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Chapter 5 - Borís' Proposal
Boris had not succeeded in making a wealthy match in Petersburg, so with the same object in view he came to Moscow. There he wavered between the two richest heiresses, Julie and Princess Marya. Though Princess Marya despite her plainness seemed to him more attractive than Julie, he, without knowing why, felt awkward about paying court to her. When they had last met on the old prince’s name day, she had answered at random1 all his attempts to talk sentimentally2, evidently not listening to what he was saying.
She was twenty-seven. After the death of her brothers she had become very wealthy. She was by now decidedly plain, but thought herself not merely as good-looking as before but even far more attractive. She was confirmed in this delusion4 by the fact that she had become a very wealthy heiress and also by the fact that the older she grew the less dangerous she became to men, and the more freely they could associate with her and avail themselves of her suppers, soirees, and the animated5 company that assembled at her house, without incurring6 any obligation. A man who would have been afraid ten years before of going every day to the house when there was a girl of seventeen there, for fear of compromising her and committing himself, would now go boldly every day and treat her not as a marriageable girl but as a sexless acquaintance.
That winter the Karagins’ house was the most agreeable and hospitable7 in Moscow. In addition to the formal evening and dinner parties, a large company, chiefly of men, gathered there every day, supping at midnight and staying till three in the morning. Julie never missed a ball, a promenade8, or a play. Her dresses were always of the latest fashion. But in spite of that she seemed to be disillusioned9 about everything and told everyone that she did not believe either in friendship or in love, or any of the joys of life, and expected peace only “yonder.” She adopted the tone of one who has suffered a great disappointment, like a girl who has either lost the man she loved or been cruelly deceived by him. Though nothing of the kind had happened to her she was regarded in that light, and had even herself come to believe that she had suffered much in life. This melancholy10, which did not prevent her amusing herself, did not hinder the young people who came to her house from passing the time pleasantly. Every visitor who came to the house paid his tribute to the melancholy mood of the hostess, and then amused himself with society gossip, dancing, intellectual games, and bouts11 rimes, which were in vogue12 at the Karagins’. Only a few of these young men, among them Boris, entered more deeply into Julie’s melancholy, and with these she had prolonged conversations in private on the vanity of all worldly things, and to them she showed her albums filled with mournful sketches13, maxims14, and verses.
To Boris, Julie was particularly gracious: she regretted his early disillusionment with life, offered him such consolation15 of friendship as she who had herself suffered so much could render, and showed him her album. Boris sketched16 two trees in the album and wrote: “Rustic trees, your dark branches shed gloom and melancholy upon me.”
On another page he drew a tomb, and wrote in French:
Death gives relief and death is peaceful.
Ah! from suffering there is no other refuge.
Julia said this was charming
“There is something so enchanting17 in the smile of melancholy,” she said to Boris, repeating word for word a passage she had copied from a book. “It is a ray of light in the darkness, a shade between sadness and despair, showing the possibility of consolation.”
In reply Boris wrote these lines:
Poisonous nourishment18 of a too sensitive soul,
Thou, without whom happiness would for me be impossible,
Tender melancholy, ah, come to console me,
With these tears that I feel to be flowing.
For Boris, Julie played most doleful nocturnes on her harp21. Boris read Poor Liza aloud to her, and more than once interrupted the reading because of the emotions that choked him. Meeting at large gatherings22 Julie and Boris looked on one another as the only souls who understood one another in a world of indifferent people.
Anna Mikhaylovna, who often visited the Karagins, while playing cards with the mother made careful inquiries23 as to Julie’s dowry (she was to have two estates in Penza and the Nizhegorod forests). Anna Mikhaylovna regarded the refined sadness that united her son to the wealthy Julie with emotion, and resignation to the Divine will.
“You are always charming and melancholy, my dear Julie,” she said to the daughter. “Boris says his soul finds repose24 at your house. He has suffered so many disappointments and is so sensitive,” said she to the mother. “Ah, my dear, I can’t tell you how fond I have grown of Julie latterly,” she said to her son. “But who could help loving her? She is an angelic being! Ah, Boris, Boris!”— she paused. “And how I pity her mother,” she went on; “today she showed me her accounts and letters from Penza (they have enormous estates there), and she, poor thing, has no one to help her, and they do cheat her so!”
Boris smiled almost imperceptibly while listening to his mother. He laughed blandly25 at her naive26 diplomacy27 but listened to what she had to say, and sometimes questioned her carefully about the Penza and Nizhegorod estates.
