🔊 In the middle of July the elder of the village on Levin’s sister’s estate, about fifteen miles from Pokrovskoe, came to Levin to report on how things were going there and on the hay. The chief source of income on his sister’s estate was from the riverside meadows. In former years the hay had been bought by the peasants for twenty roubles the three acres. When Levin took over the management of the estate, he thought on examining the grasslands that they were worth more, and he fixed the price at twenty-five roubles the three acres. The peasants would not give that price, and, as Levin suspected, kept off other purchasers. Then Levin had driven over himself, and arranged to have the grass cut, partly by hired labor, partly at a payment of a certain proportion of the crop. His own peasants put every hindrance they could in the way of this new arrangement, but it was carried out, and the first year the meadows had yielded a profit almost double. The previous year-which was the third year-the peasants had maintained the same opposition to the arrangement, and the hay had been cut on the same system. This year the peasants were doing all the mowing for a third of the hay crop, and the village elder had come now to announce that the hay had been cut, and that, fearing rain, they had invited the counting-house clerk over, had divided the crop in his presence, and had raked together eleven stacks as the owner’s share. From the vague answers to his question how much hay had been cut on the principal meadow, from the hurry of the village elder who had made the division, not asking leave, from the whole tone of the peasant, Levin perceived that there was something wrong in the division of the hay, and made up his mind to drive over himself to look into the matter.

七月中旬,列文姐姐的庄园（离波克罗夫斯科耶约十五英里）的村长来见列文,报告那里的情况和干草的事宜。他姐姐庄园的主要收入来自河边的草地。往年,农民们以每三亩二十卢布的价格购买干草。列文接管庄园管理后,在查看草场时认为这些草地价值更高,于是将价格定为每三亩二十五卢布。农民们不愿出这个价,而且,正如列文所怀疑的,他们还阻止了其他买主。于是列文亲自驾车过去,安排割草,部分雇佣劳力,部分按一定比例收成付酬。他自己的农民千方百计阻挠这项新安排,但仍得以实施,第一年草场的收益几乎翻了一番。去年--那是第三年--农民们继续反对这一安排,干草仍按同一方式收割。今年,农民们以干草收成的三分之一作为报酬,完成了全部割草任务,村长现在来报告说干草已经割好,并且因为担心下雨,他们请来了账房文书,当着他的面分了收成,并为地主份额打好了十一个草垛。对于他询问主要草场割了多少干草的问题,村长含糊其辞；对于村长未经请示就匆匆分草的做法,以及农民的整体态度,列文感觉到干草分配中有问题,于是决定亲自驾车过去调查此事。

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estate /ɪˈsteɪt/

n. 庄园,地产➕

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hindrance /ˈhɪndrəns/

n. 障碍,妨碍➕

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yielded /jiːldɪd/

v. 产出,产生（收益）➕

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previous /ˈpriːviəs/

adj. 先前的➕

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perceived /pəˈsiːvd/

v. 察觉,意识到➕

🔊 Arriving for dinner at the village, and leaving his horse at the cottage of an old friend of his, the husband of his brother’s wet-nurse, Levin went to see the old man in his bee-house, wanting to find out from him the truth about the hay. Parmenitch, a talkative, comely old man, gave Levin a very warm welcome, showed him all he was doing, told him everything about his bees and the swarms of that year; but gave vague and unwilling answers to Levin’s inquiries about the mowing. This confirmed Levin still more in his suspicions. He went to the hay fields and examined the stacks. The haystacks could not possibly contain fifty wagon-loads each, and to convict the peasants Levin ordered the wagons that had carried the hay to be brought up directly, to lift one stack, and carry it into the barn. There turned out to be only thirty-two loads in the stack. In spite of the village elder’s assertions about the compressibility of hay, and its having settled down in the stacks, and his swearing that everything had been done in the fear of God, Levin stuck to his point that the hay had been divided without his orders, and that, therefore, he would not accept that hay as fifty loads to a stack. After a prolonged dispute the matter was decided by the peasants taking these eleven stacks, reckoning them as fifty loads each. The arguments and the division of the haycocks lasted the whole afternoon. When the last of the hay had been divided, Levin, intrusting the superintendence of the rest to the counting-house clerk, sat down on a haycock marked off by a stake of willow, and looked admiringly at the meadow swarming with peasants.

