The man on whom depended the easing of the fate of the Petersburg prisoners was an old General of repute--a baron of German descent, who, as it was said of him, had outlived his wits. He had received a profusion of orders, but only wore one of them, the Order of the White Cross.
He had received this order, which he greatly valued, while serving in the Caucasus, because a number of Russian peasants, with their hair cropped, and dressed in uniform and armed with guns and bayonets, had killed at his command more than a thousand men who were defending their liberty, their homes, and their families. Later on he served in Poland, and there also made Russian peasants commit many different crimes, and got more orders and decorations for his uniform.
Then he served somewhere else, and now that he was a weak, old man he had this position, which insured him a good house, an income and respect. He strictly observed all the regulations which were prescribed "from above," and was very zealous in the fulfilment of these regulations, to which he ascribed a special importance, considering that everything else in the world might be changed except the regulations prescribed "from above."
His duty was to keep political prisoners, men and women, in solitary confinement in such a way that half of them perished in 10 years’ time, some going out of their minds, some dying of consumption, some committing suicide by starving themselves to death, cutting their veins with bits of glass, hanging, or burning themselves to death.
The old General was not ignorant of this; it all happened within his knowledge; but these cases no more touched his conscience than accidents brought on by thunderstorms, floods, etc. These cases occurred as a consequence of the fulfilment of regulations prescribed "from above" by His Imperial Majesty.
These regulations had to be carried out without fail, and therefore it was absolutely useless to think of the consequences of their fulfilment. The old General did not even allow himself to think of such things, counting it his patriotic duty as a soldier not to think of them for fear of getting weak in the carrying out of these, according to his opinion, very important obligations.
Once a week the old General made the round of the cells, one of the duties of his position, and asked the prisoners if they had any requests to make. The prisoners had all sorts of requests. He listened to them quietly, in impenetrable silence, and never fulfilled any of their requests, because they were all in disaccord with the regulations.
Just as Nekhludoff drove up to the old General’s house, the high notes of the bells on the belfry clock chimed "Great is the Lord," and then struck two.
The sound of these chimes brought back to Nekhludoff’s mind what he had read in the notes of the Decembrists [the Decembrists were a group who attempted, but failed, to put an end to absolutism in Russia at the time of the accession of Nicholas the First] about the way this sweet music repeated every hour re-echoes in the hearts of those imprisoned for life.
Meanwhile the old General was sitting in his darkened drawing-room at an inlaid table, turning a saucer on a piece of paper with the aid of a young artist, the brother of one of his subordinates.
The thin, weak, moist fingers of the artist were pressed against the wrinkled and stiff-jointed fingers of the old General, and the hands joined in this manner were moving together with the saucer over a paper that had all the letters of the alphabet written on it. The saucer was answering the questions put by the General as to how souls will recognise each other after death.
When Nekhludoff sent in his card by an orderly acting as footman, the soul of Joan of Arc was speaking by the aid of the saucer. The soul of Joan of Arc had already spelt letter by letter the words: "They well knew each other," and these words had been written down. When the orderly came in the saucer had stopped first on b, then on y, and began jerking hither and thither.
This jerking was caused by the General’s opinion that the next letter should be b, i.e., Joan of Arc ought to say that the souls will know each other by being cleansed of all that is earthly, or something of the kind, clashing with the opinion of the artist, who thought the next letter should be l, i.e., that the souls should know each other by light emanating from their astral bodies.
The General, with his bushy grey eyebrows gravely contracted, sat gazing at the hands on the saucer, and, imagining that it was moving of its own accord, kept pulling the saucer towards b. The pale-faced young artist, with his thin hair combed back behind his cars, was looking with his lifeless blue eyes into a dark corner of the drawing-room, nervously moving his lips and pulling the saucer towards l.
The General made a wry face at the interruption, but after a moment’s pause he took the card, put on his pince-nez, and, uttering a groan, rose, in spite of the pain in his back, to his full height, rubbing his numb fingers.
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“请他到书房里去。”
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"Ask him into the study."
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“大人,您让我一个人来把它弄完吧,”画家站起来说。“我觉得灵魂还在这儿。”
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"With your excellency’s permission I will finish it alone," said the artist, rising. "I feel the presence."
