandapologise，"shesaid，"orhewillthinkyoudon'tknowhoublic。"

"That'sjustit!Ididapologise，buthetookitsomehowqueerly。。。hedidn'tsayawordofsehereos;ttimetotalkproperly。"

&chervyakovputonanewuniform，hadhishairdwenttoBrizzhalov'stoexplain;goingintothegeneral'srehesawthereaitionersandamohegeneralhimself，whowasbeginnihem。Afterquestioieneralraisedhiseyesachervyakov。

"YesterdayattheArcadia，ifyourecollect，yourExcy，"thelatterbegan，"Isneezedand。。。atallyspattered。。。Exc。。。"

"What'sbeyondanything!WhatIdoforyou，"saidthegeneraladdressiioner。

"Heeak，"thoughtTchervyakpale;"thatmeansthatheisangry。。。No，it'tbeleftlikethis。。。Iwillexplaintohim。"

&hegeneralhadfinishedhisversatioofthepetitionersandwasturningtowardshisimeookasteptowardshimandmuttered:

"YourExcy!IfIveroubleyourExcy，itissimplyfromafeelingImaysayret!。。。Itwasionalifyouwillgraciouslybelieveme。"

Thegeneralmadealachrymosefadwavedhishand。

"lymakingfunofme，sir，"hesaidasheclosedthedoorbehindhim。

"os;sthemakingfuninit?"thoughtTchervyakov，"thereisnothi!Heisagehe'tuand。IfthatishowitisIamnotgoingtoapologisetothatfanfarohedeviltakeshim。I'llwritealettertohim，butIos;tgo。ByJove，Ios;t。"

SothoughtTchervyakovashewalkedhome;hedidertothegeneral，heponderedandponderedandakeupthatletter。Hehadtogooexplaininperson。

"IveurbyourExcyyesterday，"hemuttered，wheedenquiringeyesuponhim，"nottomakefunasyouwerepleasedtosay。Iologisingfspatteredyouinsneezing。。。andIdidnotdreamofmakingfunofyou。ShouldIdaretomakefunofyou，ifweshouldtaketomakiherewouldbeforpersons，therewouldbe。。。"

"Beoff!"yelledthegeurningsuddenlypurple，andshakingallover。

"What?"askedTchervyakov，iurningnumbwithhorror。

"Beoff!"repeatedthegeamping。

&hiogivewayinTp;apos;sstomagnothihihedoor，wentouti，aaggeringalhomemeically，withouttakingoffhisuniform，helaydownonthesofaanddied。