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第17章 A Chameleon（第1页）

第17章A

AntonChekhov

Thepolitechumyeloviswalkingaarketsquarewearingaandgaparderhisarm。Ared-hairedpolistridesafterhimwithasievefulloffiscatedgooseberriesinhishands。Thereissilenceallaround。Notasoulinthesquare。。。TheopendoorsoftheshopsandtavernslookoutuponGod'sworlddissolately，likehungrymouths;thereisnotevenabeggarhem。

"Soyoubite，youdam;Otchumyelovhearssuddenly。"Lads，don'tlethimgo!Bitingisprohibitednowadays!Holdhim!ah。。。ah!"

&hesoundofadogyelping。Otchumyelovlooksiionofthesoundandseesadog，hoppingsandlookingabouther，runoutofPit'stimber-yard。Amaninastarchedshirt，withhiswaistbuttoned，isgher。Herunsafterher，andthrowinghisbodyforwardfallsdowheds。Ohereisayelpingandashoutof"Don'tletgo!"Sleepycesareprotrudedfromtheshops，andsoonacrowd，whichseemstoutatheredrouimber-yard。

"Itlookslikearow，yourhonour。。。"saysthepoli。

Otakesahalfturaowardsthecrowd。Heseestheaforementionedmaodihegateofthetimber-yard，holdinghisrighthandintheairanddisplayingableedihehishalf-druhereisplai;I'llpayyouue!"aheveryfihelookofaflagofvithismanOtchumyelnisesHryukih。Theculpritwhohascausedthesensation，awhiteborzoypuppymuzzleaherback，issittingonthegroundwithherfore-pawsoutstretthemiddleoftheblihereisanexpressioerroriearfuleyes。

"os;sitallabout?"Otchumyelovinquires，pushinghiswaythroughthecrowd。"Whatareyouherefor?Whyareyouwavingyer?Whowasitshouted?"

"Iwaswalkingaloerferingwithanyone，yourhonour，&quins，gintohisfist。"IwastalkingaboutfirewoodtoMitryMitritthislowbrutefornorhymeorreasonbitmyfinger。。。Youmustexcuseme，Iamawman。。。Mineisfinework。Imusthavedamages，forIshan'tbeabletousethisfingerforaweek，maybe。。。It'shelaw，yourhonour，thatoneshouldputupwithitfromabeast。。。Ifeveryoneisgoien，lifeos;tbew。。。"

"H&apood，"saysOtchumyelhingandraisinghiseyebrows。&quood。Whosedogisit?Ios;tletthispass!I'llteachthemtolettheirdogsruheplace!It'stimethesegentrywerelookedafter，iftheyos;tulations!os;sfiheblackguard，I'llteachhimwhatitmeanstokeepdogsandsuchstraycattle!I'llgivehimalesson!。。。Yeldyrin，"criesthesuperi，addressingthepoli，"findoutwhosedogthisisanddraort!Abestradelay!It'ssuretobemad。。。Whosedogisit，Iask?"

"Ifancyit&apalov's，"sayssomeohecrowd。

&qualov's，h'm。。。Helpmeoffwithmycoat，Yeldyrin。。。it&aphtfullyhot!Itmustbeasignofrain。。。There'sohingI'tmakeout，howitcametobiteyou?"OtchumyelovturnstoHryukin，"Surelyitp;apos;treachyer。It'salittledog，ahulkingfellow!Youmusthavescratchedyerwithanail，aheideastruagesforit。Weallknow。。。yoursort!Iknowyoudevils!"

"Heputacigaretteinherface，yourhonour，forajoke，aheseosnapathim。。。Heisanonsensicalfellow，yourhonour!"

"That'salie，Squinteye!Youdidn'tsee，sowhytellliesaboutit?Hishonourisawisegentleman，andwillseewhoistellingliesandwhoistellih，asinGod'ssight。。。AndifIamlyidecide。It'swritteninthelaw。。。Weareallequalnowadays。Myowhegemetellyou。。。"

"Don&apue!"

"No，that'snottheGeneral'sdog，"saysthepoli，withprofound，"theGeneralhasn'tgoto。Hisaremostlysetters。"

"Doyouknowthatforafact?"

"Yes，yourhonour。"

"Iknowit，too。TheGeneralhasvaluabledhbred，andthisisgoodnessknowswhat!Nooshape。。。Alowcreature。Andtokeepadoglikethat!。。。os;sthese。IfadoglikethatweretoturersburgorMoscow，doyouknoouldhappen?Theywouldnotworryaboutthelaw，theywleitinatwinkling!You'vebeeninjured，Hryukin，andos;tletthematterdrop。。。Wemustgivethemalesson!Itishightime!"

"YetmaybeitistheGeneral's，"saysthepolikingaloud。"It'ssface。。。Isawoheotherdayinhisyard。"

"ItistheGeneral's，that's!"saysavoithecrowd。

"H'm，helpmeonwithmyovercoat，Yeldyrin，mylad。。。theos;sgettingup。。。Iamcold。。。YoutakeittotheGeneral's，ahere。SayIfoundita。Ahemi。。。Itmaybeavaluabledog，andifeveryswiigaitsmouth，itwillsoonberuined。Adogisadeliimal。。。Andyouputyourhanddown，youblockhead。It'snouseyourdisplayingyourfoolofafi'syourownfault。。。"

"HereestheGeneral's。。。Hi，Prohor!ydearman!Lookatthisdog。。。Isitoneofyours?"

"Whatanidea!Wehaveneverhado!"

"There'setimeasking，"saysOtchumyelov。"It&ap!There'setimetalkingaboutit。。。Si&ap，astraydogitis。。。Itmustbedestroyed，that'sallaboutit。"

"Itisn，&quoeson。"ItbelongstotheGeneral'sbrother，whoarrivedtheotherday。Ourmasterdoesnotcareforhounds。Buthishonourisfo;

"Youdon'tsayhisExcy'sbrotherishere?VladimirIvanitch?"ichumyelov，andhiswholefacebeamswithaicsmile。"'Well，Inever!AndIdidn'tknow!Hasheeonavisit?

"Yes。"

"Well，Inever。。。Hep;apos;tstayawayfromhisbrother。。。AndthereIdidn'tknow!Sothisishishonour'sdog?Delightedtohearit。。。Takeit。It'snotabadpup。。。Alivelycreature。。。Shisfelloos;sfinger!Ha-ha-ha。。。e，whyarey?Rrr。。。Rrrr。。。Therogue'sangry。。。alepup。"

Prohorcallsthedog，andwalksawayfromthetimber-yardwithher。ThecrowdlaughsatHryukin。"I'llmakeyousmartyet!"Otchumyelovthreatenshim，andinghimselfi，goesonhiswayacrossthesquare。