THE OFFICIALS OF THE COURT.
At last Matthew Nikitich also arrived, and the usher, a thin man, with a long neck and a kind of sideways walk, his nether lip protruding to one side, which made him resemble a turkey, came into the jurymen's room.
This usher was an honest man, and had a university education, but could not keep a place for any length of time, as he was subject to fits of drunkenness. Three months before a certain countess, who patronised his wife, had found him this place, and he was very pleased to have kept it so long.
"Well, sirs, is everybody here?" he asked, putting his pince-nez on his nose, and looking round.
"Everybody, I think," said the jolly merchant.
"All right; we'll soon see." And, taking a list from his pocket, he began calling out the names, looking at the men, sometimes through and sometimes over his pince-nez.
"Councillor of State, [grades such as this are common in Russia, and mean very little] J. M. Nikiforoff!"
"I am he," said the dignified-looking man, well versed in the habits of the law court.
"Ivan Semionovitch Ivanoff, retired colonel!"
"Here!" replied a thin man, in the uniform of a retired officer.
"Merchant of the Second Guild, Peter Baklasheff!"
"Here we are, ready!" said the good-humoured merchant, with a broad smile.
"Lieutenant of the Guards, Prince Dmitri Nekhludoff!"
"I am he," answered Nekhludoff.
The usher bowed to him, looking over his pince-nez, politely and pleasantly, as if wishing to distinguish him from the others.
"Captain Youri Demitrievitch-Dantchenko, merchant; Grigori Euphimitch Kouleshoff," etc. All but two were present.
"Now please to come to the court, gentlemen," said the usher, pointing to the door, with an amiable wave of his hand.
All moved towards the door, pausing to let each other pass. Then they went through the corridor into the court.
The court was a large, long room. At one end there was a raised platform, with three steps leading up to it, on which stood a table, covered with a green cloth trimmed with a fringe of a darker shade. At the table were placed three arm-chairs, with high-carved oak backs; on the wall behind them hung a full-length, brightly-coloured portrait of the Emperor in uniform and ribbon, with one foot in advance, and holding a sword. In the right corner hung a case, with an image of Christ crowned with thorns, and beneath it stood a lectern, and on the same side the prosecuting attorney's desk. On the left, opposite the desk, was the secretary's table, and in front of it, nearer the public, an oak grating, with the prisoners' bench, as yet unoccupied, behind it. Besides all this, there were on the right side of the platform high-backed ashwood chairs for the jury, and on the floor below tables for the advocates. All this was in the front part of the court, divided from the back by a grating.
The back was all taken up by seats in tiers. Sitting on the front seats were four women, either servant or factory girls, and two working men, evidently overawed by the grandeur of the room, and not venturing to speak above a whisper.
Soon after the jury had come in the usher entered, with his sideward gait, and stepping to the front, called out in a loud voice, as if he meant to frighten those present, "The Court is coming!" Every one got up as the members stepped on to the platform. Among them the president, with his muscles and fine whiskers. Next came the gloomy member of the Court, who was now more gloomy than ever, having met his brother-in-law, who informed him that he had just called in to see his sister (the member's wife), and that she had told him that there would be no dinner there.
"So that, evidently, we shall have to call in at a cook shop," the brother-in-law added, laughing.
"It is not at all funny," said the gloomy member, and became gloomier still.
Then at last came the third member of the Court, the same Matthew Nikitich, who was always late. He was a bearded man, with large, round, kindly eyes. He was suffering from a catarrh of the stomach, and, according to his doctor's advice, he had begun trying a new treatment, and this had kept him at home longer than usual. Now, as he was ascending the platform, he had a pensive air. He was in the habit of making guesses in answer to all sorts of self-put questions by different curious means. Just now he had asked whether the new treatment would be beneficial, and had decided that it would cure his catarrh if the number of steps from the door to his chair would divide by three. He made 26 steps, but managed to get in a 27th just by his chair.
