BZ8fKApU

1Chapter 1
2
3
4Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own
5way.
6
7Everything was in confusion in the Oblonskys' house. The wife had
8discovered that the husband was carrying on an intrigue with a French
9girl, who had been a governess in their family, and she had announced to
10her husband that she could not go on living in the same house with him.
11This position of affairs had now lasted three days, and not only the
12husband and wife themselves, but all the members of their family and
13household, were painfully conscious of it. Every person in the house
14felt that there was no sense in their living together, and that the
15stray people brought together by chance in any inn had more in common
16with one another than they, the members of the family and household of
17the Oblonskys. The wife did not leave her own room, the husband had not
18been at home for three days. The children ran wild all over the house;
19the English governess quarreled with the housekeeper, and wrote to a
20friend asking her to look out for a new situation for her; the man-cook
21had walked off the day before just at dinner time; the kitchen-maid, and
22the coachman had given warning.
23
24Three days after the quarrel, Prince Stepan Arkadyevitch
25Oblonsky--Stiva, as he was called in the fashionable world--woke up at
26his usual hour, that is, at eight o'clock in the morning, not in his
27wife's bedroom, but on the leather-covered sofa in his study. He turned
28over his stout, well-cared-for person on the springy sofa, as though he
29would sink into a long sleep again; he vigorously embraced the pillow on
30the other side and buried his face in it; but all at once he jumped up,
31sat up on the sofa, and opened his eyes.
32
33"Yes, yes, how was it now?" he thought, going over his dream. "Now, how
34was it? To be sure! Alabin was giving a dinner at Darmstadt; no, not
35Darmstadt, but something American. Yes, but then, Darmstadt was in
36America. Yes, Alabin was giving a dinner on glass tables, and the tables
37sang, _Il mio tesoro_--not _Il mio tesoro_ though, but something better,
38and there were some sort of little decanters on the table, and they were
39women, too," he remembered.
40
41Stepan Arkadyevitch's eyes twinkled gaily, and he pondered with a smile.
42"Yes, it was nice, very nice. There was a great deal more that was
43delightful, only there's no putting it into words, or even expressing it
44in one's thoughts awake." And noticing a gleam of light peeping in
45beside one of the serge curtains, he cheerfully dropped his feet over
46the edge of the sofa, and felt about with them for his slippers, a
47present on his last birthday, worked for him by his wife on gold-colored
48morocco. And, as he had done every day for the last nine years, he
49stretched out his hand, without getting up, towards the place where his
50dressing-gown always hung in his bedroom. And thereupon he suddenly
51remembered that he was not sleeping in his wife's room, but in his
52study, and why: the smile vanished from his face, he knitted his brows.
53
54"Ah, ah, ah! Oo!..." he muttered, recalling everything that had
55happened. And again every detail of his quarrel with his wife was
56present to his imagination, all the hopelessness of his position, and
57worst of all, his own fault.
58
59"Yes, she won't forgive me, and she can't forgive me. And the most awful
60thing about it is that it's all my fault--all my fault, though I'm not
61to blame. That's the point of the whole situation," he reflected. "Oh,
62oh, oh!" he kept repeating in despair, as he remembered the acutely
63painful sensations caused him by this quarrel.
64
65Most unpleasant of all was the first minute when, on coming, happy and
66good-humored, from the theater, with a huge pear in his hand for his
67wife, he had not found his wife in the drawing-room, to his surprise had
68not found her in the study either, and saw her at last in her bedroom
69with the unlucky letter that revealed everything in her hand.
70
71She, his Dolly, forever fussing and worrying over household details, and
72limited in her ideas, as he considered, was sitting perfectly still with
73the letter in her hand, looking at him with an expression of horror,
74despair, and indignation.
75
76"What's this? this?" she asked, pointing to the letter.
77
78And at this recollection, Stepan Arkadyevitch, as is so often the case,
79was not so much annoyed at the fact itself as at the way in which he had
80met his wife's words.
81
82There happened to him at that instant what does happen to people when
83they are unexpectedly caught in something very disgraceful. He did not
84succeed in adapting his face to the position in which he was placed
85towards his wife by the discovery of his fault. Instead of being hurt,
86denying, defending himself, begging forgiveness, instead of remaining
87indifferent even--anything would have been better than what he did
88do--his face utterly involuntarily (reflex spinal action, reflected
89Stepan Arkadyevitch, who was fond of physiology)--utterly involuntarily
90assumed its habitual, good-humored, and therefore idiotic smile.
91
92This idiotic smile he could not forgive himself. Catching sight of that
93smile, Dolly shuddered as though at physical pain, broke out with her
94characteristic heat into a flood of cruel words, and rushed out of the
95room. Since then she had refused to see her husband.
96
97"It's that idiotic smile that's to blame for it all," thought Stepan
98Arkadyevitch.
99
100"But what's to be done? What's to be done?" he said to himself in
101despair, and found no answer.
102
103
104
105Chapter 2
106
107
108Stepan Arkadyevitch was a truthful man in his relations with himself. He
109was incapable of deceiving himself and persuading himself that he
110repented of his conduct. He could not at this date repent of the fact
111that he, a handsome, susceptible man of thirty-four, was not in love
112with his wife, the mother of five living and two dead children, and only
113a year younger than himself. All he repented of was that he had not
114succeeded better in hiding it from his wife. But he felt all the
115difficulty of his position and was sorry for his wife, his children, and
116himself. Possibly he might have managed to conceal his sins better from
117his wife if he had anticipated that the knowledge of them would have had
118such an effect on her. He had never clearly thought out the subject, but
119he had vaguely conceived that his wife must long ago have suspected him
120of being unfaithful to her, and shut her eyes to the fact. He had even
121supposed that she, a worn-out woman no longer young or good-looking, and
122in no way remarkable or interesting, merely a good mother, ought from a
123sense of fairness to take an indulgent view. It had turned out quite the
124other way.
125
126"Oh, it's awful! oh dear, oh dear! awful!" Stepan Arkadyevitch kept
127repeating to himself, and he could think of nothing to be done. "And how
128well things were going up till now! how well we got on! She was
129contented and happy in her children; I never interfered with her in
130anything; I let her manage the children and the house just as she liked.
131It's true it's bad _her_ having been a governess in our house. That's
132bad! There's something common, vulgar, in flirting with one's governess.
133But what a governess!" (He vividly recalled the roguish black eyes of
134Mlle. Roland and her smile.) "But after all, while she was in the house,
135I kept myself in hand. And the worst of it all is that she's already ...
136it seems as if ill-luck would have it so! Oh, oh! But what, what is to
137be done?"
138
139There was no solution, but that universal solution which life gives to
140all questions, even the most complex and insoluble. That answer is: one
141must live in the needs of the day--that is, forget oneself. To forget
142himself in sleep was impossible now, at least till nighttime; he could
143not go back now to the music sung by the decanter-women; so he must
144forget himself in the dream of daily life.
145
146"Then we shall see," Stepan Arkadyevitch said to himself, and getting up
147he put on a gray dressing-gown lined with blue silk, tied the tassels in
148a knot, and, drawing a deep breath of air into his broad, bare chest, he
149walked to the window with his usual confident step, turning out his feet
150that carried his full frame so easily. He pulled up the blind and rang
151the bell loudly. It was at once answered by the appearance of an old
152friend, his valet, Matvey, carrying his clothes, his boots, and a
153telegram. Matvey was followed by the barber with all the necessaries for
154shaving.
155
156"Are there any papers from the office?" asked Stepan Arkadyevitch,
157taking the telegram and seating himself at the looking-glass.
158
159"On the table," replied Matvey, glancing with inquiring sympathy at his
160master; and, after a short pause, he added with a sly smile, "They've
161sent from the carriage-jobbers."
162
163Stepan Arkadyevitch made no reply, he merely glanced at Matvey in the
164looking-glass. In the glance, in which their eyes met in the
165looking-glass, it was clear that they understood one another. Stepan
166Arkadyevitch's eyes asked: "Why do you tell me that? don't you know?"
167
168Matvey put his hands in his jacket pockets, thrust out one leg, and
169gazed silently, good-humoredly, with a faint smile, at his master.
170
171"I told them to come on Sunday, and till then not to trouble you or
172themselves for nothing," he said. He had obviously prepared the sentence
173beforehand.
174
175Stepan Arkadyevitch saw Matvey wanted to make a joke and attract
176attention to himself. Tearing open the telegram, he read it through,
177guessing at the words, misspelt as they always are in telegrams, and his
178face brightened.
179
180"Matvey, my sister Anna Arkadyevna will be here tomorrow," he said,
181checking for a minute the sleek, plump hand of the barber, cutting a
182pink path through his long, curly whiskers.
183
184"Thank God!" said Matvey, showing by this response that he, like his
185master, realized the significance of this arrival--that is, that Anna
186Arkadyevna, the sister he was so fond of, might bring about a
187reconciliation between husband and wife.
188
189"Alone, or with her husband?" inquired Matvey.
190
191Stepan Arkadyevitch could not answer, as the barber was at work on his
192upper lip, and he raised one finger. Matvey nodded at the looking-glass.
193
194"Alone. Is the room to be got ready upstairs?"
195
196"Inform Darya Alexandrovna: where she orders."
197
198"Darya Alexandrovna?" Matvey repeated, as though in doubt.
199
200"Yes, inform her. Here, take the telegram; give it to her, and then do
201what she tells you."
202
203"You want to try it on," Matvey understood, but he only said, "Yes sir."
204
205Stepan Arkadyevitch was already washed and combed and ready to be
206dressed, when Matvey, stepping deliberately in his creaky boots, came
207back into the room with the telegram in his hand. The barber had gone.
208
209"Darya Alexandrovna told me to inform you that she is going away. Let
210him do--that is you--do as he likes," he said, laughing only with his
211eyes, and putting his hands in his pockets, he watched his master with
212his head on one side. Stepan Arkadyevitch was silent a minute. Then a
213good-humored and rather pitiful smile showed itself on his handsome
214face.
215
216"Eh, Matvey?" he said, shaking his head.
217
218"It's all right, sir; she will come round," said Matvey.
219
220"Come round?"
221
222"Yes, sir."
223
224"Do you think so? Who's there?" asked Stepan Arkadyevitch, hearing the
225rustle of a woman's dress at the door.
226
227"It's I," said a firm, pleasant, woman's voice, and the stern,
228pockmarked face of Matrona Philimonovna, the nurse, was thrust in at the
229doorway.
230
231"Well, what is it, Matrona?" queried Stepan Arkadyevitch, going up to
232her at the door.
233
234Although Stepan Arkadyevitch was completely in the wrong as regards his
235wife, and was conscious of this himself, almost every one in the house
236(even the nurse, Darya Alexandrovna's chief ally) was on his side.
237
238"Well, what now?" he asked disconsolately.
239
240"Go to her, sir; own your fault again. Maybe God will aid you. She is
241suffering so, it's sad to see her; and besides, everything in the house
242is topsy-turvy. You must have pity, sir, on the children. Beg her
243forgiveness, sir. There's no help for it! One must take the
244consequences..."
245
246"But she won't see me."
247
248"You do your part. God is merciful; pray to God, sir, pray to God."
249
250"Come, that'll do, you can go," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, blushing
251suddenly. "Well now, do dress me." He turned to Matvey and threw off his
252dressing-gown decisively.
253
254Matvey was already holding up the shirt like a horse's collar, and,
255blowing off some invisible speck, he slipped it with obvious pleasure
256over the well-groomed body of his master.
257
258
259
260Chapter 3
261
262
263When he was dressed, Stepan Arkadyevitch sprinkled some scent on
264himself, pulled down his shirt-cuffs, distributed into his pockets his
265cigarettes, pocketbook, matches, and watch with its double chain and
266seals, and shaking out his handkerchief, feeling himself clean,
267fragrant, healthy, and physically at ease, in spite of his unhappiness,
268he walked with a slight swing on each leg into the dining-room, where
269coffee was already waiting for him, and beside the coffee, letters and
270papers from the office.
271
272He read the letters. One was very unpleasant, from a merchant who was
273buying a forest on his wife's property. To sell this forest was
274absolutely essential; but at present, until he was reconciled with his
275wife, the subject could not be discussed. The most unpleasant thing of
276all was that his pecuniary interests should in this way enter into the
277question of his reconciliation with his wife. And the idea that he might
278be led on by his interests, that he might seek a reconciliation with his
279wife on account of the sale of the forest--that idea hurt him.
280
281When he had finished his letters, Stepan Arkadyevitch moved the
282office-papers close to him, rapidly looked through two pieces of
283business, made a few notes with a big pencil, and pushing away the
284papers, turned to his coffee. As he sipped his coffee, he opened a still
285damp morning paper, and began reading it.
286
287Stepan Arkadyevitch took in and read a liberal paper, not an extreme
288one, but one advocating the views held by the majority. And in spite of
289the fact that science, art, and politics had no special interest for
290him, he firmly held those views on all these subjects which were held by
291the majority and by his paper, and he only changed them when the
292majority changed them--or, more strictly speaking, he did not change
293them, but they imperceptibly changed of themselves within him.
294
295Stepan Arkadyevitch had not chosen his political opinions or his views;
296these political opinions and views had come to him of themselves, just
297as he did not choose the shapes of his hat and coat, but simply took
298those that were being worn. And for him, living in a certain
299society--owing to the need, ordinarily developed at years of discretion,
300for some degree of mental activity--to have views was just as
301indispensable as to have a hat. If there was a reason for his preferring
302liberal to conservative views, which were held also by many of his
303circle, it arose not from his considering liberalism more rational, but
304from its being in closer accordance with his manner of life. The liberal
305party said that in Russia everything is wrong, and certainly Stepan
306Arkadyevitch had many debts and was decidedly short of money. The
307liberal party said that marriage is an institution quite out of date,
308and that it needs reconstruction; and family life certainly afforded
309Stepan Arkadyevitch little gratification, and forced him into lying and
310hypocrisy, which was so repulsive to his nature. The liberal party said,
311or rather allowed it to be understood, that religion is only a curb to
312keep in check the barbarous classes of the people; and Stepan
313Arkadyevitch could not get through even a short service without his legs
314aching from standing up, and could never make out what was the object of
315all the terrible and high-flown language about another world when life
316might be so very amusing in this world. And with all this, Stepan
317Arkadyevitch, who liked a joke, was fond of puzzling a plain man by
318saying that if he prided himself on his origin, he ought not to stop at
319Rurik and disown the first founder of his family--the monkey. And so
320Liberalism had become a habit of Stepan Arkadyevitch's, and he liked his
321newspaper, as he did his cigar after dinner, for the slight fog it
322diffused in his brain. He read the leading article, in which it was
323maintained that it was quite senseless in our day to raise an outcry
324that radicalism was threatening to swallow up all conservative elements,
325and that the government ought to take measures to crush the
326revolutionary hydra; that, on the contrary, "in our opinion the danger
327lies not in that fantastic revolutionary hydra, but in the obstinacy of
328traditionalism clogging progress," etc., etc. He read another article,
329too, a financial one, which alluded to Bentham and Mill, and dropped
330some innuendoes reflecting on the ministry. With his characteristic
331quickwittedness he caught the drift of each innuendo, divined whence it
332came, at whom and on what ground it was aimed, and that afforded him, as
333it always did, a certain satisfaction. But today that satisfaction was
334embittered by Matrona Philimonovna's advice and the unsatisfactory state
335of the household. He read, too, that Count Beist was rumored to have
336left for Wiesbaden, and that one need have no more gray hair, and of the
337sale of a light carriage, and of a young person seeking a situation; but
338these items of information did not give him, as usual, a quiet, ironical
339gratification. Having finished the paper, a second cup of coffee and a
340roll and butter, he got up, shaking the crumbs of the roll off his
341waistcoat; and, squaring his broad chest, he smiled joyously: not
342because there was anything particularly agreeable in his mind--the
343joyous smile was evoked by a good digestion.
344
345But this joyous smile at once recalled everything to him, and he grew
346thoughtful.
347
348Two childish voices (Stepan Arkadyevitch recognized the voices of
349Grisha, his youngest boy, and Tanya, his eldest girl) were heard outside
350the door. They were carrying something, and dropped it.
351
352"I told you not to sit passengers on the roof," said the little girl in
353English; "there, pick them up!"
354
355"Everything's in confusion," thought Stepan Arkadyevitch; "there are the
356children running about by themselves." And going to the door, he called
357them. They threw down the box, that represented a train, and came in to
358their father.
359
360The little girl, her father's favorite, ran up boldly, embraced him, and
361hung laughingly on his neck, enjoying as she always did the smell of
362scent that came from his whiskers. At last the little girl kissed his
363face, which was flushed from his stooping posture and beaming with
364tenderness, loosed her hands, and was about to run away again; but her
365father held her back.
366
367"How is mamma?" he asked, passing his hand over his daughter's smooth,
368soft little neck. "Good morning," he said, smiling to the boy, who had
369come up to greet him. He was conscious that he loved the boy less, and
370always tried to be fair; but the boy felt it, and did not respond with a
371smile to his father's chilly smile.
372
373"Mamma? She is up," answered the girl.
374
375Stepan Arkadyevitch sighed. "That means that she's not slept again all
376night," he thought.
377
378"Well, is she cheerful?"
379
380The little girl knew that there was a quarrel between her father and
381mother, and that her mother could not be cheerful, and that her father
382must be aware of this, and that he was pretending when he asked about it
383so lightly. And she blushed for her father. He at once perceived it, and
384blushed too.
385
386"I don't know," she said. "She did not say we must do our lessons, but
387she said we were to go for a walk with Miss Hoole to grandmamma's."
388
389"Well, go, Tanya, my darling. Oh, wait a minute, though," he said, still
390holding her and stroking her soft little hand.
391
392He took off the mantelpiece, where he had put it yesterday, a little box
393of sweets, and gave her two, picking out her favorites, a chocolate and
394a fondant.
395
396"For Grisha?" said the little girl, pointing to the chocolate.
397
398"Yes, yes." And still stroking her little shoulder, he kissed her on the
399roots of her hair and neck, and let her go.
400
401"The carriage is ready," said Matvey; "but there's some one to see you
402with a petition."
403
404"Been here long?" asked Stepan Arkadyevitch.
405
406"Half an hour."
407
408"How many times have I told you to tell me at once?"
409
410"One must let you drink your coffee in peace, at least," said Matvey, in
411the affectionately gruff tone with which it was impossible to be angry.
412
413"Well, show the person up at once," said Oblonsky, frowning with
414vexation.
415
416The petitioner, the widow of a staff captain Kalinin, came with a
417request impossible and unreasonable; but Stepan Arkadyevitch, as he
418generally did, made her sit down, heard her to the end attentively
419without interrupting her, and gave her detailed advice as to how and to
420whom to apply, and even wrote her, in his large, sprawling, good and
421legible hand, a confident and fluent little note to a personage who
422might be of use to her. Having got rid of the staff captain's widow,
423Stepan Arkadyevitch took his hat and stopped to recollect whether he had
424forgotten anything. It appeared that he had forgotten nothing except
425what he wanted to forget--his wife.
426
427"Ah, yes!" He bowed his head, and his handsome face assumed a harassed
428expression. "To go, or not to go!" he said to himself; and an inner
429voice told him he must not go, that nothing could come of it but
430falsity; that to amend, to set right their relations was impossible,
431because it was impossible to make her attractive again and able to
432inspire love, or to make him an old man, not susceptible to love. Except
433deceit and lying nothing could come of it now; and deceit and lying were
434opposed to his nature.
435
436"It must be some time, though: it can't go on like this," he said,
437trying to give himself courage. He squared his chest, took out a
438cigarette, took two whiffs at it, flung it into a mother-of-pearl
439ashtray, and with rapid steps walked through the drawing room, and
440opened the other door into his wife's bedroom.
441
442
443
444Chapter 4
445
446
447Darya Alexandrovna, in a dressing jacket, and with her now scanty, once
448luxuriant and beautiful hair fastened up with hairpins on the nape of
449her neck, with a sunken, thin face and large, startled eyes, which
450looked prominent from the thinness of her face, was standing among a
451litter of all sorts of things scattered all over the room, before an
452open bureau, from which she was taking something. Hearing her husband's
453steps, she stopped, looking towards the door, and trying assiduously to
454give her features a severe and contemptuous expression. She felt she was
455afraid of him, and afraid of the coming interview. She was just
456attempting to do what she had attempted to do ten times already in these
457last three days--to sort out the children's things and her own, so as to
458take them to her mother's--and again she could not bring herself to do
459this; but now again, as each time before, she kept saying to herself,
460"that things cannot go on like this, that she must take some step" to
461punish him, put him to shame, avenge on him some little part at least of
462the suffering he had caused her. She still continued to tell herself
463that she should leave him, but she was conscious that this was
464impossible; it was impossible because she could not get out of the habit
465of regarding him as her husband and loving him. Besides this, she
466realized that if even here in her own house she could hardly manage to
467look after her five children properly, they would be still worse off
468where she was going with them all. As it was, even in the course of
469these three days, the youngest was unwell from being given unwholesome
470soup, and the others had almost gone without their dinner the day
471before. She was conscious that it was impossible to go away; but,
472cheating herself, she went on all the same sorting out her things and
473pretending she was going.
474
475Seeing her husband, she dropped her hands into the drawer of the bureau
476as though looking for something, and only looked round at him when he
477had come quite up to her. But her face, to which she tried to give a
478severe and resolute expression, betrayed bewilderment and suffering.
479
480"Dolly!" he said in a subdued and timid voice. He bent his head towards
481his shoulder and tried to look pitiful and humble, but for all that he
482was radiant with freshness and health. In a rapid glance she scanned his
483figure that beamed with health and freshness. "Yes, he is happy and
484content!" she thought; "while I.... And that disgusting good nature,
485which every one likes him for and praises--I hate that good nature of
486his," she thought. Her mouth stiffened, the muscles of the cheek
487contracted on the right side of her pale, nervous face.
488
489"What do you want?" she said in a rapid, deep, unnatural voice.
490
491"Dolly!" he repeated, with a quiver in his voice. "Anna is coming
492today."
493
494"Well, what is that to me? I can't see her!" she cried.
495
496"But you must, really, Dolly..."
497
498"Go away, go away, go away!" she shrieked, not looking at him, as though
499this shriek were called up by physical pain.
500
501Stepan Arkadyevitch could be calm when he thought of his wife, he could
502hope that she would _come round_, as Matvey expressed it, and could
503quietly go on reading his paper and drinking his coffee; but when he saw
504her tortured, suffering face, heard the tone of her voice, submissive to
505fate and full of despair, there was a catch in his breath and a lump in
506his throat, and his eyes began to shine with tears.
507
508"My God! what have I done? Dolly! For God's sake!.... You know...." He
509could not go on; there was a sob in his throat.
510
511She shut the bureau with a slam, and glanced at him.
512
513"Dolly, what can I say?.... One thing: forgive... Remember, cannot nine
514years of my life atone for an instant...."
515
516She dropped her eyes and listened, expecting what he would say, as it
517were beseeching him in some way or other to make her believe
518differently.
519
520"--instant of passion?" he said, and would have gone on, but at that
521word, as at a pang of physical pain, her lips stiffened again, and again
522the muscles of her right cheek worked.
523
524"Go away, go out of the room!" she shrieked still more shrilly, "and
525don't talk to me of your passion and your loathsomeness."
526
527She tried to go out, but tottered, and clung to the back of a chair to
528support herself. His face relaxed, his lips swelled, his eyes were
529swimming with tears.
530
531"Dolly!" he said, sobbing now; "for mercy's sake, think of the children;
532they are not to blame! I am to blame, and punish me, make me expiate my
533fault. Anything I can do, I am ready to do anything! I am to blame, no
534words can express how much I am to blame! But, Dolly, forgive me!"
535
536She sat down. He listened to her hard, heavy breathing, and he was
537unutterably sorry for her. She tried several times to begin to speak,
538but could not. He waited.
539
540"You remember the children, Stiva, to play with them; but I remember
541them, and know that this means their ruin," she said--obviously one of
542the phrases she had more than once repeated to herself in the course of
543the last few days.
544
545She had called him "Stiva," and he glanced at her with gratitude, and
546moved to take her hand, but she drew back from him with aversion.
547
548"I think of the children, and for that reason I would do anything in the
549world to save them, but I don't myself know how to save them. By taking
550them away from their father, or by leaving them with a vicious
551father--yes, a vicious father.... Tell me, after what ... has happened,
552can we live together? Is that possible? Tell me, eh, is it possible?"
553she repeated, raising her voice, "after my husband, the father of my
554children, enters into a love affair with his own children's governess?"
555
556"But what could I do? what could I do?" he kept saying in a pitiful
557voice, not knowing what he was saying, as his head sank lower and lower.
558
559"You are loathsome to me, repulsive!" she shrieked, getting more and
560more heated. "Your tears mean nothing! You have never loved me; you have
561neither heart nor honorable feeling! You are hateful to me, disgusting,
562a stranger--yes, a complete stranger!" With pain and wrath she uttered
563the word so terrible to herself--_stranger_.
564
565He looked at her, and the fury expressed in her face alarmed and amazed
566him. He did not understand how his pity for her exasperated her. She saw
567in him sympathy for her, but not love. "No, she hates me. She will not
568forgive me," he thought.
569
570"It is awful! awful!" he said.
571
572At that moment in the next room a child began to cry; probably it had
573fallen down. Darya Alexandrovna listened, and her face suddenly
574softened.
575
576She seemed to be pulling herself together for a few seconds, as though
577she did not know where she was, and what she was doing, and getting up
578rapidly, she moved towards the door.
579
580"Well, she loves my child," he thought, noticing the change of her face
581at the child's cry, "my child: how can she hate me?"
582
583"Dolly, one word more," he said, following her.
584
585"If you come near me, I will call in the servants, the children! They
586may all know you are a scoundrel! I am going away at once, and you may
587live here with your mistress!"
588
589And she went out, slamming the door.
590
591Stepan Arkadyevitch sighed, wiped his face, and with a subdued tread
592walked out of the room. "Matvey says she will come round; but how? I
593don't see the least chance of it. Ah, oh, how horrible it is! And how
594vulgarly she shouted," he said to himself, remembering her shriek and
595the words--"scoundrel" and "mistress." "And very likely the maids were
596listening! Horribly vulgar! horrible!" Stepan Arkadyevitch stood a few
597seconds alone, wiped his face, squared his chest, and walked out of the
598room.
599
600It was Friday, and in the dining room the German watchmaker was winding
601up the clock. Stepan Arkadyevitch remembered his joke about this
602punctual, bald watchmaker, "that the German was wound up for a whole
603lifetime himself, to wind up watches," and he smiled. Stepan
604Arkadyevitch was fond of a joke: "And maybe she will come round! That's
605a good expression, '_come round,_'" he thought. "I must repeat that."
606
607"Matvey!" he shouted. "Arrange everything with Darya in the sitting room
608for Anna Arkadyevna," he said to Matvey when he came in.
609
610"Yes, sir."
611
612Stepan Arkadyevitch put on his fur coat and went out onto the steps.
613
614"You won't dine at home?" said Matvey, seeing him off.
615
616"That's as it happens. But here's for the housekeeping," he said, taking
617ten roubles from his pocketbook. "That'll be enough."
618
619"Enough or not enough, we must make it do," said Matvey, slamming the
620carriage door and stepping back onto the steps.
621
622Darya Alexandrovna meanwhile having pacified the child, and knowing from
623the sound of the carriage that he had gone off, went back again to her
624bedroom. It was her solitary refuge from the household cares which
625crowded upon her directly she went out from it. Even now, in the short
626time she had been in the nursery, the English governess and Matrona
627Philimonovna had succeeded in putting several questions to her, which
628did not admit of delay, and which only she could answer: "What were the
629children to put on for their walk? Should they have any milk? Should not
630a new cook be sent for?"
631
632"Ah, let me alone, let me alone!" she said, and going back to her
633bedroom she sat down in the same place as she had sat when talking to
634her husband, clasping tightly her thin hands with the rings that slipped
635down on her bony fingers, and fell to going over in her memory all the
636conversation. "He has gone! But has he broken it off with her?" she
637thought. "Can it be he sees her? Why didn't I ask him! No, no,
638reconciliation is impossible. Even if we remain in the same house, we
639are strangers--strangers forever!" She repeated again with special
640significance the word so dreadful to her. "And how I loved him! my God,
641how I loved him!.... How I loved him! And now don't I love him? Don't I
642love him more than before? The most horrible thing is," she began, but
643did not finish her thought, because Matrona Philimonovna put her head in
644at the door.
645
646"Let us send for my brother," she said; "he can get a dinner anyway, or
647we shall have the children getting nothing to eat till six again, like
648yesterday."
649
650"Very well, I will come directly and see about it. But did you send for
651some new milk?"
652
653And Darya Alexandrovna plunged into the duties of the day, and drowned
654her grief in them for a time.
655
656
657
658Chapter 5
659
660
661Stepan Arkadyevitch had learned easily at school, thanks to his
662excellent abilities, but he had been idle and mischievous, and therefore
663was one of the lowest in his class. But in spite of his habitually
664dissipated mode of life, his inferior grade in the service, and his
665comparative youth, he occupied the honorable and lucrative position of
666president of one of the government boards at Moscow. This post he had
667received through his sister Anna's husband, Alexey Alexandrovitch
668Karenin, who held one of the most important positions in the ministry to
669whose department the Moscow office belonged. But if Karenin had not got
670his brother-in-law this berth, then through a hundred other
671personages--brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, and aunts--Stiva
672Oblonsky would have received this post, or some other similar one,
673together with the salary of six thousand absolutely needful for him, as
674his affairs, in spite of his wife's considerable property, were in an
675embarrassed condition.
676
677Half Moscow and Petersburg were friends and relations of Stepan
678Arkadyevitch. He was born in the midst of those who had been and are the
679powerful ones of this world. One-third of the men in the government, the
680older men, had been friends of his father's, and had known him in
681petticoats; another third were his intimate chums, and the remainder
682were friendly acquaintances. Consequently the distributors of earthly
683blessings in the shape of places, rents, shares, and such, were all his
684friends, and could not overlook one of their own set; and Oblonsky had
685no need to make any special exertion to get a lucrative post. He had
686only not to refuse things, not to show jealousy, not to be quarrelsome
687or take offense, all of which from his characteristic good nature he
688never did. It would have struck him as absurd if he had been told that
689he would not get a position with the salary he required, especially as
690he expected nothing out of the way; he only wanted what the men of his
691own age and standing did get, and he was no worse qualified for
692performing duties of the kind than any other man.
693
694Stepan Arkadyevitch was not merely liked by all who knew him for his
695good humor, but for his bright disposition, and his unquestionable
696honesty. In him, in his handsome, radiant figure, his sparkling eyes,
697black hair and eyebrows, and the white and red of his face, there was
698something which produced a physical effect of kindliness and good humor
699on the people who met him. "Aha! Stiva! Oblonsky! Here he is!" was
700almost always said with a smile of delight on meeting him. Even though
701it happened at times that after a conversation with him it seemed that
702nothing particularly delightful had happened, the next day, and the
703next, every one was just as delighted at meeting him again.
704
705After filling for three years the post of president of one of the
706government boards at Moscow, Stepan Arkadyevitch had won the respect, as
707well as the liking, of his fellow-officials, subordinates, and
708superiors, and all who had had business with him. The principal
709qualities in Stepan Arkadyevitch which had gained him this universal
710respect in the service consisted, in the first place, of his extreme
711indulgence for others, founded on a consciousness of his own
712shortcomings; secondly, of his perfect liberalism--not the liberalism he
713read of in the papers, but the liberalism that was in his blood, in
714virtue of which he treated all men perfectly equally and exactly the
715same, whatever their fortune or calling might be; and thirdly--the most
716important point--his complete indifference to the business in which he
717was engaged, in consequence of which he was never carried away, and
718never made mistakes.
719
720On reaching the offices of the board, Stepan Arkadyevitch, escorted by a
721deferential porter with a portfolio, went into his little private room,
722put on his uniform, and went into the boardroom. The clerks and copyists
723all rose, greeting him with good-humored deference. Stepan Arkadyevitch
724moved quickly, as ever, to his place, shook hands with his colleagues,
725and sat down. He made a joke or two, and talked just as much as was
726consistent with due decorum, and began work. No one knew better than
727Stepan Arkadyevitch how to hit on the exact line between freedom,
728simplicity, and official stiffness necessary for the agreeable conduct
729of business. A secretary, with the good-humored deference common to
730every one in Stepan Arkadyevitch's office, came up with papers, and
731began to speak in the familiar and easy tone which had been introduced
732by Stepan Arkadyevitch.
733
734"We have succeeded in getting the information from the government
735department of Penza. Here, would you care?...."
736
737"You've got them at last?" said Stepan Arkadyevitch, laying his finger
738on the paper. "Now, gentlemen...."
739
740And the sitting of the board began.
741
742"If they knew," he thought, bending his head with a significant air as
743he listened to the report, "what a guilty little boy their president was
744half an hour ago." And his eyes were laughing during the reading of the
745report. Till two o'clock the sitting would go on without a break, and at
746two o'clock there would be an interval and luncheon.
747
748It was not yet two, when the large glass doors of the boardroom suddenly
749opened and someone came in.
750
751All the officials sitting on the further side under the portrait of the
752Tsar and the eagle, delighted at any distraction, looked round at the
753door; but the doorkeeper standing at the door at once drove out the
754intruder, and closed the glass door after him.
755
756When the case had been read through, Stepan Arkadyevitch got up and
757stretched, and by way of tribute to the liberalism of the times took out
758a cigarette in the boardroom and went into his private room. Two of the
759members of the board, the old veteran in the service, Nikitin, and the
760_Kammerjunker Grinevitch_, went in with him.
761
762"We shall have time to finish after lunch," said Stepan Arkadyevitch.
763
764"To be sure we shall!" said Nikitin.
765
766"A pretty sharp fellow this Fomin must be," said Grinevitch of one of
767the persons taking part in the case they were examining.
768
769Stepan Arkadyevitch frowned at Grinevitch's words, giving him thereby to
770understand that it was improper to pass judgment prematurely, and made
771him no reply.
772
773"Who was that came in?" he asked the doorkeeper.
774
775"Someone, your excellency, crept in without permission directly my back
776was turned. He was asking for you. I told him: when the members come
777out, then...."
778
779"Where is he?"
780
781"Maybe he's gone into the passage, but here he comes anyway. That is
782he," said the doorkeeper, pointing to a strongly built, broad-shouldered
783man with a curly beard, who, without taking off his sheepskin cap, was
784running lightly and rapidly up the worn steps of the stone staircase.
785One of the members going down--a lean official with a portfolio--stood
786out of his way and looked disapprovingly at the legs of the stranger,
787then glanced inquiringly at Oblonsky.
788
789Stepan Arkadyevitch was standing at the top of the stairs. His
790good-naturedly beaming face above the embroidered collar of his uniform
791beamed more than ever when he recognized the man coming up.
792
793"Why, it's actually you, Levin, at last!" he said with a friendly
794mocking smile, scanning Levin as he approached. "How is it you have
795deigned to look me up in this den?" said Stepan Arkadyevitch, and not
796content with shaking hands, he kissed his friend. "Have you been here
797long?"
798
799"I have just come, and very much wanted to see you," said Levin, looking
800shyly and at the same time angrily and uneasily around.
801
802"Well, let's go into my room," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, who knew his
803friend's sensitive and irritable shyness, and, taking his arm, he drew
804him along, as though guiding him through dangers.
805
806Stepan Arkadyevitch was on familiar terms with almost all his
807acquaintances, and called almost all of them by their Christian names:
808old men of sixty, boys of twenty, actors, ministers, merchants, and
809adjutant-generals, so that many of his intimate chums were to be found
810at the extreme ends of the social ladder, and would have been very much
811surprised to learn that they had, through the medium of Oblonsky,
812something in common. He was the familiar friend of everyone with whom he
813took a glass of champagne, and he took a glass of champagne with
814everyone, and when in consequence he met any of his disreputable chums,
815as he used in joke to call many of his friends, in the presence of his
816subordinates, he well knew how, with his characteristic tact, to
817diminish the disagreeable impression made on them. Levin was not a
818disreputable chum, but Oblonsky, with his ready tact, felt that Levin
819fancied he might not care to show his intimacy with him before his
820subordinates, and so he made haste to take him off into his room.
821
822Levin was almost of the same age as Oblonsky; their intimacy did not
823rest merely on champagne. Levin had been the friend and companion of his
824early youth. They were fond of one another in spite of the difference of
825their characters and tastes, as friends are fond of one another who have
826been together in early youth. But in spite of this, each of them--as is
827often the way with men who have selected careers of different
828kinds--though in discussion he would even justify the other's career, in
829his heart despised it. It seemed to each of them that the life he led
830himself was the only real life, and the life led by his friend was a
831mere phantasm. Oblonsky could not restrain a slight mocking smile at the
832sight of Levin. How often he had seen him come up to Moscow from the
833country where he was doing something, but what precisely Stepan
834Arkadyevitch could never quite make out, and indeed he took no interest
835in the matter. Levin arrived in Moscow always excited and in a hurry,
836rather ill at ease and irritated by his own want of ease, and for the
837most part with a perfectly new, unexpected view of things. Stepan
838Arkadyevitch laughed at this, and liked it. In the same way Levin in his
839heart despised the town mode of life of his friend, and his official
840duties, which he laughed at, and regarded as trifling. But the
841difference was that Oblonsky, as he was doing the same as every one did,
842laughed complacently and good-humoredly, while Levin laughed without
843complacency and sometimes angrily.
844
845"We have long been expecting you," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, going into
846his room and letting Levin's hand go as though to show that here all
847danger was over. "I am very, very glad to see you," he went on. "Well,
848how are you? Eh? When did you come?"
849
850Levin was silent, looking at the unknown faces of Oblonsky's two
851companions, and especially at the hand of the elegant Grinevitch, which
852had such long white fingers, such long yellow filbert-shaped nails, and
853such huge shining studs on the shirt-cuff, that apparently they absorbed
854all his attention, and allowed him no freedom of thought. Oblonsky
855noticed this at once, and smiled.
856
857"Ah, to be sure, let me introduce you," he said. "My colleagues: Philip
858Ivanitch Nikitin, Mihail Stanislavitch Grinevitch"--and turning to
859Levin--"a district councilor, a modern district councilman, a gymnast
860who lifts thirteen stone with one hand, a cattle-breeder and sportsman,
861and my friend, Konstantin Dmitrievitch Levin, the brother of Sergey
862Ivanovitch Koznishev."
863
864"Delighted," said the veteran.
865
866"I have the honor of knowing your brother, Sergey Ivanovitch," said
867Grinevitch, holding out his slender hand with its long nails.
868
869Levin frowned, shook hands coldly, and at once turned to Oblonsky.
870Though he had a great respect for his half-brother, an author well known
871to all Russia, he could not endure it when people treated him not as
872Konstantin Levin, but as the brother of the celebrated Koznishev.
873
874"No, I am no longer a district councilor. I have quarreled with them
875all, and don't go to the meetings any more," he said, turning to
876Oblonsky.
877
878"You've been quick about it!" said Oblonsky with a smile. "But how?
879why?"
880
881"It's a long story. I will tell you some time," said Levin, but he began
882telling him at once. "Well, to put it shortly, I was convinced that
883nothing was really done by the district councils, or ever could be," he
884began, as though some one had just insulted him. "On one side it's a
885plaything; they play at being a parliament, and I'm neither young enough
886nor old enough to find amusement in playthings; and on the other side"
887(he stammered) "it's a means for the coterie of the district to make
888money. Formerly they had wardships, courts of justice, now they have the
889district council--not in the form of bribes, but in the form of unearned
890salary," he said, as hotly as though someone of those present had
891opposed his opinion.
892
893"Aha! You're in a new phase again, I see--a conservative," said Stepan
894Arkadyevitch. "However, we can go into that later."
895
896"Yes, later. But I wanted to see you," said Levin, looking with hatred
897at Grinevitch's hand.
898
899Stepan Arkadyevitch gave a scarcely perceptible smile.
900
901"How was it you used to say you would never wear European dress again?"
902he said, scanning his new suit, obviously cut by a French tailor. "Ah! I
903see: a new phase."
904
905Levin suddenly blushed, not as grown men blush, slightly, without being
906themselves aware of it, but as boys blush, feeling that they are
907ridiculous through their shyness, and consequently ashamed of it and
908blushing still more, almost to the point of tears. And it was so strange
909to see this sensible, manly face in such a childish plight, that
910Oblonsky left off looking at him.
911
912"Oh, where shall we meet? You know I want very much to talk to you,"
913said Levin.
914
915Oblonsky seemed to ponder.
916
917"I'll tell you what: let's go to Gurin's to lunch, and there we can
918talk. I am free till three."
919
920"No," answered Levin, after an instant's thought, "I have got to go on
921somewhere else."
922
923"All right, then, let's dine together."
924
925"Dine together? But I have nothing very particular, only a few words to
926say, and a question I want to ask you, and we can have a talk
927afterwards."
928
929"Well, say the few words, then, at once, and we'll gossip after dinner."
930
931"Well, it's this," said Levin; "but it's of no importance, though."
932
933His face all at once took an expression of anger from the effort he was
934making to surmount his shyness.
935
936"What are the Shtcherbatskys doing? Everything as it used to be?" he
937said.
938
939Stepan Arkadyevitch, who had long known that Levin was in love with his
940sister-in-law, Kitty, gave a hardly perceptible smile, and his eyes
941sparkled merrily.
942
943"You said a few words, but I can't answer in a few words, because....
944Excuse me a minute..."
945
946A secretary came in, with respectful familiarity and the modest
947consciousness, characteristic of every secretary, of superiority to his
948chief in the knowledge of their business; he went up to Oblonsky with
949some papers, and began, under pretense of asking a question, to explain
950some objection. Stepan Arkadyevitch, without hearing him out, laid his
951hand genially on the secretary's sleeve.
952
953"No, you do as I told you," he said, softening his words with a smile,
954and with a brief explanation of his view of the matter he turned away
955from the papers, and said: "So do it that way, if you please, Zahar
956Nikititch."
957
958The secretary retired in confusion. During the consultation with the
959secretary Levin had completely recovered from his embarrassment. He was
960standing with his elbows on the back of a chair, and on his face was a
961look of ironical attention.
962
963"I don't understand it, I don't understand it," he said.
964
965"What don't you understand?" said Oblonsky, smiling as brightly as ever,
966and picking up a cigarette. He expected some queer outburst from Levin.
967
968"I don't understand what you are doing," said Levin, shrugging his
969shoulders. "How can you do it seriously?"
970
971"Why not?"
972
973"Why, because there's nothing in it."
974
975"You think so, but we're overwhelmed with work."
976
977"On paper. But, there, you've a gift for it," added Levin.
978
979"That's to say, you think there's a lack of something in me?"
980
981"Perhaps so," said Levin. "But all the same I admire your grandeur, and
982am proud that I've a friend in such a great person. You've not answered
983my question, though," he went on, with a desperate effort looking
984Oblonsky straight in the face.
985
986"Oh, that's all very well. You wait a bit, and you'll come to this
987yourself. It's very nice for you to have over six thousand acres in the
988Karazinsky district, and such muscles, and the freshness of a girl of
989twelve; still you'll be one of us one day. Yes, as to your question,
990there is no change, but it's a pity you've been away so long."
991
992"Oh, why so?" Levin queried, panic-stricken.
993
994"Oh, nothing," responded Oblonsky. "We'll talk it over. But what's
995brought you up to town?"
996
997"Oh, we'll talk about that, too, later on," said Levin, reddening again
998up to his ears.
999
1000"All right. I see," said Stepan Arkadyevitch. "I should ask you to come
1001to us, you know, but my wife's not quite the thing. But I tell you what;
1002if you want to see them, they're sure now to be at the Zoological
1003Gardens from four to five. Kitty skates. You drive along there, and I'll
1004come and fetch you, and we'll go and dine somewhere together."
1005
1006"Capital. So good-bye till then."
1007
1008"Now mind, you'll forget, I know you, or rush off home to the country!"
1009Stepan Arkadyevitch called out laughing.
1010
1011"No, truly!"
1012
1013And Levin went out of the room, only when he was in the doorway
1014remembering that he had forgotten to take leave of Oblonsky's
1015colleagues.
1016
1017"That gentleman must be a man of great energy," said Grinevitch, when
1018Levin had gone away.
1019
1020"Yes, my dear boy," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, nodding his head, "he's a
1021lucky fellow! Over six thousand acres in the Karazinsky district;
1022everything before him; and what youth and vigor! Not like some of us."
1023
1024"You have a great deal to complain of, haven't you, Stepan
1025Arkadyevitch?"
1026
1027"Ah, yes, I'm in a poor way, a bad way," said Stepan Arkadyevitch with a
1028heavy sigh.
1029
1030
1031
1032Chapter 6
1033
1034
1035When Oblonsky asked Levin what had brought him to town, Levin blushed,
1036and was furious with himself for blushing, because he could not answer,
1037"I have come to make your sister-in-law an offer," though that was
1038precisely what he had come for.
1039
1040The families of the Levins and the Shtcherbatskys were old, noble Moscow
1041families, and had always been on intimate and friendly terms. This
1042intimacy had grown still closer during Levin's student days. He had both
1043prepared for the university with the young Prince Shtcherbatsky, the
1044brother of Kitty and Dolly, and had entered at the same time with him.
1045In those days Levin used often to be in the Shtcherbatskys' house, and
1046he was in love with the Shtcherbatsky household. Strange as it may
1047appear, it was with the household, the family, that Konstantin Levin was
1048in love, especially with the feminine half of the household. Levin did
1049not remember his own mother, and his only sister was older than he was,
1050so that it was in the Shtcherbatskys' house that he saw for the first
1051time that inner life of an old, noble, cultivated, and honorable family
1052of which he had been deprived by the death of his father and mother. All
1053the members of that family, especially the feminine half, were pictured
1054by him, as it were, wrapped about with a mysterious poetical veil, and
1055he not only perceived no defects whatever in them, but under the
1056poetical veil that shrouded them he assumed the existence of the
1057loftiest sentiments and every possible perfection. Why it was the three
1058young ladies had one day to speak French, and the next English; why it
1059was that at certain hours they played by turns on the piano, the sounds
1060of which were audible in their brother's room above, where the students
1061used to work; why they were visited by those professors of French
1062literature, of music, of drawing, of dancing; why at certain hours all
1063the three young ladies, with Mademoiselle Linon, drove in the coach to
1064the Tversky boulevard, dressed in their satin cloaks, Dolly in a long
1065one, Natalia in a half-long one, and Kitty in one so short that her
1066shapely legs in tightly-drawn red stockings were visible to all
1067beholders; why it was they had to walk about the Tversky boulevard
1068escorted by a footman with a gold cockade in his hat--all this and much
1069more that was done in their mysterious world he did not understand, but
1070he was sure that everything that was done there was very good, and he
1071was in love precisely with the mystery of the proceedings.
1072
1073In his student days he had all but been in love with the eldest, Dolly,
1074but she was soon married to Oblonsky. Then he began being in love with
1075the second. He felt, as it were, that he had to be in love with one of
1076the sisters, only he could not quite make out which. But Natalia, too,
1077had hardly made her appearance in the world when she married the
1078diplomat Lvov. Kitty was still a child when Levin left the university.
1079Young Shtcherbatsky went into the navy, was drowned in the Baltic, and
1080Levin's relations with the Shtcherbatskys, in spite of his friendship
1081with Oblonsky, became less intimate. But when early in the winter of
1082this year Levin came to Moscow, after a year in the country, and saw the
1083Shtcherbatskys, he realized which of the three sisters he was indeed
1084destined to love.
1085
1086One would have thought that nothing could be simpler than for him, a man
1087of good family, rather rich than poor, and thirty-two years old, to make
1088the young Princess Shtcherbatskaya an offer of marriage; in all
1089likelihood he would at once have been looked upon as a good match. But
1090Levin was in love, and so it seemed to him that Kitty was so perfect in
1091every respect that she was a creature far above everything earthly; and
1092that he was a creature so low and so earthly that it could not even be
1093conceived that other people and she herself could regard him as worthy
1094of her.
1095
1096After spending two months in Moscow in a state of enchantment, seeing
1097Kitty almost every day in society, into which he went so as to meet her,
1098he abruptly decided that it could not be, and went back to the country.
1099
1100Levin's conviction that it could not be was founded on the idea that in
1101the eyes of her family he was a disadvantageous and worthless match for
1102the charming Kitty, and that Kitty herself could not love him. In her
1103family's eyes he had no ordinary, definite career and position in
1104society, while his contemporaries by this time, when he was thirty-two,
1105were already, one a colonel, and another a professor, another director
1106of a bank and railways, or president of a board like Oblonsky. But he
1107(he knew very well how he must appear to others) was a country
1108gentleman, occupied in breeding cattle, shooting game, and building
1109barns; in other words, a fellow of no ability, who had not turned out
1110well, and who was doing just what, according to the ideas of the world,
1111is done by people fit for nothing else.
1112
1113The mysterious, enchanting Kitty herself could not love such an ugly
1114person as he conceived himself to be, and, above all, such an ordinary,
1115in no way striking person. Moreover, his attitude to Kitty in the
1116past--the attitude of a grown-up person to a child, arising from his
1117friendship with her brother--seemed to him yet another obstacle to love.
1118An ugly, good-natured man, as he considered himself, might, he supposed,
1119be liked as a friend; but to be loved with such a love as that with
1120which he loved Kitty, one would need to be a handsome and, still more, a
1121distinguished man.
1122
1123He had heard that women often did care for ugly and ordinary men, but he
1124did not believe it, for he judged by himself, and he could not himself
1125have loved any but beautiful, mysterious, and exceptional women.
1126
1127But after spending two months alone in the country, he was convinced
1128that this was not one of those passions of which he had had experience
1129in his early youth; that this feeling gave him not an instant's rest;
1130that he could not live without deciding the question, would she or would
1131she not be his wife, and that his despair had arisen only from his own
1132imaginings, that he had no sort of proof that he would be rejected. And
1133he had now come to Moscow with a firm determination to make an offer,
1134and get married if he were accepted. Or ... he could not conceive what
1135would become of him if he were rejected.
1136
1137
1138
1139Chapter 7
1140
1141
1142On arriving in Moscow by a morning train, Levin had put up at the house
1143of his elder half-brother, Koznishev. After changing his clothes he went
1144down to his brother's study, intending to talk to him at once about the
1145object of his visit, and to ask his advice; but his brother was not
1146alone. With him there was a well-known professor of philosophy, who had
1147come from Harkov expressly to clear up a difference that had arisen
1148between them on a very important philosophical question. The professor
1149was carrying on a hot crusade against materialists. Sergey Koznishev had
1150been following this crusade with interest, and after reading the
1151professor's last article, he had written him a letter stating his
1152objections. He accused the professor of making too great concessions to
1153the materialists. And the professor had promptly appeared to argue the
1154matter out. The point in discussion was the question then in vogue: Is
1155there a line to be drawn between psychological and physiological
1156phenomena in man? and if so, where?
1157
1158Sergey Ivanovitch met his brother with the smile of chilly friendliness
1159he always had for everyone, and introducing him to the professor, went
1160on with the conversation.
1161
1162A little man in spectacles, with a narrow forehead, tore himself from
1163the discussion for an instant to greet Levin, and then went on talking
1164without paying any further attention to him. Levin sat down to wait till
1165the professor should go, but he soon began to get interested in the
1166subject under discussion.
1167
1168Levin had come across the magazine articles about which they were
1169disputing, and had read them, interested in them as a development of the
1170first principles of science, familiar to him as a natural science
1171student at the university. But he had never connected these scientific
1172deductions as to the origin of man as an animal, as to reflex action,
1173biology, and sociology, with those questions as to the meaning of life
1174and death to himself, which had of late been more and more often in his
1175mind.
1176
1177As he listened to his brother's argument with the professor, he noticed
1178that they connected these scientific questions with those spiritual
1179problems, that at times they almost touched on the latter; but every
1180time they were close upon what seemed to him the chief point, they
1181promptly beat a hasty retreat, and plunged again into a sea of subtle
1182distinctions, reservations, quotations, allusions, and appeals to
1183authorities, and it was with difficulty that he understood what they
1184were talking about.
1185
1186"I cannot admit it," said Sergey Ivanovitch, with his habitual
1187clearness, precision of expression, and elegance of phrase. "I cannot in
1188any case agree with Keiss that my whole conception of the external world
1189has been derived from perceptions. The most fundamental idea, the idea
1190of existence, has not been received by me through sensation; indeed,
1191there is no special sense-organ for the transmission of such an idea."
1192
1193"Yes, but they--Wurt, and Knaust, and Pripasov--would answer that your
1194consciousness of existence is derived from the conjunction of all your
1195sensations, that that consciousness of existence is the result of your
1196sensations. Wurt, indeed, says plainly that, assuming there are no
1197sensations, it follows that there is no idea of existence."
1198
1199"I maintain the contrary," began Sergey Ivanovitch.
1200
1201But here it seemed to Levin that just as they were close upon the real
1202point of the matter, they were again retreating, and he made up his mind
1203to put a question to the professor.
1204
1205"According to that, if my senses are annihilated, if my body is dead, I
1206can have no existence of any sort?" he queried.
1207
1208The professor, in annoyance, and, as it were, mental suffering at the
1209interruption, looked round at the strange inquirer, more like a bargeman
1210than a philosopher, and turned his eyes upon Sergey Ivanovitch, as
1211though to ask: What's one to say to him? But Sergey Ivanovitch, who had
1212been talking with far less heat and one-sidedness than the professor,
1213and who had sufficient breadth of mind to answer the professor, and at
1214the same time to comprehend the simple and natural point of view from
1215which the question was put, smiled and said:
1216
1217"That question we have no right to answer as yet."
1218
1219"We have not the requisite data," chimed in the professor, and he went
1220back to his argument. "No," he said; "I would point out the fact that
1221if, as Pripasov directly asserts, perception is based on sensation, then
1222we are bound to distinguish sharply between these two conceptions."
1223
1224Levin listened no more, and simply waited for the professor to go.
1225
1226
1227
1228Chapter 8
1229
1230
1231When the professor had gone, Sergey Ivanovitch turned to his brother.
1232
1233"Delighted that you've come. For some time, is it? How's your farming
1234getting on?"
1235
1236Levin knew that his elder brother took little interest in farming, and
1237only put the question in deference to him, and so he only told him about
1238the sale of his wheat and money matters.
1239
1240Levin had meant to tell his brother of his determination to get married,
1241and to ask his advice; he had indeed firmly resolved to do so. But after
1242seeing his brother, listening to his conversation with the professor,
1243hearing afterwards the unconsciously patronizing tone in which his
1244brother questioned him about agricultural matters (their mother's
1245property had not been divided, and Levin took charge of both their
1246shares), Levin felt that he could not for some reason begin to talk to
1247him of his intention of marrying. He felt that his brother would not
1248look at it as he would have wished him to.
1249
1250"Well, how is your district council doing?" asked Sergey Ivanovitch, who
1251was greatly interested in these local boards and attached great
1252importance to them.
1253
1254"I really don't know."
1255
1256"What! Why, surely you're a member of the board?"
1257
1258"No, I'm not a member now; I've resigned," answered Levin, "and I no
1259longer attend the meetings."
1260
1261"What a pity!" commented Sergey Ivanovitch, frowning.
1262
1263Levin in self-defense began to describe what took place in the meetings
1264in his district.
1265
1266"That's how it always is!" Sergey Ivanovitch interrupted him. "We
1267Russians are always like that. Perhaps it's our strong point, really,
1268the faculty of seeing our own shortcomings; but we overdo it, we comfort
1269ourselves with irony which we always have on the tip of our tongues. All
1270I say is, give such rights as our local self-government to any other
1271European people--why, the Germans or the English would have worked their
1272way to freedom from them, while we simply turn them into ridicule."
