【英文读物】Short Stories.docx

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1、【英文读物】Short StoriesAN HONEST THIEF One morning, just as I was about to set off to my office, Agrafena, my cook, washerwoman and housekeeper, came in to me and, to my surprise, entered into conversation. She had always been such a silent, simple creature that, except her daily inquiry about dinner, s

2、he had not uttered a word for the last six years. I, at least, had heard nothing else from her. Here I have come in to have a word with you, sir, she began abruptly; you really ought to let the little room. Which little room? Why, the one next the kitchen, to be sure. What for? What for? Why because

3、 folks do take in lodgers, to be sure. But who would take it? Who would take it? Why, a lodger would take it, to be sure. But, my good woman, one could not put a bedstead in it; there wouldnt be room to move! Who could live in it? Who wants to live there! As long as he has a place to sleep in. Why,

4、he would live in the window. In what window? In what window! As though you didnt know! The one in the passage, to be sure. He would sit there, sewing or doing anything else. Maybe he would sit on a chair, too. Hes got a chair; and he has a table, too; hes got everything. Who is he then? 2 Oh, a good

5、 man, a man of experience. I will cook for him. And Ill ask him three roubles a month for his board and lodging. After prolonged efforts I succeeded at last in learning from Agrafena that an elderly man had somehow managed to persuade her to admit him into the kitchen as a lodger and boarder. Any no

6、tion Agrafena took into her head had to be carried out; if not, I knew she would give me no peace. When anything was not to her liking, she at once began to brood, and sank into a deep dejection that would last for a fortnight or three weeks. During that period my dinners were spoiled, my linen was

7、mislaid, my floors went unscrubbed; in short, I had a great deal to put up with. I had observed long ago that this inarticulate woman was incapable of conceiving a project, of originating an idea of her own. But if anything like a notion or a project was by some means put into her feeble brain, to p

8、revent its being carried out meant, for a time, her moral assassination. And so, as I cared more for my peace of mind than for anything else, I consented forthwith. Has he a passport anyway, or something of the sort? To be sure, he has. He is a good man, a man of experience; three roubles hes promis

9、ed to pay. The very next day the new lodger made his appearance in my modest bachelor quarters; but I was not put out by this, indeed I was inwardly pleased. I lead as a rule a very lonely hermits existence. I have scarcely any friends; I hardly ever go anywhere. As I had spent ten years never comin

10、g out of my shell, I had, of course, grown used to solitude. But another ten or fifteen years or more of the same solitary existence, with the same Agrafena, in the same bachelor quarters, was in truth a somewhat cheerless prospect. And therefore a new inmate, if well-behaved, was a heaven-sent bles

11、sing.3 Agrafena had spoken truly: my lodger was certainly a man of experience. From his passport it appeared that he was an old soldier, a fact which I should have known indeed from his face. An old soldier is easily recognised. Astafy Ivanovitch was a favourable specimen of his class. We got on ver

12、y well together. What was best of all, Astafy Ivanovitch would sometimes tell a story, describing some incident in his own life. In the perpetual boredom of my existence such a story-teller was a veritable treasure. One day he told me one of these stories. It made an impression on me. The following

13、event was what led to it. I was left alone in the flat; both Astafy and Agrafena were out on business of their own. All of a sudden I heard from the inner room somebodyI fancied a strangercome in; I went out; there actually was a stranger in the passage, a short fellow wearing no overcoat in spite o

14、f the cold autumn weather. What do you want? Does a clerk called Alexandrov live here? Nobody of that name here, brother. Good-bye. Why, the dvornik told me it was here, said my visitor, cautiously retiring towards the door. Be off, be off, brother, get along. Next day after dinner, while Astafy Iva

15、novitch was fitting on a coat which he was altering for me, again some one came into the passage. I half opened the door. Before my very eyes my yesterdays visitor, with perfect composure, took my wadded greatcoat from the peg and, stuffing it under his arm, darted out of the flat. Agrafena stood al

16、l the time staring at him, agape with astonishment and doing nothing for the protection of my property. Astafy Ivanovitch flew in pursuit of the thief and ten minutes later came back out of breath and empty-handed. He had vanished completely.4 Well, theres a piece of luck, Astafy Ivanovitch! Its a g

