在教堂里行完婚禮，甚至沒有預備清淡的酒菜，新婚夫婦各喝了一杯酒，便更衣、坐車，去了火車站，取消了歡樂的婚慶舞會和晚宴，取消了音樂和舞 蹈，他們要赶到二百俄里以外去朝圣。許多人稱贊這种做法，說，莫杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇已有官職在身，年紀也不輕，熱鬧的婚禮看來顯得不大得体。再說一個五 十二歲的文官，娶了一個剛滿十八的姑娘，在這种場合下听音樂也沒有趣味。也有人說，莫杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇是個循規蹈矩的人，他之所以想出去修道院朝圣的 主意，其實是為了讓年輕的妻子明白：在婚姻問題上，他是把宗教和道德放在首位的。
一群同事和親戚到車站為新婚夫婦送行。他們端著酒杯站著，等著火車開動時好歡呼“烏拉！”彼得·列翁季伊奇，新娘的父親，頭戴高筒帽，身穿教員禮服，已經喝醉，他臉色煞白，舉著杯子，不住地住窗口探過身去，央求說：
“安妞塔！安尼婭１！安尼婭，听我一句話！”
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１均為安娜的小名。
安尼婭從窗子里探出身來，他便貼著她的耳朵嘟噥起來。她直覺得酒气熏人，耳朵里灌風，什么也听不清楚。他就在她臉上、胸前、手上不住地畫十字。這時他連呼吸都在顫抖，眼睛里涌出了淚水。她的兩個弟弟，中學生別佳和安德留沙，在他身后拉扯他的禮服，難為情地小聲說：
“爸爸，行了……爸爸，別這樣……”
火車開動了，安尼婭看到，他的父親跟著車廂跑了几步，身子搖搖晃晃，酒杯里的酒都洒了。他那張帶著愧色的臉是多么可怜而又善良啊！
“烏拉！”他喊道。
現在新婚夫婦單獨在一起了。莫杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇進了包間，查看一番，把東西放在行李架上，然后笑容滿面地在他年輕妻子的對面坐下。這是一 名中等身材的文官，相當胖，大腹便便，保養得极好，臉上留著長長的絡腮胡子，嘴上卻不留唇髭。他那個刮得干干淨淨、輪廓分明的圓下巴，看上去倒像腳后跟。 他臉上最大的特征是沒有唇髭，這塊新刮過的不毛之地，漸漸地与旁邊兩個胖乎乎、顫悠悠、像果凍一樣的腮幫子聯成一片。他舉止庄重，動作徐緩，態度溫和。
“現在我不由得想起一件事情，”他含笑說，“五年前，科索羅托夫得了一枚二級圣安娜勳章，到大人府上感謝的時候，大人是這樣說的：‘這么說， 您現在有三個安娜了：一個在扣眼里，兩個在脖子上。’這里得說明一下，當時科索羅托夫的妻子安娜，一個愛吵嘴的輕桃女人，剛剛回到他的身邊。我希望，當我 拿到二級安娜勳章的時候，大人找不到任何借口對我說這种話。”
他眯起小眼睛微微笑了。她也微微笑了；但她一想到這個男人隨時會用他那肉乎乎、濕漉漉的嘴唇來吻她，而她已經無權拒絕他這樣做，心里就不免發 慌。他那大腹便便的身子只要一動，就把她嚇一跳。她感到又可怕又厭惡。他站起身來，不慌不忙地從脖子上取下勳章，脫掉燕尾服和坎肩，換上長袍。
“這就舒服了，”他說著坐到安娜身邊。
她回想起剛才的婚禮是多么令人難堪，她總覺得神甫、賓客和教堂里所有的人，都用一种哀傷的目光望著她，似乎在問：像她這樣一個漂亮可愛的姑 娘，為什么非要嫁給這個上了年紀的、沒有趣味的先生？為什么？雖說今天早晨她還滿心歡喜，認為一切都安排得很好；可是在舉行婚禮的時候，以及現在坐在車廂 里，她已經感到自己做錯了事，受了騙，顯得很可笑。瞧她嫁給了一個有錢人，但她還是身無分文，連結婚禮服也是借了錢做的。今天父親和兩個弟弟來送她的時 候，她看他們的臉色就知道，他們身上連一個小錢也沒有。今天他們能吃上晚飯嗎？明天呢？不知怎么她覺得，她走后現在父親和弟弟只好坐在家里挨餓，就像安葬 完母親的那天晚上一樣，心情沉重，感到難以忍受的悲傷。
“唉，我是多么不幸！”她想，“為什么我這樣不幸呢？”
莫杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇是個庄重的人，不習慣向女人獻殷勤，他笨拙地碰碰她的腰，拍拍她的肩膀；她呢，正想著錢，想著母親和她的去世。母親死 后，父親彼得·列翁季伊奇，一名中學習字課和圖畫課教員，從此開始酗酒，家境便越來越貧困。兩個男孩子沒有靴子和套鞋，父親叫人扭送去見民事法官，法警便 來家查抄家具……真丟人！安尼婭要照看酗酒的父親，給弟弟補襪子，跑市場……每當有人夸她年輕漂亮、風度优雅時，她總覺得全世界的人都在瞧著她那頂廉价的 帽子和皮鞋上用黑面糊堵住的窟窿。到了夜里她就傷心落淚，怎么也擺脫不掉不安的思緒：老擔心父親因他的酒癮很快就會被校方辭退，他受不了這种打擊，會跟母 親一樣死掉。于是，一些相識的太太開始忙碌起來，要為安尼婭找一個好男人。不久就找到了這個莫杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇，他不年輕，也不漂亮，但很有錢。他在 銀行里有十万存款，還有一座祖上留下、目前已出租出去的庄園。這人循規蹈矩，頗得大人的好評。別人告訴安尼婭：要他幫忙不費吹灰之力，他只消請大人給中學 校長，甚至給督學寫封便函，叫校方不得辭退彼得·列翁季伊奇就行了……
她正想著這些往事，突然從窗子里送來音樂聲和嘈雜的人聲。原來火車在小站上停下了。在月台對面的人群里，有人使勁地拉著手風琴，一把廉价的小 提琴發出刺耳的拉鋸聲。從一排高高的白樺和楊樹后面，從沐浴在月光中的別墅區那邊，傳來悠揚的軍樂聲：顯然別墅里正在舉行舞會。在月台上，住別墅的消夏客 和來這儿的城里人在散步，只要天气好，他們就上這儿來呼吸新鮮空气。這其中就有阿爾特諾夫，整個別墅區的業主，大富翁，一個又高又胖的黑發男子，臉型像亞 美尼亞人，眼睛鼓出，穿一身古怪的衣服。他上身的襯衫不扣紐扣，敞著怀，一雙高統靴上帶著馬刺，肩上披一件拖到地上的黑斗篷，像女人身后的拖地長后襟。兩 條獵狗耷拉著尖嘴臉跟在他后面。
安尼婭的眼睛里還噙著淚花，但她已經不想母親，不想錢和自己的婚事了。她不斷跟認識的中學生和軍官們握手，快活地笑著，很快地重复著：
“您好！過得怎么樣？”
她來到車廂外的小平台上，站到月光下，好讓大家都能看到她穿著華麗的新衣，戴著漂亮的帽子。
“為什么我們在這里停下了？”她問。
“這儿是錯車站，”有人回答，“在等一輛郵車。”
她發現阿爾特諾夫正瞧著她，便賣弄風情地眯起眼睛，大聲說起法語來。忽然問，因為她的聲音那么美妙動听，因為周圍樂聲蕩漾、一輪明月倒影在水 池里，因為阿爾特諾夫，這個出了名的風流男子和幸運儿，正痴迷地、好奇地盯著她，還因為大家都很快活，安尼婭不禁心花怒放。當火車開動、相識的軍官們紛紛 行軍禮向她告別時，她隨著樹林后面送來的軍樂聲，已經哼起了波爾卡舞曲。她回到包間時，心里有一种感覺，似乎小站上的人使她确信：不管際遇如何，她日后肯 定會幸福的。
這對新婚夫婦在修道院里住了兩天就回到城里。他們住在一幢公家寓所里。莫杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇上班后，安尼婭就彈彈鋼琴，或是煩悶得哭一陣， 或是躺在軟榻上看看小說，翻翻時裝雜志。用午飯的時候，莫杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇總是吃得很多，邊吃邊談政治，說些有關任命、調動和獎賞的消息，說人應當勞 動，說家庭生活不是享福，而是盡責，說積下一百個戈比就是一盧布，說他把宗教和道德看得高于世間的一切。最后，他握著餐刀，像舉著劍似的，說：
“每個人都應當盡到自己的職責！”
安尼婭在一旁听著，心里害怕，吃不下東西，常常餓著肚子离開餐桌。午飯后丈夫躺下休息，不久就鼾聲大作，她就回到自己的家。父親和弟弟們看了 她一陣，那眼神有點异樣，好像她來之前他們剛剛責備過她，說她是為了金錢才嫁給一個她不愛的、既枯燥又討厭的人。她那蟋蟋作響的衣裙，手鑼，總之她的一身 太太打扮，使他們感到拘束和屈辱。在她面前他們有點不好意思，不知道跟她說什么好。但他們還像以前一樣愛他，吃飯的時候少了她還不習慣。她坐下來，跟他們 一道喝菜湯和粥，吃那种有蜡燭味的羊油煎的土豆。彼得·列翁季伊奇用顫抖的手拿起酒瓶，給自己倒了一杯，然后帶著貪婪、厭惡的神情一飲而盡，接著倒第二 杯，第三杯……別佳和安德留沙，兩個消瘦、蒼白、大眼睛的男孩奪過酒瓶，慌張地說：
“別喝了，爸爸……夠了，爸爸……”
安尼婭也不安起來，央求他不再喝酒，他卻勃然大怒，用拳頭捶桌子。
“我不許別人來管我！”他大聲嚷道，“坏小子！坏丫頭！看我把你們都赶出去！”
可是他的聲音里流露出軟弱和善良，所以誰都不怕他。午飯后他通常要打扮一番。他臉色蒼白，下巴上有一道刮破的口子，伸著細長脖子，在鏡子前一 站就是半個鐘頭。一會儿梳頭，一會儿捻捻黑胡子，一會儿往身上洒香水，再打個蝴蝶領結，然后戴上手套和高禮帽，這才走出家門去教家館了。如果是節日，他就 留在家里，有時畫畫水彩畫，有時彈彈風琴。那台風琴吱吱叫，隆隆響，他偏要逼它奏出和諧悅耳的樂聲來，還要自彈自唱，有時就沖著兩個孩子生气：
“混賬！坏包！把樂器都弄坏了！”
到了晚上，安尼婭的丈夫常常跟住在同一幢公寓里的同事們玩牌。玩牌的時候，文官太太們也聚到一起。這些太太長相不美，服飾不雅，舉止粗魯，倒 像是廚娘。她們在房間里說東道西播弄是非，她們的話跟她們本人一樣粗俗而無聊。有時莫杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇也帶安尼婭上劇院看戲。幕間休息的時候，他不讓 她离開一步，他要她挽著自己的胳臂一道在走廊里和休息室里踱來踱去。有時候，他對某個人躬身致禮，隨即悄悄對安尼婭說：“五品文官……大人接見過他……” 或者，“這人很有錢財，……自家有房子……”當他們經過小賣部時，安尼婭很想買點甜食，她喜歡吃巧克力和苹果餡小蛋糕，但她身上沒有錢，向丈夫討又不好意 思。他拿起一個梨，用指頭捏一捏，猶豫不決地問道：
“多少錢？”
“二十五戈比。”
“是嗎？”他說著又把梨放回原處。可是什么也不買就走開也不好意思，于是他要了一瓶礦泉水，一個人把它全喝光，喝得他的眼睛里冒出淚水。這時候安尼婭真恨他。
有時候，他忽地漲紅了臉，急急對她說：
“向那位老夫人鞠躬！”
“可是我不認識她。”
“沒關系。她是稅務局局長太太！鞠躬呀，我跟你說吶！”他一個勁儿地嘮叨著，“你的腦袋掉不了的。”
安尼婭便鞠躬致禮，她的腦袋也果真沒有掉下來，但內心感到十分痛苦。丈夫要她做什么她就做什么，她只能生自己的气：她不該像個大傻瓜似的受了 他的騙。她本來只是為了錢才嫁給他，可是現在她的錢比結婚前還少。原先父親還常常給她二十戈比，現在呢，她連一個戈比也沒有。偷偷拿錢或者向他要點她都做 不到，她怕丈夫，見著他就戰戰兢兢。她覺得她對這個人的恐懼感由來已久。小時候，她總認為中學校長是最威嚴最可怕的力量，這力量像頭上的烏云、像沖過來的 火車頭想把她壓死。另一种威嚴可怕的力量，就是家里經常提起、不知為什么大家都對他誠惶誠恐的大人。另外還有十几种小一些的可怕力量，其中包括中學里那些 胡子刮得干干淨淨、神色嚴厲、鐵面無情的教員。最后，就是現在的莫杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇，這個循規蹈矩的人連面孔也長得像中學校長。在安尼婭的想象中，這 一切合成一股力量，變成一頭可怕的巨大的白熊，正一步一步朝像她父親那樣一些弱小而有過失的人逼近。她不敢說出違拗的話，每當她受到粗暴的愛撫，被對方的 擁抱嚇得膽戰心惊、受到玷污時，她只能強作笑顏，佯裝快樂的樣子。
