Ivan Dmitritch, a middle-class man who lived with his family on an income of twelve hundred a year and was very well satisfied with his lot, sat down on the sofa after supper and began reading the newspaper. "I forgot to look at the newspaper today," his wife said to him as she cleared the table. "Look and see whether the list of drawings is there."
伊凡·德米特里奇是個家道小康的人，每年全家要花銷一千二百盧布，向來對自己的命運十分滿意。一天晚飯后，他往沙發(fā)上一坐，開始讀起報來。“今天我忘了看報，”他的妻子收拾著飯桌說，“你看看，那上面有沒有開彩的號碼？”
"Yes, it is," said Ivan Dmitritch; "but hasn't your ticket lapsed?" "No; I took the interest on Tuesday." "What is the number?" "Series 9,499, number 26.""All right . . . we will look . . . 9,499 and 26."
“阿，有，”伊凡·德米特里奇回答，“難道你的彩票沒有抵押出去？”“沒有，星期二我還取過利息的。”“多少號？”“9499組，26號。”“好的，太太……讓我來查一查……9499－26。”
Ivan Dmitritch had no faith in lottery luck, and would not, as a rule, have consented to look at the lists of winning numbers, but now, as he had nothing else to do and as the newspaper was before his eyes, he passed his finger downwards along the column of numbers. And immediately, no further than the second line from the top, his eye was caught by the figure 9,499!
伊凡·德米特里奇向來不相信彩票能帶來好運，換了別的時間說什么也不會去查看開彩的單子，但此刻他閑來無事，再說報紙就在眼前，于是他伸出食指，從上而下逐一查對彩票的組號。像是嘲笑他的沒有信心，就在上面數(shù)起的第二行，9499號赫然跳入眼簾！
Unable to believe his eyes, he hurriedly dropped the paper on his knees without looking to see the number of the ticket, and, just as though some one had given him a douche of cold water, he felt an agreeable chill in the pit of the stomach; tingling and terrible and sweet!
他不敢相信自己的眼睛，來不及對票號，立即把報紙往膝頭上一放，而且，像有人往他肚子上潑了一瓢冷水，他感到心窩里有一股令人愉悅的涼意：癢酥酥，顫悠悠，甜滋滋！
"Masha, 9,499 is there!" he said in a hollow voice. His wife looked at his astonished and panic-stricken face, and realized that he was not joking."9,499?" she asked, turning pale and dropping the folded tablecloth on the table. "Yes, yes… it really is there!" "And the number of the ticket?" "Oh yes! There's the number of the ticket too. But stay…wait! No, I say!”
“瑪莎，有9499號！”他悶聲悶氣地說。妻子瞧著他那張驚愕的臉，明白他不是開玩笑。“是9499號嗎？”她臉色發(fā)白，忙問，把疊好的桌布又放到桌上。
“沒錯，沒錯……當真有的！”“那么票號呢？”“啊，對了！還有票號。不過，先別忙……等一等。先不看，怎么樣？
“It is our series," said Ivan Dmitritch, after a long silence. "So there is a probability that we have won. It's only a probability, but there it is!" "Well, now look!" said his wife. "Wait a little. I say, what if we really have won?" replied Ivan Dmitritch. The husband and wife began laughing and staring at one another in silence. The possibility of winning bewildered them.
“有我們的組號，”伊凡·德米特里奇沉默很久后才說，“這么看來，我們有可能中彩。盡管只是可能，但畢竟大有希望！”“行了，你快看看票號吧！”妻子說，“啊？你聽著，要是我們真的中了彩，那會怎么樣？”他說，丈夫和妻子大聲笑了起來，在一片寂靜中凝視著彼此。中彩的可能性迷惑了他們。
"If we have won," Ivan Dmitritch said--"why, it will be a new life, it will be a transformation! The ticket is yours, but if it were mine I should, first of all, of course, spend twenty-five thousand on real property in the shape of an estate; ten thousand on immediate expenses, new furnishing…travelling…paying debts, and so on…The other forty thousand I would put in the bank and get interest on it." "Yes, an estate, that would be nice," said his wife, sitting down and dropping her hands in her lap.
"如果我們中了彩，伊凡·德米特里奇說道，“這可是嶄新的生活，這可是時來運轉(zhuǎn)！彩票是你的，如果是我的，那么我首先，當然啦，花上二萬五買下一份類似莊園的不動產(chǎn)；花一萬用于一次性開銷：添置新家具，再外出旅游，還債等等。余下的四萬五全存進銀行吃利息……”“對，買座莊園，這是好主意，”妻子說，索性坐下來，把雙手放在膝上。

Pictures came up in Ivan Dmitritch’s imagination, each more gracious and poetical than the last. And in all these pictures he saw himself well-fed, serene, healthy, felt warm, even hot! He dozed sweetly, thinking of nothing, and feeling all over that he need not go to the office today, tomorrow, or the day after. "Yes, it would be nice to buy an estate," said his wife, also dreaming, and from her face it was evident that she was also enchanted by her thoughts.