17、ood job your cloak is left! Or he would have put you in a plight, the thief! But the whole incident had so impressed Astafy Ivanovitch that I forgot the theft as I looked at him. He could not get over it. Every minute or two he would drop the work upon which he was engaged, and would describe over a

18、gain how it had all happened, how he had been standing, how the greatcoat had been taken down before his very eyes, not a yard away, and how it had come to pass that he could not catch the thief. Then he would sit down to his work again, then leave it once more, and at last I saw him go down to the

19、dvornik to tell him all about it, and to upbraid him for letting such a thing happen in his domain. Then he came back and began scolding Agrafena. Then he sat down to his work again, and long afterwards he was still muttering to himself how it had all happened, how he stood there and I was here, how

20、 before our eyes, not a yard away, the thief took the coat off the peg, and so on. In short, though Astafy Ivanovitch understood his business, he was a terrible slow-coach and busy-body. Hes made fools of us, Astafy Ivanovitch, I said to him in the evening, as I gave him a glass of tea. I wanted to

21、while away the time by recalling the story of the lost greatcoat, the frequent repetition of which, together with the great earnestness of the speaker, was beginning to become very amusing. Fools, indeed, sir! Even though it is no business of mine, I am put out. It makes me angry though it is not my

22、 coat that was lost. To my thinking there is no vermin in the world worse than a thief. Another takes what you can spare, but a thief steals the work of your hands, the sweat of your brow, your time . Ugh, its nasty! One cant speak of it! its too vexing. How is it you dont feel the loss of your prop

23、erty, sir? Yes, you are right, Astafy Ivanovitch, better if the thing5 had been burnt; its annoying to let the thief have it, its disagreeable. Disagreeable! I should think so! Yet, to be sure, there are thieves and thieves. And I have happened, sir, to come across an honest thief. An honest thief?

24、But how can a thief be honest, Astafy Ivanovitch? There you are right indeed, sir. How can a thief be honest? There are none such. I only meant to say that he was an honest man, sure enough, and yet he stole. I was simply sorry for him. Why, how was that, Astafy Ivanovitch? It was about two years ag

25、o, sir. I had been nearly a year out of a place, and just before I lost my place I made the acquaintance of a poor lost creature. We got acquainted in a public-house. He was a drunkard, a vagrant, a beggar, he had been in a situation of some sort, but from his drinking habits he had lost his work. S

26、uch a neer-do-weel! God only knows what he had on! Often you wouldnt be sure if hed a shirt under his coat; everything he could lay his hands upon he would drink away. But he was not one to quarrel; he was a quiet fellow. A soft, good-natured chap. And hed never ask, he was ashamed; but you could se

27、e for yourself the poor fellow wanted a drink, and you would stand it him. And so we got friendly, thats to say, he stuck to me. It was all one to me. And what a man he was, to be sure! Like a little dog he would follow me; wherever I went there he would be; and all that after our first meeting, and

28、 he as thin as a thread-paper! At first it was let me stay the night; well, I let him stay. I looked at his passport, too; the man was all right. Well, the next day it was the same story, and then the third day he came again and sat all day in the window and stayed the night. Well, thinks I, he is s

29、ticking to me; give him food and drink and shelter at night, toohere am I, a6 poor man, and a hanger-on to keep as well! And before he came to me, he used to go in the same way to a government clerks; he attached himself to him; they were always drinking together; but he, through trouble of some sor

30、t, drank himself into the grave. My man was called Emelyan Ilyitch. I pondered and pondered what I was to do with him. To drive him away I was ashamed. I was sorry for him; such a pitiful, God-forsaken creature I never did set eyes on. And not a word said either; he does not ask, but just sits there

31、 and looks into your eyes like a dog. To think what drinking will bring a man down to! I keep asking myself how am I to say to him: You must be moving, Emelyanoushka, theres nothing for you here, youve come to the wrong place; I shall soon not have a bite for myself, how am I to keep you too? I sat

32、and wondered what hed do when I said that to him. And I seemed to see how hed stare at me, if he were to hear me say that, how long he would sit and not understand a word of it. And when it did get home to him at last, how he would get up from the window, would take up his bundleI can see it now, th

33、e red-check handkerchief full of holes, with God knows what wrapped up in it, which he had always with him, and then how he would set his shabby old coat to rights, so that it would look decent and keep him warm, so that no holes would be seenhe was a man of delicate feelings! And how hed open the d

