登陆注册
5233000000001

第1章 CHAPTER I.(1)

Travellers left and entered our car at every stopping of the train. Three persons, however, remained, bound, like myself, for the farthest station: a lady neither young nor pretty, smoking cigarettes, with a thin face, a cap on her head, and wearing a semi-masculine outer garment; then her companion, a very loquacious gentleman of about forty years, with baggage entirely new and arranged in an orderly manner; then a gentleman who held himself entirely aloof, short in stature, very nervous, of uncertain age, with bright eyes, not pronounced in color, but extremely attractive,--eyes that darted with rapidity from one object to another.

This gentleman, during almost all the journey thus far, had entered into conversation with no fellow-traveller, as if he carefully avoided all acquaintance. When spoken to, he answered curtly and decisively, and began to look out of the car window obstinately.

Yet it seemed to me that the solitude weighed upon him. He seemed to perceive that I understood this, and when our eyes met, as happened frequently, since we were sitting almost opposite each other, he turned away his head, and avoided conversation with me as much as with the others. At nightfall, during a stop at a large station, the gentleman with the fine baggage--a lawyer, as I have since learned--got out with his companion to drink some tea at the restaurant. During their absence several new travellers entered the car, among whom was a tall old man, shaven and wrinkled, evidently a merchant, wearing a large heavily-lined cloak and a big cap. This merchant sat down opposite the empty seats of the lawyer and his companion, and straightway entered into conversation with a young man who seemed like an employee in some commercial house, and who had likewise just boarded the train. At first the clerk had remarked that the seat opposite was occupied, and the old man had answered that he should get out at the first station. Thus their conversation started.

I was sitting not far from these two travellers, and, as the train was not in motion, I could catch bits of their conversation when others were not talking.

They talked first of the prices of goods and the condition of business; they referred to a person whom they both knew; then they plunged into the fair at Nijni Novgorod. The clerk boasted of knowing people who were leading a gay life there, but the old man did not allow him to continue, and, interrupting him, began to describe the festivities of the previous year at Kounavino, in which he had taken part. He was evidently proud of these recollections, and, probably thinking that this would detract nothing from the gravity which his face and manners expressed, he related with pride how, when drunk, he had fired, at Kounavino, such a broadside that he could describe it only in the other's ear.

The clerk began to laugh noisily. The old man laughed too, showing two long yellow teeth. Their conversation not interesting me, I left the car to stretch my legs. At the door Imet the lawyer and his lady.

"You have no more time," the lawyer said to me. "The second bell is about to ring."Indeed I had scarcely reached the rear of the train when the bell sounded. As I entered the car again, the lawyer was talking with his companion in an animated fashion. The merchant, sitting opposite them, was taciturn.

"And then she squarely declared to her husband," said the lawyer with a smile, as I passed by them, "that she neither could nor would live with him, because" . . .

And he continued, but I did not hear the rest of the sentence, my attention being distracted by the passing of the conductor and a new traveller. When silence was restored, I again heard the lawyer's voice. The conversation had passed from a special case to general considerations.

"And afterward comes discord, financial difficulties, disputes between the two parties, and the couple separate. In the good old days that seldom happened. Is it not so?" asked the lawyer of the two merchants, evidently trying to drag them into the conversation.

Just then the train started, and the old man, without answering, took off his cap, and crossed himself three times while muttering a prayer. When he had finished, he clapped his cap far down on his head, and said:

"Yes, sir, that happened in former times also, but not as often.

In the present day it is bound to happen more frequently. People have become too learned."The lawyer made some reply to the old man, but the train, ever increasing its speed, made such a clatter upon the rails that Icould no longer hear distinctly. As I was interested in what the old man was saying, I drew nearer. My neighbor, the nervous gentleman, was evidently interested also, and, without changing his seat, he lent an ear.

"But what harm is there in education?" asked the lady, with a smile that was scarcely perceptible. "Would it be better to marry as in the old days, when the bride and bridegroom did not even see each other before marriage?" she continued, answering, as is the habit of our ladies, not the words that her interlocutor had spoken, but the words she believed he was going to speak. "Women did not know whether they would love or would be loved, and they were married to the first comer, and suffered all their lives. Then you think it was better so?" she continued, evidently addressing the lawyer and myself, and not at all the old man.