1273
1274"But how can it be helped?" said Levin penitently. "It was my last
1275effort. And I did try with all my soul. I can't. I'm no good at it."
1276
1277"It's not that you're no good at it," said Sergey Ivanovitch; "it is
1278that you don't look at it as you should."
1279
1280"Perhaps not," Levin answered dejectedly.
1281
1282"Oh! do you know brother Nikolay's turned up again?"
1283
1284This brother Nikolay was the elder brother of Konstantin Levin, and
1285half-brother of Sergey Ivanovitch; a man utterly ruined, who had
1286dissipated the greater part of his fortune, was living in the strangest
1287and lowest company, and had quarreled with his brothers.
1288
1289"What did you say?" Levin cried with horror. "How do you know?"
1290
1291"Prokofy saw him in the street."
1292
1293"Here in Moscow? Where is he? Do you know?" Levin got up from his chair,
1294as though on the point of starting off at once.
1295
1296"I am sorry I told you," said Sergey Ivanovitch, shaking his head at his
1297younger brother's excitement. "I sent to find out where he is living,
1298and sent him his IOU to Trubin, which I paid. This is the answer he sent
1299me."
1300
1301And Sergey Ivanovitch took a note from under a paper-weight and handed
1302it to his brother.
1303
1304Levin read in the queer, familiar handwriting: "I humbly beg you to
1305leave me in peace. That's the only favor I ask of my gracious
1306brothers.--Nikolay Levin."
1307
1308Levin read it, and without raising his head stood with the note in his
1309hands opposite Sergey Ivanovitch.
1310
1311There was a struggle in his heart between the desire to forget his
1312unhappy brother for the time, and the consciousness that it would be
1313base to do so.
1314
1315"He obviously wants to offend me," pursued Sergey Ivanovitch; "but he
1316cannot offend me, and I should have wished with all my heart to assist
1317him, but I know it's impossible to do that."
1318
1319"Yes, yes," repeated Levin. "I understand and appreciate your attitude
1320to him; but I shall go and see him."
1321
1322"If you want to, do; but I shouldn't advise it," said Sergey Ivanovitch.
1323"As regards myself, I have no fear of your doing so; he will not make
1324you quarrel with me; but for your own sake, I should say you would do
1325better not to go. You can't do him any good; still, do as you please."
1326
1327"Very likely I can't do any good, but I feel--especially at such a
1328moment--but that's another thing--I feel I could not be at peace."
1329
1330"Well, that I don't understand," said Sergey Ivanovitch. "One thing I do
1331understand," he added; "it's a lesson in humility. I have come to look
1332very differently and more charitably on what is called infamous since
1333brother Nikolay has become what he is ... you know what he did..."
1334
1335"Oh, it's awful, awful!" repeated Levin.
1336
1337After obtaining his brother's address from Sergey Ivanovitch's footman,
1338Levin was on the point of setting off at once to see him, but on second
1339thought he decided to put off his visit till the evening. The first
1340thing to do to set his heart at rest was to accomplish what he had come
1341to Moscow for. From his brother's Levin went to Oblonsky's office, and
1342on getting news of the Shtcherbatskys from him, he drove to the place
1343where he had been told he might find Kitty.
1344
1345
1346
1347Chapter 9
1348
1349
1350At four o'clock, conscious of his throbbing heart, Levin stepped out of
1351a hired sledge at the Zoological Gardens, and turned along the path to
1352the frozen mounds and the skating ground, knowing that he would
1353certainly find her there, as he had seen the Shtcherbatskys' carriage at
1354the entrance.
1355
1356It was a bright, frosty day. Rows of carriages, sledges, drivers, and
1357policemen were standing in the approach. Crowds of well-dressed people,
1358with hats bright in the sun, swarmed about the entrance and along the
1359well-swept little paths between the little houses adorned with carving
1360in the Russian style. The old curly birches of the gardens, all their
1361twigs laden with snow, looked as though freshly decked in sacred
1362vestments.
1363
1364He walked along the path towards the skating-ground, and kept saying to
1365himself--"You mustn't be excited, you must be calm. What's the matter
1366with you? What do you want? Be quiet, stupid," he conjured his heart.
1367And the more he tried to compose himself, the more breathless he found
1368himself. An acquaintance met him and called him by his name, but Levin
1369did not even recognize him. He went towards the mounds, whence came the
1370clank of the chains of sledges as they slipped down or were dragged up,
1371the rumble of the sliding sledges, and the sounds of merry voices. He
1372walked on a few steps, and the skating-ground lay open before his eyes,
1373and at once, amidst all the skaters, he knew her.
1374
1375He knew she was there by the rapture and the terror that seized on his
1376heart. She was standing talking to a lady at the opposite end of the
1377ground. There was apparently nothing striking either in her dress or her
1378attitude. But for Levin she was as easy to find in that crowd as a rose
1379among nettles. Everything was made bright by her. She was the smile that
1380shed light on all round her. "Is it possible I can go over there on the
1381ice, go up to her?" he thought. The place where she stood seemed to him
1382a holy shrine, unapproachable, and there was one moment when he was
1383almost retreating, so overwhelmed was he with terror. He had to make an
1384effort to master himself, and to remind himself that people of all sorts
1385were moving about her, and that he too might come there to skate. He
1386walked down, for a long while avoiding looking at her as at the sun, but
1387seeing her, as one does the sun, without looking.
1388
1389On that day of the week and at that time of day people of one set, all
1390acquainted with one another, used to meet on the ice. There were crack
1391skaters there, showing off their skill, and learners clinging to chairs
1392with timid, awkward movements, boys, and elderly people skating with
1393hygienic motives. They seemed to Levin an elect band of blissful beings
1394because they were here, near her. All the skaters, it seemed, with
1395perfect self-possession, skated towards her, skated by her, even spoke
1396to her, and were happy, quite apart from her, enjoying the capital ice
1397and the fine weather.
1398
1399Nikolay Shtcherbatsky, Kitty's cousin, in a short jacket and tight
1400trousers, was sitting on a garden seat with his skates on. Seeing Levin,
1401he shouted to him:
1402
1403"Ah, the first skater in Russia! Been here long? First-rate ice--do put
1404your skates on."
1405
1406"I haven't got my skates," Levin answered, marveling at this boldness
1407and ease in her presence, and not for one second losing sight of her,
1408though he did not look at her. He felt as though the sun were coming
1409near him. She was in a corner, and turning out her slender feet in their
1410high boots with obvious timidity, she skated towards him. A boy in
1411Russian dress, desperately waving his arms and bowed down to the ground,
1412overtook her. She skated a little uncertainly; taking her hands out of
1413the little muff that hung on a cord, she held them ready for emergency,
1414and looking towards Levin, whom she had recognized, she smiled at him,
1415and at her own fears. When she had got round the turn, she gave herself
1416a push off with one foot, and skated straight up to Shtcherbatsky.
1417Clutching at his arm, she nodded smiling to Levin. She was more splendid
1418than he had imagined her.
1419
1420When he thought of her, he could call up a vivid picture of her to
1421himself, especially the charm of that little fair head, so freely set on
1422the shapely girlish shoulders, and so full of childish brightness and
1423good humor. The childishness of her expression, together with the
1424delicate beauty of her figure, made up her special charm, and that he
1425fully realized. But what always struck him in her as something unlooked
1426for, was the expression of her eyes, soft, serene, and truthful, and
1427above all, her smile, which always transported Levin to an enchanted
1428world, where he felt himself softened and tender, as he remembered
1429himself in some days of his early childhood.
1430
1431"Have you been here long?" she said, giving him her hand. "Thank you,"
1432she added, as he picked up the handkerchief that had fallen out of her
1433muff.
1434
1435"I? I've not long ... yesterday ... I mean today ... I arrived,"
1436answered Levin, in his emotion not at once understanding her question.
1437"I was meaning to come and see you," he said; and then, recollecting
1438with what intention he was trying to see her, he was promptly overcome
1439with confusion and blushed.
1440
1441"I didn't know you could skate, and skate so well."
1442
1443She looked at him earnestly, as though wishing to make out the cause of
1444his confusion.
1445
1446"Your praise is worth having. The tradition is kept up here that you are
1447the best of skaters," she said, with her little black-gloved hand
1448brushing a grain of hoarfrost off her muff.
1449
1450"Yes, I used once to skate with passion; I wanted to reach perfection."
1451
1452"You do everything with passion, I think," she said smiling. "I should
1453so like to see how you skate. Put on skates, and let us skate together."
1454
1455"Skate together! Can that be possible?" thought Levin, gazing at her.
1456
1457"I'll put them on directly," he said.
1458
1459And he went off to get skates.
1460
1461"It's a long while since we've seen you here, sir," said the attendant,
1462supporting his foot, and screwing on the heel of the skate. "Except you,
1463there's none of the gentlemen first-rate skaters. Will that be all
1464right?" said he, tightening the strap.
1465
1466"Oh, yes, yes; make haste, please," answered Levin, with difficulty
1467restraining the smile of rapture which would overspread his face. "Yes,"
1468he thought, "this now is life, this is happiness! _Together,_ she said;
1469_let us skate together!_ Speak to her now? But that's just why I'm
1470afraid to speak--because I'm happy now, happy in hope, anyway.... And
1471then?.... But I must! I must! I must! Away with weakness!"
1472
1473Levin rose to his feet, took off his overcoat, and scurrying over the
1474rough ice round the hut, came out on the smooth ice and skated without
1475effort, as it were, by simple exercise of will, increasing and
1476slackening speed and turning his course. He approached with timidity,
1477but again her smile reassured him.
1478
1479She gave him her hand, and they set off side by side, going faster and
1480faster, and the more rapidly they moved the more tightly she grasped his
1481hand.
1482
1483"With you I should soon learn; I somehow feel confidence in you," she
1484said to him.
1485
1486"And I have confidence in myself when you are leaning on me," he said,
1487but was at once panic-stricken at what he had said, and blushed. And
1488indeed, no sooner had he uttered these words, when all at once, like the
1489sun going behind a cloud, her face lost all its friendliness, and Levin
1490detected the familiar change in her expression that denoted the working
1491of thought; a crease showed on her smooth brow.
1492
1493"Is there anything troubling you?--though I've no right to ask such a
1494question," he added hurriedly.
1495
1496"Oh, why so?.... No, I have nothing to trouble me," she responded
1497coldly; and she added immediately: "You haven't seen Mlle. Linon, have
1498you?"
1499
1500"Not yet."
1501
1502"Go and speak to her, she likes you so much."
1503
1504"What's wrong? I have offended her. Lord help me!" thought Levin, and he
1505flew towards the old Frenchwoman with the gray ringlets, who was sitting
1506on a bench. Smiling and showing her false teeth, she greeted him as an
1507old friend.
1508
1509"Yes, you see we're growing up," she said to him, glancing towards
1510Kitty, "and growing old. _Tiny bear_ has grown big now!" pursued the
1511Frenchwoman, laughing, and she reminded him of his joke about the three
1512young ladies whom he had compared to the three bears in the English
1513nursery tale. "Do you remember that's what you used to call them?"
1514
1515He remembered absolutely nothing, but she had been laughing at the joke
1516for ten years now, and was fond of it.
1517
1518"Now, go and skate, go and skate. Our Kitty has learned to skate nicely,
1519hasn't she?"
1520
1521When Levin darted up to Kitty her face was no longer stern; her eyes
1522looked at him with the same sincerity and friendliness, but Levin
1523fancied that in her friendliness there was a certain note of deliberate
1524composure. And he felt depressed. After talking a little of her old
1525governess and her peculiarities, she questioned him about his life.
1526
1527"Surely you must be dull in the country in the winter, aren't you?" she
1528said.
1529
1530"No, I'm not dull, I am very busy," he said, feeling that she was
1531holding him in check by her composed tone, which he would not have the
1532force to break through, just as it had been at the beginning of the
1533winter.
1534
1535"Are you going to stay in town long?" Kitty questioned him.
1536
1537"I don't know," he answered, not thinking of what he was saying. The
1538thought that if he were held in check by her tone of quiet friendliness
1539he would end by going back again without deciding anything came into his
1540mind, and he resolved to make a struggle against it.
1541
1542"How is it you don't know?"
1543
1544"I don't know. It depends upon you," he said, and was immediately
1545horror-stricken at his own words.
1546
1547Whether it was that she had heard his words, or that she did not want to
1548hear them, she made a sort of stumble, twice struck out, and hurriedly
1549skated away from him. She skated up to Mlle. Linon, said something to
1550her, and went towards the pavilion where the ladies took off their
1551skates.
1552
1553"My God! what have I done! Merciful God! help me, guide me," said Levin,
1554praying inwardly, and at the same time, feeling a need of violent
1555exercise, he skated about describing inner and outer circles.
1556
1557At that moment one of the young men, the best of the skaters of the day,
1558came out of the coffee-house in his skates, with a cigarette in his
1559mouth. Taking a run, he dashed down the steps in his skates, crashing
1560and bounding up and down. He flew down, and without even changing the
1561position of his hands, skated away over the ice.
1562
1563"Ah, that's a new trick!" said Levin, and he promptly ran up to the top
1564to do this new trick.
1565
1566"Don't break your neck! it needs practice!" Nikolay Shtcherbatsky
1567shouted after him.
1568
1569Levin went to the steps, took a run from above as best he could, and
1570dashed down, preserving his balance in this unwonted movement with his
1571hands. On the last step he stumbled, but barely touching the ice with
1572his hand, with a violent effort recovered himself, and skated off,
1573laughing.
1574
1575"How splendid, how nice he is!" Kitty was thinking at that time, as she
1576came out of the pavilion with Mlle. Linon, and looked towards him with a
1577smile of quiet affection, as though he were a favorite brother. "And can
1578it be my fault, can I have done anything wrong? They talk of flirtation.
1579I know it's not he that I love; but still I am happy with him, and he's
1580so jolly. Only, why did he say that?..." she mused.
1581
1582Catching sight of Kitty going away, and her mother meeting her at the
1583steps, Levin, flushed from his rapid exercise, stood still and pondered
1584a minute. He took off his skates, and overtook the mother and daughter
1585at the entrance of the gardens.
1586
1587"Delighted to see you," said Princess Shtcherbatskaya. "On Thursdays we
1588are home, as always."
1589
1590"Today, then?"
1591
1592"We shall be pleased to see you," the princess said stiffly.
1593
1594This stiffness hurt Kitty, and she could not resist the desire to smooth
1595over her mother's coldness. She turned her head, and with a smile said:
1596
1597"Good-bye till this evening."
1598
1599At that moment Stepan Arkadyevitch, his hat cocked on one side, with
1600beaming face and eyes, strode into the garden like a conquering hero.
1601But as he approached his mother-in-law, he responded in a mournful and
1602crestfallen tone to her inquiries about Dolly's health. After a little
1603subdued and dejected conversation with his mother-in-law, he threw out
1604his chest again, and put his arm in Levin's.
1605
1606"Well, shall we set off?" he asked. "I've been thinking about you all
1607this time, and I'm very, very glad you've come," he said, looking him in
1608the face with a significant air.
1609
1610"Yes, come along," answered Levin in ecstasy, hearing unceasingly the
1611sound of that voice saying, "Good-bye till this evening," and seeing the
1612smile with which it was said.
1613
1614"To the England or the Hermitage?"
1615
1616"I don't mind which."
1617
1618"All right, then, the England," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, selecting that
1619restaurant because he owed more there than at the Hermitage, and
1620consequently considered it mean to avoid it. "Have you got a sledge?
1621That's first-rate, for I sent my carriage home."
1622
1623The friends hardly spoke all the way. Levin was wondering what that
1624change in Kitty's expression had meant, and alternately assuring himself
1625that there was hope, and falling into despair, seeing clearly that his
1626hopes were insane, and yet all the while he felt himself quite another
1627man, utterly unlike what he had been before her smile and those words,
1628"Good-bye till this evening."
1629
1630Stepan Arkadyevitch was absorbed during the drive in composing the menu
1631of the dinner.
1632
1633"You like turbot, don't you?" he said to Levin as they were arriving.
1634
1635"Eh?" responded Levin. "Turbot? Yes, I'm _awfully_ fond of turbot."
1636
1637
1638
1639Chapter 10
1640
1641
1642When Levin went into the restaurant with Oblonsky, he could not help
1643noticing a certain peculiarity of expression, as it were, a restrained
1644radiance, about the face and whole figure of Stepan Arkadyevitch.
1645Oblonsky took off his overcoat, and with his hat over one ear walked
1646into the dining room, giving directions to the Tatar waiters, who were
1647clustered about him in evening coats, bearing napkins. Bowing to right
1648and left to the people he met, and here as everywhere joyously greeting
1649acquaintances, he went up to the sideboard for a preliminary appetizer
1650of fish and vodka, and said to the painted Frenchwoman decked in
1651ribbons, lace, and ringlets, behind the counter, something so amusing
1652that even that Frenchwoman was moved to genuine laughter. Levin for his
1653part refrained from taking any vodka simply because he felt such a
1654loathing of that Frenchwoman, all made up, it seemed, of false hair,
1655_poudre de riz,_ and _vinaigre de toilette_. He made haste to move away
1656from her, as from a dirty place. His whole soul was filled with memories
1657of Kitty, and there was a smile of triumph and happiness shining in his
1658eyes.
1659
1660"This way, your excellency, please. Your excellency won't be disturbed
1661here," said a particularly pertinacious, white-headed old Tatar with
1662immense hips and coat-tails gaping widely behind. "Walk in, your
1663excellency," he said to Levin; by way of showing his respect to Stepan
1664Arkadyevitch, being attentive to his guest as well.
1665
1666Instantly flinging a fresh cloth over the round table under the bronze
1667chandelier, though it already had a table cloth on it, he pushed up
1668velvet chairs, and came to a standstill before Stepan Arkadyevitch with
1669a napkin and a bill of fare in his hands, awaiting his commands.
1670
1671"If you prefer it, your excellency, a private room will be free
1672directly; Prince Golistin with a lady. Fresh oysters have come in."
1673
1674"Ah! oysters."
1675
1676Stepan Arkadyevitch became thoughtful.
1677
1678"How if we were to change our program, Levin?" he said, keeping his
1679finger on the bill of fare. And his face expressed serious hesitation.
1680"Are the oysters good? Mind now."
1681
1682"They're Flensburg, your excellency. We've no Ostend."
1683
1684"Flensburg will do, but are they fresh?"
1685
1686"Only arrived yesterday."
1687
1688"Well, then, how if we were to begin with oysters, and so change the
1689whole program? Eh?"
1690
1691"It's all the same to me. I should like cabbage soup and porridge better
1692than anything; but of course there's nothing like that here."
1693
1694"_Porridge a la Russe,_ your honor would like?" said the Tatar, bending
1695down to Levin, like a nurse speaking to a child.
1696
1697"No, joking apart, whatever you choose is sure to be good. I've been
1698skating, and I'm hungry. And don't imagine," he added, detecting a look
1699of dissatisfaction on Oblonsky's face, "that I shan't appreciate your
1700choice. I am fond of good things."
1701
1702"I should hope so! After all, it's one of the pleasures of life," said
1703Stepan Arkadyevitch. "Well, then, my friend, you give us two--or better
1704say three--dozen oysters, clear soup with vegetables...."
1705
1706"_Printaniere,_" prompted the Tatar. But Stepan Arkadyevitch apparently
1707did not care to allow him the satisfaction of giving the French names of
1708the dishes.
1709
1710"With vegetables in it, you know. Then turbot with thick sauce, then ...
1711roast beef; and mind it's good. Yes, and capons, perhaps, and then
1712sweets."
1713
1714The Tatar, recollecting that it was Stepan Arkadyevitch's way not to
1715call the dishes by the names in the French bill of fare, did not repeat
1716them after him, but could not resist rehearsing the whole menu to
1717himself according to the bill:--"_Soupe printaniere, turbot, sauce
1718Beaumarchais, poulard a l'estragon, macedoine de fruits_ ... etc.," and
1719then instantly, as though worked by springs, laying down one bound bill
1720of fare, he took up another, the list of wines, and submitted it to
1721Stepan Arkadyevitch.
1722
1723"What shall we drink?"
1724
1725"What you like, only not too much. Champagne," said Levin.
1726
1727"What! to start with? You're right though, I dare say. Do you like the
1728white seal?"
1729
1730"_Cachet blanc,_" prompted the Tatar.
1731
1732"Very well, then, give us that brand with the oysters, and then we'll
1733see."
1734
1735"Yes, sir. And what table wine?"
1736
1737"You can give us Nuits. Oh, no, better the classic Chablis."
1738
1739"Yes, sir. And _your_ cheese, your excellency?"
1740
1741"Oh, yes, Parmesan. Or would you like another?"
1742
1743"No, it's all the same to me," said Levin, unable to suppress a smile.
1744
1745And the Tatar ran off with flying coat-tails, and in five minutes darted
1746in with a dish of opened oysters on mother-of-pearl shells, and a bottle
1747between his fingers.
1748
1749Stepan Arkadyevitch crushed the starchy napkin, tucked it into his
1750waistcoat, and settling his arms comfortably, started on the oysters.
1751
1752"Not bad," he said, stripping the oysters from the pearly shell with a
1753silver fork, and swallowing them one after another. "Not bad," he
1754repeated, turning his dewy, brilliant eyes from Levin to the Tatar.
1755
1756Levin ate the oysters indeed, though white bread and cheese would have
1757pleased him better. But he was admiring Oblonsky. Even the Tatar,
1758uncorking the bottle and pouring the sparkling wine into the delicate
1759glasses, glanced at Stepan Arkadyevitch, and settled his white cravat
1760with a perceptible smile of satisfaction.
1761
1762"You don't care much for oysters, do you?" said Stepan Arkadyevitch,
1763emptying his wine glass, "or you're worried about something. Eh?"
1764
1765He wanted Levin to be in good spirits. But it was not that Levin was not
1766in good spirits; he was ill at ease. With what he had in his soul, he
1767felt sore and uncomfortable in the restaurant, in the midst of private
1768rooms where men were dining with ladies, in all this fuss and bustle;
1769the surroundings of bronzes, looking glasses, gas, and waiters--all of
1770it was offensive to him. He was afraid of sullying what his soul was
1771brimful of.
1772
1773"I? Yes, I am; but besides, all this bothers me," he said. "You can't
1774conceive how queer it all seems to a country person like me, as queer as
1775that gentleman's nails I saw at your place..."
1776
1777"Yes, I saw how much interested you were in poor Grinevitch's nails,"
1778said Stepan Arkadyevitch, laughing.
1779
1780"It's too much for me," responded Levin. "Do try, now, and put yourself
1781in my place, take the point of view of a country person. We in the
1782country try to bring our hands into such a state as will be most
1783convenient for working with. So we cut our nails; sometimes we turn up
1784our sleeves. And here people purposely let their nails grow as long as
1785they will, and link on small saucers by way of studs, so that they can
1786do nothing with their hands."
1787
1788Stepan Arkadyevitch smiled gaily.
1789
1790"Oh, yes, that's just a sign that he has no need to do coarse work. His
1791work is with the mind..."
1792
1793"Maybe. But still it's queer to me, just as at this moment it seems
1794queer to me that we country folks try to get our meals over as soon as
1795we can, so as to be ready for our work, while here are we trying to drag
1796out our meal as long as possible, and with that object eating
1797oysters..."
1798
1799"Why, of course," objected Stepan Arkadyevitch. "But that's just the aim
1800of civilization--to make everything a source of enjoyment."
1801
1802"Well, if that's its aim, I'd rather be a savage."
1803
1804"And so you are a savage. All you Levins are savages."
1805
1806Levin sighed. He remembered his brother Nikolay, and felt ashamed and
1807sore, and he scowled; but Oblonsky began speaking of a subject which at
1808once drew his attention.
1809
1810"Oh, I say, are you going tonight to our people, the Shtcherbatskys', I
1811mean?" he said, his eyes sparkling significantly as he pushed away the
1812empty rough shells, and drew the cheese towards him.
1813
1814"Yes, I shall certainly go," replied Levin; "though I fancied the
1815princess was not very warm in her invitation."
1816
1817"What nonsense! That's her manner.... Come, boy, the soup!.... That's
1818her manner--_grande dame,_" said Stepan Arkadyevitch. "I'm coming, too,
1819but I have to go to the Countess Bonina's rehearsal. Come, isn't it true
1820that you're a savage? How do you explain the sudden way in which you
1821vanished from Moscow? The Shtcherbatskys were continually asking me
1822about you, as though I ought to know. The only thing I know is that you
1823always do what no one else does."
1824
1825"Yes," said Levin, slowly and with emotion, "you're right. I am a
1826savage. Only, my savageness is not in having gone away, but in coming
1827now. Now I have come..."
1828
1829"Oh, what a lucky fellow you are!" broke in Stepan Arkadyevitch, looking
1830into Levin's eyes.
1831
1832"Why?"
1833
1834    "I know a gallant steed by tokens sure,
1835    And by his eyes I know a youth in love,"
1836
1837declaimed Stepan Arkadyevitch. "Everything is before you."
1838
1839"Why, is it over for you already?"
1840
1841"No; not over exactly, but the future is yours, and the present is mine,
1842and the present--well, it's not all that it might be."
1843
1844"How so?"
1845
1846"Oh, things go wrong. But I don't want to talk of myself, and besides I
1847can't explain it all," said Stepan Arkadyevitch. "Well, why have you
1848come to Moscow, then?.... Hi! take away!" he called to the Tatar.
1849
1850"You guess?" responded Levin, his eyes like deep wells of light fixed on
1851Stepan Arkadyevitch.
1852
1853"I guess, but I can't be the first to talk about it. You can see by that
1854whether I guess right or wrong," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, gazing at
1855Levin with a subtle smile.
1856
1857"Well, and what have you to say to me?" said Levin in a quivering voice,
1858feeling that all the muscles of his face were quivering too. "How do you
1859look at the question?"
1860
1861Stepan Arkadyevitch slowly emptied his glass of Chablis, never taking
1862his eyes off Levin.
1863
1864"I?" said Stepan Arkadyevitch, "there's nothing I desire so much as
1865that--nothing! It would be the best thing that could be."
1866
1867"But you're not making a mistake? You know what we're speaking of?" said
1868Levin, piercing him with his eyes. "You think it's possible?"
1869
1870"I think it's possible. Why not possible?"
1871
1872"No! do you really think it's possible? No, tell me all you think! Oh,
1873but if ... if refusal's in store for me!... Indeed I feel sure..."
1874
1875"Why should you think that?" said Stepan Arkadyevitch, smiling at his
1876excitement.
1877
1878"It seems so to me sometimes. That will be awful for me, and for her
1879too."
1880
1881"Oh, well, anyway there's nothing awful in it for a girl. Every girl's
1882proud of an offer."
1883
1884"Yes, every girl, but not she."
1885
1886Stepan Arkadyevitch smiled. He so well knew that feeling of Levin's,
1887that for him all the girls in the world were divided into two classes:
1888one class--all the girls in the world except her, and those girls with
1889all sorts of human weaknesses, and very ordinary girls: the other
1890class--she alone, having no weaknesses of any sort and higher than all
1891humanity.
1892
1893"Stay, take some sauce," he said, holding back Levin's hand as it pushed
1894away the sauce.
1895
1896Levin obediently helped himself to sauce, but would not let Stepan
1897Arkadyevitch go on with his dinner.
1898
1899"No, stop a minute, stop a minute," he said. "You must understand that
1900it's a question of life and death for me. I have never spoken to any one
1901of this. And there's no one I could speak of it to, except you. You know
1902we're utterly unlike each other, different tastes and views and
1903everything; but I know you're fond of me and understand me, and that's
1904why I like you awfully. But for God's sake, be quite straightforward
1905with me."
1906
1907"I tell you what I think," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, smiling. "But I'll
1908say more: my wife is a wonderful woman..." Stepan Arkadyevitch sighed,
1909remembering his position with his wife, and, after a moment's silence,
1910resumed--"She has a gift of foreseeing things. She sees right through
1911people; but that's not all; she knows what will come to pass, especially
1912in the way of marriages. She foretold, for instance, that Princess
1913Shahovskaya would marry Brenteln. No one would believe it, but it came
1914to pass. And she's on your side."
1915
1916"How do you mean?"
1917
1918"It's not only that she likes you--she says that Kitty is certain to be
1919your wife."
1920
1921At these words Levin's face suddenly lighted up with a smile, a smile
1922not far from tears of emotion.
1923
1924"She says that!" cried Levin. "I always said she was exquisite, your
1925wife. There, that's enough, enough said about it," he said, getting up
1926from his seat.
1927
1928"All right, but do sit down."
1929
1930But Levin could not sit down. He walked with his firm tread twice up and
1931down the little cage of a room, blinked his eyelids that his tears might
1932not fall, and only then sat down to the table.
1933
1934"You must understand," said he, "it's not love. I've been in love, but
1935it's not that. It's not my feeling, but a sort of force outside me has
1936taken possession of me. I went away, you see, because I made up my mind
1937that it could never be, you understand, as a happiness that does not
1938come on earth; but I've struggled with myself, I see there's no living
1939without it. And it must be settled."
1940
1941"What did you go away for?"
1942
1943"Ah, stop a minute! Ah, the thoughts that come crowding on one! The
1944questions one must ask oneself! Listen. You can't imagine what you've
1945done for me by what you said. I'm so happy that I've become positively
1946hateful; I've forgotten everything. I heard today that my brother
1947Nikolay ... you know, he's here ... I had even forgotten him. It seems
1948to me that he's happy too. It's a sort of madness. But one thing's
1949awful.... Here, you've been married, you know the feeling ... it's awful
1950that we--old--with a past ... not of love, but of sins ... are brought
1951all at once so near to a creature pure and innocent; it's loathsome, and
1952that's why one can't help feeling oneself unworthy."
1953
1954"Oh, well, you've not many sins on your conscience."
1955
1956"Alas! all the same," said Levin, "when with loathing I go over my life,
1957I shudder and curse and bitterly regret it.... Yes."
1958
1959"What would you have? The world's made so," said Stepan Arkadyevitch.
1960
1961"The one comfort is like that prayer, which I always liked: 'Forgive me
1962not according to my unworthiness, but according to Thy lovingkindness.'
1963That's the only way she can forgive me."
1964
1965
1966
1967Chapter 11
1968
1969
1970Levin emptied his glass, and they were silent for a while.
1971
1972"There's one other thing I ought to tell you. Do you know Vronsky?"
1973Stepan Arkadyevitch asked Levin.
1974
1975"No, I don't. Why do you ask?"
1976
1977"Give us another bottle," Stepan Arkadyevitch directed the Tatar, who
1978was filling up their glasses and fidgeting round them just when he was
1979not wanted.
1980
1981"Why you ought to know Vronsky is that he's one of your rivals."
1982
1983"Who's Vronsky?" said Levin, and his face was suddenly transformed from
1984the look of childlike ecstasy which Oblonsky had just been admiring to
1985an angry and unpleasant expression.
1986
1987"Vronsky is one of the sons of Count Kirill Ivanovitch Vronsky, and one
1988of the finest specimens of the gilded youth of Petersburg. I made his
1989acquaintance in Tver when I was there on official business, and he came
1990there for the levy of recruits. Fearfully rich, handsome, great
1991connections, an aide-de-camp, and with all that a very nice,
1992good-natured fellow. But he's more than simply a good-natured fellow, as
1993I've found out here--he's a cultivated man, too, and very intelligent;
1994he's a man who'll make his mark."
1995
1996Levin scowled and was dumb.
1997
1998"Well, he turned up here soon after you'd gone, and as I can see, he's
1999over head and ears in love with Kitty, and you know that her mother..."
2000
2001"Excuse me, but I know nothing," said Levin, frowning gloomily. And
2002immediately he recollected his brother Nikolay and how hateful he was to
2003have been able to forget him.
2004
2005"You wait a bit, wait a bit," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, smiling and
2006touching his hand. "I've told you what I know, and I repeat that in this
2007delicate and tender matter, as far as one can conjecture, I believe the
2008chances are in your favor."
2009
2010Levin dropped back in his chair; his face was pale.
2011
2012"But I would advise you to settle the thing as soon as may be," pursued
2013Oblonsky, filling up his glass.
2014
2015"No, thanks, I can't drink any more," said Levin, pushing away his
2016glass. "I shall be drunk.... Come, tell me how are you getting on?" he
2017went on, obviously anxious to change the conversation.
2018
2019"One word more: in any case I advise you to settle the question soon.
2020Tonight I don't advise you to speak," said Stepan Arkadyevitch. "Go
2021round tomorrow morning, make an offer in due form, and God bless you..."
2022
2023"Oh, do you still think of coming to me for some shooting? Come next
2024spring, do," said Levin.
2025
2026Now his whole soul was full of remorse that he had begun this
2027conversation with Stepan Arkadyevitch. A feeling such as his was
2028profaned by talk of the rivalry of some Petersburg officer, of the
2029suppositions and the counsels of Stepan Arkadyevitch.
2030
2031Stepan Arkadyevitch smiled. He knew what was passing in Levin's soul.
2032
2033"I'll come some day," he said. "But women, my boy, they're the pivot
2034everything turns upon. Things are in a bad way with me, very bad. And
2035it's all through women. Tell me frankly now," he pursued, picking up a
2036cigar and keeping one hand on his glass; "give me your advice."
2037
2038"Why, what is it?"
2039
2040"I'll tell you. Suppose you're married, you love your wife, but you're
2041fascinated by another woman..."
2042
2043"Excuse me, but I'm absolutely unable to comprehend how ... just as I
2044can't comprehend how I could now, after my dinner, go straight to a
2045baker's shop and steal a roll."
2046
2047Stepan Arkadyevitch's eyes sparkled more than usual.
2048
2049"Why not? A roll will sometimes smell so good one can't resist it."
2050
2051    "Himmlisch ist's, wenn ich bezwungen
2052    Meine irdische Begier;
2053    Aber doch wenn's nich gelungen
2054    Hatt' ich auch recht huebsch Plaisir!"
2055
2056As he said this, Stepan Arkadyevitch smiled subtly. Levin, too, could
2057not help smiling.
2058
2059"Yes, but joking apart," resumed Stepan Arkadyevitch, "you must
2060understand that the woman is a sweet, gentle loving creature, poor and
2061lonely, and has sacrificed everything. Now, when the thing's done, don't
2062you see, can one possibly cast her off? Even supposing one parts from
2063her, so as not to break up one's family life, still, can one help
2064feeling for her, setting her on her feet, softening her lot?"
2065
2066"Well, you must excuse me there. You know to me all women are divided
2067into two classes ... at least no ... truer to say: there are women and
2068there are ... I've never seen exquisite fallen beings, and I never shall
2069see them, but such creatures as that painted Frenchwoman at the counter
2070with the ringlets are vermin to my mind, and all fallen women are the
2071same."
2072
2073"But the Magdalen?"
2074
2075"Ah, drop that! Christ would never have said those words if He had known
2076how they would be abused. Of all the Gospel those words are the only
2077ones remembered. However, I'm not saying so much what I think, as what I
2078feel. I have a loathing for fallen women. You're afraid of spiders, and
2079I of these vermin. Most likely you've not made a study of spiders and
2080don't know their character; and so it is with me."
2081
2082"It's very well for you to talk like that; it's very much like that
2083gentleman in Dickens who used to fling all difficult questions over his
2084right shoulder. But to deny the facts is no answer. What's to be
2085done--you tell me that, what's to be done? Your wife gets older, while
2086you're full of life. Before you've time to look round, you feel that you
2087can't love your wife with love, however much you may esteem her. And
2088then all at once love turns up, and you're done for, done for," Stepan
2089Arkadyevitch said with weary despair.
2090
2091Levin half smiled.
2092
2093"Yes, you're done for," resumed Oblonsky. "But what's to be done?"
2094
2095"Don't steal rolls."
2096
2097Stepan Arkadyevitch laughed outright.
2098
2099"Oh, moralist! But you must understand, there are two women; one insists
2100only on her rights, and those rights are your love, which you can't give
2101her; and the other sacrifices everything for you and asks for nothing.
2102What are you to do? How are you to act? There's a fearful tragedy in
2103it."
2104
2105"If you care for my profession of faith as regards that, I'll tell you
2106that I don't believe there was any tragedy about it. And this is why. To
2107my mind, love ... both the sorts of love, which you remember Plato
2108defines in his Banquet, served as the test of men. Some men only
2109understand one sort, and some only the other. And those who only know
2110the non-platonic love have no need to talk of tragedy. In such love
2111there can be no sort of tragedy. 'I'm much obliged for the
2112gratification, my humble respects'--that's all the tragedy. And in
2113platonic love there can be no tragedy, because in that love all is clear
2114and pure, because..."
2115
2116At that instant Levin recollected his own sins and the inner conflict he
2117had lived through. And he added unexpectedly:
2118
2119"But perhaps you are right. Very likely ... I don't know, I don't know."
2120
2121"It's this, don't you see," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, "you're very much
2122all of a piece. That's your strong point and your failing. You have a
2123character that's all of a piece, and you want the whole of life to be of
2124a piece too--but that's not how it is. You despise public official work
2125because you want the reality to be invariably corresponding all the
2126while with the aim--and that's not how it is. You want a man's work,
2127too, always to have a defined aim, and love and family life always to be
2128undivided--and that's not how it is. All the variety, all the charm, all
2129the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow."
2130
2131Levin sighed and made no reply. He was thinking of his own affairs, and
2132did not hear Oblonsky.
2133
2134And suddenly both of them felt that though they were friends, though
2135they had been dining and drinking together, which should have drawn them
2136closer, yet each was thinking only of his own affairs, and they had
2137nothing to do with one another. Oblonsky had more than once experienced
2138this extreme sense of aloofness, instead of intimacy, coming on after
2139dinner, and he knew what to do in such cases.
2140
2141"Bill!" he called, and he went into the next room where he promptly came
2142across an aide-de-camp of his acquaintance and dropped into conversation
2143with him about an actress and her protector. And at once in the
2144conversation with the aide-de-camp Oblonsky had a sense of relaxation
2145and relief after the conversation with Levin, which always put him to
2146too great a mental and spiritual strain.
2147
2148When the Tatar appeared with a bill for twenty-six roubles and odd
2149kopecks, besides a tip for himself, Levin, who would another time have
2150been horrified, like any one from the country, at his share of fourteen
2151roubles, did not notice it, paid, and set off homewards to dress and go
2152to the Shtcherbatskys' there to decide his fate.
2153
2154
2155
2156Chapter 12
2157
2158
2159The young Princess Kitty Shtcherbatskaya was eighteen. It was the first
2160winter that she had been out in the world. Her success in society had
2161been greater than that of either of her elder sisters, and greater even
2162than her mother had anticipated. To say nothing of the young men who
2163danced at the Moscow balls being almost all in love with Kitty, two
2164serious suitors had already this first winter made their appearance:
2165Levin, and immediately after his departure, Count Vronsky.
2166
2167Levin's appearance at the beginning of the winter, his frequent visits,
2168and evident love for Kitty, had led to the first serious conversations
2169between Kitty's parents as to her future, and to disputes between them.
2170The prince was on Levin's side; he said he wished for nothing better for
2171Kitty. The princess for her part, going round the question in the manner
2172peculiar to women, maintained that Kitty was too young, that Levin had
2173done nothing to prove that he had serious intentions, that Kitty felt no
2174great attraction to him, and other side issues; but she did not state
2175the principal point, which was that she looked for a better match for
2176her daughter, and that Levin was not to her liking, and she did not
2177understand him. When Levin had abruptly departed, the princess was
2178delighted, and said to her husband triumphantly: "You see I was right."
2179When Vronsky appeared on the scene, she was still more delighted,
2180confirmed in her opinion that Kitty was to make not simply a good, but a
2181brilliant match.
2182
2183In the mother's eyes there could be no comparison between Vronsky and
2184Levin. She disliked in Levin his strange and uncompromising opinions and
2185his shyness in society, founded, as she supposed, on his pride and his
2186queer sort of life, as she considered it, absorbed in cattle and
2187peasants. She did not very much like it that he, who was in love with
2188her daughter, had kept coming to the house for six weeks, as though he
2189were waiting for something, inspecting, as though he were afraid he
2190might be doing them too great an honor by making an offer, and did not
2191realize that a man, who continually visits at a house where there is a
2192young unmarried girl, is bound to make his intentions clear. And
2193suddenly, without doing so, he disappeared. "It's as well he's not
2194attractive enough for Kitty to have fallen in love with him," thought
2195the mother.
2196
2197Vronsky satisfied all the mother's desires. Very wealthy, clever, of
2198aristocratic family, on the highroad to a brilliant career in the army
2199and at court, and a fascinating man. Nothing better could be wished for.
2200
2201Vronsky openly flirted with Kitty at balls, danced with her, and came
2202continually to the house, consequently there could be no doubt of the
2203seriousness of his intentions. But, in spite of that, the mother had
2204spent the whole of that winter in a state of terrible anxiety and
2205agitation.
2206
2207Princess Shtcherbatskaya had herself been married thirty years ago, her
2208aunt arranging the match. Her husband, about whom everything was well
2209known before hand, had come, looked at his future bride, and been looked
2210at. The match-making aunt had ascertained and communicated their mutual
2211impression. That impression had been favorable. Afterwards, on a day
2212fixed beforehand, the expected offer was made to her parents, and
2213accepted. All had passed very simply and easily. So it seemed, at least,
2214to the princess. But over her own daughters she had felt how far from
2215simple and easy is the business, apparently so commonplace, of marrying
2216off one's daughters. The panics that had been lived through, the
2217thoughts that had been brooded over, the money that had been wasted, and
2218the disputes with her husband over marrying the two elder girls, Darya
2219and Natalia! Now, since the youngest had come out, she was going through
2220the same terrors, the same doubts, and still more violent quarrels with
2221her husband than she had over the elder girls. The old prince, like all
2222fathers indeed, was exceedingly punctilious on the score of the honor
2223and reputation of his daughters. He was irrationally jealous over his
2224daughters, especially over Kitty, who was his favorite. At every turn he
2225had scenes with the princess for compromising her daughter. The princess
2226had grown accustomed to this already with her other daughters, but now
2227she felt that there was more ground for the prince's touchiness. She saw
2228that of late years much was changed in the manners of society, that a
2229mother's duties had become still more difficult. She saw that girls of
2230Kitty's age formed some sort of clubs, went to some sort of lectures,
2231mixed freely in men's society; drove about the streets alone, many of
2232them did not curtsey, and, what was the most important thing, all the
2233girls were firmly convinced that to choose their husbands was their own
2234affair, and not their parents'. "Marriages aren't made nowadays as they
2235used to be," was thought and said by all these young girls, and even by
2236their elders. But how marriages were made now, the princess could not
2237learn from any one. The French fashion--of the parents arranging their
2238children's future--was not accepted; it was condemned. The English
2239fashion of the complete independence of girls was also not accepted, and
2240not possible in Russian society. The Russian fashion of match-making by
2241the offices of intermediate persons was for some reason considered
2242unseemly; it was ridiculed by every one, and by the princess herself.
2243But how girls were to be married, and how parents were to marry them, no
2244one knew. Everyone with whom the princess had chanced to discuss the
2245matter said the same thing: "Mercy on us, it's high time in our day to
2246cast off all that old-fashioned business. It's the young people have to
2247marry; and not their parents; and so we ought to leave the young people
2248to arrange it as they choose." It was very easy for anyone to say that
2249who had no daughters, but the princess realized that in the process of
2250getting to know each other, her daughter might fall in love, and fall in
2251love with someone who did not care to marry her or who was quite unfit
2252to be her husband. And, however much it was instilled into the princess
2253that in our times young people ought to arrange their lives for
2254themselves, she was unable to believe it, just as she would have been
2255unable to believe that, at any time whatever, the most suitable
2256playthings for children five years old ought to be loaded pistols. And
2257so the princess was more uneasy over Kitty than she had been over her
2258elder sisters.
2259
2260Now she was afraid that Vronsky might confine himself to simply flirting
2261with her daughter. She saw that her daughter was in love with him, but
2262tried to comfort herself with the thought that he was an honorable man,
2263and would not do this. But at the same time she knew how easy it is,
2264with the freedom of manners of today, to turn a girl's head, and how
2265lightly men generally regard such a crime. The week before, Kitty had
2266told her mother of a conversation she had with Vronsky during a mazurka.
2267This conversation had partly reassured the princess; but perfectly at
2268ease she could not be. Vronsky had told Kitty that both he and his
2269brother were so used to obeying their mother that they never made up
2270their minds to any important undertaking without consulting her. "And
2271just now, I am impatiently awaiting my mother's arrival from Petersburg,
2272as peculiarly fortunate," he told her.
2273
2274Kitty had repeated this without attaching any significance to the words.
2275But her mother saw them in a different light. She knew that the old lady
2276was expected from day to day, that she would be pleased at her son's
2277choice, and she felt it strange that he should not make his offer
2278through fear of vexing his mother. However, she was so anxious for the
2279marriage itself, and still more for relief from her fears, that she
2280believed it was so. Bitter as it was for the princess to see the
2281unhappiness of her eldest daughter, Dolly, on the point of leaving her
2282husband, her anxiety over the decision of her youngest daughter's fate
2283engrossed all her feelings. Today, with Levin's reappearance, a fresh
2284source of anxiety arose. She was afraid that her daughter, who had at
2285one time, as she fancied, a feeling for Levin, might, from extreme sense
2286of honor, refuse Vronsky, and that Levin's arrival might generally
2287complicate and delay the affair so near being concluded.
2288
2289"Why, has he been here long?" the princess asked about Levin, as they
2290returned home.
2291
2292"He came today, mamma."
2293
2294"There's one thing I want to say..." began the princess, and from her
2295serious and alert face, Kitty guessed what it would be.
2296
2297"Mamma," she said, flushing hotly and turning quickly to her, "please,
2298please don't say anything about that. I know, I know all about it."
2299
2300She wished for what her mother wished for, but the motives of her
2301mother's wishes wounded her.
2302
2303"I only want to say that to raise hopes..."
2304
2305"Mamma, darling, for goodness' sake, don't talk about it. It's so
2306horrible to talk about it."
2307
2308"I won't," said her mother, seeing the tears in her daughter's eyes;
2309"but one thing, my love; you promised me you would have no secrets from
2310me. You won't?"
2311
2312"Never, mamma, none," answered Kitty, flushing a little, and looking her
2313mother straight in the face, "but there's no use in my telling you
2314anything, and I ... I ... if I wanted to, I don't know what to say or
2315how ... I don't know..."
2316
2317"No, she could not tell an untruth with those eyes," thought the mother,
2318smiling at her agitation and happiness. The princess smiled that what
2319was taking place just now in her soul seemed to the poor child so
2320immense and so important.
2321
2322
2323
2324Chapter 13
2325
2326
2327After dinner, and till the beginning of the evening, Kitty was feeling a
2328sensation akin to the sensation of a young man before a battle. Her
2329heart throbbed violently, and her thoughts would not rest on anything.
2330
2331She felt that this evening, when they would both meet for the first
2332time, would be a turning point in her life. And she was continually
2333picturing them to herself, at one moment each separately, and then both
2334together. When she mused on the past, she dwelt with pleasure, with
2335tenderness, on the memories of her relations with Levin. The memories of
2336childhood and of Levin's friendship with her dead brother gave a special
2337poetic charm to her relations with him. His love for her, of which she
2338felt certain, was flattering and delightful to her; and it was pleasant
2339for her to think of Levin. In her memories of Vronsky there always
2340entered a certain element of awkwardness, though he was in the highest
2341degree well-bred and at ease, as though there were some false note--not
2342in Vronsky, he was very simple and nice, but in herself, while with
2343Levin she felt perfectly simple and clear. But, on the other hand,
2344directly she thought of the future with Vronsky, there arose before her
2345a perspective of brilliant happiness; with Levin the future seemed
2346misty.
2347
2348When she went upstairs to dress, and looked into the looking-glass, she
2349noticed with joy that it was one of her good days, and that she was in
2350complete possession of all her forces,--she needed this so for what lay
2351before her: she was conscious of external composure and free grace in
2352her movements.
2353
2354At half-past seven she had only just gone down into the drawing room,
2355when the footman announced, "Konstantin Dmitrievitch Levin." The
2356princess was still in her room, and the prince had not come in. "So it
2357is to be," thought Kitty, and all the blood seemed to rush to her heart.
2358She was horrified at her paleness, as she glanced into the
2359looking-glass. At that moment she knew beyond doubt that he had come
2360early on purpose to find her alone and to make her an offer. And only
2361then for the first time the whole thing presented itself in a new,
2362different aspect; only then she realized that the question did not
2363affect her only--with whom she would be happy, and whom she loved--but
2364that she would have that moment to wound a man whom she liked. And to
2365wound him cruelly. What for? Because he, dear fellow, loved her, was in
2366love with her. But there was no help for it, so it must be, so it would
2367have to be.
2368
2369"My God! shall I myself really have to say it to him?" she thought. "Can
2370I tell him I don't love him? That will be a lie. What am I to say to
2371him? That I love someone else? No, that's impossible. I'm going away,
2372I'm going away."
2373
2374She had reached the door, when she heard his step. "No! it's not honest.
2375What have I to be afraid of? I have done nothing wrong. What is to be,
2376will be! I'll tell the truth. And with him one can't be ill at ease.
2377Here he is," she said to herself, seeing his powerful, shy figure, with
2378his shining eyes fixed on her. She looked straight into his face, as
2379though imploring him to spare her, and gave her hand.
2380
2381"It's not time yet; I think I'm too early," he said glancing round the
2382empty drawing room. When he saw that his expectations were realized,
2383that there was nothing to prevent him from speaking, his face became
2384gloomy.
2385
2386"Oh, no," said Kitty, and sat down at the table.
2387
2388"But this was just what I wanted, to find you alone," he began, not
2389sitting down, and not looking at her, so as not to lose courage.
2390
2391"Mamma will be down directly. She was very much tired.... Yesterday..."
2392
2393She talked on, not knowing what her lips were uttering, and not taking
2394her supplicating and caressing eyes off him.
2395
2396He glanced at her; she blushed, and ceased speaking.
2397
2398"I told you I did not know whether I should be here long ... that it
2399depended on you..."
2400
2401She dropped her head lower and lower, not knowing herself what answer
2402she should make to what was coming.
2403
2404"That it depended on you," he repeated. "I meant to say ... I meant to
2405say ... I came for this ... to be my wife!" he brought out, not knowing
2406what he was saying; but feeling that the most terrible thing was said,
2407he stopped short and looked at her...
2408
2409She was breathing heavily, not looking at him. She was feeling ecstasy.
2410Her soul was flooded with happiness. She had never anticipated that the
2411utterance of love would produce such a powerful effect on her. But it
2412lasted only an instant. She remembered Vronsky. She lifted her clear,
2413truthful eyes, and seeing his desperate face, she answered hastily:
2414
2415"That cannot be ... forgive me."
2416
2417A moment ago, and how close she had been to him, of what importance in
2418his life! And how aloof and remote from him she had become now!
2419
2420"It was bound to be so," he said, not looking at her.
2421
2422He bowed, and was meaning to retreat.
2423
2424
2425
2426Chapter 14
2427
2428
2429But at that very moment the princess came in. There was a look of horror
2430on her face when she saw them alone, and their disturbed faces. Levin
2431bowed to her, and said nothing. Kitty did not speak nor lift her eyes.
2432"Thank God, she has refused him," thought the mother, and her face
2433lighted up with the habitual smile with which she greeted her guests on
2434Thursdays. She sat down and began questioning Levin about his life in
2435the country. He sat down again, waiting for other visitors to arrive, in
2436order to retreat unnoticed.
2437
2438Five minutes later there came in a friend of Kitty's, married the
2439preceding winter, Countess Nordston.
2440
2441She was a thin, sallow, sickly, and nervous woman, with brilliant black
2442eyes. She was fond of Kitty, and her affection for her showed itself, as
2443the affection of married women for girls always does, in the desire to
2444make a match for Kitty after her own ideal of married happiness; she
2445wanted her to marry Vronsky. Levin she had often met at the
2446Shtcherbatskys' early in the winter, and she had always disliked him.
2447Her invariable and favorite pursuit, when they met, consisted in making
2448fun of him.
2449
2450"I do like it when he looks down at me from the height of his grandeur,
2451or breaks off his learned conversation with me because I'm a fool, or is
2452condescending to me. I like that so; to see him condescending! I am so
2453glad he can't bear me," she used to say of him.
2454
2455She was right, for Levin actually could not bear her, and despised her
2456for what she was proud of and regarded as a fine characteristic--her
2457nervousness, her delicate contempt and indifference for everything
2458coarse and earthly.
2459
2460The Countess Nordston and Levin got into that relation with one another
2461not seldom seen in society, when two persons, who remain externally on
2462friendly terms, despise each other to such a degree that they cannot
2463even take each other seriously, and cannot even be offended by each
2464other.
2465
2466The Countess Nordston pounced upon Levin at once.
2467
2468"Ah, Konstantin Dmitrievitch! So you've come back to our corrupt
2469Babylon," she said, giving him her tiny, yellow hand, and recalling what
2470he had chanced to say early in the winter, that Moscow was a Babylon.
2471"Come, is Babylon reformed, or have you degenerated?" she added,
2472glancing with a simper at Kitty.
2473
2474"It's very flattering for me, countess, that you remember my words so
2475well," responded Levin, who had succeeded in recovering his composure,
2476and at once from habit dropped into his tone of joking hostility to the
2477Countess Nordston. "They must certainly make a great impression on you."
2478
2479"Oh, I should think so! I always note them all down. Well, Kitty, have
2480you been skating again?..."
2481
2482And she began talking to Kitty. Awkward as it was for Levin to withdraw
2483now, it would still have been easier for him to perpetrate this
2484awkwardness than to remain all the evening and see Kitty, who glanced at
2485him now and then and avoided his eyes. He was on the point of getting
2486up, when the princess, noticing that he was silent, addressed him.
2487
2488"Shall you be long in Moscow? You're busy with the district council,
2489though, aren't you, and can't be away for long?"
2490
2491"No, princess, I'm no longer a member of the council," he said. "I have
2492come up for a few days."
2493
2494"There's something the matter with him," thought Countess Nordston,
2495glancing at his stern, serious face. "He isn't in his old argumentative
2496mood. But I'll draw him out. I do love making a fool of him before
2497Kitty, and I'll do it."
2498
2499"Konstantin Dmitrievitch," she said to him, "do explain to me, please,
2500what's the meaning of it. You know all about such things. At home in our
2501village of Kaluga all the peasants and all the women have drunk up all
2502they possessed, and now they can't pay us any rent. What's the meaning
2503of that? You always praise the peasants so."
2504
2505At that instant another lady came into the room, and Levin got up.
2506
2507"Excuse me, countess, but I really know nothing about it, and can't tell
2508you anything," he said, and looked round at the officer who came in
2509behind the lady.
2510
2511"That must be Vronsky," thought Levin, and, to be sure of it, glanced at
2512Kitty. She had already had time to look at Vronsky, and looked round at
2513Levin. And simply from the look in her eyes, that grew unconsciously
2514brighter, Levin knew that she loved that man, knew it as surely as if
2515she had told him so in words. But what sort of a man was he? Now,
2516whether for good or for ill, Levin could not choose but remain; he must
2517find out what the man was like whom she loved.
2518
2519There are people who, on meeting a successful rival, no matter in what,
2520are at once disposed to turn their backs on everything good in him, and
2521to see only what is bad. There are people, on the other hand, who desire
2522above all to find in that lucky rival the qualities by which he has
2523outstripped them, and seek with a throbbing ache at heart only what is
2524good. Levin belonged to the second class. But he had no difficulty in
2525finding what was good and attractive in Vronsky. It was apparent at the
2526first glance. Vronsky was a squarely built, dark man, not very tall,
2527with a good-humored, handsome, and exceedingly calm and resolute face.