34、oor and go out with tears in his eyes. Well, theres no letting a man go to ruin like that. Ones sorry for him. And then again, I think, how am I off myself? Wait a bit, Emelyanoushka, says I to myself, youve not long to feast with me: I shall soon be going away and then you will not find me. Well, s

35、ir, our family made a move; and Alexandr Filimonovitch, my master (now deceased, God rest his soul), said, I am thoroughly satisfied with you, Astafy Ivanovitch;7 when we come back from the country we will take you on again. I had been butler with them; a nice gentleman he was, but he died that same

36、 year. Well, after seeing him off, I took my belongings, what little money I had, and I thought Id have a rest for a time, so I went to an old woman I knew, and I took a corner in her room. There was only one corner free in it. She had been a nurse, so now she had a pension and a room of her own. We

37、ll, now good-bye, Emelyanoushka, thinks I, you wont find me now, my boy. And what do you think, sir? I had gone out to see a man I knew, and when I came back in the evening, the first thing I saw was Emelyanoushka! There he was, sitting on my box and his check bundle beside him; he was sitting in hi

38、s ragged old coat, waiting for me. And to while away the time he had borrowed a church book from the old lady, and was holding it wrong side upwards. Hed scented me out! My heart sank. Well, thinks I, theres no help for itwhy didnt I turn him out at first? So I asked him straight off: Have you broug

39、ht your passport, Emelyanoushka? I sat down on the spot, sir, and began to ponder: will a vagabond like that be very much trouble to me? And on thinking it over it seemed he would not be much trouble. He must be fed, I thought. Well, a bit of bread in the morning, and to make it go down better Ill b

40、uy him an onion. At midday I should have to give him another bit of bread and an onion; and in the evening, onion again with kvass, with some more bread if he wanted it. And if some cabbage soup were to come our way, then we should both have had our fill. I am no great eater myself, and a drinking m

41、an, as we all know, never eats; all he wants is herb-brandy or green vodka. Hell ruin me with his drinking, I thought, but then another idea came into my head, sir, and took great hold on me. So much so that if Emelyanoushka had gone away I should have felt that I had nothing to live for, I do belie

42、ve. I determined on the spot to be a father and guardian8 to him. Ill keep him from ruin, I thought, Ill wean him from the glass! You wait a bit, thought I; very well, Emelyanoushka, you may stay, only you must behave yourself; you must obey orders. Well, thinks I to myself, Ill begin by training hi

43、m to work of some sort, but not all at once; let him enjoy himself a little first, and Ill look round and find something you are fit for, Emelyanoushka. For every sort of work a man needs a special ability, you know, sir. And I began to watch him on the quiet; I soon saw Emelyanoushka was a desperat

44、e character. I began, sir, with a word of advice: I said this and that to him. Emelyanoushka, said I, you ought to take a thought and mend your ways. Have done with drinking! Just look what rags you go about in: that old coat of yours, if I may make bold to say so, is fit for nothing but a sieve. A

45、pretty state of things! Its time to draw the line, sure enough. Emelyanoushka sat and listened to me with his head hanging down. Would you believe it, sir? It had come to such a pass with him, hed lost his tongue through drink and could not speak a word of sense. Talk to him of cucumbers and hed ans

46、wer back about beans! He would listen and listen to me and then heave such a sigh. What are you sighing for, Emelyan Ilyitch? I asked him. Oh, nothing; dont you mind me, Astafy Ivanovitch. Do you know there were two women fighting in the street to-day, Astafy Ivanovitch? One upset the other womans b

47、asket of cranberries by accident. Well, what of that? And the second one upset the others cranberries on purpose and trampled them under foot, too. Well, and what of it, Emelyan Ilyitch? Why, nothing, Astafy Ivanovitch, I just mentioned it. Nothing, I just mentioned it! Emelyanoushka, my boy, I thou

48、ght, youve squandered and drunk away your brains!9 And do you know, a gentleman dropped a money-note on the pavement in Gorohovy Street, no, it was Sadovy Street. And a peasant saw it and said, Thats my luck; and at the same time another man saw it and said, No, its my bit of luck. I saw it before you did. Well, Emelyan Ilyitch? And the fellows had a fight over it, Astafy Ivanovitch. But a policeman came up, took away the note, gave it back to the gentleman