I need to open the cabin door. How can I go faster? There is not enough time.

In the dark, crowded room, my father was lying on the floor under the window sill. He was dressed in white and was extremely tall; his bare feet were strangely stretched out with his toes; his kind hands were placed quietly on his chest, and his fingers were also bent. His cheerful eyes were completely covered by two black round copper coins. ("Packing copper coins" or "pasting copper coins" is a religious custom or superstitious practice. Another example is written in Chapter 7: Grandma "pasted copper coins or smeared lead powder" on "my" wound. Translator's note) He His kind face also turned dark, and he bared his teeth to scare me. My mother was wearing a red skirt, and she was kneeling there, using the black comb that I usually like to use to saw off watermelon rinds, to comb my father's long, soft hair from his forehead to the back of his head. The mother kept talking, her voice thick and hoarse. Her gray eyes were swollen and seemed to be melting, and tears flowed out in large drops. ?Grandma held one of my hands. She is chubby, has a big face, big eyes, and a funny soft nose; she is all black, soft, and particularly interesting. She was crying too, but she seemed very special, as if she was singing along to her mother. She was shaking all over and pulled me towards my father; I stood still and hid behind her; I was scared and shy. ?I have never seen an adult cry, and I can't understand what my grandmother said many times: ?"Say goodbye to daddy! You will never see him again, dear child, he is dead, not old enough, not alive. When I reach my age..."? At that time, I was recovering from a serious illness and had just been able to go to the ground. During my illness, I clearly remember that my father was happily busy taking care of me. Then he suddenly disappeared and was replaced by my grandmother, a strange person. ?"Where did you come from?" I asked her. ?She replied: ?From above, from Nizhny, but not by walking, but by boat. You can't walk on water, you little man!" ("Nizhni" is the name of the place, which means "Nizhny Novgo" The abbreviation of "Rhode". But this word literally means "down", "below". When the little "I" heard this, I only thought of "upstairs", so I felt "ridiculous". Translator's Note)?フ I'm sorry, Chan Shang?! I don't understand either. A Persian with a beard and dyed hair lived upstairs in my house, and an old man with a sheepskin and a yellow-skinned Galmyk lived in the basement. You can slide on the railing of the stairs; if you fall, you can do somersaults, which I am familiar with. Where can we talk about water? What she said was completely wrong, and she was so confused that it was funny. (Iran used to be called Persia. “Galmyks” or translated as “Kalmyks” are an ethnic minority in the country. Translator’s note) “Why am I such a villain?”? “Because you love to yell,” she said He also said with a smile. ?She speaks kindly, happily and fluently. I've been hooked up with her since day one. Now, I hope she will take me out of this room quickly. ?My mother made me feel depressed. Her tears and crying made me uneasy, but I also found it novel: it was the first time I saw her like this. She is usually very stern and talks little; her body is clean and smooth, and she is tall and big, like a horse; her body is strong and her hands are particularly strong. But now, for some reason, her hair was disheveled, her body was bloated, and her clothes were all torn. Her hair is usually neatly combed, like a big white hat, but now half of it is hanging on her face, hanging down to her bare shoulders; the braided half is swinging around, touching her father's sleeping face. . I have been standing in the room for a long time, but she did not look at me; she was combing her father's hair, sobbing constantly, and the tears seemed to choke her throat. ?Two countrymen in black clothes and one from the police station stretched their heads to look into the house. He yelled angrily: "Hurry up and take it away!" The window was covered with a black shawl, and it was blown up like a sail. Once, my father took me rowing, a wooden boat with sails spread out. Suddenly there was a thunder. My father smiled, squeezed me tightly with his knees, and shouted: "It's okay, don't be afraid, Luke!" A Russian word for "onion". A pun. Translator's note) Suddenly, the mother struggled to get up from the floor, sat down again, and then fell on her back, her hair spread on the floor. Her eyes were closed, and her white face turned blue. She bared her teeth like her father and said in a terrifying voice: "Bar the door... Alexei, get out!" "Luke" is a nickname, but there are other "nicknames" or "nicknames", the most commonly used ones are "Lionya" and "Alyosha".

