Anton Chekhov's lunch the next day was very delicious pie, crayfish and mutton slices. While we were having dinner, chef Nikanow came over and asked the guests what they wanted for dinner. He is a man of medium height with a fat face and small eyes. He shaved his beard, which made him look as if his beard had not been shaved off, but had been uprooted. Aleheng told us that the beautiful Palaggi fell in love with the cook because he was a heavy drinker and had a rough personality. Palaggi doesn't want to marry her, but she is willing to live with him outside marriage. The chef is a very devout person, and his religious beliefs do not allow him to "lead a sinful life". He insisted that Palaggi marry him and promised her everything else, but when he was drunk, he often cursed Palaggi and even beat her. Whenever the cook is drunk, Palaggi hides upstairs and cries. At this point, Aleheng and his servants stayed in the house, ready to protect Palaggi in case of need.
At lunch the next day, there were very delicious pies, crayfish and mutton slices; While we were eating, the chef Nicanor came over and asked the guests what they wanted for dinner. He is a man of medium height, with a chubby face and small eyes. His beard was shaved so short that it looked as if he had not shaved it, but had been uprooted. Alehin told us that the beautiful Pelagea fell in love with this chef. She doesn't want to marry him, but she is willing to live with him because of his drinking and bad temper. He is very devout, and his religious beliefs do not allow him to "live in sin"; He insisted that she marry him, and agreed to nothing else. When he is drunk, he often abuses her and even beats her. Whenever he is drunk, she always hides upstairs and cries. In this case, Aleheng stays in the house with the servants, ready to protect her when necessary.
We started talking about love.
"How did love come into being?" Aleheng said, "Why doesn't Palaggi love others physically and mentally as he loves himself? Why did she fall in love with Nicanoff? That ugly pig's mouth-we all call it Nikanow's pig's mouth-what is the relationship between personal happiness and the result of love-these problems are all unknown so's; What a person can get is only what he hopes to get from it. So far, when it comes to love, the indisputable fact is:' love is a big mystery.' All the remarks and words about love are not conclusions, but only statements about this still unanswered question. This explanation seems to apply only to unrequited love, not to many other examples. In my opinion, the best way is to explain each love separately, instead of trying to summarize it. As the doctor said, we should treat each case separately. "
"Exactly." Bergen agreed.
We started talking about love.
"How did love come about," Alehin said. "Why didn't Pelaggi love someone who was more like herself in spirit and external quality? Why did she fall in love with Nikanow? The ugly pig's mouth-we all call him' pig's mouth'-how important personal happiness is in love-all this is unknown; One can take one's own opinion. So far, there is only one indisputable fact about love: "This is a huge mystery." All other words or remarks about love are not conclusions, but only statements of unanswered questions. It seems that the explanation that applies to one situation does not apply to more than a dozen other situations. In my opinion, the best way is to explain each situation separately, instead of trying to generalize. As the doctor said, we should treat each case individually. "
"Exactly," Birkin agreed.
"We, the educated Russian class, prefer unanswered questions. Love is usually poetic, decorated with roses and nightingales. We Russians decorate love with some important questions and choose the most boring part. When I was studying in Moscow, I had a friend who lived with me, a charming lady. Every time I hold her in my arms, she doubts whether I will allow her to help me with the housework for a month, and how much is a pound of beef. Similarly, when we fall in love, we always take pains to ask ourselves: is this glorious or disgraceful, wise or stupid, where this love will lead, and so on. I don't know if these questions are good or bad, but I know very well that these questions bother you and you can't find the answer, which is annoying. "
"We educated Russians prefer these questions that are still unanswered. Love is usually poetic, decorated with roses and nightingales; We Russians decorate our love with these important problems, which come from farmers, men and women in neighboring villages; This work is done in a place called Trey Mendoz. I sow and reap by myself. "This is a bit unexpected, because I am not familiar with Luganovich. I have only been to his office, but not to his home. I just got back to my hotel room, changed my clothes and went out for dinner. This is my destiny takes a hand to meet Anna Alexyevna, Luganovich's wife. At that time, she was still very young, at most 22 years old, and her first child had just turned half a year old. It's all in the past, but now it's hard for me to say what's the exception and why she appeals to me so much. I knew all about that dinner at that time. I saw a lovely young, kind, intelligent and charming woman, as if I had never met such a person. I immediately felt that she was someone I was already very familiar with and close to, just like that face and sincere and intelligent eyes. When I was a child, I was already somewhere-in my mother's closet.
"Since then, I have spent the whole summer in Sufino without rest, and I have no time to think about the small town, but the memory of the elegant blonde has always remained in my mind; I didn't think of her, but her shadow seemed to lie on my heart.