Julie had long been expecting a proposal from her melancholy adorer and was ready to accept it; but some secret feeling of repulsion for her, for her passionate28 desire to get married, for her artificiality, and a feeling of horror at renouncing29 the possibility of real love still restrained Boris. His leave was expiring. He spent every day and whole days at the Karagins’, and every day on thinking the matter over told himself that he would propose tomorrow. But in Julie’s presence, looking at her red face and chin (nearly always powdered), her moist eyes, and her expression of continual readiness to pass at once from melancholy to an unnatural30 rapture31 of married bliss32, Boris could not utter the decisive words, though in imagination he had long regarded himself as the possessor of those Penza and Nizhegorod estates and had apportioned33 the use of the income from them. Julie saw Boris’ indecision, and sometimes the thought occurred to her that she was repulsive34 to him, but her feminine self-deception immediately supplied her with consolation, and she told herself that he was only shy from love. Her melancholy, however, began to turn to irritability35, and not long before Boris’ departure she formed a definite plan of action. Just as Boris’ leave of absence was expiring, Anatole Kuragin made his appearance in Moscow, and of course in the Karagins’ drawing room, and Julie, suddenly abandoning her melancholy, became cheerful and very attentive36 to Kuragin.
“My dear,” said Anna Mikhaylovna to her son, “I know from a reliable source that Prince Vasili has sent his son to Moscow to get him married to Julie. I am so fond of Julie that I should be sorry for her. What do you think of it, my dear?”
The idea of being made a fool of and of having thrown away that whole month of arduous37 melancholy service to Julie, and of seeing all the revenue from the Penza estates which he had already mentally apportioned and put to proper use fall into the hands of another, and especially into the hands of that idiot Anatole, pained Boris. He drove to the Karagins’ with the firm intention of proposing. Julie met him in a gay, careless manner, spoke38 casually39 of how she had enjoyed yesterday’s ball, and asked when he was leaving. Though Boris had come intentionally40 to speak of his love and therefore meant to be tender, he began speaking irritably41 of feminine inconstancy, of how easily women can turn from sadness to joy, and how their moods depend solely42 on who happens to be paying court to them. Julie was offended and replied that it was true that a woman needs variety, and the same thing over and over again would weary anyone.
“Then I should advise you . . . ” Boris began, wishing to sting her; but at that instant the galling43 thought occurred to him that he might have to leave Moscow without having accomplished44 his aim, and have vainly wasted his efforts — which was a thing he never allowed to happen.
He checked himself in the middle of the sentence, lowered his eyes to avoid seeing her unpleasantly irritated and irresolute45 face, and said:
“I did not come here at all to quarrel with you. On the contrary . . . ”
He glanced at her to make sure that he might go on. Her irritability had suddenly quite vanished, and her anxious, imploring46 eyes were fixed47 on him with greedy expectation. “I can always arrange so as not to see her often,” thought Boris. “The affair has been begun and must be finished!” He blushed hotly, raised his eyes to hers, and said:
“You know my feelings for you!”
There was no need to say more: Julie’s face shone with triumph and self-satisfaction; but she forced Boris to say all that is said on such occasions — that he loved her and had never loved any other woman more than her. She knew that for the Penza estates and Nizhegorod forests she could demand this, and she received what she demanded.
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1
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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sentimentally
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| adv.富情感地 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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incurring
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| 遭受，招致，引起( incur的现在分词 ) | |
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hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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disillusioned
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| a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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bouts
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| n.拳击（或摔跤）比赛( bout的名词复数 )；一段（工作）；（尤指坏事的）一通；（疾病的）发作 | |
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Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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13
sketches
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| n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概 | |
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maxims
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| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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enchanting
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| a.讨人喜欢的 | |
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nourishment
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| n.食物，营养品；营养情况 | |
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19
torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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harp
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| n.竖琴；天琴座 | |
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gatherings
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| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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24
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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naive
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| adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的 | |
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27
diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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28
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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29
renouncing
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的现在分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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30
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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31
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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32
bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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33
apportioned
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| vt.分摊，分配（apportion的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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irritability
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| n.易怒 | |
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attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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38
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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40
intentionally
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| ad.故意地，有意地 | |
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41
irritably
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| ad.易生气地 | |
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42
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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43
galling
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| adj.难堪的,使烦恼的,使焦躁的 | |
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44
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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45
irresolute
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| adj.无决断的，优柔寡断的，踌躇不定的 | |
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46
imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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47
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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48
alluding
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| 提及，暗指( allude的现在分词 ) | |
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