2528Everything about his face and figure, from his short-cropped black hair
2529and freshly shaven chin down to his loosely fitting, brand-new uniform,
2530was simple and at the same time elegant. Making way for the lady who had
2531come in, Vronsky went up to the princess and then to Kitty.
2532
2533As he approached her, his beautiful eyes shone with a specially tender
2534light, and with a faint, happy, and modestly triumphant smile (so it
2535seemed to Levin), bowing carefully and respectfully over her, he held
2536out his small broad hand to her.
2537
2538Greeting and saying a few words to everyone, he sat down without once
2539glancing at Levin, who had never taken his eyes off him.
2540
2541"Let me introduce you," said the princess, indicating Levin. "Konstantin
2542Dmitrievitch Levin, Count Alexey Kirillovitch Vronsky."
2543
2544Vronsky got up and, looking cordially at Levin, shook hands with him.
2545
2546"I believe I was to have dined with you this winter," he said, smiling
2547his simple and open smile; "but you had unexpectedly left for the
2548country."
2549
2550"Konstantin Dmitrievitch despises and hates town and us townspeople,"
2551said Countess Nordston.
2552
2553"My words must make a deep impression on you, since you remember them so
2554well," said Levin, and, suddenly conscious that he had said just the
2555same thing before, he reddened.
2556
2557Vronsky looked at Levin and Countess Nordston, and smiled.
2558
2559"Are you always in the country?" he inquired. "I should think it must be
2560dull in the winter."
2561
2562"It's not dull if one has work to do; besides, one's not dull by
2563oneself," Levin replied abruptly.
2564
2565"I am fond of the country," said Vronsky, noticing, and affecting not to
2566notice, Levin's tone.
2567
2568"But I hope, count, you would not consent to live in the country
2569always," said Countess Nordston.
2570
2571"I don't know; I have never tried for long. I experienced a queer
2572feeling once," he went on. "I never longed so for the country, Russian
2573country, with bast shoes and peasants, as when I was spending a winter
2574with my mother in Nice. Nice itself is dull enough, you know. And
2575indeed, Naples and Sorrento are only pleasant for a short time. And it's
2576just there that Russia comes back to me most vividly, and especially the
2577country. It's as though..."
2578
2579He talked on, addressing both Kitty and Levin, turning his serene,
2580friendly eyes from one to the other, and saying obviously just what came
2581into his head.
2582
2583Noticing that Countess Nordston wanted to say something, he stopped
2584short without finishing what he had begun, and listened attentively to
2585her.
2586
2587The conversation did not flag for an instant, so that the princess, who
2588always kept in reserve, in case a subject should be lacking, two heavy
2589guns--the relative advantages of classical and of modern education, and
2590universal military service--had not to move out either of them, while
2591Countess Nordston had not a chance of chaffing Levin.
2592
2593Levin wanted to, and could not, take part in the general conversation;
2594saying to himself every instant, "Now go," he still did not go, as
2595though waiting for something.
2596
2597The conversation fell upon table-turning and spirits, and Countess
2598Nordston, who believed in spiritualism, began to describe the marvels
2599she had seen.
2600
2601"Ah, countess, you really must take me, for pity's sake do take me to
2602see them! I have never seen anything extraordinary, though I am always
2603on the lookout for it everywhere," said Vronsky, smiling.
2604
2605"Very well, next Saturday," answered Countess Nordston. "But you,
2606Konstantin Dmitrievitch, do you believe in it?" she asked Levin.
2607
2608"Why do you ask me? You know what I shall say."
2609
2610"But I want to hear your opinion."
2611
2612"My opinion," answered Levin, "is only that this table-turning simply
2613proves that educated society--so called--is no higher than the peasants.
2614They believe in the evil eye, and in witchcraft and omens, while we..."
2615
2616"Oh, then you don't believe in it?"
2617
2618"I can't believe in it, countess."
2619
2620"But if I've seen it myself?"
2621
2622"The peasant women too tell us they have seen goblins."
2623
2624"Then you think I tell a lie?"
2625
2626And she laughed a mirthless laugh.
2627
2628"Oh, no, Masha, Konstantin Dmitrievitch said he could not believe in
2629it," said Kitty, blushing for Levin, and Levin saw this, and, still more
2630exasperated, would have answered, but Vronsky with his bright frank
2631smile rushed to the support of the conversation, which was threatening
2632to become disagreeable.
2633
2634"You do not admit the conceivability at all?" he queried. "But why not?
2635We admit the existence of electricity, of which we know nothing. Why
2636should there not be some new force, still unknown to us, which..."
2637
2638"When electricity was discovered," Levin interrupted hurriedly, "it was
2639only the phenomenon that was discovered, and it was unknown from what it
2640proceeded and what were its effects, and ages passed before its
2641applications were conceived. But the spiritualists have begun with
2642tables writing for them, and spirits appearing to them, and have only
2643later started saying that it is an unknown force."
2644
2645Vronsky listened attentively to Levin, as he always did listen,
2646obviously interested in his words.
2647
2648"Yes, but the spiritualists say we don't know at present what this force
2649is, but there is a force, and these are the conditions in which it acts.
2650Let the scientific men find out what the force consists in. No, I don't
2651see why there should not be a new force, if it..."
2652
2653"Why, because with electricity," Levin interrupted again, "every time
2654you rub tar against wool, a recognized phenomenon is manifested, but in
2655this case it does not happen every time, and so it follows it is not a
2656natural phenomenon."
2657
2658Feeling probably that the conversation was taking a tone too serious for
2659a drawing room, Vronsky made no rejoinder, but by way of trying to
2660change the conversation, he smiled brightly, and turned to the ladies.
2661
2662"Do let us try at once, countess," he said; but Levin would finish
2663saying what he thought.
2664
2665"I think," he went on, "that this attempt of the spiritualists to
2666explain their marvels as some sort of new natural force is most futile.
2667They boldly talk of spiritual force, and then try to subject it to
2668material experiment."
2669
2670Every one was waiting for him to finish, and he felt it.
2671
2672"And I think you would be a first-rate medium," said Countess Nordston;
2673"there's something enthusiastic in you."
2674
2675Levin opened his mouth, was about to say something, reddened, and said
2676nothing.
2677
2678"Do let us try table-turning at once, please," said Vronsky. "Princess,
2679will you allow it?"
2680
2681And Vronsky stood up, looking for a little table.
2682
2683Kitty got up to fetch a table, and as she passed, her eyes met Levin's.
2684She felt for him with her whole heart, the more because she was pitying
2685him for suffering of which she was herself the cause. "If you can
2686forgive me, forgive me," said her eyes, "I am so happy."
2687
2688"I hate them all, and you, and myself," his eyes responded, and he took
2689up his hat. But he was not destined to escape. Just as they were
2690arranging themselves round the table, and Levin was on the point of
2691retiring, the old prince came in, and after greeting the ladies,
2692addressed Levin.
2693
2694"Ah!" he began joyously. "Been here long, my boy? I didn't even know you
2695were in town. Very glad to see you." The old prince embraced Levin, and
2696talking to him did not observe Vronsky, who had risen, and was serenely
2697waiting till the prince should turn to him.
2698
2699Kitty felt how distasteful her father's warmth was to Levin after what
2700had happened. She saw, too, how coldly her father responded at last to
2701Vronsky's bow, and how Vronsky looked with amiable perplexity at her
2702father, as though trying and failing to understand how and why anyone
2703could be hostilely disposed towards him, and she flushed.
2704
2705"Prince, let us have Konstantin Dmitrievitch," said Countess Nordston;
2706"we want to try an experiment."
2707
2708"What experiment? Table-turning? Well, you must excuse me, ladies and
2709gentlemen, but to my mind it is better fun to play the ring game," said
2710the old prince, looking at Vronsky, and guessing that it had been his
2711suggestion. "There's some sense in that, anyway."
2712
2713Vronsky looked wonderingly at the prince with his resolute eyes, and,
2714with a faint smile, began immediately talking to Countess Nordston of
2715the great ball that was to come off next week.
2716
2717"I hope you will be there?" he said to Kitty. As soon as the old prince
2718turned away from him, Levin went out unnoticed, and the last impression
2719he carried away with him of that evening was the smiling, happy face of
2720Kitty answering Vronsky's inquiry about the ball.
2721
2722
2723
2724Chapter 15
2725
2726
2727At the end of the evening Kitty told her mother of her conversation with
2728Levin, and in spite of all the pity she felt for Levin, she was glad at
2729the thought that she had received an _offer_. She had no doubt that she
2730had acted rightly. But after she had gone to bed, for a long while she
2731could not sleep. One impression pursued her relentlessly. It was Levin's
2732face, with his scowling brows, and his kind eyes looking out in dark
2733dejection below them, as he stood listening to her father, and glancing
2734at her and at Vronsky. And she felt so sorry for him that tears came
2735into her eyes. But immediately she thought of the man for whom she had
2736given him up. She vividly recalled his manly, resolute face, his noble
2737self-possession, and the good nature conspicuous in everything towards
2738everyone. She remembered the love for her of the man she loved, and once
2739more all was gladness in her soul, and she lay on the pillow, smiling
2740with happiness. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry; but what could I do? It's not my
2741fault," she said to herself; but an inner voice told her something else.
2742Whether she felt remorse at having won Levin's love, or at having
2743refused him, she did not know. But her happiness was poisoned by doubts.
2744"Lord, have pity on us; Lord, have pity on us; Lord, have pity on us!"
2745she repeated to herself, till she fell asleep.
2746
2747Meanwhile there took place below, in the prince's little library, one of
2748the scenes so often repeated between the parents on account of their
2749favorite daughter.
2750
2751"What? I'll tell you what!" shouted the prince, waving his arms, and at
2752once wrapping his squirrel-lined dressing-gown round him again. "That
2753you've no pride, no dignity; that you're disgracing, ruining your
2754daughter by this vulgar, stupid match-making!"
2755
2756"But, really, for mercy's sake, prince, what have I done?" said the
2757princess, almost crying.
2758
2759She, pleased and happy after her conversation with her daughter, had
2760gone to the prince to say good-night as usual, and though she had no
2761intention of telling him of Levin's offer and Kitty's refusal, still she
2762hinted to her husband that she fancied things were practically settled
2763with Vronsky, and that he would declare himself so soon as his mother
2764arrived. And thereupon, at those words, the prince had all at once flown
2765into a passion, and began to use unseemly language.
2766
2767"What have you done? I'll tell you what. First of all, you're trying to
2768catch an eligible gentleman, and all Moscow will be talking of it, and
2769with good reason. If you have evening parties, invite everyone, don't
2770pick out the possible suitors. Invite all the young bucks. Engage a
2771piano player, and let them dance, and not as you do things nowadays,
2772hunting up good matches. It makes me sick, sick to see it, and you've
2773gone on till you've turned the poor wench's head. Levin's a thousand
2774times the better man. As for this little Petersburg swell, they're
2775turned out by machinery, all on one pattern, and all precious rubbish.
2776But if he were a prince of the blood, my daughter need not run after
2777anyone."
2778
2779"But what have I done?"
2780
2781"Why, you've..." The prince was crying wrathfully.
2782
2783"I know if one were to listen to you," interrupted the princess, "we
2784should never marry our daughter. If it's to be so, we'd better go into
2785the country."
2786
2787"Well, and we had better."
2788
2789"But do wait a minute. Do I try and catch them? I don't try to catch
2790them in the least. A young man, and a very nice one, has fallen in love
2791with her, and she, I fancy..."
2792
2793"Oh, yes, you fancy! And how if she really is in love, and he's no more
2794thinking of marriage than I am!... Oh, that I should live to see it! Ah!
2795spiritualism! Ah! Nice! Ah! the ball!" And the prince, imagining that he
2796was mimicking his wife, made a mincing curtsey at each word. "And this
2797is how we're preparing wretchedness for Kitty; and she's really got the
2798notion into her head..."
2799
2800"But what makes you suppose so?"
2801
2802"I don't suppose; I know. We have eyes for such things, though
2803women-folk haven't. I see a man who has serious intentions, that's
2804Levin: and I see a peacock, like this feather-head, who's only amusing
2805himself."
2806
2807"Oh, well, when once you get an idea into your head!..."
2808
2809"Well, you'll remember my words, but too late, just as with Dolly."
2810
2811"Well, well, we won't talk of it," the princess stopped him,
2812recollecting her unlucky Dolly.
2813
2814"By all means, and good night!"
2815
2816And signing each other with the cross, the husband and wife parted with
2817a kiss, feeling that they each remained of their own opinion.
2818
2819The princess had at first been quite certain that that evening had
2820settled Kitty's future, and that there could be no doubt of Vronsky's
2821intentions, but her husband's words had disturbed her. And returning to
2822her own room, in terror before the unknown future, she, too, like Kitty,
2823repeated several times in her heart, "Lord, have pity; Lord, have pity;
2824Lord, have pity."
2825
2826
2827
2828Chapter 16
2829
2830
2831Vronsky had never had a real home life. His mother had been in her youth
2832a brilliant society woman, who had had during her married life, and
2833still more afterwards, many love affairs notorious in the whole
2834fashionable world. His father he scarcely remembered, and he had been
2835educated in the Corps of Pages.
2836
2837Leaving the school very young as a brilliant officer, he had at once got
2838into the circle of wealthy Petersburg army men. Although he did go more
2839or less into Petersburg society, his love affairs had always hitherto
2840been outside it.
2841
2842In Moscow he had for the first time felt, after his luxurious and coarse
2843life at Petersburg, all the charm of intimacy with a sweet and innocent
2844girl of his own rank, who cared for him. It never even entered his head
2845that there could be any harm in his relations with Kitty. At balls he
2846danced principally with her. He was a constant visitor at their house.
2847He talked to her as people commonly do talk in society--all sorts of
2848nonsense, but nonsense to which he could not help attaching a special
2849meaning in her case. Although he said nothing to her that he could not
2850have said before everybody, he felt that she was becoming more and more
2851dependent upon him, and the more he felt this, the better he liked it,
2852and the tenderer was his feeling for her. He did not know that his mode
2853of behavior in relation to Kitty had a definite character, that it is
2854courting young girls with no intention of marriage, and that such
2855courting is one of the evil actions common among brilliant young men
2856such as he was. It seemed to him that he was the first who had
2857discovered this pleasure, and he was enjoying his discovery.
2858
2859If he could have heard what her parents were saying that evening, if he
2860could have put himself at the point of view of the family and have heard
2861that Kitty would be unhappy if he did not marry her, he would have been
2862greatly astonished, and would not have believed it. He could not believe
2863that what gave such great and delicate pleasure to him, and above all to
2864her, could be wrong. Still less could he have believed that he ought to
2865marry.
2866
2867Marriage had never presented itself to him as a possibility. He not only
2868disliked family life, but a family, and especially a husband was, in
2869accordance with the views general in the bachelor world in which he
2870lived, conceived as something alien, repellant, and, above all,
2871ridiculous.
2872
2873But though Vronsky had not the least suspicion what the parents were
2874saying, he felt on coming away from the Shtcherbatskys' that the secret
2875spiritual bond which existed between him and Kitty had grown so much
2876stronger that evening that some step must be taken. But what step could
2877and ought to be taken he could not imagine.
2878
2879"What is so exquisite," he thought, as he returned from the
2880Shtcherbatskys', carrying away with him, as he always did, a delicious
2881feeling of purity and freshness, arising partly from the fact that he
2882had not been smoking for a whole evening, and with it a new feeling of
2883tenderness at her love for him--"what is so exquisite is that not a word
2884has been said by me or by her, but we understand each other so well in
2885this unseen language of looks and tones, that this evening more clearly
2886than ever she told me she loves me. And how secretly, simply, and most
2887of all, how trustfully! I feel myself better, purer. I feel that I have
2888a heart, and that there is a great deal of good in me. Those sweet,
2889loving eyes! When she said: 'Indeed I do...'
2890
2891"Well, what then? Oh, nothing. It's good for me, and good for her." And
2892he began wondering where to finish the evening.
2893
2894He passed in review of the places he might go to. "Club? a game of
2895bezique, champagne with Ignatov? No, I'm not going. _Chateau des
2896Fleurs_; there I shall find Oblonsky, songs, the cancan. No, I'm sick of
2897it. That's why I like the Shtcherbatskys', that I'm growing better. I'll
2898go home." He went straight to his room at Dussot's Hotel, ordered
2899supper, and then undressed, and as soon as his head touched the pillow,
2900fell into a sound sleep.
2901
2902
2903
2904Chapter 17
2905
2906
2907Next day at eleven o'clock in the morning Vronsky drove to the station
2908of the Petersburg railway to meet his mother, and the first person he
2909came across on the great flight of steps was Oblonsky, who was expecting
2910his sister by the same train.
2911
2912"Ah! your excellency!" cried Oblonsky, "whom are you meeting?"
2913
2914"My mother," Vronsky responded, smiling, as everyone did who met
2915Oblonsky. He shook hands with him, and together they ascended the steps.
2916"She is to be here from Petersburg today."
2917
2918"I was looking out for you till two o'clock last night. Where did you go
2919after the Shtcherbatskys'?"
2920
2921"Home," answered Vronsky. "I must own I felt so well content yesterday
2922after the Shtcherbatskys' that I didn't care to go anywhere."
2923
2924    "I know a gallant steed by tokens sure,
2925    And by his eyes I know a youth in love,"
2926
2927declaimed Stepan Arkadyevitch, just as he had done before to Levin.
2928
2929Vronsky smiled with a look that seemed to say that he did not deny it,
2930but he promptly changed the subject.
2931
2932"And whom are you meeting?" he asked.
2933
2934"I? I've come to meet a pretty woman," said Oblonsky.
2935
2936"You don't say so!"
2937
2938"_Honi soit qui mal y pense!_ My sister Anna."
2939
2940"Ah! that's Madame Karenina," said Vronsky.
2941
2942"You know her, no doubt?"
2943
2944"I think I do. Or perhaps not ... I really am not sure," Vronsky
2945answered heedlessly, with a vague recollection of something stiff and
2946tedious evoked by the name Karenina.
2947
2948"But Alexey Alexandrovitch, my celebrated brother-in-law, you surely
2949must know. All the world knows him."
2950
2951"I know him by reputation and by sight. I know that he's clever,
2952learned, religious somewhat.... But you know that's not ... _not in my
2953line,_" said Vronsky in English.
2954
2955"Yes, he's a very remarkable man; rather a conservative, but a splendid
2956man," observed Stepan Arkadyevitch, "a splendid man."
2957
2958"Oh, well, so much the better for him," said Vronsky smiling. "Oh,
2959you've come," he said, addressing a tall old footman of his mother's,
2960standing at the door; "come here."
2961
2962Besides the charm Oblonsky had in general for everyone, Vronsky had felt
2963of late specially drawn to him by the fact that in his imagination he
2964was associated with Kitty.
2965
2966"Well, what do you say? Shall we give a supper on Sunday for the
2967_diva?_" he said to him with a smile, taking his arm.
2968
2969"Of course. I'm collecting subscriptions. Oh, did you make the
2970acquaintance of my friend Levin?" asked Stepan Arkadyevitch.
2971
2972"Yes; but he left rather early."
2973
2974"He's a capital fellow," pursued Oblonsky. "Isn't he?"
2975
2976"I don't know why it is," responded Vronsky, "in all Moscow
2977people--present company of course excepted," he put in jestingly,
2978"there's something uncompromising. They are all on the defensive, lose
2979their tempers, as though they all want to make one feel something..."
2980
2981"Yes, that's true, it is so," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, laughing
2982good-humoredly.
2983
2984"Will the train soon be in?" Vronsky asked a railway official.
2985
2986"The train's signaled," answered the man.
2987
2988The approach of the train was more and more evident by the preparatory
2989bustle in the station, the rush of porters, the movement of policemen
2990and attendants, and people meeting the train. Through the frosty vapor
2991could be seen workmen in short sheepskins and soft felt boots crossing
2992the rails of the curving line. The hiss of the boiler could be heard on
2993the distant rails, and the rumble of something heavy.
2994
2995"No," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, who felt a great inclination to tell
2996Vronsky of Levin's intentions in regard to Kitty. "No, you've not got a
2997true impression of Levin. He's a very nervous man, and is sometimes out
2998of humor, it's true, but then he is often very nice. He's such a true,
2999honest nature, and a heart of gold. But yesterday there were special
3000reasons," pursued Stepan Arkadyevitch, with a meaning smile, totally
3001oblivious of the genuine sympathy he had felt the day before for his
3002friend, and feeling the same sympathy now, only for Vronsky. "Yes, there
3003were reasons why he could not help being either particularly happy or
3004particularly unhappy."
3005
3006Vronsky stood still and asked directly: "How so? Do you mean he made
3007your _belle-soeur_ an offer yesterday?"
3008
3009"Maybe," said Stepan Arkadyevitch. "I fancied something of the sort
3010yesterday. Yes, if he went away early, and was out of humor too, it must
3011mean it.... He's been so long in love, and I'm very sorry for him."
3012
3013"So that's it! I should imagine, though, she might reckon on a better
3014match," said Vronsky, drawing himself up and walking about again,
3015"though I don't know him, of course," he added. "Yes, that is a hateful
3016position! That's why most fellows prefer to have to do with Klaras. If
3017you don't succeed with them it only proves that you've not enough cash,
3018but in this case one's dignity's at stake. But here's the train."
3019
3020The engine had already whistled in the distance. A few instants later
3021the platform was quivering, and with puffs of steam hanging low in the
3022air from the frost, the engine rolled up, with the lever of the middle
3023wheel rhythmically moving up and down, and the stooping figure of the
3024engine-driver covered with frost. Behind the tender, setting the
3025platform more and more slowly swaying, came the luggage van with a dog
3026whining in it. At last the passenger carriages rolled in, oscillating
3027before coming to a standstill.
3028
3029A smart guard jumped out, giving a whistle, and after him one by one the
3030impatient passengers began to get down: an officer of the guards,
3031holding himself erect, and looking severely about him; a nimble little
3032merchant with a satchel, smiling gaily; a peasant with a sack over his
3033shoulder.
3034
3035Vronsky, standing beside Oblonsky, watched the carriages and the
3036passengers, totally oblivious of his mother. What he had just heard
3037about Kitty excited and delighted him. Unconsciously he arched his
3038chest, and his eyes flashed. He felt himself a conqueror.
3039
3040"Countess Vronskaya is in that compartment," said the smart guard, going
3041up to Vronsky.
3042
3043The guard's words roused him, and forced him to think of his mother and
3044his approaching meeting with her. He did not in his heart respect his
3045mother, and without acknowledging it to himself, he did not love her,
3046though in accordance with the ideas of the set in which he lived, and
3047with his own education, he could not have conceived of any behavior to
3048his mother not in the highest degree respectful and obedient, and the
3049more externally obedient and respectful his behavior, the less in his
3050heart he respected and loved her.
3051
3052
3053
3054Chapter 18
3055
3056
3057Vronsky followed the guard to the carriage, and at the door of the
3058compartment he stopped short to make room for a lady who was getting
3059out.
3060
3061With the insight of a man of the world, from one glance at this lady's
3062appearance Vronsky classified her as belonging to the best society. He
3063begged pardon, and was getting into the carriage, but felt he must
3064glance at her once more; not that she was very beautiful, not on account
3065of the elegance and modest grace which were apparent in her whole
3066figure, but because in the expression of her charming face, as she
3067passed close by him, there was something peculiarly caressing and soft.
3068As he looked round, she too turned her head. Her shining gray eyes, that
3069looked dark from the thick lashes, rested with friendly attention on his
3070face, as though she were recognizing him, and then promptly turned away
3071to the passing crowd, as though seeking someone. In that brief look
3072Vronsky had time to notice the suppressed eagerness which played over
3073her face, and flitted between the brilliant eyes and the faint smile
3074that curved her red lips. It was as though her nature were so brimming
3075over with something that against her will it showed itself now in the
3076flash of her eyes, and now in her smile. Deliberately she shrouded the
3077light in her eyes, but it shone against her will in the faintly
3078perceptible smile.
3079
3080Vronsky stepped into the carriage. His mother, a dried-up old lady with
3081black eyes and ringlets, screwed up her eyes, scanning her son, and
3082smiled slightly with her thin lips. Getting up from the seat and handing
3083her maid a bag, she gave her little wrinkled hand to her son to kiss,
3084and lifting his head from her hand, kissed him on the cheek.
3085
3086"You got my telegram? Quite well? Thank God."
3087
3088"You had a good journey?" said her son, sitting down beside her, and
3089involuntarily listening to a woman's voice outside the door. He knew it
3090was the voice of the lady he had met at the door.
3091
3092"All the same I don't agree with you," said the lady's voice.
3093
3094"It's the Petersburg view, madame."
3095
3096"Not Petersburg, but simply feminine," she responded.
3097
3098"Well, well, allow me to kiss your hand."
3099
3100"Good-bye, Ivan Petrovitch. And could you see if my brother is here, and
3101send him to me?" said the lady in the doorway, and stepped back again
3102into the compartment.
3103
3104"Well, have you found your brother?" said Countess Vronskaya, addressing
3105the lady.
3106
3107Vronsky understood now that this was Madame Karenina.
3108
3109"Your brother is here," he said, standing up. "Excuse me, I did not know
3110you, and, indeed, our acquaintance was so slight," said Vronsky, bowing,
3111"that no doubt you do not remember me."
3112
3113"Oh, no," said she, "I should have known you because your mother and I
3114have been talking, I think, of nothing but you all the way." As she
3115spoke she let the eagerness that would insist on coming out show itself
3116in her smile. "And still no sign of my brother."
3117
3118"Do call him, Alexey," said the old countess. Vronsky stepped out onto
3119the platform and shouted:
3120
3121"Oblonsky! Here!"
3122
3123Madame Karenina, however, did not wait for her brother, but catching
3124sight of him she stepped out with her light, resolute step. And as soon
3125as her brother had reached her, with a gesture that struck Vronsky by
3126its decision and its grace, she flung her left arm around his neck, drew
3127him rapidly to her, and kissed him warmly. Vronsky gazed, never taking
3128his eyes from her, and smiled, he could not have said why. But
3129recollecting that his mother was waiting for him, he went back again
3130into the carriage.
3131
3132"She's very sweet, isn't she?" said the countess of Madame Karenina.
3133"Her husband put her with me, and I was delighted to have her. We've
3134been talking all the way. And so you, I hear ... _vous filez le parfait
3135amour. Tant mieux, mon cher, tant mieux._"
3136
3137"I don't know what you are referring to, maman," he answered coldly.
3138"Come, maman, let us go."
3139
3140Madame Karenina entered the carriage again to say good-bye to the
3141countess.
3142
3143"Well, countess, you have met your son, and I my brother," she said.
3144"And all my gossip is exhausted. I should have nothing more to tell
3145you."
3146
3147"Oh, no," said the countess, taking her hand. "I could go all around the
3148world with you and never be dull. You are one of those delightful women
3149in whose company it's sweet to be silent as well as to talk. Now please
3150don't fret over your son; you can't expect never to be parted."
3151
3152Madame Karenina stood quite still, holding herself very erect, and her
3153eyes were smiling.
3154
3155"Anna Arkadyevna," the countess said in explanation to her son, "has a
3156little son eight years old, I believe, and she has never been parted
3157from him before, and she keeps fretting over leaving him."
3158
3159"Yes, the countess and I have been talking all the time, I of my son and
3160she of hers," said Madame Karenina, and again a smile lighted up her
3161face, a caressing smile intended for him.
3162
3163"I am afraid that you must have been dreadfully bored," he said,
3164promptly catching the ball of coquetry she had flung him. But apparently
3165she did not care to pursue the conversation in that strain, and she
3166turned to the old countess.
3167
3168"Thank you so much. The time has passed so quickly. Good-bye, countess."
3169
3170"Good-bye, my love," answered the countess. "Let me have a kiss of your
3171pretty face. I speak plainly, at my age, and I tell you simply that I've
3172lost my heart to you."
3173
3174Stereotyped as the phrase was, Madame Karenina obviously believed it and
3175was delighted by it. She flushed, bent down slightly, and put her cheek
3176to the countess's lips, drew herself up again, and with the same smile
3177fluttering between her lips and her eyes, she gave her hand to Vronsky.
3178He pressed the little hand she gave him, and was delighted, as though at
3179something special, by the energetic squeeze with which she freely and
3180vigorously shook his hand. She went out with the rapid step which bore
3181her rather fully-developed figure with such strange lightness.
3182
3183"Very charming," said the countess.
3184
3185That was just what her son was thinking. His eyes followed her till her
3186graceful figure was out of sight, and then the smile remained on his
3187face. He saw out of the window how she went up to her brother, put her
3188arm in his, and began telling him something eagerly, obviously something
3189that had nothing to do with him, Vronsky, and at that he felt annoyed.
3190
3191"Well, maman, are you perfectly well?" he repeated, turning to his
3192mother.
3193
3194"Everything has been delightful. Alexander has been very good, and Marie
3195has grown very pretty. She's very interesting."
3196
3197And she began telling him again of what interested her most--the
3198christening of her grandson, for which she had been staying in
3199Petersburg, and the special favor shown her elder son by the Tsar.
3200
3201"Here's Lavrenty," said Vronsky, looking out of the window; "now we can
3202go, if you like."
3203
3204The old butler who had traveled with the countess, came to the carriage
3205to announce that everything was ready, and the countess got up to go.
3206
3207"Come; there's not such a crowd now," said Vronsky.
3208
3209The maid took a handbag and the lap dog, the butler and a porter the
3210other baggage. Vronsky gave his mother his arm; but just as they were
3211getting out of the carriage several men ran suddenly by with
3212panic-stricken faces. The station-master, too, ran by in his
3213extraordinary colored cap. Obviously something unusual had happened. The
3214crowd who had left the train were running back again.
3215
3216"What?... What?... Where?... Flung himself!... Crushed!..." was heard
3217among the crowd. Stepan Arkadyevitch, with his sister on his arm, turned
3218back. They too looked scared, and stopped at the carriage door to avoid
3219the crowd.
3220
3221The ladies got in, while Vronsky and Stepan Arkadyevitch followed the
3222crowd to find out details of the disaster.
3223
3224A guard, either drunk or too much muffled up in the bitter frost, had
3225not heard the train moving back, and had been crushed.
3226
3227Before Vronsky and Oblonsky came back the ladies heard the facts from
3228the butler.
3229
3230Oblonsky and Vronsky had both seen the mutilated corpse. Oblonsky was
3231evidently upset. He frowned and seemed ready to cry.
3232
3233"Ah, how awful! Ah, Anna, if you had seen it! Ah, how awful!" he said.
3234
3235Vronsky did not speak; his handsome face was serious, but perfectly
3236composed.
3237
3238"Oh, if you had seen it, countess," said Stepan Arkadyevitch. "And his
3239wife was there.... It was awful to see her!.... She flung herself on the
3240body. They say he was the only support of an immense family. How awful!"
3241
3242"Couldn't one do anything for her?" said Madame Karenina in an agitated
3243whisper.
3244
3245Vronsky glanced at her, and immediately got out of the carriage.
3246
3247"I'll be back directly, maman," he remarked, turning round in the
3248doorway.
3249
3250When he came back a few minutes later, Stepan Arkadyevitch was already
3251in conversation with the countess about the new singer, while the
3252countess was impatiently looking towards the door, waiting for her son.
3253
3254"Now let us be off," said Vronsky, coming in. They went out together.
3255Vronsky was in front with his mother. Behind walked Madame Karenina with
3256her brother. Just as they were going out of the station the
3257station-master overtook Vronsky.
3258
3259"You gave my assistant two hundred roubles. Would you kindly explain for
3260whose benefit you intend them?"
3261
3262"For the widow," said Vronsky, shrugging his shoulders. "I should have
3263thought there was no need to ask."
3264
3265"You gave that?" cried Oblonsky, behind, and, pressing his sister's
3266hand, he added: "Very nice, very nice! Isn't he a splendid fellow?
3267Good-bye, countess."
3268
3269And he and his sister stood still, looking for her maid.
3270
3271When they went out the Vronsky's carriage had already driven away.
3272People coming in were still talking of what happened.
3273
3274"What a horrible death!" said a gentleman, passing by. "They say he was
3275cut in two pieces."
3276
3277"On the contrary, I think it's the easiest--instantaneous," observed
3278another.
3279
3280"How is it they don't take proper precautions?" said a third.
3281
3282Madame Karenina seated herself in the carriage, and Stepan Arkadyevitch
3283saw with surprise that her lips were quivering, and she was with
3284difficulty restraining her tears.
3285
3286"What is it, Anna?" he asked, when they had driven a few hundred yards.
3287
3288"It's an omen of evil," she said.
3289
3290"What nonsense!" said Stepan Arkadyevitch. "You've come, that's the
3291chief thing. You can't conceive how I'm resting my hopes on you."
3292
3293"Have you known Vronsky long?" she asked.
3294
3295"Yes. You know we're hoping he will marry Kitty."
3296
3297"Yes?" said Anna softly. "Come now, let us talk of you," she added,
3298tossing her head, as though she would physically shake off something
3299superfluous oppressing her. "Let us talk of your affairs. I got your
3300letter, and here I am."
3301
3302"Yes, all my hopes are in you," said Stepan Arkadyevitch.
3303
3304"Well, tell me all about it."
3305
3306And Stepan Arkadyevitch began to tell his story.
3307
3308On reaching home Oblonsky helped his sister out, sighed, pressed her
3309hand, and set off to his office.
3310
3311
3312
3313Chapter 19
3314
3315
3316When Anna went into the room, Dolly was sitting in the little
3317drawing-room with a white-headed fat little boy, already like his
3318father, giving him a lesson in French reading. As the boy read, he kept
3319twisting and trying to tear off a button that was nearly off his jacket.
3320His mother had several times taken his hand from it, but the fat little
3321hand went back to the button again. His mother pulled the button off and
3322put it in her pocket.
3323
3324"Keep your hands still, Grisha," she said, and she took up her work, a
3325coverlet she had long been making. She always set to work on it at
3326depressed moments, and now she knitted at it nervously, twitching her
3327fingers and counting the stitches. Though she had sent word the day
3328before to her husband that it was nothing to her whether his sister came
3329or not, she had made everything ready for her arrival, and was expecting
3330her sister-in-law with emotion.
3331
3332Dolly was crushed by her sorrow, utterly swallowed up by it. Still she
3333did not forget that Anna, her sister-in-law, was the wife of one of the
3334most important personages in Petersburg, and was a Petersburg _grande
3335dame_. And, thanks to this circumstance, she did not carry out her
3336threat to her husband--that is to say, she remembered that her
3337sister-in-law was coming. "And, after all, Anna is in no wise to blame,"
3338thought Dolly. "I know nothing of her except the very best, and I have
3339seen nothing but kindness and affection from her towards myself." It was
3340true that as far as she could recall her impressions at Petersburg at
3341the Karenins', she did not like their household itself; there was
3342something artificial in the whole framework of their family life. "But
3343why should I not receive her? If only she doesn't take it into her head
3344to console me!" thought Dolly. "All consolation and counsel and
3345Christian forgiveness, all that I have thought over a thousand times,
3346and it's all no use."
3347
3348All these days Dolly had been alone with her children. She did not want
3349to talk of her sorrow, but with that sorrow in her heart she could not
3350talk of outside matters. She knew that in one way or another she would
3351tell Anna everything, and she was alternately glad at the thought of
3352speaking freely, and angry at the necessity of speaking of her
3353humiliation with her, his sister, and of hearing her ready-made phrases
3354of good advice and comfort. She had been on the lookout for her,
3355glancing at her watch every minute, and, as so often happens, let slip
3356just that minute when her visitor arrived, so that she did not hear the
3357bell.
3358
3359Catching a sound of skirts and light steps at the door, she looked
3360round, and her care-worn face unconsciously expressed not gladness, but
3361wonder. She got up and embraced her sister-in-law.
3362
3363"What, here already!" she said as she kissed her.
3364
3365"Dolly, how glad I am to see you!"
3366
3367"I am glad, too," said Dolly, faintly smiling, and trying by the
3368expression of Anna's face to find out whether she knew. "Most likely she
3369knows," she thought, noticing the sympathy in Anna's face. "Well, come
3370along, I'll take you to your room," she went on, trying to defer as long
3371as possible the moment of confidences.
3372
3373"Is this Grisha? Heavens, how he's grown!" said Anna; and kissing him,
3374never taking her eyes off Dolly, she stood still and flushed a little.
3375"No, please, let us stay here."
3376
3377She took off her kerchief and her hat, and catching it in a lock of her
3378black hair, which was a mass of curls, she tossed her head and shook her
3379hair down.
3380
3381"You are radiant with health and happiness!" said Dolly, almost with
3382envy.
3383
3384"I?.... Yes," said Anna. "Merciful heavens, Tanya! You're the same age
3385as my Seryozha," she added, addressing the little girl as she ran in.
3386She took her in her arms and kissed her. "Delightful child, delightful!
3387Show me them all."
3388
3389She mentioned them, not only remembering the names, but the years,
3390months, characters, illnesses of all the children, and Dolly could not
3391but appreciate that.
3392
3393"Very well, we will go to them," she said. "It's a pity Vassya's
3394asleep."
3395
3396After seeing the children, they sat down, alone now, in the drawing
3397room, to coffee. Anna took the tray, and then pushed it away from her.
3398
3399"Dolly," she said, "he has told me."
3400
3401Dolly looked coldly at Anna; she was waiting now for phrases of
3402conventional sympathy, but Anna said nothing of the sort.
3403
3404"Dolly, dear," she said, "I don't want to speak for him to you, nor to
3405try to comfort you; that's impossible. But, darling, I'm simply sorry,
3406sorry from my heart for you!"
3407
3408Under the thick lashes of her shining eyes tears suddenly glittered. She
3409moved nearer to her sister-in-law and took her hand in her vigorous
3410little hand. Dolly did not shrink away, but her face did not lose its
3411frigid expression. She said:
3412
3413"To comfort me's impossible. Everything's lost after what has happened,
3414everything's over!"
3415
3416And directly she had said this, her face suddenly softened. Anna lifted
3417the wasted, thin hand of Dolly, kissed it and said:
3418
3419"But, Dolly, what's to be done, what's to be done? How is it best to act
3420in this awful position--that's what you must think of."
3421
3422"All's over, and there's nothing more," said Dolly. "And the worst of
3423all is, you see, that I can't cast him off: there are the children, I am
3424tied. And I can't live with him! it's a torture to me to see him."
3425
3426"Dolly, darling, he has spoken to me, but I want to hear it from you:
3427tell me about it."
3428
3429Dolly looked at her inquiringly.
3430
3431Sympathy and love unfeigned were visible on Anna's face.
3432
3433"Very well," she said all at once. "But I will tell you it from the
3434beginning. You know how I was married. With the education mamma gave us
3435I was more than innocent, I was stupid. I knew nothing. I know they say
3436men tell their wives of their former lives, but Stiva"--she corrected
3437herself--"Stepan Arkadyevitch told me nothing. You'll hardly believe it,
3438but till now I imagined that I was the only woman he had known. So I
3439lived eight years. You must understand that I was so far from suspecting
3440infidelity, I regarded it as impossible, and then--try to imagine
3441it--with such ideas, to find out suddenly all the horror, all the
3442loathsomeness.... You must try and understand me. To be fully convinced
3443of one's happiness, and all at once..." continued Dolly, holding back
3444her sobs, "to get a letter ... his letter to his mistress, my governess.
3445No, it's too awful!" She hastily pulled out her handkerchief and hid her
3446face in it. "I can understand being carried away by feeling," she went
3447on after a brief silence, "but deliberately, slyly deceiving me ... and
3448with whom?... To go on being my husband together with her ... it's
3449awful! You can't understand..."
3450
3451"Oh, yes, I understand! I understand! Dolly, dearest, I do understand,"
3452said Anna, pressing her hand.
3453
3454"And do you imagine he realizes all the awfulness of my position?" Dolly
3455resumed. "Not the slightest! He's happy and contented."
3456
3457"Oh, no!" Anna interposed quickly. "He's to be pitied, he's weighed down
3458by remorse..."
3459
3460"Is he capable of remorse?" Dolly interrupted, gazing intently into her
3461sister-in-law's face.
3462
3463"Yes. I know him. I could not look at him without feeling sorry for him.
3464We both know him. He's good-hearted, but he's proud, and now he's so
3465humiliated. What touched me most..." (and here Anna guessed what would
3466touch Dolly most) "he's tortured by two things: that he's ashamed for
3467the children's sake, and that, loving you--yes, yes, loving you beyond
3468everything on earth," she hurriedly interrupted Dolly, who would have
3469answered--"he has hurt you, pierced you to the heart. 'No, no, she
3470cannot forgive me,' he keeps saying."
3471
3472Dolly looked dreamily away beyond her sister-in-law as she listened to
3473her words.
3474
3475"Yes, I can see that his position is awful; it's worse for the guilty
3476than the innocent," she said, "if he feels that all the misery comes
3477from his fault. But how am I to forgive him, how am I to be his wife
3478again after her? For me to live with him now would be torture, just
3479because I love my past love for him..."
3480
3481And sobs cut short her words. But as though of set design, each time she
3482was softened she began to speak again of what exasperated her.
3483
3484"She's young, you see, she's pretty," she went on. "Do you know, Anna,
3485my youth and my beauty are gone, taken by whom? By him and his children.
3486I have worked for him, and all I had has gone in his service, and now of
3487course any fresh, vulgar creature has more charm for him. No doubt they
3488talked of me together, or, worse still, they were silent. Do you
3489understand?"
3490
3491Again her eyes glowed with hatred.
3492
3493"And after that he will tell me.... What! can I believe him? Never! No,
3494everything is over, everything that once made my comfort, the reward of
3495my work, and my sufferings.... Would you believe it, I was teaching
3496Grisha just now: once this was a joy to me, now it is a torture. What
3497have I to strive and toil for? Why are the children here? What's so
3498awful is that all at once my heart's turned, and instead of love and
3499tenderness, I have nothing but hatred for him; yes, hatred. I could kill
3500him."
3501
3502"Darling Dolly, I understand, but don't torture yourself. You are so
3503distressed, so overwrought, that you look at many things mistakenly."
3504
3505Dolly grew calmer, and for two minutes both were silent.
3506
3507"What's to be done? Think for me, Anna, help me. I have thought over
3508everything, and I see nothing."
3509
3510Anna could think of nothing, but her heart responded instantly to each
3511word, to each change of expression of her sister-in-law.
3512
3513"One thing I would say," began Anna. "I am his sister, I know his
3514character, that faculty of forgetting everything, everything" (she waved
3515her hand before her forehead), "that faculty for being completely
3516carried away, but for completely repenting too. He cannot believe it, he
3517cannot comprehend now how he can have acted as he did."
3518
3519"No; he understands, he understood!" Dolly broke in. "But I ... you are
3520forgetting me ... does it make it easier for me?"
3521
3522"Wait a minute. When he told me, I will own I did not realize all the
3523awfulness of your position. I saw nothing but him, and that the family
3524was broken up. I felt sorry for him, but after talking to you, I see it,
3525as a woman, quite differently. I see your agony, and I can't tell you
3526how sorry I am for you! But, Dolly, darling, I fully realize your
3527sufferings, only there is one thing I don't know; I don't know ... I
3528don't know how much love there is still in your heart for him. That you
3529know--whether there is enough for you to be able to forgive him. If
3530there is, forgive him!"
3531
3532"No," Dolly was beginning, but Anna cut her short, kissing her hand once
3533more.
3534
3535"I know more of the world than you do," she said. "I know how men like
3536Stiva look at it. You speak of his talking of you with her. That never
3537happened. Such men are unfaithful, but their home and wife are sacred to
3538them. Somehow or other these women are still looked on with contempt by
3539them, and do not touch on their feeling for their family. They draw a
3540sort of line that can't be crossed between them and their families. I
3541don't understand it, but it is so."
3542
3543"Yes, but he has kissed her..."
3544
3545"Dolly, hush, darling. I saw Stiva when he was in love with you. I
3546remember the time when he came to me and cried, talking of you, and all
3547the poetry and loftiness of his feeling for you, and I know that the
3548longer he has lived with you the loftier you have been in his eyes. You
3549know we have sometimes laughed at him for putting in at every word:
3550'Dolly's a marvelous woman.' You have always been a divinity for him,
3551and you are that still, and this has not been an infidelity of the
3552heart..."
3553
3554"But if it is repeated?"
3555
3556"It cannot be, as I understand it..."
3557
3558"Yes, but could you forgive it?"
3559
3560"I don't know, I can't judge.... Yes, I can," said Anna, thinking a
3561moment; and grasping the position in her thought and weighing it in her
3562inner balance, she added: "Yes, I can, I can, I can. Yes, I could
3563forgive it. I could not be the same, no; but I could forgive it, and
3564forgive it as though it had never been, never been at all..."
3565
3566"Oh, of course," Dolly interposed quickly, as though saying what she had
3567more than once thought, "else it would not be forgiveness. If one
3568forgives, it must be completely, completely. Come, let us go; I'll take
3569you to your room," she said, getting up, and on the way she embraced
3570Anna. "My dear, how glad I am you came. It has made things better, ever
3571so much better."
3572
3573
3574
3575Chapter 20
3576
3577
3578The whole of that day Anna spent at home, that's to say at the
3579Oblonskys', and received no one, though some of her acquaintances had
3580already heard of her arrival, and came to call the same day. Anna spent
3581the whole morning with Dolly and the children. She merely sent a brief
3582note to her brother to tell him that he must not fail to dine at home.
3583"Come, God is merciful," she wrote.
3584
3585Oblonsky did dine at home: the conversation was general, and his wife,
3586speaking to him, addressed him as "Stiva," as she had not done before.
3587In the relations of the husband and wife the same estrangement still
3588remained, but there was no talk now of separation, and Stepan
3589Arkadyevitch saw the possibility of explanation and reconciliation.
3590
3591Immediately after dinner Kitty came in. She knew Anna Arkadyevna, but
3592only very slightly, and she came now to her sister's with some
3593trepidation, at the prospect of meeting this fashionable Petersburg
3594lady, whom everyone spoke so highly of. But she made a favorable
3595impression on Anna Arkadyevna--she saw that at once. Anna was
3596unmistakably admiring her loveliness and her youth: before Kitty knew
3597where she was she found herself not merely under Anna's sway, but in
3598love with her, as young girls do fall in love with older and married
3599women. Anna was not like a fashionable lady, nor the mother of a boy of
3600eight years old. In the elasticity of her movements, the freshness and
3601the unflagging eagerness which persisted in her face, and broke out in
3602her smile and her glance, she would rather have passed for a girl of
3603twenty, had it not been for a serious and at times mournful look in her
3604eyes, which struck and attracted Kitty. Kitty felt that Anna was
3605perfectly simple and was concealing nothing, but that she had another
3606higher world of interests inaccessible to her, complex and poetic.
3607
3608After dinner, when Dolly went away to her own room, Anna rose quickly
3609and went up to her brother, who was just lighting a cigar.
3610
3611"Stiva," she said to him, winking gaily, crossing him and glancing
3612towards the door, "go, and God help you."
3613
3614He threw down the cigar, understanding her, and departed through the
3615doorway.
3616
3617When Stepan Arkadyevitch had disappeared, she went back to the sofa
3618where she had been sitting, surrounded by the children. Either because
3619the children saw that their mother was fond of this aunt, or that they
3620felt a special charm in her themselves, the two elder ones, and the
3621younger following their lead, as children so often do, had clung about
3622their new aunt since before dinner, and would not leave her side. And it
3623had become a sort of game among them to sit a close as possible to their
3624aunt, to touch her, hold her little hand, kiss it, play with her ring,
3625or even touch the flounce of her skirt.
3626
3627"Come, come, as we were sitting before," said Anna Arkadyevna, sitting
3628down in her place.
3629
3630And again Grisha poked his little face under her arm, and nestled with
3631his head on her gown, beaming with pride and happiness.
3632
3633"And when is your next ball?" she asked Kitty.
3634
3635"Next week, and a splendid ball. One of those balls where one always
3636enjoys oneself."
3637
3638"Why, are there balls where one always enjoys oneself?" Anna said, with
3639tender irony.
3640
3641"It's strange, but there are. At the Bobrishtchevs' one always enjoys
3642oneself, and at the Nikitins' too, while at the Mezhkovs' it's always
3643dull. Haven't you noticed it?"
3644
3645"No, my dear, for me there are no balls now where one enjoys oneself,"
3646said Anna, and Kitty detected in her eyes that mysterious world which
3647was not open to her. "For me there are some less dull and tiresome."
3648
3649"How can _you_ be dull at a ball?"
3650
3651"Why should not _I_ be dull at a ball?" inquired Anna.
3652
3653Kitty perceived that Anna knew what answer would follow.
3654
3655"Because you always look nicer than anyone."
3656
3657Anna had the faculty of blushing. She blushed a little, and said:
3658
3659"In the first place it's never so; and secondly, if it were, what
3660difference would it make to me?"
3661
3662"Are you coming to this ball?" asked Kitty.
3663
3664"I imagine it won't be possible to avoid going. Here, take it," she said
3665to Tanya, who was pulling the loosely-fitting ring off her white,
3666slender-tipped finger.
3667
3668"I shall be so glad if you go. I should so like to see you at a ball."
3669
3670"Anyway, if I do go, I shall comfort myself with the thought that it's a
3671pleasure to you ... Grisha, don't pull my hair. It's untidy enough
3672without that," she said, putting up a straying lock, which Grisha had
3673been playing with.
3674
3675"I imagine you at the ball in lilac."
3676
3677"And why in lilac precisely?" asked Anna, smiling. "Now, children, run
3678along, run along. Do you hear? Miss Hoole is calling you to tea," she
3679said, tearing the children from her, and sending them off to the dining
3680room.
3681
3682"I know why you press me to come to the ball. You expect a great deal of
3683this ball, and you want everyone to be there to take part in it."
3684
3685"How do you know? Yes."
3686
3687"Oh! what a happy time you are at," pursued Anna. "I remember, and I
3688know that blue haze like the mist on the mountains in Switzerland. That
3689mist which covers everything in that blissful time when childhood is
3690just ending, and out of that vast circle, happy and gay, there is a path
3691growing narrower and narrower, and it is delightful and alarming to
3692enter the ballroom, bright and splendid as it is.... Who has not been
3693through it?"
3694
3695Kitty smiled without speaking. "But how did she go through it? How I
3696should like to know all her love story!" thought Kitty, recalling the
3697unromantic appearance of Alexey Alexandrovitch, her husband.
3698
3699"I know something. Stiva told me, and I congratulate you. I liked him so
3700much," Anna continued. "I met Vronsky at the railway station."
3701
3702"Oh, was he there?" asked Kitty, blushing. "What was it Stiva told you?"
3703
3704"Stiva gossiped about it all. And I should be so glad ... I traveled
3705yesterday with Vronsky's mother," she went on; "and his mother talked
3706without a pause of him, he's her favorite. I know mothers are partial,
3707but..."
3708
3709"What did his mother tell you?"
3710
3711"Oh, a great deal! And I know that he's her favorite; still one can see
3712how chivalrous he is.... Well, for instance, she told me that he had
3713wanted to give up all his property to his brother, that he had done
3714something extraordinary when he was quite a child, saved a woman out of
3715the water. He's a hero, in fact," said Anna, smiling and recollecting
3716the two hundred roubles he had given at the station.
3717
3718But she did not tell Kitty about the two hundred roubles. For some
3719reason it was disagreeable to her to think of it. She felt that there
3720was something that had to do with her in it, and something that ought
3721not to have been.
3722
3723"She pressed me very much to go and see her," Anna went on; "and I shall
3724be glad to go to see her tomorrow. Stiva is staying a long while in
3725Dolly's room, thank God," Anna added, changing the subject, and getting
3726up, Kitty fancied, displeased with something.
3727
3728"No, I'm first! No, I!" screamed the children, who had finished tea,
3729running up to their Aunt Anna.
3730
3731"All together," said Anna, and she ran laughing to meet them, and
3732embraced and swung round all the throng of swarming children, shrieking
3733with delight.
3734
3735
3736
3737Chapter 21
3738
3739
3740Dolly came out of her room to the tea of the grown-up people. Stepan
3741Arkadyevitch did not come out. He must have left his wife's room by the
3742other door.
3743
3744"I am afraid you'll be cold upstairs," observed Dolly, addressing Anna;
3745"I want to move you downstairs, and we shall be nearer."
3746
3747"Oh, please, don't trouble about me," answered Anna, looking intently
3748into Dolly's face, trying to make out whether there had been a
3749reconciliation or not.
3750
3751"It will be lighter for you here," answered her sister-in-law.
3752
3753"I assure you that I sleep everywhere, and always like a marmot."
3754
3755"What's the question?" inquired Stepan Arkadyevitch, coming out of his
3756room and addressing his wife.
3757
3758From his tone both Kitty and Anna knew that a reconciliation had taken
3759place.
3760
3761"I want to move Anna downstairs, but we must hang up blinds. No one
3762knows how to do it; I must see to it myself," answered Dolly addressing
3763him.
3764
3765"God knows whether they are fully reconciled," thought Anna, hearing her
3766tone, cold and composed.
3767
3768"Oh, nonsense, Dolly, always making difficulties," answered her husband.
3769"Come, I'll do it all, if you like..."
3770
3771"Yes, they must be reconciled," thought Anna.
3772
3773"I know how you do everything," answered Dolly. "You tell Matvey to do
3774what can't be done, and go away yourself, leaving him to make a muddle
3775of everything," and her habitual, mocking smile curved the corners of
3776Dolly's lips as she spoke.
3777
3778"Full, full reconciliation, full," thought Anna; "thank God!" and
3779rejoicing that she was the cause of it, she went up to Dolly and kissed
3780her.
3781
3782"Not at all. Why do you always look down on me and Matvey?" said Stepan
3783Arkadyevitch, smiling hardly perceptibly, and addressing his wife.
3784
3785The whole evening Dolly was, as always, a little mocking in her tone to
3786her husband, while Stepan Arkadyevitch was happy and cheerful, but not
3787so as to seem as though, having been forgiven, he had forgotten his
3788offense.
3789
3790At half-past nine o'clock a particularly joyful and pleasant family
3791conversation over the tea-table at the Oblonskys' was broken up by an
3792apparently simple incident. But this simple incident for some reason
3793struck everyone as strange. Talking about common acquaintances in
3794Petersburg, Anna got up quickly.
3795
3796"She is in my album," she said; "and, by the way, I'll show you my
3797Seryozha," she added, with a mother's smile of pride.
3798
3799Towards ten o'clock, when she usually said good-night to her son, and
3800often before going to a ball put him to bed herself, she felt depressed
3801at being so far from him; and whatever she was talking about, she kept
3802coming back in thought to her curly-headed Seryozha. She longed to look
3803at his photograph and talk of him. Seizing the first pretext, she got
3804up, and with her light, resolute step went for her album. The stairs up
3805to her room came out on the landing of the great warm main staircase.
3806
3807Just as she was leaving the drawing room, a ring was heard in the hall.
3808
3809"Who can that be?" said Dolly.
3810
3811"It's early for me to be fetched, and for anyone else it's late,"
3812observed Kitty.
3813
3814"Sure to be someone with papers for me," put in Stepan Arkadyevitch.
