Baby's Chekhov Short Stories

Original text:

baby

Olinka, the daughter of retired civil servant Primiannikov, sat on the porch of the hospital thinking about the exam. The weather is very hot, and flies are always annoying. It makes me happy to think that it will be dark soon. Dark clouds move here from the east, and humid air blows from there from time to time.

Kujin stood in the middle of the yard, looking at the sky. He is the manager of the troupe, runs the "Jivori" amusement park and lives in a wing in this yard.

"It's going to rain again!" He said gloomily, "It's going to rain again! It rains every day, it rains every day, as if it were deliberately messing with me! This is for me to hang myself! Trying to bankrupt me! I have to pay a lot of money every day! "

He raised his hands a clap, and then said to Lianka:

"Look! Olga SeMinov, this is our life. I can't wait to cry! A person works hard, tries his best, is exhausted, can't sleep at night, and always thinks about how to do it well, but what is the result? Before you go, the audience is just ignorant people and barbarians. I arranged top operettas and fantasy dramas for them, and invited first-class satirists, but do they want to watch them? Do you think they can understand? All they have to do is watch funny grass plays! Just give them a vulgar play! Secondly, please look at the weather. It rains almost every night.

It rained in May and June from May 10.

It's killing me The theater goers are not coming, but don't I have to pay the rent? Don't actors still have to be paid? "

The next night, the clouds closed again, and Kukin laughed hysterically and said, "What does that matter? If it rains, let it rain! The garden is full of water, drown me alive! Say that I am unlucky in this life, and I will still be unlucky in the next life! Let those actors screw me to court! What is a court? Just send me to Siberia as a coolie! Just send it to the guillotine, hahaha! "

On the third day, it was the same. ……

Olenka listened to Kujin silently and seriously, and sometimes tears welled up in her eyes. Finally, his misfortune touched her heart and she fell in love with him. He is short and thin, his face is yellow, his hair is combed to both sides, the tenor is sharp when he speaks, and his mouth is upturned when he speaks. He always looks depressed, but he still arouses a sincere feeling in her heart. She is too old to love someone, or she can't do it. Earlier, she loved her father, and now he is ill, sitting in an round-backed chair in a dark room, breathing hard; She also loves her menstruation. She comes from Bryansk every two years. Before that, she fell in love with her French teacher in junior high school. She is a quiet, kind and considerate girl with gentle eyes and very healthy body. If a man sees her plump and rosy face, a mole on her soft and white neck, and her innocent and kind smile when she hears happy things, he will think to himself, "Yes, this girl is fine, ..." He will also smile. A woman, in conversation, often can't help but suddenly hold her hand and say, "baby!" " "

This house is located in the suburb of Shigang residential area, not far from the "Givory" amusement park. She has lived in this house since the day she was born, and her father stated in his will that this house will be hers in the future. In the evening and at night, she heard the music played by the band on the playground and firecrackers crackled. She thought it was Kujin who was fighting his own destiny and storming his enemy-the indifferent audience. Her heart is sweet and tight, not sleepy at all. When he came home at dawn, she tapped on the bedroom window, exposed her face and a shoulder to him through the curtain and smiled warmly. ..... he proposed to her and they got married. When he approached her and clearly saw her neck and plump shoulders, he raised his hands and patted them gently and said, "dear!" " "

He was very happy, but because it rained all day and all night on his wedding day, his depressed expression never left his face.

They have a good life after marriage. She is in charge of his box office, the housekeeping of the playground, bookkeeping and salary. Her rosy face, lovely and naive, like a shining smile, sometimes flashes in the small window of the box office, sometimes flashes in the catering department, and sometimes flashes in the background. She often tells her acquaintances that drama is the most important and indispensable thing in the world. Only in drama can people really enjoy themselves and become educated and kind.

"But does the audience understand this truth?" She said, "All they have to do is watch funny grass plays!" Last night we performed Little Faust (2), and almost all the boxes were empty. If Vanica and I switch to vulgar dramas, you can rest assured that the theater will be packed. Tomorrow Vanica and I will play Oedipus in hell. Please come and have a look. "

Whenever Kukin talks about drama and actors, she teaches them. She despises the audience as much as he does, because they are ignorant and indifferent to art. She takes part in rehearsals, corrects the actors' actions and supervises the musicians' behavior. When the Metropolis Daily published a comment dissatisfied with the troupe, she shed tears and then ran to the editorial department of the newspaper to clarify.

The actors all like her and call her "Vanica and me" or "Baby". She sympathized with them and lent them a small sum of money. If they cheat her occasionally, she just cries secretly, but she won't complain to her husband.