只有一次，為了償還一筆极不愉快的債務，彼得·列翁季伊奇壯著膽子向他借五十盧布，可那是多么令人難堪啊！
“好吧，錢我借給您。”莫杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇考慮一番后說，“不過我得警告您：如果您不戒酒的話，今后我不會再接濟您。一個人身為國家公職 人員，沾上這种毛病是可恥的。我不得不向您提醒一個眾所周知的事實：這种嗜好葬送了許多有才干的人，其實只要他們有所克制，這些人本來是可以步步高升、身 居要職的。”
接下去便是長篇大論：“根据……”，“鑒于剛才所說……”，“由此得出結論……”，可怜的彼得·列翁季伊奇忍受著屈辱的折磨，反而更想喝酒了。
兩個弟弟有時到安尼婭家來作客，他們總是穿著破褲子和破靴子，照樣要听他的訓導。
“每個人都應當盡到自己的職責！”莫杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇對他們說。
錢他是不給的。但他送安尼婭戒指、手鑼和胸針，說這些東西遇到艱難日子就大有用處。他經常拿鑰匙打開她的五斗柜，檢查這些東西是否完好無缺。
轉眼間冬天到了。還在圣誕節以前，當地報紙就早早登出消息：一年一度的圣誕舞會將于十二月二十九日在貴族俱樂部舉行。每天晚上打完牌之后，莫 杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇總要焦急不安地跟官太太嘀咕一陣，不時憂心忡忡地看安尼婭一眼，隨后長時間地在房間里踱來踱去，想著什么心事。最后，有一天夜里，他 在安尼婭面前站住，說：
“你得做一身舞衣，听明白了嗎？只是請你先跟瑪麗亞·格里戈里耶夫娜和娜塔利婭·庫茲米尼什娜商量一下。”
他給了她一百盧布。她收下錢，但是她在定做舞衣的時候，跟誰都沒有商量，只是在父親面前提了一句。她竭力設想，母親參加舞會會怎么穿著打扮。 她去世的母親向來穿得很時髦，也肯為安尼婭花工夫，把她打扮得像一個漂亮的洋娃娃，還教會她說法語，跳瑪祖卡舞１－－而且跳得极好（出嫁前她母親當過五年 的家庭教師）。安尼婭跟她母親一樣，會把舊裙翻改成新裝，用汽油洗手套，租用珠寶首飾１，她也跟母親一樣，善于眯細眼睛，嬌滴滴地說話，擺出种种迷人的姿 態，必要時可以高興得神采飛揚，也可以變得一臉憂傷，叫人琢磨不透。她從父親那里繼承了黑頭發、黑眼睛、神經質和隨時注重打扮的習慣。
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１波蘭的一种民間舞。
赴舞會前半個小時，莫杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇沒穿禮服走進她的房間，想在她的穿衣鏡前把勳章挂在脖子上。他一看，簡直被她的美貌和那身新做的華麗奪目的薄紗舞衣迷住了。他得意地梳理著自己的絡腮胡子，說：
“瞧你多漂亮……多漂亮！我的安紐塔！”忽然他換了一本正經的語气接下去說：“是我使你得到了幸福，今天你也同樣能使我得到幸福。我求你跟大人的夫人結識！看在上帝的份上！通過她我就能弄到主任奏事官的職位了！”
他們坐車去參加舞會。貴族俱樂部的大門口站著侍衛。進了前廳，只見衣帽架上挂了不少皮大衣，侍者穿來穿去，袒胸露背的仕女們用扇子擋著穿堂 風。空气里有煤气燈和軍人的气味。安尼婭挽著丈夫的胳臂踏上樓梯，耳里听著音樂，眼睛瞧著大鏡子里被輝煌燈火照亮的自己，她心中的歡樂蘇醒了，像那次在月 光下的小站上一樣，再一次預感到幸福即將來臨。她高做自信地走著，第一次感到自己已經不是小姑娘，而是一位夫人，并且不由自主地模仿起已故母親的步態和風 度來。她平生第一次覺得自己是個富有的、自由的人。即使丈夫在場，她也不感到拘束，因為在她踏進俱樂部門檻的那一刻，她已經本能地意識到，身邊的年老丈夫 絲毫不會貶低自己，相反，倒給她增添一層誘人的神秘色彩，這正是男人們最動心的。大廳里樂聲悠揚，舞會已經開始。從簡朴的公寓里出來，置身于這片輝煌的燈 火、繽紛的色彩、音樂和喧鬧之中，深受感動的安尼婭向大廳里掃了一眼，心中暗想：“啊，真是太好了！”她立刻在人群中認出了她所有的熟人、所有那些以前在 晚會上或游樂時遇見過的軍官、教員、律師、文官、地主、大官、阿爾特諾夫和上流社會的太太小姐們。這些女士一個個都打扮入時，袒胸露背，有的美麗動人，有 的長相難看。她們在義賣市場的小木屋和售貨亭里已經各就各位，為周濟窮人舉行義賣。一個佩戴帶穗肩章的魁梧的軍官（她是在上中學時在老基輔街上跟他相識 的，現在已不記得他的名字）像從地底下鑽出來似的，邀請她跳華爾茲舞。她從丈夫身邊翩翩飛走，她覺得此刻她像坐在一條小帆船上在暴風雨中隨波漂蕩，而丈夫 已遠遠地留在岸上了……她跳得熱烈奔放、興致勃勃，華爾茲、波爾卡、卡德里爾，一曲接一曲跳下去，從一個舞伴手里轉到另一個舞伴手里，音樂和喧鬧使她心醉 神迷，她嬌滴滴他說話，俄語里夾雜著法語，不住地笑，腦子里既沒有丈夫，也沒有任何人、任何事。她贏得了男人的歡心，這是顯而易見的，而且也不可能不是這 樣。她興奮得喘不過气來，焦急不安地捏著手里的扇子，她感到口渴。她的父親彼得·列翁季伊奇穿一件皺巴巴的有汽油味的禮服，走到她跟前，遞給她一小碟紅色 冰淇淋。
“你今天真迷人！”他欣喜万分地瞧著她說，“我還從來沒有像今天這么后悔過，你不該匆匆忙忙出嫁……為了什么？我知道，你這樣做是為了我們，可是……”他用發抖的手掏出一小沓鈔票，說：“今天我領到教家館的薪水，我可以還清欠你丈夫的錢了。”
她把小碟子塞到他手里，立即被人摟住腰，被遠遠地帶走了。她越過舞伴的肩頭，匆匆一瞥，看到父親在鑲木地板上輕快地滑行，摟著一位太太在大廳里滿場飛旋。
“他不醉的時候多么可愛啊！”她說。
她還是跟那個魁梧軍官跳瑪祖卡舞。他傲慢地、沉重地踏著舞步，活像一頭被宰后套上軍裝的牲口，他不時聳動肩膀、挺挺胸膛，腳跟很勉強地踏著拍 子——一副极不愿跳舞的樣子。她卻在他身邊像花蝴蝶一樣飛來飛去，用她的美貌和裸露的脖頸挑逗他。她的眼睛像火一般燃燒，她的動作充滿了激情，而他卻越來 越無動于衷，像國王恩賜似地向她伸出手去。
“好哇，好哇！”人群里有人喝彩。
但是，漸漸地連魁梧的軍官也抵擋不住了，他活躍起來，激動起來，已經陶醉于她的魁力，變得無比狂熱，現在他的動作變得輕快，充滿了活力，而她 只是擺動肩頭，狡黠地望著他：她嚴若一位女王，他是奴隸。這時她感覺到，整個大廳里的人都在看著他們，所有這些人都看呆了，心里嫉妒他們。魁梧的軍官剛向 她道過謝，人群中突然閃開一條道，男人們不知為什么奇怪地挺直身子，雙手貼在褲縫上……原來，禮服上佩戴著兩枚星章的大人正朝她走來。是的，大人正是沖她 而來的，因為他的眼睛死死盯著她，臉上堆著媚笑，嘴巴努動著像在吃東西——他看見漂亮女人的時候向來是這樣的。
“我很高興，很高興……”他這樣開始，“我要下令關您丈夫的禁閉，因為他把這么一件寶貝一直瞞著我們。”“我受太太之命前來找您，”他繼續 道，向她伸出手去，“您得幫幫我們……嗯，是的……應當發您一筆美人獎金才對……就像美國那樣……嗯，是的……美國人……我太太正著急地等著您呢。”
他把她領到小木屋里，去見一位上了年紀的太太。這位太太的下半截臉大得不成比例，就好像她的嘴里含著一塊大石頭。
“快來幫幫我們，”她用鼻音慢腔慢調地說，“所有的漂亮女人都在義賣市場上工作，只有您一個人不知為什么只顧玩樂，您為什么不想幫幫我們呢？”
她走開了，安尼婭就坐了她的位于守著一把銀茶壺和几只杯子。這里的生意立即興隆起來。喝一杯茶安尼婭至少收一個盧布，那個魁梧的軍官讓她逼著 喝了三杯。阿爾特諾夫也來了。這個富翁眼睛鼓出，有哮喘病，身上穿的已不是安尼婭夏天看到的那身古怪衣服，而是跟大家一樣的燕尾服。他不眨眼地盯著安尼 婭，喝了一杯香擯酒，付了一百盧布，接著又喝一杯，又給了一百－－這中間一句話也沒說，因為哮喘病犯了……安尼婭招徠顧客，收他們的錢，此刻她已經确信不 疑，她的笑容和目光能給這些人帶來极大的快樂。她這才明白，她生來只是為了享受這种有音樂、有舞蹈、有崇拜者的熱鬧、豪華、歡樂的生活的。想到長期以來她 所害怕的那股威逼她的、想把她壓死的力量，她不免覺得可笑。現在她誰都不怕了。她只惋惜母親去世了，否則她此刻會看到她的成功，跟她一道高興的。
彼得·列翁季伊奇臉色已經發白，但兩條腿還算站得穩，他來到小木屋前，要了一杯白蘭地。安尼婭臉紅了，等著他會說出什么不得体的話（她已經為 自己有這樣一個貧窮而普通的父親感到羞愧），但他喝完酒，從一沓鈔票中扔出十盧布，一句話沒說就傲慢地走了。不久她看到他跟舞伴一道跳輪舞１，這時他已經 腳步踉蹌，不停地嚷叫，弄得他的舞伴十分尷尬。安尼婭由此想起，三年前的一次舞會上，他也是這樣東歪西倒、不停地嚷叫一結果讓警察分局長弄回家睡覺，第二 天校長就威脅要辭退他。這段回憶多么煞風景啊！
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１原文為法文。
售貨亭里的茶炊都已熄滅，精疲力竭的女慈善家們把各自的進款都交給了那位嘴里像含著石頭的上了年紀的太太。這時阿爾特諾夫挽起安尼婭的胳臂把 她領到餐廳，那里已經為全体參加義賣的人擺上酒宴。參加晚宴的不超過二十人，席間非常熱鬧。大人舉杯祝酒：“在這個豪華的餐廳里，應當為本次義賣的宗旨 －－為廉价的慈善食堂的興旺發達干杯。”一名陸軍准將建議大家為“連大炮也干拜下風的力量”干杯，于是男士們探過身子紛紛跟女士們碰杯。大家非常非常快 活！
當安尼婭讓人護送回家時，天色已經大亮，廚娘們都上市場了。她滿心歡喜、帶著醉意、滿腦子新鮮印象，同時又疲憊不堪，她脫去衣服，倒在床上，立即睡著了……
下午一點多鐘女仆把她喚醒，稟報說，阿爾特諾夫先生登門拜訪。她很快穿好衣服，來到客廳。阿爾特諾夫走后不久，大人親自前來感謝她參加義賣工 作。他色迷迷地瞧著她，努動著嘴巴，吻她的小手，并且請求她允許他以后再來拜訪，然后坐車走了。她站在客廳中央，又惊訝又興奮，不相信她的生活這么快就發 生了如此惊人的變化。正在這時候她的丈夫莫杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇進來了……他站在她面前，竟也是一副討好巴結、畢恭畢敬的奴才相，這副模樣她已經看慣了； 他在那些有權有勢的大人物面前總是這樣的。她料定自己說什么活他也拿她沒辦法，于是又高興、又气憤、又輕蔑地咬清每個字說：
“滾出去，蠢貨！”
從此以后，安尼婭就沒有一天閒著的時候，因為她有時參加野餐，有時參加郊游，有時參加演出。她每天凌晨才回到家里，經常睡在客廳的地板上，事 后還動人地對別人說，她怎么在花叢底下睡覺。她需要很多錢，但她已經不怕莫杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇了，她花他的錢就像花自己的錢一樣。她不討也不要，只是把 帳單給他送去，或者寫張便條：“交來人二百盧布”，或“速付一百盧布”。
复活節那天，莫杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇得了一枚二級安娜勳章。當他前往道謝時，大人把報紙放到一邊，在圈椅里坐得更舒服一些。
“這么說，您現在有三個安娜了，”他說，一面查看著自己的白手和粉指甲，“一個在扣眼里，兩個在脖子上。”
莫杰斯特·阿列克謝伊奇小心地伸出兩個手指，按住嘴巴，免得笑出聲來。他說：
“現在就等小弗拉季米爾出世了。我斗膽請求大人做他的教父。”
他這是暗示四級弗拉季米爾勳章，而且已經暗地里想象著，他將到處去宣揚他的這句既机智又大膽、語義雙關的俏皮話。他本想再說些類似的妙語，但大人又埋頭看報去了，還朝他點一下頭……