3815When Anna was passing the top of the staircase, a servant was running up
3816to announce the visitor, while the visitor himself was standing under a
3817lamp. Anna glancing down at once recognized Vronsky, and a strange
3818feeling of pleasure and at the same time of dread of something stirred
3819in her heart. He was standing still, not taking off his coat, pulling
3820something out of his pocket. At the instant when she was just facing the
3821stairs, he raised his eyes, caught sight of her, and into the expression
3822of his face there passed a shade of embarrassment and dismay. With a
3823slight inclination of her head she passed, hearing behind her Stepan
3824Arkadyevitch's loud voice calling him to come up, and the quiet, soft,
3825and composed voice of Vronsky refusing.
3826
3827When Anna returned with the album, he was already gone, and Stepan
3828Arkadyevitch was telling them that he had called to inquire about the
3829dinner they were giving next day to a celebrity who had just arrived.
3830"And nothing would induce him to come up. What a queer fellow he is!"
3831added Stepan Arkadyevitch.
3832
3833Kitty blushed. She thought that she was the only person who knew why he
3834had come, and why he would not come up. "He has been at home," she
3835thought, "and didn't find me, and thought I should be here, but he did
3836not come up because he thought it late, and Anna's here."
3837
3838All of them looked at each other, saying nothing, and began to look at
3839Anna's album.
3840
3841There was nothing either exceptional or strange in a man's calling at
3842half-past nine on a friend to inquire details of a proposed dinner party
3843and not coming in, but it seemed strange to all of them. Above all, it
3844seemed strange and not right to Anna.
3845
3846
3847
3848Chapter 22
3849
3850
3851The ball was only just beginning as Kitty and her mother walked up the
3852great staircase, flooded with light, and lined with flowers and footmen
3853in powder and red coats. From the rooms came a constant, steady hum, as
3854from a hive, and the rustle of movement; and while on the landing
3855between trees they gave last touches to their hair and dresses before
3856the mirror, they heard from the ballroom the careful, distinct notes of
3857the fiddles of the orchestra beginning the first waltz. A little old man
3858in civilian dress, arranging his gray curls before another mirror, and
3859diffusing an odor of scent, stumbled against them on the stairs, and
3860stood aside, evidently admiring Kitty, whom he did not know. A beardless
3861youth, one of those society youths whom the old Prince Shtcherbatsky
3862called "young bucks," in an exceedingly open waistcoat, straightening
3863his white tie as he went, bowed to them, and after running by, came back
3864to ask Kitty for a quadrille. As the first quadrille had already been
3865given to Vronsky, she had to promise this youth the second. An officer,
3866buttoning his glove, stood aside in the doorway, and stroking his
3867mustache, admired rosy Kitty.
3868
3869Although her dress, her coiffure, and all the preparations for the ball
3870had cost Kitty great trouble and consideration, at this moment she
3871walked into the ballroom in her elaborate tulle dress over a pink slip
3872as easily and simply as though all the rosettes and lace, all the minute
3873details of her attire, had not cost her or her family a moment's
3874attention, as though she had been born in that tulle and lace, with her
3875hair done up high on her head, and a rose and two leaves on the top of
3876it.
3877
3878When, just before entering the ballroom, the princess, her mother, tried
3879to turn right side out of the ribbon of her sash, Kitty had drawn back a
3880little. She felt that everything must be right of itself, and graceful,
3881and nothing could need setting straight.
3882
3883It was one of Kitty's best days. Her dress was not uncomfortable
3884anywhere; her lace berthe did not droop anywhere; her rosettes were not
3885crushed nor torn off; her pink slippers with high, hollowed-out heels
3886did not pinch, but gladdened her feet; and the thick rolls of fair
3887chignon kept up on her head as if they were her own hair. All the three
3888buttons buttoned up without tearing on the long glove that covered her
3889hand without concealing its lines. The black velvet of her locket
3890nestled with special softness round her neck. That velvet was delicious;
3891at home, looking at her neck in the looking glass, Kitty had felt that
3892that velvet was speaking. About all the rest there might be a doubt, but
3893the velvet was delicious. Kitty smiled here too, at the ball, when she
3894glanced at it in the glass. Her bare shoulders and arms gave Kitty a
3895sense of chill marble, a feeling she particularly liked. Her eyes
3896sparkled, and her rosy lips could not keep from smiling from the
3897consciousness of her own attractiveness. She had scarcely entered the
3898ballroom and reached the throng of ladies, all tulle, ribbons, lace, and
3899flowers, waiting to be asked to dance--Kitty was never one of that
3900throng--when she was asked for a waltz, and asked by the best partner,
3901the first star in the hierarchy of the ballroom, a renowned director of
3902dances, a married man, handsome and well-built, Yegorushka Korsunsky. He
3903had only just left the Countess Bonina, with whom he had danced the
3904first half of the waltz, and, scanning his kingdom--that is to say, a
3905few couples who had started dancing--he caught sight of Kitty, entering,
3906and flew up to her with that peculiar, easy amble which is confined to
3907directors of balls. Without even asking her if she cared to dance, he
3908put out his arm to encircle her slender waist. She looked round for
3909someone to give her fan to, and their hostess, smiling to her, took it.
3910
3911"How nice you've come in good time," he said to her, embracing her
3912waist; "such a bad habit to be late." Bending her left hand, she laid it
3913on his shoulder, and her little feet in their pink slippers began
3914swiftly, lightly, and rhythmically moving over the slippery floor in
3915time to the music.
3916
3917"It's a rest to waltz with you," he said to her, as they fell into the
3918first slow steps of the waltz. "It's exquisite--such lightness,
3919precision." He said to her the same thing he said to almost all his
3920partners whom he knew well.
3921
3922She smiled at his praise, and continued to look about the room over his
3923shoulder. She was not like a girl at her first ball, for whom all faces
3924in the ballroom melt into one vision of fairyland. And she was not a
3925girl who had gone the stale round of balls till every face in the
3926ballroom was familiar and tiresome. But she was in the middle stage
3927between these two; she was excited, and at the same time she had
3928sufficient self-possession to be able to observe. In the left corner of
3929the ballroom she saw the cream of society gathered together.
3930There--incredibly naked--was the beauty Lidi, Korsunsky's wife; there
3931was the lady of the house; there shone the bald head of Krivin, always
3932to be found where the best people were. In that direction gazed the
3933young men, not venturing to approach. There, too, she descried Stiva,
3934and there she saw the exquisite figure and head of Anna in a black
3935velvet gown. And _he_ was there. Kitty had not seen him since the
3936evening she refused Levin. With her long-sighted eyes, she knew him at
3937once, and was even aware that he was looking at her.
3938
3939"Another turn, eh? You're not tired?" said Korsunsky, a little out of
3940breath.
3941
3942"No, thank you!"
3943
3944"Where shall I take you?"
3945
3946"Madame Karenina's here, I think ... take me to her."
3947
3948"Wherever you command."
3949
3950And Korsunsky began waltzing with measured steps straight towards the
3951group in the left corner, continually saying, "Pardon, mesdames, pardon,
3952pardon, mesdames"; and steering his course through the sea of lace,
3953tulle, and ribbon, and not disarranging a feather, he turned his partner
3954sharply round, so that her slim ankles, in light transparent stockings,
3955were exposed to view, and her train floated out in fan shape and covered
3956Krivin's knees. Korsunsky bowed, set straight his open shirt front, and
3957gave her his arm to conduct her to Anna Arkadyevna. Kitty, flushed, took
3958her train from Krivin's knees, and, a little giddy, looked round,
3959seeking Anna. Anna was not in lilac, as Kitty had so urgently wished,
3960but in a black, low-cut, velvet gown, showing her full throat and
3961shoulders, that looked as though carved in old ivory, and her rounded
3962arms, with tiny, slender wrists. The whole gown was trimmed with
3963Venetian guipure. On her head, among her black hair--her own, with no
3964false additions--was a little wreath of pansies, and a bouquet of the
3965same in the black ribbon of her sash among white lace. Her coiffure was
3966not striking. All that was noticeable was the little wilful tendrils of
3967her curly hair that would always break free about her neck and temples.
3968Round her well-cut, strong neck was a thread of pearls.
3969
3970Kitty had been seeing Anna every day; she adored her, and had pictured
3971her invariably in lilac. But now seeing her in black, she felt that she
3972had not fully seen her charm. She saw her now as someone quite new and
3973surprising to her. Now she understood that Anna could not have been in
3974lilac, and that her charm was just that she always stood out against her
3975attire, that her dress could never be noticeable on her. And her black
3976dress, with its sumptuous lace, was not noticeable on her; it was only
3977the frame, and all that was seen was she--simple, natural, elegant, and
3978at the same time gay and eager.
3979
3980She was standing holding herself, as always, very erect, and when Kitty
3981drew near the group she was speaking to the master of the house, her
3982head slightly turned towards him.
3983
3984"No, I don't throw stones," she was saying, in answer to something,
3985"though I can't understand it," she went on, shrugging her shoulders,
3986and she turned at once with a soft smile of protection towards Kitty.
3987With a flying, feminine glance she scanned her attire, and made a
3988movement of her head, hardly perceptible, but understood by Kitty,
3989signifying approval of her dress and her looks. "You came into the room
3990dancing," she added.
3991
3992"This is one of my most faithful supporters," said Korsunsky, bowing to
3993Anna Arkadyevna, whom he had not yet seen. "The princess helps to make
3994balls happy and successful. Anna Arkadyevna, a waltz?" he said, bending
3995down to her.
3996
3997"Why, have you met?" inquired their host.
3998
3999"Is there anyone we have not met? My wife and I are like white
4000wolves--everyone knows us," answered Korsunsky. "A waltz, Anna
4001Arkadyevna?"
4002
4003"I don't dance when it's possible not to dance," she said.
4004
4005"But tonight it's impossible," answered Korsunsky.
4006
4007At that instant Vronsky came up.
4008
4009"Well, since it's impossible tonight, let us start," she said, not
4010noticing Vronsky's bow, and she hastily put her hand on Korsunsky's
4011shoulder.
4012
4013"What is she vexed with him about?" thought Kitty, discerning that Anna
4014had intentionally not responded to Vronsky's bow. Vronsky went up to
4015Kitty reminding her of the first quadrille, and expressing his regret
4016that he had not seen her all this time. Kitty gazed in admiration at
4017Anna waltzing, and listened to him. She expected him to ask her for a
4018waltz, but he did not, and she glanced wonderingly at him. He flushed
4019slightly, and hurriedly asked her to waltz, but he had only just put his
4020arm round her waist and taken the first step when the music suddenly
4021stopped. Kitty looked into his face, which was so close to her own, and
4022long afterwards--for several years after--that look, full of love, to
4023which he made no response, cut her to the heart with an agony of shame.
4024
4025"_Pardon! pardon!_ Waltz! waltz!" shouted Korsunsky from the other side
4026of the room, and seizing the first young lady he came across he began
4027dancing himself.
4028
4029
4030
4031Chapter 23
4032
4033
4034Vronsky and Kitty waltzed several times round the room. After the first
4035waltz Kitty went to her mother, and she had hardly time to say a few
4036words to Countess Nordston when Vronsky came up again for the first
4037quadrille. During the quadrille nothing of any significance was said:
4038there was disjointed talk between them of the Korsunskys, husband and
4039wife, whom he described very amusingly, as delightful children at forty,
4040and of the future town theater; and only once the conversation touched
4041her to the quick, when he asked her about Levin, whether he was here,
4042and added that he liked him so much. But Kitty did not expect much from
4043the quadrille. She looked forward with a thrill at her heart to the
4044mazurka. She fancied that in the mazurka everything must be decided. The
4045fact that he did not during the quadrille ask her for the mazurka did
4046not trouble her. She felt sure she would dance the mazurka with him as
4047she had done at former balls, and refused five young men, saying she was
4048engaged for the mazurka. The whole ball up to the last quadrille was for
4049Kitty an enchanted vision of delightful colors, sounds, and motions. She
4050only sat down when she felt too tired and begged for a rest. But as she
4051was dancing the last quadrille with one of the tiresome young men whom
4052she could not refuse, she chanced to be vis-a-vis with Vronsky and Anna.
4053She had not been near Anna again since the beginning of the evening, and
4054now again she saw her suddenly quite new and surprising. She saw in her
4055the signs of that excitement of success she knew so well in herself; she
4056saw that she was intoxicated with the delighted admiration she was
4057exciting. She knew that feeling and knew its signs, and saw them in
4058Anna; saw the quivering, flashing light in her eyes, and the smile of
4059happiness and excitement unconsciously playing on her lips, and the
4060deliberate grace, precision, and lightness of her movements.
4061
4062"Who?" she asked herself. "All or one?" And not assisting the harassed
4063young man she was dancing with in the conversation, the thread of which
4064he had lost and could not pick up again, she obeyed with external
4065liveliness the peremptory shouts of Korsunsky starting them all into the
4066_grand rond_, and then into the _chaine_, and at the same time she kept
4067watch with a growing pang at her heart. "No, it's not the admiration of
4068the crowd has intoxicated her, but the adoration of one. And that one?
4069can it be he?" Every time he spoke to Anna the joyous light flashed into
4070her eyes, and the smile of happiness curved her red lips. she seemed to
4071make an effort to control herself, to try not to show these signs of
4072delight, but they came out on her face of themselves. "But what of him?"
4073Kitty looked at him and was filled with terror. What was pictured so
4074clearly to Kitty in the mirror of Anna's face she saw in him. What had
4075become of his always self-possessed resolute manner, and the carelessly
4076serene expression of his face? Now every time he turned to her, he bent
4077his head, as though he would have fallen at her feet, and in his eyes
4078there was nothing but humble submission and dread. "I would not offend
4079you," his eyes seemed every time to be saying, "but I want to save
4080myself, and I don't know how." On his face was a look such as Kitty had
4081never seen before.
4082
4083They were speaking of common acquaintances, keeping up the most trivial
4084conversation, but to Kitty it seemed that every word they said was
4085determining their fate and hers. And strange it was that they were
4086actually talking of how absurd Ivan Ivanovitch was with his French, and
4087how the Eletsky girl might have made a better match, yet these words had
4088all the while consequence for them, and they were feeling just as Kitty
4089did. The whole ball, the whole world, everything seemed lost in fog in
4090Kitty's soul. Nothing but the stern discipline of her bringing-up
4091supported her and forced her to do what was expected of her, that is, to
4092dance, to answer questions, to talk, even to smile. But before the
4093mazurka, when they were beginning to rearrange the chairs and a few
4094couples moved out of the smaller rooms into the big room, a moment of
4095despair and horror came for Kitty. She had refused five partners, and
4096now she was not dancing the mazurka. She had not even a hope of being
4097asked for it, because she was so successful in society that the idea
4098would never occur to anyone that she had remained disengaged till now.
4099She would have to tell her mother she felt ill and go home, but she had
4100not the strength to do this. She felt crushed. She went to the furthest
4101end of the little drawing room and sank into a low chair. Her light,
4102transparent skirts rose like a cloud about her slender waist; one bare,
4103thin, soft, girlish arm, hanging listlessly, was lost in the folds of
4104her pink tunic; in the other she held her fan, and with rapid, short
4105strokes fanned her burning face. But while she looked like a butterfly,
4106clinging to a blade of grass, and just about to open its rainbow wings
4107for fresh flight, her heart ached with a horrible despair.
4108
4109"But perhaps I am wrong, perhaps it was not so?" And again she recalled
4110all she had seen.
4111
4112"Kitty, what is it?" said Countess Nordston, stepping noiselessly over
4113the carpet towards her. "I don't understand it."
4114
4115Kitty's lower lip began to quiver; she got up quickly.
4116
4117"Kitty, you're not dancing the mazurka?"
4118
4119"No, no," said Kitty in a voice shaking with tears.
4120
4121"He asked her for the mazurka before me," said Countess Nordston,
4122knowing Kitty would understand who were "he" and "her." "She said: 'Why,
4123aren't you going to dance it with Princess Shtcherbatskaya?'"
4124
4125"Oh, I don't care!" answered Kitty.
4126
4127No one but she herself understood her position; no one knew that she had
4128just refused the man whom perhaps she loved, and refused him because she
4129had put her faith in another.
4130
4131Countess Nordston found Korsunsky, with whom she was to dance the
4132mazurka, and told him to ask Kitty.
4133
4134Kitty danced in the first couple, and luckily for her she had not to
4135talk, because Korsunsky was all the time running about directing the
4136figure. Vronsky and Anna sat almost opposite her. She saw them with her
4137long-sighted eyes, and saw them, too, close by, when they met in the
4138figures, and the more she saw of them the more convinced was she that
4139her unhappiness was complete. She saw that they felt themselves alone in
4140that crowded room. And on Vronsky's face, always so firm and
4141independent, she saw that look that had struck her, of bewilderment and
4142humble submissiveness, like the expression of an intelligent dog when it
4143has done wrong.
4144
4145Anna smiled, and her smile was reflected by him. She grew thoughtful,
4146and he became serious. Some supernatural force drew Kitty's eyes to
4147Anna's face. She was fascinating in her simple black dress, fascinating
4148were her round arms with their bracelets, fascinating was her firm neck
4149with its thread of pearls, fascinating the straying curls of her loose
4150hair, fascinating the graceful, light movements of her little feet and
4151hands, fascinating was that lovely face in its eagerness, but there was
4152something terrible and cruel in her fascination.
4153
4154Kitty admired her more than ever, and more and more acute was her
4155suffering. Kitty felt overwhelmed, and her face showed it. When Vronsky
4156saw her, coming across her in the mazurka, he did not at once recognize
4157her, she was so changed.
4158
4159"Delightful ball!" he said to her, for the sake of saying something.
4160
4161"Yes," she answered.
4162
4163In the middle of the mazurka, repeating a complicated figure, newly
4164invented by Korsunsky, Anna came forward into the center of the circle,
4165chose two gentlemen, and summoned a lady and Kitty. Kitty gazed at her
4166in dismay as she went up. Anna looked at her with drooping eyelids, and
4167smiled, pressing her hand. But, noticing that Kitty only responded to
4168her smile by a look of despair and amazement, she turned away from her,
4169and began gaily talking to the other lady.
4170
4171"Yes, there is something uncanny, devilish and fascinating in her,"
4172Kitty said to herself.
4173
4174Anna did not mean to stay to supper, but the master of the house began
4175to press her to do so.
4176
4177"Nonsense, Anna Arkadyevna," said Korsunsky, drawing her bare arm under
4178the sleeve of his dress coat, "I've such an idea for a _cotillion! Un
4179bijou!_"
4180
4181And he moved gradually on, trying to draw her along with him. Their host
4182smiled approvingly.
4183
4184"No, I am not going to stay," answered Anna, smiling, but in spite of
4185her smile, both Korsunsky and the master of the house saw from her
4186resolute tone that she would not stay.
4187
4188"No; why, as it is, I have danced more at your ball in Moscow than I
4189have all the winter in Petersburg," said Anna, looking round at Vronsky,
4190who stood near her. "I must rest a little before my journey."
4191
4192"Are you certainly going tomorrow then?" asked Vronsky.
4193
4194"Yes, I suppose so," answered Anna, as it were wondering at the boldness
4195of his question; but the irrepressible, quivering brilliance of her eyes
4196and her smile set him on fire as she said it.
4197
4198Anna Arkadyevna did not stay to supper, but went home.
4199
4200
4201
4202Chapter 24
4203
4204
4205"Yes, there is something in me hateful, repulsive," thought Levin, as he
4206came away from the Shtcherbatskys', and walked in the direction of his
4207brother's lodgings. "And I don't get on with other people. Pride, they
4208say. No, I have no pride. If I had any pride, I should not have put
4209myself in such a position." And he pictured to himself Vronsky, happy,
4210good-natured, clever, and self-possessed, certainly never placed in the
4211awful position in which he had been that evening. "Yes, she was bound to
4212choose him. So it had to be, and I cannot complain of anyone or
4213anything. I am myself to blame. What right had I to imagine she would
4214care to join her life to mine? Who am I and what am I? A nobody, not
4215wanted by any one, nor of use to anybody." And he recalled his brother
4216Nikolay, and dwelt with pleasure on the thought of him. "Isn't he right
4217that everything in the world is base and loathsome? And are we fair in
4218our judgment of brother Nikolay? Of course, from the point of view of
4219Prokofy, seeing him in a torn cloak and tipsy, he's a despicable person.
4220But I know him differently. I know his soul, and know that we are like
4221him. And I, instead of going to seek him out, went out to dinner, and
4222came here." Levin walked up to a lamppost, read his brother's address,
4223which was in his pocketbook, and called a sledge. All the long way to
4224his brother's, Levin vividly recalled all the facts familiar to him of
4225his brother Nikolay's life. He remembered how his brother, while at the
4226university, and for a year afterwards, had, in spite of the jeers of his
4227companions, lived like a monk, strictly observing all religious rites,
4228services, and fasts, and avoiding every sort of pleasure, especially
4229women. And afterwards, how he had all at once broken out: he had
4230associated with the most horrible people, and rushed into the most
4231senseless debauchery. He remembered later the scandal over a boy, whom
4232he had taken from the country to bring up, and, in a fit of rage, had so
4233violently beaten that proceedings were brought against him for
4234unlawfully wounding. Then he recalled the scandal with a sharper, to
4235whom he had lost money, and given a promissory note, and against whom he
4236had himself lodged a complaint, asserting that he had cheated him. (This
4237was the money Sergey Ivanovitch had paid.) Then he remembered how he had
4238spent a night in the lockup for disorderly conduct in the street. He
4239remembered the shameful proceedings he had tried to get up against his
4240brother Sergey Ivanovitch, accusing him of not having paid him his share
4241of his mother's fortune, and the last scandal, when he had gone to a
4242western province in an official capacity, and there had got into trouble
4243for assaulting a village elder.... It was all horribly disgusting, yet
4244to Levin it appeared not at all in the same disgusting light as it
4245inevitably would to those who did not know Nikolay, did not know all his
4246story, did not know his heart.
4247
4248Levin remembered that when Nikolay had been in the devout stage, the
4249period of fasts and monks and church services, when he was seeking in
4250religion a support and a curb for his passionate temperament, everyone,
4251far from encouraging him, had jeered at him, and he, too, with the
4252others. They had teased him, called him Noah and Monk; and, when he had
4253broken out, no one had helped him, but everyone had turned away from him
4254with horror and disgust.
4255
4256Levin felt that, in spite of all the ugliness of his life, his brother
4257Nikolay, in his soul, in the very depths of his soul, was no more in the
4258wrong than the people who despised him. He was not to blame for having
4259been born with his unbridled temperament and his somehow limited
4260intelligence. But he had always wanted to be good. "I will tell him
4261everything, without reserve, and I will make him speak without reserve,
4262too, and I'll show him that I love him, and so understand him," Levin
4263resolved to himself, as, towards eleven o'clock, he reached the hotel of
4264which he had the address.
4265
4266"At the top, 12 and 13," the porter answered Levin's inquiry.
4267
4268"At home?"
4269
4270"Sure to be at home."
4271
4272The door of No. 12 was half open, and there came out into the streak of
4273light thick fumes of cheap, poor tobacco, and the sound of a voice,
4274unknown to Levin; but he knew at once that his brother was there; he
4275heard his cough.
4276
4277As he went in the door, the unknown voice was saying:
4278
4279"It all depends with how much judgment and knowledge the thing's done."
4280
4281Konstantin Levin looked in at the door, and saw that the speaker was a
4282young man with an immense shock of hair, wearing a Russian jerkin, and
4283that a pockmarked woman in a woolen gown, without collar or cuffs, was
4284sitting on the sofa. His brother was not to be seen. Konstantin felt a
4285sharp pang at his heart at the thought of the strange company in which
4286his brother spent his life. No one had heard him, and Konstantin, taking
4287off his galoshes, listened to what the gentleman in the jerkin was
4288saying. He was speaking of some enterprise.
4289
4290"Well, the devil flay them, the privileged classes," his brother's voice
4291responded, with a cough. "Masha! get us some supper and some wine if
4292there's any left; or else go and get some."
4293
4294The woman rose, came out from behind the screen, and saw Konstantin.
4295
4296"There's some gentleman, Nikolay Dmitrievitch," she said.
4297
4298"Whom do you want?" said the voice of Nikolay Levin, angrily.
4299
4300"It's I," answered Konstantin Levin, coming forward into the light.
4301
4302"Who's _I_?" Nikolay's voice said again, still more angrily. He could be
4303heard getting up hurriedly, stumbling against something, and Levin saw,
4304facing him in the doorway, the big, scared eyes, and the huge, thin,
4305stooping figure of his brother, so familiar, and yet astonishing in its
4306weirdness and sickliness.
4307
4308He was even thinner than three years before, when Konstantin Levin had
4309seen him last. He was wearing a short coat, and his hands and big bones
4310seemed huger than ever. His hair had grown thinner, the same straight
4311mustaches hid his lips, the same eyes gazed strangely and naively at his
4312visitor.
4313
4314"Ah, Kostya!" he exclaimed suddenly, recognizing his brother, and his
4315eyes lit up with joy. But the same second he looked round at the young
4316man, and gave the nervous jerk of his head and neck that Konstantin knew
4317so well, as if his neckband hurt him; and a quite different expression,
4318wild, suffering, and cruel, rested on his emaciated face.
4319
4320"I wrote to you and Sergey Ivanovitch both that I don't know you and
4321don't want to know you. What is it you want?"
4322
4323He was not at all the same as Konstantin had been fancying him. The
4324worst and most tiresome part of his character, what made all relations
4325with him so difficult, had been forgotten by Konstantin Levin when he
4326thought of him, and now, when he saw his face, and especially that
4327nervous twitching of his head, he remembered it all.
4328
4329"I didn't want to see you for anything," he answered timidly. "I've
4330simply come to see you."
4331
4332His brother's timidity obviously softened Nikolay. His lips twitched.
4333
4334"Oh, so that's it?" he said. "Well, come in; sit down. Like some supper?
4335Masha, bring supper for three. No, stop a minute. Do you know who this
4336is?" he said, addressing his brother, and indicating the gentleman in
4337the jerkin: "This is Mr. Kritsky, my friend from Kiev, a very remarkable
4338man. He's persecuted by the police, of course, because he's not a
4339scoundrel."
4340
4341And he looked round in the way he always did at everyone in the room.
4342Seeing that the woman standing in the doorway was moving to go, he
4343shouted to her, "Wait a minute, I said." And with the inability to
4344express himself, the incoherence that Konstantin knew so well, he began,
4345with another look round at everyone, to tell his brother Kritsky's
4346story: how he had been expelled from the university for starting a
4347benefit society for the poor students and Sunday schools; and how he had
4348afterwards been a teacher in a peasant school, and how he had been
4349driven out of that too, and had afterwards been condemned for something.
4350
4351"You're of the Kiev university?" said Konstantin Levin to Kritsky, to
4352break the awkward silence that followed.
4353
4354"Yes, I was of Kiev," Kritsky replied angrily, his face darkening.
4355
4356"And this woman," Nikolay Levin interrupted him, pointing to her, "is
4357the partner of my life, Marya Nikolaevna. I took her out of a bad
4358house," and he jerked his neck saying this; "but I love her and respect
4359her, and any one who wants to know me," he added, raising his voice and
4360knitting his brows, "I beg to love her and respect her. She's just the
4361same as my wife, just the same. So now you know whom you've to do with.
4362And if you think you're lowering yourself, well, here's the floor,
4363there's the door."
4364
4365And again his eyes traveled inquiringly over all of them.
4366
4367"Why I should be lowering myself, I don't understand."
4368
4369"Then, Masha, tell them to bring supper; three portions, spirits and
4370wine.... No, wait a minute.... No, it doesn't matter.... Go along."
4371
4372
4373
4374Chapter 25
4375
4376
4377"So you see," pursued Nikolay Levin, painfully wrinkling his forehead
4378and twitching.
4379
4380It was obviously difficult for him to think of what to say and do.
4381
4382"Here, do you see?"... He pointed to some sort of iron bars, fastened
4383together with strings, lying in a corner of the room. "Do you see that?
4384That's the beginning of a new thing we're going into. It's a productive
4385association..."
4386
4387Konstantin scarcely heard him. He looked into his sickly, consumptive
4388face, and he was more and more sorry for him, and he could not force
4389himself to listen to what his brother was telling him about the
4390association. He saw that this association was a mere anchor to save him
4391from self-contempt. Nikolay Levin went on talking:
4392
4393"You know that capital oppresses the laborer. The laborers with us, the
4394peasants, bear all the burden of labor, and are so placed that however
4395much they work they can't escape from their position of beasts of
4396burden. All the profits of labor, on which they might improve their
4397position, and gain leisure for themselves, and after that education, all
4398the surplus values are taken from them by the capitalists. And society's
4399so constituted that the harder they work, the greater the profit of the
4400merchants and landowners, while they stay beasts of burden to the end.
4401And that state of things must be changed," he finished up, and he looked
4402questioningly at his brother.
4403
4404"Yes, of course," said Konstantin, looking at the patch of red that had
4405come out on his brother's projecting cheek bones.
4406
4407"And so we're founding a locksmiths' association, where all the
4408production and profit and the chief instruments of production will be in
4409common."
4410
4411"Where is the association to be?" asked Konstantin Levin.
4412
4413"In the village of Vozdrem, Kazan government."
4414
4415"But why in a village? In the villages, I think, there is plenty of work
4416as it is. Why a locksmiths' association in a village?"
4417
4418"Why? Because the peasants are just as much slaves as they ever were,
4419and that's why you and Sergey Ivanovitch don't like people to try and
4420get them out of their slavery," said Nikolay Levin, exasperated by the
4421objection.
4422
4423Konstantin Levin sighed, looking meanwhile about the cheerless and dirty
4424room. This sigh seemed to exasperate Nikolay still more.
4425
4426"I know your and Sergey Ivanovitch's aristocratic views. I know that he
4427applies all the power of his intellect to justify existing evils."
4428
4429"No; and what do you talk of Sergey Ivanovitch for?" said Levin,
4430smiling.
4431
4432"Sergey Ivanovitch? I'll tell you what for!" Nikolay Levin shrieked
4433suddenly at the name of Sergey Ivanovitch. "I'll tell you what for....
4434But what's the use of talking? There's only one thing.... What did you
4435come to me for? You look down on this, and you're welcome to,--and go
4436away, in God's name go away!" he shrieked, getting up from his chair.
4437"And go away, and go away!"
4438
4439"I don't look down on it at all," said Konstantin Levin timidly. "I
4440don't even dispute it."
4441
4442At that instant Marya Nikolaevna came back. Nikolay Levin looked round
4443angrily at her. She went quickly to him, and whispered something.
4444
4445"I'm not well; I've grown irritable," said Nikolay Levin, getting calmer
4446and breathing painfully; "and then you talk to me of Sergey Ivanovitch
4447and his article. It's such rubbish, such lying, such self-deception.
4448What can a man write of justice who knows nothing of it? Have you read
4449his article?" he asked Kritsky, sitting down again at the table, and
4450moving back off half of it the scattered cigarettes, so as to clear a
4451space.
4452
4453"I've not read it," Kritsky responded gloomily, obviously not desiring
4454to enter into the conversation.
4455
4456"Why not?" said Nikolay Levin, now turning with exasperation upon
4457Kritsky.
4458
4459"Because I didn't see the use of wasting my time over it."
4460
4461"Oh, but excuse me, how did you know it would be wasting your time? That
4462article's too deep for many people--that's to say it's over their heads.
4463But with me, it's another thing; I see through his ideas, and I know
4464where its weakness lies."
4465
4466Everyone was mute. Kritsky got up deliberately and reached his cap.
4467
4468"Won't you have supper? All right, good-bye! Come round tomorrow with
4469the locksmith."
4470
4471Kritsky had hardly gone out when Nikolay Levin smiled and winked.
4472
4473"He's no good either," he said. "I see, of course..."
4474
4475But at that instant Kritsky, at the door, called him...
4476
4477"What do you want now?" he said, and went out to him in the passage.
4478Left alone with Marya Nikolaevna, Levin turned to her.
4479
4480"Have you been long with my brother?" he said to her.
4481
4482"Yes, more than a year. Nikolay Dmitrievitch's health has become very
4483poor. Nikolay Dmitrievitch drinks a great deal," she said.
4484
4485"That is ... how does he drink?"
4486
4487"Drinks vodka, and it's bad for him."
4488
4489"And a great deal?" whispered Levin.
4490
4491"Yes," she said, looking timidly towards the doorway, where Nikolay
4492Levin had reappeared.
4493
4494"What were you talking about?" he said, knitting his brows, and turning
4495his scared eyes from one to the other. "What was it?"
4496
4497"Oh, nothing," Konstantin answered in confusion.
4498
4499"Oh, if you don't want to say, don't. Only it's no good your talking to
4500her. She's a wench, and you're a gentleman," he said with a jerk of the
4501neck. "You understand everything, I see, and have taken stock of
4502everything, and look with commiseration on my shortcomings," he began
4503again, raising his voice.
4504
4505"Nikolay Dmitrievitch, Nikolay Dmitrievitch," whispered Marya
4506Nikolaevna, again going up to him.
4507
4508"Oh, very well, very well!... But where's the supper? Ah, here it is,"
4509he said, seeing a waiter with a tray. "Here, set it here," he added
4510angrily, and promptly seizing the vodka, he poured out a glassful and
4511drank it greedily. "Like a drink?" he turned to his brother, and at once
4512became better humored.
4513
4514"Well, enough of Sergey Ivanovitch. I'm glad to see you, anyway. After
4515all's said and done, we're not strangers. Come, have a drink. Tell me
4516what you're doing," he went on, greedily munching a piece of bread, and
4517pouring out another glassful. "How are you living?"
4518
4519"I live alone in the country, as I used to. I'm busy looking after the
4520land," answered Konstantin, watching with horror the greediness with
4521which his brother ate and drank, and trying to conceal that he noticed
4522it.
4523
4524"Why don't you get married?"
4525
4526"It hasn't happened so," Konstantin answered, reddening a little.
4527
4528"Why not? For me now ... everything's at an end! I've made a mess of my
4529life. But this I've said, and I say still, that if my share had been
4530given me when I needed it, my whole life would have been different."
4531
4532Konstantin made haste to change the conversation.
4533
4534"Do you know your little Vanya's with me, a clerk in the countinghouse
4535at Pokrovskoe."
4536
4537Nikolay jerked his neck, and sank into thought.
4538
4539"Yes, tell me what's going on at Pokrovskoe. Is the house standing
4540still, and the birch trees, and our schoolroom? And Philip the gardener,
4541is he living? How I remember the arbor and the seat! Now mind and don't
4542alter anything in the house, but make haste and get married, and make
4543everything as it used to be again. Then I'll come and see you, if your
4544wife is nice."
4545
4546"But come to me now," said Levin. "How nicely we would arrange it!"
4547
4548"I'd come and see you if I were sure I should not find Sergey
4549Ivanovitch."
4550
4551"You wouldn't find him there. I live quite independently of him."
4552
4553"Yes, but say what you like, you will have to choose between me and
4554him," he said, looking timidly into his brother's face.
4555
4556This timidity touched Konstantin.
4557
4558"If you want to hear my confession of faith on the subject, I tell you
4559that in your quarrel with Sergey Ivanovitch I take neither side. You're
4560both wrong. You're more wrong externally, and he inwardly."
4561
4562"Ah, ah! You see that, you see that!" Nikolay shouted joyfully.
4563
4564"But I personally value friendly relations with you more because..."
4565
4566"Why, why?"
4567
4568Konstantin could not say that he valued it more because Nikolay was
4569unhappy, and needed affection. But Nikolay knew that this was just what
4570he meant to say, and scowling he took up the vodka again.
4571
4572"Enough, Nikolay Dmitrievitch!" said Marya Nikolaevna, stretching out
4573her plump, bare arm towards the decanter.
4574
4575"Let it be! Don't insist! I'll beat you!" he shouted.
4576
4577Marya Nikolaevna smiled a sweet and good-humored smile, which was at
4578once reflected on Nikolay's face, and she took the bottle.
4579
4580"And do you suppose she understands nothing?" said Nikolay. "She
4581understands it all better than any of us. Isn't it true there's
4582something good and sweet in her?"
4583
4584"Were you never before in Moscow?" Konstantin said to her, for the sake
4585of saying something.
4586
4587"Only you mustn't be polite and stiff with her. It frightens her. No one
4588ever spoke to her so but the justices of the peace who tried her for
4589trying to get out of a house of ill-fame. Mercy on us, the senselessness
4590in the world!" he cried suddenly. "These new institutions, these
4591justices of the peace, rural councils, what hideousness it all is!"
4592
4593And he began to enlarge on his encounters with the new institutions.
4594
4595Konstantin Levin heard him, and the disbelief in the sense of all public
4596institutions, which he shared with him, and often expressed, was
4597distasteful to him now from his brother's lips.
4598
4599"In another world we shall understand it all," he said lightly.
4600
4601"In another world! Ah, I don't like that other world! I don't like it,"
4602he said, letting his scared eyes rest on his brother's eyes. "Here one
4603would think that to get out of all the baseness and the mess, one's own
4604and other people's, would be a good thing, and yet I'm afraid of death,
4605awfully afraid of death." He shuddered. "But do drink something. Would
4606you like some champagne? Or shall we go somewhere? Let's go to the
4607Gypsies! Do you know I have got so fond of the Gypsies and Russian
4608songs."
4609
4610His speech had begun to falter, and he passed abruptly from one subject
4611to another. Konstantin with the help of Masha persuaded him not to go
4612out anywhere, and got him to bed hopelessly drunk.
4613
4614Masha promised to write to Konstantin in case of need, and to persuade
4615Nikolay Levin to go and stay with his brother.
4616
4617
4618
4619Chapter 26
4620
4621
4622In the morning Konstantin Levin left Moscow, and towards evening he
4623reached home. On the journey in the train he talked to his neighbors
4624about politics and the new railways, and, just as in Moscow, he was
4625overcome by a sense of confusion of ideas, dissatisfaction with himself,
4626shame of something or other. But when he got out at his own station,
4627when he saw his one-eyed coachman, Ignat, with the collar of his coat
4628turned up; when, in the dim light reflected by the station fires, he saw
4629his own sledge, his own horses with their tails tied up, in their
4630harness trimmed with rings and tassels; when the coachman Ignat, as he
4631put in his luggage, told him the village news, that the contractor had
4632arrived, and that Pava had calved,--he felt that little by little the
4633confusion was clearing up, and the shame and self-dissatisfaction were
4634passing away. He felt this at the mere sight of Ignat and the horses;
4635but when he had put on the sheepskin brought for him, had sat down
4636wrapped up in the sledge, and had driven off pondering on the work that
4637lay before him in the village, and staring at the side-horse, that had
4638been his saddle-horse, past his prime now, but a spirited beast from the
4639Don, he began to see what had happened to him in quite a different
4640light. He felt himself, and did not want to be any one else. All he
4641wanted now was to be better than before. In the first place he resolved
4642that from that day he would give up hoping for any extraordinary
4643happiness, such as marriage must have given him, and consequently he
4644would not so disdain what he really had. Secondly, he would never again
4645let himself give way to low passion, the memory of which had so tortured
4646him when he had been making up his mind to make an offer. Then
4647remembering his brother Nikolay, he resolved to himself that he would
4648never allow himself to forget him, that he would follow him up, and not
4649lose sight of him, so as to be ready to help when things should go ill
4650with him. And that would be soon, he felt. Then, too, his brother's talk
4651of communism, which he had treated so lightly at the time, now made him
4652think. He considered a revolution in economic conditions nonsense. But
4653he always felt the injustice of his own abundance in comparison with the
4654poverty of the peasants, and now he determined that so as to feel quite
4655in the right, though he had worked hard and lived by no means
4656luxuriously before, he would now work still harder, and would allow
4657himself even less luxury. And all this seemed to him so easy a conquest
4658over himself that he spent the whole drive in the pleasantest daydreams.
4659With a resolute feeling of hope in a new, better life, he reached home
4660before nine o'clock at night.
4661
4662The snow of the little quadrangle before the house was lit up by a light
4663in the bedroom windows of his old nurse, Agafea Mihalovna, who performed
4664the duties of housekeeper in his house. She was not yet asleep. Kouzma,
4665waked up by her, came sidling sleepily out onto the steps. A setter
4666bitch, Laska, ran out too, almost upsetting Kouzma, and whining, turned
4667round about Levin's knees, jumping up and longing, but not daring, to
4668put her forepaws on his chest.
4669
4670"You're soon back again, sir," said Agafea Mihalovna.
4671
4672"I got tired of it, Agafea Mihalovna. With friends, one is well; but at
4673home, one is better," he answered, and went into his study.
4674
4675The study was slowly lit up as the candle was brought in. The familiar
4676details came out: the stag's horns, the bookshelves, the looking-glass,
4677the stove with its ventilator, which had long wanted mending, his
4678father's sofa, a large table, on the table an open book, a broken ash
4679tray, a manuscript book with his handwriting. As he saw all this, there
4680came over him for an instant a doubt of the possibility of arranging the
4681new life, of which he had been dreaming on the road. All these traces of
4682his life seemed to clutch him, and to say to him: "No, you're not going
4683to get away from us, and you're not going to be different, but you're
4684going to be the same as you've always been; with doubts, everlasting
4685dissatisfaction with yourself, vain efforts to amend, and falls, and
4686everlasting expectation, of a happiness which you won't get, and which
4687isn't possible for you."
4688
4689This the things said to him, but another voice in his heart was telling
4690him that he must not fall under the sway of the past, and that one can
4691do anything with oneself. And hearing that voice, he went into the
4692corner where stood his two heavy dumbbells, and began brandishing them
4693like a gymnast, trying to restore his confident temper. There was a
4694creak of steps at the door. He hastily put down the dumbbells.
4695
4696The bailiff came in, and said everything, thank God, was doing well; but
4697informed him that the buckwheat in the new drying machine had been a
4698little scorched. This piece of news irritated Levin. The new drying
4699machine had been constructed and partly invented by Levin. The bailiff
4700had always been against the drying machine, and now it was with
4701suppressed triumph that he announced that the buckwheat had been
4702scorched. Levin was firmly convinced that if the buckwheat had been
4703scorched, it was only because the precautions had not been taken, for
4704which he had hundreds of times given orders. He was annoyed, and
4705reprimanded the bailiff. But there had been an important and joyful
4706event: Pava, his best cow, an expensive beast, bought at a show, had
4707calved.
4708
4709"Kouzma, give me my sheepskin. And you tell them to take a lantern. I'll
4710come and look at her," he said to the bailiff.
4711
4712The cowhouse for the more valuable cows was just behind the house.
4713Walking across the yard, passing a snowdrift by the lilac tree, he went
4714into the cowhouse. There was the warm, steamy smell of dung when the
4715frozen door was opened, and the cows, astonished at the unfamiliar light
4716of the lantern, stirred on the fresh straw. He caught a glimpse of the
4717broad, smooth, black and piebald back of Hollandka. Berkoot, the bull,
4718was lying down with his ring in his lip, and seemed about to get up, but
4719thought better of it, and only gave two snorts as they passed by him.
4720Pava, a perfect beauty, huge as a hippopotamus, with her back turned to
4721them, prevented their seeing the calf, as she sniffed her all over.
4722
4723Levin went into the pen, looked Pava over, and lifted the red and
4724spotted calf onto her long, tottering legs. Pava, uneasy, began lowing,
4725but when Levin put the calf close to her she was soothed, and, sighing
4726heavily, began licking her with her rough tongue. The calf, fumbling,
4727poked her nose under her mother's udder, and stiffened her tail out
4728straight.
4729
4730"Here, bring the light, Fyodor, this way," said Levin, examining the
4731calf. "Like the mother! though the color takes after the father; but
4732that's nothing. Very good. Long and broad in the haunch. Vassily
4733Fedorovitch, isn't she splendid?" he said to the bailiff, quite
4734forgiving him for the buckwheat under the influence of his delight in
4735the calf.
4736
4737"How could she fail to be? Oh, Semyon the contractor came the day after
4738you left. You must settle with him, Konstantin Dmitrievitch," said the
4739bailiff. "I did inform you about the machine."
4740
4741This question was enough to take Levin back to all the details of his
4742work on the estate, which was on a large scale, and complicated. He went
4743straight from the cowhouse to the counting house, and after a little
4744conversation with the bailiff and Semyon the contractor, he went back to
4745the house and straight upstairs to the drawing room.
4746
4747
4748
4749Chapter 27
4750
4751
4752The house was big and old-fashioned, and Levin, though he lived alone,
4753had the whole house heated and used. He knew that this was stupid, he
4754knew that it was positively not right, and contrary to his present new
4755plans, but this house was a whole world to Levin. It was the world in
4756which his father and mother had lived and died. They had lived just the
4757life that to Levin seemed the ideal of perfection, and that he had
4758dreamed of beginning with his wife, his family.
4759
4760Levin scarcely remembered his mother. His conception of her was for him
4761a sacred memory, and his future wife was bound to be in his imagination
4762a repetition of that exquisite, holy ideal of a woman that his mother
4763had been.
4764
4765He was so far from conceiving of love for woman apart from marriage that
4766he positively pictured to himself first the family, and only secondarily
4767the woman who would give him a family. His ideas of marriage were,
4768consequently, quite unlike those of the great majority of his
4769acquaintances, for whom getting married was one of the numerous facts of
4770social life. For Levin it was the chief affair of life, on which its
4771whole happiness turned. And now he had to give up that.
4772
4773When he had gone into the little drawing room, where he always had tea,
4774and had settled himself in his armchair with a book, and Agafea
4775Mihalovna had brought him tea, and with her usual, "Well, I'll stay a
4776while, sir," had taken a chair in the window, he felt that, however
4777strange it might be, he had not parted from his daydreams, and that he
4778could not live without them. Whether with her, or with another, still it
4779would be. He was reading a book, and thinking of what he was reading,
4780and stopping to listen to Agafea Mihalovna, who gossiped away without
4781flagging, and yet with all that, all sorts of pictures of family life
4782and work in the future rose disconnectedly before his imagination. He
4783felt that in the depth of his soul something had been put in its place,
4784settled down, and laid to rest.
4785
4786He heard Agafea Mihalovna talking of how Prohor had forgotten his duty
4787to God, and with the money Levin had given him to buy a horse, had been
4788drinking without stopping, and had beaten his wife till he'd half killed
4789her. He listened, and read his book, and recalled the whole train of
4790ideas suggested by his reading. It was Tyndall's _Treatise on Heat_. He
4791recalled his own criticisms of Tyndall of his complacent satisfaction in
4792the cleverness of his experiments, and for his lack of philosophic
4793insight. And suddenly there floated into his mind the joyful thought:
4794"In two years' time I shall have two Dutch cows; Pava herself will
4795perhaps still be alive, a dozen young daughters of Berkoot and the three
4796others--how lovely!"
4797
4798He took up his book again. "Very good, electricity and heat are the same
4799thing; but is it possible to substitute the one quantity for the other
4800in the equation for the solution of any problem? No. Well, then what of
4801it? The connection between all the forces of nature is felt
4802instinctively.... It's particulary nice if Pava's daughter should be a
4803red-spotted cow, and all the herd will take after her, and the other
4804three, too! Splendid! To go out with my wife and visitors to meet the
4805herd.... My wife says, 'Kostya and I looked after that calf like a
4806child.' 'How can it interest you so much?' says a visitor. 'Everything
4807that interests him, interests me.' But who will she be?" And he
4808remembered what had happened at Moscow.... "Well, there's nothing to be
4809done.... It's not my fault. But now everything shall go on in a new way.
4810It's nonsense to pretend that life won't let one, that the past won't
4811let one. One must struggle to live better, much better."... He raised
4812his head, and fell to dreaming. Old Laska, who had not yet fully
4813digested her delight at his return, and had run out into the yard to
4814bark, came back wagging her tail, and crept up to him, bringing in the
4815scent of fresh air, put her head under his hand, and whined plaintively,
4816asking to be stroked.
4817
4818"There, who'd have thought it?" said Agafea Mihalovna. "The dog now ...
4819why, she understands that her master's come home, and that he's
4820low-spirited."
4821
4822"Why low-spirited?"
4823
4824"Do you suppose I don't see it, sir? It's high time I should know the
4825gentry. Why, I've grown up from a little thing with them. It's nothing,
4826sir, so long as there's health and a clear conscience."
4827
4828Levin looked intently at her, surprised at how well she knew his
4829thought.
4830
4831"Shall I fetch you another cup?" said she, and taking his cup she went
4832out.
4833
4834Laska kept poking her head under his hand. He stroked her, and she
4835promptly curled up at his feet, laying her head on a hindpaw. And in
4836token of all now being well and satisfactory, she opened her mouth a
4837little, smacked her lips, and settling her sticky lips more comfortably
4838about her old teeth, she sank into blissful repose. Levin watched all
4839her movements attentively.
4840
4841"That's what I'll do," he said to himself; "that's what I'll do!
4842Nothing's amiss.... All's well."
4843
4844
4845
4846Chapter 28
4847
4848
4849After the ball, early next morning, Anna Arkadyevna sent her husband a
4850telegram that she was leaving Moscow the same day.
4851
4852"No, I must go, I must go"; she explained to her sister-in-law the
4853change in her plans in a tone that suggested that she had to remember so
4854many things that there was no enumerating them: "no, it had really
4855better be today!"
4856
4857Stepan Arkadyevitch was not dining at home, but he promised to come and
4858see his sister off at seven o'clock.
4859
4860Kitty, too, did not come, sending a note that she had a headache. Dolly
4861and Anna dined alone with the children and the English governess.
4862Whether it was that the children were fickle, or that they had acute
4863senses, and felt that Anna was quite different that day from what she
4864had been when they had taken such a fancy to her, that she was not now
4865interested in them,--but they had abruptly dropped their play with their
4866aunt, and their love for her, and were quite indifferent that she was
4867going away. Anna was absorbed the whole morning in preparations for her
4868departure. She wrote notes to her Moscow acquaintances, put down her
4869accounts, and packed. Altogether Dolly fancied she was not in a placid
4870state of mind, but in that worried mood, which Dolly knew well with
4871herself, and which does not come without cause, and for the most part
4872covers dissatisfaction with self. After dinner, Anna went up to her room
4873to dress, and Dolly followed her.
4874
4875"How queer you are today!" Dolly said to her.
4876
4877"I? Do you think so? I'm not queer, but I'm nasty. I am like that
4878sometimes. I keep feeling as if I could cry. It's very stupid, but it'll
4879pass off," said Anna quickly, and she bent her flushed face over a tiny
4880bag in which she was packing a nightcap and some cambric handkerchiefs.
4881Her eyes were particularly bright, and were continually swimming with
4882tears. "In the same way I didn't want to leave Petersburg, and now I
4883don't want to go away from here."
4884
4885"You came here and did a good deed," said Dolly, looking intently at
4886her.
4887
4888Anna looked at her with eyes wet with tears.
4889
4890"Don't say that, Dolly. I've done nothing, and could do nothing. I often
4891wonder why people are all in league to spoil me. What have I done, and
4892what could I do? In your heart there was found love enough to
4893forgive..."
4894
4895"If it had not been for you, God knows what would have happened! How
4896happy you are, Anna!" said Dolly. "Everything is clear and good in your
4897heart."
4898
4899"Every heart has its own _skeletons_, as the English say."
4900
4901"You have no sort of _skeleton_, have you? Everything is so clear in
4902you."
4903
4904"I have!" said Anna suddenly, and, unexpectedly after her tears, a sly,
4905ironical smile curved her lips.
4906
4907"Come, he's amusing, anyway, your _skeleton_, and not depressing," said
4908Dolly, smiling.
4909
4910"No, he's depressing. Do you know why I'm going today instead of
4911tomorrow? It's a confession that weighs on me; I want to make it to
4912you," said Anna, letting herself drop definitely into an armchair, and
4913looking straight into Dolly's face.
4914
4915And to her surprise Dolly saw that Anna was blushing up to her ears, up
4916to the curly black ringlets on her neck.
4917
4918"Yes," Anna went on. "Do you know why Kitty didn't come to dinner? She's
4919jealous of me. I have spoiled ... I've been the cause of that ball being
4920a torture to her instead of a pleasure. But truly, truly, it's not my
4921fault, or only my fault a little bit," she said, daintily drawling the
4922words "a little bit."
4923
4924"Oh, how like Stiva you said that!" said Dolly, laughing.
4925
4926Anna was hurt.
4927
4928"Oh no, oh no! I'm not Stiva," she said, knitting her brows. "That's why
4929I'm telling you, just because I could never let myself doubt myself for
4930an instant," said Anna.
4931
4932But at the very moment she was uttering the words, she felt that they
4933were not true. She was not merely doubting herself, she felt emotion at
4934the thought of Vronsky, and was going away sooner than she had meant,
4935simply to avoid meeting him.
4936
4937"Yes, Stiva told me you danced the mazurka with him, and that he..."
4938
4939"You can't imagine how absurdly it all came about. I only meant to be
4940matchmaking, and all at once it turned out quite differently. Possibly
4941against my own will..."
4942
4943She crimsoned and stopped.
4944
4945"Oh, they feel it directly?" said Dolly.
4946
4947"But I should be in despair if there were anything serious in it on his
4948side," Anna interrupted her. "And I am certain it will all be forgotten,
4949and Kitty will leave off hating me."
4950
4951"All the same, Anna, to tell you the truth, I'm not very anxious for
4952this marriage for Kitty. And it's better it should come to nothing, if
4953he, Vronsky, is capable of falling in love with you in a single day."
4954
4955"Oh, heavens, that would be too silly!" said Anna, and again a deep
4956flush of pleasure came out on her face, when she heard the idea, that
4957absorbed her, put into words. "And so here I am going away, having made
4958an enemy of Kitty, whom I liked so much! Ah, how sweet she is! But
4959you'll make it right, Dolly? Eh?"
4960
4961Dolly could scarcely suppress a smile. She loved Anna, but she enjoyed
4962seeing that she too had her weaknesses.
4963
4964"An enemy? That can't be."
4965
4966"I did so want you all to care for me, as I do for you, and now I care
4967for you more than ever," said Anna, with tears in her eyes. "Ah, how
4968silly I am today!"
4969
4970She passed her handkerchief over her face and began dressing.
4971
4972At the very moment of starting Stepan Arkadyevitch arrived, late, rosy
4973and good-humored, smelling of wine and cigars.
4974
4975Anna's emotionalism infected Dolly, and when she embraced her
4976sister-in-law for the last time, she whispered: "Remember, Anna, what
4977you've done for me--I shall never forget. And remember that I love you,
4978and shall always love you as my dearest friend!"
4979
4980"I don't know why," said Anna, kissing her and hiding her tears.
4981
4982"You understood me, and you understand. Good-bye, my darling!"
4983
4984
4985
4986Chapter 29
4987
4988
4989"Come, it's all over, and thank God!" was the first thought that came to
4990Anna Arkadyevna, when she had said good-bye for the last time to her
4991brother, who had stood blocking up the entrance to the carriage till the
4992third bell rang. She sat down on her lounge beside Annushka, and looked
4993about her in the twilight of the sleeping-carriage. "Thank God! tomorrow
4994I shall see Seryozha and Alexey Alexandrovitch, and my life will go on
4995in the old way, all nice and as usual."
4996
4997Still in the same anxious frame of mind, as she had been all that day,
4998Anna took pleasure in arranging herself for the journey with great care.
