幸運的套鞋(三)

The English pirates had taken ships from the very wharves， said the man; and the councillor， who was well acquainted with the events of 1801， joined in manfully against the English. The rest of the talk， however， did not pass over so well; every moment there was a contradiction. The good bachelor was terribly ignorant， and the simplest assertion of the councillor seemed too bold or too fantastic. They looked at each other， and when it became too bad， the bachelor spoke Latin， in the hope that he would be better understood; but it was of no use.

\"How are you now?\" asked the hostess， and she plucked the councillor by the sleeve.

Now his recollection came back; in the course of the conversation he had forgotten everything that had happened.

\"Good heavens! Where am I?\" he said， and he felt dizzy when he thought of it.

\"We'll drink claret， mead， and Bremen beer， \"cried one of the guests， \"and you shall drink with us.\"

Two girls came in. One of them had on a cap of two colours. They poured out drink and bowed: the councillor felt a cold shudder running all down his back. \"What's that? What's that?\" he cried; but he was obliged to drink with them. They took possession of the good man quite politely. He was in despair， and when one said that he was tipsy he felt not the slightest doubt regarding the truth of the statement， and only begged them to procure him a droshky. Now they thought he was speaking Muscovite.

Never had he been in such rude vulgar company.

\"One would think the country was falling back into heathenism，\" was his reflection. \"This is the most terrible moment of my life.\"

But at the same time the idea occurred to him to bend down under the table， and then to creep to the door. He did so; but just as he had reached the entry the others discovered his intention. They seized him by the feet; and now the goloshes， to his great good fortune， came off， and--the whole enchantment vanished.

The councillor saw quite plainly， in front of him， a lamp burning， and behind it a great building; everything looked familiar and splendid. It was East Street， as we know it now.He lay with his legs turned towards a porch， and opposite to him sat the watchman asleep.

\"Good heavens! Have I been lying here in the street dreaming?\" he exclaimed.

\"Yes， this is East Street sure enough!How splendidly bright and gay! It is terrible what an effect that one glass of punch must have had on me!\"

Two minutes afterwards he was sitting in a fly， which drove him out to Christian's Haven. He thought of the terror and anxiety he had undergone， and praised from his heart the happy present， our own time， which， with all its shortcomings， was far better than the period in which he had been placed a short time before.

Ⅲ THE WATCHMAN'S ADVENTURES

\"On my word， yonder lies a pair o' goloshes!\" said the watchman. \"They must certainly belong to the lieutenant who lives upstairs. They are lying close to the door.\"

The honest man would gladly have rung the bell and delivered them， for upstairs there was a light still burning; but he did not wish to disturb the other people in the house， and so he let it alone.

\"It must be very warm to have a pair of such things on，\" said he. \"How nice and soft the leather is!\" They fitted his feet very well. \"How droll it is in the world! Now， he might lie down in his warm bed， and yet he does not! There he is pacing up and down the room. He is a happy man! He has neither wife nor children， and every evening he is at a party. Oh， I wish I were he， then I should be a happy man!\"

As he uttered the wish， the goloshes he had put on produced their effect， and the watchman was transported into the body and being of the lieutenant. Then he stood up in the room， and held a little pink paper in his fingers， on which was a poem， a poem written by the lieutenant himself. For who is there who has not once in his life had a poetic moment? And at such a moment， if one writes down one's thoughts， there is poetry.

Yes， people write poetry when they are in love; but a prudent man does not print such poems. The lieutenant was in love--and poor--that's a triangle， or， so to speak， the half of a broken square of happiness. The lieutenant felt that very keenly， and so he laid his head against the window-frame and sighed a deep sigh.

\"The poor watchman in the street yonder is far happier than I. He does not know what I call want. He has a home， a wife， and children， who weep at his sorrow and rejoice at his joy. Oh! I should be happier than I am， if I could pass right over into him， for he is happier than I!\"

In that same moment the watchman became a watchman again; for though the power of the goloshes of Fortune he had assumed the personality of the lieutenant; but then we know he felt far less content， and preferred to be what he really was. So the watchman became a watchman again.

\"That was all ugly dream， \"said he， \"but droll enough. It seemed to me that I was the lieutenant up yonder， and that it was not pleasant at all. I missed the wife and the boys， who are now ready to half stifle me with kisses.\"

He sat down again and nodded. The dream would not go quite out of his thoughts. He had the goloshes still on his feet. A falling star glided down the sky.