于是他開始浮想連翩，那畫面一幅比一幅更誘人，更富于詩意。在所有這些畫面中，他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己都大腹便便，心平氣和，身強力壯，他感到溫暖，甚至嫌熱了。他舒舒服服地打著盹，萬事不想，整個身心都感覺到，不管今天、明天，還是后天，他都不必去上班。“對，買上一座莊園就好，”妻子說，她也在幻想著，看她的臉色可知，她想得都癡迷了。
Ivan Dmitritch stopped daydreaming and looked at his wife. "I should go abroad, you know, Masha," he said. And he began thinking how nice it would be in late autumn to go abroad somewhere to the South of France ... to Italy ... to India! "I should certainly go abroad too," his wife said. "But look at the number of the ticket!" "Wait, wait! ..."
伊凡·德米特里奇收住腳，望著妻子。“我，你知道，瑪莎，想出國旅行去，”他說，于是他開始構(gòu)想：深秋出國，去法國南部，意大利，或者印度，那該多好啊！“那我也得出國，”妻子說，“行了，你快看看票號吧！”“別忙！再等一等……”
He walked about the room and went on thinking. It occurred to him: what if his wife really did go abroad with him? It is more pleasant to travel alone... Ivan Dmitritch imagined his wife in the train with a multitude of parcels, baskets, and bags; she would be sighing over something, complaining that the train made her head ache, that she had spent so much money.... At the stations he would continually be having to run for boiling water, bread and butter... He thought to himself: "What is the use of her going abroad? What does she want there? She would shut herself up in the hotel, and not let me out of her sight...I know!"
他又在房間里踱來踱去，繼續(xù)暗自思量。腦子里突然冒出一個念頭：如果妻子當真也要出國，那可怎么辦？一個人出國旅游那才愜意；伊凡·德米特里奇想象著：妻子帶著無數(shù)包裹和提籃進了車廂；她為什么事老是長吁短嘆，抱怨一路上累得她頭疼，抱怨出門一趟花去了許多錢；每到一個停車站就得跑下去弄開水，買夾肉面包和礦泉水……他暗自思量著，再說她何必出國？她在那邊能見什么世面？準會在旅館里歇著，也不放我離開她一步……我知道！”
And for the first time in his life his mind dwelt on the fact that his wife had grown elderly and plain, and that she was saturated through and through with the smell of cooking, while he was still young, fresh, and healthy, and might well have got married again. His wife's face, too, struck him as repulsive and hateful. Anger surged up in his heart against her, and he thought malignantly: "She knows nothing about money, and so she is stingy. If she won it she would give me a hundred roubles, and put the rest away under lock and key."
于是他平生第一次注意到，他的妻子老了，丑了，渾身上下有一股子廚房里的油煙味。而他卻還年輕、健康、精力充沛，哪怕再結(jié)一次婚也不成問題。此刻他連妻子也感到面目可憎，令人討厭。他對她窩了一肚子火，于是他幸災樂禍地想道：“錢的事她一竅不通，所以才那么吝嗇。她要是真中了彩，頂多給我一百盧布，其余的--全都鎖起來。”
And he looked at his wife, not with a smile now, but with hatred. She glanced at him too, and also with hatred and anger. She had her own daydreams, her own plans, her own reflections; she understood perfectly well what her husband's dreams were. She knew who would be the first to try to grab her winnings.
這時他已經(jīng)沒了笑容，而是懷著憎恨望著妻子。她也抬眼看他，同樣懷著憎恨和氣憤。她有著自己的七彩夢幻，自己的計劃和自己的主意；她十分清楚，她的丈夫夢想著什么。她知道，誰會第一個伸出爪子來奪她的彩金。
Her husband understood her look; hatred was stirring in his breast, and in order to annoy his wife he glanced quickly at the fourth page on the newspaper and read out triumphantly: "Series 9,499, number 46! Not 26!"
丈夫明白她的眼神，憎恨在他胸中翻滾。他要氣一氣他的妻子，故意跟她作對，飛快瞧一眼第四版報紙，得意洋洋地大聲宣告：“9499組，46號！不是26號！”
（希望與憎恨二者頓時消失，伊凡·德米特里奇和他的妻子立刻感到：他們的住房那么陰暗、窄小、低矮，他們剛吃過的晚飯沒有填飽肚子，腹部很不舒服；而秋夜漫長，令人煩悶……“鬼知道怎么回事，”伊凡·德米特里奇說，開始耍起性子，“不管你踩哪兒，腳底下盡是紙片，面包渣，爪果殼。屋子里從來不打掃！弄得人只想離家逃走，真見鬼！我這就走，碰到第一棵楊樹就上吊。”