到达村子时正值午饭时间,他把马拴在他的一位老朋友--他兄弟的奶妈的丈夫--的小屋旁,然后去养蜂房看望那位老人,想从他那里了解干草的真实情况。帕尔梅内奇是个健谈而和蔼的老人,他热情地接待了列文,向他展示了自己所做的一切,详细讲述了他的蜜蜂和今年的蜂群情况。但当列文问及割草的事时,他却含糊其辞,不愿回答。这更加深了列文的怀疑。他去了干草场,检查了草垛。这些草垛每个都不可能装下五十车,而列文为了揭穿农民的把戏,下令立刻把运干草的马车赶来,抬起一个草垛,运进谷仓。结果发现那个草垛只有三十二车。尽管村长声称干草可以压缩,草垛会下沉,并赌咒说一切都是在敬畏上帝的情况下做的,但列文坚持认为干草是在没有他命令的情况下分配的,因此他不接受每个草垛按五十车计算。经过长时间争论,最后农民们同意将这十一个草垛按每个五十车计算来解决此事。关于草堆的争论和分配持续了整个下午。最后一堆干草分完后,列文将余下事务委托给账房文书,自己坐在一个用柳条标记的干草堆上,欣赏着熙熙攘攘的割草场的景象。

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talkative /ˈtɔːkətɪv/

adj. 健谈的,多嘴的➕

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comely /ˈkʌmli/

adj. 清秀的,标致的➕

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convict /kənˈvɪkt/

v. 证明…有罪,使确信有罪➕

🔊 In front of him, in the bend of the river beyond the marsh, moved a bright-colored line of peasant women, and the scattered hay was being rapidly formed into gray winding rows over the pale green stubble. After the women came the men with pitchforks, and from the gray rows there were growing up broad, high, soft haycocks. To the left, carts were rumbling over the meadow that had been already cleared, and one after another the haycocks vanished, flung up in huge forkfuls, and in their place there were rising heavy cartloads of fragrant hay hanging over the horses’ hind-quarters.

在他面前,沼泽对岸的河湾处,一队鲜艳的农妇在移动,散落的干草迅速在淡绿色的茬地上形成灰色的蜿蜒长行。妇女后面跟着手持草叉的男人,灰行上逐渐冒起宽阔、高大、松软的草垛。左边,大车在已经清理过的草地上隆隆驶过,草垛一个接一个消失,被大叉叉起,取而代之的是高高堆起的满载干草的大车,干草的香气扑鼻,垂在马的后臀上。

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fragrant /ˈfreɪɡrənt/

adj. 芬芳的,芳香的➕

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stubble /ˈstʌbəl/

n. 残茬,短茬（割后剩下的）➕

🔊 “What weather for haying! What hay it’ll be!” said an old man, squatting down beside Levin. “It’s tea, not hay! It’s like scattering grain to the ducks, the way they pick it up!” he added, pointing to the growing haycocks. “Since dinner time they’ve carried a good half of it.” “The last load, eh?” he shouted to a young peasant, who drove by, standing in the front of an empty cart, shaking the cord reins.

“这天气晒干草多好！这干草会多香啊！”一个老人蹲在列文旁边说。“这不是干草,是茶叶！看他们那样子,简直像在给鸭子撒谷子！”他指着正在堆起的草垛补充道。“从午饭到现在,已经运了将近一半了。”“最后一车,嗯？”他朝一个驾着空车驶过的年轻农民喊道,那年轻人站在车前面,摇着绳缰。

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squatting /ˈskwɒtɪŋ/

v. 蹲下,蹲坐➕

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cord /kɔːd/

n. 粗线,绳子➕

🔊 “The last, dad!” the lad shouted back, pulling in the horse, and, smiling, he looked round at a bright, rosy-checked peasant girl who sat in the cart smiling too, and drove on.