安尼婭依舊坐著三套馬車兜風，同阿爾特諾夫出去打獵，演獨幕戲，在外面晚餐，并且很少回家看望父親和弟弟了。他們自個儿吃飯。彼得·列翁季伊 奇的酒癮越來越大，又沒有錢，那架風琴早已賣出抵債。兩個男孩子現在不放他獨自上街，老是跟著他，生怕他跌倒。有時他們在老基輔街上遇見安尼婭坐在雙套馬 車上兜風，車旁還有一匹拉梢的馬，阿爾特諾夫坐在車夫座位上親自赶車。這時，彼得·列翁季伊奇摘下高禮帽，總想對她喊一聲，可是別佳和安德留沙一人拽他一 條胳膊，央求他：
“別這樣，爸爸……算了，爸爸……”
一八九五年十月二十二日
I AFTER the wedding they had not even light refreshments; the happy pair simply drank a glass of champagne, changed into their travelling things, and drove to the station. Instead of a gay wedding ball and supper, instead of music and dancing, they went on a journey to pray at a shrine a hundred and fifty miles away. Many people commended this, saying that Modest Alexeitch was a man high up in the service and no longer young, and that a noisy wedding might not have seemed quite suitable; and music is apt to sound dreary when a government official of fifty-two marries a girl who is only just eighteen. People said, too, that Modest Alexeitch, being a man of principle, had arranged this visit to the monastery expressly in order to make his young bride realize that even in marriage he put religion and morality above everything. The happy pair were seen off at the station. The crowd of relations and colleagues in the service stood, with glasses in their hands, waiting for the train to start to shout "Hurrah!" and the bride's father, Pyotr Leontyitch, wearing a top-hat and the uniform of a teacher, already drunk and very pale, kept craning towards the window, glass in hand and saying in an imploring voice: "Anyuta! Anya, Anya! one word!" Anna bent out of the window to him, and he whispered something to her, enveloping her in a stale smell of alcohol, blew into her ear --she could make out nothing--and made the sign of the cross over her face, her bosom, and her hands; meanwhile he was breathing in gasps and tears were shining in his eyes. And the schoolboys, Anna's brothers, Petya and Andrusha, pulled at his coat from behind, whispering in confusion: "Father, hush! . . . Father, that's enough. . . ." When the train started, Anna saw her father run a little way after the train, staggering and spilling his wine, and what a kind, guilty, pitiful face he had: "Hurra--ah!" he shouted. The happy pair were left alone. Modest Alexeitch looked about the compartment, arranged their things on the shelves, and sat down, smiling, opposite his young wife. He was an official of medium height, rather stout and puffy, who looked exceedingly well nourished, with long whiskers and no moustache. His clean-shaven, round, sharply defined chin looked like the heel of a foot. The most characteristic point in his face was the absence of moustache, the bare, freshly shaven place, which gradually passed into the fat cheeks, quivering like jelly. His deportment was dignified, his movements were deliberate, his manner was soft. "I cannot help remembering now one circumstance," he said, smiling. "When, five years ago, Kosorotov received the order of St. Anna of the second grade, and went to thank His Excellency, His Excellency expressed himself as follows: 'So now you have three Annas: one in your buttonhole and two on your neck.' And it must be explained that at that time Kosorotov's wife, a quarrelsome and frivolous person, had just returned to him, and that her name was Anna. I trust that when I receive the Anna of the second grade His Excellency will not have occasion to say the same thing to me." He smiled with his little eyes. And she, too, smiled, troubled at the thought that at any moment this man might kiss her with his thick damp lips, and that she had no right to prevent his doing so. The soft movements of his fat person frightened her; she felt both fear and disgust. He got up, without haste took off the order from his neck, took off his coat and waistcoat, and put on his dressing-gown. "That's better," he said, sitting down beside Anna. Anna remembered what agony the wedding had been, when it had seemed to her that the priest, and the guests, and every one in church had been looking at her sorrowfully and asking why, why was she, such a sweet, nice girl, marrying such an elderly, uninteresting gentleman. Only that morning she was delighted that everything had been satisfactorily arranged, but at the time of the wedding, and now in the railway carriage, she felt cheated, guilty, and ridiculous. Here she had married a rich man and yet she had no money, her wedding-dress had been bought on credit, and when her father and brothers had been saying good-bye, she could see from their faces that they had not a farthing. Would they have any supper that day? And tomorrow? And for some reason it seemed to her that her father and the boys were sitting tonight hungry without her, and feeling the same misery as they had the day after their mother's funeral. "Oh, how unhappy I am!" she thought. "Why am I so unhappy?" With the awkwardness of a man with settled habits, unaccustomed to deal with women, Modest Alexeitch