WHEN MIHAIL IVANITCH went back to the study with the letter, the old prince was sitting in his spectacles with a shade over his eyes and shades on the candles, at his open bureau, surrounded by papers, held a long distance off. —
当米哈伊尔·伊万尼奇拿着信回到书房时，老公爵戴着眼镜，眼睛上遮了一块遮阳板，蜡烛上也遮了光罩，坐在他摆开的书桌前，四周都是纸张，离得很远。 —

He was in a rather solemn attitude, reading the papers (the “remarks,” as he called them) which were to be given to the Tsar after his death.
他正庄重地阅读着那些文件（他称之为“注释”），这些文件在他去世后将交给沙皇。

When Mihail Ivanitch went in, there were tears in his eyes, called up by the memory of the time when he had written what he was now reading. —
米哈伊尔·伊万尼奇走进来时，他眼里泪水涌出来，因为他在读的东西让他想起很久以前自己写的。 —

He took the letter out of Mihail Ivanitch’s hand, put it in his pocket, folded up his papers and called in Alpatitch, who had been waiting a long while to see him.
他从米哈伊尔·伊万尼奇手中接过信，放进口袋里，收起纸张，把一直在门外等待着他的阿尔帕季奇叫进了来。

He had noted down on a sheet of paper what he wanted in Smolensk, and he began walking up and down the room, as he gave his instructions to Alpatitch, standing at the door.
他在纸上记录了他在斯摩棱斯克需要的东西，然后他一边走来走去，一边给站在门口的阿尔帕季奇发出指示。

“First, letter paper, do you hear, eight quires, like this pattern, you see; —
“首先，纸张，听见了吗，八令，就像这样的花纹，你看见了； —

gilt edged … take the pattern, so as to be sure to match it; —
镶金边……带个图案，以确保完全匹配； —

varnish, sealing-wax — according to Mihail Ivanitch’s list.”
清漆，封蜡——照米哈伊尔·伊万尼奇的清单。”

He walked up and down the room and glanced at the memorandum.
他在屋子里来回走动，看了看备忘录。

“Then deliver the letter about the enrolment to the governor in person.”
“然后把有关招募的信件亲自递交给省长。”

Then bolts for the doors of the new building were wanted, and must be of a new pattern, which the old prince had himself designed. —
然后，新楼的门需要螺栓，必须是老公爵自己设计的新模式。 —

Then an iron-bound box was to be ordered for keeping his will in.
然后要订购一个铁皮盒子来保存他的遗嘱。

Giving Alpatitch his instructions occupied over two hours. The prince still would not let him go. —
给阿尔帕季奇下指示，花了两个多小时。公爵还不肯让他走。 —

He sat down, sank into thought, and closing his eyes, dropped into a doze. —
他坐下来，陷入沉思，闭上眼睛，进入了昏睡状态。 —

Alpatitch made a slight movement.
阿尔帕季奇轻微地动了一下。

“Well, go along, go along,” said the old prince; “if anything is wanted I’ll send.”
“好吧，好吧，”老王爷说道，“如果需要什么，我会派人去取的。”

Alpatitch went away. The prince went back to the bureau; —
阿尔巴希奇离开了。王子回到房间； —

glancing into it, he passed his hand over his papers, closed it again, and sat down to the table to write to the governor.
他瞥了一眼文件柜，用手抚摩了一下自己的文件，又关上了柜子，然后坐到桌子前给省长写信。

It was late when he sealed the letter and got up. —
他封好信起床时已经很晚了。 —

He was sleepy, but he knew he would not sleep, and that he would be haunted by most miserable thoughts in bed. —
他困了，但他知道自己不会入睡，床上会被最痛苦的思虑所缠绕。 —

He called Tihon, and went through the rooms with him, to tell him where to make up his bed for that night. —
他叫来提洪，和他一起走过房间，告诉他晚上要在哪里铺床。 —

He walked about, measuring every corner.
他走来走去，测量每个角落。

There was no place that pleased him, but worst of all was the couch in the study that he had been used to. —
没有任何地方让他满意，但最糟糕的是他曾经习惯躺在书房里的沙发。 —

That couch had become an object of dread to him, probably from the painful thoughts he had thought lying on it. —
那张沙发已经成为他所恐惧的对象，可能是因为他躺在上面时想过痛苦的念头。 —

No place was quite right, but best of them all was the corner in the divan-room, behind the piano; —
没有任何地方完全合适，但最好的地方是钢琴后面的迪凡房间的角落； —

he had never slept there yet.
他从来没有在那里睡过。

Tihon brought the bedstead in with the footmen, and began putting it up.
提洪和仆人们把床架带进来，开始安放。

“That’s not right, that’s not right!” cried the old prince. —
“那不对，那不对！”老王爷大声说道。 —

With his own hands he moved the bed an inch further from the corner, and then closer to it again.
他亲自动手把床离角落再移开一英寸，然后又靠近一点。

“Well, at last, I have done everything; —
“好了，终于，我已经做了一切； —

now I shall rest,” thought the prince, and he left it to Tihon to undress him.
“现在我要休息了，”王子想着，然后让蒂洪帮他脱衣服。

