1、 A Chameleon1变 色 龙变 色 龙A Chameleon警督奥丘梅耶洛夫正在广场上巡视，这时，首饰匠赫留金追赶着一条狗跑了出来。这条狗把他的手指咬伤了，赫留金气急败坏，追着说要剥它的皮。奥丘梅耶洛夫闯进人群想要搞清情况。赫留金把事情跟他说了，并且举着自己血淋淋的手指，要求一定找到狗的主人赔偿。奥丘梅耶洛夫表现出一副主持公道的样子，扬言一定要从严拿办。于是问这狗是谁家的。人群里有人说好像是将军家的，奥丘梅耶洛夫一听，赶快变了脸色开始给狗辩护。不一会儿又有人说狗不是将军家的，奥丘梅耶洛夫又换了一副嘴脸，骂这条狗是杂毛狗。人们开始七嘴八舌，又有人说肯定就是将军家的，奥丘梅耶洛夫又变了嘴脸
2、，赶忙说要把狗给将军送回家去，还训斥了赫留金一顿。将军家的厨子来了，大家要他来辨认，他一口否认这狗是他家的，于是奥丘梅耶洛夫警督又变了口气，说要把这野狗弄死；但厨子又继续说这狗虽然不是他家的，但是将军的哥哥的。这一下可把奥丘梅耶洛夫高兴坏了，满脸堆笑着让厨子把小狗牵走，还狠狠地威胁赫留金说回头再收拾他。HE police superintendent Otchumyelov is walking across the market square wearing a new overcoat and carrying a parcel under his arm.TThe Selected Sh
3、ort Stories of Chekhov2契 诃 夫 短 篇小 说 精 选A red-haired policeman strides after him with a sieve full of confiscated gooseberries in his hands. There is silence all around.A Chameleon3变 色 龙Not a soul in the squareThe open doors of the shops and taverns look out upon Gods world disconsolately, like hungr
4、y mouths; there is not even a beggar near them.“So you bite, you damned brute?” Otchumyelov hears suddenly. “Lads, dont let him go! Biting is prohibited nowadays! Hold him! ah. ah!”There is the sound of a dog yelping. Otchumyelov looks in the direction of the sound and sees a dog, hopping on three l
5、egs and looking about her, run out of Pitchugins timber-yard. A man in a starched cotton shirt, with his waistcoat unbuttoned, is chasing her. He runs after her, and throwing his body forward falls down and seizes the dog by her hind legs. Once more there is a yelping and a shout of “Dont let go!” S
6、leepy countenances are protruded from the shops, and soon a crowd, which seems to have sprung out of the earth, is gathered round the timber-yard.“It looks like a row, your honour.” says the policeman.Otchumyelov makes a half turn to the left and strides towards the crowd.He sees the aforementioned
7、man in the unbuttoned waistcoat standing close by the gate of the timber-yard, holding his right hand in the air and displaying a bleeding finger to the crowd. On his half-drunken face there is plainly written: “Ill pay you out, you rogue!” and indeed the very finger has the look of a flag of victor
8、y. In this man Otchumyelov recognizes Hryukin, the goldsmith. The culprit who has caused the sensation, a white borzoy puppy with a sharp muzzle and a yellow patch on her back, is sitting on the ground with her fore-paws outstretched in the middle of the crowd, trembling all over. There is an expres
9、sion of misery and terror in her tearful eyes.“Whats it all about?” Otchumyelov inquires, pushing his way through the crowd. “What are you here for? Why are you waving your finger.? Who was it shouted?”“I was walking along here, not interfering with anyone, your honour,” Hryukin begins, coughing int
10、o his fist. “I was talking about firewood to Mitry Mitritch, when this low brute for no rhyme or reason bit my fingerYou must excuse me, I am a working manMine is fine work. I must have damages, for I The Selected Short Stories of Chekhov4契 诃 夫 短 篇小 说 精 选shant be able to use this finger for a week,
11、may be. lts not even the law, your honour, that one should put up with it from a beastIf everyone is going to be bitten, life wont be worth living”“Hm. Very good,” says Otchumyelov sternly, coughing and raising his eyebrows. “Very good. Whose dog is it? I wont let this pass! Ill teach them to let th
12、eir dogs run all over the place! Its time these gentry were looked after, if they wont obey the regulations! When hes fined, the blackguard, I ll teach him what it means to keep dogs and such stray cattle! Ill give him a lesson!. Yeldyrin,” cries the superintendent, addressing the policeman, “find o
13、ut whose dog this is and draw up a report! And the dog must be strangled. Without delay! Its sure to be mad Whose dog is it, I ask?”“I fancy its General Zhigalovs,” says someone in the crowd.“General Zhigalovs, hmHelp me off with my coat, Yeldyrin. its frightfully hot! It must be a sign of rainThere
14、s one thing I cant make out, how it came to bite you?” Otchumyelov turns to Hryukin. “Surely it couldnt reach your finger. Its a little dog, and you are a great hulking fellow! You must have scratched your finger with a nail, and then the idea struck you to get damages for it. We all know your sort!