Translator's Note) Grandma pushed me away, ran to the door, and shouted: "My dear friends, don't be afraid, don't touch her! For my sake, go away! This is not cholera, this is childbirth. Please forgive me, Man!" I hid behind a tall box in a dark corner and watched my mother curling up and rolling on the floor. I saw her humming in pain and gritting her teeth. Grandma crawled beside her and said kindly and cheerfully: "For the sake of the Father and the Son, stay here, Varusha! Blessed Mother..."? I'm afraid. They tossed around their father, touching him, grunting and shouting, but he remained motionless and seemed to be smiling. They struggled on the floor for a long time, and the mother stood up and fell down more than once. Grandma rolled out of the house like a big black, soft ball; then, a child cried in the darkness. "Thank the Lord!" said grandma. "It's a boy!" She lit the candle. ? I must have fallen asleep in the corner, I don’t remember anything else. ? The second scene imprinted in my memory is a desolate corner of the cemetery on a rainy day. I stood on a slippery clay hillock, looking at the large pit where my father's coffin was. There was a lot of water at the bottom of the pit, and there were some frogs, two of which had climbed onto the yellow coffin lid. ? Beside the grave were me, grandma, dripping wet, and two angry country people with shovels in their hands. The warm drizzle fell on everyone like beads. ? "Bury it," he said, and walked away. ? Grandma cried and covered her face with the corner of her scarf. The countryman bent down and was busy spreading soil into the grave, making a splashing sound. The frogs jumped off the coffin and hurriedly crawled to both sides of the pit. The clods of earth knocked them to the bottom of the pit. ? "Let's go, Lonya!" Grandma said holding my shoulder. I twisted my body and got rid of her hand. I didn't want to leave. ("Leonia" is also the pet name of "Alexei". Translator's note) "You are so true, Lord!" Grandma complained, not knowing whether she was blaming me or blaming God. She lowered her head and stood silently for a long time. The tomb was filled, but she was still standing there. ?Two countrymen banged at the grave with their shovels. A gust of wind blew and blew away the rain. Grandma took my hand and led me through many black crosses toward the church in the distance. "Why don't you cry?" she asked me when we walked out of the fence. "Cry if you want!"? "I don't want to cry." I said. "Since you don't want to cry, then don't cry." She said softly. ? It’s strange to say: I rarely cry, and it’s just because I’m angry, not because my body hurts. My father always laughed at me until I shed tears, and my mother always scolded me: "Don't cry!" Later, a four-wheeled pony carriage took us walking on a very dirty street, with dark red houses on both sides. I asked my grandma: "Can the frog crawl out?" "Can't crawl out," she answered. "May God bless them!" Neither father nor mother has said God so frequently and so lovingly. A few days later, my grandma and mother took a trip on a ship. Our seats were in a small cabin (intentionally not translated as "we sit in a small cabin". Because "I" was "kneeling" and my mother was "kneeling". Standing". Translator's Note). The little brother Maxi died shortly after giving birth. He was lying on a table in the corner, wrapped in white cloth and tied with a red belt. I knelt on the pile of luggage and boxes and looked out of the small window that was bulging and round like a horse's eye: outside the wet windowpane, the turbid water kept foaming, and sometimes the waves splashed onto the glass. superior. I couldn't help but jump to the floor. ?"Don't be afraid," said grandma. Her soft hands gently caught me and placed me on the pile of bundles. ? There is a gray wet mist on the water; the black land is exposed in the distance, but it immediately disappears in the fog and water. Everything around her was trembling; only the mother stood stiffly leaning against the wall of the ship with her hands behind her head. Her face was dark and livid, her eyes were closed tightly, like a blind person, and she had not spoken. She seemed to have become a completely different person. Even the clothes she was wearing felt strange to me. Grandma whispered to her more than once: "Varia, can you eat something, even a little bit?" ("Varia" is the nickname or pet name of "Varvara". Translation (Note)? She remained silent and motionless. ? Grandma talks to me softly. When she talks to my mother, her voice is a little louder, but she seems to be cautious and doesn't talk much. I think she is afraid of her mother. I understood this, so I became closer to my grandma. "Saratov," my mother said suddenly, loudly and angrily. "Where are the sailors?"? Even her words were strange and unfamiliar: Saratov, sailors. ?A broad-shouldered man in blue clothes and white hair came in and brought a small box.

