The thickening stench hangs over the city, a metaphor for the wider decay in Russian society where aristocrats dance the night away and the poor starve in mouldy rooms.

• 恶臭不断蔓延，笼罩着整个圣彼得堡，它象征着俄国社会一步步走向腐朽。在这里，贵族通宵达旦，载歌载舞；穷人却在发霉的屋子里忍饥挨饿。