NEKHLUDOFF RETURNS TO TOWN.
The town struck Nekhludoff in a new and peculiar light on his return. He came back in the evening, when the gas was lit, and drove from the railway station to his house, where the rooms still smelt of naphthaline. Agraphena Petrovna and Corney were both feeling tired and dissatisfied, and had even had a quarrel over those things that seemed made only to be aired and packed away. Nekhludoff's room was empty, but not in order, and the way to it was blocked up with boxes, so that his arrival evidently hindered the business which, owing to a curious kind of inertia, was going on in this house. The evident folly of these proceedings, in which he had once taken part, was so distasteful to Nekhludoff after the impressions the misery of the life of the peasants had made on him, that he decided to go to a hotel the next day, leaving Agraphena Petrovna to put away the things as she thought fit until his sister should come and finally dispose of everything in the house.
Nekhludoff left home early and chose a couple of rooms in a very modest and not particularly clean lodging-house within easy reach of the prison, and, having given orders that some of his things should be sent there, he went to see the advocate. It was cold out of doors. After some rainy and stormy weather it had turned out cold, as it often does in spring. It was so cold that Nekhludoff felt quite chilly in his light overcoat, and walked fast hoping to get warmer. His mind was filled with thoughts of the peasants, the women, children, old men, and all the poverty and weariness which he seemed to have seen for the first time, especially the smiling, old-faced infant writhing with his calfless little legs, and he could not help contrasting what was going on in the town. Passing by the butchers', fishmongers', and clothiers' shops, he was struck, as if he saw them for the first time, by the appearance of the clean, well-fed shopkeepers, like whom you could not find one peasant in the country. These men were apparently convinced that the pains they took to deceive the people who did not know much about their goods was not a useless but rather an important business. The coachmen with their broad hips and rows of buttons down their sides, and the door-keepers with gold cords on their caps, the servant-girls with their aprons and curly fringes, and especially the smart isvostchiks with the nape of their necks clean shaved, as they sat lolling back in their traps, and examined the passers-by with dissolute and contemptuous air, looked well fed. In all these people Nekhludoff could not now help seeing some of these very peasants who had been driven into the town by lack of land. Some of the peasants driven to the town had found means of profiting by the conditions of town life and had become like the gentlefolk and were pleased with their position; others were in a worse position than they had been in the country and were more to be pitied than the country people.
Such seemed the bootmakers Nekhludoff saw in the cellar, the pale, dishevelled washerwomen with their thin, bare, arms ironing at an open window, out of which streamed soapy steam; such the two house-painters with their aprons, stockingless feet, all bespattered and smeared with paint, whom Nekhludoff met--their weak, brown arms bared to above the elbows--carrying a pailful of paint, and quarrelling with each other. Their faces looked haggard and cross. The dark faces of the carters jolting along in their carts bore the same expression, and so did the faces of the tattered men and women who stood begging at the street corners. The same kind of faces were to be seen at the open, windows of the eating-houses which Nekhludoff passed. By the dirty tables on which stood tea things and bottles, and between which waiters dressed in white shirts were rushing hither and thither, sat shouting and singing red, perspiring men with stupefied faces. One sat by the window with lifted brows and pouting lips and fixed eyes as if trying to remember something.
"And why are they all gathered here?" Nekhludoff thought, breathing in together with the dust which the cold wind blew towards him the air filled with the smell of rank oil and fresh paint.
In one street he met a row of carts loaded with something made of iron, that rattled so on the uneven pavement that it made his ears and head ache. He started walking still faster in order to pass the row of carts, when he heard himself called by name. He stopped and saw an officer with sharp pointed moustaches and shining face who sat in the trap of a swell isvostchik and waved his hand in a friendly manner, his smile disclosing unusually long, white teeth.
"Nekhludoff! Can it be you?"
Nekhludoff's first feeling was one of pleasure. "Ah, Schonbock!" he exclaimed joyfully; but he knew the next moment that there was nothing to be joyful about.