They also have a good time in winter. Throughout the winter, they rented the theater in this city for a short time, and then gave it to a small Russian troupe, a magician or a local amateur. Olinka gained weight and her face was filled with satisfaction. It's hard to be yellow and thin, complaining that the loss is too great. In fact, business was good that winter. Every night when he coughs, she gives him raspberry flower juice and bodhi tree flower juice, wipes his body with perfume and wraps him with a soft shawl.

"You are my sweetheart!" She stroked his hair and said sincerely, "You really love me!"

On Lent (5), he went to Moscow to invite a troupe. As soon as he left, she couldn't sleep. She always sits by the window and looks at the stars. Then she compared herself to a hen. The rooster is not in the nest and the hen always stays up all night. Kukin was delayed in Moscow and didn't reply until Easter. In addition, he explained several things about "Tivoli" in his letter. But on Monday, the sixth week before the crucifixion, one night, there was a terrible knock at the door. I don't know who is knocking at the toilet door, just like knocking at a big bucket-bang, bang! The sleepy cook pattered barefoot through the puddle and ran to open the door.

"Excuse me, please open the door!" Someone said in a low bass voice outside the door. "There's a telegram for your family!"

Olanka had received a telegram from her husband before, but this time for some reason, she froze. She opened the telegram with trembling hands and saw the following news: Ivan petrovich died suddenly today and will be buried like a river on Tuesday.

That's what the telegram says-for example, Jiang burial, and the word "Ji" that doesn't make sense at all. The telegram was sent by the director's office of the troupe.

"My relatives!" Olenka was in tears. "Winnie card, my love, my family! Why did I meet you? Why should I know you and fall in love with you? Who did you throw your poor Olinka, poor and unfortunate person to?

……"

On Tuesday, they buried Kujin in the Wagankovo cemetery in Moscow; On Wednesday, Olenka went home. As soon as she entered the door, she collapsed on the bed and burst into tears. It's so loud that you can hear it in the yard next door and in the street.

"Baby!" The neighbor said that he drew a cross on his chest. "Dear Olga Semenoff, poor, so sad!"

Three months later, one day, Olinka walked home after mass, sad, very sad. It happened that her neighbor Vasily Andrejic Pustovalov also came home from church and walked side by side with her. He is the manager of Babaca Timber Factory, a businessman. He wears a straw hat, a white vest and a gold watch chain, which makes him look more like a landlord than a businessman.

"Everything is decided by heaven, Olga Semenoff," he said solemnly, with sympathy in his voice. "If our loved ones die, it must be God's will. In that case, we should hold back our grief and resign ourselves to fate. "

He saw Olenka to the door, said goodbye to her and walked on. All day after that, his solemn voice kept echoing in her ears. As soon as she closed her eyes, it seemed as if she saw his black beard. She likes him very much. And she obviously left a good impression on him, because not long after, an old lady who didn't know her well came to her house for coffee. As soon as she sat down at the table, she immediately talked about Pustovalov, saying that he was a reliable and good man, and any girl of marriageable age would be happy to marry him. Three days later, Pustovalov came to visit in person. He didn't sit for a long time, but he didn't talk much for ten minutes, but Olenka has fallen in love with him. She loved him until she fell asleep all night, as if she had a fever. The next morning, someone was sent to invite the old lady. The wedding date was fixed soon, and then the wedding was held.

Pustovalov and Olenka have a happy marriage. Usually, he stays in the lumber yard before lunch and goes out to do business after dinner, so Olanka sits in his office and sells goods until dusk.

"Nowadays, wood is more expensive every year, and it will increase by 20% every year," she told customers and acquaintances. "Please have mercy on us. We always sell local wood. Now Ka 7 in Vasic goes to Mogilev to save firewood every year. The freight is so big! " She went on to say that she was scared and covered her face with her hands. "What a big freight!"

She felt as if she had been trading in wood for a long time, and felt that the most important thing in life was wood. What "beams", "logs", "sheets", "clapboards", "box boards", "slats", "wood blocks" and "wool boards" and so on, these words have some touching meanings for her. ..... When sleeping at night, she dreamed that thin plates and boards piled up into mountains, and a series of carts carried wood out of the city and sailed away. She also dreamed that a large number of logs, twelve feet long and five inches thick, stood up and walked on the timber yard, so the logs, beams and boards collided with each other, giving off dry wood with a bang, falling down for a while, standing up for a while and overlapping each other. Olenka cried in her sleep, and Pustovalov said to her gently, "Olenka, what's the matter with you, dear? Draw a cross on your chest. "

She thinks what her husband thinks. If he thinks the room is hot, or business is getting sluggish now, she will think so. Her husband doesn't like any entertainment and always stays at home during holidays. She did the same.