4999With her little deft hands she opened and shut her little red bag, took
5000out a cushion, laid it on her knees, and carefully wrapping up her feet,
5001settled herself comfortably. An invalid lady had already lain down to
5002sleep. Two other ladies began talking to Anna, and a stout elderly lady
5003tucked up her feet, and made observations about the heating of the
5004train. Anna answered a few words, but not foreseeing any entertainment
5005from the conversation, she asked Annushka to get a lamp, hooked it onto
5006the arm of her seat, and took from her bag a paper knife and an English
5007novel. At first her reading made no progress. The fuss and bustle were
5008disturbing; then when the train had started, she could not help
5009listening to the noises; then the snow beating on the left window and
5010sticking to the pane, and the sight of the muffled guard passing by,
5011covered with snow on one side, and the conversations about the terrible
5012snowstorm raging outside, distracted her attention. Farther on, it was
5013continually the same again and again: the same shaking and rattling, the
5014same snow on the window, the same rapid transitions from steaming heat
5015to cold, and back again to heat, the same passing glimpses of the same
5016figures in the twilight, and the same voices, and Anna began to read and
5017to understand what she read. Annushka was already dozing, the red bag on
5018her lap, clutched by her broad hands, in gloves, of which one was torn.
5019Anna Arkadyevna read and understood, but it was distasteful to her to
5020read, that is, to follow the reflection of other people's lives. She had
5021too great a desire to live herself. If she read that the heroine of the
5022novel was nursing a sick man, she longed to move with noiseless steps
5023about the room of a sick man; if she read of a member of Parliament
5024making a speech, she longed to be delivering the speech; if she read of
5025how Lady Mary had ridden after the hounds, and had provoked her
5026sister-in-law, and had surprised everyone by her boldness, she too
5027wished to be doing the same. But there was no chance of doing anything;
5028and twisting the smooth paper knife in her little hands, she forced
5029herself to read.
5030
5031The hero of the novel was already almost reaching his English happiness,
5032a baronetcy and an estate, and Anna was feeling a desire to go with him
5033to the estate, when she suddenly felt that _he_ ought to feel ashamed,
5034and that she was ashamed of the same thing. But what had he to be
5035ashamed of? "What have I to be ashamed of?" she asked herself in injured
5036surprise. She laid down the book and sank against the back of the chair,
5037tightly gripping the paper cutter in both hands. There was nothing. She
5038went over all her Moscow recollections. All were good, pleasant. She
5039remembered the ball, remembered Vronsky and his face of slavish
5040adoration, remembered all her conduct with him: there was nothing
5041shameful. And for all that, at the same point in her memories, the
5042feeling of shame was intensified, as though some inner voice, just at
5043the point when she thought of Vronsky, were saying to her, "Warm, very
5044warm, hot." "Well, what is it?" she said to herself resolutely, shifting
5045her seat in the lounge. "What does it mean? Am I afraid to look it
5046straight in the face? Why, what is it? Can it be that between me and
5047this officer boy there exist, or can exist, any other relations than
5048such as are common with every acquaintance?" She laughed contemptuously
5049and took up her book again; but now she was definitely unable to follow
5050what she read. She passed the paper knife over the window pane, then
5051laid its smooth, cool surface to her cheek, and almost laughed aloud at
5052the feeling of delight that all at once without cause came over her. She
5053felt as though her nerves were strings being strained tighter and
5054tighter on some sort of screwing peg. She felt her eyes opening wider
5055and wider, her fingers and toes twitching nervously, something within
5056oppressing her breathing, while all shapes and sounds seemed in the
5057uncertain half-light to strike her with unaccustomed vividness. Moments
5058of doubt were continually coming upon her, when she was uncertain
5059whether the train were going forwards or backwards, or were standing
5060still altogether; whether it were Annushka at her side or a stranger.
5061"What's that on the arm of the chair, a fur cloak or some beast? And
5062what am I myself? Myself or some other woman?" She was afraid of giving
5063way to this delirium. But something drew her towards it, and she could
5064yield to it or resist it at will. She got up to rouse herself, and
5065slipped off her plaid and the cape of her warm dress. For a moment she
5066regained her self-possession, and realized that the thin peasant who had
5067come in wearing a long overcoat, with buttons missing from it, was the
5068stoveheater, that he was looking at the thermometer, that it was the
5069wind and snow bursting in after him at the door; but then everything
5070grew blurred again.... That peasant with the long waist seemed to be
5071gnawing something on the wall, the old lady began stretching her legs
5072the whole length of the carriage, and filling it with a black cloud;
5073then there was a fearful shrieking and banging, as though someone were
5074being torn to pieces; then there was a blinding dazzle of red fire
5075before her eyes and a wall seemed to rise up and hide everything. Anna
5076felt as though she were sinking down. But it was not terrible, but
5077delightful. The voice of a man muffled up and covered with snow shouted
5078something in her ear. She got up and pulled herself together; she
5079realized that they had reached a station and that this was the guard.
5080She asked Annushka to hand her the cape she had taken off and her shawl,
5081put them on and moved towards the door.
5082
5083"Do you wish to get out?" asked Annushka.
5084
5085"Yes, I want a little air. It's very hot in here." And she opened the
5086door. The driving snow and the wind rushed to meet her and struggled
5087with her over the door. But she enjoyed the struggle.
5088
5089She opened the door and went out. The wind seemed as though lying in
5090wait for her; with gleeful whistle it tried to snatch her up and bear
5091her off, but she clung to the cold door post, and holding her skirt got
5092down onto the platform and under the shelter of the carriages. The wind
5093had been powerful on the steps, but on the platform, under the lee of
5094the carriages, there was a lull. With enjoyment she drew deep breaths of
5095the frozen, snowy air, and standing near the carriage looked about the
5096platform and the lighted station.
5097
5098
5099
5100Chapter 30
5101
5102
5103The raging tempest rushed whistling between the wheels of the carriages,
5104about the scaffolding, and round the corner of the station. The
5105carriages, posts, people, everything that was to be seen was covered
5106with snow on one side, and was getting more and more thickly covered.
5107For a moment there would come a lull in the storm, but then it would
5108swoop down again with such onslaughts that it seemed impossible to stand
5109against it. Meanwhile men ran to and fro, talking merrily together,
5110their steps crackling on the platform as they continually opened and
5111closed the big doors. The bent shadow of a man glided by at her feet,
5112and she heard sounds of a hammer upon iron. "Hand over that telegram!"
5113came an angry voice out of the stormy darkness on the other side. "This
5114way! No. 28!" several different voices shouted again, and muffled
5115figures ran by covered with snow. Two gentlemen with lighted cigarettes
5116passed by her. She drew one more deep breath of the fresh air, and had
5117just put her hand out of her muff to take hold of the door post and get
5118back into the carriage, when another man in a military overcoat, quite
5119close beside her, stepped between her and the flickering light of the
5120lamp post. She looked round, and the same instant recognized Vronsky's
5121face. Putting his hand to the peak of his cap, he bowed to her and
5122asked, Was there anything she wanted? Could he be of any service to her?
5123She gazed rather a long while at him without answering, and, in spite of
5124the shadow in which he was standing, she saw, or fancied she saw, both
5125the expression of his face and his eyes. It was again that expression of
5126reverential ecstasy which had so worked upon her the day before. More
5127than once she had told herself during the past few days, and again only
5128a few moments before, that Vronsky was for her only one of the hundreds
5129of young men, forever exactly the same, that are met everywhere, that
5130she would never allow herself to bestow a thought upon him. But now at
5131the first instant of meeting him, she was seized by a feeling of joyful
5132pride. She had no need to ask why he had come. She knew as certainly as
5133if he had told her that he was here to be where she was.
5134
5135"I didn't know you were going. What are you coming for?" she said,
5136letting fall the hand with which she had grasped the door post. And
5137irrepressible delight and eagerness shone in her face.
5138
5139"What am I coming for?" he repeated, looking straight into her eyes.
5140"You know that I have come to be where you are," he said; "I can't help
5141it."
5142
5143At that moment the wind, as it were, surmounting all obstacles, sent the
5144snow flying from the carriage roofs, and clanked some sheet of iron it
5145had torn off, while the hoarse whistle of the engine roared in front,
5146plaintively and gloomily. All the awfulness of the storm seemed to her
5147more splendid now. He had said what her soul longed to hear, though she
5148feared it with her reason. She made no answer, and in her face he saw
5149conflict.
5150
5151"Forgive me, if you dislike what I said," he said humbly.
5152
5153He had spoken courteously, deferentially, yet so firmly, so stubbornly,
5154that for a long while she could make no answer.
5155
5156"It's wrong, what you say, and I beg you, if you're a good man, to
5157forget what you've said, as I forget it," she said at last.
5158
5159"Not one word, not one gesture of yours shall I, could I, ever
5160forget..."
5161
5162"Enough, enough!" she cried trying assiduously to give a stern
5163expression to her face, into which he was gazing greedily. And clutching
5164at the cold door post, she clambered up the steps and got rapidly into
5165the corridor of the carriage. But in the little corridor she paused,
5166going over in her imagination what had happened. Though she could not
5167recall her own words or his, she realized instinctively that the
5168momentary conversation had brought them fearfully closer; and she was
5169panic-stricken and blissful at it. After standing still a few seconds,
5170she went into the carriage and sat down in her place. The overstrained
5171condition which had tormented her before did not only come back, but was
5172intensified, and reached such a pitch that she was afraid every minute
5173that something would snap within her from the excessive tension. She did
5174not sleep all night. But in that nervous tension, and in the visions
5175that filled her imagination, there was nothing disagreeable or gloomy:
5176on the contrary there was something blissful, glowing, and exhilarating.
5177Towards morning Anna sank into a doze, sitting in her place, and when
5178she waked it was daylight and the train was near Petersburg. At once
5179thoughts of home, of husband and of son, and the details of that day and
5180the following came upon her.
5181
5182At Petersburg, as soon as the train stopped and she got out, the first
5183person that attracted her attention was her husband. "Oh, mercy! why do
5184his ears look like that?" she thought, looking at his frigid and
5185imposing figure, and especially the ears that struck her at the moment
5186as propping up the brim of his round hat. Catching sight of her, he came
5187to meet her, his lips falling into their habitual sarcastic smile, and
5188his big, tired eyes looking straight at her. An unpleasant sensation
5189gripped at her heart when she met his obstinate and weary glance, as
5190though she had expected to see him different. She was especially struck
5191by the feeling of dissatisfaction with herself that she experienced on
5192meeting him. That feeling was an intimate, familiar feeling, like a
5193consciousness of hypocrisy, which she experienced in her relations with
5194her husband. But hitherto she had not taken note of the feeling, now she
5195was clearly and painfully aware of it.
5196
5197"Yes, as you see, your tender spouse, as devoted as the first year after
5198marriage, burned with impatience to see you," he said in his deliberate,
5199high-pitched voice, and in that tone which he almost always took with
5200her, a tone of jeering at anyone who should say in earnest what he said.
5201
5202"Is Seryozha quite well?" she asked.
5203
5204"And is this all the reward," said he, "for my ardor? He's quite
5205well..."
5206
5207
5208
5209Chapter 31
5210
5211
5212Vronsky had not even tried to sleep all that night. He sat in his
5213armchair, looking straight before him or scanning the people who got in
5214and out. If he had indeed on previous occasions struck and impressed
5215people who did not know him by his air of unhesitating composure, he
5216seemed now more haughty and self-possessed than ever. He looked at
5217people as if they were things. A nervous young man, a clerk in a law
5218court, sitting opposite him, hated him for that look. The young man
5219asked him for a light, and entered into conversation with him, and even
5220pushed against him, to make him feel that he was not a thing, but a
5221person. But Vronsky gazed at him exactly as he did at the lamp, and the
5222young man made a wry face, feeling that he was losing his
5223self-possession under the oppression of this refusal to recognize him as
5224a person.
5225
5226Vronsky saw nothing and no one. He felt himself a king, not because he
5227believed that he had made an impression on Anna--he did not yet believe
5228that,--but because the impression she had made on him gave him happiness
5229and pride.
5230
5231What would come of it all he did not know, he did not even think. He
5232felt that all his forces, hitherto dissipated, wasted, were centered on
5233one thing, and bent with fearful energy on one blissful goal. And he was
5234happy at it. He knew only that he had told her the truth, that he had
5235come where she was, that all the happiness of his life, the only meaning
5236in life for him, now lay in seeing and hearing her. And when he got out
5237of the carriage at Bologova to get some seltzer water, and caught sight
5238of Anna, involuntarily his first word had told her just what he thought.
5239And he was glad he had told her it, that she knew it now and was
5240thinking of it. He did not sleep all night. When he was back in the
5241carriage, he kept unceasingly going over every position in which he had
5242seen her, every word she had uttered, and before his fancy, making his
5243heart faint with emotion, floated pictures of a possible future.
5244
5245When he got out of the train at Petersburg, he felt after his sleepless
5246night as keen and fresh as after a cold bath. He paused near his
5247compartment, waiting for her to get out. "Once more," he said to
5248himself, smiling unconsciously, "once more I shall see her walk, her
5249face; she will say something, turn her head, glance, smile, maybe." But
5250before he caught sight of her, he saw her husband, whom the
5251station-master was deferentially escorting through the crowd. "Ah, yes!
5252The husband." Only now for the first time did Vronsky realize clearly
5253the fact that there was a person attached to her, a husband. He knew
5254that she had a husband, but had hardly believed in his existence, and
5255only now fully believed in him, with his head and shoulders, and his
5256legs clad in black trousers; especially when he saw this husband calmly
5257take her arm with a sense of property.
5258
5259Seeing Alexey Alexandrovitch with his Petersburg face and severely
5260self-confident figure, in his round hat, with his rather prominent
5261spine, he believed in him, and was aware of a disagreeable sensation,
5262such as a man might feel tortured by thirst, who, on reaching a spring,
5263should find a dog, a sheep, or a pig, who has drunk of it and muddied
5264the water. Alexey Alexandrovitch's manner of walking, with a swing of
5265the hips and flat feet, particularly annoyed Vronsky. He could recognize
5266in no one but himself an indubitable right to love her. But she was
5267still the same, and the sight of her affected him the same way,
5268physically reviving him, stirring him, and filling his soul with
5269rapture. He told his German valet, who ran up to him from the second
5270class, to take his things and go on, and he himself went up to her. He
5271saw the first meeting between the husband and wife, and noted with a
5272lover's insight the signs of slight reserve with which she spoke to her
5273husband. "No, she does not love him and cannot love him," he decided to
5274himself.
5275
5276At the moment when he was approaching Anna Arkadyevna he noticed too
5277with joy that she was conscious of his being near, and looked round, and
5278seeing him, turned again to her husband.
5279
5280"Have you passed a good night?" he asked, bowing to her and her husband
5281together, and leaving it up to Alexey Alexandrovitch to accept the bow
5282on his own account, and to recognize it or not, as he might see fit.
5283
5284"Thank you, very good," she answered.
5285
5286Her face looked weary, and there was not that play of eagerness in it,
5287peeping out in her smile and her eyes; but for a single instant, as she
5288glanced at him, there was a flash of something in her eyes, and although
5289the flash died away at once, he was happy for that moment. She glanced
5290at her husband to find out whether he knew Vronsky. Alexey
5291Alexandrovitch looked at Vronsky with displeasure, vaguely recalling who
5292this was. Vronsky's composure and self-confidence here struck, like a
5293scythe against a stone, upon the cold self-confidence of Alexey
5294Alexandrovitch.
5295
5296"Count Vronsky," said Anna.
5297
5298"Ah! We are acquainted, I believe," said Alexey Alexandrovitch
5299indifferently, giving his hand.
5300
5301"You set off with the mother and you return with the son," he said,
5302articulating each syllable, as though each were a separate favor he was
5303bestowing.
5304
5305"You're back from leave, I suppose?" he said, and without waiting for a
5306reply, he turned to his wife in his jesting tone: "Well, were a great
5307many tears shed at Moscow at parting?"
5308
5309By addressing his wife like this he gave Vronsky to understand that he
5310wished to be left alone, and, turning slightly towards him, he touched
5311his hat; but Vronsky turned to Anna Arkadyevna.
5312
5313"I hope I may have the honor of calling on you," he said.
5314
5315Alexey Alexandrovitch glanced with his weary eyes at Vronsky.
5316
5317"Delighted," he said coldly. "On Mondays we're at home. Most fortunate,"
5318he said to his wife, dismissing Vronsky altogether, "that I should just
5319have half an hour to meet you, so that I can prove my devotion," he went
5320on in the same jesting tone.
5321
5322"You lay too much stress on your devotion for me to value it much," she
5323responded in the same jesting tone, involuntarily listening to the sound
5324of Vronsky's steps behind them. "But what has it to do with me?" she
5325said to herself, and she began asking her husband how Seryozha had got
5326on without her.
5327
5328"Oh, capitally! Mariette says he has been very good, And ... I must
5329disappoint you ... but he has not missed you as your husband has. But
5330once more _merci,_ my dear, for giving me a day. Our dear _Samovar_ will
5331be delighted." (He used to call the Countess Lidia Ivanovna, well known
5332in society, a samovar, because she was always bubbling over with
5333excitement.) "She has been continually asking after you. And, do you
5334know, if I may venture to advise you, you should go and see her today.
5335You know how she takes everything to heart. Just now, with all her own
5336cares, she's anxious about the Oblonskys being brought together."
5337
5338The Countess Lidia Ivanovna was a friend of her husband's, and the
5339center of that one of the coteries of the Petersburg world with which
5340Anna was, through her husband, in the closest relations.
5341
5342"But you know I wrote to her?"
5343
5344"Still she'll want to hear details. Go and see her, if you're not too
5345tired, my dear. Well, Kondraty will take you in the carriage, while I go
5346to my committee. I shall not be alone at dinner again," Alexey
5347Alexandrovitch went on, no longer in a sarcastic tone. "You wouldn't
5348believe how I've missed..." And with a long pressure of her hand and a
5349meaning smile, he put her in her carriage.
5350
5351
5352
5353Chapter 32
5354
5355
5356The first person to meet Anna at home was her son. He dashed down the
5357stairs to her, in spite of the governess's call, and with desperate joy
5358shrieked: "Mother! mother!" Running up to her, he hung on her neck.
5359
5360"I told you it was mother!" he shouted to the governess. "I knew!"
5361
5362And her son, like her husband, aroused in Anna a feeling akin to
5363disappointment. She had imagined him better than he was in reality. She
5364had to let herself drop down to the reality to enjoy him as he really
5365was. But even as he was, he was charming, with his fair curls, his blue
5366eyes, and his plump, graceful little legs in tightly pulled-up
5367stockings. Anna experienced almost physical pleasure in the sensation of
5368his nearness, and his caresses, and moral soothing, when she met his
5369simple, confiding, and loving glance, and heard his naive questions.
5370Anna took out the presents Dolly's children had sent him, and told her
5371son what sort of little girl was Tanya at Moscow, and how Tanya could
5372read, and even taught the other children.
5373
5374"Why, am I not so nice as she?" asked Seryozha.
5375
5376"To me you're nicer than anyone in the world."
5377
5378"I know that," said Seryozha, smiling.
5379
5380Anna had not had time to drink her coffee when the Countess Lidia
5381Ivanovna was announced. The Countess Lidia Ivanovna was a tall, stout
5382woman, with an unhealthily sallow face and splendid, pensive black eyes.
5383Anna liked her, but today she seemed to be seeing her for the first time
5384with all her defects.
5385
5386"Well, my dear, so you took the olive branch?" inquired Countess Lidia
5387Ivanovna, as soon as she came into the room.
5388
5389"Yes, it's all over, but it was all much less serious than we had
5390supposed," answered Anna. "My _belle-soeur_ is in general too hasty."
5391
5392But Countess Lidia Ivanovna, though she was interested in everything
5393that did not concern her, had a habit of never listening to what
5394interested her; she interrupted Anna:
5395
5396"Yes, there's plenty of sorrow and evil in the world. I am so worried
5397today."
5398
5399"Oh, why?" asked Anna, trying to suppress a smile.
5400
5401"I'm beginning to be weary of fruitlessly championing the truth, and
5402sometimes I'm quite unhinged by it. The Society of the Little Sisters"
5403(this was a religiously-patriotic, philanthropic institution) "was going
5404splendidly, but with these gentlemen it's impossible to do anything,"
5405added Countess Lidia Ivanovna in a tone of ironical submission to
5406destiny. "They pounce on the idea, and distort it, and then work it out
5407so pettily and unworthily. Two or three people, your husband among them,
5408understand all the importance of the thing, but the others simply drag
5409it down. Yesterday Pravdin wrote to me..."
5410
5411Pravdin was a well-known Panslavist abroad, and Countess Lidia Ivanovna
5412described the purport of his letter.
5413
5414Then the countess told her of more disagreements and intrigues against
5415the work of the unification of the churches, and departed in haste, as
5416she had that day to be at the meeting of some society and also at the
5417Slavonic committee.
5418
5419"It was all the same before, of course; but why was it I didn't notice
5420it before?" Anna asked herself. "Or has she been very much irritated
5421today? It's really ludicrous; her object is doing good; she a Christian,
5422yet she's always angry; and she always has enemies, and always enemies
5423in the name of Christianity and doing good."
5424
5425After Countess Lidia Ivanovna another friend came, the wife of a chief
5426secretary, who told her all the news of the town. At three o'clock she
5427too went away, promising to come to dinner. Alexey Alexandrovitch was at
5428the ministry. Anna, left alone, spent the time till dinner in assisting
5429at her son's dinner (he dined apart from his parents) and in putting her
5430things in order, and in reading and answering the notes and letters
5431which had accumulated on her table.
5432
5433The feeling of causeless shame, which she had felt on the journey, and
5434her excitement, too, had completely vanished. In the habitual conditions
5435of her life she felt again resolute and irreproachable.
5436
5437She recalled with wonder her state of mind on the previous day. "What
5438was it? Nothing. Vronsky said something silly, which it was easy to put
5439a stop to, and I answered as I ought to have done. To speak of it to my
5440husband would be unnecessary and out of the question. To speak of it
5441would be to attach importance to what has no importance." She remembered
5442how she had told her husband of what was almost a declaration made her
5443at Petersburg by a young man, one of her husband's subordinates, and how
5444Alexey Alexandrovitch had answered that every woman living in the world
5445was exposed to such incidents, but that he had the fullest confidence in
5446her tact, and could never lower her and himself by jealousy. "So then
5447there's no reason to speak of it? And indeed, thank God, there's nothing
5448to speak of," she told herself.
5449
5450
5451
5452Chapter 33
5453
5454
5455Alexey Alexandrovitch came back from the meeting of the ministers at
5456four o'clock, but as often happened, he had not time to come in to her.
5457He went into his study to see the people waiting for him with petitions,
5458and to sign some papers brought him by his chief secretary. At dinner
5459time (there were always a few people dining with the Karenins) there
5460arrived an old lady, a cousin of Alexey Alexandrovitch, the chief
5461secretary of the department and his wife, and a young man who had been
5462recommended to Alexey Alexandrovitch for the service. Anna went into the
5463drawing room to receive these guests. Precisely at five o'clock, before
5464the bronze Peter the First clock had struck the fifth stroke, Alexey
5465Alexandrovitch came in, wearing a white tie and evening coat with two
5466stars, as he had to go out directly after dinner. Every minute of Alexey
5467Alexandrovitch's life was portioned out and occupied. And to make time
5468to get through all that lay before him every day, he adhered to the
5469strictest punctuality. "Unhasting and unresting," was his motto. He came
5470into the dining hall, greeted everyone, and hurriedly sat down, smiling
5471to his wife.
5472
5473"Yes, my solitude is over. You wouldn't believe how uncomfortable" (he
5474laid stress on the word _uncomfortable_) "it is to dine alone."
5475
5476At dinner he talked a little to his wife about Moscow matters, and, with
5477a sarcastic smile, asked her after Stepan Arkadyevitch; but the
5478conversation was for the most part general, dealing with Petersburg
5479official and public news. After dinner he spent half an hour with his
5480guests, and again, with a smile, pressed his wife's hand, withdrew, and
5481drove off to the council. Anna did not go out that evening either to the
5482Princess Betsy Tverskaya, who, hearing of her return, had invited her,
5483nor to the theater, where she had a box for that evening. She did not go
5484out principally because the dress she had reckoned upon was not ready.
5485Altogether, Anna, on turning, after the departure of her guests, to the
5486consideration of her attire, was very much annoyed. She was generally a
5487mistress of the art of dressing well without great expense, and before
5488leaving Moscow she had given her dressmaker three dresses to transform.
5489The dresses had to be altered so that they could not be recognized, and
5490they ought to have been ready three days before. It appeared that two
5491dresses had not been done at all, while the other one had not been
5492altered as Anna had intended. The dressmaker came to explain, declaring
5493that it would be better as she had done it, and Anna was so furious that
5494she felt ashamed when she thought of it afterwards. To regain her
5495serenity completely she went into the nursery, and spent the whole
5496evening with her son, put him to bed herself, signed him with the cross,
5497and tucked him up. She was glad she had not gone out anywhere, and had
5498spent the evening so well. She felt so light-hearted and serene, she saw
5499so clearly that all that had seemed to her so important on her railway
5500journey was only one of the common trivial incidents of fashionable
5501life, and that she had no reason to feel ashamed before anyone else or
5502before herself. Anna sat down at the hearth with an English novel and
5503waited for her husband. Exactly at half-past nine she heard his ring,
5504and he came into the room.
5505
5506"Here you are at last!" she observed, holding out her hand to him.
5507
5508He kissed her hand and sat down beside her.
5509
5510"Altogether then, I see your visit was a success," he said to her.
5511
5512"Oh, yes," she said, and she began telling him about everything from the
5513beginning: her journey with Countess Vronskaya, her arrival, the
5514accident at the station. Then she described the pity she had felt, first
5515for her brother, and afterwards for Dolly.
5516
5517"I imagine one cannot exonerate such a man from blame, though he is your
5518brother," said Alexey Alexandrovitch severely.
5519
5520Anna smiled. She knew that he said that simply to show that family
5521considerations could not prevent him from expressing his genuine
5522opinion. She knew that characteristic in her husband, and liked it.
5523
5524"I am glad it has all ended so satisfactorily, and that you are back
5525again," he went on. "Come, what do they say about the new act I have got
5526passed in the council?"
5527
5528Anna had heard nothing of this act, and she felt conscience-stricken at
5529having been able so readily to forget what was to him of such
5530importance.
5531
5532"Here, on the other hand, it has made a great sensation," he said, with
5533a complacent smile.
5534
5535She saw that Alexey Alexandrovitch wanted to tell her something pleasant
5536to him about it, and she brought him by questions to telling it. With
5537the same complacent smile he told her of the ovations he had received in
5538consequence of the act he had passed.
5539
5540"I was very, very glad. It shows that at last a reasonable and steady
5541view of the matter is becoming prevalent among us."
5542
5543Having drunk his second cup of tea with cream, and bread, Alexey
5544Alexandrovitch got up, and was going towards his study.
5545
5546"And you've not been anywhere this evening? You've been dull, I expect?"
5547he said.
5548
5549"Oh, no!" she answered, getting up after him and accompanying him across
5550the room to his study. "What are you reading now?" she asked.
5551
5552"Just now I'm reading Duc de Lille, _Poesie des Enfers,_" he answered.
5553"A very remarkable book."
5554
5555Anna smiled, as people smile at the weaknesses of those they love, and,
5556putting her hand under his, she escorted him to the door of the study.
5557She knew his habit, that had grown into a necessity, of reading in the
5558evening. She knew, too, that in spite of his official duties, which
5559swallowed up almost the whole of his time, he considered it his duty to
5560keep up with everything of note that appeared in the intellectual world.
5561She knew, too, that he was really interested in books dealing with
5562politics, philosophy, and theology, that art was utterly foreign to his
5563nature; but, in spite of this, or rather, in consequence of it, Alexey
5564Alexandrovitch never passed over anything in the world of art, but made
5565it his duty to read everything. She knew that in politics, in
5566philosophy, in theology, Alexey Alexandrovitch often had doubts, and
5567made investigations; but on questions of art and poetry, and, above all,
5568of music, of which he was totally devoid of understanding, he had the
5569most distinct and decided opinions. He was fond of talking about
5570Shakespeare, Raphael, Beethoven, of the significance of new schools of
5571poetry and music, all of which were classified by him with very
5572conspicuous consistency.
5573
5574"Well, God be with you," she said at the door of the study, where a
5575shaded candle and a decanter of water were already put by his armchair.
5576"And I'll write to Moscow."
5577
5578He pressed her hand, and again kissed it.
5579
5580"All the same he's a good man; truthful, good-hearted, and remarkable in
5581his own line," Anna said to herself going back to her room, as though
5582she were defending him to someone who had attacked him and said that one
5583could not love him. "But why is it his ears stick out so strangely? Or
5584has he had his hair cut?"
5585
5586Precisely at twelve o'clock, when Anna was still sitting at her writing
5587table, finishing a letter to Dolly, she heard the sound of measured
5588steps in slippers, and Alexey Alexandrovitch, freshly washed and combed,
5589with a book under his arm, came in to her.
5590
5591"It's time, it's time," said he, with a meaning smile, and he went into
5592their bedroom.
5593
5594"And what right had he to look at him like that?" thought Anna,
5595recalling Vronsky's glance at Alexey Alexandrovitch.
5596
5597Undressing, she went into the bedroom; but her face had none of the
5598eagerness which, during her stay in Moscow, had fairly flashed from her
5599eyes and her smile; on the contrary, now the fire seemed quenched in
5600her, hidden somewhere far away.
5601
5602
5603
5604Chapter 34
5605
5606
5607When Vronsky went to Moscow from Petersburg, he had left his large set
5608of rooms in Morskaia to his friend and favorite comrade Petritsky.
5609
5610Petritsky was a young lieutenant, not particularly well-connected, and
5611not merely not wealthy, but always hopelessly in debt. Towards evening
5612he was always drunk, and he had often been locked up after all sorts of
5613ludicrous and disgraceful scandals, but he was a favorite both of his
5614comrades and his superior officers. On arriving at twelve o'clock from
5615the station at his flat, Vronsky saw, at the outer door, a hired
5616carriage familiar to him. While still outside his own door, as he rang,
5617he heard masculine laughter, the lisp of a feminine voice, and
5618Petritsky's voice. "If that's one of the villains, don't let him in!"
5619Vronsky told the servant not to announce him, and slipped quietly into
5620the first room. Baroness Shilton, a friend of Petritsky's, with a rosy
5621little face and flaxen hair, resplendent in a lilac satin gown, and
5622filling the whole room, like a canary, with her Parisian chatter, sat at
5623the round table making coffee. Petritsky, in his overcoat, and the
5624cavalry captain Kamerovsky, in full uniform, probably just come from
5625duty, were sitting each side of her.
5626
5627"Bravo! Vronsky!" shouted Petritsky, jumping up, scraping his chair.
5628"Our host himself! Baroness, some coffee for him out of the new coffee
5629pot. Why, we didn't expect you! Hope you're satisfied with the ornament
5630of your study," he said, indicating the baroness. "You know each other,
5631of course?"
5632
5633"I should think so," said Vronsky, with a bright smile, pressing the
5634baroness's little hand. "What next! I'm an old friend."
5635
5636"You're home after a journey," said the baroness, "so I'm flying. Oh,
5637I'll be off this minute, if I'm in the way."
5638
5639"You're home, wherever you are, baroness," said Vronsky. "How do you do,
5640Kamerovsky?" he added, coldly shaking hands with Kamerovsky.
5641
5642"There, you never know how to say such pretty things," said the
5643baroness, turning to Petritsky.
5644
5645"No; what's that for? After dinner I say things quite as good."
5646
5647"After dinner there's no credit in them? Well, then, I'll make you some
5648coffee, so go and wash and get ready," said the baroness, sitting down
5649again, and anxiously turning the screw in the new coffee pot. "Pierre,
5650give me the coffee," she said, addressing Petritsky, whom she called
5651Pierre as a contraction of his surname, making no secret of her
5652relations with him. "I'll put it in."
5653
5654"You'll spoil it!"
5655
5656"No, I won't spoil it! Well, and your wife?" said the baroness suddenly,
5657interrupting Vronsky's conversation with his comrade. "We've been
5658marrying you here. Have you brought your wife?"
5659
5660"No, baroness. I was born a Bohemian, and a Bohemian I shall die."
5661
5662"So much the better, so much the better. Shake hands on it."
5663
5664And the baroness, detaining Vronsky, began telling him, with many jokes,
5665about her last new plans of life, asking his advice.
5666
5667"He persists in refusing to give me a divorce! Well, what am I to do?"
5668(_He_ was her husband.) "Now I want to begin a suit against him. What do
5669you advise? Kamerovsky, look after the coffee; it's boiling over. You
5670see, I'm engrossed with business! I want a lawsuit, because I must have
5671my property. Do you understand the folly of it, that on the pretext of
5672my being unfaithful to him," she said contemptuously, "he wants to get
5673the benefit of my fortune."
5674
5675Vronsky heard with pleasure this light-hearted prattle of a pretty
5676woman, agreed with her, gave her half-joking counsel, and altogether
5677dropped at once into the tone habitual to him in talking to such women.
5678In his Petersburg world all people were divided into utterly opposed
5679classes. One, the lower class, vulgar, stupid, and, above all,
5680ridiculous people, who believe that one husband ought to live with the
5681one wife whom he has lawfully married; that a girl should be innocent, a
5682woman modest, and a man manly, self-controlled, and strong; that one
5683ought to bring up one's children, earn one's bread, and pay one's debts;
5684and various similar absurdities. This was the class of old-fashioned and
5685ridiculous people. But there was another class of people, the real
5686people. To this class they all belonged, and in it the great thing was
5687to be elegant, generous, plucky, gay, to abandon oneself without a blush
5688to every passion, and to laugh at everything else.
5689
5690For the first moment only, Vronsky was startled after the impression of
5691a quite different world that he had brought with him from Moscow. But
5692immediately as though slipping his feet into old slippers, he dropped
5693back into the light-hearted, pleasant world he had always lived in.
5694
5695The coffee was never really made, but spluttered over every one, and
5696boiled away, doing just what was required of it--that is, providing much
5697cause for much noise and laughter, and spoiling a costly rug and the
5698baroness's gown.
5699
5700"Well now, good-bye, or you'll never get washed, and I shall have on my
5701conscience the worst sin a gentleman can commit. So you would advise a
5702knife to his throat?"
5703
5704"To be sure, and manage that your hand may not be far from his lips.
5705He'll kiss your hand, and all will end satisfactorily," answered
5706Vronsky.
5707
5708"So at the Francais!" and, with a rustle of her skirts, she vanished.
5709
5710Kamerovsky got up too, and Vronsky, not waiting for him to go, shook
5711hands and went off to his dressing room.
5712
5713While he was washing, Petritsky described to him in brief outlines his
5714position, as far as it had changed since Vronsky had left Petersburg. No
5715money at all. His father said he wouldn't give him any and pay his
5716debts. His tailor was trying to get him locked up, and another fellow,
5717too, was threatening to get him locked up. The colonel of the regiment
5718had announced that if these scandals did not cease he would have to
5719leave. As for the baroness, he was sick to death of her, especially
5720since she'd taken to offering continually to lend him money. But he had
5721found a girl--he'd show her to Vronsky--a marvel, exquisite, in the
5722strict Oriental style, "genre of the slave Rebecca, don't you know."
5723He'd had a row, too, with Berkoshov, and was going to send seconds to
5724him, but of course it would come to nothing. Altogether everything was
5725supremely amusing and jolly. And, not letting his comrade enter into
5726further details of his position, Petritsky proceeded to tell him all the
5727interesting news. As he listened to Petritsky's familiar stories in the
5728familiar setting of the rooms he had spent the last three years in,
5729Vronsky felt a delightful sense of coming back to the careless
5730Petersburg life that he was used to.
5731
5732"Impossible!" he cried, letting down the pedal of the washing basin in
5733which he had been sousing his healthy red neck. "Impossible!" he cried,
5734at the news that Laura had flung over Fertinghof and had made up to
5735Mileev. "And is he as stupid and pleased as ever? Well, and how's
5736Buzulukov?"
5737
5738"Oh, there is a tale about Buzulukov--simply lovely!" cried Petritsky.
5739"You know his weakness for balls, and he never misses a single court
5740ball. He went to a big ball in a new helmet. Have you seen the new
5741helmets? Very nice, lighter. Well, so he's standing.... No, I say, do
5742listen."
5743
5744"I am listening," answered Vronsky, rubbing himself with a rough towel.
5745
5746"Up comes the Grand Duchess with some ambassador or other, and, as
5747ill-luck would have it, she begins talking to him about the new helmets.
5748The Grand Duchess positively wanted to show the new helmet to the
5749ambassador. They see our friend standing there." (Petritsky mimicked how
5750he was standing with the helmet.) "The Grand Duchess asked him to give
5751her the helmet; he doesn't give it to her. What do you think of that?
5752Well, every one's winking at him, nodding, frowning--give it to her, do!
5753He doesn't give it to her. He's mute as a fish. Only picture it!...
5754Well, the ... what's his name, whatever he was ... tries to take the
5755helmet from him ... he won't give it up!... He pulls it from him, and
5756hands it to the Grand Duchess. 'Here, your Highness,' says he, 'is the
5757new helmet.' She turned the helmet the other side up, And--just picture
5758it!--plop went a pear and sweetmeats out of it, two pounds of
5759sweetmeats!... He'd been storing them up, the darling!"
5760
5761Vronsky burst into roars of laughter. And long afterwards, when he was
5762talking of other things, he broke out into his healthy laugh, showing
5763his strong, close rows of teeth, when he thought of the helmet.
5764
5765Having heard all the news, Vronsky, with the assistance of his valet,
5766got into his uniform, and went off to report himself. He intended, when
5767he had done that, to drive to his brother's and to Betsy's and to pay
5768several visits with a view to beginning to go into that society where he
5769might meet Madame Karenina. As he always did in Petersburg, he left home
5770not meaning to return till late at night.
5771
5772
5773
5774
5775PART TWO
5776
5777
5778
5779Chapter 1
5780
5781
5782At the end of the winter, in the Shtcherbatskys' house, a consultation
5783was being held, which was to pronounce on the state of Kitty's health
5784and the measures to be taken to restore her failing strength. She had
5785been ill, and as spring came on she grew worse. The family doctor gave
5786her cod liver oil, then iron, then nitrate of silver, but as the first
5787and the second and the third were alike in doing no good, and as his
5788advice when spring came was to go abroad, a celebrated physician was
5789called in. The celebrated physician, a very handsome man, still
5790youngish, asked to examine the patient. He maintained, with peculiar
5791satisfaction, it seemed, that maiden modesty is a mere relic of
5792barbarism, and that nothing could be more natural than for a man still
5793youngish to handle a young girl naked. He thought it natural because he
5794did it every day, and felt and thought, as it seemed to him, no harm as
5795he did it and consequently he considered modesty in the girl not merely
5796as a relic of barbarism, but also as an insult to himself.
5797
5798There was nothing for it but to submit, since, although all the doctors
5799had studied in the same school, had read the same books, and learned the
5800same science, and though some people said this celebrated doctor was a
5801bad doctor, in the princess's household and circle it was for some
5802reason accepted that this celebrated doctor alone had some special
5803knowledge, and that he alone could save Kitty. After a careful
5804examination and sounding of the bewildered patient, dazed with shame,
5805the celebrated doctor, having scrupulously washed his hands, was
5806standing in the drawing room talking to the prince. The prince frowned
5807and coughed, listening to the doctor. As a man who had seen something of
5808life, and neither a fool nor an invalid, he had no faith in medicine,
5809and in his heart was furious at the whole farce, specially as he was
5810perhaps the only one who fully comprehended the cause of Kitty's
5811illness. "Conceited blockhead!" he thought, as he listened to the
5812celebrated doctor's chatter about his daughter's symptoms. The doctor
5813was meantime with difficulty restraining the expression of his contempt
5814for this old gentleman, and with difficulty condescending to the level
5815of his intelligence. He perceived that it was no good talking to the old
5816man, and that the principal person in the house was the mother. Before
5817her he decided to scatter his pearls. At that instant the princess came
5818into the drawing room with the family doctor. The prince withdrew,
5819trying not to show how ridiculous he thought the whole performance. The
5820princess was distracted, and did not know what to do. She felt she had
5821sinned against Kitty.
5822
5823"Well, doctor, decide our fate," said the princess. "Tell me
5824everything."
5825
5826"Is there hope?" she meant to say, but her lips quivered, and she could
5827not utter the question. "Well, doctor?"
5828
5829"Immediately, princess. I will talk it over with my colleague, and then
5830I will have the honor of laying my opinion before you."
5831
5832"So we had better leave you?"
5833
5834"As you please."
5835
5836The princess went out with a sigh.
5837
5838When the doctors were left alone, the family doctor began timidly
5839explaining his opinion, that there was a commencement of tuberculous
5840trouble, but ... and so on. The celebrated doctor listened to him, and
5841in the middle of his sentence looked at his big gold watch.
5842
5843"Yes," said he. "But..."
5844
5845The family doctor respectfully ceased in the middle of his observations.
5846
5847"The commencement of the tuberculous process we are not, as you are
5848aware, able to define; till there are cavities, there is nothing
5849definite. But we may suspect it. And there are indications;
5850malnutrition, nervous excitability, and so on. The question stands thus:
5851in presence of indications of tuberculous process, what is to be done to
5852maintain nutrition?"
5853
5854"But, you know, there are always moral, spiritual causes at the back in
5855these cases," the family doctor permitted himself to interpolate with a
5856subtle smile.
5857
5858"Yes, that's an understood thing," responded the celebrated physician,
5859again glancing at his watch. "Beg pardon, is the Yausky bridge done yet,
5860or shall I have to drive around?" he asked. "Ah! it is. Oh, well, then I
5861can do it in twenty minutes. So we were saying the problem may be put
5862thus: to maintain nutrition and to give tone to the nerves. The one is
5863in close connection with the other, one must attack both sides at once."
5864
5865"And how about a tour abroad?" asked the family doctor.
5866
5867"I've no liking for foreign tours. And take note: if there is an early
5868stage of tuberculous process, of which we cannot be certain, a foreign
5869tour will be of no use. What is wanted is means of improving nutrition,
5870and not for lowering it." And the celebrated doctor expounded his plan
5871of treatment with Soden waters, a remedy obviously prescribed primarily
5872on the ground that they could do no harm.
5873
5874The family doctor listened attentively and respectfully.
5875
5876"But in favor of foreign travel I would urge the change of habits, the
5877removal from conditions calling up reminiscences. And then the mother
5878wishes it," he added.
5879
5880"Ah! Well, in that case, to be sure, let them go. Only, those German
5881quacks are mischievous.... They ought to be persuaded.... Well, let them
5882go then."
5883
5884He glanced once more at his watch.
5885
5886"Oh! time's up already," And he went to the door. The celebrated doctor
5887announced to the princess (a feeling of what was due from him dictated
5888his doing so) that he ought to see the patient once more.
5889
5890"What! another examination!" cried the mother, with horror.
5891
5892"Oh, no, only a few details, princess."
5893
5894"Come this way."
5895
5896And the mother, accompanied by the doctor, went into the drawing room to
5897Kitty. Wasted and flushed, with a peculiar glitter in her eyes, left
5898there by the agony of shame she had been put through, Kitty stood in the
5899middle of the room. When the doctor came in she flushed crimson, and her
5900eyes filled with tears. All her illness and treatment struck her as a
5901thing so stupid, ludicrous even! Doctoring her seemed to her as absurd
5902as putting together the pieces of a broken vase. Her heart was broken.
5903Why would they try to cure her with pills and powders? But she could not
5904grieve her mother, especially as her mother considered herself to blame.
5905
5906"May I trouble you to sit down, princess?" the celebrated doctor said to
5907her.
5908
5909He sat down with a smile, facing her, felt her pulse, and again began
5910asking her tiresome questions. She answered him, and all at once got up,
5911furious.
5912
5913"Excuse me, doctor, but there is really no object in this. This is the
5914third time you've asked me the same thing."
5915
5916The celebrated doctor did not take offense.
5917
5918"Nervous irritability," he said to the princess, when Kitty had left the
5919room. "However, I had finished..."
5920
5921And the doctor began scientifically explaining to the princess, as an
5922exceptionally intelligent woman, the condition of the young princess,
5923and concluded by insisting on the drinking of the waters, which were
5924certainly harmless. At the question: Should they go abroad? the doctor
5925plunged into deep meditation, as though resolving a weighty problem.
5926Finally his decision was pronounced: they were to go abroad, but to put
5927no faith in foreign quacks, and to apply to him in any need.
5928
5929It seemed as though some piece of good fortune had come to pass after
5930the doctor had gone. The mother was much more cheerful when she went
5931back to her daughter, and Kitty pretended to be more cheerful. She had
5932often, almost always, to be pretending now.
5933
5934"Really, I'm quite well, mamma. But if you want to go abroad, let's go!"
5935she said, and trying to appear interested in the proposed tour, she
5936began talking of the preparations for the journey.
5937
5938
5939
5940Chapter 2
5941
5942
5943Soon after the doctor, Dolly had arrived. She knew that there was to be
5944a consultation that day, and though she was only just up after her
5945confinement (she had another baby, a little girl, born at the end of the
5946winter), though she had trouble and anxiety enough of her own, she had
5947left her tiny baby and a sick child, to come and hear Kitty's fate,
5948which was to be decided that day.
5949
5950"Well, well?" she said, coming into the drawing room, without taking off
5951her hat. "You're all in good spirits. Good news, then?"
5952
5953They tried to tell her what the doctor had said, but it appeared that
5954though the doctor had talked distinctly enough and at great length, it
5955was utterly impossible to report what he had said. The only point of
5956interest was that it was settled they should go abroad.
5957
5958Dolly could not help sighing. Her dearest friend, her sister, was going
5959away. And her life was not a cheerful one. Her relations with Stepan
5960Arkadyevitch after their reconciliation had become humiliating. The
5961union Anna had cemented turned out to be of no solid character, and
5962family harmony was breaking down again at the same point. There had been
5963nothing definite, but Stepan Arkadyevitch was hardly ever at home;
5964money, too, was hardly ever forthcoming, and Dolly was continually
5965tortured by suspicions of infidelity, which she tried to dismiss,
5966dreading the agonies of jealousy she had been through already. The first
5967onslaught of jealousy, once lived through, could never come back again,
5968and even the discovery of infidelities could never now affect her as it
5969had the first time. Such a discovery now would only mean breaking up
5970family habits, and she let herself be deceived, despising him and still
5971more herself, for the weakness. Besides this, the care of her large
5972family was a constant worry to her: first, the nursing of her young baby
5973did not go well, then the nurse had gone away, now one of the children
5974had fallen ill.
5975
5976"Well, how are all of you?" asked her mother.
5977
5978"Ah, mamma, we have plenty of troubles of our own. Lili is ill, and I'm
5979afraid it's scarlatina. I have come here now to hear about Kitty, and
5980then I shall shut myself up entirely, if--God forbid--it should be
5981scarlatina."
5982
5983The old prince too had come in from his study after the doctor's
5984departure, and after presenting his cheek to Dolly, and saying a few
5985words to her, he turned to his wife:
5986
5987"How have you settled it? you're going? Well, and what do you mean to do
5988with me?"
5989
5990"I suppose you had better stay here, Alexander," said his wife.
5991
5992"That's as you like."
5993
5994"Mamma, why shouldn't father come with us?" said Kitty. "It would be
5995nicer for him and for us too."
5996
5997The old prince got up and stroked Kitty's hair. She lifted her head and
5998looked at him with a forced smile. It always seemed to her that he
5999understood her better than anyone in the family, though he did not say
6000much about her. Being the youngest, she was her father's favorite, and
6001she fancied that his love gave him insight. When now her glance met his
6002blue kindly eyes looking intently at her, it seemed to her that he saw
6003right through her, and understood all that was not good that was passing
6004within her. Reddening, she stretched out towards him expecting a kiss,
6005but he only patted her hair and said:
6006
6007"These stupid chignons! There's no getting at the real daughter. One
6008simply strokes the bristles of dead women. Well, Dolinka," he turned to
6009his elder daughter, "what's your young buck about, hey?"
6010
6011"Nothing, father," answered Dolly, understanding that her husband was
6012meant. "He's always out; I scarcely ever see him," she could not resist
6013adding with a sarcastic smile.
6014
6015"Why, hasn't he gone into the country yet--to see about selling that
6016forest?"
6017
6018"No, he's still getting ready for the journey."
6019
6020"Oh, that's it!" said the prince. "And so am I to be getting ready for a
6021journey too? At your service," he said to his wife, sitting down. "And I
6022tell you what, Katia," he went on to his younger daughter, "you must
6023wake up one fine day and say to yourself: Why, I'm quite well, and
6024merry, and going out again with father for an early morning walk in the
6025frost. Hey?"
6026
6027What her father said seemed simple enough, yet at these words Kitty
6028became confused and overcome like a detected criminal. "Yes, he sees it
6029all, he understands it all, and in these words he's telling me that
6030though I'm ashamed, I must get over my shame." She could not pluck up
6031spirit to make any answer. She tried to begin, and all at once burst
6032into tears, and rushed out of the room.
6033
6034"See what comes of your jokes!" the princess pounced down on her
6035husband. "You're always..." she began a string of reproaches.
6036
6037The prince listened to the princess's scolding rather a long while
6038without speaking, but his face was more and more frowning.
6039
6040"She's so much to be pitied, poor child, so much to be pitied, and you
6041don't feel how it hurts her to hear the slightest reference to the cause
6042of it. Ah! to be so mistaken in people!" said the princess, and by the
6043change in her tone both Dolly and the prince knew she was speaking of
6044Vronsky. "I don't know why there aren't laws against such base,
6045dishonorable people."
6046
6047"Ah, I can't bear to hear you!" said the prince gloomily, getting up
6048from his low chair, and seeming anxious to get away, yet stopping in the
6049doorway. "There are laws, madam, and since you've challenged me to it,
6050I'll tell you who's to blame for it all: you and you, you and nobody
6051else. Laws against such young gallants there have always been, and there
6052still are! Yes, if there has been nothing that ought not to have been,
6053old as I am, I'd have called him out to the barrier, the young dandy.
6054Yes, and now you physic her and call in these quacks."
6055
6056The prince apparently had plenty more to say, but as soon as the
6057princess heard his tone she subsided at once, and became penitent, as
6058she always did on serious occasions.
6059
6060"Alexander, Alexander," she whispered, moving to him and beginning to
6061weep.
6062
6063As soon as she began to cry the prince too calmed down. He went up to
6064her.
6065
6066"There, that's enough, that's enough! You're wretched too, I know. It
6067can't be helped. There's no great harm done. God is merciful ...
6068thanks..." he said, not knowing what he was saying, as he responded to
6069the tearful kiss of the princess that he felt on his hand. And the
6070prince went out of the room.
6071
6072Before this, as soon as Kitty went out of the room in tears, Dolly, with
6073her motherly, family instincts, had promptly perceived that here a
6074woman's work lay before her, and she prepared to do it. She took off her
6075hat, and, morally speaking, tucked up her sleeves and prepared for
6076action. While her mother was attacking her father, she tried to restrain
6077her mother, so far as filial reverence would allow. During the prince's
6078outburst she was silent; she felt ashamed for her mother, and tender
6079towards her father for so quickly being kind again. But when her father
6080left them she made ready for what was the chief thing needful--to go to
6081Kitty and console her.
6082
6083"I'd been meaning to tell you something for a long while, mamma: did you
6084know that Levin meant to make Kitty an offer when he was here the last
6085time? He told Stiva so."
6086
6087"Well, what then? I don't understand..."
6088
6089"So did Kitty perhaps refuse him?... She didn't tell you so?"
6090
6091"No, she has said nothing to me either of one or the other; she's too
6092proud. But I know it's all on account of the other."
6093
6094"Yes, but suppose she has refused Levin, and she wouldn't have refused
6095him if it hadn't been for the other, I know. And then, he has deceived
6096her so horribly."
6097
6098It was too terrible for the princess to think how she had sinned against
6099her daughter, and she broke out angrily.
6100
6101"Oh, I really don't understand! Nowadays they will all go their own way,
6102and mothers haven't a word to say in anything, and then..."
6103
6104"Mamma, I'll go up to her."
6105
6106"Well, do. Did I tell you not to?" said her mother.
6107
6108
6109
6110Chapter 3
6111
6112
6113When she went into Kitty's little room, a pretty, pink little room, full
6114of knick-knacks in _vieux saxe,_ as fresh, and pink, and white, and gay
6115as Kitty herself had been two months ago, Dolly remembered how they had
6116decorated the room the year before together, with what love and gaiety.
6117Her heart turned cold when she saw Kitty sitting on a low chair near the
6118door, her eyes fixed immovably on a corner of the rug. Kitty glanced at
6119her sister, and the cold, rather ill-tempered expression of her face did
6120not change.
6121
6122"I'm just going now, and I shall have to keep in and you won't be able
6123to come to see me," said Dolly, sitting down beside her. "I want to talk
6124to you."
6125
6126"What about?" Kitty asked swiftly, lifting her head in dismay.
6127
6128"What should it be, but your trouble?"
6129
6130"I have no trouble."
6131
6132"Nonsense, Kitty. Do you suppose I could help knowing? I know all about
6133it. And believe me, it's of so little consequence.... We've all been
6134through it."
6135
6136Kitty did not speak, and her face had a stern expression.
6137
6138"He's not worth your grieving over him," pursued Darya Alexandrovna,
6139coming straight to the point.
6140
6141"No, because he has treated me with contempt," said Kitty, in a breaking
6142voice. "Don't talk of it! Please, don't talk of it!"
6143
6144"But who can have told you so? No one has said that. I'm certain he was
6145in love with you, and would still be in love with you, if it hadn't...
6146
6147"Oh, the most awful thing of all for me is this sympathizing!" shrieked
6148Kitty, suddenly flying into a passion. She turned round on her chair,
6149flushed crimson, and rapidly moving her fingers, pinched the clasp of
6150her belt first with one hand and then with the other. Dolly knew this
6151trick her sister had of clenching her hands when she was much excited;
6152she knew, too, that in moments of excitement Kitty was capable of
6153forgetting herself and saying a great deal too much, and Dolly would
6154have soothed her, but it was too late.
6155
6156"What, what is it you want to make me feel, eh?" said Kitty quickly.
6157"That I've been in love with a man who didn't care a straw for me, and
6158that I'm dying of love for him? And this is said to me by my own sister,
6159who imagines that ... that ... that she's sympathizing with me!... I
6160don't want these condolences and humbug!"
6161
6162"Kitty, you're unjust."
6163
6164"Why are you tormenting me?"
6165
6166"But I ... quite the contrary ... I see you're unhappy..."
6167
6168But Kitty in her fury did not hear her.
6169
6170"I've nothing to grieve over and be comforted about. I am too proud ever
6171to allow myself to care for a man who does not love me."
6172
6173"Yes, I don't say so either.... Only one thing. Tell me the truth," said
6174Darya Alexandrovna, taking her by the hand: "tell me, did Levin speak to
6175you?..."
6176
6177The mention of Levin's name seemed to deprive Kitty of the last vestige
6178of self-control. She leaped up from her chair, and flinging her clasp on
6179the ground, she gesticulated rapidly with her hands and said:
6180
6181"Why bring Levin in too? I can't understand what you want to torment me
6182for. I've told you, and I say it again, that I have some pride, and
6183never, _never_ would I do as you're doing--go back to a man who's
6184deceived you, who has cared for another woman. I can't understand it!
6185You may, but I can't!"
6186
6187And saying these words she glanced at her sister, and seeing that Dolly
6188sat silent, her head mournfully bowed, Kitty, instead of running out of
6189the room as she had meant to do, sat down near the door, and hid her
6190face in her handkerchief.
6191
6192The silence lasted for two minutes: Dolly was thinking of herself. That
6193humiliation of which she was always conscious came back to her with a
6194peculiar bitterness when her sister reminded her of it. She had not
6195looked for such cruelty in her sister, and she was angry with her. But
6196suddenly she heard the rustle of a skirt, and with it the sound of
6197heart-rending, smothered sobbing, and felt arms about her neck. Kitty
6198was on her knees before her.