touched her on the waist and patted her on the shoulder, while she went on thinking about money, about her mother and her mother's death. When her mother died, her father, Pyotr Leontyitch, a teacher of drawing and writing in the high school, had taken to drink, impoverishment had followed, the boys had not had boots or goloshes, their father had been hauled up before the magistrate, the warrant officer had come and made an inventory of the furniture. . . . What a disgrace! Anna had had to look after her drunken father, darn her brothers' stockings, go to market, and when she was complimented on her youth, her beauty, and her elegant manners, it seemed to her that every one was looking at her cheap hat and the holes in her boots that were inked over. And at night there had been tears and a haunting dread that her father would soon, very soon, be dismissed from the school for his weakness, and that he would not survive it, but would die, too, like their mother. But ladies of their acquaintance had taken the matter in hand and looked about for a good match for Anna. This Modest Alexevitch, who was neither young nor good-looking but had money, was soon found. He had a hundred thousand in the bank and the family estate, which he had let on lease. He was a man of principle and stood well with His Excellency; it would be nothing to him, so they told Anna, to get a note from His Excellency to the directors of the high school, or even to the Education Commissioner, to prevent Pyotr Leontyitch from being dismissed. While she was recalling these details, she suddenly heard strains of music which floated in at the window, together with the sound of voices. The train was stopping at a station. In the crowd beyond the platform an accordion and a cheap squeaky fiddle were being briskly played, and the sound of a military band came from beyond the villas and the tall birches and poplars that lay bathed in the moonlight; there must have been a dance in the place. Summer visitors and townspeople, who used to come out here by train in fine weather for a breath of fresh air, were parading up and down on the platform. Among them was the wealthy owner of all the summer villas--a tall, stout, dark man called Artynov. He had prominent eyes and looked like an Armenian. He wore a strange costume; his shirt was unbuttoned, showing his chest; he wore high boots with spurs, and a black cloak hung from his shoulders and dragged on the ground like a train. Two boar-hounds followed him with their sharp noses to the ground. Tears were still shining in Anna's eyes, but she was not thinking now of her mother, nor of money, nor of her marriage; but shaking hands with schoolboys and officers she knew, she laughed gaily and said quickly: "How do you do? How are you?" She went out on to the platform between the carriages into the moonlight, and stood so that they could all see her in her new splendid dress and hat. "Why are we stopping here?" she asked. "This is a junction. They are waiting for the mail train to pass." Seeing that Artynov was looking at her, she screwed up her eyes coquettishly and began talking aloud in French; and because her voice sounded so pleasant, and because she heard music and the moon was reflected in the pond, and because Artynov, the notorious Don Juan and spoiled child of fortune, was looking at her eagerly and with curiosity, and because every one was in good spirits--she suddenly felt joyful, and when the train started and the officers of her acquaintance saluted her, she was humming the polka the strains of which reached her from the military band playing beyond the trees; and she returned to her compartment feeling as though it had been proved to her at the station that she would certainly be happy in spite of everything. The happy pair spent two days at the monastery, then went back to town. They lived in a rent-free flat. When Modest Alexevitch had gone to the office, Anna played the piano, or shed tears of depression, or lay down on a couch and read novels or looked through fashion papers. At dinner Modest Alexevitch ate a great deal and talked about politics, about appointments, transfers, and promotions in the service, about the necessity of hard work, and said that, family life not being a pleasure but a duty, if you took care of the kopecks the roubles would take care of themselves, and that he put religion and morality before everything else in the world. And holding his knife in his fist as though it were a sword, he would say: "Every one ought to have his duties!" And Anna listened to him, was frightened, and could not eat, and she usually got up from the table hungry. After dinner her husband lay down for a nap and snored loudly, while Anna went to see her own people. Her father and the boys looked at her in a peculiar way, as though just before she came in they had been blaming her for having married for