This was that Schonbock who had been in the house of Nekhludoff's aunts that day, and whom Nekhludoff had quite lost out of sight, but about whom he had heard that in spite of his debts he had somehow managed to remain in the cavalry, and by some means or other still kept his place among the rich. His gay, contented appearance corroborated this report.
"What a good thing that I have caught you. There is no one in town. Ah, old fellow; you have grown old," he said, getting out of the trap and moving his shoulders about. "I only knew you by your walk. Look here, we must dine together. Is there any place where they feed one decently?"
"I don't think I can spare the time," Nekhludoff answered, thinking only of how he could best get rid of his companion without hurting him.
"And what has brought you here?" he asked.
"Business, old fellow. Guardianship business. I am a guardian now. I am managing Samanoff's affairs--the millionaire, you know. He has softening of the brain, and he's got fifty-four thousand desiatins of land," he said, with peculiar pride, as if he had himself made all these desiatins. "The affairs were terribly neglected. All the land was let to the peasants. They did not pay anything. There were more than eighty thousand roubles debts. I changed it all in one year, and have got 70 per cent. more out of it. What do you think of that?" he asked proudly.
Nekhludoff remembered having heard that this Schonbock, just because, he had spent all he had, had attained by some special influence the post of guardian to a rich old man who was squandering his property--and was now evidently living by this guardianship.
"How am I to get rid of him without offending him?" thought Nekhludoff, looking at this full, shiny face with the stiffened moustache and listening to his friendly, good-humoured chatter about where one gets fed best, and his bragging about his doings as a guardian.
"Well, then, where do we dine?"
"Really, I have no time to spare," said Nekhludoff, glancing at his watch.
"Then, look here. To-night, at the races--will you be there?"
"No, I shall not be there."
"Do come. I have none of my own now, but I back Grisha's horses. You remember; he has a fine stud. You'll come, won't you? And we'll have some supper together."
"No, I cannot have supper with you either," said Nekhludoff with a smile.
"Well, that's too bad! And where are you off to now? Shall I give you a lift?"
"I am going to see an advocate, close to here round the corner."
"Oh, yes, of course. You have got something to do with the prisons--have turned into a prisoners' mediator, I hear," said Schonbock, laughing. "The Korchagins told me. They have left town already. What does it all mean? Tell me."
"Yes, yes, it is quite true," Nekhludoff answered; "but I cannot tell you about it in the street."
"Of course; you always were a crank. But you will come to the races?"
"No. I neither can nor wish to come. Please do not be angry with me."
"Angry? Dear me, no. Where do you live?" And suddenly his face became serious, his eyes fixed, and he drew up his brows. He seemed to be trying to remember something, and Nekhludoff noticed the same dull expression as that of the man with the raised brows and pouting lips whom he had seen at the window of the eating-house.
"How cold it is! Is it not? Have you got the parcels?" said Schonbock, turning to the isvostchik.
"All right. Good-bye. I am very glad indeed to have met you," and warmly pressing Nekhludoff's hand, he jumped into the trap and waved his white-gloved hand in front of his shiny face, with his usual smile, showing his exceptionally white teeth.
"Can I have also been like that?" Nekhludoff thought, as he continued his way to the advocate's. "Yes, I wished to be like that, though I was not quite like it. And I thought of living my life in that way."
聂赫留朵夫这次回城,觉得这个城市特别新奇.傍晚,他在一片光亮的街灯下从火车站回到寓所.个个房间里都还有臭樟脑的气味,阿格拉斐娜和柯尔尼都疲劳不堪,满腔怨气,甚至为收拾衣物吵架,而那些衣物的用处就在于挂出来晾一晾,透透风,再藏起来.聂赫留朵夫的房间没有被占用,但也没有收拾好.许多箱子堵住通道,进出房间不便,因此聂赫留朵夫这时回来,显然妨碍了出于奇怪的一习一惯而在这里干的活.聂赫留朵夫以前也参加过这类活动,但农村的贫困在他头脑里留下深刻印象,他觉得这种活动显然是荒唐的,因此十分反感.他决定第二天就搬到旅馆去住,听凭阿格拉斐娜收拾衣物--她认为这是必要的,--直到他姐姐来了,再由她最后清理房子里的全部东西.
