A YOUNG peasant, with white eyebrows and eyelashes and broad cheekbones, in a torn sheepskin and big black felt overboots, waited till the Zemstvo doctor had finished seeing his patients and came out to go home from the hospital; —-
一个年轻的农民，白眉毛和睫毛，宽阔的颧骨，穿着破损的羊皮和大号黑色毡靴，等待着地方自治医生结束看病回家。 —-

then he went up to him, diffidently.
然后他胆怯地走向他。

“Please, your honour,” he said.
“请您，大人，”他说道。

“What do you want?”
“你有什么事？”

The young man passed the palm of his hand up and over his nose, looked at the sky, and then answered:
年轻人用手掌从鼻子上方向上滑过，仰望着天空，然后回答道：

“Please, your honour. . . . You’ve got my brother Vaska the blacksmith from Varvarino in the convict ward here, your honour. . . .”
“请您，大人……您这里有我的哥哥瓦斯卡，来自瓦尔瓦里诺的铁匠，大人……”

“Yes, what then?”
“是的，然后呢？”

“I am Vaska’s brother, you see. . . . Father has the two of us: him, Vaska, and me, Kirila; —-
“我是瓦斯卡的哥哥，您瞧……父亲有我们两个人：他，瓦斯卡，和我，基里拉； —-

besides us there are three sisters, and Vaska’s a married man with a little one. . . . —-
除了我们两个，还有三个姐妹，瓦斯卡是个有家室的人，还有一个孩子…… —-

There are a lot of us and no one to work. . . . —-
我们家里人很多，可没有人能干活…… —-

In the smithy it’s nearly two years now since the forge has been heated. —-
铁匠铺里的熔炉已经两年没开了。 —-

I am at the cotton factory, I can’t do smith’s work, and how can father work? —-
我在棉纺厂工作，我不会铁匠的活，父亲怎么能干活呢？ —-

Let alone work, he can’t eat properly, he can’t lift the spoon to his mouth.”
别说干活，他连正常吃饭都做不到，连勺子都提不起来。”

“What do you want from me?”
“你从我这里想得到什么？”

“Be merciful! Let Vaska go!”
“求您发发慈悲！放了瓦斯卡吧！”

The doctor looked wonderingly at Kirila, and without saying a word walked on. —-
医生疑惑地看着基里拉，不发一言地继续走了。 —-

The young peasant ran on in front and flung himself in a heap at his feet.
年轻的农民在前面跑着，一头栽倒在他的脚下。

“Doctor, kind gentleman!” he besought him, blinking and again passing his open hand over his nose. —-
“医生，亲切的绅士！”他恳求道，眨了眨眼睛，又用手搓了搓鼻子。 —-

“Show heavenly mercy; let Vaska go home! We shall remember you in our prayers for ever! —-
“显示天上的怜悯吧；让瓦斯卡回家！我们会永远在祈祷中记住您！” —-

Your honour, let him go! They are all starving! —-
“大人，让他走吧！他们都快饿死了！” —-

Mother’s wailing day in, day out, Vaska’s wife’s wailing . . . it’s worse than death! —-
“妈妈整天哭啊，瓦斯卡的妻子也在哭…比死还难受！” —-

I don’t care to look upon the light of day. —-
“我不想再看见阳光了。” —-

Be merciful; let him go, kind gentleman!”
“宽容点吧；让他走，亲切的绅士！”

“Are you stupid or out of your senses?” asked the doctor angrily. —-
“你是笨蛋还是疯了？”医生生气地问道。 —-

“How can I let him go? Why, he is a convict.”
“我怎么能让他走？他是个罪犯。”

Kirila began crying. “Let him go!”
基里拉开始哭了起来。”让他走吧！”

“Tfoo, queer fellow! What right have I? Am I a gaoler or what? —-
“呸，奇怪的家伙！我有什么权力？难道我是个狱卒吗？” —-

