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第114章

crime and punishment(罪与罚)-第114章

小说: crime and punishment(罪与罚) 字数: 每页3500字

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Ivanovna's guests。 He called me aside to the window and asked me in         
secret。 It was essential for him that you should be here! That's it;        
that's it!〃                                                                 
  Luzhin smiled contemptuously and did not speak。 But he was very           
pale。 He seemed to be deliberating on some means of escape。 Perhaps he      
would have been glad to give up everything and get away; but at the         
moment this was scarcely possible。 It would have implied admitting the      
truth of the accusations brought against him。 Moreover; the company;        
which had already been excited by drink; was now too much stirred to        
allow it。 The commissariat clerk; though indeed he had not grasped the      
whole position; was shouting louder than any one and was making some        
suggestions very unpleasant to Luzhin。 But not all those present            
were drunk; lodgers came in from all the rooms。 The three Poles were        
tremendously excited and were continually shouting at him: 〃The Pan is      
a lajdak!〃 and muttering threats in Polish。 Sonia had been listening        
with strained attention; though she too seemed unable to grasp it all;      
she seemed as though she had just returned to consciousness。 She did        
not take her eyes off Raskolnikov; feeling that all her safety lay          
in him。 Katerina Ivanovna breathed hard and painfully and seemed            
fearfully exhausted。 Amalia Ivanovna stood looking more stupid than         
any one; with her mouth wide open; unable to make out what had              
happened。 She only saw that Pyotr Petrovitch had somehow come to            
grief。                                                                      
  Raskolnikov was attempting to speak again; but they did not let him。      
Every one was crowding round Luzhin with threats and shouts of              
abuse。 But Pyotr Petrovitch was not intimidated。 Seeing that his            
accusation of Sonia had completely failed; he had recourse to               
insolence:                                                                  
  〃Allow me; gentlemen; allow me! Don't squeeze; let me pass!〃 he           
said; making his way through the crowd。 〃And no threats if you please!      
I assure you it will be useless; you will gain nothing by it。 On the        
contrary; you'll have to answer; gentlemen; for violently                   
obstructing the course of justice。 The thief has been more than             
unmasked; and I shall prosecute。 Our judges are not so blind and。。。         
not so drunk; and will not believe the testimony of two notorious           
infidels; agitators; and atheists; who accuse me from motives of            
personal revenge which they are foolish enough to admit。。。。 Yes; allow      
me to pass!〃                                                                
  〃Don't let me find a trace of you in my room! Kindly leave at             
once; and everything is at an end between us! When I think of the           
trouble I've been taking; the way I've been expounding。。。 all this          
fortnight!〃                                                                 
  〃I told you myself to…day that I was going; when you tried to keep        
me; now I will simply add that you are a fool。 I advise you to see a        
doctor for your brains and your short sight。 Let me pass; gentlemen!〃       
  He forced his way through。 But the commissariat clerk was                 
unwilling to let him off so easily: he picked up a glass from the           
table; brandished it in the air and flung it at Pyotr Petrovitch;           
but the glass flew straight at Amalia Ivanovna。 She screamed; and           
the clerk; overbalancing; fell heavily under the table。 Pyotr               
Petrovitch made his way to his room and half an hour later had left         
the house。 Sonia; timid by nature; had felt before that day that she        
could be ill…treated more easily than any one; and that she could be        
wronged with impunity。 Yet till that moment she had fancied that she        
might escape misfortune by care; gentleness and submissiveness              
before every one。 Her disappointment was too great。 She could; of           
course; bear with patience and almost without murmur anything; even         
this。 But for the first minute she felt it too bitter。 In spite of her      
triumph and her justification… when her first terror and                    
stupefaction had passed and she could understand it all clearly… the        
feeling of her helplessness and of the wrong done to her made her           
heart throb with anguish and she was overcome with hysterical weeping。      
At last; unable to bear any more; she rushed out of the room and ran        
home; almost immediately after Luzhin's departure。 When amidst loud         
laughter the glass flew at Amalia Ivanovna; it was more than the            
landlady could endure。 With a shriek she rushed like a fury at              
Katerina Ivanovna; considering her to blame for everything。                 
  〃Out of my lodgings! At once! Quick march!〃                               
  And with these words she began snatching up everything she could lay      
her hands on that belonged to Katerina Ivanovna; and throwing it on         
the floor; Katerina Ivanovna; pale; almost fainting; and gasping for        
breath; jumped up from the bed where she had sunk in exhaustion and         
darted at Amalia Ivanovna。 But the battle was too unequal: the              
landlady waved her away like a feather。                                     
  〃What! As though that godless calumny was not enough… this vile           
creature attacks me! What! On the day of my husband's funeral I am          
turned out of my lodgings! After eating my bread and salt she turns me      
into the street; with my orphans! Where am I to go?〃 wailed the poor        
woman; sobbing and gasping。 〃Good God!〃 she cried with flashing             
eyes; 〃is there no justice upon earth? Whom should you protect if           
not us orphans? We shall see! There is law and justice on earth; there      
is; I will find it! Wait a bit; godless creature! Polenka; stay with        
the children; I'll come back。 Wait for me; if you have to wait in           
the street。 We will see whether there is justice on earth!〃                 
  And throwing over her head that green shawl which Marmeladov had          
mentioned to Raskolnikov; Katerina Ivanovna squeezed her way through        
the disorderly and drunken crowd of lodgers who still filled the room;      
and; wailing and tearful; she ran into the street… with a vague             
intention of going at once somewhere to find justice。 Polenka with the      
two little ones in her arms crouched; terrified; on the trunk in the        
corner of the room; where she waited trembling for her mother to            
come back。 Amalia Ivanovna raged about the room; shrieking;                 
lamenting and throwing everything she came across on the floor。 The         
lodgers talked incoherently; some commented to the best of their            
ability on what had happened; others quarreled and swore at one             
another; while others struck up a song。。。。                                  
  〃Now it's time for me to go;〃 thought Raskolnikov。 〃Well; Sofya           
Semyonovna; we shall see what you'll say now!〃                              
  And he set off in the direction of Sonia's lodgings。                      