The figures of the president and the members in their uniforms, with gold-embroidered collars, looked very imposing. They seemed to feel this themselves, and, as if overpowered by their own grandeur, hurriedly sat down on the high backed chairs behind the table with the green cloth, on which were a triangular article with an eagle at the top, two glass vases--something like those in which sweetmeats are kept in refreshment rooms--an inkstand, pens, clean paper, and good, newly-cut pencils of different kinds.
The public prosecutor came in with the judges. With his portfolio under one arm, and swinging the other, he hurriedly walked to his seat near the window, and was instantly absorbed in reading and looking through the papers, not wasting a single moment, in hope of being ready when the business commenced. He had been public prosecutor but a short time, and had only prosecuted four times before this. He was very ambitious, and had firmly made up his mind to get on, and therefore thought it necessary to get a conviction whenever he prosecuted. He knew the chief facts of the poisoning case, and had already formed a plan of action. He only wanted to copy out a few points which he required.
The secretary sat on the opposite side of the platform, and, having got ready all the papers he might want, was looking through an article, prohibited by the censor, which he had procured and read the day before. He was anxious to have a talk about this article with the bearded member, who shared his views, but wanted to look through it once more before doing so.
瑪特維終于來了。還有那個(gè)脖子很長的瘦民事執(zhí)行吏，下嘴唇撇向一邊，趔趄著走進(jìn)陪審員議事室。
這個(gè)民事執(zhí)行吏為人正直，受過高等教育，但不論到哪里都保不住位置，因?yàn)樗染瞥神?。三個(gè)月前，他妻子的保護(hù)人，一位伯爵夫人，給他謀得了這個(gè)職位，他總算保持到現(xiàn)在，并因此覺得高興。
“怎么樣，諸位先生，人都到齊了嗎？”他戴上夾鼻眼鏡后，從眼鏡上方向四下里打量了一下，說。
“看樣子全到了，”快樂的商人說。
“讓我們來核對(duì)一下，”民事執(zhí)行吏說。他從口袋里掏出一張紙，開始點(diǎn)名，有時(shí)越過眼鏡有時(shí)透過眼鏡看看被點(diǎn)到名的人。
“五等文官尼基福羅夫。”
“是我，”那個(gè)相貌堂堂、熟悉各種案情的先生答應(yīng)。
“退役上校伊凡諾夫?！?BR> “有，”那個(gè)身穿退役軍官制服的瘦子回答。
“二等商人巴克拉肖夫?！?BR> “到，”那個(gè)和顏悅色、笑得咧開嘴巴的商人答道。“都準(zhǔn)備好了！”
“近衛(wèi)軍中尉聶赫留朵夫公爵?！?BR> “是我，”聶赫留朵夫回答。