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“好的,您把它弄完吧,”老将军果断而严厉地说,迈开僵直的腿,刚毅而均匀地大步向书房走去。
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"All right, finish alone," the General said, severely and decidedly, and stepped quickly, with big, firm and measured strides, into his study.
"Very pleased to see you," said the General to Nekhludoff, uttering the friendly words in a gruff tone, and pointing to an armchair by the side of the writing-table. "Have you been in Petersburg long?"
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聂赫留朵夫说来了没有多久。
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Nekhludoff replied that he had only lately arrived.
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“令堂大人,公爵夫人身体好吗?”
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"Is the Princess, your mother, well?"
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“妈妈已经过世了。”
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"My mother is dead."
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“对不起,真没想到,太遗憾了。儿子对我说他遇见过您了。”
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"Forgive me; I am very sorry. My son told me he had met you."
The General’s son was making the same kind of career for himself that the father had done, and, having passed the Military Academy, was now serving in the Inquiry Office, and was very proud of his duties there. His occupation was the management of Government spies.
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“是啊,我跟令尊同过事。我们是老朋友,又是老同事。怎么样,您在担任什么差事吗?”
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"Why, I served with your father. We were friends--comrades. And you; are you also in the Service?"
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“不,我没有担任什么差事。”
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"No, I am not."
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将军不以为然地低下头去。
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The General bent his head disapprovingly.
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“我有事要拜托您,将军,”聂赫留朵夫说。
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"I have a request to make, General."
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“太—好了。什么事我能为您效劳哇?”
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"Very pleased. In what way can I be of service to you? ”
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“要是我拜托您的事不得当,那就请您原谅。但那件事我不得不来麻烦您。”
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“If my request is out of place pray pardon me. But I am obliged to make it."
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“什么事啊?”
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"What is it?"
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“您这儿关着一个叫古尔凯维奇的人。他的母亲要求探望他,或者至少能把一些书转交给他。”
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"There is a certain Gourkevitch imprisoned in the fortress; his mother asks for an interview with him, or at least to be allowed to send him some books."
The General expressed neither satisfaction nor dissatisfaction at Nekhludoff’s request, but bending his head on one side he closed his eyes as if considering. In reality he was not considering anything, and was not even interested in Nekhludoff’s questions, well knowing that he would answer them according to the law. He was simply resting mentally and not thinking at all.
"You see," he said at last, "this does not depend on me. There is a regulation, confirmed by His Majesty, concerning interviews; and as to books, we have a library, and they may have what is permitted."
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“是的,不过他需要学术性的书籍,他要研究学问。”
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"Yes, but he wants scientific books; he wishes to study."
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“您别相信他们那一套。”将军沉吟了一会儿,说。“他们根本不是要研究学问。他们只是无事生非罢了。”
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"Don’t you believe it," growled the General. "It’s not study he wants; it is just only restlessness."
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“不过,他们处境这么痛苦,总得有些活动消磨消磨时间哪,”聂赫留朵夫说。
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"But what is to be done? They must occupy their time somehow in their hard condition," said Nekhludoff.
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“他们老是诉苦,”将军说。“我们可知道他们。”
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"They are always complaining," said the General. "We know them."
He spoke of them in a general way, as if they were all a specially bad race of men. "They have conveniences here which can be found in few places of confinement," said the General, and he began to enumerate the comforts the prisoners enjoyed, as if the aim of the institution was to give the people imprisoned there a comfortable home.
"It is true it used to be rather rough, but now they are very well kept here," he continued. "They have three courses for dinner--and one of them meat--cutlets, or rissoles; and on Sundays they get a fourth--a sweet dish. God grant every Russian may eat as well as they do."
Nekhludoff listened to the hoarse old voice, looked at the stiff limbs, the swollen eyelids under the grey brows, at the old, clean-shaved, flabby jaw, supported by the collar of the military uniform, at the white cross that this man was so proud of, chiefly because he had gained it by exceptionally cruel and extensive slaughter, and knew that it was useless to reply to the old man or to explain the meaning of his own words to him.He made another effort, and asked about the prisoner Shoustova, for whose release, as he had been informed that morning, orders were given.
"Shoustova--Shoustova? I cannot remember all their names, there are so many of them," he said, as if reproaching them because there were so many. He rang, and ordered the secretary to be called.