money a tedious, wearisome man she did not love; her rustling skirts, her bracelets, and her general air of a married lady, offended them and made them uncomfortable. In her presence they felt a little embarrassed and did not know what to talk to her about; but yet they still loved her as before, and were not used to having dinner without her. She sat down with them to cabbage soup, porridge, and fried potatoes, smelling of mutton dripping. Pyotr Leontyitch filled his glass from the decanter with a trembling hand and drank it off hurriedly, greedily, with repulsion, then poured out a second glass and then a third. Petya and Andrusha, thin, pale boys with big eyes, would take the decanter and say desperately: "You mustn't, father. . . . Enough, father. . . ." And Anna, too, was troubled and entreated him to drink no more; and he would suddenly fly into a rage and beat the table with his fists: "I won't allow any one to dictate to me!" he would shout. "Wretched boys! wretched girl! I'll turn you all out!" But there was a note of weakness, of good-nature in his voice, and no one was afraid of him. After dinner he usually dressed in his best. Pale, with a cut on his chin from shaving, craning his thin neck, he would stand for half an hour before the glass, prinking, combing his hair, twisting his black moustache, sprinkling himself with scent, tying his cravat in a bow; then he would put on his gloves and his top-hat, and go off to give his private lessons. Or if it was a holiday he would stay at home and paint, or play the harmonium, which wheezed and growled; he would try to wrest from it pure harmonious sounds and would sing to it; or would storm at the boys: "Wretches! Good-for-nothing boys! You have spoiled the instrument!" In the evening Anna's husband played cards with his colleagues, who lived under the same roof in the government quarters. The wives of these gentlemen would come in--ugly, tastelessly dressed women, as coarse as cooks--and gossip would begin in the flat as tasteless and unattractive as the ladies themselves. Sometimes Modest Alexevitch would take Anna to the theatre. In the intervals he would never let her stir a step from his side, but walked about arm in arm with her through the corridors and the foyer. When he bowed to some one, he immediately whispered to Anna: "A civil councillor . . . visits at His Excellency's"; or, "A man of means . . . has a house of his own." When they passed the buffet Anna had a great longing for something sweet; she was fond of chocolate and apple cakes, but she had no money, and she did not like to ask her husband. He would take a pear, pinch it with his fingers, and ask uncertainly: "How much?" "Twenty-five kopecks!" "I say!" he would reply, and put it down; but as it was awkward to leave the buffet without buying anything, he would order some seltzer-water and drink the whole bottle himself, and tears would come into his eyes. And Anna hated him at such times. And suddenly flushing crimson, he would say to her rapidly: "Bow to that old lady!" "But I don't know her." "No matter. That's the wife of the director of the local treasury! Bow, I tell you," he would grumble insistently. "Your head won't drop off." Anna bowed and her head certainly did not drop off, but it was agonizing. She did everything her husband wanted her to, and was furious with herself for having let him deceive her like the veriest idiot. She had only married him for his money, and yet she had less money now than before her marriage. In old days her father would sometimes give her twenty kopecks, but now she had not a farthing. To take money by stealth or ask for it, she could not; she was afraid of her husband, she trembled before him. She felt as though she had been afraid of him for years. In her childhood the director of the high school had always seemed the most impressive and terrifying force in the world, sweeping down like a thunderstorm or a steam-engine ready to crush her; another similar force of which the whole family talked, and of which they were for some reason afraid, was His Excellency; then there were a dozen others, less formidable, and among them the teachers at the high school, with shaven upper lips, stern, implacable; and now finally, there was Modest Alexeitch, a man of principle, who even resembled the director in the face. And in Anna's imagination all these forces blended together into one, and, in the form of a terrible, huge white bear, menaced the weak and erring such as her father. And she was afraid to say anything in opposition to her husband, and gave a forced smile, and tried to make a show of pleasure when she was coarsely caressed and defiled by embraces that excited her terror. Only once Pyotr Leontyitch had the temerity to ask for a loan of fifty roubles in order to pay some very irksome debt, but what an agony it had been! "Very good; I'll give it to