民事執(zhí)行吏越過眼鏡向他瞧瞧，特別恭敬而愉快地向他鞠躬，借此表示聶赫留朵夫的身分與眾不同。
“上尉丹欽科，商人庫列肖夫，”等等，等等。
少了兩個(gè)人，其余的都到了。
“諸位先生，現(xiàn)在請(qǐng)出庭，”民事執(zhí)行吏愉快地指指門口，說。
大家紛紛起身，在門口互相讓路，進(jìn)入走廊，再從走廊來到法庭。
法庭是一個(gè)長方形大廳。大廳一端是一座高臺(tái)，上去要走三級(jí)臺(tái)階。臺(tái)中央放一張桌子，桌上鋪一塊綠呢桌布，邊緣飾著深綠色穗子。桌子后面放著三把麻櫟扶手椅，椅背很高，上面雕有花紋。椅子后面的墻上掛著一個(gè)金邊鏡框，框里嵌著一個(gè)色澤鮮明的將軍全身像①。將軍的軍服上掛著綬帶，一只腳跨前一步，一只手按住佩刀柄。右墻角上掛著一個(gè)神龕，里面供著頭戴荊冠的基督像，神龕前面立著讀經(jīng)臺(tái)。右邊放著檢察官的高寫字臺(tái)。左邊，同高寫字臺(tái)對(duì)稱，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地放著書記官的小桌，靠近旁聽席有一道光滑的麻櫟欄桿，欄桿后面是被告坐的長凳?，F(xiàn)在凳子還空著沒有人坐。高臺(tái)的右邊放著兩排高背椅，那是供陪審員坐的，高臺(tái)下面的幾張桌子是給律師用的。大廳被欄桿分成兩部分，這一切都在大廳的前半部。大廳的后半部擺滿長凳，一排比一排高，直到后面的墻壁。法庭后半部的前排長凳上坐著四個(gè)女人，又象工廠的女工，又象公館里的女傭，還有兩個(gè)男人，也是工人。他們顯然被法庭的莊嚴(yán)肅穆氣氛鎖住了，因此交談時(shí)怯生生地壓低聲音。
--------
①指沙皇像。
陪審員們一坐好，民事執(zhí)行吏就趔趄著來到法庭中央，仿佛要嚇唬在場(chǎng)的人似的，放開嗓門叫道：
“開庭了！”
全體起立。法官紛紛走到臺(tái)上：領(lǐng)頭的是體格魁偉、留絡(luò)腮胡子的庭長，然后是那個(gè)臉色陰沉、戴金絲邊眼鏡的法官。此刻他的臉色更加陰沉，因?yàn)樗诔鐾デ坝龅皆诋?dāng)見習(xí)法官的內(nèi)弟，內(nèi)弟告訴他說，他剛才到姐姐那里去過，姐姐向他宣布家里不開飯。
“看來咱們只好上小飯店去吃飯了，”內(nèi)弟笑著說。
“有什么可笑的，”臉色陰沉的法官說，他的臉色變得更加陰沉了。
最后上去的法官就是那個(gè)向來遲到的瑪特維。他留著大胡子，一雙善良的大眼睛向下耷拉著。這個(gè)法官長期患胃炎，遵照醫(yī)生囑咐今天早晨開始采用新的療法，因此今天他在家里耽擱得比平時(shí)更久。此刻他走上臺(tái)去，臉上現(xiàn)出專注的神氣，因?yàn)樗幸粋€(gè)習(xí)慣，常用各種不同方式預(yù)測(cè)各種問題。此刻他就在占卜，要是從辦公室到法庭扶手椅座位的步數(shù)可以被三除盡，那么新的療法定能治好他的胃炎，要是除不盡，那就治不好。走下來是二十六步，但他把最后一步縮小，這樣就正好走了二十七步。
庭長和法官穿著衣領(lǐng)上鑲有金線的制服，走上高臺(tái)，氣勢(shì)十分威嚴(yán)。他們自己也意識(shí)到這一點(diǎn)，仿佛都為自己的威嚴(yán)感到不好意思，慌忙謙遜地垂下眼睛，坐到鋪著綠呢桌布后面的雕花扶手椅上。桌上豎立著一個(gè)上面雕著一只鷹的三角形打擊器，還放著幾個(gè)食品店里盛糖果用的玻璃缸和墨水瓶、鋼筆、白紙以及幾支削尖的粗細(xì)鉛筆。副檢察官隨著法官們進(jìn)來。他還是那么匆匆忙忙，腋下夾著公文包，還是那么拚命擺動(dòng)一只手，迅速走到窗邊自己的座位上，一坐下就埋頭翻閱文件，充分利用每一分鐘時(shí)間為審案做著準(zhǔn)備。副檢察官提出公訴還是第四次。他熱衷于功名，一心向上爬，因此凡是由他提出公訴的案子，最后非判刑不可。這個(gè)毒死人命案的性質(zhì)他大致知道，并且已擬好發(fā)言提綱，不過他還需要一些資料，此刻正急急忙忙從卷宗中摘錄著。
書記官坐在臺(tái)上另一角，已把可能需要宣讀的文件準(zhǔn)備好，然后把昨天才弄到手和閱讀過的一篇查禁的文章重讀了一遍。他想跟那個(gè)同他觀點(diǎn)一致的大胡子法官談?wù)勥@篇文章，在談?wù)撘郧霸俸煤每匆槐椤?BR>
At last Matthew Nikitich also arrived, and the usher, a thin man, with a long neck and a kind of sideways walk, his nether lip protruding to one side, which made him resemble a turkey, came into the jurymen's room.