In late autumn, a charity performance was held in this city. I was invited to the mayor's box during the intermission. When I saw it, Anna Alexyevna was sitting next to the mayor's wife. Her beauty and gentleness, her kind eyes, once again made me irresistible and excited, and my heart once again felt that closeness. All my parcels, for some reason, I always take them with love and seriousness like a child.
"Who's there?" I'll hear it from a distant room. The drawling sound is so lovely to me.
"'Pavel Constantinovici,' the maid or nurse replied.
"Anna Alexyevna will come to me with an anxious expression and ask every time:
"'Why have you been here for so long? Did something happen?
"Her eyes, the elegant and delicate hands she gave me, her indoor clothes, the way she does her hair, her voice and her steps always give me the same impression. In the same way at the window, he would come up to me, red his ears and say:
"My wife and I sincerely ask you to accept this gift."
"He will give me studs, cigar boxes or a lamp, and I will send them game, butter and flowers from the countryside. By the way, they all have quite a lot of their own means. In the early days, I often borrowed money, and I wasn't very picky-I borrowed wherever I could-but I wouldn't borrow money from Luganovich anyway. But why talk about it?
"I am very unhappy. I miss her at home, in the fields and in the barn. I think hard about why a beautiful and intelligent young woman should marry a boring man who can almost be her father (her husband is in his early forties) and have children with him; Try to understand this boring, kind and simple-minded man. He has been staying with more rigid people to attend dances, parties and argue with boring wit. He looks tired and redundant, and his expression on his face is smooth and indifferent, just like being taken there. Twitter if I have a beautiful and interesting life-for example, if I have been fighting for the liberation of my country, or if I am a famous scientist, artist or painter; But in fact, it will mean taking her from a monotonous daily life to another monotonous life, or even more monotonous. How long can our happiness last? What if I get sick, if I die, or if we just become cold to each other?
"Similarly, obviously, she also has a good reason. She should think about her husband, children and mother, who loves her father as much as her children. If she indulges in her feelings, she will have to lie, or to tell the truth, it is also bad and inconvenient in her position. And she also suffers from whether her love will bring me happiness-in fact, my life is hard enough, won't she make my life more complicated? She felt that she was not young enough, not diligent enough and not energetic enough for me to start a new life. She often tells her husband that it is very important for me to marry a smart and nice girl. She will be my assistant and a capable housewife, but she will immediately add that it is not easy to find such a girl in the whole city.
"She obviously reasoning in the same way. She thought of her husband, her children and her mother. They loved each other. But because of some strange misunderstandings, when we come out of the theater, we always say goodbye as if we were strangers. God knows the people in the town are already talking about us, but there is not a word of truth!
"In the next few years, Anna Alexyevna began to visit her mother or sister from time to time. She began to feel depressed and began to think that her life was disturbed and dissatisfied. She sometimes stops caring about her husband and children. She has begun to receive treatment for neurasthenia.
"When we are together, there is nothing but silence. But in front of outsiders, she showed an inexplicable anger towards me. No matter what I say, she is against me. If I argue with others, she will support my opponent. If I drop something, she will say coldly:
"'Congratulations.'
"If I forget to bring my opera telescope when I go to the theater, she will say later:
"'I know you'll forget.'
"In the next few years, Anna Alexyevna often visited her mother or her sister; She began to feel depressed. She began to realize that her life was spoiled and dissatisfied. Sometimes she didn't want to see her husband and children. She is already being treated for neurasthenia.
"We were silent, still silent. In front of outsiders, she showed me a strange anger; In the carriage, we both lost our mental toughness; I held her in my arms, and she put her face on my chest, and tears came out of her eyes. Kissing her face, her shoulders, her hands wet with tears-oh, how unhappy! I confessed my love to her, and with the burning pain in my heart, I realized how unnecessary, trivial and deceptive everything that prevented us from falling in love. I understand that when you love, you must either start from the highest thing in your reasoning about that kind of love, from something more important than happiness or unhappiness, sin or virtue in their accepted sense, or you can't reason at all.
"I kissed her for the last time, squeezed her hand and left forever. The train had already left, so I walked into the next carriage-it was an empty carriage-and sat there crying until the train reached the next station. Then go back to Shafino's home ... "
"I kissed her for the last time, shook her hand and parted forever. The train has already started. I walked into the next carriage-it was empty-and I sat there crying until I got to the next stop. Then I walked home to Sofino…… ... "
Aliheng was telling his story when the rain stopped and the sun came out. Bergen and Ivan Ivanovich went to the balcony, where they could see the beautiful scenery of the garden and the mill pond, which was shining like a mirror in the sun at the moment. They enjoyed the beautiful scenery, and at the same time, Aleheng, with a pair of kind and wise eyes-he told them the story with true feelings-kept spinning like a squirrel on a wheel.