第11章TheDeathofaGoverClerk
AntonChekhov
Onefineevening，anolessficlerkcalledIvanDmitritchTchervyakovwassittinginthesedrowofthestalls，gazingthroughanlassattheClochesdeeville。Hegazedaheacmeofbliss。Butsuddenly。。。Instoriesoswiththis"Butsuddenly"。Theauthht:lifeissofullofsurprises!Butsuddenlyhisfacepuckeredup，hiseyesdisappeared，hisbreathingwasarrested。。。hetookthelassfromhiseyes，bentoverand。。。"Aptchee!!!"hesneezedasyouperceive。Itisnotreprehensibleforaosneezeassneezeandsodopolites，aimesevenprivyechervyakovwasfused，hewipedhisfacewithhishandkerdlikeapolitemaoseewhetherhehaddisturbedanyonebyhissthenhewasoverewith。Hesawthatalemansittinginfrontofhimirowofthestallswascarefullywipinghisbaldheadahhisgloveandmutteriohimself。Ileman，TchervyaknisedBrizzhalov，ageneralservimentofTransport。
"Ihavespatteredhim，"thoughtTchervyakov，"heisnottheheadofmydepartment，butstillitisawkward。Imustapologise。"
Tchervyakovgaveathiswholepersonforeredinthegeneral'sear。
"Pardon，yourExcy，Ispatteredyouatally。。。"
"Nevermind，nevermind。"
&quoodnesssakeexcuseme，I。。。Idido。""Oh，please，sitdowen!"Tbarrassed，hesmiledstupidlyaogaziage。Hegazedatitbutwasnbliss。HebegaroubledbyuheiuptoBrizzhalov，walkedbesidehim，andhisshyered:
"Ispatteredyou，yourExe。。。yousee。。。Ididn'tdoitto。。。"
"Oh，that'senough。。。I&apottenit，andyoukeeponaboutit!"saidthegeneral，movinghislowerlipimpatiently。
"Hehasfotten，butthereisafiendishlightihoughtTchervyakov，lookingsuspiciouslyatthege;Andhedoesn'twanttotalk。Ioughttoexplaintohim。。。thatIreallydidn'tiitisthelawofnatureorelsehewillthiospitonhim。Hedoesn'tthinksohi;
&ichervyakovtoldhiswifeoodmaruckhimthathiswifetooktoofrivolousaviewofthei;shewasalittlefrightewhehatBrizzhalovwasidepartment，shewasreassured。
"Still，youhadbettergoandapologise，"shesaid，"orhewillthinkyoudon'tknowhoublic。"
"That'sjustit!Ididapologise，buthetookitsomehowqueerly。。。hedidn'tsayawordofsehereos;ttimetotalkproperly。"
&chervyakovputonanewuniform，hadhishairdwenttoBrizzhalov'stoexplain;goingintothegeneral'srehesawthereaitionersandamohegeneralhimself，whowasbeginnihem。Afterquestioieneralraisedhiseyesachervyakov。
"YesterdayattheArcadia，ifyourecollect，yourExcy，"thelatterbegan，"Isneezedand。。。atallyspattered。。。Exc。。。"
"What'sbeyondanything!WhatIdoforyou，"saidthegeneraladdressiioner。
"Heeak，"thoughtTchervyakpale;"thatmeansthatheisangry。。。No，it'tbeleftlikethis。。。Iwillexplaintohim。"
&hegeneralhadfinishedhisversatioofthepetitionersandwasturningtowardshisimeookasteptowardshimandmuttered:
"YourExcy!IfIveroubleyourExcy，itissimplyfromafeelingImaysayret!。。。Itwasionalifyouwillgraciouslybelieveme。"
Thegeneralmadealachrymosefadwavedhishand。
"lymakingfunofme，sir，"hesaidasheclosedthedoorbehindhim。
"os;sthemakingfuninit?"thoughtTchervyakov，"thereisnothi!Heisagehe'tuand。IfthatishowitisIamnotgoingtoapologisetothatfanfarohedeviltakeshim。I'llwritealettertohim，butIos;tgo。ByJove，Ios;t。"
SothoughtTchervyakovashewalkedhome;hedidertothegeneral，heponderedandponderedandakeupthatletter。Hehadtogooexplaininperson。
"IveurbyourExcyyesterday，"hemuttered，wheedenquiringeyesuponhim，"nottomakefunasyouwerepleasedtosay。Iologisingfspatteredyouinsneezing。。。andIdidnotdreamofmakingfunofyou。ShouldIdaretomakefunofyou，ifweshouldtaketomakiherewouldbeforpersons，therewouldbe。。。"
"Beoff!"yelledthegeurningsuddenlypurple，andshakingallover。
"What?"askedTchervyakov，iurningnumbwithhorror。
"Beoff!"repeatedthegeamping。
&hiogivewayinTp;apos;sstomagnothihihedoor，wentouti，aaggeringalhomemeically，withouttakingoffhisuniform，helaydownonthesofaanddied。