This usher was an honest man, and had a university education, but could not keep a place for any length of time, as he was subject to fits of drunkenness. Three months before a certain countess, who patronised his wife, had found him this place, and he was very pleased to have kept it so long.
"Well, sirs, is everybody here?" he asked, putting his pince-nez on his nose, and looking round.
"Everybody, I think," said the jolly merchant.
"All right; we'll soon see." And, taking a list from his pocket, he began calling out the names, looking at the men, sometimes through and sometimes over his pince-nez.
"Councillor of State, [grades such as this are common in Russia, and mean very little] J. M. Nikiforoff!"
"I am he," said the dignified-looking man, well versed in the habits of the law court.
"Ivan Semionovitch Ivanoff, retired colonel!"
"Here!" replied a thin man, in the uniform of a retired officer.
"Merchant of the Second Guild, Peter Baklasheff!"
"Here we are, ready!" said the good-humoured merchant, with a broad smile.
"Lieutenant of the Guards, Prince Dmitri Nekhludoff!"
"I am he," answered Nekhludoff.
The usher bowed to him, looking over his pince-nez, politely and pleasantly, as if wishing to distinguish him from the others.
"Captain Youri Demitrievitch-Dantchenko, merchant; Grigori Euphimitch Kouleshoff," etc. All but two were present.
"Now please to come to the court, gentlemen," said the usher, pointing to the door, with an amiable wave of his hand.
All moved towards the door, pausing to let each other pass. Then they went through the corridor into the court.
The court was a large, long room. At one end there was a raised platform, with three steps leading up to it, on which stood a table, covered with a green cloth trimmed with a fringe of a darker shade. At the table were placed three arm-chairs, with high-carved oak backs; on the wall behind them hung a full-length, brightly-coloured portrait of the Emperor in uniform and ribbon, with one foot in advance, and holding a sword. In the right corner hung a case, with an image of Christ crowned with thorns, and beneath it stood a lectern, and on the same side the prosecuting attorney's desk. On the left, opposite the desk, was the secretary's table, and in front of it, nearer the public, an oak grating, with the prisoners' bench, as yet unoccupied, behind it. Besides all this, there were on the right side of the platform high-backed ashwood chairs for the jury, and on the floor below tables for the advocates. All this was in the front part of the court, divided from the back by a grating.
The back was all taken up by seats in tiers. Sitting on the front seats were four women, either servant or factory girls, and two working men, evidently overawed by the grandeur of the room, and not venturing to speak above a whisper.
Soon after the jury had come in the usher entered, with his sideward gait, and stepping to the front, called out in a loud voice, as if he meant to frighten those present, "The Court is coming!" Every one got up as the members stepped on to the platform. Among them the president, with his muscles and fine whiskers. Next came the gloomy member of the Court, who was now more gloomy than ever, having met his brother-in-law, who informed him that he had just called in to see his sister (the member's wife), and that she had told him that there would be no dinner there.
"So that, evidently, we shall have to call in at a cook shop," the brother-in-law added, laughing.
"It is not at all funny," said the gloomy member, and became gloomier still.
Then at last came the third member of the Court, the same Matthew Nikitich, who was always late. He was a bearded man, with large, round, kindly eyes. He was suffering from a catarrh of the stomach, and, according to his doctor's advice, he had begun trying a new treatment, and this had kept him at home longer than usual. Now, as he was ascending the platform, he had a pensive air. He was in the habit of making guesses in answer to all sorts of self-put questions by different curious means. Just now he had asked whether the new treatment would be beneficial, and had decided that it would cure his catarrh if the number of steps from the door to his chair would divide by three. He made 26 steps, but managed to get in a 27th just by his chair.