\"There went one，\" said he， \"but for all that， there are enough left. I should like to look at those things a little nearer， especially the moon， for that won't vanish under one's hands. The student for whom my wife washes says that when we die we fly from one star to another. That's not true， but it would be very nice. If I could only make a little spring up there， then my body might lie here on the stairs for all I care.\"

Now there are certain things we should be very cautious of uttering in this world， but doubly careful when we have goloshes of Fortune on our feet. Just hear what happened to the watchman.

So far as we are concerned， we all understand the rapidity of dispatch by steam; we have tried it either in railways， or in steamers across the sea. But this speed is as the crawling of the sloth or the march of the snail in comparison with the swiftness with which light travels. That flies nineteen million times quicker than the best racer， and yet electricity is still quicker. Death is an electric shock we receive in our hearts， and on the wings of electricity the liberated soul flies away.

The sunlight requires eight minutes and a few seconds for a journey of more than ninety-five millions of miles; on the wings of electric power the soul requires only a few moments to accomplish the same flight. The space between the orbs of the universe is， for her， not greater than， for us，the distances between the houses of our friends dwelling in the same town and even living close together. Yet this electric shock costs us the life of the body here below， unless， like thewatchman，we have the magic goloshes on.

In a few seconds the watchman had traversed the distance of two hundred and sixty thousand miles to the moon， which body， as we know， consists of a much lighter material than that of our earth， and is， as we should say， soft as new-fallen snow. He found himself on one of the many ring mountains with which we are familiar from Dr. Madler's great map of the moon. Within the ring a great bowl-shaped hollow went down to the depth of a couple of miles. At the base of the hollow lay a town， of whose appearance we can only form an idea by pouring the white of an egg， into a glass of water; the substance here was just as soft as white of egg， and formed similar towers， and cupolas， and terraces like sails， transparent and floating in the thin air. Our earth hung over his head like a great fiery red ball.

He immediately became aware of a number of beings， who were certainly what we call \"men\"， but their appearance was very different from ours. They had also a language， but no one could expect that the soul of the watchman should understand it. But it did understand， nevertheless.

Thus the watchman's soul understood the language of the people in the moon very well. They disputed about this earth， and doubted if it could be inhabited; the air， they asserted， must be too thick for a sensible moon-man to live there. They considered that the moon alone was peopled; for that， they said， was the real body in which the old-world people dwelt. [They also talked of politics].

But let us go down to the East Street， and see how it fared with the body of the watchman.

He sat lifeless upon the stairs.

His pike had fallen out of his hand， and his eyes stared up at the moon， after his honest soul which was going about up there.

\"What's o'clock， watchman?\" asked a passer-by. But the man who didn't answer was the watchman. Then the passenger tweaked him quite gently by the nose， and then he lost his balance. There lay the body stretched out at full length--the man was dead. Great fear fell upon the man who had tweaked him; dead the watchman was， and dead he remained. It was reported， and it was discussed， and in the morning the body was carried out to the hospital.

That would be a pretty jest for the soul if it should chance to come back， and probably seek its body in the East Street， and not find it! Most likely it would go first， to the police and afterwards to the address office， that inquiries might be made from thence respecting the missing goods; and then it would wander out to the hospital. But we may console ourselves with the idea that the soul is most clever when it acts upon its own account; it is the body that makes it stupid.

As we have said， the watchman's body was taken to the hospital， and brought into the washing-room; and naturally enough the first thing they did there was to pull off the goloshes; and then the soul had to come back. It took its way directly towards the body， and in a few seconds there was life in the man. He declared that this had been the most terrible night of his life; he would not have such feelings again， not for a shilling; but now it was past and over.

The same day he was allowed to leave; but the goloshes remained at the hospital.