Frowning with vexation at the effort he had to make to take off his coat and trousers, the prince undressed, dropped heavily down on his bed, and seemed to sink into thought, staring contemptuously at his yellow, withered legs. —
王子皱着眉头为了脱下外套和裤子而感到烦恼，他脱了衣服，沉重地躺在床上，目光鄙视地盯着他黄色、干瘪的腿。 —

He was not really thinking, but simply pausing before the effort to lift his legs up and lay them in the bed. —
他并没有真正考虑什么，而只是在努力之前稍作停顿，试图抬起双腿然后放在床上。 —

“Ugh, how hard it is! Ugh, if these toils could soon be over, and if you would let me go! —
“呃，这真难！呃，如果这些痛苦能早点结束，如果你能让我离开！”他暗自思索着。他紧紧地咬着嘴唇，第二万次做出那个努力，然后躺下。 —

” he mused. Pinching his lips tightly, he made that effort for the twenty thousandth time, and lay down. —
但是他刚躺下，床突然间像是有规律地在他下面摇晃着，仿佛在起伏和颠簸。 —

But he had hardly lain down, when all at once the bed seemed to rock regularly to and fro under him, as though it were heaving and jolting. —
他几乎每天晚上都有这种感觉。 —

He had this sensation almost every night. —
请尽快结束这一切，让我走吧！”他暗自祈祷着。 —

He opened his eyes that were closing themselves.
他睁开正在闭上的眼睛。

“No peace, damn them!” he grumbled, with inward rage at some persons unknown. —
他咕哝着：“没有和平，该死的他们！”内心对一些不知名的人们充满了愤怒。 —

“Yes, yes, there was something else of importance — something of great importance I was saving up to think of in bed. —
“是的，是的，还有重要的事情——我在床上要继续思考的重要事情。 —

The bolts? No, I did speak about them. No, there was something, something in the drawing-room. —
门闩？不，我确实提到过它们。不，还有别的，客厅里有什么东西。 —

Princess Marya talked some nonsense. Dessalle — he’s a fool — said something, something in my pocket — I don’t remember.”
玛丽亚公主说了一些胡言乱语。德萨莱——他是个蠢货——也说了些什么，口袋里的什么——我记不起了。”

“Tishka! what were we talking about at dinner?”
“蒂什卡！我们在晚餐时谈论了什么？”

“About Prince Mihail …”
“关于米哈伊尔王子…”

“Stay, stay” — the prince slapped his hand down on the table. —
“等等”——王子在桌子上拍了一下手。 —

“Yes, I know, Prince Andrey’s letter. Princess Marya read it. —
“是的，我知道，安德烈王子的信。玛丽亚公主读过它。 —

Dessalle said something about Vitebsk. I’ll read it now.”
德萨莱说了什么关于维捷布斯克的事。我现在要读一下它。”

He told Tihon to get the letter out of his pocket, and to move up the little table with the lemonade and the spiral wax candle on it, and putting on his spectacles he began reading. —
他告诉蒂洪从口袋里拿出信件，把小桌子上的柠檬水和螺旋蜡烛移到旁边，戴上眼镜开始阅读。 —

Only then in the stillness of the night, as he read the letter, in the faint light under the green shade, for the first time he grasped for an instant its meaning. —
只有当他在夜晚的寂静中阅读着信件时，在绿色遮光罩下微弱的光线中，他第一次瞬间理解了它的意义。 —

“The French are at Vitebsk, in four days’ march they may be at Smolensk; —
“法国人已经到了维捷布斯克，再过四天行军就可能到达斯摩棱斯克； —

perhaps they are there by now. Tishka!” Tihon jumped up. —
也许他们现在已经到达了。蒂什卡！”蒂洪跳了起来。 —

“No, nothing, nothing!” he cried.
“不，没事，没事！”他喊道。

He put the letter under the candlestick and closed his eyes. —
他把信放在烛台下，闭上眼睛。 —

And there rose before his mind the Danube, bright midday, the reeds, the Russian camp, and he, a young general, without one wrinkle on his brow, bold, gay, ruddy, entering Potyomkin’s gay-coloured tent, and the burning sensation of envy of the favourite stirs within him as keenly as at the time. —
他脑海中浮现出多瑙河、明亮的正午、芦苇、俄军营地，而他自己是一位年轻的将军，额头上没有任何皱纹，英勇、快乐、红润的面孔闯入波蒂亚金华丽的帐篷中，那时他心中的嫉妒之情与当时一样强烈。 —

And he recalls every word uttered at that first interview with Potyomkin. —
他回忆起与波蒂亚金的第一次见面时说过的每个字。 —

And then he sees a plump, short woman with a sallow, fat face, the mother empress, her smiles and words at her first gracious reception for him; —
然后他看到了一个肥胖、个子矮小的女人，面色苍白、肥胖的脸，她是皇后娘娘，他初次受到她亲切接待时的微笑和言辞； —

and then her face as she lay on the bier, and the quarrel with Zubov over her coffin for the right to kiss her hand
然后是她躺在灵柩上的脸，以及与祖宝弗争夺在她灵柩前亲吻她手的权利时的争吵。

“Oh, to make haste, to make haste back to that time, and oh, that the present might soon be over and they might leave me in peace!”
“哦，要赶快回到那个时光，哦，现在能快点过去，让我平静下来！”