They brought him to the hospital for me to treat him, but I have as much right to let him out as I have to put you in prison, silly fellow!”
“他们把他带到医院让我治疗他，但我让他走的权力和把你投入监狱的权力一样多，傻家伙！”

“But they have shut him up for nothing! —-
“可是他们毫无理由地把他囚禁起来！” —-

He was in prison a year before the trial, and now there is no saying what he is there for. —-
他在审判前已经被监禁了一年，现在无法说他被关在那儿是因为什么。 —-

It would have been a different thing if he had murdered someone, let us say, or stolen horses; —-
如果他谋杀了某人，或者偷走了马匹，那就完全不同了； —-

but as it is, what is it all about?”
但是事实上，这到底是为了什么？

“Very likely, but how do I come in?”
很可能，但我怎么卷进来了？

“They shut a man up and they don’t know themselves what for. —-
他们把一个人关起来，他们自己也不知道为了什么。 —-

He was drunk, your honour, did not know what he was doing, and even hit father on the ear and scratched his own cheek on a branch, and two of our fellows—they wanted some Turkish tobacco, you see-began telling him to go with them and break into the Armenian’s shop at night for tobacco. —-
他喝醉了，大人，不知道自己在做什么，甚至还打了父亲的耳光，用树枝刮伤了自己的脸颊，我们的两个家伙（他们想要些土耳其烟草，你明白吗）开始让他跟他们一起去破门而入亚美尼亚人的商店偷烟草。 —-

Being drunk, he obeyed them, the fool. They broke the lock, you know, got in, and did no end of mischief; —-
他喝醉了，傻瓜一样听从了他们，他们撬开了锁，你知道的，闯了进去，闹了个天翻地覆； —-

they turned everything upside down, broke the windows, and scattered the flour about. —-
他们翻了个底朝天，打破了窗户，把面粉撒得满地都是。 —-

They were drunk, that is all one can say! Well, the constable turned up . . . —-
他们喝醉了，仅此而已！好吧，警察来了…… —-

and with one thing and another they took them off to the magistrate. —-
这样那样的原因，他们被押送到了县治。 —-

They have been a whole year in prison, and a week ago, on the Wednesday, they were all three tried in the town. —-
他们在监狱待了整整一年，一周前，也就是星期三，他们三个人在镇上受审了。 —-

A soldier stood behind them with a gun . . . people were sworn in. —-
一个士兵在他们背后手持枪支……人们被宣誓了。 —-

Vaska was less to blame than any, but the gentry decided that he was the ringleader. —-
瓦斯卡比其他人更不应受到责备，但绅士们认定他是首领。 —-

The other two lads were sent to prison, but Vaska to a convict battalion for three years. —-
另外两个小伙子被关进了监狱，而瓦斯卡则被判三年的劳改连，做苦工。 —-

And what for? One should judge like a Christian!”
为了什么？我们应该像一个基督徒一样判断！”

“I have nothing to do with it, I tell you again. Go to the authorities.”
我告诉你，我与此无关。去找当局吧。

“I have been already! I’ve been to the court; —-
“我已经去过了！我去了法院； —-

I have tried to send in a petition—they wouldn’t take a petition; —-
我试图递交请愿书，他们不接受请愿书； —-

I have been to the police captain, and I have been to the examining magistrate, and everyone says, ‘It is not my business! —-
我去了警长那里，也去了检察官那里，每个人都说‘这不是我的事！’ —-

’ Whose business is it, then? But there is no one above you here in the hospital; —-
那么是谁的事呢？但在医院里没有人比您更高级； —-

you do what you like, your honour.”
您随意处理，您的尊贵。”

“You simpleton,” sighed the doctor, “once the jury have found him guilty, not the governor, not even the minister, could do anything, let alone the police captain. —-
“你这个傻瓜，”医生叹了口气，“一旦陪审团认定了他有罪，连州长，更别说部长了，都无能为力，更不用说警长了。 —-

It’s no good your trying to do anything!”
你做什么都没用！”

“And who judged him, then?”
“那谁审判了他呢？”