Grandma took the small box and put her brother's body inside. After putting it away, grandma walked to the door holding it in both hands. But she was fat and had to turn sideways to walk through the narrow hatch. She stopped in front of the door and looked confused. She looked really ridiculous. "You, mother!" cried the mother, and snatched the coffin from her hand, and they both disappeared, but I remained in the cabin, looking at the countryman in blue. "What, is your little brother dead?" He bent down and said to me. "Who are you?" "Sailor." "Then who is Saratov?"? "It's a city. You look out the window, that's it!" ("Saratov" is Tatar, meaning "yellow" "Mountain City". On the right bank of the lower reaches of the Volga River, it was a famous grain trade and sawmill industry center during the Russian Empire. Translator's Note) Outside the window, the land lies. The dark, steep land was as steamy as a freshly cut loaf of bread. "Where did my grandma go?" "She buried her grandson." "Did he bury him in the ground?" "That's needless to say? Of course he was buried in the ground." I told the sailor that when I buried my father, two of them were buried alive. frog. He picked me up, held me tight, and kissed me. ? "Oh, little brother, you still don't understand anything!" he said. "There is no need to pity frogs, God bless them! You pity your mother, see how painful she is!"? I already knew it was a ship playing its flute, so I wasn't afraid. At this time, the sailor hurriedly put me on the floor and ran away, saying: "Run quickly!" At this time, I also wanted to run away from here. I walked outside the door. The dark, narrow corridor was empty. Not far from the door, the copper inlaid on the escalator shines. Looking up, I saw people carrying backpacks and bags. Apparently, everyone was getting off the ship—which meant I should get off the ship too. However, when I followed others to the platform that was built from the side of the ship to the shore, people shouted at me: "Whose child is this? Whose child are you?" "I don't know."? People pushed me , pull me, touch me, this goes on for a long time. Finally, the white-haired sailor came. He grabbed me and explained: "He got on the ship from Astrakhan and ran out of the cabin..." (the city "Astrakhan" In the lower reaches of the Volga River, facing the Caspian Sea in the southeast, the author's parents came here to settle down shortly after their marriage (Translator's Note)? He carried me into the cabin, piled the luggage on me, and left, pointing at me and threatening:? "Watch me beat you!"? The noise overhead became smaller and smaller, the ship stopped shaking, and the splashing sound on the water could no longer be heard. The window seemed to be blocked by a wet wall, the cabin became dark and stuffy, and the pile of luggage seemed to swell, squeezing me in the middle - everything was not good! Maybe I would stay here alone forever. Is there an empty ship on the ship? The door cannot be opened, and the brass handle of the door cannot be turned. I picked up the bottle of milk and slammed the handle with all my strength. The bottle shattered and the milk spilled down my legs and into my boots. ? I was pained by the failure, so I fell on the baggage, cried quietly, and fell asleep with tears in my eyes. ? When I woke up, the ship was splashing on the water again, shaking constantly. The cabin windows were bright, like the fiery red sun. Grandma was sitting next to me, combing her hair, frowning and talking to herself. She had an unusually large amount of hair, which was thickly covering her shoulders, chest, and knees. It was scattered on the floor, black and glowing. She lifted up her heavy hair with one hand, and used the other hand to comb through the large handfuls of locks with a wooden comb with sparse teeth. Her lips were crooked, her dark eyes flashed with anger, and her face looked small and ridiculous in all the hair. She looked very fierce today, but when I asked her why her hair was so long, she still said in the same warm and soft tone as yesterday: "It seems that this is God's punishment: punishing me to comb these damn hair! When I was young, I I'm proud of this horse's mane; now I'm old, I'm tired of it! You go to sleep! It's still early - the sun has just woken up after sleeping all night..."? "I don't want to sleep!"? "Then don't sleep, ” She immediately agreed. She braided her hair and looked over to the sofa bed from time to time. Her mother was lying there, face up, her body as straight as a string. "Why did you break the milk bottle yesterday? Please speak softly!" Grandma seemed to be singing wonderfully when she spoke. Her words were like gentle, bright flowers with overflowing juice, which were easily remembered in her mind. When she smiled, her beautiful black eyes like cherries opened wide and sparkled, showing an indescribable joy. When she smiled, her white and strong teeth were exposed happily.