6199
6200"Dolinka, I am so, so wretched!" she whispered penitently. And the sweet
6201face covered with tears hid itself in Darya Alexandrovna's skirt.
6202
6203As though tears were the indispensable oil, without which the machinery
6204of mutual confidence could not run smoothly between the two sisters, the
6205sisters after their tears talked, not of what was uppermost in their
6206minds, but, though they talked of outside matters, they understood each
6207other. Kitty knew that the words she had uttered in anger about her
6208husband's infidelity and her humiliating position had cut her poor
6209sister to the heart, but that she had forgiven her. Dolly for her part
6210knew all she had wanted to find out. She felt certain that her surmises
6211were correct; that Kitty's misery, her inconsolable misery, was due
6212precisely to the fact that Levin had made her an offer and she had
6213refused him, and Vronsky had deceived her, and that she was fully
6214prepared to love Levin and to detest Vronsky. Kitty said not a word of
6215that; she talked of nothing but her spiritual condition.
6216
6217"I have nothing to make me miserable," she said, getting calmer; "but
6218can you understand that everything has become hateful, loathsome, coarse
6219to me, and I myself most of all? You can't imagine what loathsome
6220thoughts I have about everything."
6221
6222"Why, whatever loathsome thoughts can you have?" asked Dolly, smiling.
6223
6224"The most utterly loathsome and coarse: I can't tell you. It's not
6225unhappiness, or low spirits, but much worse. As though everything that
6226was good in me was all hidden away, and nothing was left but the most
6227loathsome. Come, how am I to tell you?" she went on, seeing the puzzled
6228look in her sister's eyes. "Father began saying something to me just
6229now.... It seems to me he thinks all I want is to be married. Mother
6230takes me to a ball: it seems to me she only takes me to get me married
6231off as soon as may be, and be rid of me. I know it's not the truth, but
6232I can't drive away such thoughts. Eligible suitors, as they call them--I
6233can't bear to see them. It seems to me they're taking stock of me and
6234summing me up. In old days to go anywhere in a ball dress was a simple
6235joy to me, I admired myself; now I feel ashamed and awkward. And then!
6236The doctor.... Then..." Kitty hesitated; she wanted to say further that
6237ever since this change had taken place in her, Stepan Arkadyevitch had
6238become insufferably repulsive to her, and that she could not see him
6239without the grossest and most hideous conceptions rising before her
6240imagination.
6241
6242"Oh, well, everything presents itself to me, in the coarsest, most
6243loathsome light," she went on. "That's my illness. Perhaps it will pass
6244off."
6245
6246"But you mustn't think about it."
6247
6248"I can't help it. I'm never happy except with the children at your
6249house."
6250
6251"What a pity you can't be with me!"
6252
6253"Oh, yes, I'm coming. I've had scarlatina, and I'll persuade mamma to
6254let me."
6255
6256Kitty insisted on having her way, and went to stay at her sister's and
6257nursed the children all through the scarlatina, for scarlatina it turned
6258out to be. The two sisters brought all the six children successfully
6259through it, but Kitty was no better in health, and in Lent the
6260Shtcherbatskys went abroad.
6261
6262
6263
6264Chapter 4
6265
6266
6267The highest Petersburg society is essentially one: in it everyone knows
6268everyone else, everyone even visits everyone else. But this great set
6269has its subdivisions. Anna Arkadyevna Karenina had friends and close
6270ties in three different circles of this highest society. One circle was
6271her husband's government official set, consisting of his colleagues and
6272subordinates, brought together in the most various and capricious
6273manner, and belonging to different social strata. Anna found it
6274difficult now to recall the feeling of almost awe-stricken reverence
6275which she had at first entertained for these persons. Now she knew all
6276of them as people know one another in a country town; she knew their
6277habits and weaknesses, and where the shoe pinched each one of them. She
6278knew their relations with one another and with the head authorities,
6279knew who was for whom, and how each one maintained his position, and
6280where they agreed and disagreed. But the circle of political, masculine
6281interests had never interested her, in spite of countess Lidia
6282Ivanovna's influence, and she avoided it.
6283
6284Another little set with which Anna was in close relations was the one by
6285means of which Alexey Alexandrovitch had made his career. The center of
6286this circle was the Countess Lidia Ivanovna. It was a set made up of
6287elderly, ugly, benevolent, and godly women, and clever, learned, and
6288ambitious men. One of the clever people belonging to the set had called
6289it "the conscience of Petersburg society." Alexey Alexandrovitch had the
6290highest esteem for this circle, and Anna with her special gift for
6291getting on with everyone, had in the early days of her life in
6292Petersburg made friends in this circle also. Now, since her return from
6293Moscow, she had come to feel this set insufferable. It seemed to her
6294that both she and all of them were insincere, and she felt so bored and
6295ill at ease in that world that she went to see the Countess Lidia
6296Ivanovna as little as possible.
6297
6298The third circle with which Anna had ties was preeminently the
6299fashionable world--the world of balls, of dinners, of sumptuous dresses,
6300the world that hung on to the court with one hand, so as to avoid
6301sinking to the level of the demi-monde. For the demi-monde the members
6302of that fashionable world believed that they despised, though their
6303tastes were not merely similar, but in fact identical. Her connection
6304with this circle was kept up through Princess Betsy Tverskaya, her
6305cousin's wife, who had an income of a hundred and twenty thousand
6306roubles, and who had taken a great fancy to Anna ever since she first
6307came out, showed her much attention, and drew her into her set, making
6308fun of Countess Lidia Ivanovna's coterie.
6309
6310"When I'm old and ugly I'll be the same," Betsy used to say; "but for a
6311pretty young woman like you it's early days for that house of charity."
6312
6313Anna had at first avoided as far as she could Princess Tverskaya's
6314world, because it necessitated an expenditure beyond her means, and
6315besides in her heart she preferred the first circle. But since her visit
6316to Moscow she had done quite the contrary. She avoided her
6317serious-minded friends, and went out into the fashionable world. There
6318she met Vronsky, and experienced an agitating joy at those meetings. She
6319met Vronsky specially often at Betsy's for Betsy was a Vronsky by birth
6320and his cousin. Vronsky was everywhere where he had any chance of
6321meeting Anna, and speaking to her, when he could, of his love. She gave
6322him no encouragement, but every time she met him there surged up in her
6323heart that same feeling of quickened life that had come upon her that
6324day in the railway carriage when she saw him for the first time. She was
6325conscious herself that her delight sparkled in her eyes and curved her
6326lips into a smile, and she could not quench the expression of this
6327delight.
6328
6329At first Anna sincerely believed that she was displeased with him for
6330daring to pursue her. Soon after her return from Moscow, on arriving at
6331a _soiree_ where she had expected to meet him, and not finding him
6332there, she realized distinctly from the rush of disappointment that she
6333had been deceiving herself, and that this pursuit was not merely not
6334distasteful to her, but that it made the whole interest of her life.
6335
6336A celebrated singer was singing for the second time, and all the
6337fashionable world was in the theater. Vronsky, seeing his cousin from
6338his stall in the front row, did not wait till the entr'acte, but went to
6339her box.
6340
6341"Why didn't you come to dinner?" she said to him. "I marvel at the
6342second sight of lovers," she added with a smile, so that no one but he
6343could hear; "_she wasn't there_. But come after the opera."
6344
6345Vronsky looked inquiringly at her. She nodded. He thanked her by a
6346smile, and sat down beside her.
6347
6348"But how I remember your jeers!" continued Princess Betsy, who took a
6349peculiar pleasure in following up this passion to a successful issue.
6350"What's become of all that? You're caught, my dear boy."
6351
6352"That's my one desire, to be caught," answered Vronsky, with his serene,
6353good-humored smile. "If I complain of anything it's only that I'm not
6354caught enough, to tell the truth. I begin to lose hope."
6355
6356"Why, whatever hope can you have?" said Betsy, offended on behalf of her
6357friend. "_Entendons nous...._" But in her eyes there were gleams of
6358light that betrayed that she understood perfectly and precisely as he
6359did what hope he might have.
6360
6361"None whatever," said Vronsky, laughing and showing his even rows of
6362teeth. "Excuse me," he added, taking an opera glass out of her hand, and
6363proceeding to scrutinize, over her bare shoulder, the row of boxes
6364facing them. "I'm afraid I'm becoming ridiculous."
6365
6366He was very well aware that he ran no risk of being ridiculous in the
6367eyes of Betsy or any other fashionable people. He was very well aware
6368that in their eyes the position of an unsuccessful lover of a girl, or
6369of any woman free to marry, might be ridiculous. But the position of a
6370man pursuing a married woman, and, regardless of everything, staking his
6371life on drawing her into adultery, has something fine and grand about
6372it, and can never be ridiculous; and so it was with a proud and gay
6373smile under his mustaches that he lowered the opera glass and looked at
6374his cousin.
6375
6376"But why was it you didn't come to dinner?" she said, admiring him.
6377
6378"I must tell you about that. I was busily employed, and doing what, do
6379you suppose? I'll give you a hundred guesses, a thousand ... you'd never
6380guess. I've been reconciling a husband with a man who'd insulted his
6381wife. Yes, really!"
6382
6383"Well, did you succeed?"
6384
6385"Almost."
6386
6387"You really must tell me about it," she said, getting up. "Come to me in
6388the next _entr'acte._"
6389
6390"I can't; I'm going to the French theater."
6391
6392"From Nilsson?" Betsy queried in horror, though she could not herself
6393have distinguished Nilsson's voice from any chorus girl's.
6394
6395"Can't help it. I've an appointment there, all to do with my mission of
6396peace."
6397
6398"'Blessed are the peacemakers; theirs is the kingdom of heaven,'" said
6399Betsy, vaguely recollecting she had heard some similar saying from
6400someone. "Very well, then, sit down, and tell me what it's all about."
6401
6402And she sat down again.
6403
6404
6405
6406Chapter 5
6407
6408
6409"This is rather indiscreet, but it's so good it's an awful temptation to
6410tell the story," said Vronsky, looking at her with his laughing eyes.
6411"I'm not going to mention any names."
6412
6413"But I shall guess, so much the better."
6414
6415"Well, listen: two festive young men were driving--"
6416
6417"Officers of your regiment, of course?"
6418
6419"I didn't say they were officers,--two young men who had been lunching."
6420
6421"In other words, drinking."
6422
6423"Possibly. They were driving on their way to dinner with a friend in the
6424most festive state of mind. And they beheld a pretty woman in a hired
6425sledge; she overtakes them, looks round at them, and, so they fancy
6426anyway, nods to them and laughs. They, of course, follow her. They
6427gallop at full speed. To their amazement, the fair one alights at the
6428entrance of the very house to which they were going. The fair one darts
6429upstairs to the top story. They get a glimpse of red lips under a short
6430veil, and exquisite little feet."
6431
6432"You describe it with such feeling that I fancy you must be one of the
6433two."
6434
6435"And after what you said, just now! Well, the young men go in to their
6436comrade's; he was giving a farewell dinner. There they certainly did
6437drink a little too much, as one always does at farewell dinners. And at
6438dinner they inquire who lives at the top in that house. No one knows;
6439only their host's valet, in answer to their inquiry whether any 'young
6440ladies' are living on the top floor, answered that there were a great
6441many of them about there. After dinner the two young men go into their
6442host's study, and write a letter to the unknown fair one. They compose
6443an ardent epistle, a declaration in fact, and they carry the letter
6444upstairs themselves, so as to elucidate whatever might appear not
6445perfectly intelligible in the letter."
6446
6447"Why are you telling me these horrible stories? Well?"
6448
6449"They ring. A maid-servant opens the door, they hand her the letter, and
6450assure the maid that they're both so in love that they'll die on the
6451spot at the door. The maid, stupefied, carries in their messages. All at
6452once a gentleman appears with whiskers like sausages, as red as a
6453lobster, announces that there is no one living in the flat except his
6454wife, and sends them both about their business."
6455
6456"How do you know he had whiskers like sausages, as you say?"
6457
6458"Ah, you shall hear. I've just been to make peace between them."
6459
6460"Well, and what then?"
6461
6462"That's the most interesting part of the story. It appears that it's a
6463happy couple, a government clerk and his lady. The government clerk
6464lodges a complaint, and I became a mediator, and such a mediator!... I
6465assure you Talleyrand couldn't hold a candle to me."
6466
6467"Why, where was the difficulty?"
6468
6469"Ah, you shall hear.... We apologize in due form: we are in despair, we
6470entreat forgiveness for the unfortunate misunderstanding. The government
6471clerk with the sausages begins to melt, but he, too, desires to express
6472his sentiments, and as soon as ever he begins to express them, he begins
6473to get hot and say nasty things, and again I'm obliged to trot out all
6474my diplomatic talents. I allowed that their conduct was bad, but I urged
6475him to take into consideration their heedlessness, their youth; then,
6476too, the young men had only just been lunching together. 'You
6477understand. They regret it deeply, and beg you to overlook their
6478misbehavior.' The government clerk was softened once more. 'I consent,
6479count, and am ready to overlook it; but you perceive that my wife--my
6480wife's a respectable woman--has been exposed to the persecution, and
6481insults, and effrontery of young upstarts, scoundrels....' And you must
6482understand, the young upstarts are present all the while, and I have to
6483keep the peace between them. Again I call out all my diplomacy, and
6484again as soon as the thing was about at an end, our friend the
6485government clerk gets hot and red, and his sausages stand on end with
6486wrath, and once more I launch out into diplomatic wiles."
6487
6488"Ah, he must tell you this story!" said Betsy, laughing, to a lady who
6489came into her box. "He has been making me laugh so."
6490
6491"Well, _bonne chance_!" she added, giving Vronsky one finger of the hand
6492in which she held her fan, and with a shrug of her shoulders she
6493twitched down the bodice of her gown that had worked up, so as to be
6494duly naked as she moved forward towards the footlights into the light of
6495the gas, and the sight of all eyes.
6496
6497Vronsky drove to the French theater, where he really had to see the
6498colonel of his regiment, who never missed a single performance there. He
6499wanted to see him, to report on the result of his mediation, which had
6500occupied and amused him for the last three days. Petritsky, whom he
6501liked, was implicated in the affair, and the other culprit was a capital
6502fellow and first-rate comrade, who had lately joined the regiment, the
6503young Prince Kedrov. And what was most important, the interests of the
6504regiment were involved in it too.
6505
6506Both the young men were in Vronsky's company. The colonel of the
6507regiment was waited upon by the government clerk, Venden, with a
6508complaint against his officers, who had insulted his wife. His young
6509wife, so Venden told the story--he had been married half a year--was at
6510church with her mother, and suddenly overcome by indisposition, arising
6511from her interesting condition, she could not remain standing, she drove
6512home in the first sledge, a smart-looking one, she came across. On the
6513spot the officers set off in pursuit of her; she was alarmed, and
6514feeling still more unwell, ran up the staircase home. Venden himself, on
6515returning from his office, heard a ring at their bell and voices, went
6516out, and seeing the intoxicated officers with a letter, he had turned
6517them out. He asked for exemplary punishment.
6518
6519"Yes, it's all very well," said the colonel to Vronsky, whom he had
6520invited to come and see him. "Petritsky's becoming impossible. Not a
6521week goes by without some scandal. This government clerk won't let it
6522drop, he'll go on with the thing."
6523
6524Vronsky saw all the thanklessness of the business, and that there could
6525be no question of a duel in it, that everything must be done to soften
6526the government clerk, and hush the matter up. The colonel had called in
6527Vronsky just because he knew him to be an honorable and intelligent man,
6528and, more than all, a man who cared for the honor of the regiment. They
6529talked it over, and decided that Petritsky and Kedrov must go with
6530Vronsky to Venden's to apologize. The colonel and Vronsky were both
6531fully aware that Vronsky's name and rank would be sure to contribute
6532greatly to the softening of the injured husband's feelings.
6533
6534And these two influences were not in fact without effect; though the
6535result remained, as Vronsky had described, uncertain.
6536
6537On reaching the French theater, Vronsky retired to the foyer with the
6538colonel, and reported to him his success, or non-success. The colonel,
6539thinking it all over, made up his mind not to pursue the matter further,
6540but then for his own satisfaction proceeded to cross-examine Vronsky
6541about his interview; and it was a long while before he could restrain
6542his laughter, as Vronsky described how the government clerk, after
6543subsiding for a while, would suddenly flare up again, as he recalled the
6544details, and how Vronsky, at the last half word of conciliation,
6545skillfully maneuvered a retreat, shoving Petritsky out before him.
6546
6547"It's a disgraceful story, but killing. Kedrov really can't fight the
6548gentleman! Was he so awfully hot?" he commented, laughing. "But what do
6549you say to Claire today? She's marvelous," he went on, speaking of a new
6550French actress. "However often you see her, every day she's different.
6551It's only the French who can do that."
6552
6553
6554
6555Chapter 6
6556
6557
6558Princess Betsy drove home from the theater, without waiting for the end
6559of the last act. She had only just time to go into her dressing room,
6560sprinkle her long, pale face with powder, rub it, set her dress to
6561rights, and order tea in the big drawing room, when one after another
6562carriages drove up to her huge house in Bolshaia Morskaia. Her guests
6563stepped out at the wide entrance, and the stout porter, who used to read
6564the newspapers in the mornings behind the glass door, to the edification
6565of the passers-by, noiselessly opened the immense door, letting the
6566visitors pass by him into the house.
6567
6568Almost at the same instant the hostess, with freshly arranged coiffure
6569and freshened face, walked in at one door and her guests at the other
6570door of the drawing room, a large room with dark walls, downy rugs, and
6571a brightly lighted table, gleaming with the light of candles, white
6572cloth, silver samovar, and transparent china tea things.
6573
6574The hostess sat down at the table and took off her gloves. Chairs were
6575set with the aid of footmen, moving almost imperceptibly about the room;
6576the party settled itself, divided into two groups: one round the samovar
6577near the hostess, the other at the opposite end of the drawing room,
6578round the handsome wife of an ambassador, in black velvet, with sharply
6579defined black eyebrows. In both groups conversation wavered, as it
6580always does, for the first few minutes, broken up by meetings,
6581greetings, offers of tea, and as it were, feeling about for something to
6582rest upon.
6583
6584"She's exceptionally good as an actress; one can see she's studied
6585Kaulbach," said a diplomatic attache in the group round the ambassador's
6586wife. "Did you notice how she fell down?..."
6587
6588"Oh, please, don't let us talk about Nilsson! No one can possibly say
6589anything new about her," said a fat, red-faced, flaxen-headed lady,
6590without eyebrows and chignon, wearing an old silk dress. This was
6591Princess Myakaya, noted for her simplicity and the roughness of her
6592manners, and nicknamed _enfant terrible_. Princess Myakaya, sitting in
6593the middle between the two groups, and listening to both, took part in
6594the conversation first of one and then of the other. "Three people have
6595used that very phrase about Kaulbach to me today already, just as though
6596they had made a compact about it. And I can't see why they liked that
6597remark so."
6598
6599The conversation was cut short by this observation, and a new subject
6600had to be thought of again.
6601
6602"Do tell me something amusing but not spiteful," said the ambassador's
6603wife, a great proficient in the art of that elegant conversation called
6604by the English, _small talk_. She addressed the attache, who was at a
6605loss now what to begin upon.
6606
6607"They say that that's a difficult task, that nothing's amusing that
6608isn't spiteful," he began with a smile. "But I'll try. Get me a subject.
6609It all lies in the subject. If a subject's given me, it's easy to spin
6610something round it. I often think that the celebrated talkers of the
6611last century would have found it difficult to talk cleverly now.
6612Everything clever is so stale..."
6613
6614"That has been said long ago," the ambassador's wife interrupted him,
6615laughing.
6616
6617The conversation began amiably, but just because it was too amiable, it
6618came to a stop again. They had to have recourse to the sure,
6619never-failing topic--gossip.
6620
6621"Don't you think there's something Louis Quinze about Tushkevitch?" he
6622said, glancing towards a handsome, fair-haired young man, standing at
6623the table.
6624
6625"Oh, yes! He's in the same style as the drawing room and that's why it
6626is he's so often here."
6627
6628This conversation was maintained, since it rested on allusions to what
6629could not be talked of in that room--that is to say, of the relations of
6630Tushkevitch with their hostess.
6631
6632Round the samovar and the hostess the conversation had been meanwhile
6633vacillating in just the same way between three inevitable topics: the
6634latest piece of public news, the theater, and scandal. It, too, came
6635finally to rest on the last topic, that is, ill-natured gossip.
6636
6637"Have you heard the Maltishtcheva woman--the mother, not the
6638daughter--has ordered a costume in _diable rose_ color?"
6639
6640"Nonsense! No, that's too lovely!"
6641
6642"I wonder that with her sense--for she's not a fool, you know--that she
6643doesn't see how funny she is."
6644
6645Everyone had something to say in censure or ridicule of the luckless
6646Madame Maltishtcheva, and the conversation crackled merrily, like a
6647burning faggot-stack.
6648
6649The husband of Princess Betsy, a good-natured fat man, an ardent
6650collector of engravings, hearing that his wife had visitors, came into
6651the drawing room before going to his club. Stepping noiselessly over the
6652thick rugs, he went up to Princess Myakaya.
6653
6654"How did you like Nilsson?" he asked.
6655
6656"Oh, how can you steal upon anyone like that! How you startled me!" she
6657responded. "Please don't talk to me about the opera; you know nothing
6658about music. I'd better meet you on your own ground, and talk about your
6659majolica and engravings. Come now, what treasure have you been buying
6660lately at the old curiosity shops?"
6661
6662"Would you like me to show you? But you don't understand such things."
6663
6664"Oh, do show me! I've been learning about them at those--what's their
6665names?... the bankers ... they've some splendid engravings. They showed
6666them to us."
6667
6668"Why, have you been at the Schuetzburgs?" asked the hostess from the
6669samovar.
6670
6671"Yes, _ma chere_. They asked my husband and me to dinner, and told us
6672the sauce at that dinner cost a hundred pounds," Princess Myakaya said,
6673speaking loudly, and conscious everyone was listening; "and very nasty
6674sauce it was, some green mess. We had to ask them, and I made them sauce
6675for eighteen pence, and everybody was very much pleased with it. I can't
6676run to hundred-pound sauces."
6677
6678"She's unique!" said the lady of the house.
6679
6680"Marvelous!" said someone.
6681
6682The sensation produced by Princess Myakaya's speeches was always unique,
6683and the secret of the sensation she produced lay in the fact that though
6684she spoke not always appropriately, as now, she said simple things with
6685some sense in them. In the society in which she lived such plain
6686statements produced the effect of the wittiest epigram. Princess Myakaya
6687could never see why it had that effect, but she knew it had, and took
6688advantage of it.
6689
6690As everyone had been listening while Princess Myakaya spoke, and so the
6691conversation around the ambassador's wife had dropped, Princess Betsy
6692tried to bring the whole party together, and turned to the ambassador's
6693wife.
6694
6695"Will you really not have tea? You should come over here by us."
6696
6697"No, we're very happy here," the ambassador's wife responded with a
6698smile, and she went on with the conversation that had been begun.
6699
6700It was a very agreeable conversation. They were criticizing the
6701Karenins, husband and wife.
6702
6703"Anna is quite changed since her stay in Moscow. There's something
6704strange about her," said her friend.
6705
6706"The great change is that she brought back with her the shadow of Alexey
6707Vronsky," said the ambassador's wife.
6708
6709"Well, what of it? There's a fable of Grimm's about a man without a
6710shadow, a man who's lost his shadow. And that's his punishment for
6711something. I never could understand how it was a punishment. But a woman
6712must dislike being without a shadow."
6713
6714"Yes, but women with a shadow usually come to a bad end," said Anna's
6715friend.
6716
6717"Bad luck to your tongue!" said Princess Myakaya suddenly. "Madame
6718Karenina's a splendid woman. I don't like her husband, but I like her
6719very much."
6720
6721"Why don't you like her husband? He's such a remarkable man," said the
6722ambassador's wife. "My husband says there are few statesmen like him in
6723Europe."
6724
6725"And my husband tells me just the same, but I don't believe it," said
6726Princess Myakaya. "If our husbands didn't talk to us, we should see the
6727facts as they are. Alexey Alexandrovitch, to my thinking, is simply a
6728fool. I say it in a whisper ... but doesn't it really make everything
6729clear? Before, when I was told to consider him clever, I kept looking
6730for his ability, and thought myself a fool for not seeing it; but
6731directly I said, _he's a fool,_ though only in a whisper, everything's
6732explained, isn't it?"
6733
6734"How spiteful you are today!"
6735
6736"Not a bit. I'd no other way out of it. One of the two had to be a fool.
6737And, well, you know one can't say that of oneself."
6738
6739"'No one is satisfied with his fortune, and everyone is satisfied with
6740his wit.'" The attache repeated the French saying.
6741
6742"That's just it, just it," Princess Myakaya turned to him. "But the
6743point is that I won't abandon Anna to your mercies. She's so nice, so
6744charming. How can she help it if they're all in love with her, and
6745follow her about like shadows?"
6746
6747"Oh, I had no idea of blaming her for it," Anna's friend said in
6748self-defense.
6749
6750"If no one follows us about like a shadow, that's no proof that we've
6751any right to blame her."
6752
6753And having duly disposed of Anna's friend, the Princess Myakaya got up,
6754and together with the ambassador's wife, joined the group at the table,
6755where the conversation was dealing with the king of Prussia.
6756
6757"What wicked gossip were you talking over there?" asked Betsy.
6758
6759"About the Karenins. The princess gave us a sketch of Alexey
6760Alexandrovitch," said the ambassador's wife with a smile, as she sat
6761down at the table.
6762
6763"Pity we didn't hear it!" said Princess Betsy, glancing towards the
6764door. "Ah, here you are at last!" she said, turning with a smile to
6765Vronsky, as he came in.
6766
6767Vronsky was not merely acquainted with all the persons whom he was
6768meeting here; he saw them all every day; and so he came in with the
6769quiet manner with which one enters a room full of people from whom one
6770has only just parted.
6771
6772"Where do I come from?" he said, in answer to a question from the
6773ambassador's wife. "Well, there's no help for it, I must confess. From
6774the _opera bouffe_. I do believe I've seen it a hundred times, and
6775always with fresh enjoyment. It's exquisite! I know it's disgraceful,
6776but I go to sleep at the opera, and I sit out the _opera bouffe_ to the
6777last minute, and enjoy it. This evening..."
6778
6779He mentioned a French actress, and was going to tell something about
6780her; but the ambassador's wife, with playful horror, cut him short.
6781
6782"Please don't tell us about that horror."
6783
6784"All right, I won't especially as everyone knows those horrors."
6785
6786"And we should all go to see them if it were accepted as the correct
6787thing, like the opera," chimed in Princess Myakaya.
6788
6789
6790
6791Chapter 7
6792
6793
6794Steps were heard at the door, and Princess Betsy, knowing it was Madame
6795Karenina, glanced at Vronsky. He was looking towards the door, and his
6796face wore a strange new expression. Joyfully, intently, and at the same
6797time timidly, he gazed at the approaching figure, and slowly he rose to
6798his feet. Anna walked into the drawing room. Holding herself extremely
6799erect, as always, looking straight before her, and moving with her
6800swift, resolute, and light step, that distinguished her from all other
6801society women, she crossed the short space to her hostess, shook hands
6802with her, smiled, and with the same smile looked around at Vronsky.
6803Vronsky bowed low and pushed a chair up for her.
6804
6805She acknowledged this only by a slight nod, flushed a little, and
6806frowned. But immediately, while rapidly greeting her acquaintances, and
6807shaking the hands proffered to her, she addressed Princess Betsy:
6808
6809"I have been at Countess Lidia's, and meant to have come here earlier,
6810but I stayed on. Sir John was there. He's very interesting."
6811
6812"Oh, that's this missionary?"
6813
6814"Yes; he told us about the life in India, most interesting things."
6815
6816The conversation, interrupted by her coming in, flickered up again like
6817the light of a lamp being blown out.
6818
6819"Sir John! Yes, Sir John; I've seen him. He speaks well. The Vlassieva
6820girl's quite in love with him."
6821
6822"And is it true the younger Vlassieva girl's to marry Topov?"
6823
6824"Yes, they say it's quite a settled thing."
6825
6826"I wonder at the parents! They say it's a marriage for love."
6827
6828"For love? What antediluvian notions you have! Can one talk of love in
6829these days?" said the ambassador's wife.
6830
6831"What's to be done? It's a foolish old fashion that's kept up still,"
6832said Vronsky.
6833
6834"So much the worse for those who keep up the fashion. The only happy
6835marriages I know are marriages of prudence."
6836
6837"Yes, but then how often the happiness of these prudent marriages flies
6838away like dust just because that passion turns up that they have refused
6839to recognize," said Vronsky.
6840
6841"But by marriages of prudence we mean those in which both parties have
6842sown their wild oats already. That's like scarlatina--one has to go
6843through it and get it over."
6844
6845"Then they ought to find out how to vaccinate for love, like smallpox."
6846
6847"I was in love in my young days with a deacon," said the Princess
6848Myakaya. "I don't know that it did me any good."
6849
6850"No; I imagine, joking apart, that to know love, one must make mistakes
6851and then correct them," said Princess Betsy.
6852
6853"Even after marriage?" said the ambassador's wife playfully.
6854
6855"'It's never too late to mend.'" The attache repeated the English
6856proverb.
6857
6858"Just so," Betsy agreed; "one must make mistakes and correct them. What
6859do you think about it?" she turned to Anna, who, with a faintly
6860perceptible resolute smile on her lips, was listening in silence to the
6861conversation.
6862
6863"I think," said Anna, playing with the glove she had taken off, "I think
6864... of so many men, so many minds, certainly so many hearts, so many
6865kinds of love."
6866
6867Vronsky was gazing at Anna, and with a fainting heart waiting for what
6868she would say. He sighed as after a danger escaped when she uttered
6869these words.
6870
6871Anna suddenly turned to him.
6872
6873"Oh, I have had a letter from Moscow. They write me that Kitty
6874Shtcherbatskaya's very ill."
6875
6876"Really?" said Vronsky, knitting his brows.
6877
6878Anna looked sternly at him.
6879
6880"That doesn't interest you?"
6881
6882"On the contrary, it does, very much. What was it exactly they told you,
6883if I may know?" he questioned.
6884
6885Anna got up and went to Betsy.
6886
6887"Give me a cup of tea," she said, standing at her table.
6888
6889While Betsy was pouring out the tea, Vronsky went up to Anna.
6890
6891"What is it they write to you?" he repeated.
6892
6893"I often think men have no understanding of what's not honorable though
6894they're always talking of it," said Anna, without answering him. "I've
6895wanted to tell you so a long while," she added, and moving a few steps
6896away, she sat down at a table in a corner covered with albums.
6897
6898"I don't quite understand the meaning of your words," he said, handing
6899her the cup.
6900
6901She glanced towards the sofa beside her, and he instantly sat down.
6902
6903"Yes, I have been wanting to tell you," she said, not looking at him.
6904"You behaved wrongly, very wrongly."
6905
6906"Do you suppose I don't know that I've acted wrongly? But who was the
6907cause of my doing so?"
6908
6909"What do you say that to me for?" she said, glancing severely at him.
6910
6911"You know what for," he answered boldly and joyfully, meeting her glance
6912and not dropping his eyes.
6913
6914Not he, but she, was confused.
6915
6916"That only shows you have no heart," she said. But her eyes said that
6917she knew he had a heart, and that was why she was afraid of him.
6918
6919"What you spoke of just now was a mistake, and not love."
6920
6921"Remember that I have forbidden you to utter that word, that hateful
6922word," said Anna, with a shudder. But at once she felt that by that very
6923word "forbidden" she had shown that she acknowledged certain rights over
6924him, and by that very fact was encouraging him to speak of love. "I have
6925long meant to tell you this," she went on, looking resolutely into his
6926eyes, and hot all over from the burning flush on her cheeks. "I've come
6927on purpose this evening, knowing I should meet you. I have come to tell
6928you that this must end. I have never blushed before anyone, and you
6929force me to feel to blame for something."
6930
6931He looked at her and was struck by a new spiritual beauty in her face.
6932
6933"What do you wish of me?" he said simply and seriously.
6934
6935"I want you to go to Moscow and ask for Kitty's forgiveness," she said.
6936
6937"You don't wish that?" he said.
6938
6939He saw she was saying what she forced herself to say, not what she
6940wanted to say.
6941
6942"If you love me, as you say," she whispered, "do so that I may be at
6943peace."
6944
6945His face grew radiant.
6946
6947"Don't you know that you're all my life to me? But I know no peace, and
6948I can't give it to you; all myself--and love ... yes. I can't think of
6949you and myself apart. You and I are one to me. And I see no chance
6950before us of peace for me or for you. I see a chance of despair, of
6951wretchedness ... or I see a chance of bliss, what bliss!... Can it be
6952there's no chance of it?" he murmured with his lips; but she heard.
6953
6954She strained every effort of her mind to say what ought to be said. But
6955instead of that she let her eyes rest on him, full of love, and made no
6956answer.
6957
6958"It's come!" he thought in ecstasy. "When I was beginning to despair,
6959and it seemed there would be no end--it's come! She loves me! She owns
6960it!"
6961
6962"Then do this for me: never say such things to me, and let us be
6963friends," she said in words; but her eyes spoke quite differently.
6964
6965"Friends we shall never be, you know that yourself. Whether we shall be
6966the happiest or the wretchedest of people--that's in your hands."
6967
6968She would have said something, but he interrupted her.
6969
6970"I ask one thing only: I ask for the right to hope, to suffer as I do.
6971But if even that cannot be, command me to disappear, and I disappear.
6972You shall not see me if my presence is distasteful to you."
6973
6974"I don't want to drive you away."
6975
6976"Only don't change anything, leave everything as it is," he said in a
6977shaky voice. "Here's your husband."
6978
6979At that instant Alexey Alexandrovitch did in fact walk into the room
6980with his calm, awkward gait.
6981
6982Glancing at his wife and Vronsky, he went up to the lady of the house,
6983and sitting down for a cup of tea, began talking in his deliberate,
6984always audible voice, in his habitual tone of banter, ridiculing
6985someone.
6986
6987"Your Rambouillet is in full conclave," he said, looking round at all
6988the party; "the graces and the muses."
6989
6990But Princess Betsy could not endure that tone of his--"sneering," as she
6991called it, using the English word, and like a skillful hostess she at
6992once brought him into a serious conversation on the subject of universal
6993conscription. Alexey Alexandrovitch was immediately interested in the
6994subject, and began seriously defending the new imperial decree against
6995Princess Betsy, who had attacked it.
6996
6997Vronsky and Anna still sat at the little table.
6998
6999"This is getting indecorous," whispered one lady, with an expressive
7000glance at Madame Karenina, Vronsky, and her husband.
7001
7002"What did I tell you?" said Anna's friend.
7003
7004But not only those ladies, almost everyone in the room, even the
7005Princess Myakaya and Betsy herself, looked several times in the
7006direction of the two who had withdrawn from the general circle, as
7007though that were a disturbing fact. Alexey Alexandrovitch was the only
7008person who did not once look in that direction, and was not diverted
7009from the interesting discussion he had entered upon.
7010
7011Noticing the disagreeable impression that was being made on everyone,
7012Princess Betsy slipped someone else into her place to listen to Alexey
7013Alexandrovitch, and went up to Anna.
7014
7015"I'm always amazed at the clearness and precision of your husband's
7016language," she said. "The most transcendental ideas seem to be within my
7017grasp when he's speaking."
7018
7019"Oh, yes!" said Anna, radiant with a smile of happiness, and not
7020understanding a word of what Betsy had said. She crossed over to the big
7021table and took part in the general conversation.
7022
7023Alexey Alexandrovitch, after staying half an hour, went up to his wife
7024and suggested that they should go home together. But she answered, not
7025looking at him, that she was staying to supper. Alexey Alexandrovitch
7026made his bows and withdrew.
7027
7028The fat old Tatar, Madame Karenina's coachman, was with difficulty
7029holding one of her pair of grays, chilled with the cold and rearing at
7030the entrance. A footman stood opening the carriage door. The hall porter
7031stood holding open the great door of the house. Anna Arkadyevna, with
7032her quick little hand, was unfastening the lace of her sleeve, caught in
7033the hook of her fur cloak, and with bent head listening to the words
7034Vronsky murmured as he escorted her down.
7035
7036"You've said nothing, of course, and I ask nothing," he was saying; "but
7037you know that friendship's not what I want: that there's only one
7038happiness in life for me, that word that you dislike so ... yes,
7039love!..."
7040
7041"Love," she repeated slowly, in an inner voice, and suddenly, at the
7042very instant she unhooked the lace, she added, "Why I don't like the
7043word is that it means too much to me, far more than you can understand,"
7044and she glanced into his face. "_Au revoir!_"
7045
7046She gave him her hand, and with her rapid, springy step she passed by
7047the porter and vanished into the carriage.
7048
7049Her glance, the touch of her hand, set him aflame. He kissed the palm of
7050his hand where she had touched it, and went home, happy in the sense
7051that he had got nearer to the attainment of his aims that evening than
7052during the last two months.
7053
7054
7055
7056Chapter 8
7057
7058
7059Alexey Alexandrovitch had seen nothing striking or improper in the fact
7060that his wife was sitting with Vronsky at a table apart, in eager
7061conversation with him about something. But he noticed that to the rest
7062of the party this appeared something striking and improper, and for that
7063reason it seemed to him too to be improper. He made up his mind that he
7064must speak of it to his wife.
7065
7066On reaching home Alexey Alexandrovitch went to his study, as he usually
7067did, seated himself in his low chair, opened a book on the Papacy at the
7068place where he had laid the paper-knife in it, and read till one
7069o'clock, just as he usually did. But from time to time he rubbed his
7070high forehead and shook his head, as though to drive away something. At
7071his usual time he got up and made his toilet for the night. Anna
7072Arkadyevna had not yet come in. With a book under his arm he went
7073upstairs. But this evening, instead of his usual thoughts and
7074meditations upon official details, his thoughts were absorbed by his
7075wife and something disagreeable connected with her. Contrary to his
7076usual habit, he did not get into bed, but fell to walking up and down
7077the rooms with his hands clasped behind his back. He could not go to
7078bed, feeling that it was absolutely needful for him first to think
7079thoroughly over the position that had just arisen.
7080
7081When Alexey Alexandrovitch had made up his mind that he must talk to his
7082wife about it, it had seemed a very easy and simple matter. But now,
7083when he began to think over the question that had just presented itself,
7084it seemed to him very complicated and difficult.
7085
7086Alexey Alexandrovitch was not jealous. Jealousy according to his notions
7087was an insult to one's wife, and one ought to have confidence in one's
7088wife. Why one ought to have confidence--that is to say, complete
7089conviction that his young wife would always love him--he did not ask
7090himself. But he had no experience of lack of confidence, because he had
7091confidence in her, and told himself that he ought to have it. Now,
7092though his conviction that jealousy was a shameful feeling and that one
7093ought to feel confidence, had not broken down, he felt that he was
7094standing face to face with something illogical and irrational, and did
7095not know what was to be done. Alexey Alexandrovitch was standing face to
7096face with life, with the possibility of his wife's loving someone other
7097than himself, and this seemed to him very irrational and
7098incomprehensible because it was life itself. All his life Alexey
7099Alexandrovitch had lived and worked in official spheres, having to do
7100with the reflection of life. And every time he had stumbled against life
7101itself he had shrunk away from it. Now he experienced a feeling akin to
7102that of a man who, while calmly crossing a precipice by a bridge, should
7103suddenly discover that the bridge is broken, and that there is a chasm
7104below. That chasm was life itself, the bridge that artificial life in
7105which Alexey Alexandrovitch had lived. For the first time the question
7106presented itself to him of the possibility of his wife's loving someone
7107else, and he was horrified at it.
7108
7109He did not undress, but walked up and down with his regular tread over
7110the resounding parquet of the dining room, where one lamp was burning,
7111over the carpet of the dark drawing room, in which the light was
7112reflected on the big new portrait of himself hanging over the sofa, and
7113across her boudoir, where two candles burned, lighting up the portraits
7114of her parents and woman friends, and the pretty knick-knacks of her
7115writing table, that he knew so well. He walked across her boudoir to the
7116bedroom door, and turned back again. At each turn in his walk,
7117especially at the parquet of the lighted dining room, he halted and said
7118to himself, "Yes, this I must decide and put a stop to; I must express
7119my view of it and my decision." And he turned back again. "But express
7120what--what decision?" he said to himself in the drawing room, and he
7121found no reply. "But after all," he asked himself before turning into
7122the boudoir, "what has occurred? Nothing. She was talking a long while
7123with him. But what of that? Surely women in society can talk to whom
7124they please. And then, jealousy means lowering both myself and her," he
7125told himself as he went into her boudoir; but this dictum, which had
7126always had such weight with him before, had now no weight and no meaning
7127at all. And from the bedroom door he turned back again; but as he
7128entered the dark drawing room some inner voice told him that it was not
7129so, and that if others noticed it that showed that there was something.
7130And he said to himself again in the dining room, "Yes, I must decide and
7131put a stop to it, and express my view of it..." And again at the turn in
7132the drawing room he asked himself, "Decide how?" And again he asked
7133himself, "What had occurred?" and answered, "Nothing," and recollected
7134that jealousy was a feeling insulting to his wife; but again in the
7135drawing room he was convinced that something had happened. His thoughts,
7136like his body, went round a complete circle, without coming upon
7137anything new. He noticed this, rubbed his forehead, and sat down in her
7138boudoir.
7139
7140There, looking at her table, with the malachite blotting case lying at
7141the top and an unfinished letter, his thoughts suddenly changed. He
7142began to think of her, of what she was thinking and feeling. For the
7143first time he pictured vividly to himself her personal life, her ideas,
7144her desires, and the idea that she could and should have a separate life
7145of her own seemed to him so alarming that he made haste to dispel it. It
7146was the chasm which he was afraid to peep into. To put himself in
7147thought and feeling in another person's place was a spiritual exercise
7148not natural to Alexey Alexandrovitch. He looked on this spiritual
7149exercise as a harmful and dangerous abuse of the fancy.
7150
7151"And the worst of it all," thought he, "is that just now, at the very
7152moment when my great work is approaching completion" (he was thinking of
7153the project he was bringing forward at the time), "when I stand in need
7154of all my mental peace and all my energies, just now this stupid worry
7155should fall foul of me. But what's to be done? I'm not one of those men
7156who submit to uneasiness and worry without having the force of character
7157to face them.
7158
7159"I must think it over, come to a decision, and put it out of my mind,"
7160he said aloud.
7161
7162"The question of her feelings, of what has passed and may be passing in
7163her soul, that's not my affair; that's the affair of her conscience, and
7164falls under the head of religion," he said to himself, feeling
7165consolation in the sense that he had found to which division of
7166regulating principles this new circumstance could be properly referred.
7167
7168"And so," Alexey Alexandrovitch said to himself, "questions as to her
7169feelings, and so on, are questions for her conscience, with which I can
7170have nothing to do. My duty is clearly defined. As the head of the
7171family, I am a person bound in duty to guide her, and consequently, in
7172part the person responsible; I am bound to point out the danger I
7173perceive, to warn her, even to use my authority. I ought to speak
7174plainly to her." And everything that he would say tonight to his wife
7175took clear shape in Alexey Alexandrovitch's head. Thinking over what he
7176would say, he somewhat regretted that he should have to use his time and
7177mental powers for domestic consumption, with so little to show for it,
7178but, in spite of that, the form and contents of the speech before him
7179shaped itself as clearly and distinctly in his head as a ministerial
7180report.
7181
7182"I must say and express fully the following points: first, exposition of
7183the value to be attached to public opinion and to decorum; secondly,
7184exposition of religious significance of marriage; thirdly, if need be,
7185reference to the calamity possibly ensuing to our son; fourthly,
7186reference to the unhappiness likely to result to herself." And,
7187interlacing his fingers, Alexey Alexandrovitch stretched them, and the
7188joints of the fingers cracked. This trick, a bad habit, the cracking of
7189his fingers, always soothed him, and gave precision to his thoughts, so
7190needful to him at this juncture.
7191
7192There was the sound of a carriage driving up to the front door. Alexey
7193Alexandrovitch halted in the middle of the room.
7194
7195A woman's step was heard mounting the stairs. Alexey Alexandrovitch,
7196ready for his speech, stood compressing his crossed fingers, waiting to
7197see if the crack would not come again. One joint cracked.
7198
7199Already, from the sound of light steps on the stairs, he was aware that
7200she was close, and though he was satisfied with his speech, he felt
7201frightened of the explanation confronting him...
7202
7203
7204
7205Chapter 9
7206
7207
7208Anna came in with hanging head, playing with the tassels of her hood.
7209Her face was brilliant and glowing; but this glow was not one of
7210brightness; it suggested the fearful glow of a conflagration in the
7211midst of a dark night. On seeing her husband, Anna raised her head and
7212smiled, as though she had just waked up.
7213
7214"You're not in bed? What a wonder!" she said, letting fall her hood, and
7215without stopping, she went on into the dressing room. "It's late, Alexey
7216Alexandrovitch," she said, when she had gone through the doorway.
7217
7218"Anna, it's necessary for me to have a talk with you."
7219
7220"With me?" she said, wonderingly. She came out from behind the door of
7221the dressing room, and looked at him. "Why, what is it? What about?" she
7222asked, sitting down. "Well, let's talk, if it's so necessary. But it
7223would be better to get to sleep."
7224
7225Anna said what came to her lips, and marveled, hearing herself, at her
7226own capacity for lying. How simple and natural were her words, and how
7227likely that she was simply sleepy! She felt herself clad in an
7228impenetrable armor of falsehood. She felt that some unseen force had
7229come to her aid and was supporting her.
7230
7231"Anna, I must warn you," he began.
7232
7233"Warn me?" she said. "Of what?"
7234
7235She looked at him so simply, so brightly, that anyone who did not know
7236her as her husband knew her could not have noticed anything unnatural,
7237either in the sound or the sense of her words. But to him, knowing her,
7238knowing that whenever he went to bed five minutes later than usual, she
7239noticed it, and asked him the reason; to him, knowing that every joy,
7240every pleasure and pain that she felt she communicated to him at once;
7241to him, now to see that she did not care to notice his state of mind,
7242that she did not care to say a word about herself, meant a great deal.
7243He saw that the inmost recesses of her soul, that had always hitherto
7244lain open before him, were closed against him. More than that, he saw
7245from her tone that she was not even perturbed at that, but as it were
7246said straight out to him: "Yes, it's shut up, and so it must be, and
7247will be in future." Now he experienced a feeling such as a man might
7248have, returning home and finding his own house locked up. "But perhaps
7249the key may yet be found," thought Alexey Alexandrovitch.
7250
7251"I want to warn you," he said in a low voice, "that through
7252thoughtlessness and lack of caution you may cause yourself to be talked
7253about in society. Your too animated conversation this evening with Count
7254Vronsky" (he enunciated the name firmly and with deliberate emphasis)
7255"attracted attention."
7256
7257He talked and looked at her laughing eyes, which frightened him now with
7258their impenetrable look, and, as he talked, he felt all the uselessness
7259and idleness of his words.
7260
7261"You're always like that," she answered, as though completely
7262misapprehending him, and of all he had said only taking in the last
7263phrase. "One time you don't like my being dull, and another time you
7264don't like my being lively. I wasn't dull. Does that offend you?"
7265
7266Alexey Alexandrovitch shivered, and bent his hands to make the joints
7267crack.
7268
7269"Oh, please, don't do that, I do so dislike it," she said.
7270
7271"Anna, is this you?" said Alexey Alexandrovitch, quietly making an
7272effort over himself, and restraining the motion of his fingers.
7273
7274"But what is it all about?" she said, with such genuine and droll
7275wonder. "What do you want of me?"
7276
7277Alexey Alexandrovitch paused, and rubbed his forehead and his eyes. He
7278saw that instead of doing as he had intended--that is to say, warning
7279his wife against a mistake in the eyes of the world--he had
7280unconsciously become agitated over what was the affair of her
7281conscience, and was struggling against the barrier he fancied between
7282them.
7283
7284"This is what I meant to say to you," he went on coldly and composedly,
7285"and I beg you to listen to it. I consider jealousy, as you know, a
7286humiliating and degrading feeling, and I shall never allow myself to be
7287influenced by it; but there are certain rules of decorum which cannot be
7288disregarded with impunity. This evening it was not I observed it, but
7289judging by the impression made on the company, everyone observed that
7290your conduct and deportment were not altogether what could be desired."
7291
7292"I positively don't understand," said Anna, shrugging her shoulders--"He
7293doesn't care," she thought. "But other people noticed it, and that's
7294what upsets him."--"You're not well, Alexey Alexandrovitch," she added,
7295and she got up, and would have gone towards the door; but he moved
7296forward as though he would stop her.
7297
7298His face was ugly and forbidding, as Anna had never seen him. She
7299stopped, and bending her head back and on one side, began with her rapid
7300hand taking out her hairpins.
7301
7302"Well, I'm listening to what's to come," she said, calmly and
7303ironically; "and indeed I listen with interest, for I should like to
7304understand what's the matter."
7305
7306She spoke, and marveled at the confident, calm, and natural tone in
7307which she was speaking, and the choice of the words she used.
7308
7309"To enter into all the details of your feelings I have no right, and
7310besides, I regard that as useless and even harmful," began Alexey
7311Alexandrovitch. "Ferreting in one's soul, one often ferrets out
7312something that might have lain there unnoticed. Your feelings are an
7313affair of your own conscience; but I am in duty bound to you, to myself,
7314and to God, to point out to you your duties. Our life has been joined,
7315not by man, but by God. That union can only be severed by a crime, and a
7316crime of that nature brings its own chastisement."
7317
7318"I don't understand a word. And, oh dear! how sleepy I am, unluckily,"
7319she said, rapidly passing her hand through her hair, feeling for the
7320remaining hairpins.
7321
7322"Anna, for God's sake don't speak like that!" he said gently. "Perhaps I
7323am mistaken, but believe me, what I say, I say as much for myself as for
7324you. I am your husband, and I love you."
7325
7326For an instant her face fell, and the mocking gleam in her eyes died
7327away; but the word _love_ threw her into revolt again. She thought:
7328"Love? Can he love? If he hadn't heard there was such a thing as love,
7329he would never have used the word. He doesn't even know what love is."
7330
7331"Alexey Alexandrovitch, really I don't understand," she said. "Define
7332what it is you find..."
7333
7334"Pardon, let me say all I have to say. I love you. But I am not speaking
7335of myself; the most important persons in this matter are our son and
7336yourself. It may very well be, I repeat, that my words seem to you
7337utterly unnecessary and out of place; it may be that they are called
7338forth by my mistaken impression. In that case, I beg you to forgive me.
7339But if you are conscious yourself of even the smallest foundation for
7340them, then I beg you to think a little, and if your heart prompts you,
7341to speak out to me..."
7342
7343Alexey Alexandrovitch was unconsciously saying something utterly unlike
7344what he had prepared.
7345
7346"I have nothing to say. And besides," she said hurriedly, with
7347difficulty repressing a smile, "it's really time to be in bed."
7348
7349Alexey Alexandrovitch sighed, and, without saying more, went into the
7350bedroom.
7351
7352When she came into the bedroom, he was already in bed. His lips were
7353sternly compressed, and his eyes looked away from her. Anna got into her
7354bed, and lay expecting every minute that he would begin to speak to her
7355again. She both feared his speaking and wished for it. But he was
7356silent. She waited for a long while without moving, and had forgotten
7357about him. She thought of that other; she pictured him, and felt how her
7358heart was flooded with emotion and guilty delight at the thought of him.
7359Suddenly she heard an even, tranquil snore. For the first instant Alexey
7360Alexandrovitch seemed, as it were, appalled at his own snoring, and
7361ceased; but after an interval of two breathings the snore sounded again,
7362with a new tranquil rhythm.
7363
7364"It's late, it's late," she whispered with a smile. A long while she
7365lay, not moving, with open eyes, whose brilliance she almost fancied she
7366could herself see in the darkness.
7367
7368
7369
7370Chapter 10
7371
7372
7373From that time a new life began for Alexey Alexandrovitch and for his
7374wife. Nothing special happened. Anna went out into society, as she had
7375always done, was particularly often at Princess Betsy's, and met Vronsky
7376everywhere. Alexey Alexandrovitch saw this, but could do nothing. All
7377his efforts to draw her into open discussion she confronted with a
7378barrier which he could not penetrate, made up of a sort of amused
7379perplexity. Outwardly everything was the same, but their inner relations
7380were completely changed. Alexey Alexandrovitch, a man of great power in
7381the world of politics, felt himself helpless in this. Like an ox with
7382head bent, submissively he awaited the blow which he felt was lifted
7383over him. Every time he began to think about it, he felt that he must
7384try once more, that by kindness, tenderness, and persuasion there was
7385still hope of saving her, of bringing her back to herself, and every day
7386he made ready to talk to her. But every time he began talking to her, he
7387felt that the spirit of evil and deceit, which had taken possession of
7388her, had possession of him too, and he talked to her in a tone quite
7389unlike that in which he had meant to talk. Involuntarily he talked to
7390her in his habitual tone of jeering at anyone who should say what he was
7391saying. And in that tone it was impossible to say what needed to be said
7392to her.
7393
7394
7395
7396Chapter 11
7397
7398
7399That which for Vronsky had been almost a whole year the one absorbing
7400desire of his life, replacing all his old desires; that which for Anna
7401had been an impossible, terrible, and even for that reason more
7402entrancing dream of bliss, that desire had been fulfilled. He stood
7403before her, pale, his lower jaw quivering, and besought her to be calm,
7404not knowing how or why.
7405
7406"Anna! Anna!" he said with a choking voice, "Anna, for pity's sake!..."
7407
7408But the louder he spoke, the lower she dropped her once proud and gay,
7409now shame-stricken head, and she bowed down and sank from the sofa where
7410she was sitting, down on the floor, at his feet; she would have fallen
7411on the carpet if he had not held her.
7412
7413"My God! Forgive me!" she said, sobbing, pressing his hands to her
7414bosom.
7415
7416She felt so sinful, so guilty, that nothing was left her but to
7417humiliate herself and beg forgiveness; and as now there was no one in
7418her life but him, to him she addressed her prayer for forgiveness.
7419Looking at him, she had a physical sense of her humiliation, and she
7420could say nothing more. He felt what a murderer must feel, when he sees
7421the body he has robbed of life. That body, robbed by him of life, was
7422their love, the first stage of their love. There was something awful and
7423revolting in the memory of what had been bought at this fearful price of
7424shame. Shame at their spiritual nakedness crushed her and infected him.
7425But in spite of all the murderer's horror before the body of his victim,
7426he must hack it to pieces, hide the body, must use what he has gained by
7427his murder.
7428
7429And with fury, as it were with passion, the murderer falls on the body,
7430and drags it and hacks at it; so he covered her face and shoulders with
7431kisses. She held his hand, and did not stir. "Yes, these kisses--that is
7432what has been bought by this shame. Yes, and one hand, which will always
7433be mine--the hand of my accomplice." She lifted up that hand and kissed
7434it. He sank on his knees and tried to see her face; but she hid it, and
7435said nothing. At last, as though making an effort over herself, she got
7436up and pushed him away. Her face was still as beautiful, but it was only
7437the more pitiful for that.
7438
7439"All is over," she said; "I have nothing but you. Remember that."
7440
7441"I can never forget what is my whole life. For one instant of this
7442happiness..."
7443
7444"Happiness!" she said with horror and loathing and her horror
7445unconsciously infected him. "For pity's sake, not a word, not a word
7446more."
7447
7448She rose quickly and moved away from him.