聂赫留朵夫第二天一早就离开这所房子,在监狱附近随便找了一家简陋,肮脏的带家具公寓,要了两个房间,吩咐仆人把他从家里挑出来的东西搬到这里,自己就去找律师.
外边天气很冷.在雷雨之后往往会出现这样的春寒.天那么冷,风那么刺骨,聂赫留朵夫穿着薄大衣觉得身上发冷,就不断加快步伐以暖和身一子.
他回忆着农村里的各种人:妇女,孩子,老人,他们的贫穷和困顿(他仿佛第一次见到似的),特别是那个模样象小老头,乱一蹬着两条没有腿肚的细腿,一味苦笑的孩子.他情不自禁地拿农村的情形同城里的景象作对比.他经过肉店,鱼店,服装店,看到那么多肥头胖耳,衣冠楚楚的老板,不禁感到惊奇,仿佛第一次看见似的,因为这样的人乡下一个也没有.这些老板显然满心相信,他们千方百计哄骗不识货的顾客,不是什么坏事,而是十分有益的活动.在城里,丰衣足食的还有一臀一部肥一大,背上钉有钮扣的私人马车夫,头戴饰丝绦制帽的看门人,头发鬈曲,身系围裙的侍女.特别显眼的是那些后脑勺剃得光光的出租马车夫,他们伸开手脚懒洋洋地靠在轻便马车上,鄙夷而好色地打量着过往行人.聂赫留朵夫看出这些人都是乡下人,他们丧失了土地,因此被迫一进城.这些乡下人中间,有的善于利用城市条件,过起上等人的生活来,并且扬扬自得.但有的在城里过的生活比乡下还不如,因此也就更加可怜.聂赫留朵夫觉得那些在地下室窗口干活的鞋匠,就是这种可怜人;还有那些洗衣女工也是挺可怜的,她们身一体干瘦,脸色苍白,披头散发,露出瘦胳膊,在敞开的窗前熨衣服,而从窗子里不断冒出带肥皂味的蒸汽.聂赫留朵夫遇见的两个油漆工也同样可怜,他们系着围裙,赤脚套看破鞋,从头到脚都沾满油漆.他们把袖子卷到胳膊肘以上,露出晒得黑黑的筋脉毕露的胳膊,手里提着油漆桶,不住地相互对骂.他们的脸色显得疲劳而愤怒.运货马车夫,一身灰土,脸色乌黑,坐在大板车上摇摇晃晃,也是同样的脸色.那些衣服褴褛,面孔浮肿,带着孩子站在街角要饭的男一女,也是这样的脸色.聂赫留朵夫乘车经过小饭店,从窗子里望见里面的人也是这样的脸色.那儿,在几张摆满酒瓶和茶具的肮脏桌子之间,穿白衣服的堂倌正摇晃着身一子,来回穿梭,桌子周围坐着些满头大汗,脸色通红而神情呆滞的人,嘴里又嚷又唱.有一个人坐在窗口,皱起眉头,努出嘴唇,眼睛呆呆地瞪着前方,仿佛在拚命回想什么事.
"他们聚集在这儿干什么呀?"聂赫留朵夫想,不由自主地吸着由寒风送来的灰尘和空气中新鲜油漆的刺鼻味儿.
在一条街上,一队运载铁器的货车在坎坷不平的路上发出可怕的隆隆声,追上了他,震得他脑袋和耳朵作痛.他加紧步子,想赶到货车前头去.在这铁器的隆隆声中,他忽然听见有人在叫他的名字.他停住脚步,看见前方不远处有一辆轻便马车,车上坐着一个军官,容光焕发,肤色滋润,留着两端翘一起的八字一胡一子,一胡一子上涂过油.他热情地向聂赫留朵夫招招手,笑得露出一排雪白的牙齿.
