The thought ofher suffering was intolerable. He had a sudden vision of her standing in thekitchen -- it was hardly larger than a cupboard -- washing the plates andglasses, the forks and spoons, giving the knives a rapid polish on theknife-board; and then putting everything away, giving the sink a scrub, andhanging the dish-cloth up to dry -- it was there still, a gray torn rag; thenlooking round to see that everything was clean and nice. He saw her roll downher sleeves and remove her apron -- the apron hung on a peg behind the door --and take the bottle of oxalic acid and go with it into the bedroom.

The agony of itdrove him up from the bed and out of the room. He went into the studio. It wasdark, for the curtains had been drawn over the great window, and he pulled themquickly back; but a sob broke from him as with a rapid glance he took in theplace where he had been so happy. Nothing was changed here, either. Stricklandwas indifferent to his surroundings, and he had lived in the other's studiowithout thinking of altering a thing. It was deliberately artistic. Itrepresented Stroeve's idea of the proper environment for an artist. There werebits of old brocade on the walls, and the piano was covered with a piece ofsilk, beautiful and tarnished; in one corner was a copy of the Venus of Milo,and in another of the Venus of the Medici. Here and there was an Italian cabinetsurmounted with Delft, and here and there a bas-relief. In a handsome goldframe was a copy of Velasquez' Innocent X. , that Stroeve had made in Rome, andplaced so as to make the most of their decorative effect were a number ofStroeve's pictures, all in splendid frames. Stroeve had always been very proudof his taste. He had never lost his appreciation for the romantic atmosphere ofa studio, and though now the sight of it was like a stab in his heart, withoutthinking what he was at, he changed slightly the position of a Louis XV. tablewhich was one of his treasures.

想到她受的那些罪孽，施特略夫简直无法忍受。他的脑子里忽然闪现出她的幻影：她正站在厨房里——一间比柜橱大不了多少的厨房——刷洗盘腕，擦拭刀叉，在刀架上把几把刀子飞快地蹭了几下，然后把餐具一一收拾起来。接着她把污水池擦洗了一下，把抹布挂起来——直到现在这块已经磨破的灰色抹布还在那里挂着。她向四边看了看，是否一切都已收拾整齐。他仿佛看见她把卷起的袖口放下来，摘下了围裙——围裙挂在门后边一个木栓上——，然后拿起了装草酸的瓶子，走进了卧室。

痛苦使他一下子从床上跳起来，冲出了屋子。他走进了画室。屋子里很黑，因为大玻璃窗上还挡着窗帘；他一把把窗帘拉开。但是当他把这间他在里面曾经感到那么幸福的房间飞快地看了一眼以后，不禁呜咽出声来。屋子一点也没有变样。思特里克兰德对环境漠不关心，他在别人的这间画室住着的时候从来没有想到把什么东西改换个位置。这间屋子经过施特略夫精心布置很富于艺术趣味，表现出施特略夫心目中艺术家应有的生活环境。墙上悬着几块织锦，钢琴上铺着一块美丽的但光泽已有些暗淡的丝织品，一个墙角摆着美洛斯的维纳斯①的复制品，另一个墙角摆着麦迪琪的维纳斯②复制品。这里立着一个意大利式的小柜橱，柜橱顶上摆着一个德尔夫特③的陶器；那里挂着一块浮雕美术品。一个很漂亮的金框子里镶着委拉斯凯兹的名画《天真的

X

》的描本，这是施特略夫在罗马的时候描下来的；另外，还有几张他自己的画作，嵌着精致的镜框，陈列得极富于装饰效果。施特略夫一向对自己的审美感非常自豪，对自己这间具有浪漫情调的画室他总是欣赏不够。虽然在目前这样一个时刻，这间屋子好象在他心头戳了一刀，他还是不由自主地把一张路易十五时代的桌子稍微挪动了一下。这张桌子是他的最珍爱的物品之一。