“The gentlemen of the jury. . . .”
“陪审员大人们……”

“They weren’t gentlemen, they were our peasants! Andrey Guryev was one; Aloshka Huk was one.”
“他们不是绅士，他们是我们的农民！安德烈·古里耶夫是其中之一，阿洛夏卡·胡克是另一个。”

“Well, I am cold talking to you. . . .”
“好吧，和你说话够冷的……”

The doctor waved his hand and walked quickly to his own door. —-
医生挥手快步走向自己的门口。 —-

Kirila was on the point of following him, but, seeing the door slam, he stopped.
基里拉准备跟在他后面，但看到门砰地一声关上，他停住了。

For ten minutes he stood motionless in the middle of the hospital yard, and without putting on his cap stared at the doctor’s house, then he heaved a deep sigh, slowly scratched himself, and walked towards the gate.
他站在医院院子中间十分钟，不戴帽子，凝视着医生的房子，然后深深地叹了口气，慢慢地挠了挠自己，走向大门。

“To whom am I to go?” he muttered as he came out on to the road. —-
“我该去找谁？”他走上路时自言自语道。 —-

“One says it is not his business, another says it is not his business. —-
“有人说这不是他的事，另一个人也说这不是他的事。 —-

Whose business is it, then? No, till you grease their hands you will get nothing out of them. —-
那么这是谁的事呢？不，除非你给他们贿赂，不然你什么也得不到。 —-

The doctor says that, but he keeps looking all the while at my fist to see whether I am going to give him a blue note. —-
医生是这么说的，但他不停地看着我的拳头，看我会不会给他一张钞票。 —-

Well, brother, I’ll go, if it has to be to the governor.”
好吧，兄弟，如果非得去找州长的话，我就去。

Shifting from one foot to the other and continually looking round him in an objectless way, he trudged lazily along the road and was apparently wondering where to go. —-
他不安地在原地踱着步，毫无目的地四处张望着，懒洋洋地沿着路走着，似乎在想去哪里。 —-

. . . It was not cold and the snow faintly crunched under his feet. —-
天气并不寒冷，脚下的雪发出轻微的嘎吱声。 —-

Not more than half a mile in front of him the wretched little district town in which his brother had just been tried lay outstretched on the hill. —-
在他面前不到半英里的地方，他兄弟刚刚被审判的那个可怜的小区镇展现在山上。 —-

On the right was the dark prison with its red roof and sentry-boxes at the corners; —-
右边是黑暗的监狱，红色的屋顶和四个角落上的岗亭; —-

on the left was the big town copse, now covered with hoar-frost. It was still; —-
左边是大市区的小树林，现在覆盖着霜。安静无声， —-

only an old man, wearing a woman’s short jacket and a huge cap, was walking ahead, coughing and shouting to a cow which he was driving to the town.
只有一个穿着女人的短上衣和巨大的帽子的老人走在前面，咳嗽着对一头牛喊着，他正把牛赶往镇里。

“Good-day, grandfather,” said Kirila, overtaking him.
“你好，爷爷。”Kirila赶上他说道。

“Good-day. . . .”
“你好……”

“Are you driving it to the market?”
“你是要去市场吗？”

“No,” the old man answered lazily.
“不，”老人懒散地回答道。

“Are you a townsman?”
“你是城里人吗？”

They got into conversation; Kirila told him what he had come to the hospital for, and what he had been talking about to the doctor.
他们开始交谈；Kirila告诉他他来医院的目的，以及他和医生谈了什么。

“The doctor does not know anything about such matters, that is a sure thing,” the old man said to him as they were both entering the town; —-
“医生对这样的事情一无所知，这是肯定的，”老人对他说，当他们两个人正在进入镇子时； —-

“though he is a gentleman, he is only taught to cure by every means, but to give you real advice, or, let us say, write out a petition for you—that he cannot do. —-
“虽然他是个绅士，他只被教会用各种方法来治疗，但给你真正的建议，或者说，给你写一份请愿书，他是无法做到的。 —-

