登陆注册
15467400000032

第32章 AT CHRISTMAS TIME(1)

I

"WHAT shall I write?" said Yegor, and he dipped his pen in the ink. Vasilisa had not seen her daughter for four years. Her daughterYefimya had gone after her wedding to Petersburg, had sent them two letters, and since then seemed to vanish out of their lives; there had been no sight nor sound of her. And whether the old woman were milking her cow at dawn, or heating her stove, or dozing at night, she was always thinking of one and the same thing -- what was happening to Yefimya, whether she were alive out yonder. She ought to have sent a letter, but the old father could not write, and there was no one to write.

But now Christmas had come, and Vasilisa could not bear it any longer, and went to the tavern to Yegor, the brother of the innkeeper's wife, who had sat in the tavern doing nothing ever since he came back from the army; people said that he could write letters very well if he were properly paid. Vasilisa talked to the cook at the tavern, then to the mistress of the house, then to Yegor himself. They agreed upon fifteen kopecks.

And now -- it happened on the second day of the holidays, in the tavern kitchen -- Yegor was sitting at the table, holding the pen in his hand. Vasilisa was standing before him, pondering with an expression of anxiety and woe on her face. Pyotr, her husband, a very thin old man with a brownish bald patch, had come with her; he stood looking straight before him like a blind man. On the stove a piece of pork was being braised in a saucepan; it was spurting and hissing, and seemed to be actually saying: "Flu-flu-flu." It was stifling.

"What am I to write?" Yegor asked again.

"What?" asked Vasilisa, looking at him angrily and suspiciously. "Don't worry me! You are not writing for nothing; no fear, you'll be paid for it. Come, write: 'To our dear son-in-law, Andrey Hrisanfitch, and to our only beloved daughter, Yefimya Petrovna, with our love we send a low bow and our parental blessing abiding for ever.' ""Written; fire away."

"'And we wish them a happy Christmas; we are alive and well, and I wish you the same, please the Lord . . . the Heavenly King.' "Vasilisa pondered and exchanged glances with the old man.

"'And I wish you the same, please the Lord the Heavenly King,' " she repeated, beginning to cry.

She could say nothing more. And yet before, when she lay awake thinking at night, it had seemed to her that she could not get all she had to say into a dozen letters. Since the time when her daughter had gone away with her husband much water had flowed into the sea, the old people had lived feeling bereaved, and sighed heavily at night as though they had buried their daughter. And how many events had occurred in the village since then, how many marriages and deaths! How long the winters had been! How long the nights!

"It's hot," said Yegor, unbuttoning his waistcoat. "It must be seventy degrees. What more?" he asked.

The old people were silent.

"What does your son-in-law do in Petersburg?" asked Yegor.

"He was a soldier, my good friend," the old man answered in a weak voice. " He left the service at the same time as you did. He was a soldier, and now, to be sure, he is at Petersburg at a hydropathic establishment. The doctor treats the sick with water. So he, to be sure, is house-porter at the doctor's.""Here it is written down," said the old woman, taking a letter out of her pocket. "We got it from Yefimya, goodness knows when. Maybe they are no longer in this world."Yegor thought a little and began writing rapidly:

"At the present time"-- he wrote -- "since your destiny through your own doing allotted you to the Military Career, we counsel you to look into the Code of Disciplinary Offences and Fundamental Laws of the War Office, and you will see in that law the Civilization of the Officials of the War Office."He wrote and kept reading aloud what was written, while Vasilisa considered what she ought to write: how great had been their want theyear before, how their corn had not lasted even till Christmas, how they had to sell their cow. She ought to ask for money, ought to write that the old father was often ailing and would soon no doubt give up his soul to God . . . but how to express this in words? What must be said first and what afterwards?

