小说园

第17章 a chalen（第1页）

Chekhov

TheolicesuerintendentOtchumyeloviswalkingacrossthemarketsquarewearinganewovercoatandcarryingaarcelunderhisarm。Ared-hairedolicemanstridesafterhimwithasievefullofconfiscatedgooseberriesinhishands。Thereissilenceallaround。Notasoulinthesquare。。。TheoendoorsoftheshosandtavernslookoutuonGod&aos;sworlddisconsolately，likehungrymouths;thereisnotevenabeggarnearthem。

"Soyoubite，youdamnedbrute?

"Otchumyelovhearssuddenly。

"Lads，don&aos;tlethimgo!Bitingisrohibitednowadays!Holdhim!ah。。。ah!

"

Thereisthesoundofadogyeling。Otchumyelovlooksinthedirectionofthesoundandseesadog，hoingonthreelegsandlookingabouther，runoutofPitchugin&aos;stimber-yard。Amaninastarchedcottonshirt，withhiswaistcoatunbuttoned，ischasingher。Herunsafterher，andthrowinghisbodyforwardfallsdownandseizesthedogbyherhindlegs。Oncemorethereisayelingandashoutof

"Don&aos;tletgo!

"Sleeycountenancesarerotrudedfromtheshos，andsoonacrowd，whichseemstohavesrungoutoftheearth，isgatheredroundthetimber-yard。

"Itlookslikearow，yourhonour。。。

"saystheoliceman。

Otchumyelovmakesahalfturntotheleftandstridestowardsthecrowd。Heseestheaforementionedmanintheunbuttonedwaistcoatstandingclosebythegateofthetimber-yard，holdinghisrighthandintheairanddislayingableedingfingertothecrowd。Onhishalf-drunkenfacethereislainlywritten:

"I&aos;llayyouout，yourogue!

"andindeedtheveryfingerhasthelookofaflagofvictory。InthismanOtchumyelovrecognisesHryukin，thegoldsmith。Theculritwhohascausedthesensation，awhiteborzoyuywithasharmuzzleandayellowatchonherback，issittingonthegroundwithherfore-awsoutstretchedinthemiddleofthecrowd，tremblingallover。Thereisanexressionofmiseryandterrorinhertearfuleyes。

"What&aos;sitallabout?

"Otchumyelovinquires，ushinghiswaythroughthecrowd。

"Whatareyouherefor?Whyareyouwavingyourfinger?Whowasitshouted?

"

"Iwaswalkingalonghere，notinterferingwithanyone，yourhonour，

"Hryukinbegins，coughingintohisfist。

"IwastalkingaboutfirewoodtoMitryMitritch，whenthislowbrutefornorhymeorreasonbitmyfinger。。。Youmustexcuseme，Iamaworkingman。。。Mineisfinework。Imusthavedamages，forIshan&aos;tbeabletousethisfingerforaweek，maybe。。。It&aos;snoteventhelaw，yourhonour，thatoneshouldutuwithitfromabeast。。。Ifeveryoneisgoingtobebitten，lifewon&aos;tbeworthliving。。。

"

"H&aos;m。Verygood，

"saysOtchumyelovsternly，coughingandraisinghiseyebrows。

"Verygood。Whosedogisit?Iwon&aos;tletthisass!I&aos;llteachthemtolettheirdogsrunalloverthelace!It&aos;stimethesegentrywerelookedafter，iftheywon&aos;tobeytheregulations!Whenhe&aos;sfined，theblackguard，I&aos;llteachhimwhatitmeanstokeedogsandsuchstraycattle!I&aos;llgivehimalesson!。。。Yeldyrin，

"criesthesuerintendent，addressingtheoliceman，

"findoutwhosedogthisisanddrawuareort!Andthedogmustbestrangled。Withoutdelay!It&aos;ssuretobemad。。。Whosedogisit，Iask?

"

"Ifancyit&aos;sGeneralZhigalov&aos;s，

"sayssomeoneinthecrowd。

"GeneralZhigalov&aos;s，h&aos;m。。。Helmeoffwithmycoat，Yeldyrin。。。it&aos;sfrightfullyhot!Itmustbeasignofrain。。。There&aos;sonethingIcan&aos;tmakeout，howitcametobiteyou?

"OtchumyelovturnstoHryukin，

"Surelyitcouldn&aos;treachyourfinger。It&aos;salittledog，andyouareagreathulkingfellow!Youmusthavescratchedyourfingerwithanail，andthentheideastruckyoutogetdamagesforit。Weallknow。。。yoursort!Iknowyoudevils!

"

"Heutacigaretteinherface，yourhonour，forajoke，andshehadthesensetosnaathim。。。Heisanonsensicalfellow，yourhonour!

"

"That&aos;salie，Squinteye!Youdidn&aos;tsee，sowhytellliesaboutit?Hishonourisawisegentleman，andwillseewhoistellingliesandwhoistellingthetruth，asinGod&aos;ssight。。。AndifIamlyingletthecourtdecide。It&aos;swritteninthelaw。。。Weareallequalnowadays。Myownbrotherisinthegendarmes。。。letmetellyou。。。

"

"Don&aos;targue!

"