Ivan was a timid little man---so timid that the villages called him "pigeon" or mocked him with the title "Ivan the terrible."
Every night ivan stopped in at the tavern1 which was one the edge of the village graveyard2. Ivan never crossed the graveyard to get to his lonely shack3 on the other side. That path would save many minutes, but he had never taken it---not even in the full light of noon.
Late one winter's night, when bitter wind and snow beat against the tavern, customers took up the familiar mockery. Ivan's mother was scared by a canary when she carried him in her womb. "Ivan the terrible---Ivan the timid one."
Ivan's weak protest only encouraged them, and they jeered4 cruelly when the cossack captain flung his horrid5 challenge at their victim.
"You are a pigeon, Ivan. you'll walk around the graveyard in this cold---but you dare not cross it." Ivan murmured, "the graveyard is nothing to cross, captain. It is nothing but earth, like all the other earth."
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The captain cried, "a challenge, then! Cross the graveyard tonight, Ivan, and I'll give you five rubles---five gold rubles!"
Perhaps it was the vodka. Perhaps it was the temptation of the five gold rubles. No one knew why. Ivan, moistening his lips, said suddenly: "Yes, captain, I'll cross the graveyard." The tavern echoed with their disbelief. The captain winked6 to the men and unbuckled his sword.
"Here, Ivan. When you get to the center of the graveyard, in front of the biggest tomb, stick the sword into the ground. In the morning we shall go there. If the sword is in the ground---five rubles to you!" Ivan took the sword. The men drank a toast: "to ivan the terrible!" They roared laughing.
The wind howled around ivan as he closed the door of the tavern behind him. The cold was knife-sharp. He buttoned his long coat and crossed the dirt road. he could hear the captain's voice, louder than the rest, yelling after him, "five rubles, pigeon! If you live!"
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Ivan pushed the graveyard gate open. He walked fast. "Earth, just earth… just like any other earth." Nut the darkness was a massive dread7.
"Five gold rubles…" The wind was cruel and the sword was like ice in his hands. Ivan shivered under the long, thick coat and broke into a limping run.
He stopped the large tomb. He must have sobbed---that was the sound that was drowned in the wind. And he kneeled, cold and terrified, and drove the sword through the crust into the hard ground. With all his strength, he pushed it down to the hilt. It was done. The graveyard… the challenge… five gold rubles.
Ivan started to rise from his knees. But he could not move. Something gripped him in an unyielding hold. Ivan tugged8 and lurched and pulled---gasping in his panic, shaken by a horrible fear. He cried out in terror, then made senseless, gurgling noises.
They found Ivan, next morning on the ground in front of the tomb that was in the center of the graveyard. He was frozen to death. The look on his face was not that of a frozen man, but of a man killed by some nameless horror.
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And the captain's sword was in the ground where Ivan had pounded it---through the dragging folds of his long coat.
1 tavern
n.小旅館，客棧；小酒店
參考例句：
There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角處有一家酒館。 Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦總是心情愉快地來到這家酒菜館。
2 graveyard
n.墳場(chǎng)
參考例句：
All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全鎮(zhèn)的人都象流水似地向那墳場(chǎng)涌過去。 Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁邊會(huì)使我毛骨悚然。
3 shack
adj.簡(jiǎn)陋的小屋，窩棚
參考例句：
He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。 The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩們?cè)诤笤河门f木板蓋起一間小木屋。
4 jeered
v.嘲笑( jeer的過去式和過去分詞 )
參考例句：
The police were jeered at by the waiting crowd. 警察受到在等待的人群的嘲弄。 The crowd jeered when the boxer was knocked down. 當(dāng)那個(gè)拳擊手被打倒時(shí)，人們開始嘲笑他。 來自《簡(jiǎn)明英漢詞典》
5 horrid
adj.可怕的；令人驚恐的；恐怖的；極討厭的
參考例句：
I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去參加這次討厭的宴會(huì)。 The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.這種藥很難吃，她咽不下去。
6 winked
v.使眼色( wink的過去式和過去分詞 )；遞眼色（表示友好或高興等）；（指光）閃爍；閃亮
參考例句：
He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他沖她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一樣。 He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 來自《現(xiàn)代漢英綜合大詞典》
7 dread
vt.擔(dān)憂，憂慮；懼怕，不敢；n.擔(dān)憂，畏懼
參考例句：
We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我們都不敢去想一旦公司關(guān)門我們?cè)撛趺崔k。 Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她極度恐懼的心理消除了。
8 tugged
v.用力拉，使勁拉，猛扯( tug的過去式和過去分詞 )
參考例句：
She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。 A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角帶一絲苦笑。 來自《簡(jiǎn)明英漢詞典》
《The Path through the Gravey》添加時(shí)間：2024-12-14；更新時(shí)間：2025-03-09