you," said Modest Alexeitch after a moment's thought; "but I warn you I won't help you again till you give up drinking. Such a failing is disgraceful in a man in the government service! I must remind you of the well-known fact that many capable people have been ruined by that passion, though they might possibly, with temperance, have risen in time to a very high." And long-winded phrases followed: "inasmuch as . . .", "following upon which proposition . . .", "in view of the aforesaid contention . . ."; and Pyotr Leontyitch was in agonies of humiliation and felt an intense craving for alcohol. And when the boys came to visit Anna, generally in broken boots and threadbare trousers, they, too, had to listen to sermons. "Every man ought to have his duties!" Modest Alexeitch would say to them. And he did not give them money. But he did give Anna bracelets, rings, and brooches, saying that these things would come in useful for a rainy day. And he often unlocked her drawer and made an inspection to see whether they were all safe. II Meanwhile winter came on. Long before Christmas there was an announcement in the local papers that the usual winter ball would take place on the twenty-ninth of December in the Hall of Nobility. Every evening after cards Modest Alexeitch was excitedly whispering with his colleagues' wives and glancing at Anna, and then paced up and down the room for a long while, thinking. At last, late one evening, he stood still, facing Anna, and said: "You ought to get yourself a ball dress. Do you understand? Only please consult Marya Grigoryevna and Natalya Kuzminishna." And he gave her a hundred roubles. She took the money, but she did not consult any one when she ordered the ball dress; she spoke to no one but her father, and tried to imagine how her mother would have dressed for a ball. Her mother had always dressed in the latest fashion and had always taken trouble over Anna, dressing her elegantly like a doll, and had taught her to speak French and dance the mazurka superbly (she had been a governess for five years before her marriage). Like her mother, Anna could make a new dress out of an old one, clean gloves with benzine, hire jewels; and, like her mother, she knew how to screw up her eyes, lisp, assume graceful attitudes, fly into raptures when necessary, and throw a mournful and enigmatic look into her eyes. And from her father she had inherited the dark colour of her hair and eyes, her highly-strung nerves, and the habit of always making herself look her best. When, half an hour before setting off for the ball, Modest Alexeitch went into her room without his coat on, to put his order round his neck before her pier-glass, dazzled by her beauty and the splendour of her fresh, ethereal dress, he combed his whiskers complacently and said: "So that's what my wife can look like . . . so that's what you can look like! Anyuta!" he went on, dropping into a tone of solemnity, "I have made your fortune, and now I beg you to do something for mine. I beg you to get introduced to the wife of His Excellency! For God's sake, do! Through her I may get the post of senior reporting clerk!" They went to the ball. They reached the Hall of Nobility, the entrance with the hall porter. They came to the vestibule with the hat-stands, the fur coats; footmen scurrying about, and ladies with low necks putting up their fans to screen themselves from the draughts. There was a smell of gas and of soldiers. When Anna, walking upstairs on her husband's arm, heard the music and saw herself full length in the looking-glass in the full glow of the lights, there was a rush of joy in her heart, and she felt the same presentiment of happiness as in the moonlight at the station. She walked in proudly, confidently, for the first time feeling herself not a girl but a lady, and unconsciously imitating her mother in her walk and in her manner. And for the first time in her life she felt rich and free. Even her husband's presence did not oppress her, for as she crossed the threshold of the hall she had guessed instinctively that the proximity of an old husband did not detract from her in the least, but, on the contrary, gave her that shade of piquant mystery that is so attractive to men. The orchestra was already playing and the dances had begun. After their flat Anna was overwhelmed by the lights, the bright colours, the music, the noise, and looking round the room, thought, "Oh, how lovely!" She at once distinguished in the crowd all her acquaintances, every one she had met before at parties or on picnics--all the officers, the teachers, the lawyers, the officials, the landowners, His Excellency, Artynov, and the ladies of the highest standing, dressed up and very _decollettees_, handsome and ugly, who had already taken up their positions in the stalls and pavilions of the charity bazaar, to begin selling things for the benefit of the poor. A