(tobecontinued)

那個人說，英國的海盜從碼頭里將船搶走了。但議員呢，對1801年的戰(zhàn)爭記得很清楚，也義憤填膺地加入談話，攻擊英國。然而，其他的談話就沒那么順利了，每時每刻都出現(xiàn)矛盾。那個好心的學士似乎特別無知，議員最簡單的判斷都讓他覺得太魯莽、太理想化了。他們對視著。在最糟糕的時候，學士還說拉丁語，好讓自己的意思得到更確切的理解，但這也無濟于事。

“你現(xiàn)在感覺怎么樣?”老板娘問。他拉了拉議員的袖子。

現(xiàn)在他又想起自己的事兒。在談話過程中，他把自己遭遇的事全給忘了。

“天哪!我這是在哪兒呀?”他說。他一想到這事，心里就犯糊涂。

“我們來喝點葡萄酒、蜜酒和布萊門啤酒，”一個客人說，“你可以和我們—起喝點。”

兩個姑娘走了進來，其中一個戴了頂雙色帽。她們倒了飲料，躬身遞了過來。議員背上打了個冷戰(zhàn)。“怎么回事?這是怎么了?”他大叫起來。但他還是被迫和大家一起喝酒。他們對這位不速之客很有禮貌。但他卻陷入了絕望之中，一個人說他是喝醉了，他一點也不懷疑，只是請求他們借給他—輛俄國式馬車。這時，大家又以為他說的是莫斯科的地方話。

他可從來沒有和這樣一群粗魯無知的人為伍。

“真讓人覺得這個國家退回到野蠻時期了，”他想，“這是我生活中最糟糕的時刻。”

就在這時，他突然來了個主意，想鉆進桌子底下，好偷偷地爬到門口。他就這么干了。但他剛爬到門口，別人就發(fā)現(xiàn)了他的意圖，他們抓住他的腳。真是謝天謝地，這回套鞋總算是脫掉了——所有的幻像都消失了。

議員清楚地看到，他面前是一盞明亮的燈。燈后面是一個高大的建筑，所有東西看起來都是那么熟悉，那么美好。我們知道，這兒就是東大街。他沖著一扇門躺著，守夜人在他對面坐著打盹。

“天哪!難道我這是躺在大街上做夢嗎?”他大叫道。

“沒錯，這確實是東大街!多么輝煌，多么快樂呀!真是太可怕了，那杯酒把我折騰成這個樣子。”

兩分鐘后，他坐進了一輛馬車，直奔克里斯蒂安碼頭。他回想起自己遭遇的可怕、煩惱的場景，從內(nèi)心深處稱贊我們當代，我們自己生活的這個時代。盡管這個時代有很多不如人意的地方，但比起自己剛才經(jīng)歷過的時代，確實要好多了。

3守夜人的經(jīng)歷

“噢，那兒有雙套鞋!”守夜人說，“那肯定是住在樓上的中尉的，因為套鞋就在那個門旁邊。”

這個老實人很想去按門鈴，把鞋送過去，因為樓上的燈還亮著。但他又不想打擾屋里的其他人，所以他就放棄了這個想法。

“穿上這種鞋一定會很暖和吧，”他說，“皮子質(zhì)地多好，多么柔軟呀!”他穿上也正好合腳。“這種生活真是奇怪了!現(xiàn)在，他本可以躺在溫暖的床上，但他卻沒這么做，而是樓上樓下地走動!他可真是個快活的人!他沒有妻子，沒有孩子，每天晚上都去參加晚會。噢，我要是他就好了，那樣我也就成了個快樂的人啦!”

他說出這個愿望，他腳上的套鞋就產(chǎn)生了魔力，守夜人身心方面都變得和那個中尉一模一樣。于是他站在了那個房間里，手指捏著一個粉紅色的紙片，上面寫著一首詩，是中尉本人寫的。誰在一生中沒有體驗過詩意的瞬間呢?在這種時候，只要把自己的想法寫下來，那就是一首詩。

確實，人們在熱戀中會寫詩，但一個聰明人是不會把這種詩公開出版的。中尉正在戀愛中，而且是可憐的三角戀，或者說，幸福四邊形的一半破碎了。中尉深切地體驗到這種痛苦，所以將頭搭在窗欞上，深深地嘆了口氣。

“大街上那個可憐的守夜人都比我要快樂。他不知道我的‘貧困’是什么。他有家，有老婆，有孩子，他們和他同甘共苦。唉!要是我變成他，我倒會更快樂一些，因為他比我要幸福!”

這時，守夜人又變回來了。由于套鞋的魔力，他變成了中尉。但我們知道，變成中尉后，他覺得很不滿意，又想回到自己原來的生活中來。于是他就又變成守夜人了。

“這真是個惡夢，”他說，“不過也挺好玩的。好像我變成了樓上的中尉，而且一點也不舒服。我想自己的老婆和孩子們了，他們正等著把我親個半死呢!”