The figures of the president and the members in their uniforms, with gold-embroidered collars, looked very imposing. They seemed to feel this themselves, and, as if overpowered by their own grandeur, hurriedly sat down on the high backed chairs behind the table with the green cloth, on which were a triangular article with an eagle at the top, two glass vases--something like those in which sweetmeats are kept in refreshment rooms--an inkstand, pens, clean paper, and good, newly-cut pencils of different kinds.
The public prosecutor came in with the judges. With his portfolio under one arm, and swinging the other, he hurriedly walked to his seat near the window, and was instantly absorbed in reading and looking through the papers, not wasting a single moment, in hope of being ready when the business commenced. He had been public prosecutor but a short time, and had only prosecuted four times before this. He was very ambitious, and had firmly made up his mind to get on, and therefore thought it necessary to get a conviction whenever he prosecuted. He knew the chief facts of the poisoning case, and had already formed a plan of action. He only wanted to copy out a few points which he required.
The secretary sat on the opposite side of the platform, and, having got ready all the papers he might want, was looking through an article, prohibited by the censor, which he had procured and read the day before. He was anxious to have a talk about this article with the bearded member, who shared his views, but wanted to look through it once more before doing so.
瑪特維終于來了。還有那個(gè)脖子很長的瘦民事執(zhí)行吏，下嘴唇撇向一邊，趔趄著走進(jìn)陪審員議事室。
這個(gè)民事執(zhí)行吏為人正直，受過高等教育，但不論到哪里都保不住位置，因?yàn)樗染瞥神?。三個(gè)月前，他妻子的保護(hù)人，一位伯爵夫人，給他謀得了這個(gè)職位，他總算保持到現(xiàn)在，并因此覺得高興。
“怎么樣，諸位先生，人都到齊了嗎？”他戴上夾鼻眼鏡后，從眼鏡上方向四下里打量了一下，說。
“看樣子全到了，”快樂的商人說。
“讓我們來核對(duì)一下，”民事執(zhí)行吏說。他從口袋里掏出一張紙，開始點(diǎn)名，有時(shí)越過眼鏡有時(shí)透過眼鏡看看被點(diǎn)到名的人。
“五等文官尼基福羅夫。”
“是我，”那個(gè)相貌堂堂、熟悉各種案情的先生答應(yīng)。