Although there are many wrinkles on the dark-skinned cheeks, the whole face still looks young and shiny, but it is unfortunately ruined by the floppy nose, swollen nostrils and red nose tip. She sniffed tobacco from a black snuff box decorated with silver. She was also dressed entirely in black, but through her eyes, she radiated an unquenchable, happy and warm brilliance from the inside out. She was stooped, almost hunched over, and very fat. But she moved with a lightness and agility that rivaled that of a big cat—and her body was as lithe as that lovely creature. Before she came, I seemed to be hiding in the darkness and sleeping; but as soon as she appeared, she woke me up and led me to a bright place. It is she who connects everything around me into a continuous thread, forming a colorful lace. She immediately became a life-long friend, one of the most caring, familiar, and precious people to me—her selfless love for the world that enriched my life and filled me with the strength to cope with difficult life. Two years ago, the ship moved very slowly; we took a long boat ride to get to Nigeria. I still clearly remember these earliest beautiful days in my life. ("Nizhny", that is, Nizhny Novgorod, later called "Gorky". Translator's note) The weather has improved. My grandma and I stayed on the deck from morning to night, with the clear sky above our heads, and the silky brocaded banks of the Volga River plated with a layer of gold in autumn. The light red ship sailed upstream, unhurriedly, lazily spinning the gray-blue river water with its wheel paddles, making a low rumbling sound. A barge was tied to a long rope at the stern of the ship; the barge was gray and looked like a country turtle. The sun floated unknowingly over the Vol River; the surrounding green mountains were like the gorgeous wrinkles on the earth's magnificent clothing. Cities and villages stood along the banks, looking like pieces of sweet biscuits from a distance. Golden autumn leaves fall on the water. "How beautiful it is!" Grandma kept saying this for a minute, as she walked from one side of the boat to the other; her face was full of energy, her face was radiant, and her eyes were wide open with joy. She often looked at it. She was so absorbed in looking at the river bank that she forgot about me. She stood by the boat, with her hands folded on her chest, smiling and with tears in her eyes. "Ah?" She said. "I seemed to be dozing off, even dreaming. "But why are you crying?" "My baby, I cry because I am happy and because I am old," she said with a smile. "I am really old, I am already over sixty years old." "She sniffed the snuff and began to tell me weird stories: about kind robbers, saints, various beasts and monsters." When she told fairy tales, her voice was very low and mysterious, and she leaned towards me. She looked into my eyes with her eyes wide open, as if she was injecting an uplifting power into my heart. The more she talked, the smoother her language became, and I felt indescribably happy. . Every time after listening to it, I begged her: "Tell me one more!" (Children like adults telling stories the most, and adults' stories have a great influence on children's education. Translator's Note) "Okay, just tell me one more." : Once upon a time there was a housekeeper. The old man sat by the stove and dug noodles into the sole of his foot. He shook and hummed: 'Ouch, my little mouse, it hurts so much! Ouch, little mouse, I can't bear it!'" He picked up one foot and shook it with both hands. She looked ridiculously sad, as if she was feeling pain. Some sailors with beards and kind faces stood around. After listening, they also smiled and praised her and begged her: "Old lady, tell me one more thing!" "Later they said: "Let's have dinner with us!" During the meal, they treated grandma to drink vodka and me to eat watermelon and cantaloupe. This was all done behind the scenes, because there was a person on the boat, he It was forbidden to eat fruits, and he would take them away and throw them into the river. He dressed like a man from the police station - his clothes had copper buttons. He was drunk all day long, and everyone avoided him. His mother rarely came to the deck. She is far away from us, always silent. Her tall and well-proportioned figure, her black face like cast iron, the pile of light yellow braids on her head like a crown, her strong and strong body, everything. Looking back on everything, it was as if she was looking at people from a distance and indifferently through a layer of fog or a thin layer of clouds. But her grace and beauty can be inferred from the fact that she later married a college student who was ten years younger than her. Once she said sternly: "People are laughing at you, mother!" Where are they!" Grandma replied nonchalantly. "Let them laugh happily!"? I remember the scene when grandma saw Ni Zini - she was as happy as a child.