他又坐下來，點了點頭。夢還沒有完全從他的思想里消失，他還穿著那雙套鞋呢。這時，一顆流星劃過夜空。

“那兒有顆流星，”他說，“盡管落下了一個，天空上還多著呢。我想靠近一點去瞧瞧，特別是想看看月亮，因為他可不會從一個人手里溜走的。雇我老婆洗衣服的那個學生說，我們死后，就會從一顆星飛到另一顆星。這可不是真的，要是能那樣當然好啦。要是我能被發(fā)射到那上面去，那我現(xiàn)在躺在樓梯上也無所謂啦。”

在這個世界上，我們說某些話的時候可得非常謹慎。但要是穿上了幸運套鞋，就更該加倍小心了。聽聽守夜人發(fā)生了怎樣的事情吧。

對我們來說，可以理解被蒸氣推進的速度。我在鐵路交通和蒸汽船渡海方面做了嘗試。但與光的高速比起來，這只能算是樹獺的爬行或是蝸牛的蠕動罷了。光速比最好的賽馬還要快1900萬倍，電的速度還要更快。死亡就是我們的心臟觸了電，在電的翅膀上，自己的靈魂遠飛他鄉(xiāng)。

陽光用8分鐘零幾秒的時間，就能走9500萬英里的路程。坐在電力的翅膀上，靈魂只要幾秒鐘就能飛同樣遠的路程。對于靈魂來說，行星之間的距離，就和我們住在同一城市的朋友一樣，甚至近得就像鄰居。不過這種電擊會要我們命的，除非像那個守夜人一樣，穿上魔力套鞋。

只幾秒鐘的時間，守夜人就飛過26萬英里的路程，來到月亮上。我們知道，月球的成分比地球要輕得多，可以說柔軟得像新下的雪一樣。他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己置身于一座環(huán)形山上，看過麥特勒博士的大月球圖就會熟悉這個情況。在這個環(huán)形山中間，一個碗形的大洞有好幾英里深。在這個洞底，有一座城市，看起來就像是倒在一杯水中的蛋清一樣。這里的東西都軟得像蛋清，它們組成了相似的尖塔、圓屋頂和像船帆一樣的陽臺，都浮在透明、稀薄的空氣中。我們的地球懸在他的頭頂上，就像一個巨大的紅火球。

他馬上注意到了一些生物，我們當然得管他們叫“人”，但他們看起來和我們可大不一樣。他們也有自己的語言，不過誰也不能指望守夜人的靈魂能夠聽得懂。然而，守夜人的靈魂居然聽明白了。

守夜人的靈魂對月球上人的語言非常精通。他們爭論起關于地球的問題，懷疑地球是否適合居住。他們確信，地球上的空氣太厚重了，月球人肯定受不了。他們認為只有月亮上住著人類，還說人類自古就住在那里。(他們也討論政治。)

但還是讓我們回到東大街吧，看看守夜人的肉身怎樣了。

他坐在樓梯上，沒有生氣。

他的尖頭杖從手中滑落了，他的雙眼盯著月亮，順著他誠實的靈魂游蕩的地方。

“幾點了，守夜人?”一個過路人問道。但守夜人沒有吱聲。于是那個過路人輕輕地撓他的鼻子，他失去了平衡，直挺挺地躺在那兒——他死了。那個撓他的人大為震驚。守夜人死了，僵挺在那里。這事被報告上去，人們討論了一番。第二天一早，守夜人被送進了醫(yī)院。

靈魂要是再回來的話，那一定會鬧笑話。它很可能會在東大街找自己的軀體，但它卻找不到!它很可能首先去警察署，然后再到戶籍處去掛失。然后它可能會漫游到醫(yī)院。但我們可以放心，靈魂在處理自己的事情時是最聰明的，是身體把靈魂搞得愚蠢了。

就像我們前面提到的，守夜人的軀體被抬進醫(yī)院，送進了洗滌間。他們要做的第一件事，當然是脫掉那雙套鞋，于是靈魂又回來了。它直接鉆進了軀體，幾秒鐘后守夜人就活了過來。他說自己經(jīng)歷了一生中最可怕的夜晚。他再不愿重復這種經(jīng)歷了，哪怕給他一塊錢他也不干。好在現(xiàn)在一切都已成為過去。

當天他就獲準離開醫(yī)院。但套鞋留在了醫(yī)院里。（未完待續(xù)）