"You always stay at home or in the office," said the familiar person. "You should go to the theater, dear, or go to see acrobatics."

"Vasilika and I don't have time to go to the theater," she replied solemnly. "We are working people, so we can't afford to see those boring things. What are the benefits of going to the theatre? "

On Saturdays, Pustovalov and she always attend all-night prayers and do morning prayers on holidays. When they come out of the church and walk home side by side, their faces are always touched. Both of them have a good smell, and her silk dress rustles and is beautiful. At home, they drink tea, eat bread and butter and all kinds of jam, and then eat pies. Every noon, in their yard, in the street outside the gate, there will always be red sweet soup, fried mutton or roast duck, and the fragrance of fish on Lent. No matter who walks through their door, they can't help being greedy. In the office, the pot for making tea is always open. They entertain customers with tea and doughnuts. The couple take a bath once a week and walk home side by side. Both of them were flushed.

"Yes, we have a good life, thank God," Olanka often said to acquaintances. "Just ask God to let everyone live the same life as Vasic."

Whenever Pustovalov went to Mogileyev to save the wood, she always missed him so much that she couldn't sleep and cried all night. Sminning, a young vet in the army, rented a room in her house and sometimes visited her at night. He came to chat and play cards with her, which eased her boredom. It is especially interesting to listen to him talk about his family life. He got married and had a son, but he and his wife separated because she changed her mind about him. Now he still hates her and sends her 40 rubles a month as his son's living expenses. Hearing these words, Olenka sighed and shook his head, feeling sorry for him.

"Oh, God bless you," she said to him when we parted, sending him downstairs with a candle in her hand. "Thank you for coming to relieve my boredom, and pray that God will grant you health, Holy Mother …" She always looks very dignified and steady following her husband's example. The vet has walked out of the downstairs door. She stopped him and said, "You should understand, Vladimir platon, that you should make up with your wife. For your son's sake, you should at least forgive her! ..... Don't worry, that little guy must understand. "

When Pustovalov came back, she whispered to him about the vet and his unhappy family life. They all sighed, shook their heads and talked about the boy, saying that the boy must miss his father very much. Later, because of some strange connection in their thoughts, the two of them knelt before the icon and kowtowed, asking God to give them children.

In this way, Pustovalov and his wife lived peacefully in love and harmony for six years. But, alas, one winter, Vasily Andrejic drank enough hot tea and went out to sell wood without a hat. He is ill with a cold. She invited a top doctor to treat him, but his illness became more and more serious and he died four months later. Olenka is a widow again.

"Who did you throw me to, my family?" After seeing her husband buried, she wept bitterly.

"Without you now, how can I live in bad karma as an unfortunate person? Good people, have pity on me, a helpless person. ..... "She put on black mourning clothes, sewed a white mourning chapter, and stopped wearing a hat and gloves.

She doesn't go out, only goes to church occasionally or to her husband's grave, and stays at home all the time, just like a nun. It was not until half a year later that she took off the white mourning emblem and opened the shutters. Sometimes I can see her go to the market to buy food with the cook in the morning, but now how she lives at home and what happens at home can only be guessed. Everyone is really guessing, because she is often seen drinking tea with the veterinarian in her small garden, he reads the news from the newspaper to her, and because she meets a familiar woman at the post office and says to her, "Our city lacks the correct supervision of the veterinarian, so there are many diseases. It is often heard that people get sick when drinking milk, or cows and horses get sick.

In fact, the health of domestic animals should be paid as much attention as human health. "

She reiterated the veterinarian's idea, and now she shares his views on everything. Obviously, if she doesn't love anyone, she can't live for a year. She found new happiness on the side of her house. If it were someone else, this behavior would be criticized, but no one would think the worst of Olinka, and everything in her life could be forgiven. Neither she nor the vet told anyone about the change in their relationship, but they tried to hide it. But this still won't work, because Olenka can't keep a secret. Whenever there are guests in his room and colleagues in the army, she will pour them tea, or arrange dinner for them, talk about rinderpest, tuberculosis of livestock and slaughterhouses in this city. As for him, he felt uneasy. When the guests dispersed, he grabbed her hand and said angrily and softly, "I have told you not to say things you don't understand!" Don't interrupt when we veterinarians talk about our profession. This is really annoying! "

She looked at him in surprise and fear and asked:

"But, Vorojeka, what should I talk about?"