"聂赫留朵夫!是你吗?"
聂赫留朵夫起初感到很高兴.
"啊!申包克!"他快活地说,但他立刻明白,根本没有什么值得高兴的.
这就是当年到聂赫留朵夫姑一妈一家去过的申包克.聂赫留朵夫好久没有见到他了,不过听说他尽管一身是债,从步兵一团一调到了骑兵队,却不知凭什么法术始终待在有钱人圈子里.
他那志得意满的神气证明了这一点.
"啊,碰到你真是太好了!我眼下在城里一个熟人也没有.哎,老兄,你可见老了,"申包克跳下马车,挺挺胸说."我是从你走路的样子认出你来的.喂,咱们一起吃饭去,怎么样?你们这儿哪家馆子好些?"
"我不知道还有没有时间奉陪,"聂赫留朵夫回答,一心想尽快摆脱这个朋友而又不至于得罪他."你到这儿来干什么?"他问.
"有事啊,老兄.有关监护的事.我现在当上监护人了.在管理萨玛诺夫的产业.说实在的,他是个财主.他得了脑软化症.可他有五万四千俄亩土地呢!"他神气活现地说,仿佛他自己拥有这么多土地."他那份产业糟蹋得厉害.土地全都租给了农民.可是他们一个钱也不一交一,欠款就达八万多卢布.我去了一年就改变局面,让东家增加收入百分之七十.你说怎么样?"他得意扬扬地说.
聂赫留朵夫想起,他听人说过,申包克因为荡光了家产,还欠下一屁一股债,这才通过特殊关系,当上一个挥霍成一性一的老财主的产业监护人.现在他就靠这种监护工作过活.
"怎样才能摆脱他而又不至于得罪他?"聂赫留朵夫一面想,一面瞧着他那张容光焕发,一胡一子抹油的胖脸,听着他亲切地谈论哪家饭馆的菜好,吹嘘他搞监护工作的本领.
"嗯,咱们究竟到哪儿去吃饭呢?"
"我可没工夫,"聂赫留朵夫瞧瞧表说.
"那么还有一件事.今天晚上赛一马.你去不去?"
"不,我不去."
"去吧!我自己现在没有马.但我总是赌格里沙的马.你记得吗?他养着几匹好马.你就去吧,咱们一块儿吃晚饭去."
"晚饭我也不能吃,"聂赫留朵夫微笑着说.
"嘿,这是怎么一回事?你现在上哪儿去?要不要我送你去?"
"我去找个律师.他住在这儿,拐个弯就到,"聂赫留朵夫说.
"噢,对了,你在监狱里忙什么事吧?你在替坐牢的人说情,是吗?柯察金家的人告诉我了,"申包克笑着说."他们已经走了.究竟是怎么一回事?你倒说说!"
"对,对,这都是真的,"聂赫留朵夫回答,"但街上怎么好说呢!"
"是的,是的,你一向是个怪人.那么你去看赛一马吗?"
"不,我没空去,也不想去.请你不要生气."
"�悖�生气,哪儿的话!你现在住在哪儿?"申包克问,忽然脸色变得严肃起来,眼神停滞,眉头皱起.他显然想回忆一件什么事.聂赫留朵夫看到他脸上有一种迟钝的表情,同他刚才从饭店窗口里惊奇地望见的那个皱起眉头,努出嘴唇的人一模一样.
"天好冷啊!是吗?"
"是的,是的,很冷."
"我买的东西在你车上吗?"申包克转身问马车夫.
"嗯,那么再见.遇见你真是高兴,真是高兴,"申包克说,接着紧紧地握了握聂赫留朵夫的手,跳上马车,把他那只戴白麂皮手套的大手举到红一润的脸庞前,挥了挥,照例露出白得异样的牙齿笑了笑.
"难道我原来也是个这样的人吗?"聂赫留朵夫一面想,一面继续往律师家走去."是的,我原来还不完全是这样,但很希望做个这样的人,这样过上一辈子."