“最后一车了,老爹！”小伙子勒住马,笑着回头看了一眼坐在车上的一个脸蛋红润的漂亮农妇,她也笑着,然后继续赶路。

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rosy-checked /ˈrəʊzi tʃiːkt/

adj. 脸颊红润的➕

🔊 “Who’s that? Your son?” asked Levin.

“那是谁？你儿子？”列文问道。

🔊 “My baby,” said the old man with a tender smile.

“我的小宝贝,”老人温柔地笑着说。

🔊 “What a fine fellow!”

“多好的小伙子！”

🔊 “The lad’s all right.”

“这孩子不错。”

🔊 “Married already?”

“结婚了吗？”

🔊 “Yes, it’s two years last St. Philip’s day.”

“结了,到去年圣菲利普节就满两年了。”

🔊 “Any children?”

“有孩子吗？”

🔊 “Children indeed! Why, for over a year he was innocent as a babe himself, and bashful too,” answered the old man. “Well, the hay! It’s as fragrant as tea!” he repeated, wishing to change the subject.

“什么孩子！他自个儿还像个傻小子呢,害羞得很,”老人回答。“不过这干草！真是香得像茶叶！”他重复道,想转移话题。

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innocent /ˈɪnəsənt/

adj. 天真的,纯真的➕

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bashful /ˈbæʃfəl/

adj. 害羞的,腼腆的➕

🔊 Levin looked more attentively at Ivan Parmenov and his wife. They were loading a haycock onto the cart not far from him. Ivan Parmenov was standing on the cart, taking, laying in place, and stamping down the huge bundles of hay, which his pretty young wife deftly handed up to him, at first in armfuls, and then on the pitchfork. The young wife worked easily, merrily, and dexterously. The close-packed hay did not once break away off her fork. First she gathered it together, stuck the fork into it, then with a rapid, supple movement leaned the whole weight of her body on it, and at once with a bend of her back under the red belt she drew herself up, and arching her full bosom under the white smock, with a smart turn swung the fork in her arms, and flung the bundle of hay high onto the cart. Ivan, obviously doing his best to save her every minute of unnecessary labor, made haste, opening his arms to clutch the bundle and lay it in the cart. As she raked together what was left of the hay, the young wife shook off the bits of hay that had fallen on her neck, and straightening the red kerchief that had dropped forward over her white brow, not browned like her face by the sun, she crept under the cart to tie up the load. Ivan directed her how to fasten the cord to the cross-piece, and at something she said he laughed aloud. In the expressions of both faces was to be seen vigorous, young, freshly awakened love.

列文更仔细地观察着伊万·帕尔梅诺夫和他的妻子。他们正在不远处将干草堆装上车。伊万·帕尔梅诺夫站在车上,接过他年轻漂亮的妻子灵巧递上来的大捆干草,摆放好,踩实。那年轻农妇起初是用胳膊抱,后来用草叉叉,干得轻松、欢快又利索。紧实的干草从未从她的叉上滑落。她先拢起干草,将叉子插进去,然后迅速而灵活地俯身把整个身体重量压上去,接着一弯腰,红腰带下的背部一挺,白罩衫下丰满的胸脯弓起,手腕一抖,将一叉干草高高甩到车上。伊万显然在尽量为她减少不必要的劳作,他急忙张开双臂接住草捆,放好。当年轻农妇把剩下的干草耙拢时,她抖掉落在脖子上的草屑,扶正滑落到白皙前额上的红头巾--她的额头没有被晒黑,不像她的脸--然后钻到车下捆扎货物。伊万指导她如何将绳子系在横木上,她说了句什么,他放声大笑。两人脸上的表情都洋溢着刚刚苏醒的、年轻而旺盛的爱情。

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deftly /ˈdeftli/

adv. 灵巧地,熟练地➕

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supple /ˈsʌpəl/

adj. 柔软的,灵活的➕

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bosom /ˈbʊzəm/

n. 胸部,怀抱➕

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vigorous /ˈvɪɡərəs/

adj. 充满活力的,精力充沛的➕

Part Three – Chapter eleven (第十一章)

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