She hugged him with tears in her eyes and begged him not to be angry. They were both happy, but this happiness didn't last long. The vet followed the army and never came back, because the army had been transferred to a far place, probably Siberia. So Olenka was left alone.

Now she is alone. Father died long ago, and his round-backed armchair was thrown in the attic, covered with dust and missing a leg. She is thin and ugly. When people meet her in the street, they don't look at her or smile at her as usual. Obviously, the good times have passed and been left behind. Now she wants to live a new life, an unfamiliar life, and it is better not to think about that life. In the evening, Olenka sat on the porch, listening to the music played by "Tivoli" band, and firecrackers crackled, but it didn't cause any repercussions in her heart. She looked at her empty yard indifferently, thinking nothing and expecting nothing, then went to bed at night and dreamed of her empty yard. Of course she eats and drinks, but it seems that she has to.

Worst of all, she has no opinion at all. She sees things around her and understands what is happening around her, but she can't form her own opinion about those things and doesn't know what to say. How terrible it is to have no opinion! For example, she saw a bottle, it was raining, or a countryman passed by in a cart, but she couldn't tell why the bottle, the rain and the countryman existed and what was the significance. Even if you give her 1000 rubles, she can't say anything. When I was with Kujin or Pustovalov, and later with the vet, Olenka could explain everything. She could express her opinion on anything, but now, her mind and her heart are as empty as that yard. Life becomes terrible and bitter, just like chewing absinthe.

Gradually, the city expanded in all directions. Cigang residential area is called the main street. On the original site of "Jivori" playground and timber yard, new houses have been built and alleys have appeared. How time flies! Olanka's house is black, the roof is rusty, the shed is skewed, and the whole yard is covered with weeds and thorns. Olenka herself is old and ugly. In summer, she sat in the corridor, and her heart was as empty and boring as before, full of bitterness. In winter, she sits at the window and watches the snow. Whenever she smells the fragrance of spring, or when the wind brings church bells, the past will suddenly come to her mind. Her heart will contract sweetly, and tears will flow down, but it only takes a minute, and then her heart will be empty, and she doesn't know why she wants to live. Breska, a black cat, snuggled up beside her and meowed softly, but the cat's tenderness could not touch Olenka's heart. She doesn't need this! What she needs is the kind of love that can grasp her whole body and mind, whole soul and whole reason, the kind that gives her thoughts, gives her direction in life and warms her aging heart. She shook the black cat off her skirt and said to it distractedly, "Go away, go away! ..... don't have to stay here! "

In this way, day after day, year after year passed, without any joy and opinion. Chef mavra listens to everything she says.

On a hot day in July, towards evening, the animals in the city had just finished driving along the street. The whole yard was full of flying dust, like a cloud, and suddenly someone knocked at the door. Olanka went to open the door herself. When she opened her eyes, she froze. It turned out that there was a veterinarian Simin standing outside the door, with gray hair and casual clothes. She suddenly remembered everything and couldn't help crying. She leaned her head against his chest and couldn't say a word. She was so excited that she didn't notice how they walked into the house and sat down for tea.

"My relatives!" Trembling with joy, she whispered, "Radimir platon! Where did God send you? "

"I want to stay here for a long time," he said "I have retired, retired later here to try my luck and live a stable life. Besides, my son should be in middle school now. He has grown up. You know, I have made up with my wife. "

"Where is she?" Olenka asked.

"She and her son are in the hotel. I am looking for a house outside. "

"Lord, saints, come to my house! Can't we settle down here? Oh, Lord, I don't want you to pay the room fee, "Olenka said anxiously, and began to cry again. "You live here, I will move to the wing. Lord, I am so happy! "

The next day, after the roof was painted and the walls were painted with white powder, Olanka walked around the yard with her hands akimbo, giving orders. With an old smile on her face, her body is full of vitality and spirit, as if she had just woken up from a deep sleep. The vet's wife is here. She is a thin and ugly woman with short hair. Now she looks very sexy. She took her little boy Sasha, a 10-year-old fat boy with shiny blue eyes and dimples on each cheek. As soon as the child entered the yard, he ran after the cat, and the cheerful laughter came at once.

"Aunt, is this your cat?" He asked Olenka. "When your cat gives birth to a kitten, please give us one. Mother is particularly afraid of mice. "

Olinka talked to him and poured him tea. The heart in her chest suddenly warmed up and tightened sweetly, as if the boy were her own son. Every night, when he was sitting in the dining room reviewing his lessons, she looked at him with warm and pitying eyes and murmured, "My baby, beautiful young man. ..... my little darling, so white and so smart. "

"A part of the land surrounded by water is called an island," he read.