“退役上校伊凡諾夫?！?BR> “有，”那個(gè)身穿退役軍官制服的瘦子回答。
“二等商人巴克拉肖夫?！?BR> “到，”那個(gè)和顏悅色、笑得咧開嘴巴的商人答道。“都準(zhǔn)備好了！”
“近衛(wèi)軍中尉聶赫留朵夫公爵?！?BR> “是我，”聶赫留朵夫回答。
民事執(zhí)行吏越過眼鏡向他瞧瞧，特別恭敬而愉快地向他鞠躬，借此表示聶赫留朵夫的身分與眾不同。
“上尉丹欽科，商人庫列肖夫，”等等，等等。
少了兩個(gè)人，其余的都到了。
“諸位先生，現(xiàn)在請(qǐng)出庭，”民事執(zhí)行吏愉快地指指門口，說。
大家紛紛起身，在門口互相讓路，進(jìn)入走廊，再從走廊來到法庭。
法庭是一個(gè)長方形大廳。大廳一端是一座高臺(tái)，上去要走三級(jí)臺(tái)階。臺(tái)中央放一張桌子，桌上鋪一塊綠呢桌布，邊緣飾著深綠色穗子。桌子后面放著三把麻櫟扶手椅，椅背很高，上面雕有花紋。椅子后面的墻上掛著一個(gè)金邊鏡框，框里嵌著一個(gè)色澤鮮明的將軍全身像①。將軍的軍服上掛著綬帶，一只腳跨前一步，一只手按住佩刀柄。右墻角上掛著一個(gè)神龕，里面供著頭戴荊冠的基督像，神龕前面立著讀經(jīng)臺(tái)。右邊放著檢察官的高寫字臺(tái)。左邊，同高寫字臺(tái)對(duì)稱，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地放著書記官的小桌，靠近旁聽席有一道光滑的麻櫟欄桿，欄桿后面是被告坐的長凳?，F(xiàn)在凳子還空著沒有人坐。高臺(tái)的右邊放著兩排高背椅，那是供陪審員坐的，高臺(tái)下面的幾張桌子是給律師用的。大廳被欄桿分成兩部分，這一切都在大廳的前半部。大廳的后半部擺滿長凳，一排比一排高，直到后面的墻壁。法庭后半部的前排長凳上坐著四個(gè)女人，又象工廠的女工，又象公館里的女傭，還有兩個(gè)男人，也是工人。他們顯然被法庭的莊嚴(yán)肅穆氣氛鎖住了，因此交談時(shí)怯生生地壓低聲音。
--------
①指沙皇像。
陪審員們一坐好，民事執(zhí)行吏就趔趄著來到法庭中央，仿佛要嚇唬在場(chǎng)的人似的，放開嗓門叫道：
“開庭了！”
全體起立。法官紛紛走到臺(tái)上：領(lǐng)頭的是體格魁偉、留絡(luò)腮胡子的庭長，然后是那個(gè)臉色陰沉、戴金絲邊眼鏡的法官。此刻他的臉色更加陰沉，因?yàn)樗诔鐾デ坝龅皆诋?dāng)見習(xí)法官的內(nèi)弟，內(nèi)弟告訴他說，他剛才到姐姐那里去過，姐姐向他宣布家里不開飯。
“看來咱們只好上小飯店去吃飯了，”內(nèi)弟笑著說。
“有什么可笑的，”臉色陰沉的法官說，他的臉色變得更加陰沉了。
最后上去的法官就是那個(gè)向來遲到的瑪特維。他留著大胡子，一雙善良的大眼睛向下耷拉著。這個(gè)法官長期患胃炎，遵照醫(yī)生囑咐今天早晨開始采用新的療法，因此今天他在家里耽擱得比平時(shí)更久。此刻他走上臺(tái)去，臉上現(xiàn)出專注的神氣，因?yàn)樗幸粋€(gè)習(xí)慣，常用各種不同方式預(yù)測(cè)各種問題。此刻他就在占卜，要是從辦公室到法庭扶手椅座位的步數(shù)可以被三除盡，那么新的療法定能治好他的胃炎，要是除不盡，那就治不好。走下來是二十六步，但他把最后一步縮小，這樣就正好走了二十七步。
庭長和法官穿著衣領(lǐng)上鑲有金線的制服，走上高臺(tái)，氣勢(shì)十分威嚴(yán)。他們自己也意識(shí)到這一點(diǎn)，仿佛都為自己的威嚴(yán)感到不好意思，慌忙謙遜地垂下眼睛，坐到鋪著綠呢桌布后面的雕花扶手椅上。桌上豎立著一個(gè)上面雕著一只鷹的三角形打擊器，還放著幾個(gè)食品店里盛糖果用的玻璃缸和墨水瓶、鋼筆、白紙以及幾支削尖的粗細(xì)鉛筆。副檢察官隨著法官們進(jìn)來。他還是那么匆匆忙忙，腋下夾著公文包，還是那么拚命擺動(dòng)一只手，迅速走到窗邊自己的座位上，一坐下就埋頭翻閱文件，充分利用每一分鐘時(shí)間為審案做著準(zhǔn)備。副檢察官提出公訴還是第四次。他熱衷于功名，一心向上爬，因此凡是由他提出公訴的案子，最后非判刑不可。這個(gè)毒死人命案的性質(zhì)他大致知道，并且已擬好發(fā)言提綱，不過他還需要一些資料，此刻正急急忙忙從卷宗中摘錄著。
書記官坐在臺(tái)上另一角，已把可能需要宣讀的文件準(zhǔn)備好，然后把昨天才弄到手和閱讀過的一篇查禁的文章重讀了一遍。他想跟那個(gè)同他觀點(diǎn)一致的大胡子法官談?wù)勥@篇文章，在談?wù)撘郧霸俸煤每匆槐椤?BR>