She held my hand with one hand and pushed me to the side of the boat with the other hand, and said loudly: "Look, look, it's so beautiful! My Lord, that's Nigeria! It's like a fairy." Where to live! Look at those churches, they really look like they are flying in the sky!" She begged her mother, almost crying: "Valusha, why don't you take a look? You may have forgotten! Be happy!" ( "Varysha" is the nickname of "Varvara", which is more affectionate than "Varia" (Translator's Note)? The mother smiled grimly. ? The ship stopped in the middle of the river opposite this beautiful city. The river was crowded with ships and hundreds of masts stood tall. A large wooden boat carrying many people rowed to the side of the ship, and the wooden boat hooked the lowered gangway with a hook. So, the people on the wooden boat stepped onto the deck of the ship one after another. Walking quickly at the front was a skinny little old man. He was wearing a long black coat, had a golden beard, a beak nose and two green eyes. "A saddle cup?!" The mother shouted deeply and loudly, and threw herself into his arms. He caught her head with a pair of small, red hands, touched her cheek quickly, and screamed sharply. Said: "You are a stupid boy. Ah, that's it... Hi, you guys..." Grandma turned around like a snake and seemed to hug and kiss everyone at once. She pushed me in front of the people and said hurriedly: Go quickly! This is Uncle Mihailo, this is Uncle Yakov...Aunt Natalia, these are two cousins, both The name is Sasha, this is cousin Katerina, this is our whole family, look how many there are!" ("Mikhailo" is the alias of "Mikhail". Translator's note)? Grandpa asked her: ( The original text uses the "pet name" дедушка very rarely, and deliberately translates it not as "grandfather" but as "grandfather". The commonly used дед in the novel is translated as "grandfather" (Translator's note) ? "You are in good health." ? The child’s mother. "They kissed each other three times. Grandfather pulled me out from the crowd, held my head and asked: "Whose family do you seem to be from?" "Get on the boat from Astrakhan, from "He ran out of the cabin..."? "What is he talking about?" Grandfather turned to ask my mother. Without waiting for an answer, he pushed me away and said: "The cheekbones are like your father...climb onto the wooden boat!"? Wooden boat After landing, we walked up the slope in small groups. The ground was paved with large pebbles, and the steep cliffs on both sides were covered with withered and fallen weeds. Grandfather and mother walked in front of everyone. Under her mother's shoulders, her grandfather's steps were thin and fast, and her mother seemed to be floating in the sky. She had to lower her head to see her grandfather. Following them silently was Miha, who had smooth black hair and was as thin as her grandfather. Uncle Il (alias "Mihailo". Translator's note), Uncle Yakov with blond and curly hair, a few fat women in bright clothes and six quiet children who were older than me. Walking with her grandmother and little aunt Natalia, Natalia looked pale, had light blue eyes, and had a big belly. She stopped many times and gasped and whispered: "Oh, I can't leave!" "Why do they want to alarm you?" Grandma muttered angrily. "What a stupid family!" I don't like the adults and children in this family. I feel like an outsider among them, and even Grandma seems to have lost her original identity. Glory, far away from me. I particularly disliked my grandfather. I immediately felt that he was my enemy, and he also aroused my special attention, vigilance and curiosity about him. A street began to appear along the steep cliff. At the street entrance was a low-rise flat house. The pink paint on the house was very dirty. The roof was low and the windows were bulging. From the street, I thought it was like this. The room was very wide, but because it was divided into dark rooms, it seemed very crowded. The room was full of angry people busy, and children were scurrying around like sparrows stealing food. There is a pungent and strange smell, just like a ship docked at the dock. ?ノ伊 blown by Minhe Yongli T He Youcai Valley Shuo Zhi talks about Hu Qi Zhen U? There are large and large wet cloths hanging in the yard. There was a dye vat filled with colorful liquids. Cloth was soaked in the vat. In a low, semi-ruined hut in the corner, the firewood was burning brightly, and something was boiling, making a beeping sound. An unseen person spoke a few strange words aloud: "Pterostilbene, magenta, sulfate." "(All three are dyes.

Translator's Note) The names of the characters in the book are now listed in "Post-Translation Essays": ?プ髡帒咒?Ki (later surname) was originally named Pishkov, his original name was Alexei, and his father's name was Maxi Movich's nickname was Alyosha, his nickname was Lonika Lonya, and his humble name was Alyosha. The maternal grandfather's surname was Kasilin, his given name was Vasily, and his father's name was Vasilyevich (quickly pronounced as Vasilich). Grandmother's name is Akulina, father's name is Ivanovna, mother's name is Varvara, nickname (also "love") Varya, nickname (mainly "love") is Valyasha, nickname is Valash Card. Father Maximo, whose father's name is Savadeyev or Savadevich, whose surname is Pishkov, stepfather Yevgeny Vasilyevich Maximov (first name, father's name, last name), uncle His first name is Mikhail, his nickname is Mikhailo, his nickname is Misha, and his nickname is Mishka. His second uncle's name is Yakov, his nickname is Yasha, and his nickname is Yashka. My eldest aunt Natalia, nicknamed Natasha, my grandmother's adopted son was named Ivan, nicknamed "Little Gypsy", nicknamed Vanya, nicknamed Vanika or Ivanka, nicknamed Vanyushka. The half-blind man's eldest name is Grigory, his father's name is Ivanovich, his nickname and nickname are Grisha?