"A part of the land surrounded by water ..." She learned to speak. After years of silence and empty thoughts, it was the first time that she confidently expressed her views.

Now she has her own opinion. At dinner, she talked with Sasha's parents about how difficult it is for children to do their homework in middle school now, but classical education is better than real education, because after graduating from middle school, they have broad prospects and can be doctors or engineers if they want. "

Sasha started in high school. His mother went to see her sister in Kharkov and never came back. His father goes out to see animals every day and is often away from home for three days in a row. Olenka felt that Sasha was completely ignored, and she became a superfluous person in the family and would starve to death. She asked him to move to her wing and decorate him with a small room there.

For six months, Sasha lived with her in the wing. Every morning Olenka goes to his small room. He sleeps soundly, burying his face in his hands, and there is no sound at all. She couldn't bear to wake him up.

"Saks Anka attending," she said sadly, "get up, dear! It's time for school. "

He got up, got dressed, said his prayers, and then sat down to have morning tea. He drank three cups of tea, two large bagels and half a French bread with cream. He is not fully awake, so he is in a bad mood.

"You haven't remembered your fable yet, Sachikanka," Olenka said, looking at him as if to send him out of the city. "How much I care about you. You must study hard, son. ..... you have to listen to the teacher. "

"Hey, please stay out of my business!" Sasha said.

Then he went out and went to school along the street. He is short, but he is wearing a big hat and carrying a schoolbag. Olanka walked silently behind him.

"Sasanka!" She cried.

He looked back and she put a date palm or a piece of candy in his hand. They turned the corner and walked into the alley where his school was located. He felt ashamed because a tall and fat woman followed him. He turned and said, "Go home, aunt. Now I can go alone. "

She stopped and looked at his back without blinking until he walked into the school gate and disappeared. Oh, how much she loves him! Her love in the past has never been so deep as this one; Her maternal love is getting stronger and stronger, and she has never given her heart so selflessly, selflessly and happily before. For this boy with a big hat and dimples on his face, she is willing to hand over her life, and she is willing to hand it over happily with gentle tears. Why is this? Who can tell why this is?

She sent Sasha to school and then walked home quietly, contented, down-to-earth and full of love. In the past six months, her face has become young, smiling and radiant. Everyone who saw her looked at her and felt very happy. They said to her, "Hello, dear Olga Semenoff! How is your life, dear? "

"It's really difficult to go to middle school now," she said in the market. "Yesterday, the first-grade teacher asked the students to recite a fable, translate a Latin and do exercises. Is this a joke? ..... Alas, how can a child stand it? "

She started talking about teachers, homework and textbooks. What she said was exactly the same as what Sasha said.

At two o'clock, they had lunch together, had a warm class together in the evening and cried together. She put him on the bed, drew a cross on his chest, murmured prayers for a long time, and then went to bed herself, dreaming of a distant and hazy future. When Sasha graduated, she became a doctor or an engineer, owned her own big house, bought a horse and carriage, got married and had children. ..... After she fell asleep, she still thought about it, and tears ran down her cheeks from her closed eyes. The black cat lay beside her and cried, "Meow … Meow … Meow."

Suddenly, someone knocked at the door loudly. Orinka woke up, breathless with fear and her heart was pounding. Half a minute later, the knock on the door rang again.

"This must be a telegram from Kharkov," she thought, and her whole body began to tremble. "Sasha's mother is going to tell him to go to Kharkov. ..... Ah, Lord! "

She was desperate, her head, hands and feet were cold, and she felt that no one in the world was more unlucky than her. But a minute later, there was a voice: the vet had come home from the club.

"Oh, thank goodness," she thought.

A stone in her heart slowly fell to the ground, and she felt relaxed again. She lay down, thinking of Sasha who was sleeping soundly in the next room, and occasionally said in her dream, "I'll hit you!" " Fuck off! Don't hit people! "

"Notes"

1) Olga's nickname.

② French composer Hervey's operetta (1825-1892). -Russian editor's note

(3) Kujin's name is Ivan's nickname.

④ Opera by French composer offenbach (1819-1880). -Russian editor's note

(5) refers to fasting for forty days before Easter to commemorate Jesus' hunger strike in the wilderness.

⑥ Christian holiday, one week before Easter, commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus.

⑦ Vasily's nickname.

81Russian inch is equal to 4. 4 centimeters.

Pet-name ruby operator Vladimir's nickname.

Attending Sasha and Sasinka are nicknames for Alexander.