huge officer in epaulettes--she had been introduced to him in Staro-Kievsky Street when she was a schoolgirl, but now she could not remember his name--seemed to spring from out of the ground, begging her for a waltz, and she flew away from her husband, feeling as though she were floating away in a sailing-boat in a violent storm, while her husband was left far away on the shore. She danced passionately, with fervour, a waltz, then a polka and a quadrille, being snatched by one partner as soon as she was left by another, dizzy with music and the noise, mixing Russian with French, lisping, laughing, and with no thought of her husband or anything else. She excited great admiration among the men--that was evident, and indeed it could not have been otherwise; she was breathless with excitement, felt thirsty, and convulsively clutched her fan. Pyotr Leontyitch, her father, in a crumpled dress-coat that smelt of benzine, came up to her, offering her a plate of pink ice. "You are enchanting this evening," he said, looking at her rapturously, "and I have never so much regretted that you were in such a hurry to get married. . . . What was it for? I know you did it for our sake, but . . ." With a shaking hand he drew out a roll of notes and said: "I got the money for my lessons today, and can pay your husband what I owe him." She put the plate back into his hand, and was pounced upon by some one and borne off to a distance. She caught a glimpse over her partner's shoulder of her father gliding over the floor, putting his arm round a lady and whirling down the ball-room with her. "How sweet he is when he is sober!" she thought. She danced the mazurka with the same huge officer; he moved gravely, as heavily as a dead carcase in a uniform, twitched his shoulders and his chest, stamped his feet very languidly--he felt fearfully disinclined to dance. She fluttered round him, provoking him by her beauty, her bare neck; her eyes glowed defiantly, her movements were passionate, while he became more and more indifferent, and held out his hands to her as graciously as a king. "Bravo, bravo!" said people watching them. But little by little the huge officer, too, broke out; he grew lively, excited, and, overcome by her fascination, was carried away and danced lightly, youthfully, while she merely moved her shoulders and looked slyly at him as though she were now the queen and he were her slave; and at that moment it seemed to her that the whole room was looking at them, and that everybody was thrilled and envied them. The huge officer had hardly had time to thank her for the dance, when the crowd suddenly parted and the men drew themselves up in a strange way, with their hands at their sides. His Excellency, with two stars on his dress-coat, was walking up to her. Yes, His Excellency was walking straight towards her, for he was staring directly at her with a sugary smile, while he licked his lips as he always did when he saw a pretty woman. "Delighted, delighted . . ." he began. "I shall order your husband to be clapped in a lock-up for keeping such a treasure hidden from us till now. I've come to you with a message from my wife," he went on, offering her his arm. "You must help us. . . . M-m-yes. . . . We ought to give you the prize for beauty as they do in America . . . . M-m-yes. . . . The Americans. . . . My wife is expecting you impatiently." He led her to a stall and presented her to a middle-aged lady, the lower part of whose face was disproportionately large, so that she looked as though she were holding a big stone in her mouth. "You must help us," she said through her nose in a sing-song voice. "All the pretty women are working for our charity bazaar, and you are the only one enjoying yourself. Why won't you help us?" She went away, and Anna took her place by the cups and the silver samovar. She was soon doing a lively trade. Anna asked no less than a rouble for a cup of tea, and made the huge officer drink three cups. Artynov, the rich man with prominent eyes, who suffered from asthma, came up, too; he was not dressed in the strange costume in which Anna had seen him in the summer at the station, but wore a dress-coat like every one else. Keeping his eyes fixed on Anna, he drank a glass of champagne and paid a hundred roubles for it, then drank some tea and gave another hundred--all this without saying a word, as he was short of breath through asthma. . . . Anna invited purchasers and got money out of them, firmly convinced by now that her smiles and glances could not fail to afford these people great pleasure. She realized now that she was created exclusively for this noisy, brilliant, laughing life, with its music, its dancers, its adorers, and her old terror of a force that was sweeping down upon her and menacing to crush her seemed to her ridiculous: she was afraid of no one now, and only regretted that her mother could