同类推荐
  • 密行忍禅师语录

    密行忍禅师语录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 炽盛光道场念诵仪

    炽盛光道场念诵仪

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 明伦汇编人事典祸福部

    明伦汇编人事典祸福部

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 嘉树斋稿

    嘉树斋稿

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 医述

    医述

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 乱世姐妹花

    乱世姐妹花

    成亲当日,她被人掳去做督军的六姨太,督军之女却抢走了她的新郎代她入洞房,“我就是要这个男人,你又能如何?”一场大火烧毁了她所有的幸福,走投无路之际,她投奔了冷血残酷的土匪头子。“我们来做一笔交易,只要你能成功的勾引我,我就下山帮你报仇。”妹妹步步紧逼,姐姐连连退让,乱世中的姐妹,又将演绎怎样一场恩怨情仇。推荐幸福的完结文《幸福不打折》《薄情前夫请接招》。
  • 商业信条

    商业信条

    继《把信送给加西亚》之后阿尔伯特·哈伯德的又一力作。《商业信条》汇集了阿尔伯特·哈伯德一生商业思想的精华。这是一本关于忠诚、主动、敬业等商业法则论述的力作集合,也是阿尔伯特·哈伯德对商业法则的最高感悟。成功与卓越其实就是一种心态。追求卓越,就从阅读本书开始。
  • 嫡女妖娆,督公大人请自重

    嫡女妖娆,督公大人请自重

    目睹亲人惨死,跳崖未遂,命运重来,她势要血洗苏府祭祀亲人!一不小心吓疯了白莲花妹妹,打残了阳奉阴违的姨母!他是传闻中杀人嗜血,视女人为玩物的东厂督公,却将她看入眼中,为她,甘负天下人!
  • 新婚如火:总裁的独家宠爱

    新婚如火:总裁的独家宠爱

    母亲早亡,父亲不慈,继母狠毒。自己青梅竹马的未婚夫还被亲妹妹抢走了!颜子欣都没来得及抱怨她的命太惨,就被迫嫁给了一个无房、无车、无存款的三无男人。但颜子欣没有想到,她的三无老公,竟然一转身,就变成响当当的段大总裁。唔……颜子欣感觉变化得太快,压力有点大!“怎么?后悔嫁给我了?”段墨寒危险的微眯起黑眸,将她压在身下,“现在后悔也晚了!”
  • 虚拟射击

    虚拟射击

    第二卷无论是剧情、文笔、设定、深度、还是人物刻画都远超第一卷,第一次阅读本书的朋友,建议你们直接从第二卷开始看。两卷关联不多,不会有阅读障碍的。“公敌”篇,即第二卷,作者以“版本更新”为由,为本人所描绘的游戏增添了“护符”的设定。“例如:一位玩家的护符是“发丝”,他就能利用可以无限延伸的发丝去偷走目标的武器,或者是戳队友后颈作出提醒、撬开一扇上锁的门;也可以用无数根强韧的发丝,通过连接走廊两边的墙、布置一道暗藏杀机的防线;还能在自己不小心从高空坠落时,拿无数根发丝制成一道应急的降落伞,避免摔伤或摔死。”
  • 老人与海(2018)

    老人与海(2018)

    《老人与海》讲述一个老人独自在海上捕鱼,接连几个月没有收获,后来他钓到一条很大的旗鱼,跟它缠斗了两天两夜,用鱼枪把它刺死;但在返回的途中遇到鲨鱼的袭击,缺乏帮手和工具的老人虽然杀了几条鲨鱼,但旗鱼被其他鲨鱼吃光了,等他进港时,旗鱼只剩下一副骨头。
  • 在阳光下晾晒

    在阳光下晾晒

    小说通过描写乡下青年秦林离家出走,混迹大都市打工谋生的故事为主线,给读者展示了都市生活的繁荣、多彩,同时也将都市生活的危机、陷阱等的另一面也暴露在读者眼前。作品将都市的阴暗、男人泛滥的激情、女人潮湿的心统统放在阳光下晾晒,给人以深刻的人生启迪。
  • 与道有缘

    与道有缘

    上古魔尊破封而出,本以为可以东山再起,君临天下,但当他走出了封印之地想搞波大动作之时,却直接被几个路过的修士给打个得半死。上古魔尊怒吼:“你们可知本尊是谁?”“知道。”“那你们还……”话未,说完,便被其中一个修士打断:“不就是上古的老古董嘛,能有多大出息!” ………… 人善智而不善力,唯有不断更新的知识,才是人族的根本。这是一个上古强者,远古大能重生也只能乖乖接受教育的修仙界。
  • 你不在我不好

    你不在我不好

    我们在对的时间相遇却不能相守。你好吗?很好。可,我过得一点也不好。......你不在我怎么好?
  • 戴案纪略

    戴案纪略

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。