There are special authorities to do that. —-
有专门的机关来做这个。 —-

You have been to the justice of the peace and to the police captain—they are no good for your business either.”
你去过治安官和警长，对你的事情他们也帮不了。

“Where am I to go?”
“我该去哪儿呢？”

“The permanent member of the rural board is the chief person for peasants’ affairs. —-
“村委会的常任会员是农民事务的首要负责人。 —-

Go to him, Mr. Sineokov.”
去找他，Sineokov先生。”

“The one who is at Zolotovo?”
“指的是佐洛托沃的那个人吗？”

“Why, yes, at Zolotovo. He is your chief man. —-
“是的，佐洛托沃的那个人。他是你们的首领人物。 —-

If it is anything that has to do with you peasants even the police captain has no authority against him.”
如果与你农民有关的事情，即使是警长也无权对付他。

“It’s a long way to go, old man. . . . I dare say it’s twelve miles and may be more.”
“这是一条很远的路，老人……我敢说应该有十二英里，甚至更多。”

“One who needs something will go seventy.”
“需要的人愿意走七十英里。”

“That is so. . . . Should I send in a petition to him, or what?”
“是这样的……我应该向他提交一份请愿书吗？还是怎么办？”

“You will find out there. If you should have a petition the clerk will write you one quick enough. —-
“你会在那儿找到答案的。如果你需要一份请愿书，书记会迅速给你写好的。 —-

The permanent member has a clerk.”
常任成员有一个助理。

After parting from the old man Kirila stood still in the middle of the square, thought a little, and walked back out of the town. —-
从老人那里分开后，基里拉站在广场中央静止了一会儿，思索片刻，然后重新走出了城镇。 —-

He made up his mind to go to Zolotovo.
他决定去佐洛托沃。

Five days later, as the doctor was on his way home after seeing his patients, he caught sight of Kirila again in his yard. —-
五天后，医生在看完病人后回家的路上，再次看到了基里拉，他站在院子里。 —-

This time the young peasant was not alone, but with a gaunt, very pale old man who nodded his head without ceasing, like a pendulum, and mumbled with his lips.
这次年轻的农民不再是一个人，而是一个面色苍白的枯瘦老人，他不停地颔首，像钟摆一样嘟囔着。

“Your honour, I have come again to ask your gracious mercy,” began Kirila. —-
“阁下，我又来请求您的慈悲了，”基里拉开始说。 —-

“Here I have come with my father. Be merciful, let Vaska go! —-
“这次我带着我的父亲来了。请您宽恕，让瓦斯卡走吧！ —-

The permanent member would not talk to me. —-
常任成员不愿意和我说话。 —-

He said: ‘Go away!’”
他说：“滚开！”

“Your honour,” the old man hissed in his throat, raising his twitching eyebrows, “be merciful! We are poor people, we cannot repay your honour, but if you graciously please, Kiryushka or Vaska can repay you in work. Let them work.”
“阁下，”老人用喉咙里嘶嘶作声，抬起颤动的眉毛说道，”请您宽恕！我们是贫苦人家，给不了您什么回报，但是如果您慈悲为怀的话，齐悦卡或瓦斯卡可以用劳动来报答您。让他们去工作吧。”

“We will pay with work,” said Kirila, and he raised his hand above his head as though he would take an oath. —-
“我们会用工作来回报您的，”基里拉说，他把手举过头顶，仿佛要发誓一样。 —-

“Let him go! They are starving, they are crying day and night, your honour!”
“让他离开吧！他们正在挨饿，整天都在哭泣，阁下！”

The young peasant bent a rapid glance on his father, pulled him by the sleeve, and both of them, as at the word of command, fell at the doctor’s feet. —-
年轻的农民快速地瞥了他父亲一眼，拉了他一把袖子，他们俩就像听到了口令一样迅速地跪倒在医生的脚下。 —-

The latter waved his hand in despair, and, without looking round, walked quickly in at his door.
医生绝望地挥了挥手，没有回头，快步走进了门里。