7449
7450"Not a word more," she repeated, and with a look of chill despair,
7451incomprehensible to him, she parted from him. She felt that at that
7452moment she could not put into words the sense of shame, of rapture, and
7453of horror at this stepping into a new life, and she did not want to
7454speak of it, to vulgarize this feeling by inappropriate words. But later
7455too, and the next day and the third day, she still found no words in
7456which she could express the complexity of her feelings; indeed, she
7457could not even find thoughts in which she could clearly think out all
7458that was in her soul.
7459
7460She said to herself: "No, just now I can't think of it, later on, when I
7461am calmer." But this calm for thought never came; every time the thought
7462rose of what she had done and what would happen to her, and what she
7463ought to do, a horror came over her and she drove those thoughts away.
7464
7465"Later, later," she said--"when I am calmer."
7466
7467But in dreams, when she had no control over her thoughts, her position
7468presented itself to her in all its hideous nakedness. One dream haunted
7469her almost every night. She dreamed that both were her husbands at once,
7470that both were lavishing caresses on her. Alexey Alexandrovitch was
7471weeping, kissing her hands, and saying, "How happy we are now!" And
7472Alexey Vronsky was there too, and he too was her husband. And she was
7473marveling that it had once seemed impossible to her, was explaining to
7474them, laughing, that this was ever so much simpler, and that now both of
7475them were happy and contented. But this dream weighed on her like a
7476nightmare, and she awoke from it in terror.
7477
7478
7479
7480Chapter 12
7481
7482
7483In the early days after his return from Moscow, whenever Levin shuddered
7484and grew red, remembering the disgrace of his rejection, he said to
7485himself: "This was just how I used to shudder and blush, thinking myself
7486utterly lost, when I was plucked in physics and did not get my remove;
7487and how I thought myself utterly ruined after I had mismanaged that
7488affair of my sister's that was entrusted to me. And yet, now that years
7489have passed, I recall it and wonder that it could distress me so much.
7490It will be the same thing too with this trouble. Time will go by and I
7491shall not mind about this either."
7492
7493But three months had passed and he had not left off minding about it;
7494and it was as painful for him to think of it as it had been those first
7495days. He could not be at peace because after dreaming so long of family
7496life, and feeling himself so ripe for it, he was still not married, and
7497was further than ever from marriage. He was painfully conscious himself,
7498as were all about him, that at his years it is not well for man to be
7499alone. He remembered how before starting for Moscow he had once said to
7500his cowman Nikolay, a simple-hearted peasant, whom he liked talking to:
7501"Well, Nikolay! I mean to get married," and how Nikolay had promptly
7502answered, as of a matter on which there could be no possible doubt: "And
7503high time too, Konstantin Demitrievitch." But marriage had now become
7504further off than ever. The place was taken, and whenever he tried to
7505imagine any of the girls he knew in that place, he felt that it was
7506utterly impossible. Moreover, the recollection of the rejection and the
7507part he had played in the affair tortured him with shame. However often
7508he told himself that he was in no wise to blame in it, that
7509recollection, like other humiliating reminiscences of a similar kind,
7510made him twinge and blush. There had been in his past, as in every
7511man's, actions, recognized by him as bad, for which his conscience ought
7512to have tormented him; but the memory of these evil actions was far from
7513causing him so much suffering as those trivial but humiliating
7514reminiscences. These wounds never healed. And with these memories was
7515now ranged his rejection and the pitiful position in which he must have
7516appeared to others that evening. But time and work did their part.
7517Bitter memories were more and more covered up by the incidents--paltry
7518in his eyes, but really important--of his country life. Every week he
7519thought less often of Kitty. He was impatiently looking forward to the
7520news that she was married, or just going to be married, hoping that such
7521news would, like having a tooth out, completely cure him.
7522
7523Meanwhile spring came on, beautiful and kindly, without the delays and
7524treacheries of spring,--one of those rare springs in which plants,
7525beasts, and man rejoice alike. This lovely spring roused Levin still
7526more, and strengthened him in his resolution of renouncing all his past
7527and building up his lonely life firmly and independently. Though many of
7528the plans with which he had returned to the country had not been carried
7529out, still his most important resolution--that of purity--had been kept
7530by him. He was free from that shame, which had usually harassed him
7531after a fall; and he could look everyone straight in the face. In
7532February he had received a letter from Marya Nikolaevna telling him that
7533his brother Nikolay's health was getting worse, but that he would not
7534take advice, and in consequence of this letter Levin went to Moscow to
7535his brother's and succeeded in persuading him to see a doctor and to go
7536to a watering-place abroad. He succeeded so well in persuading his
7537brother, and in lending him money for the journey without irritating
7538him, that he was satisfied with himself in that matter. In addition to
7539his farming, which called for special attention in spring, and in
7540addition to reading, Levin had begun that winter a work on agriculture,
7541the plan of which turned on taking into account the character of the
7542laborer on the land as one of the unalterable data of the question, like
7543the climate and the soil, and consequently deducing all the principles
7544of scientific culture, not simply from the data of soil and climate, but
7545from the data of soil, climate, and a certain unalterable character of
7546the laborer. Thus, in spite of his solitude, or in consequence of his
7547solitude, his life was exceedingly full. Only rarely he suffered from an
7548unsatisfied desire to communicate his stray ideas to someone besides
7549Agafea Mihalovna. With her indeed he not infrequently fell into
7550discussion upon physics, the theory of agriculture, and especially
7551philosophy; philosophy was Agafea Mihalovna's favorite subject.
7552
7553Spring was slow in unfolding. For the last few weeks it had been
7554steadily fine frosty weather. In the daytime it thawed in the sun, but
7555at night there were even seven degrees of frost. There was such a frozen
7556surface on the snow that they drove the wagons anywhere off the roads.
7557Easter came in the snow. Then all of a sudden, on Easter Monday, a warm
7558wind sprang up, storm clouds swooped down, and for three days and three
7559nights the warm, driving rain fell in streams. On Thursday the wind
7560dropped, and a thick gray fog brooded over the land as though hiding the
7561mysteries of the transformations that were being wrought in nature.
7562Behind the fog there was the flowing of water, the cracking and floating
7563of ice, the swift rush of turbid, foaming torrents; and on the following
7564Monday, in the evening, the fog parted, the storm clouds split up into
7565little curling crests of cloud, the sky cleared, and the real spring had
7566come. In the morning the sun rose brilliant and quickly wore away the
7567thin layer of ice that covered the water, and all the warm air was
7568quivering with the steam that rose up from the quickened earth. The old
7569grass looked greener, and the young grass thrust up its tiny blades; the
7570buds of the guelder-rose and of the currant and the sticky birch-buds
7571were swollen with sap, and an exploring bee was humming about the golden
7572blossoms that studded the willow. Larks trilled unseen above the velvety
7573green fields and the ice-covered stubble-land; peewits wailed over the
7574low lands and marshes flooded by the pools; cranes and wild geese flew
7575high across the sky uttering their spring calls. The cattle, bald in
7576patches where the new hair had not grown yet, lowed in the pastures; the
7577bowlegged lambs frisked round their bleating mothers. Nimble children
7578ran about the drying paths, covered with the prints of bare feet. There
7579was a merry chatter of peasant women over their linen at the pond, and
7580the ring of axes in the yard, where the peasants were repairing ploughs
7581and harrows. The real spring had come.
7582
7583
7584
7585Chapter 13
7586
7587
7588Levin put on his big boots, and, for the first time, a cloth jacket,
7589instead of his fur cloak, and went out to look after his farm, stepping
7590over streams of water that flashed in the sunshine and dazzled his eyes,
7591and treading one minute on ice and the next into sticky mud.
7592
7593Spring is the time of plans and projects. And, as he came out into the
7594farmyard, Levin, like a tree in spring that knows not what form will be
7595taken by the young shoots and twigs imprisoned in its swelling buds,
7596hardly knew what undertakings he was going to begin upon now in the farm
7597work that was so dear to him. But he felt that he was full of the most
7598splendid plans and projects. First of all he went to the cattle. The
7599cows had been let out into their paddock, and their smooth sides were
7600already shining with their new, sleek, spring coats; they basked in the
7601sunshine and lowed to go to the meadow. Levin gazed admiringly at the
7602cows he knew so intimately to the minutest detail of their condition,
7603and gave orders for them to be driven out into the meadow, and the
7604calves to be let into the paddock. The herdsman ran gaily to get ready
7605for the meadow. The cowherd girls, picking up their petticoats, ran
7606splashing through the mud with bare legs, still white, not yet brown
7607from the sun, waving brush wood in their hands, chasing the calves that
7608frolicked in the mirth of spring.
7609
7610After admiring the young ones of that year, who were particularly
7611fine--the early calves were the size of a peasant's cow, and Pava's
7612daughter, at three months old, was as big as a yearling--Levin gave
7613orders for a trough to be brought out and for them to be fed in the
7614paddock. But it appeared that as the paddock had not been used during
7615the winter, the hurdles made in the autumn for it were broken. He sent
7616for the carpenter, who, according to his orders, ought to have been at
7617work at the thrashing machine. But it appeared that the carpenter was
7618repairing the harrows, which ought to have been repaired before Lent.
7619This was very annoying to Levin. It was annoying to come upon that
7620everlasting slovenliness in the farm work against which he had been
7621striving with all his might for so many years. The hurdles, as he
7622ascertained, being not wanted in winter, had been carried to the
7623cart-horses' stable; and there broken, as they were of light
7624construction, only meant for feeding calves. Moreover, it was apparent
7625also that the harrows and all the agricultural implements, which he had
7626directed to be looked over and repaired in the winter, for which very
7627purpose he had hired three carpenters, had not been put into repair, and
7628the harrows were being repaired when they ought to have been harrowing
7629the field. Levin sent for his bailiff, but immediately went off himself
7630to look for him. The bailiff, beaming all over, like everyone that day,
7631in a sheepskin bordered with astrachan, came out of the barn, twisting a
7632bit of straw in his hands.
7633
7634"Why isn't the carpenter at the thrashing machine?"
7635
7636"Oh, I meant to tell you yesterday, the harrows want repairing. Here
7637it's time they got to work in the fields."
7638
7639"But what were they doing in the winter, then?"
7640
7641"But what did you want the carpenter for?"
7642
7643"Where are the hurdles for the calves' paddock?"
7644
7645"I ordered them to be got ready. What would you have with those
7646peasants!" said the bailiff, with a wave of his hand.
7647
7648"It's not those peasants but this bailiff!" said Levin, getting angry.
7649"Why, what do I keep you for?" he cried. But, bethinking himself that
7650this would not help matters, he stopped short in the middle of a
7651sentence, and merely sighed. "Well, what do you say? Can sowing begin?"
7652he asked, after a pause.
7653
7654"Behind Turkin tomorrow or the next day they might begin."
7655
7656"And the clover?"
7657
7658"I've sent Vassily and Mishka; they're sowing. Only I don't know if
7659they'll manage to get through; it's so slushy."
7660
7661"How many acres?"
7662
7663"About fifteen."
7664
7665"Why not sow all?" cried Levin.
7666
7667That they were only sowing the clover on fifteen acres, not on all the
7668forty-five, was still more annoying to him. Clover, as he knew, both
7669from books and from his own experience, never did well except when it
7670was sown as early as possible, almost in the snow. And yet Levin could
7671never get this done.
7672
7673"There's no one to send. What would you have with such a set of
7674peasants? Three haven't turned up. And there's Semyon..."
7675
7676"Well, you should have taken some men from the thatching."
7677
7678"And so I have, as it is."
7679
7680"Where are the peasants, then?"
7681
7682"Five are making compote" (which meant compost), "four are shifting the
7683oats for fear of a touch of mildew, Konstantin Dmitrievitch."
7684
7685Levin knew very well that "a touch of mildew" meant that his English
7686seed oats were already ruined. Again they had not done as he had
7687ordered.
7688
7689"Why, but I told you during Lent to put in pipes," he cried.
7690
7691"Don't put yourself out; we shall get it all done in time."
7692
7693Levin waved his hand angrily, went into the granary to glance at the
7694oats, and then to the stable. The oats were not yet spoiled. But the
7695peasants were carrying the oats in spades when they might simply let
7696them slide down into the lower granary; and arranging for this to be
7697done, and taking two workmen from there for sowing clover, Levin got
7698over his vexation with the bailiff. Indeed, it was such a lovely day
7699that one could not be angry.
7700
7701"Ignat!" he called to the coachman, who, with his sleeves tucked up, was
7702washing the carriage wheels, "saddle me..."
7703
7704"Which, sir?"
7705
7706"Well, let it be Kolpik."
7707
7708"Yes, sir."
7709
7710While they were saddling his horse, Levin again called up the bailiff,
7711who was hanging about in sight, to make it up with him, and began
7712talking to him about the spring operations before them, and his plans
7713for the farm.
7714
7715The wagons were to begin carting manure earlier, so as to get all done
7716before the early mowing. And the ploughing of the further land to go on
7717without a break so as to let it ripen lying fallow. And the mowing to be
7718all done by hired labor, not on half-profits. The bailiff listened
7719attentively, and obviously made an effort to approve of his employer's
7720projects. But still he had that look Levin knew so well that always
7721irritated him, a look of hopelessness and despondency. That look said:
7722"That's all very well, but as God wills."
7723
7724Nothing mortified Levin so much as that tone. But it was the tone common
7725to all the bailiffs he had ever had. They had all taken up that attitude
7726to his plans, and so now he was not angered by it, but mortified, and
7727felt all the more roused to struggle against this, as it seemed,
7728elemental force continually ranged against him, for which he could find
7729no other expression than "as God wills."
7730
7731"If we can manage it, Konstantin Dmitrievitch," said the bailiff.
7732
7733"Why ever shouldn't you manage it?"
7734
7735"We positively must have another fifteen laborers. And they don't turn
7736up. There were some here today asking seventy roubles for the summer."
7737
7738Levin was silent. Again he was brought face to face with that opposing
7739force. He knew that however much they tried, they could not hire more
7740than forty--thirty-seven perhaps or thirty-eight--laborers for a
7741reasonable sum. Some forty had been taken on, and there were no more.
7742But still he could not help struggling against it.
7743
7744"Send to Sury, to Tchefirovka; if they don't come we must look for
7745them."
7746
7747"Oh, I'll send, to be sure," said Vassily Fedorovitch despondently. "But
7748there are the horses, too, they're not good for much."
7749
7750"We'll get some more. I know, of course," Levin added laughing, "you
7751always want to do with as little and as poor quality as possible; but
7752this year I'm not going to let you have things your own way. I'll see to
7753everything myself."
7754
7755"Why, I don't think you take much rest as it is. It cheers us up to work
7756under the master's eye..."
7757
7758"So they're sowing clover behind the Birch Dale? I'll go and have a look
7759at them," he said, getting on to the little bay cob, Kolpik, who was led
7760up by the coachman.
7761
7762"You can't get across the streams, Konstantin Dmitrievitch," the
7763coachman shouted.
7764
7765"All right, I'll go by the forest."
7766
7767And Levin rode through the slush of the farmyard to the gate and out
7768into the open country, his good little horse, after his long inactivity,
7769stepping out gallantly, snorting over the pools, and asking, as it were,
7770for guidance. If Levin had felt happy before in the cattle pens and
7771farmyard, he felt happier yet in the open country. Swaying rhythmically
7772with the ambling paces of his good little cob, drinking in the warm yet
7773fresh scent of the snow and the air, as he rode through his forest over
7774the crumbling, wasted snow, still left in parts, and covered with
7775dissolving tracks, he rejoiced over every tree, with the moss reviving
7776on its bark and the buds swelling on its shoots. When he came out of the
7777forest, in the immense plain before him, his grass fields stretched in
7778an unbroken carpet of green, without one bare place or swamp, only
7779spotted here and there in the hollows with patches of melting snow. He
7780was not put out of temper even by the sight of the peasants' horses and
7781colts trampling down his young grass (he told a peasant he met to drive
7782them out), nor by the sarcastic and stupid reply of the peasant Ipat,
7783whom he met on the way, and asked, "Well, Ipat, shall we soon be
7784sowing?" "We must get the ploughing done first, Konstantin
7785Dmitrievitch," answered Ipat. The further he rode, the happier he
7786became, and plans for the land rose to his mind each better than the
7787last; to plant all his fields with hedges along the southern borders, so
7788that the snow should not lie under them; to divide them up into six
7789fields of arable and three of pasture and hay; to build a cattle yard at
7790the further end of the estate, and to dig a pond and to construct
7791movable pens for the cattle as a means of manuring the land. And then
7792eight hundred acres of wheat, three hundred of potatoes, and four
7793hundred of clover, and not one acre exhausted.
7794
7795Absorbed in such dreams, carefully keeping his horse by the hedges, so
7796as not to trample his young crops, he rode up to the laborers who had
7797been sent to sow clover. A cart with the seed in it was standing, not at
7798the edge, but in the middle of the crop, and the winter corn had been
7799torn up by the wheels and trampled by the horse. Both the laborers were
7800sitting in the hedge, probably smoking a pipe together. The earth in the
7801cart, with which the seed was mixed, was not crushed to powder, but
7802crusted together or adhering in clods. Seeing the master, the laborer,
7803Vassily, went towards the cart, while Mishka set to work sowing. This
7804was not as it should be, but with the laborers Levin seldom lost his
7805temper. When Vassily came up, Levin told him to lead the horse to the
7806hedge.
7807
7808"It's all right, sir, it'll spring up again," responded Vassily.
7809
7810"Please don't argue," said Levin, "but do as you're told."
7811
7812"Yes, sir," answered Vassily, and he took the horse's head. "What a
7813sowing, Konstantin Dmitrievitch," he said, hesitating; "first rate. Only
7814it's a work to get about! You drag a ton of earth on your shoes."
7815
7816"Why is it you have earth that's not sifted?" said Levin.
7817
7818"Well, we crumble it up," answered Vassily, taking up some seed and
7819rolling the earth in his palms.
7820
7821Vassily was not to blame for their having filled up his cart with
7822unsifted earth, but still it was annoying.
7823
7824Levin had more than once already tried a way he knew for stifling his
7825anger, and turning all that seemed dark right again, and he tried that
7826way now. He watched how Mishka strode along, swinging the huge clods of
7827earth that clung to each foot; and getting off his horse, he took the
7828sieve from Vassily and started sowing himself.
7829
7830"Where did you stop?"
7831
7832Vassily pointed to the mark with his foot, and Levin went forward as
7833best he could, scattering the seed on the land. Walking was as difficult
7834as on a bog, and by the time Levin had ended the row he was in a great
7835heat, and he stopped and gave up the sieve to Vassily.
7836
7837"Well, master, when summer's here, mind you don't scold me for these
7838rows," said Vassily.
7839
7840"Eh?" said Levin cheerily, already feeling the effect of his method.
7841
7842"Why, you'll see in the summer time. It'll look different. Look you
7843where I sowed last spring. How I did work at it! I do my best,
7844Konstantin Dmitrievitch, d'ye see, as I would for my own father. I don't
7845like bad work myself, nor would I let another man do it. What's good for
7846the master's good for us too. To look out yonder now," said Vassily,
7847pointing, "it does one's heart good."
7848
7849"It's a lovely spring, Vassily."
7850
7851"Why, it's a spring such as the old men don't remember the like of. I
7852was up home; an old man up there has sown wheat too, about an acre of
7853it. He was saying you wouldn't know it from rye."
7854
7855"Have you been sowing wheat long?"
7856
7857"Why, sir, it was you taught us the year before last. You gave me two
7858measures. We sold about eight bushels and sowed a rood."
7859
7860"Well, mind you crumble up the clods," said Levin, going towards his
7861horse, "and keep an eye on Mishka. And if there's a good crop you shall
7862have half a rouble for every acre."
7863
7864"Humbly thankful. We are very well content, sir, as it is."
7865
7866Levin got on his horse and rode towards the field where was last year's
7867clover, and the one which was ploughed ready for the spring corn.
7868
7869The crop of clover coming up in the stubble was magnificent. It had
7870survived everything, and stood up vividly green through the broken
7871stalks of last year's wheat. The horse sank in up to the pasterns, and
7872he drew each hoof with a sucking sound out of the half-thawed ground.
7873Over the ploughland riding was utterly impossible; the horse could only
7874keep a foothold where there was ice, and in the thawing furrows he sank
7875deep in at each step. The ploughland was in splendid condition; in a
7876couple of days it would be fit for harrowing and sowing. Everything was
7877capital, everything was cheering. Levin rode back across the streams,
7878hoping the water would have gone down. And he did in fact get across,
7879and startled two ducks. "There must be snipe too," he thought, and just
7880as he reached the turning homewards he met the forest keeper, who
7881confirmed his theory about the snipe.
7882
7883Levin went home at a trot, so as to have time to eat his dinner and get
7884his gun ready for the evening.
7885
7886
7887
7888Chapter 14
7889
7890
7891As he rode up to the house in the happiest frame of mind, Levin heard
7892the bell ring at the side of the principal entrance of the house.
7893
7894"Yes, that's someone from the railway station," he thought, "just the
7895time to be here from the Moscow train ... Who could it be? What if it's
7896brother Nikolay? He did say: 'Maybe I'll go to the waters, or maybe I'll
7897come down to you.'" He felt dismayed and vexed for the first minute,
7898that his brother Nikolay's presence should come to disturb his happy
7899mood of spring. But he felt ashamed of the feeling, and at once he
7900opened, as it were, the arms of his soul, and with a softened feeling of
7901joy and expectation, now he hoped with all his heart that it was his
7902brother. He pricked up his horse, and riding out from behind the acacias
7903he saw a hired three-horse sledge from the railway station, and a
7904gentleman in a fur coat. It was not his brother. "Oh, if it were only
7905some nice person one could talk to a little!" he thought.
7906
7907"Ah," cried Levin joyfully, flinging up both his hands. "Here's a
7908delightful visitor! Ah, how glad I am to see you!" he shouted,
7909recognizing Stepan Arkadyevitch.
7910
7911"I shall find out for certain whether she's married, or when she's going
7912to be married," he thought. And on that delicious spring day he felt
7913that the thought of her did not hurt him at all.
7914
7915"Well, you didn't expect me, eh?" said Stepan Arkadyevitch, getting out
7916of the sledge, splashed with mud on the bridge of his nose, on his
7917cheek, and on his eyebrows, but radiant with health and good spirits.
7918"I've come to see you in the first place," he said, embracing and
7919kissing him, "to have some stand-shooting second, and to sell the forest
7920at Ergushovo third."
7921
7922"Delightful! What a spring we're having! How ever did you get along in a
7923sledge?"
7924
7925"In a cart it would have been worse still, Konstantin Dmitrievitch,"
7926answered the driver, who knew him.
7927
7928"Well, I'm very, very glad to see you," said Levin, with a genuine smile
7929of childlike delight.
7930
7931Levin led his friend to the room set apart for visitors, where Stepan
7932Arkadyevitch's things were carried also--a bag, a gun in a case, a
7933satchel for cigars. Leaving him there to wash and change his clothes,
7934Levin went off to the counting house to speak about the ploughing and
7935clover. Agafea Mihalovna, always very anxious for the credit of the
7936house, met him in the hall with inquiries about dinner.
7937
7938"Do just as you like, only let it be as soon as possible," he said, and
7939went to the bailiff.
7940
7941When he came back, Stepan Arkadyevitch, washed and combed, came out of
7942his room with a beaming smile, and they went upstairs together.
7943
7944"Well, I am glad I managed to get away to you! Now I shall understand
7945what the mysterious business is that you are always absorbed in here.
7946No, really, I envy you. What a house, how nice it all is! So bright, so
7947cheerful!" said Stepan Arkadyevitch, forgetting that it was not always
7948spring and fine weather like that day. "And your nurse is simply
7949charming! A pretty maid in an apron might be even more agreeable,
7950perhaps; but for your severe monastic style it does very well."
7951
7952Stepan Arkadyevitch told him many interesting pieces of news; especially
7953interesting to Levin was the news that his brother, Sergey Ivanovitch,
7954was intending to pay him a visit in the summer.
7955
7956Not one word did Stepan Arkadyevitch say in reference to Kitty and the
7957Shtcherbatskys; he merely gave him greetings from his wife. Levin was
7958grateful to him for his delicacy and was very glad of his visitor. As
7959always happened with him during his solitude, a mass of ideas and
7960feelings had been accumulating within him, which he could not
7961communicate to those about him. And now he poured out upon Stepan
7962Arkadyevitch his poetic joy in the spring, and his failures and plans
7963for the land, and his thoughts and criticisms on the books he had been
7964reading, and the idea of his own book, the basis of which really was,
7965though he was unaware of it himself, a criticism of all the old books on
7966agriculture. Stepan Arkadyevitch, always charming, understanding
7967everything at the slightest reference, was particularly charming on this
7968visit, and Levin noticed in him a special tenderness, as it were, and a
7969new tone of respect that flattered him.
7970
7971The efforts of Agafea Mihalovna and the cook, that the dinner should be
7972particularly good, only ended in the two famished friends attacking the
7973preliminary course, eating a great deal of bread and butter, salt goose
7974and salted mushrooms, and in Levin's finally ordering the soup to be
7975served without the accompaniment of little pies, with which the cook had
7976particularly meant to impress their visitor. But though Stepan
7977Arkadyevitch was accustomed to very different dinners, he thought
7978everything excellent: the herb brandy, and the bread, and the butter,
7979and above all the salt goose and the mushrooms, and the nettle soup, and
7980the chicken in white sauce, and the white Crimean wine--everything was
7981superb and delicious.
7982
7983"Splendid, splendid!" he said, lighting a fat cigar after the roast. "I
7984feel as if, coming to you, I had landed on a peaceful shore after the
7985noise and jolting of a steamer. And so you maintain that the laborer
7986himself is an element to be studied and to regulate the choice of
7987methods in agriculture. Of course, I'm an ignorant outsider; but I
7988should fancy theory and its application will have its influence on the
7989laborer too."
7990
7991"Yes, but wait a bit. I'm not talking of political economy, I'm talking
7992of the science of agriculture. It ought to be like the natural sciences,
7993and to observe given phenomena and the laborer in his economic,
7994ethnographical..."
7995
7996At that instant Agafea Mihalovna came in with jam.
7997
7998"Oh, Agafea Mihalovna," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, kissing the tips of
7999his plump fingers, "what salt goose, what herb brandy!... What do you
8000think, isn't it time to start, Kostya?" he added.
8001
8002Levin looked out of the window at the sun sinking behind the bare
8003tree-tops of the forest.
8004
8005"Yes, it's time," he said. "Kouzma, get ready the trap," and he ran
8006downstairs.
8007
8008Stepan Arkadyevitch, going down, carefully took the canvas cover off his
8009varnished gun case with his own hands, and opening it, began to get
8010ready his expensive new-fashioned gun. Kouzma, who already scented a big
8011tip, never left Stepan Arkadyevitch's side, and put on him both his
8012stockings and boots, a task which Stepan Arkadyevitch readily left him.
8013
8014"Kostya, give orders that if the merchant Ryabinin comes ... I told him
8015to come today, he's to be brought in and to wait for me..."
8016
8017"Why, do you mean to say you're selling the forest to Ryabinin?"
8018
8019"Yes. Do you know him?"
8020
8021"To be sure I do. I have had to do business with him, 'positively and
8022conclusively.'"
8023
8024Stepan Arkadyevitch laughed. "Positively and conclusively" were the
8025merchant's favorite words.
8026
8027"Yes, it's wonderfully funny the way he talks. She knows where her
8028master's going!" he added, patting Laska, who hung about Levin, whining
8029and licking his hands, his boots, and his gun.
8030
8031The trap was already at the steps when they went out.
8032
8033"I told them to bring the trap round; or would you rather walk?"
8034
8035"No, we'd better drive," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, getting into the
8036trap. He sat down, tucked the tiger-skin rug round him, and lighted a
8037cigar. "How is it you don't smoke? A cigar is a sort of thing, not
8038exactly a pleasure, but the crown and outward sign of pleasure. Come,
8039this is life! How splendid it is! This is how I should like to live!"
8040
8041"Why, who prevents you?" said Levin, smiling.
8042
8043"No, you're a lucky man! You've got everything you like. You like
8044horses--and you have them; dogs--you have them; shooting--you have it;
8045farming--you have it."
8046
8047"Perhaps because I rejoice in what I have, and don't fret for what I
8048haven't," said Levin, thinking of Kitty.
8049
8050Stepan Arkadyevitch comprehended, looked at him, but said nothing.
8051
8052Levin was grateful to Oblonsky for noticing, with his never-failing
8053tact, that he dreaded conversation about the Shtcherbatskys, and so
8054saying nothing about them. But now Levin was longing to find out what
8055was tormenting him so, yet he had not the courage to begin.
8056
8057"Come, tell me how things are going with you," said Levin, bethinking
8058himself that it was not nice of him to think only of himself.
8059
8060Stepan Arkadyevitch's eyes sparkled merrily.
8061
8062"You don't admit, I know, that one can be fond of new rolls when one has
8063had one's rations of bread--to your mind it's a crime; but I don't count
8064life as life without love," he said, taking Levin's question his own
8065way. "What am I to do? I'm made that way. And really, one does so little
8066harm to anyone, and gives oneself so much pleasure..."
8067
8068"What! is there something new, then?" queried Levin.
8069
8070"Yes, my boy, there is! There, do you see, you know the type of Ossian's
8071women.... Women, such as one sees in dreams.... Well, these women are
8072sometimes to be met in reality ... and these women are terrible. Woman,
8073don't you know, is such a subject that however much you study it, it's
8074always perfectly new."
8075
8076"Well, then, it would be better not to study it."
8077
8078"No. Some mathematician has said that enjoyment lies in the search for
8079truth, not in the finding it."
8080
8081Levin listened in silence, and in spite of all the efforts he made, he
8082could not in the least enter into the feelings of his friend and
8083understand his sentiments and the charm of studying such women.
8084
8085
8086
8087Chapter 15
8088
8089
8090The place fixed on for the stand-shooting was not far above a stream in
8091a little aspen copse. On reaching the copse, Levin got out of the trap
8092and led Oblonsky to a corner of a mossy, swampy glade, already quite
8093free from snow. He went back himself to a double birch tree on the other
8094side, and leaning his gun on the fork of a dead lower branch, he took
8095off his full overcoat, fastened his belt again, and worked his arms to
8096see if they were free.
8097
8098Gray old Laska, who had followed them, sat down warily opposite him and
8099pricked up her ears. The sun was setting behind a thick forest, and in
8100the glow of sunset the birch trees, dotted about in the aspen copse,
8101stood out clearly with their hanging twigs, and their buds swollen
8102almost to bursting.
8103
8104From the thickest parts of the copse, where the snow still remained,
8105came the faint sound of narrow winding threads of water running away.
8106Tiny birds twittered, and now and then fluttered from tree to tree.
8107
8108In the pauses of complete stillness there came the rustle of last year's
8109leaves, stirred by the thawing of the earth and the growth of the grass.
8110
8111"Imagine! One can hear and see the grass growing!" Levin said to
8112himself, noticing a wet, slate-colored aspen leaf moving beside a blade
8113of young grass. He stood, listened, and gazed sometimes down at the wet
8114mossy ground, sometimes at Laska listening all alert, sometimes at the
8115sea of bare tree tops that stretched on the slope below him, sometimes
8116at the darkening sky, covered with white streaks of cloud.
8117
8118A hawk flew high over a forest far away with slow sweep of its wings;
8119another flew with exactly the same motion in the same direction and
8120vanished. The birds twittered more and more loudly and busily in the
8121thicket. An owl hooted not far off, and Laska, starting, stepped
8122cautiously a few steps forward, and putting her head on one side, began
8123to listen intently. Beyond the stream was heard the cuckoo. Twice she
8124uttered her usual cuckoo call, and then gave a hoarse, hurried call and
8125broke down.
8126
8127"Imagine! the cuckoo already!" said Stepan Arkadyevitch, coming out from
8128behind a bush.
8129
8130"Yes, I hear it," answered Levin, reluctantly breaking the stillness
8131with his voice, which sounded disagreeable to himself. "Now it's
8132coming!"
8133
8134Stepan Arkadyevitch's figure again went behind the bush, and Levin saw
8135nothing but the bright flash of a match, followed by the red glow and
8136blue smoke of a cigarette.
8137
8138"Tchk! tchk!" came the snapping sound of Stepan Arkadyevitch cocking his
8139gun.
8140
8141"What's that cry?" asked Oblonsky, drawing Levin's attention to a
8142prolonged cry, as though a colt were whinnying in a high voice, in play.
8143
8144"Oh, don't you know it? That's the hare. But enough talking! Listen,
8145it's flying!" almost shrieked Levin, cocking his gun.
8146
8147They heard a shrill whistle in the distance, and in the exact time, so
8148well known to the sportsman, two seconds later--another, a third, and
8149after the third whistle the hoarse, guttural cry could be heard.
8150
8151Levin looked about him to right and to left, and there, just facing him
8152against the dusky blue sky above the confused mass of tender shoots of
8153the aspens, he saw the flying bird. It was flying straight towards him;
8154the guttural cry, like the even tearing of some strong stuff, sounded
8155close to his ear; the long beak and neck of the bird could be seen, and
8156at the very instant when Levin was taking aim, behind the bush where
8157Oblonsky stood, there was a flash of red lightning: the bird dropped
8158like an arrow, and darted upwards again. Again came the red flash and
8159the sound of a blow, and fluttering its wings as though trying to keep
8160up in the air, the bird halted, stopped still an instant, and fell with
8161a heavy splash on the slushy ground.
8162
8163"Can I have missed it?" shouted Stepan Arkadyevitch, who could not see
8164for the smoke.
8165
8166"Here it is!" said Levin, pointing to Laska, who with one ear raised,
8167wagging the end of her shaggy tail, came slowly back as though she would
8168prolong the pleasure, and as it were smiling, brought the dead bird to
8169her master. "Well, I'm glad you were successful," said Levin, who, at
8170the same time, had a sense of envy that he had not succeeded in shooting
8171the snipe.
8172
8173"It was a bad shot from the right barrel," responded Stepan
8174Arkadyevitch, loading his gun. "Sh... it's flying!"
8175
8176The shrill whistles rapidly following one another were heard again. Two
8177snipe, playing and chasing one another, and only whistling, not crying,
8178flew straight at the very heads of the sportsmen. There was the report
8179of four shots, and like swallows the snipe turned swift somersaults in
8180the air and vanished from sight.
8181
8182The stand-shooting was capital. Stepan Arkadyevitch shot two more birds
8183and Levin two, of which one was not found. It began to get dark. Venus,
8184bright and silvery, shone with her soft light low down in the west
8185behind the birch trees, and high up in the east twinkled the red lights
8186of Arcturus. Over his head Levin made out the stars of the Great Bear
8187and lost them again. The snipe had ceased flying; but Levin resolved to
8188stay a little longer, till Venus, which he saw below a branch of birch,
8189should be above it, and the stars of the Great Bear should be perfectly
8190plain. Venus had risen above the branch, and the ear of the Great Bear
8191with its shaft was now all plainly visible against the dark blue sky,
8192yet still he waited.
8193
8194"Isn't it time to go home?" said Stepan Arkadyevitch.
8195
8196It was quite still now in the copse, and not a bird was stirring.
8197
8198"Let's stay a little while," answered Levin.
8199
8200"As you like."
8201
8202They were standing now about fifteen paces from one another.
8203
8204"Stiva!" said Levin unexpectedly; "how is it you don't tell me whether
8205your sister-in-law's married yet, or when she's going to be?"
8206
8207Levin felt so resolute and serene that no answer, he fancied, could
8208affect him. But he had never dreamed of what Stepan Arkadyevitch
8209replied.
8210
8211"She's never thought of being married, and isn't thinking of it; but
8212she's very ill, and the doctors have sent her abroad. They're positively
8213afraid she may not live."
8214
8215"What!" cried Levin. "Very ill? What is wrong with her? How has she...?"
8216
8217While they were saying this, Laska, with ears pricked up, was looking
8218upwards at the sky, and reproachfully at them.
8219
8220"They have chosen a time to talk," she was thinking. "It's on the
8221wing.... Here it is, yes, it is. They'll miss it," thought Laska.
8222
8223But at that very instant both suddenly heard a shrill whistle which, as
8224it were, smote on their ears, and both suddenly seized their guns and
8225two flashes gleamed, and two bangs sounded at the very same instant. The
8226snipe flying high above instantly folded its wings and fell into a
8227thicket, bending down the delicate shoots.
8228
8229"Splendid! Together!" cried Levin, and he ran with Laska into the
8230thicket to look for the snipe.
8231
8232"Oh, yes, what was it that was unpleasant?" he wondered. "Yes, Kitty's
8233ill.... Well, it can't be helped; I'm very sorry," he thought.
8234
8235"She's found it! Isn't she a clever thing?" he said, taking the warm
8236bird from Laska's mouth and packing it into the almost full game bag.
8237"I've got it, Stiva!" he shouted.
8238
8239
8240
8241Chapter 16
8242
8243
8244On the way home Levin asked all details of Kitty's illness and the
8245Shtcherbatskys' plans, and though he would have been ashamed to admit
8246it, he was pleased at what he heard. He was pleased that there was still
8247hope, and still more pleased that she should be suffering who had made
8248him suffer so much. But when Stepan Arkadyevitch began to speak of the
8249causes of Kitty's illness, and mentioned Vronsky's name, Levin cut him
8250short.
8251
8252"I have no right whatever to know family matters, and, to tell the
8253truth, no interest in them either."
8254
8255Stepan Arkadyevitch smiled hardly perceptibly, catching the
8256instantaneous change he knew so well in Levin's face, which had become
8257as gloomy as it had been bright a minute before.
8258
8259"Have you quite settled about the forest with Ryabinin?" asked Levin.
8260
8261"Yes, it's settled. The price is magnificent; thirty-eight thousand.
8262Eight straight away, and the rest in six years. I've been bothering
8263about it for ever so long. No one would give more."
8264
8265"Then you've as good as given away your forest for nothing," said Levin
8266gloomily.
8267
8268"How do you mean for nothing?" said Stepan Arkadyevitch with a
8269good-humored smile, knowing that nothing would be right in Levin's eyes
8270now.
8271
8272"Because the forest is worth at least a hundred and fifty roubles the
8273acre," answered Levin.
8274
8275"Oh, these farmers!" said Stepan Arkadyevitch playfully. "Your tone of
8276contempt for us poor townsfolk!... But when it comes to business, we do
8277it better than anyone. I assure you I have reckoned it all out," he
8278said, "and the forest is fetching a very good price--so much so that I'm
8279afraid of this fellow's crying off, in fact. You know it's not
8280'timber,'" said Stepan Arkadyevitch, hoping by this distinction to
8281convince Levin completely of the unfairness of his doubts. "And it won't
8282run to more than twenty-five yards of fagots per acre, and he's giving
8283me at the rate of seventy roubles the acre."
8284
8285Levin smiled contemptuously. "I know," he thought, "that fashion not
8286only in him, but in all city people, who, after being twice in ten years
8287in the country, pick up two or three phrases and use them in season and
8288out of season, firmly persuaded that they know all about it. '_Timber,
8289run to so many yards the acre._' He says those words without
8290understanding them himself."
8291
8292"I wouldn't attempt to teach you what you write about in your office,"
8293said he, "and if need arose, I should come to you to ask about it. But
8294you're so positive you know all the lore of the forest. It's difficult.
8295Have you counted the trees?"
8296
8297"How count the trees?" said Stepan Arkadyevitch, laughing, still trying
8298to draw his friend out of his ill-temper. "Count the sands of the sea,
8299number the stars. Some higher power might do it."
8300
8301"Oh, well, the higher power of Ryabinin can. Not a single merchant ever
8302buys a forest without counting the trees, unless they get it given them
8303for nothing, as you're doing now. I know your forest. I go there every
8304year shooting, and your forest's worth a hundred and fifty roubles an
8305acre paid down, while he's giving you sixty by installments. So that in
8306fact you're making him a present of thirty thousand."
8307
8308"Come, don't let your imagination run away with you," said Stepan
8309Arkadyevitch piteously. "Why was it none would give it, then?"
8310
8311"Why, because he has an understanding with the merchants; he's bought
8312them off. I've had to do with all of them; I know them. They're not
8313merchants, you know: they're speculators. He wouldn't look at a bargain
8314that gave him ten, fifteen per cent profit, but holds back to buy a
8315rouble's worth for twenty kopecks."
8316
8317"Well, enough of it! You're out of temper."
8318
8319"Not the least," said Levin gloomily, as they drove up to the house.
8320
8321At the steps there stood a trap tightly covered with iron and leather,
8322with a sleek horse tightly harnessed with broad collar-straps. In the
8323trap sat the chubby, tightly belted clerk who served Ryabinin as
8324coachman. Ryabinin himself was already in the house, and met the friends
8325in the hall. Ryabinin was a tall, thinnish, middle-aged man, with
8326mustache and a projecting clean-shaven chin, and prominent muddy-looking
8327eyes. He was dressed in a long-skirted blue coat, with buttons below the
8328waist at the back, and wore high boots wrinkled over the ankles and
8329straight over the calf, with big galoshes drawn over them. He rubbed his
8330face with his handkerchief, and wrapping round him his coat, which sat
8331extremely well as it was, he greeted them with a smile, holding out his
8332hand to Stepan Arkadyevitch, as though he wanted to catch something.
8333
8334"So here you are," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, giving him his hand.
8335"That's capital."
8336
8337"I did not venture to disregard your excellency's commands, though the
8338road was extremely bad. I positively walked the whole way, but I am here
8339at my time. Konstantin Dmitrievitch, my respects"; he turned to Levin,
8340trying to seize his hand too. But Levin, scowling, made as though he did
8341not notice his hand, and took out the snipe. "Your honors have been
8342diverting yourselves with the chase? What kind of bird may it be, pray?"
8343added Ryabinin, looking contemptuously at the snipe: "a great delicacy,
8344I suppose." And he shook his head disapprovingly, as though he had grave
8345doubts whether this game were worth the candle.
8346
8347"Would you like to go into my study?" Levin said in French to Stepan
8348Arkadyevitch, scowling morosely. "Go into my study; you can talk there."
8349
8350"Quite so, where you please," said Ryabinin with contemptuous dignity,
8351as though wishing to make it felt that others might be in difficulties
8352as to how to behave, but that he could never be in any difficulty about
8353anything.
8354
8355On entering the study Ryabinin looked about, as his habit was, as though
8356seeking the holy picture, but when he had found it, he did not cross
8357himself. He scanned the bookcases and bookshelves, and with the same
8358dubious air with which he had regarded the snipe, he smiled
8359contemptuously and shook his head disapprovingly, as though by no means
8360willing to allow that this game were worth the candle.
8361
8362"Well, have you brought the money?" asked Oblonsky. "Sit down."
8363
8364"Oh, don't trouble about the money. I've come to see you to talk it
8365over."
8366
8367"What is there to talk over? But do sit down."
8368
8369"I don't mind if I do," said Ryabinin, sitting down and leaning his
8370elbows on the back of his chair in a position of the intensest
8371discomfort to himself. "You must knock it down a bit, prince. It would
8372be too bad. The money is ready conclusively to the last farthing. As to
8373paying the money down, there'll be no hitch there."
8374
8375Levin, who had meanwhile been putting his gun away in the cupboard, was
8376just going out of the door, but catching the merchant's words, he
8377stopped.
8378
8379"Why, you've got the forest for nothing as it is," he said. "He came to
8380me too late, or I'd have fixed the price for him."
8381
8382Ryabinin got up, and in silence, with a smile, he looked Levin down and
8383up.
8384
8385"Very close about money is Konstantin Dmitrievitch," he said with a
8386smile, turning to Stepan Arkadyevitch; "there's positively no dealing
8387with him. I was bargaining for some wheat of him, and a pretty price I
8388offered too."
8389
8390"Why should I give you my goods for nothing? I didn't pick it up on the
8391ground, nor steal it either."
8392
8393"Mercy on us! nowadays there's no chance at all of stealing. With the
8394open courts and everything done in style, nowadays there's no question
8395of stealing. We are just talking things over like gentlemen. His
8396excellency's asking too much for the forest. I can't make both ends meet
8397over it. I must ask for a little concession."
8398
8399"But is the thing settled between you or not? If it's settled, it's
8400useless haggling; but if it's not," said Levin, "I'll buy the forest."
8401
8402The smile vanished at once from Ryabinin's face. A hawklike, greedy,
8403cruel expression was left upon it. With rapid, bony fingers he
8404unbuttoned his coat, revealing a shirt, bronze waistcoat buttons, and a
8405watch chain, and quickly pulled out a fat old pocketbook.
8406
8407"Here you are, the forest is mine," he said, crossing himself quickly,
8408and holding out his hand. "Take the money; it's my forest. That's
8409Ryabinin's way of doing business; he doesn't haggle over every
8410half-penny," he added, scowling and waving the pocketbook.
8411
8412"I wouldn't be in a hurry if I were you," said Levin.
8413
8414"Come, really," said Oblonsky in surprise. "I've given my word, you
8415know."
8416
8417Levin went out of the room, slamming the door. Ryabinin looked towards
8418the door and shook his head with a smile.
8419
8420"It's all youthfulness--positively nothing but boyishness. Why, I'm
8421buying it, upon my honor, simply, believe me, for the glory of it, that
8422Ryabinin, and no one else, should have bought the copse of Oblonsky. And
8423as to the profits, why, I must make what God gives. In God's name. If
8424you would kindly sign the title-deed..."
8425
8426Within an hour the merchant, stroking his big overcoat neatly down, and
8427hooking up his jacket, with the agreement in his pocket, seated himself
8428in his tightly covered trap, and drove homewards.
8429
8430"Ugh, these gentlefolks!" he said to the clerk. "They--they're a nice
8431lot!"
8432
8433"That's so," responded the clerk, handing him the reins and buttoning
8434the leather apron. "But I can congratulate you on the purchase, Mihail
8435Ignatitch?"
8436
8437"Well, well..."
8438
8439
8440
8441Chapter 17
8442
8443
8444Stepan Arkadyevitch went upstairs with his pocket bulging with notes,
8445which the merchant had paid him for three months in advance. The
8446business of the forest was over, the money in his pocket; their shooting
8447had been excellent, and Stepan Arkadyevitch was in the happiest frame of
8448mind, and so he felt specially anxious to dissipate the ill-humor that
8449had come upon Levin. He wanted to finish the day at supper as pleasantly
8450as it had been begun.
8451
8452Levin certainly was out of humor, and in spite of all his desire to be
8453affectionate and cordial to his charming visitor, he could not control
8454his mood. The intoxication of the news that Kitty was not married had
8455gradually begun to work upon him.
8456
8457Kitty was not married, but ill, and ill from love for a man who had
8458slighted her. This slight, as it were, rebounded upon him. Vronsky had
8459slighted her, and she had slighted him, Levin. Consequently Vronsky had
8460the right to despise Levin, and therefore he was his enemy. But all this
8461Levin did not think out. He vaguely felt that there was something in it
8462insulting to him, and he was not angry now at what had disturbed him,
8463but he fell foul of everything that presented itself. The stupid sale of
8464the forest, the fraud practiced upon Oblonsky and concluded in his
8465house, exasperated him.
8466
8467"Well, finished?" he said, meeting Stepan Arkadyevitch upstairs. "Would
8468you like supper?"
8469
8470"Well, I wouldn't say no to it. What an appetite I get in the country!
8471Wonderful! Why didn't you offer Ryabinin something?"
8472
8473"Oh, damn him!"
8474
8475"Still, how you do treat him!" said Oblonsky. "You didn't even shake
8476hands with him. Why not shake hands with him?"
8477
8478"Because I don't shake hands with a waiter, and a waiter's a hundred
8479times better than he is."
8480
8481"What a reactionist you are, really! What about the amalgamation of
8482classes?" said Oblonsky.
8483
8484"Anyone who likes amalgamating is welcome to it, but it sickens me."
8485
8486"You're a regular reactionist, I see."
8487
8488"Really, I have never considered what I am. I am Konstantin Levin, and
8489nothing else."
8490
8491"And Konstantin Levin very much out of temper," said Stepan
8492Arkadyevitch, smiling.
8493
8494"Yes, I am out of temper, and do you know why? Because--excuse me--of
8495your stupid sale..."
8496
8497Stepan Arkadyevitch frowned good-humoredly, like one who feels himself
8498teased and attacked for no fault of his own.
8499
8500"Come, enough about it!" he said. "When did anybody ever sell anything
8501without being told immediately after the sale, 'It was worth much more'?
8502But when one wants to sell, no one will give anything.... No, I see
8503you've a grudge against that unlucky Ryabinin."
8504
8505"Maybe I have. And do you know why? You'll say again that I'm a
8506reactionist, or some other terrible word; but all the same it does annoy
8507and anger me to see on all sides the impoverishing of the nobility to
8508which I belong, and, in spite of the amalgamation of classes, I'm glad
8509to belong. And their impoverishment is not due to extravagance--that
8510would be nothing; living in good style--that's the proper thing for
8511noblemen; it's only the nobles who know how to do it. Now the peasants
8512about us buy land, and I don't mind that. The gentleman does nothing,
8513while the peasant works and supplants the idle man. That's as it ought
8514to be. And I'm very glad for the peasant. But I do mind seeing the
8515process of impoverishment from a sort of--I don't know what to call
8516it--innocence. Here a Polish speculator bought for half its value a
8517magnificent estate from a young lady who lives in Nice. And there a
8518merchant will get three acres of land, worth ten roubles, as security
8519for the loan of one rouble. Here, for no kind of reason, you've made
8520that rascal a present of thirty thousand roubles."
8521
8522"Well, what should I have done? Counted every tree?"
8523
8524"Of course, they must be counted. You didn't count them, but Ryabinin
8525did. Ryabinin's children will have means of livelihood and education,
8526while yours maybe will not!"
8527
8528"Well, you must excuse me, but there's something mean in this counting.
8529We have our business and they have theirs, and they must make their
8530profit. Anyway, the thing's done, and there's an end of it. And here
8531come some poached eggs, my favorite dish. And Agafea Mihalovna will give
8532us that marvelous herb-brandy..."
8533
8534Stepan Arkadyevitch sat down at the table and began joking with Agafea
8535Mihalovna, assuring her that it was long since he had tasted such a
8536dinner and such a supper.
8537
8538"Well, you do praise it, anyway," said Agafea Mihalovna, "but Konstantin
8539Dmitrievitch, give him what you will--a crust of bread--he'll eat it and
8540walk away."
8541
8542Though Levin tried to control himself, he was gloomy and silent. He
8543wanted to put one question to Stepan Arkadyevitch, but he could not
8544bring himself to the point, and could not find the words or the moment
8545in which to put it. Stepan Arkadyevitch had gone down to his room,
8546undressed, again washed, and attired in a nightshirt with goffered
8547frills, he had got into bed, but Levin still lingered in his room,
8548talking of various trifling matters, and not daring to ask what he
8549wanted to know.
8550
8551"How wonderfully they make this soap," he said gazing at a piece of soap
8552he was handling, which Agafea Mihalovna had put ready for the visitor
8553but Oblonsky had not used. "Only look; why, it's a work of art."
8554
8555"Yes, everything's brought to such a pitch of perfection nowadays," said
8556Stepan Arkadyevitch, with a moist and blissful yawn. "The theater, for
8557instance, and the entertainments ... a--a--a!" he yawned. "The electric
8558light everywhere ... a--a--a!"
8559
8560"Yes, the electric light," said Levin. "Yes. Oh, and where's Vronsky
8561now?" he asked suddenly, laying down the soap.
8562
8563"Vronsky?" said Stepan Arkadyevitch, checking his yawn; "he's in
8564Petersburg. He left soon after you did, and he's not once been in Moscow
8565since. And do you know, Kostya, I'll tell you the truth," he went on,
8566leaning his elbow on the table, and propping on his hand his handsome
8567ruddy face, in which his moist, good-natured, sleepy eyes shone like
8568stars. "It's your own fault. You took fright at the sight of your rival.
8569But, as I told you at the time, I couldn't say which had the better
8570chance. Why didn't you fight it out? I told you at the time that...." He
8571yawned inwardly, without opening his mouth.
8572
8573"Does he know, or doesn't he, that I did make an offer?" Levin wondered,
8574gazing at him. "Yes, there's something humbugging, diplomatic in his
8575face," and feeling he was blushing, he looked Stepan Arkadyevitch
8576straight in the face without speaking.
8577
8578"If there was anything on her side at the time, it was nothing but a
8579superficial attraction," pursued Oblonsky. "His being such a perfect
8580aristocrat, don't you know, and his future position in society, had an
8581influence not with her, but with her mother."
8582
8583Levin scowled. The humiliation of his rejection stung him to the heart,
8584as though it were a fresh wound he had only just received. But he was at
8585home, and the walls of home are a support.
8586
8587"Stay, stay," he began, interrupting Oblonsky. "You talk of his being an
8588aristocrat. But allow me to ask what it consists in, that aristocracy of
8589Vronsky or of anybody else, beside which I can be looked down upon? You
8590consider Vronsky an aristocrat, but I don't. A man whose father crawled
8591up from nothing at all by intrigue, and whose mother--God knows whom she
8592wasn't mixed up with.... No, excuse me, but I consider myself
8593aristocratic, and people like me, who can point back in the past to
8594three or four honorable generations of their family, of the highest
8595degree of breeding (talent and intellect, of course that's another
8596matter), and have never curried favor with anyone, never depended on
8597anyone for anything, like my father and my grandfather. And I know many
8598such. You think it mean of me to count the trees in my forest, while you
8599make Ryabinin a present of thirty thousand; but you get rents from your
8600lands and I don't know what, while I don't and so I prize what's come to
8601me from my ancestors or been won by hard work.... We are aristocrats,
8602and not those who can only exist by favor of the powerful of this world,
8603and who can be bought for twopence halfpenny."
8604
8605"Well, but whom are you attacking? I agree with you," said Stepan
8606Arkadyevitch, sincerely and genially; though he was aware that in the
8607class of those who could be bought for twopence halfpenny Levin was
8608reckoning him too. Levin's warmth gave him genuine pleasure. "Whom are
8609you attacking? Though a good deal is not true that you say about
8610Vronsky, but I won't talk about that. I tell you straight out, if I were
8611you, I should go back with me to Moscow, and..."
8612
8613"No; I don't know whether you know it or not, but I don't care. And I
8614tell you--I did make an offer and was rejected, and Katerina
8615Alexandrovna is nothing now to me but a painful and humiliating
8616reminiscence."
8617
8618"What ever for? What nonsense!"
8619
8620"But we won't talk about it. Please forgive me, if I've been nasty,"
8621said Levin. Now that he had opened his heart, he became as he had been
8622in the morning. "You're not angry with me, Stiva? Please don't be
8623angry," he said, and smiling, he took his hand.
8624
8625"Of course not; not a bit, and no reason to be. I'm glad we've spoken
8626openly. And do you know, stand-shooting in the morning is unusually
8627good--why not go? I couldn't sleep the night anyway, but I might go
8628straight from shooting to the station."
8629
8630"Capital."
8631
8632
8633
8634Chapter 18
8635
8636
8637Although all Vronsky's inner life was absorbed in his passion, his
8638external life unalterably and inevitably followed along the old
8639accustomed lines of his social and regimental ties and interests. The
8640interests of his regiment took an important place in Vronsky's life,
8641both because he was fond of the regiment, and because the regiment was
8642fond of him. They were not only fond of Vronsky in his regiment, they
8643respected him too, and were proud of him; proud that this man, with his
8644immense wealth, his brilliant education and abilities, and the path open
8645before him to every kind of success, distinction, and ambition, had
8646disregarded all that, and of all the interests of life had the interests
8647of his regiment and his comrades nearest to his heart. Vronsky was aware
8648of his comrades' view of him, and in addition to his liking for the
8649life, he felt bound to keep up that reputation.