not be there to rejoice at her success. Pyotr Leontyitch, pale by now but still steady on his legs, came up to the stall and asked for a glass of brandy. Anna turned crimson, expecting him to say something inappropriate (she was already ashamed of having such a poor and ordinary father); but he emptied his glass, took ten roubles out of his roll of notes, flung it down, and walked away with dignity without uttering a word. A little later she saw him dancing in the grand chain, and by now he was staggering and kept shouting something, to the great confusion of his partner; and Anna remembered how at the ball three years before he had staggered and shouted in the same way, and it had ended in the police-sergeant's taking him home to bed, and next day the director had threatened to dismiss him from his post. How inappropriate that memory was! When the samovars were put out in the stalls and the exhausted ladies handed over their takings to the middle-aged lady with the stone in her mouth, Artynov took Anna on his arm to the hall where supper was served to all who had assisted at the bazaar. There were some twenty people at supper, not more, but it was very noisy. His Excellency proposed a toast: "In this magnificent dining-room it will be appropriate to drink to the success of the cheap dining-rooms, which are the object of today's bazaar." The brigadier-general proposed the toast: "To the power by which even the artillery is vanquished," and all the company clinked glasses with the ladies. It was very, very gay. When Anna was escorted home it was daylight and the cooks were going to market. Joyful, intoxicated, full of new sensations, exhausted, she undressed, dropped into bed, and at once fell asleep. . . . It was past one in the afternoon when the servant waked her and announced that M. Artynov had called. She dressed quickly and went down into the drawing-room. Soon after Artynov, His Excellency called to thank her for her assistance in the bazaar. With a sugary smile, chewing his lips, he kissed her hand, and asking her permission to come again, took his leave, while she remained standing in the middle of the drawing-room, amazed, enchanted, unable to believe that this change in her life, this marvellous change, had taken place so quickly; and at that moment Modest Alexeitch walked in . . . and he, too, stood before her now with the same ingratiating, sugary, cringingly respectful expression which she was accustomed to see on his face in the presence of the great and powerful; and with rapture, with indignation, with contempt, convinced that no harm would come to her from it, she said, articulating distinctly each word: "Be off, you blockhead!" From this time forward Anna never had one day free, as she was always taking part in picnics, expeditions, performances. She returned home every day after midnight, and went to bed on the floor in the drawing-room, and afterwards used to tell every one, touchingly, how she slept under flowers. She needed a very great deal of money, but she was no longer afraid of Modest Alexeitch, and spent his money as though it were her own; and she did not ask, did not demand it, simply sent him in the bills. "Give bearer two hundred roubles," or "Pay one hundred roubles at once." At Easter Modest Alexeitch received the Anna of the second grade. When he went to offer his thanks, His Excellency put aside the paper he was reading and settled himself more comfortably in his chair. "So now you have three Annas," he said, scrutinizing his white hands and pink nails--"one on your buttonhole and two on your neck." Modest Alexeitch put two fingers to his lips as a precaution against laughing too loud and said: "Now I have only to look forward to the arrival of a little Vladimir. I make bold to beg your Excellency to stand godfather." He was alluding to Vladimir of the fourth grade, and was already imagining how he would tell everywhere the story of this pun, so happy in its readiness and audacity, and he wanted to say something equally happy, but His Excellency was buried again in his newspaper, and merely gave him a nod. And Anna went on driving about with three horses, going out hunting with Artynov, playing in one-act dramas, going out to supper, and was more and more rarely with her own family; they dined now alone. Pyotr Leontyitch was drinking more heavily than ever; there was no money, and the harmonium had been sold long ago for debt. The boys did not let him go out alone in the street now, but looked after him for fear he might fall down; and whenever they met Anna driving in Staro-Kievsky Street with a pair of horses and Artynov on the box instead of a coachman, Pyotr Leontyitch took off his top-hat, and was about to shout to her, but Petya and Andrusha took him by the arm, and said imploringly: "You mustn't, father. Hush, father!"
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