变色龙 A Chameleon（第1页）

变色龙A

安东·契诃夫AntonChekhov

安东·契诃夫（1860—1904），19世纪末俄国伟大的批判现实主义作家，情趣隽永、文笔犀利的幽默讽刺大师，短篇小说巨匠，著名的剧作家。他的作品大都与衰退时期的俄国有关。人们把他比作法国的莫泊桑。他能够抓住生活中的一个片段，寥寥数语，就可以把一个人物的性格和心灵刻画得入木三分。其代表作《变色龙》《套中人》堪称俄国文学史上精湛而完美的艺术珍品。

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

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

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

"Itlookslikearow，yourhonour。。。"saysthepoli。

Otakesahalfturaowardsthecrowd。Heseestheaforementionedmaodihegateofthetimber-yard，holdinghisrighthandintheairanddisplayingableedihehishalfdruhereisplai;I'llpayyouue!"aheveryfihelookofaflagofvithismanOtchumyelnizesHryukih。Theculpritwhohascausedthesensation，awhiteborzoypuppymuzzleaherback，issittingonthegroundwithherfore-pawsoutstretthemiddleoftheblihereisanexpressioerroriearfuleyes。

"What'sitallabout?"Otchumyelovinquires，pushinghiswaythroughthecrowd。"Whatareyouherefor?Whyareyouwavingyer?Whowasitshouted?"

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

"H&#ood，"saysOtchumyelhingandraisinghiseyebrows。&quood。Whosedogisit?Iwon'tletthispass!I'llteachthemtolettheirdogsruheplaethesegentrywerelookedafter，iftheywon'tulations!Whenhe'sfiheblackguard，I'llteachhimwhatitmeanstokeepdogsandsuchstraycattle!I'llgivehimalesson!。。。Yeldyrin，"criesthesuperi，addressingthepoli，"findoutwhosedogthisisanddraort!Abestrahoutdelay!It'ssuretobemad。。。Whosedogisit，Iask?"

"Ifancyit'sGeneralZhigalov's，"sayssomeohecrowd。

&qualov's，h'm。。。Helpmeoffwithmycoat，Yeldyrin。。。it&#htfullyhot!Itmustbeasignofrain。。。There'sohingIakeout，howitcametobiteyou?"OtchumyelovturnstoHryukin，"Surelyit'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&#ue!"

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

"Doyouknowthatforafact?"

"Yes，yourhonour。"

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

"YetmaybeitistheGeneral's，"saysthepoli，thinkingaloud。"It'ssface。。。Isawoheotherdayinhisyard。"

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

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

"HereestheGeneral'scook，askhim。。。Hi，Prohor!ehere，mydearman!Lookatthisdog。。。Isitoneofyours?"

"Whatanidea!Wehaveneverhado!"

"There'setimeasking，"saysOtchumyelov。"It'sastraydog!There'setimetalkingaboutit。。。Si'sastrayditis。。。Itmustbedestroyed，that'sallaboutit。"

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

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

"Yes。"

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