"Take note," Yegor went on writing, "in volume five of the Army Regulations soldier is a common noun and a proper one, a soldier of the first rank is called a general, and of the last a private. . . ."The old man stirred his lips and said softly:

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 同颜祸水:落跑妃子戏帝君

    同颜祸水:落跑妃子戏帝君

    她与她乃前朝孪生公主,却截然不同的命数;十六年后,姐姐嫁予仇人为妃,她爱上姐夫。姐妹再相逢已人事两非;怎料三朝帝王,爱上的却是同一容颜。谁曾想,如出一辙的美颜下,却是两颗不同的心。温柔体贴的亡国之君?铁血无情的大宋皇帝?几度负她的梦中人?哪个才是最后的归宿?心似双丝网,中有千千结。待君来,许你这半世欢颜,解开我心万千结!
  • 聆江曲

    聆江曲

    江山如画,江湖成诗。少年途迷,佳人何归。风萧萧,雨寂寥;谁争了第一,谁信了不老?都曾壮志言豪,却陷在谁的爱,谁的恨,谁的情,谁的仇?昨日青山在,无处寻逍遥;多彩红尘里,生死走一遭。荒漠探秘,十剑鸣响,迷岛寻踪,人间至宝。群山侠起,昆仑争斗憾事;漠外藏敌,谁知帝家心思。叶有落时,曲亦有尽;乾坤落定时,谁泛舟一笑。
  • 无情青梅:腹黑竹马冷妖娆

    无情青梅:腹黑竹马冷妖娆

    他是腹黑的小正太,她是精灵古怪的邻家小妹妹。两人从小吵到大,她却在高中时期喜欢上了学长,这让他很苦恼,便想方设法让她爱上自己。
  • 穿过雨季

    穿过雨季

    书写故里的一点人和事,描绘他们的一些喜悦与伤痛。——我是怀着一种近乎绝望的痛苦在写这篇小说。
  • 名门鬼秀

    名门鬼秀

    她是从乱坟堆中爬出的孤魂野鬼。前尘浑噩,诸事皆忘。有人哭哭啼啼地要她为家族报血海深仇,有人幸灾乐祸地看她一朝失势任人践踏,还有人看着她,似鄙夷,又似不甘地反复问,“你当真忘了?”起朱楼,宴宾客,百年钟鼎盛,顷刻烟云散。父亲蒙冤入狱,未婚夫绝情毁婚,萧家长女萧随珠呕血而亡,却在一场盗墓案中离奇地死而复生。现身尘世的,究竟是含恨归来的艳尸,还是一场惊天算计中被人操纵的傀儡?凤凰折翼,明珠蒙尘,她又将如何步步心机,以牙还牙,以情偿情?
  • 魔法世界之机械大师

    魔法世界之机械大师

    这是一个魔法的世界,寒冰之国和烈焰之国、暴风之国连年战争,连其它的一些小国家也被迁扯了进来。机械之国被寒冰之国覆灭后,麦可被最后的中立国佣兵之国山姆所救。本来好不容易的平静生活,却因为寻找那个从小深藏心中的云中怪物的答案,而又起波折~
  • 绝命香魂

    绝命香魂

    我们村子旁边有一条阴水河,冬天不结冰,底下葬有无数尸骨,连鱼儿也是冤魂化的。但是那一天,我在船上遇见了一个绝美的女人,她对我做了那种事……
  • 重生之修仙掌门在都市

    重生之修仙掌门在都市

    她,恪守掌门职责,最终灰飞烟灭。再次睁开眼,她化身为痴傻平凡的农村少女。无良亲戚、破旧的民房,守护软弱无能却倍感亲情的母亲,成为了她唯一的使命。古玩赌石为起点,御灵兽修仙术,校园内外惊为天人,却不想延伸到了世界的蓝图,无人可挡不可披靡。(本文纯属虚构,请勿模仿。)
  • 辉煌玄术次元

    辉煌玄术次元

    ━━━本书暂且无作品介绍,之后作者家吾再补充━━━
  • 暗杀少女的爱恋

    暗杀少女的爱恋

    暗杀世界的人,冷酷无情,但是遇到自己的真爱,会怎么样?