“I have lived at Sofino and been farming for a long time,” Alehin began, “ever since I left the University. I am an idle gentleman by education, a studious person by disposition; but there was a big debt owing on the estate when I came here, and as my father was in debt partly because he had spent so much on my education, I resolved not to go away, but to work till I paid off the debt. I made up my mind to this and set to work, not, I must confess, without some repugnance. The land here does not yield much, and if one is not to farm at a loss one must employ serf labour or hired labourers, which is almost the same thing, or put it on a peasant footing—that is, work the fields oneself and with one’s family. There is no middle path. But in those days I did not go into such subtleties. I did not leave a clod of earth unturned; I gathered together all the peasants, men and women, from the neighbouring villages; the work went on at a tremendous pace. I myself ploughed and sowed and reaped, and was bored doing it, and frowned with disgust, like a village cat driven by hunger to eat cucumbers in the kitchen-garden. My body ached, and I slept as I walked. At first it seemed to me that I could easily reconcile this life of toil with my cultured habits; to do so, I thought, all that is necessary is to maintain a certain external order in life. I established myself upstairs here in the best rooms, and ordered them to bring me there coffee and liquor after lunch and dinner, and when I went to bed I read every night the Vyestnik Evropi. But one day our priest, Father Ivan, came and drank up all my liquor at one sitting; and the Vyestnik Evropi went to the priest’s daughters; as in the summer, especially at the haymaking, I did not succeed in getting to my bed at all, and slept in the sledge in the barn, or somewhere in the forester’s lodge, what chance was there of reading? Little by little I moved downstairs, began dining in the servants’ kitchen, and of my former luxury nothing is left but the servants who were in my father’s service, and whom it would be painful to turn away.
“In the first years I was elected here an honourary justice of the peace. I used to have to go to the town and take part in the sessions of the congress and of the circuit court, and this was a pleasant change for me. When you live here for two or three months without a break, especially in the winter, you begin at last to pine for a black coat. And in the circuit court there were frock-coats, and uniforms, and dress- coats, too, all lawyers, men who have received a general education; I had some one to talk to. After sleeping in the sledge and dining in the kitchen, to sit in an arm-chair in clean linen, in thin boots, with a chain on one’s waistcoat, is such luxury!
“I received a warm welcome in the town. I made friends eagerly. And of all my acquaintanceships the most intimate and, to tell the truth, the most agreeable to me was my acquaintance with Luganovitch, the vice-president of the circuit court. You both know him: a most charming personality. It all happened just after a celebrated case of incendiarism; the preliminary investigation lasted two days; we were exhausted. Luganovitch looked at me and said:
“ ‘Look here, come round to dinner with me.’
“离开大学后,我在沙非诺生活和务农了很长一段时间。”阿列恒开始了他的故事,“我是一个受过教育的懒散的绅士,一个随性热心的人。可是当我来到这儿时庄园欠下了一大笔债,而我父亲之所以负债部分原因是我花费不小的学费。我决定不走了,而是开始工作直到还清这笔债。我下定决心这么做并开始工作,坦白说,不是一点不动摇的。这里的土地收益并不大,一个人经营农场如果想不赔本必须使用农奴或雇用劳工,这几乎是一码子事;或者把自己等同于农民,就是说,亲自带着一家人下地干活。此外,没有折中的路子。不过那时我还没有探究到这些微妙关系。我不漏过一块未翻耕的土地,把附近村子里所有的农民,无论男人女人都聚到了一起,工作以极大的速度进展着。我亲自耕地,播种,收割,可是烦透了做这一切,就像村子里的猫饿得去吃菜园里的黄瓜一样厌恶得焦眉烂额。我全身疼痛,走路都打瞌睡。起先似乎我能轻易调和这种辛苦的生活与我有教养的习惯,我认为要做到这一点在生活中有必要维持一种固定的表面形式。我把自己安置到楼上这儿最好的房间里,我指示仆人们午饭和晚饭后给我把咖啡和酒端到楼上,每晚上床睡觉时我都要看Vyestnik Evropi。可是一天,我们的牧师伊凡神父来了,一口气喝完了我所有的酒,Vyestnik Evropi也到牧师的女儿们手里去了。夏季,特别是割晒牧草的时候,我根本连床都挨不到,有时睡在谷仓的雪撬上,有时睡在某个森林人的小屋里,哪还有看书的机会?慢慢地我搬到楼下来了,开始在仆人的厨房里吃饭,除了我服侍父亲的仆人,解雇他们会令他们痛苦万分,我之前的奢侈荡然无存。
在最初的几年里我当选为这里的荣誉治安法官。我得经常去城里参加治安协会和巡回法院的会议,这对我来说是一个令人愉快的变化。当连续在这儿住了两三个月后,特别是冬天,终于开始渴望接触有知识有教养的人,哪怕是穿黑外套的牧师。而在巡回法庭里穿各种衣服的人——有穿双排扣常礼服的,有穿制服的,还有穿燕尾服的——所有的律师,男人们都接受过普通教育。我终于有了一些可以进行思想交流的人。经过在雪撬上睡觉和在厨房吃饭后,穿着干净的亚麻布衣服,细薄的靴子坐在靠背椅里,某人的马甲上还挂着表链,这一切是多么的奢侈了啊!
“在城里我受到热烈欢迎,我热切地结交各种朋友。说实话,在我所结识的人中最亲密,最合我意的是跟巡回法庭的副庭长卢格诺维奇的相识。你们俩都认识他,一个很有魅力的人。这一切就发生在那个著名的纵火案之后,初步调查持续了两天,我们都筋疲力尽了。卢格诺维奇看着我说:
“‘哎,我说,来跟我一起共进晚餐吧。’
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