15、 I know you devils!”“He put a cigarette in her face, your honour, for a joke, and she had the sensc to snap at him He is a nonsensical fellow, your honour!”“Thats a lie, Squinteye! You didnt see, so why tell lies about it? His honour is a wise gentleman, and will see who is telling lies and who is t
16、elling the truth, as in Gods sightAnd if I am lying let the court decide. Its written in the lawWe are all equal nowadays. My own brother is in the gendarmes. let me tell you.”“Dont argue!”“No, thats not the Generals dog,” says the policeman, with profound conviction, “the General hasnt got one like
17、 that. His are mostly setters.”“Do you know that for a fact?”“Yes, your honour.”“I know it, too. The General has valuable dogs, thoroughbred, and this is goodness knows what! No coat, no shape A low creature. And to keep a dog like that!, wheres the sense of it. If a dog like that were to turn up in
18、 A Chameleon5变 色 龙Petersburg or Moscow, do you know what would happen? They would not worry about the law, they would strangle it in a twinkling! Youve been injured, Hryukin, and we cant let the matter drop We must give them a lesson! It is high time!”“Yet maybe it is the Generals,” says the policem
19、an, thinking aloud. “Its not written on its face I saw one like it the other day in his yard.”“It is the Generals, thats certain!” says a voice in the crowd.“Hm, help me on with my overcoat, Yeldyrin, my lad the winds getting up I am cold. You take it to the Generals, and inquire there. Say I found
20、it and sent it. And tell them not to let it out into the street It may be a valuable dog, and if every swine goes sticking a cigar in its mouth, it will soon be ruined. A dog is a delicate animal And you put your hand down, you blockhead. Its no use your displaying your fool of a finger. Its your ow
21、n fault.”“Here comes the Generals cook, ask him. Hi, Prohor! Come here, my dear man! Look at this dog Is it one of yours?”“What an idea! We have never had one like that!”“Theres no need to waste time asking,” says Otchumyelov. “Its a stray dog! Theres no need to waste time talking about it Since he
22、says its a stray dog, a stray dog it is It must be destroyed, thats all about it.”“It is not our dog,” Prohor goes on. “It belongs to the Generals brother, who arrived the other day. Our master does not care for hounds. But his honour is fond of them.”“You dont say his Excellencys brother is here? V
23、ladimir Ivanitch?” inquires Otchumyelov, and his whole face beams with an ecstatic smile. “Well, I never! And I didnt know! Has he come on a visit?”“Yes.”“Well, I never. He couldnt stay away from his brother. And there I didnt know! So this is his honours dog? Delighted to hear it Take it. Its not a
24、 bad pup A lively creature Snapped at this fellows finger! Ha-ha-ha Come, why are you shivering? Rrr. Rrrr. The rogues angry a nice little pup.”Prohor calls the dog, and walks away from the timber-yard with her. The crowd laughs at Hryukin.The Selected Short Stories of Chekhov2契 诃 夫 短 篇小 说 精 选“Ill make you smart yet!” Otchumyelov threatens him, and wrapping himself in his greatcoat, goes on his way across the square.