                                                                            

                             Chapter Four                                   
                                                                           
  RASKOLNIKOV had been a vigorous and active champion of Sonia against      
Luzhin; although he had such a load of horror and anguish in his own        
heart。 But having gone through so much in the morning; he found a sort      
of relief in a change of sensations; apart from the strong personal         
feeling which impelled him to defend Sonia。 He was agitated too;            
especially at some moments; by the thought of his approaching               
interview with Sonia: he had to tell her who had killed Lizaveta。 He        
knew the terrible suffering it would be to him and; as it were;             
brushed away the thought of it。 So when he cried as he left Katerina        
Ivanovna's; 〃Well; Sofya Semyonovna; we shall see what you'll say           
now!〃 he was still superficially excited; still vigorous and defiant        
from his triumph over Luzhin。 But; strange to say; by the time he           
reached Sonia's lodging; he felt a sudden impotence and fear。 He stood      
still in hesitation at the door; asking himself the strange                 
question: 〃Must I tell her who killed Lizaveta?〃 It was a strange           
question because he felt at the very time not only that he could not        
help telling her; but also that he could not put off the telling。 He        
did not yet know why it must be so; he only felt it; and the agonising      
sense of his impotence before the inevitable almost crushed him。 To         
cut short his hesitation and suffering; he quickly opened the door and      
looked at Sonia from the doorway。 She was sitting with her elbows on        
the table and her face in her hands; but seeing Raskolnikov she got up      
at once and came to meet him as though she were expecting him。              
  〃What would have become of me but for you!〃 she said quickly;             
meeting him in the middle of the room。                                      
  Evidently she was in haste to say this to him。 It was what she had        
been waiting for。                                                           
  Raskolnikov went to the table and sat down on the chair from which        
she had only just risen。 She stood facing him; two steps away; just as      
she had done the day before。                                                
  〃Well; Sonia?〃 he said; and felt that his voice was trembling; 〃it        
was all due to 'your social position and the habits associated with         
it。' Did you understand that just now?〃                                     
  Her face showed her distress。                                             
  〃Only don't talk to me as you did yesterday;〃 she interrupted him。        
〃Please don't begin it。 There is misery enough without that。〃               
  She made haste to smile; afraid that he might not like the reproach。      
  〃I was silly to come away from there。 What is happening there now? I      
wanted to go back directly; but I kept thinking that。。。 you would           
come。〃                                                                      
  He told her that Amalia Ivanovna was turning them out of their            
lodging and that Katerina Ivanovna had run off somewhere 〃to seek           
justice。〃                                                                   
  〃My God!〃 cried Sonia; 〃let's go at once。。。。〃    

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