8650
8651It need not be said that he did not speak of his love to any of his
8652comrades, nor did he betray his secret even in the wildest drinking
8653bouts (though indeed he was never so drunk as to lose all control of
8654himself). And he shut up any of his thoughtless comrades who attempted
8655to allude to his connection. But in spite of that, his love was known to
8656all the town; everyone guessed with more or less confidence at his
8657relations with Madame Karenina. The majority of the younger men envied
8658him for just what was the most irksome factor in his love--the exalted
8659position of Karenin, and the consequent publicity of their connection in
8660society.
8661
8662The greater number of the young women, who envied Anna and had long been
8663weary of hearing her called _virtuous_, rejoiced at the fulfillment of
8664their predictions, and were only waiting for a decisive turn in public
8665opinion to fall upon her with all the weight of their scorn. They were
8666already making ready their handfuls of mud to fling at her when the
8667right moment arrived. The greater number of the middle-aged people and
8668certain great personages were displeased at the prospect of the
8669impending scandal in society.
8670
8671Vronsky's mother, on hearing of his connection, was at first pleased at
8672it, because nothing to her mind gave such a finishing touch to a
8673brilliant young man as a _liaison_ in the highest society; she was
8674pleased, too, that Madame Karenina, who had so taken her fancy, and had
8675talked so much of her son, was, after all, just like all other pretty
8676and well-bred women,--at least according to the Countess Vronskaya's
8677ideas. But she had heard of late that her son had refused a position
8678offered him of great importance to his career, simply in order to remain
8679in the regiment, where he could be constantly seeing Madame Karenina.
8680She learned that great personages were displeased with him on this
8681account, and she changed her opinion. She was vexed, too, that from all
8682she could learn of this connection it was not that brilliant, graceful,
8683worldly _liaison_ which she would have welcomed, but a sort of
8684Wertherish, desperate passion, so she was told, which might well lead
8685him into imprudence. She had not seen him since his abrupt departure
8686from Moscow, and she sent her elder son to bid him come to see her.
8687
8688This elder son, too, was displeased with his younger brother. He did not
8689distinguish what sort of love his might be, big or little, passionate or
8690passionless, lasting or passing (he kept a ballet girl himself, though
8691he was the father of a family, so he was lenient in these matters), but
8692he knew that this love affair was viewed with displeasure by those whom
8693it was necessary to please, and therefore he did not approve of his
8694brother's conduct.
8695
8696Besides the service and society, Vronsky had another great
8697interest--horses; he was passionately fond of horses.
8698
8699That year races and a steeplechase had been arranged for the officers.
8700Vronsky had put his name down, bought a thoroughbred English mare, and
8701in spite of his love affair, he was looking forward to the races with
8702intense, though reserved, excitement...
8703
8704These two passions did not interfere with one another. On the contrary,
8705he needed occupation and distraction quite apart from his love, so as to
8706recruit and rest himself from the violent emotions that agitated him.
8707
8708
8709
8710Chapter 19
8711
8712
8713On the day of the races at Krasnoe Selo, Vronsky had come earlier than
8714usual to eat beefsteak in the common messroom of the regiment. He had no
8715need to be strict with himself, as he had very quickly been brought down
8716to the required light weight; but still he had to avoid gaining flesh,
8717and so he eschewed farinaceous and sweet dishes. He sat with his coat
8718unbuttoned over a white waistcoat, resting both elbows on the table, and
8719while waiting for the steak he had ordered he looked at a French novel
8720that lay open on his plate. He was only looking at the book to avoid
8721conversation with the officers coming in and out; he was thinking.
8722
8723He was thinking of Anna's promise to see him that day after the races.
8724But he had not seen her for three days, and as her husband had just
8725returned from abroad, he did not know whether she would be able to meet
8726him today or not, and he did not know how to find out. He had had his
8727last interview with her at his cousin Betsy's summer villa. He visited
8728the Karenins' summer villa as rarely as possible. Now he wanted to go
8729there, and he pondered the question how to do it.
8730
8731"Of course I shall say Betsy has sent me to ask whether she's coming to
8732the races. Of course, I'll go," he decided, lifting his head from the
8733book. And as he vividly pictured the happiness of seeing her, his face
8734lighted up.
8735
8736"Send to my house, and tell them to have out the carriage and three
8737horses as quick as they can," he said to the servant, who handed him the
8738steak on a hot silver dish, and moving the dish up he began eating.
8739
8740From the billiard room next door came the sound of balls knocking, of
8741talk and laughter. Two officers appeared at the entrance-door: one, a
8742young fellow, with a feeble, delicate face, who had lately joined the
8743regiment from the Corps of Pages; the other, a plump, elderly officer,
8744with a bracelet on his wrist, and little eyes, lost in fat.
8745
8746Vronsky glanced at them, frowned, and looking down at his book as though
8747he had not noticed them, he proceeded to eat and read at the same time.
8748
8749"What? Fortifying yourself for your work?" said the plump officer,
8750sitting down beside him.
8751
8752"As you see," responded Vronsky, knitting his brows, wiping his mouth,
8753and not looking at the officer.
8754
8755"So you're not afraid of getting fat?" said the latter, turning a chair
8756round for the young officer.
8757
8758"What?" said Vronsky angrily, making a wry face of disgust, and showing
8759his even teeth.
8760
8761"You're not afraid of getting fat?"
8762
8763"Waiter, sherry!" said Vronsky, without replying, and moving the book to
8764the other side of him, he went on reading.
8765
8766The plump officer took up the list of wines and turned to the young
8767officer.
8768
8769"You choose what we're to drink," he said, handing him the card, and
8770looking at him.
8771
8772"Rhine wine, please," said the young officer, stealing a timid glance at
8773Vronsky, and trying to pull his scarcely visible mustache. Seeing that
8774Vronsky did not turn round, the young officer got up.
8775
8776"Let's go into the billiard room," he said.
8777
8778The plump officer rose submissively, and they moved towards the door.
8779
8780At that moment there walked into the room the tall and well-built
8781Captain Yashvin. Nodding with an air of lofty contempt to the two
8782officers, he went up to Vronsky.
8783
8784"Ah! here he is!" he cried, bringing his big hand down heavily on his
8785epaulet. Vronsky looked round angrily, but his face lighted up
8786immediately with his characteristic expression of genial and manly
8787serenity.
8788
8789"That's it, Alexey," said the captain, in his loud baritone. "You must
8790just eat a mouthful, now, and drink only one tiny glass."
8791
8792"Oh, I'm not hungry."
8793
8794"There go the inseparables," Yashvin dropped, glancing sarcastically at
8795the two officers who were at that instant leaving the room. And he bent
8796his long legs, swathed in tight riding breeches, and sat down in the
8797chair, too low for him, so that his knees were cramped up in a sharp
8798angle.
8799
8800"Why didn't you turn up at the Red Theater yesterday? Numerova wasn't at
8801all bad. Where were you?"
8802
8803"I was late at the Tverskoys'," said Vronsky.
8804
8805"Ah!" responded Yashvin.
8806
8807Yashvin, a gambler and a rake, a man not merely without moral
8808principles, but of immoral principles, Yashvin was Vronsky's greatest
8809friend in the regiment. Vronsky liked him both for his exceptional
8810physical strength, which he showed for the most part by being able to
8811drink like a fish, and do without sleep without being in the slightest
8812degree affected by it; and for his great strength of character, which he
8813showed in his relations with his comrades and superior officers,
8814commanding both fear and respect, and also at cards, when he would play
8815for tens of thousands and however much he might have drunk, always with
8816such skill and decision that he was reckoned the best player in the
8817English Club. Vronsky respected and liked Yashvin particularly because
8818he felt Yashvin liked him, not for his name and his money, but for
8819himself. And of all men he was the only one with whom Vronsky would have
8820liked to speak of his love. He felt that Yashvin, in spite of his
8821apparent contempt for every sort of feeling, was the only man who could,
8822so he fancied, comprehend the intense passion which now filled his whole
8823life. Moreover, he felt certain that Yashvin, as it was, took no delight
8824in gossip and scandal, and interpreted his feeling rightly, that is to
8825say, knew and believed that this passion was not a jest, not a pastime,
8826but something more serious and important.
8827
8828Vronsky had never spoken to him of his passion, but he was aware that he
8829knew all about it, and that he put the right interpretation on it, and
8830he was glad to see that in his eyes.
8831
8832"Ah! yes," he said, to the announcement that Vronsky had been at the
8833Tverskoys'; and his black eyes shining, he plucked at his left mustache,
8834and began twisting it into his mouth, a bad habit he had.
8835
8836"Well, and what did you do yesterday? Win anything?" asked Vronsky.
8837
8838"Eight thousand. But three don't count; he won't pay up."
8839
8840"Oh, then you can afford to lose over me," said Vronsky, laughing.
8841(Yashvin had bet heavily on Vronsky in the races.)
8842
8843"No chance of my losing. Mahotin's the only one that's risky."
8844
8845And the conversation passed to forecasts of the coming race, the only
8846thing Vronsky could think of just now.
8847
8848"Come along, I've finished," said Vronsky, and getting up he went to the
8849door. Yashvin got up too, stretching his long legs and his long back.
8850
8851"It's too early for me to dine, but I must have a drink. I'll come along
8852directly. Hi, wine!" he shouted, in his rich voice, that always rang out
8853so loudly at drill, and set the windows shaking now.
8854
8855"No, all right," he shouted again immediately after. "You're going home,
8856so I'll go with you."
8857
8858And he walked out with Vronsky.
8859
8860
8861
8862Chapter 20
8863
8864
8865Vronsky was staying in a roomy, clean, Finnish hut, divided into two by
8866a partition. Petritsky lived with him in camp too. Petritsky was asleep
8867when Vronsky and Yashvin came into the hut.
8868
8869"Get up, don't go on sleeping," said Yashvin, going behind the partition
8870and giving Petritsky, who was lying with ruffled hair and with his nose
8871in the pillow, a prod on the shoulder.
8872
8873Petritsky jumped up suddenly onto his knees and looked round.
8874
8875"Your brother's been here," he said to Vronsky. "He waked me up, damn
8876him, and said he'd look in again." And pulling up the rug he flung
8877himself back on the pillow. "Oh, do shut up, Yashvin!" he said, getting
8878furious with Yashvin, who was pulling the rug off him. "Shut up!" He
8879turned over and opened his eyes. "You'd better tell me what to drink;
8880such a nasty taste in my mouth, that..."
8881
8882"Brandy's better than anything," boomed Yashvin. "Tereshtchenko! brandy
8883for your master and cucumbers," he shouted, obviously taking pleasure in
8884the sound of his own voice.
8885
8886"Brandy, do you think? Eh?" queried Petritsky, blinking and rubbing his
8887eyes. "And you'll drink something? All right then, we'll have a drink
8888together! Vronsky, have a drink?" said Petritsky, getting up and
8889wrapping the tiger-skin rug round him. He went to the door of the
8890partition wall, raised his hands, and hummed in French, "There was a
8891king in Thule." "Vronsky, will you have a drink?"
8892
8893"Go along," said Vronsky, putting on the coat his valet handed to him.
8894
8895"Where are you off to?" asked Yashvin. "Oh, here are your three horses,"
8896he added, seeing the carriage drive up.
8897
8898"To the stables, and I've got to see Bryansky, too, about the horses,"
8899said Vronsky.
8900
8901Vronsky had as a fact promised to call at Bryansky's, some eight miles
8902from Peterhof, and to bring him some money owing for some horses; and he
8903hoped to have time to get that in too. But his comrades were at once
8904aware that he was not only going there.
8905
8906Petritsky, still humming, winked and made a pout with his lips, as
8907though he would say: "Oh, yes, we know your Bryansky."
8908
8909"Mind you're not late!" was Yashvin's only comment; and to change the
8910conversation: "How's my roan? is he doing all right?" he inquired,
8911looking out of the window at the middle one of the three horses, which
8912he had sold Vronsky.
8913
8914"Stop!" cried Petritsky to Vronsky as he was just going out. "Your
8915brother left a letter and a note for you. Wait a bit; where are they?"
8916
8917Vronsky stopped.
8918
8919"Well, where are they?"
8920
8921"Where are they? That's just the question!" said Petritsky solemnly,
8922moving his forefinger upwards from his nose.
8923
8924"Come, tell me; this is silly!" said Vronsky smiling.
8925
8926"I have not lighted the fire. Here somewhere about."
8927
8928"Come, enough fooling! Where is the letter?"
8929
8930"No, I've forgotten really. Or was it a dream? Wait a bit, wait a bit!
8931But what's the use of getting in a rage. If you'd drunk four bottles
8932yesterday as I did you'd forget where you were lying. Wait a bit, I'll
8933remember!"
8934
8935Petritsky went behind the partition and lay down on his bed.
8936
8937"Wait a bit! This was how I was lying, and this was how he was standing.
8938Yes--yes--yes.... Here it is!"--and Petritsky pulled a letter out from
8939under the mattress, where he had hidden it.
8940
8941Vronsky took the letter and his brother's note. It was the letter he was
8942expecting--from his mother, reproaching him for not having been to see
8943her--and the note was from his brother to say that he must have a little
8944talk with him. Vronsky knew that it was all about the same thing. "What
8945business is it of theirs!" thought Vronsky, and crumpling up the letters
8946he thrust them between the buttons of his coat so as to read them
8947carefully on the road. In the porch of the hut he was met by two
8948officers; one of his regiment and one of another.
8949
8950Vronsky's quarters were always a meeting place for all the officers.
8951
8952"Where are you off to?"
8953
8954"I must go to Peterhof."
8955
8956"Has the mare come from Tsarskoe?"
8957
8958"Yes, but I've not seen her yet."
8959
8960"They say Mahotin's Gladiator's lame."
8961
8962"Nonsense! But however are you going to race in this mud?" said the
8963other.
8964
8965"Here are my saviors!" cried Petritsky, seeing them come in. Before him
8966stood the orderly with a tray of brandy and salted cucumbers. "Here's
8967Yashvin ordering me to drink a pick-me-up."
8968
8969"Well, you did give it to us yesterday," said one of those who had come
8970in; "you didn't let us get a wink of sleep all night."
8971
8972"Oh, didn't we make a pretty finish!" said Petritsky. "Volkov climbed
8973onto the roof and began telling us how sad he was. I said: 'Let's have
8974music, the funeral march!' He fairly dropped asleep on the roof over the
8975funeral march."
8976
8977"Drink it up; you positively must drink the brandy, and then seltzer
8978water and a lot of lemon," said Yashvin, standing over Petritsky like a
8979mother making a child take medicine, "and then a little champagne--just
8980a small bottle."
8981
8982"Come, there's some sense in that. Stop a bit, Vronsky. We'll all have a
8983drink."
8984
8985"No; good-bye all of you. I'm not going to drink today."
8986
8987"Why, are you gaining weight? All right, then we must have it alone.
8988Give us the seltzer water and lemon."
8989
8990"Vronsky!" shouted someone when he was already outside.
8991
8992"Well?"
8993
8994"You'd better get your hair cut, it'll weigh you down, especially at the
8995top."
8996
8997Vronsky was in fact beginning, prematurely, to get a little bald. He
8998laughed gaily, showing his even teeth, and pulling his cap over the thin
8999place, went out and got into his carriage.
9000
9001"To the stables!" he said, and was just pulling out the letters to read
9002them through, but he thought better of it, and put off reading them so
9003as not to distract his attention before looking at the mare. "Later!"
9004
9005
9006
9007Chapter 21
9008
9009
9010The temporary stable, a wooden shed, had been put up close to the race
9011course, and there his mare was to have been taken the previous day. He
9012had not yet seen her there.
9013
9014During the last few days he had not ridden her out for exercise himself,
9015but had put her in the charge of the trainer, and so now he positively
9016did not know in what condition his mare had arrived yesterday and was
9017today. He had scarcely got out of his carriage when his groom, the
9018so-called "stable boy," recognizing the carriage some way off, called
9019the trainer. A dry-looking Englishman, in high boots and a short jacket,
9020clean-shaven, except for a tuft below his chin, came to meet him,
9021walking with the uncouth gait of jockey, turning his elbows out and
9022swaying from side to side.
9023
9024"Well, how's Frou-Frou?" Vronsky asked in English.
9025
9026"All right, sir," the Englishman's voice responded somewhere in the
9027inside of his throat. "Better not go in," he added, touching his hat.
9028"I've put a muzzle on her, and the mare's fidgety. Better not go in,
9029it'll excite the mare."
9030
9031"No, I'm going in. I want to look at her."
9032
9033"Come along, then," said the Englishman, frowning, and speaking with his
9034mouth shut, and, with swinging elbows, he went on in front with his
9035disjointed gait.
9036
9037They went into the little yard in front of the shed. A stable boy,
9038spruce and smart in his holiday attire, met them with a broom in his
9039hand, and followed them. In the shed there were five horses in their
9040separate stalls, and Vronsky knew that his chief rival, Gladiator, a
9041very tall chestnut horse, had been brought there, and must be standing
9042among them. Even more than his mare, Vronsky longed to see Gladiator,
9043whom he had never seen. But he knew that by the etiquette of the race
9044course it was not merely impossible for him to see the horse, but
9045improper even to ask questions about him. Just as he was passing along
9046the passage, the boy opened the door into the second horse-box on the
9047left, and Vronsky caught a glimpse of a big chestnut horse with white
9048legs. He knew that this was Gladiator, but, with the feeling of a man
9049turning away from the sight of another man's open letter, he turned
9050round and went into Frou-Frou's stall.
9051
9052"The horse is here belonging to Mak... Mak... I never can say the name,"
9053said the Englishman, over his shoulder, pointing his big finger and
9054dirty nail towards Gladiator's stall.
9055
9056"Mahotin? Yes, he's my most serious rival," said Vronsky.
9057
9058"If you were riding him," said the Englishman, "I'd bet on you."
9059
9060"Frou-Frou's more nervous; he's stronger," said Vronsky, smiling at the
9061compliment to his riding.
9062
9063"In a steeplechase it all depends on riding and on pluck," said the
9064Englishman.
9065
9066Of pluck--that is, energy and courage--Vronsky did not merely feel that
9067he had enough; what was of far more importance, he was firmly convinced
9068that no one in the world could have more of this "pluck" than he had.
9069
9070"Don't you think I want more thinning down?"
9071
9072"Oh, no," answered the Englishman. "Please, don't speak loud. The mare's
9073fidgety," he added, nodding towards the horse-box, before which they
9074were standing, and from which came the sound of restless stamping in the
9075straw.
9076
9077He opened the door, and Vronsky went into the horse-box, dimly lighted
9078by one little window. In the horse-box stood a dark bay mare, with a
9079muzzle on, picking at the fresh straw with her hoofs. Looking round him
9080in the twilight of the horse-box, Vronsky unconsciously took in once
9081more in a comprehensive glance all the points of his favorite mare.
9082Frou-Frou was a beast of medium size, not altogether free from reproach,
9083from a breeder's point of view. She was small-boned all over; though her
9084chest was extremely prominent in front, it was narrow. Her hind-quarters
9085were a little drooping, and in her fore-legs, and still more in her
9086hind-legs, there was a noticeable curvature. The muscles of both hind-
9087and fore-legs were not very thick; but across her shoulders the mare was
9088exceptionally broad, a peculiarity specially striking now that she was
9089lean from training. The bones of her legs below the knees looked no
9090thicker than a finger from in front, but were extraordinarily thick seen
9091from the side. She looked altogether, except across the shoulders, as it
9092were, pinched in at the sides and pressed out in depth. But she had in
9093the highest degree the quality that makes all defects forgotten: that
9094quality was _blood_, the blood _that tells_, as the English expression
9095has it. The muscles stood up sharply under the network of sinews,
9096covered with the delicate, mobile skin, soft as satin, and they were
9097hard as bone. Her clean-cut head, with prominent, bright, spirited eyes,
9098broadened out at the open nostrils, that showed the red blood in the
9099cartilage within. About all her figure, and especially her head, there
9100was a certain expression of energy, and, at the same time, of softness.
9101She was one of those creatures which seem only not to speak because the
9102mechanism of their mouth does not allow them to.
9103
9104To Vronsky, at any rate, it seemed that she understood all he felt at
9105that moment, looking at her.
9106
9107Directly Vronsky went towards her, she drew in a deep breath, and,
9108turning back her prominent eye till the white looked bloodshot, she
9109started at the approaching figures from the opposite side, shaking her
9110muzzle, and shifting lightly from one leg to the other.
9111
9112"There, you see how fidgety she is," said the Englishman.
9113
9114"There, darling! There!" said Vronsky, going up to the mare and speaking
9115soothingly to her.
9116
9117But the nearer he came, the more excited she grew. Only when he stood by
9118her head, she was suddenly quieter, while the muscles quivered under her
9119soft, delicate coat. Vronsky patted her strong neck, straightened over
9120her sharp withers a stray lock of her mane that had fallen on the other
9121side, and moved his face near her dilated nostrils, transparent as a
9122bat's wing. She drew a loud breath and snorted out through her tense
9123nostrils, started, pricked up her sharp ear, and put out her strong,
9124black lip towards Vronsky, as though she would nip hold of his sleeve.
9125But remembering the muzzle, she shook it and again began restlessly
9126stamping one after the other her shapely legs.
9127
9128"Quiet, darling, quiet!" he said, patting her again over her
9129hind-quarters; and with a glad sense that his mare was in the best
9130possible condition, he went out of the horse-box.
9131
9132The mare's excitement had infected Vronsky. He felt that his heart was
9133throbbing, and that he, too, like the mare, longed to move, to bite; it
9134was both dreadful and delicious.
9135
9136"Well, I rely on you, then," he said to the Englishman; "half-past six
9137on the ground."
9138
9139"All right," said the Englishman. "Oh, where are you going, my lord?" he
9140asked suddenly, using the title "my lord," which he had scarcely ever
9141used before.
9142
9143Vronsky in amazement raised his head, and stared, as he knew how to
9144stare, not into the Englishman's eyes, but at his forehead, astounded at
9145the impertinence of his question. But realizing that in asking this the
9146Englishman had been looking at him not as an employer, but as a jockey,
9147he answered:
9148
9149"I've got to go to Bryansky's; I shall be home within an hour."
9150
9151"How often I'm asked that question today!" he said to himself, and he
9152blushed, a thing which rarely happened to him. The Englishman looked
9153gravely at him; and, as though he, too, knew where Vronsky was going, he
9154added:
9155
9156"The great thing's to keep quiet before a race," said he; "don't get out
9157of temper or upset about anything."
9158
9159"All right," answered Vronsky, smiling; and jumping into his carriage,
9160he told the man to drive to Peterhof.
9161
9162Before he had driven many paces away, the dark clouds that had been
9163threatening rain all day broke, and there was a heavy downpour of rain.
9164
9165"What a pity!" thought Vronsky, putting up the roof of the carriage. "It
9166was muddy before, now it will be a perfect swamp." As he sat in solitude
9167in the closed carriage, he took out his mother's letter and his
9168brother's note, and read them through.
9169
9170Yes, it was the same thing over and over again. Everyone, his mother,
9171his brother, everyone thought fit to interfere in the affairs of his
9172heart. This interference aroused in him a feeling of angry hatred--a
9173feeling he had rarely known before. "What business is it of theirs? Why
9174does everybody feel called upon to concern himself about me? And why do
9175they worry me so? Just because they see that this is something they
9176can't understand. If it were a common, vulgar, worldly intrigue, they
9177would have left me alone. They feel that this is something different,
9178that this is not a mere pastime, that this woman is dearer to me than
9179life. And this is incomprehensible, and that's why it annoys them.
9180Whatever our destiny is or may be, we have made it ourselves, and we do
9181not complain of it," he said, in the word _we_ linking himself with
9182Anna. "No, they must needs teach us how to live. They haven't an idea of
9183what happiness is; they don't know that without our love, for us there
9184is neither happiness nor unhappiness--no life at all," he thought.
9185
9186He was angry with all of them for their interference just because he
9187felt in his soul that they, all these people, were right. He felt that
9188the love that bound him to Anna was not a momentary impulse, which would
9189pass, as worldly intrigues do pass, leaving no other traces in the life
9190of either but pleasant or unpleasant memories. He felt all the torture
9191of his own and her position, all the difficulty there was for them,
9192conspicuous as they were in the eye of all the world, in concealing
9193their love, in lying and deceiving; and in lying, deceiving, feigning,
9194and continually thinking of others, when the passion that united them
9195was so intense that they were both oblivious of everything else but
9196their love.
9197
9198He vividly recalled all the constantly recurring instances of inevitable
9199necessity for lying and deceit, which were so against his natural bent.
9200He recalled particularly vividly the shame he had more than once
9201detected in her at this necessity for lying and deceit. And he
9202experienced the strange feeling that had sometimes come upon him since
9203his secret love for Anna. This was a feeling of loathing for
9204something--whether for Alexey Alexandrovitch, or for himself, or for the
9205whole world, he could not have said. But he always drove away this
9206strange feeling. Now, too, he shook it off and continued the thread of
9207his thoughts.
9208
9209"Yes, she was unhappy before, but proud and at peace; and now she cannot
9210be at peace and feel secure in her dignity, though she does not show it.
9211Yes, we must put an end to it," he decided.
9212
9213And for the first time the idea clearly presented itself that it was
9214essential to put an end to this false position, and the sooner the
9215better. "Throw up everything, she and I, and hide ourselves somewhere
9216alone with our love," he said to himself.
9217
9218
9219
9220Chapter 22
9221
9222
9223The rain did not last long, and by the time Vronsky arrived, his
9224shaft-horse trotting at full speed and dragging the trace-horses
9225galloping through the mud, with their reins hanging loose, the sun had
9226peeped out again, the roofs of the summer villas and the old limetrees
9227in the gardens on both sides of the principal streets sparkled with wet
9228brilliance, and from the twigs came a pleasant drip and from the roofs
9229rushing streams of water. He thought no more of the shower spoiling the
9230race course, but was rejoicing now that--thanks to the rain--he would be
9231sure to find her at home and alone, as he knew that Alexey
9232Alexandrovitch, who had lately returned from a foreign watering place,
9233had not moved from Petersburg.
9234
9235Hoping to find her alone, Vronsky alighted, as he always did, to avoid
9236attracting attention, before crossing the bridge, and walked to the
9237house. He did not go up the steps to the street door, but went into the
9238court.
9239
9240"Has your master come?" he asked a gardener.
9241
9242"No, sir. The mistress is at home. But will you please go to the front
9243door; there are servants there," the gardener answered. "They'll open
9244the door."
9245
9246"No, I'll go in from the garden."
9247
9248And feeling satisfied that she was alone, and wanting to take her by
9249surprise, since he had not promised to be there today, and she would
9250certainly not expect him to come before the races, he walked, holding
9251his sword and stepping cautiously over the sandy path, bordered with
9252flowers, to the terrace that looked out upon the garden. Vronsky forgot
9253now all that he had thought on the way of the hardships and difficulties
9254of their position. He thought of nothing but that he would see her
9255directly, not in imagination, but living, all of her, as she was in
9256reality. He was just going in, stepping on his whole foot so as not to
9257creak, up the worn steps of the terrace, when he suddenly remembered
9258what he always forgot, and what caused the most torturing side of his
9259relations with her, her son with his questioning--hostile, as he
9260fancied--eyes.
9261
9262This boy was more often than anyone else a check upon their freedom.
9263When he was present, both Vronsky and Anna did not merely avoid speaking
9264of anything that they could not have repeated before everyone; they did
9265not even allow themselves to refer by hints to anything the boy did not
9266understand. They had made no agreement about this, it had settled
9267itself. They would have felt it wounding themselves to deceive the
9268child. In his presence they talked like acquaintances. But in spite of
9269this caution, Vronsky often saw the child's intent, bewildered glance
9270fixed upon him, and a strange shyness, uncertainty, at one time
9271friendliness, at another, coldness and reserve, in the boy's manner to
9272him; as though the child felt that between this man and his mother there
9273existed some important bond, the significance of which he could not
9274understand.
9275
9276As a fact, the boy did feel that he could not understand this relation,
9277and he tried painfully, and was not able to make clear to himself what
9278feeling he ought to have for this man. With a child's keen instinct for
9279every manifestation of feeling, he saw distinctly that his father, his
9280governess, his nurse,--all did not merely dislike Vronsky, but looked on
9281him with horror and aversion, though they never said anything about him,
9282while his mother looked on him as her greatest friend.
9283
9284"What does it mean? Who is he? How ought I to love him? If I don't know,
9285it's my fault; either I'm stupid or a naughty boy," thought the child.
9286And this was what caused his dubious, inquiring, sometimes hostile,
9287expression, and the shyness and uncertainty which Vronsky found so
9288irksome. This child's presence always and infallibly called up in
9289Vronsky that strange feeling of inexplicable loathing which he had
9290experienced of late. This child's presence called up both in Vronsky and
9291in Anna a feeling akin to the feeling of a sailor who sees by the
9292compass that the direction in which he is swiftly moving is far from the
9293right one, but that to arrest his motion is not in his power, that every
9294instant is carrying him further and further away, and that to admit to
9295himself his deviation from the right direction is the same as admitting
9296his certain ruin.
9297
9298This child, with his innocent outlook upon life, was the compass that
9299showed them the point to which they had departed from what they knew,
9300but did not want to know.
9301
9302This time Seryozha was not at home, and she was completely alone. She
9303was sitting on the terrace waiting for the return of her son, who had
9304gone out for his walk and been caught in the rain. She had sent a
9305manservant and a maid out to look for him. Dressed in a white gown,
9306deeply embroidered, she was sitting in a corner of the terrace behind
9307some flowers, and did not hear him. Bending her curly black head, she
9308pressed her forehead against a cool watering pot that stood on the
9309parapet, and both her lovely hands, with the rings he knew so well,
9310clasped the pot. The beauty of her whole figure, her head, her neck, her
9311hands, struck Vronsky every time as something new and unexpected. He
9312stood still, gazing at her in ecstasy. But, directly he would have made
9313a step to come nearer to her, she was aware of his presence, pushed away
9314the watering pot, and turned her flushed face towards him.
9315
9316"What's the matter? You are ill?" he said to her in French, going up to
9317her. He would have run to her, but remembering that there might be
9318spectators, he looked round towards the balcony door, and reddened a
9319little, as he always reddened, feeling that he had to be afraid and be
9320on his guard.
9321
9322"No, I'm quite well," she said, getting up and pressing his outstretched
9323hand tightly. "I did not expect ... thee."
9324
9325"Mercy! what cold hands!" he said.
9326
9327"You startled me," she said. "I'm alone, and expecting Seryozha; he's
9328out for a walk; they'll come in from this side."
9329
9330But, in spite of her efforts to be calm, her lips were quivering.
9331
9332"Forgive me for coming, but I couldn't pass the day without seeing you,"
9333he went on, speaking French, as he always did to avoid using the stiff
9334Russian plural form, so impossibly frigid between them, and the
9335dangerously intimate singular.
9336
9337"Forgive you? I'm so glad!"
9338
9339"But you're ill or worried," he went on, not letting go her hands and
9340bending over her. "What were you thinking of?"
9341
9342"Always the same thing," she said, with a smile.
9343
9344She spoke the truth. If ever at any moment she had been asked what she
9345was thinking of, she could have answered truly: of the same thing, of
9346her happiness and her unhappiness. She was thinking, just when he came
9347upon her, of this: why was it, she wondered, that to others, to Betsy
9348(she knew of her secret connection with Tushkevitch) it was all easy,
9349while to her it was such torture? Today this thought gained special
9350poignancy from certain other considerations. She asked him about the
9351races. He answered her questions, and, seeing that she was agitated,
9352trying to calm her, he began telling her in the simplest tone the
9353details of his preparations for the races.
9354
9355"Tell him or not tell him?" she thought, looking into his quiet,
9356affectionate eyes. "He is so happy, so absorbed in his races that he
9357won't understand as he ought, he won't understand all the gravity of
9358this fact to us."
9359
9360"But you haven't told me what you were thinking of when I came in," he
9361said, interrupting his narrative; "please tell me!"
9362
9363She did not answer, and, bending her head a little, she looked
9364inquiringly at him from under her brows, her eyes shining under their
9365long lashes. Her hand shook as it played with a leaf she had picked. He
9366saw it, and his face expressed that utter subjection, that slavish
9367devotion, which had done so much to win her.
9368
9369"I see something has happened. Do you suppose I can be at peace, knowing
9370you have a trouble I am not sharing? Tell me, for God's sake," he
9371repeated imploringly.
9372
9373"Yes, I shan't be able to forgive him if he does not realize all the
9374gravity of it. Better not tell; why put him to the proof?" she thought,
9375still staring at him in the same way, and feeling the hand that held the
9376leaf was trembling more and more.
9377
9378"For God's sake!" he repeated, taking her hand.
9379
9380"Shall I tell you?"
9381
9382"Yes, yes, yes . . ."
9383
9384"I'm with child," she said, softly and deliberately. The leaf in her
9385hand shook more violently, but she did not take her eyes off him,
9386watching how he would take it. He turned white, would have said
9387something, but stopped; he dropped her hand, and his head sank on his
9388breast. "Yes, he realizes all the gravity of it," she thought, and
9389gratefully she pressed his hand.
9390
9391But she was mistaken in thinking he realized the gravity of the fact as
9392she, a woman, realized it. On hearing it, he felt come upon him with
9393tenfold intensity that strange feeling of loathing of someone. But at
9394the same time, he felt that the turning-point he had been longing for
9395had come now; that it was impossible to go on concealing things from her
9396husband, and it was inevitable in one way or another that they should
9397soon put an end to their unnatural position. But, besides that, her
9398emotion physically affected him in the same way. He looked at her with a
9399look of submissive tenderness, kissed her hand, got up, and, in silence,
9400paced up and down the terrace.
9401
9402"Yes," he said, going up to her resolutely. "Neither you nor I have
9403looked on our relations as a passing amusement, and now our fate is
9404sealed. It is absolutely necessary to put an end"--he looked round as he
9405spoke--"to the deception in which we are living."
9406
9407"Put an end? How put an end, Alexey?" she said softly.
9408
9409She was calmer now, and her face lighted up with a tender smile.
9410
9411"Leave your husband and make our life one."
9412
9413"It is one as it is," she answered, scarcely audibly.
9414
9415"Yes, but altogether; altogether."
9416
9417"But how, Alexey, tell me how?" she said in melancholy mockery at the
9418hopelessness of her own position. "Is there any way out of such a
9419position? Am I not the wife of my husband?"
9420
9421"There is a way out of every position. We must take our line," he said.
9422"Anything's better than the position in which you're living. Of course,
9423I see how you torture yourself over everything--the world and your son
9424and your husband."
9425
9426"Oh, not over my husband," she said, with a quiet smile. "I don't know
9427him, I don't think of him. He doesn't exist."
9428
9429"You're not speaking sincerely. I know you. You worry about him too."
9430
9431"Oh, he doesn't even know," she said, and suddenly a hot flush came over
9432her face; her cheeks, her brow, her neck crimsoned, and tears of shame
9433came into her eyes. "But we won't talk of him."
9434
9435
9436
9437Chapter 23
9438
9439
9440Vronsky had several times already, though not so resolutely as now,
9441tried to bring her to consider their position, and every time he had
9442been confronted by the same superficiality and triviality with which she
9443met his appeal now. It was as though there were something in this which
9444she could not or would not face, as though directly she began to speak
9445of this, she, the real Anna, retreated somehow into herself, and another
9446strange and unaccountable woman came out, whom he did not love, and whom
9447he feared, and who was in opposition to him. But today he was resolved
9448to have it out.
9449
9450"Whether he knows or not," said Vronsky, in his usual quiet and resolute
9451tone, "that's nothing to do with us. We cannot ... you cannot stay like
9452this, especially now."
9453
9454"What's to be done, according to you?" she asked with the same frivolous
9455irony. She who had so feared he would take her condition too lightly was
9456now vexed with him for deducing from it the necessity of taking some
9457step.
9458
9459"Tell him everything, and leave him."
9460
9461"Very well, let us suppose I do that," she said. "Do you know what the
9462result of that would be? I can tell you it all beforehand," and a wicked
9463light gleamed in her eyes, that had been so soft a minute before. "'Eh,
9464you love another man, and have entered into criminal intrigues with
9465him?'" (Mimicking her husband, she threw an emphasis on the word
9466"criminal," as Alexey Alexandrovitch did.) "'I warned you of the results
9467in the religious, the civil, and the domestic relation. You have not
9468listened to me. Now I cannot let you disgrace my name,--'" "and my son,"
9469she had meant to say, but about her son she could not jest,--"'disgrace
9470my name, and'--and more in the same style," she added. "In general
9471terms, he'll say in his official manner, and with all distinctness and
9472precision, that he cannot let me go, but will take all measures in his
9473power to prevent scandal. And he will calmly and punctually act in
9474accordance with his words. That's what will happen. He's not a man, but
9475a machine, and a spiteful machine when he's angry," she added, recalling
9476Alexey Alexandrovitch as she spoke, with all the peculiarities of his
9477figure and manner of speaking, and reckoning against him every defect
9478she could find in him, softening nothing for the great wrong she herself
9479was doing him.
9480
9481"But, Anna," said Vronsky, in a soft and persuasive voice, trying to
9482soothe her, "we absolutely must, anyway, tell him, and then be guided by
9483the line he takes."
9484
9485"What, run away?"
9486
9487"And why not run away? I don't see how we can keep on like this. And not
9488for my sake--I see that you suffer."
9489
9490"Yes, run away, and become your mistress," she said angrily.
9491
9492"Anna," he said, with reproachful tenderness.
9493
9494"Yes," she went on, "become your mistress, and complete the ruin of..."
9495
9496Again she would have said "my son," but she could not utter that word.
9497
9498Vronsky could not understand how she, with her strong and truthful
9499nature, could endure this state of deceit, and not long to get out of
9500it. But he did not suspect that the chief cause of it was the
9501word--_son_, which she could not bring herself to pronounce. When she
9502thought of her son, and his future attitude to his mother, who had
9503abandoned his father, she felt such terror at what she had done, that
9504she could not face it; but, like a woman, could only try to comfort
9505herself with lying assurances that everything would remain as it always
9506had been, and that it was possible to forget the fearful question of how
9507it would be with her son.
9508
9509"I beg you, I entreat you," she said suddenly, taking his hand, and
9510speaking in quite a different tone, sincere and tender, "never speak to
9511me of that!"
9512
9513"But, Anna..."
9514
9515"Never. Leave it to me. I know all the baseness, all the horror of my
9516position; but it's not so easy to arrange as you think. And leave it to
9517me, and do what I say. Never speak to me of it. Do you promise me?...
9518No, no, promise!..."
9519
9520"I promise everything, but I can't be at peace, especially after what
9521you have told me. I can't be at peace, when you can't be at peace...."
9522
9523"I?" she repeated. "Yes, I am worried sometimes; but that will pass, if
9524you will never talk about this. When you talk about it--it's only then
9525it worries me."
9526
9527"I don't understand," he said.
9528
9529"I know," she interrupted him, "how hard it is for your truthful nature
9530to lie, and I grieve for you. I often think that you have ruined your
9531whole life for me."
9532
9533"I was just thinking the very same thing," he said; "how could you
9534sacrifice everything for my sake? I can't forgive myself that you're
9535unhappy!"
9536
9537"I unhappy?" she said, coming closer to him, and looking at him with an
9538ecstatic smile of love. "I am like a hungry man who has been given food.
9539He may be cold, and dressed in rags, and ashamed, but he is not unhappy.
9540I unhappy? No, this is my unhappiness...."
9541
9542She could hear the sound of her son's voice coming towards them, and
9543glancing swiftly round the terrace, she got up impulsively. Her eyes
9544glowed with the fire he knew so well; with a rapid movement she raised
9545her lovely hands, covered with rings, took his head, looked a long look
9546into his face, and, putting up her face with smiling, parted lips,
9547swiftly kissed his mouth and both eyes, and pushed him away. She would
9548have gone, but he held her back.
9549
9550"When?" he murmured in a whisper, gazing in ecstasy at her.
9551
9552"Tonight, at one o'clock," she whispered, and, with a heavy sigh, she
9553walked with her light, swift step to meet her son.
9554
9555Seryozha had been caught by the rain in the big garden, and he and his
9556nurse had taken shelter in an arbor.
9557
9558"Well, _au revoir_," she said to Vronsky. "I must soon be getting ready
9559for the races. Betsy promised to fetch me."
9560
9561Vronsky, looking at his watch, went away hurriedly.
9562
9563
9564
9565Chapter 24
9566
9567
9568When Vronsky looked at his watch on the Karenins' balcony, he was so
9569greatly agitated and lost in his thoughts that he saw the figures on the
9570watch's face, but could not take in what time it was. He came out on to
9571the high road and walked, picking his way carefully through the mud, to
9572his carriage. He was so completely absorbed in his feeling for Anna,
9573that he did not even think what o'clock it was, and whether he had time
9574to go to Bryansky's. He had left him, as often happens, only the
9575external faculty of memory, that points out each step one has to take,
9576one after the other. He went up to his coachman, who was dozing on the
9577box in the shadow, already lengthening, of a thick limetree; he admired
9578the shifting clouds of midges circling over the hot horses, and, waking
9579the coachman, he jumped into the carriage, and told him to drive to
9580Bryansky's. It was only after driving nearly five miles that he had
9581sufficiently recovered himself to look at his watch, and realize that it
9582was half-past five, and he was late.
9583
9584There were several races fixed for that day: the Mounted Guards' race,
9585then the officers' mile-and-a-half race, then the three-mile race, and
9586then the race for which he was entered. He could still be in time for
9587his race, but if he went to Bryansky's he could only just be in time,
9588and he would arrive when the whole of the court would be in their
9589places. That would be a pity. But he had promised Bryansky to come, and
9590so he decided to drive on, telling the coachman not to spare the horses.
9591
9592He reached Bryansky's, spent five minutes there, and galloped back. This
9593rapid drive calmed him. All that was painful in his relations with Anna,
9594all the feeling of indefiniteness left by their conversation, had
9595slipped out of his mind. He was thinking now with pleasure and
9596excitement of the race, of his being anyhow, in time, and now and then
9597the thought of the blissful interview awaiting him that night flashed
9598across his imagination like a flaming light.
9599
9600The excitement of the approaching race gained upon him as he drove
9601further and further into the atmosphere of the races, overtaking
9602carriages driving up from the summer villas or out of Petersburg.
9603
9604At his quarters no one was left at home; all were at the races, and his
9605valet was looking out for him at the gate. While he was changing his
9606clothes, his valet told him that the second race had begun already, that
9607a lot of gentlemen had been to ask for him, and a boy had twice run up
9608from the stables. Dressing without hurry (he never hurried himself, and
9609never lost his self-possession), Vronsky drove to the sheds. From the
9610sheds he could see a perfect sea of carriages, and people on foot,
9611soldiers surrounding the race course, and pavilions swarming with
9612people. The second race was apparently going on, for just as he went
9613into the sheds he heard a bell ringing. Going towards the stable, he met
9614the white-legged chestnut, Mahotin's Gladiator, being led to the
9615race-course in a blue forage horsecloth, with what looked like huge ears
9616edged with blue.
9617
9618"Where's Cord?" he asked the stable-boy.
9619
9620"In the stable, putting on the saddle."
9621
9622In the open horse-box stood Frou-Frou, saddled ready. They were just
9623going to lead her out.
9624
9625"I'm not too late?"
9626
9627"All right! All right!" said the Englishman; "don't upset yourself!"
9628
9629Vronsky once more took in in one glance the exquisite lines of his
9630favorite mare; who was quivering all over, and with an effort he tore
9631himself from the sight of her, and went out of the stable. He went
9632towards the pavilions at the most favorable moment for escaping
9633attention. The mile-and-a-half race was just finishing, and all eyes
9634were fixed on the horse-guard in front and the light hussar behind,
9635urging their horses on with a last effort close to the winning post.
9636From the center and outside of the ring all were crowding to the winning
9637post, and a group of soldiers and officers of the horse-guards were
9638shouting loudly their delight at the expected triumph of their officer
9639and comrade. Vronsky moved into the middle of the crowd unnoticed,
9640almost at the very moment when the bell rang at the finish of the race,
9641and the tall, mudspattered horse-guard who came in first, bending over
9642the saddle, let go the reins of his panting gray horse that looked dark
9643with sweat.
9644
9645The horse, stiffening out its legs, with an effort stopped its rapid
9646course, and the officer of the horse-guards looked round him like a man
9647waking up from a heavy sleep, and just managed to smile. A crowd of
9648friends and outsiders pressed round him.
9649
9650Vronsky intentionally avoided that select crowd of the upper world,
9651which was moving and talking with discreet freedom before the pavilions.
9652He knew that Madame Karenina was there, and Betsy, and his brother's
9653wife, and he purposely did not go near them for fear of something
9654distracting his attention. But he was continually met and stopped by
9655acquaintances, who told him about the previous races, and kept asking
9656him why he was so late.
9657
9658At the time when the racers had to go to the pavilion to receive the
9659prizes, and all attention was directed to that point, Vronsky's elder
9660brother, Alexander, a colonel with heavy fringed epaulets, came up to
9661him. He was not tall, though as broadly built as Alexey, and handsomer
9662and rosier than he; he had a red nose, and an open, drunken-looking
9663face.
9664
9665"Did you get my note?" he said. "There's never any finding you."
9666
9667Alexander Vronsky, in spite of the dissolute life, and in especial the
9668drunken habits, for which he was notorious, was quite one of the court
9669circle.
9670
9671Now, as he talked to his brother of a matter bound to be exceedingly
9672disagreeable to him, knowing that the eyes of many people might be fixed
9673upon him, he kept a smiling countenance, as though he were jesting with
9674his brother about something of little moment.
9675
9676"I got it, and I really can't make out what _you_ are worrying yourself
9677about," said Alexey.
9678
9679"I'm worrying myself because the remark has just been made to me that
9680you weren't here, and that you were seen in Peterhof on Monday."
9681
9682"There are matters which only concern those directly interested in them,
9683and the matter you are so worried about is..."
9684
9685"Yes, but if so, you may as well cut the service...."
9686
9687"I beg you not to meddle, and that's all I have to say."
9688
9689Alexey Vronsky's frowning face turned white, and his prominent lower jaw
9690quivered, which happened rarely with him. Being a man of very warm
9691heart, he was seldom angry; but when he was angry, and when his chin
9692quivered, then, as Alexander Vronsky knew, he was dangerous. Alexander
9693Vronsky smiled gaily.
9694
9695"I only wanted to give you Mother's letter. Answer it, and don't worry
9696about anything just before the race. _Bonne chance,_" he added, smiling
9697and he moved away from him. But after him another friendly greeting
9698brought Vronsky to a standstill.
9699
9700"So you won't recognize your friends! How are you, _mon cher?_" said
9701Stepan Arkadyevitch, as conspicuously brilliant in the midst of all the
9702Petersburg brilliance as he was in Moscow, his face rosy, and his
9703whiskers sleek and glossy. "I came up yesterday, and I'm delighted that
9704I shall see your triumph. When shall we meet?"
9705
9706"Come tomorrow to the messroom," said Vronsky, and squeezing him by the
9707sleeve of his coat, with apologies, he moved away to the center of the
9708race course, where the horses were being led for the great steeplechase.
9709
9710The horses who had run in the last race were being led home, steaming
9711and exhausted, by the stable-boys, and one after another the fresh
9712horses for the coming race made their appearance, for the most part
9713English racers, wearing horsecloths, and looking with their drawn-up
9714bellies like strange, huge birds. On the right was led in Frou-Frou,
9715lean and beautiful, lifting up her elastic, rather long pasterns, as
9716though moved by springs. Not far from her they were taking the rug off
9717the lop-eared Gladiator. The strong, exquisite, perfectly correct lines
9718of the stallion, with his superb hind-quarters and excessively short
9719pasterns almost over his hoofs, attracted Vronsky's attention in spite
9720of himself. He would have gone up to his mare, but he was again detained
9721by an acquaintance.
9722
9723"Oh, there's Karenin!" said the acquaintance with whom he was chatting.
9724"He's looking for his wife, and she's in the middle of the pavilion.
9725Didn't you see her?"
9726
9727"No," answered Vronsky, and without even glancing round towards the
9728pavilion where his friend was pointing out Madame Karenina, he went up
9729to his mare.
9730
9731Vronsky had not had time to look at the saddle, about which he had to
9732give some direction, when the competitors were summoned to the pavilion
9733to receive their numbers and places in the row at starting. Seventeen
9734officers, looking serious and severe, many with pale faces, met together
9735in the pavilion and drew the numbers. Vronsky drew the number seven. The
9736cry was heard: "Mount!"
9737
9738Feeling that with the others riding in the race, he was the center upon
9739which all eyes were fastened, Vronsky walked up to his mare in that
9740state of nervous tension in which he usually became deliberate and
9741composed in his movements. Cord, in honor of the races, had put on his
9742best clothes, a black coat buttoned up, a stiffly starched collar, which
9743propped up his cheeks, a round black hat, and top boots. He was calm and
9744dignified as ever, and was with his own hands holding Frou-Frou by both
9745reins, standing straight in front of her. Frou-Frou was still trembling
9746as though in a fever. Her eye, full of fire, glanced sideways at
9747Vronsky. Vronsky slipped his finger under the saddle-girth. The mare
9748glanced aslant at him, drew up her lip, and twitched her ear. The
9749Englishman puckered up his lips, intending to indicate a smile that
9750anyone should verify his saddling.
9751
9752"Get up; you won't feel so excited."
9753
9754Vronsky looked round for the last time at his rivals. He knew that he
9755would not see them during the race. Two were already riding forward to
9756the point from which they were to start. Galtsin, a friend of Vronsky's
9757and one of his more formidable rivals, was moving round a bay horse that
9758would not let him mount. A little light hussar in tight riding breeches
9759rode off at a gallop, crouched up like a cat on the saddle, in imitation
9760of English jockeys. Prince Kuzovlev sat with a white face on his
9761thoroughbred mare from the Grabovsky stud, while an English groom led
9762her by the bridle. Vronsky and all his comrades knew Kuzovlev and his
9763peculiarity of "weak nerves" and terrible vanity. They knew that he was
9764afraid of everything, afraid of riding a spirited horse. But now, just
9765because it was terrible, because people broke their necks, and there was
9766a doctor standing at each obstacle, and an ambulance with a cross on it,
9767and a sister of mercy, he had made up his mind to take part in the race.
9768Their eyes met, and Vronsky gave him a friendly and encouraging nod.
9769Only one he did not see, his chief rival, Mahotin on Gladiator.
9770
9771"Don't be in a hurry," said Cord to Vronsky, "and remember one thing:
9772don't hold her in at the fences, and don't urge her on; let her go as
9773she likes."
9774
9775"All right, all right," said Vronsky, taking the reins.
9776
9777"If you can, lead the race; but don't lose heart till the last minute,
9778even if you're behind."
9779
9780Before the mare had time to move, Vronsky stepped with an agile,
9781vigorous movement into the steel-toothed stirrup, and lightly and firmly
9782seated himself on the creaking leather of the saddle. Getting his right
9783foot in the stirrup, he smoothed the double reins, as he always did,
9784between his fingers, and Cord let go.
9785
9786As though she did not know which foot to put first, Frou-Frou started,
9787dragging at the reins with her long neck, and as though she were on
9788springs, shaking her rider from side to side. Cord quickened his step,
9789following him. The excited mare, trying to shake off her rider first on
9790one side and then the other, pulled at the reins, and Vronsky tried in
9791vain with voice and hand to soothe her.
9792
9793They were just reaching the dammed-up stream on their way to the
9794starting point. Several of the riders were in front and several behind,
9795when suddenly Vronsky heard the sound of a horse galloping in the mud
9796behind him, and he was overtaken by Mahotin on his white-legged,
9797lop-eared Gladiator. Mahotin smiled, showing his long teeth, but Vronsky
9798looked angrily at him. He did not like him, and regarded him now as his
9799most formidable rival. He was angry with him for galloping past and
9800exciting his mare. Frou-Frou started into a gallop, her left foot
9801forward, made two bounds, and fretting at the tightened reins, passed
9802into a jolting trot, bumping her rider up and down. Cord, too, scowled,
9803and followed Vronsky almost at a trot.
9804
9805
9806
9807Chapter 25
9808
9809
9810There were seventeen officers in all riding in this race. The race
9811course was a large three-mile ring of the form of an ellipse in front of
9812the pavilion. On this course nine obstacles had been arranged: the
9813stream, a big and solid barrier five feet high, just before the
9814pavilion, a dry ditch, a ditch full of water, a precipitous slope, an
9815Irish barricade (one of the most difficult obstacles, consisting of a
9816mound fenced with brushwood, beyond which was a ditch out of sight for
9817the horses, so that the horse had to clear both obstacles or might be
9818killed); then two more ditches filled with water, and one dry one; and
9819the end of the race was just facing the pavilion. But the race began not
9820in the ring, but two hundred yards away from it, and in that part of the
9821course was the first obstacle, a dammed-up stream, seven feet in
9822breadth, which the racers could leap or wade through as they preferred.
9823
9824Three times they were ranged ready to start, but each time some horse
9825thrust itself out of line, and they had to begin again. The umpire who
9826was starting them, Colonel Sestrin, was beginning to lose his temper,
9827when at last for the fourth time he shouted "Away!" and the racers
9828started.
9829
9830Every eye, every opera glass, was turned on the brightly colored group
9831of riders at the moment they were in line to start.
9832
9833"They're off! They're starting!" was heard on all sides after the hush
9834of expectation.
9835
9836And little groups and solitary figures among the public began running
9837from place to place to get a better view. In the very first minute the
9838close group of horsemen drew out, and it could be seen that they were
9839approaching the stream in twos and threes and one behind another. To the
9840spectators it seemed as though they had all started simultaneously, but
9841to the racers there were seconds of difference that had great value to
9842them.
9843
9844Frou-Frou, excited and over-nervous, had lost the first moment, and
9845several horses had started before her, but before reaching the stream,
9846Vronsky, who was holding in the mare with all his force as she tugged at
9847the bridle, easily overtook three, and there were left in front of him
9848Mahotin's chestnut Gladiator, whose hind-quarters were moving lightly
9849and rhythmically up and down exactly in front of Vronsky, and in front
9850of all, the dainty mare Diana bearing Kuzovlev more dead than alive.
9851
9852For the first instant Vronsky was not master either of himself or his
9853mare. Up to the first obstacle, the stream, he could not guide the
9854motions of his mare.
9855
9856Gladiator and Diana came up to it together and almost at the same
9857instant; simultaneously they rose above the stream and flew across to
9858the other side; Frou-Frou darted after them, as if flying; but at the
9859very moment when Vronsky felt himself in the air, he suddenly saw almost
9860under his mare's hoofs Kuzovlev, who was floundering with Diana on the
9861further side of the stream. (Kuzovlev had let go the reins as he took
9862the leap, and the mare had sent him flying over her head.) Those details
9863Vronsky learned later; at the moment all he saw was that just under him,
9864where Frou-Frou must alight, Diana's legs or head might be in the way.
9865But Frou-Frou drew up her legs and back in the very act of leaping, like
9866a falling cat, and, clearing the other mare, alighted beyond her.
9867
9868"O the darling!" thought Vronsky.
9869
9870After crossing the stream Vronsky had complete control of his mare, and
9871began holding her in, intending to cross the great barrier behind
9872Mahotin, and to try to overtake him in the clear ground of about five
9873hundred yards that followed it.
9874
9875The great barrier stood just in front of the imperial pavilion. The Tsar
9876and the whole court and crowds of people were all gazing at them--at
9877him, and Mahotin a length ahead of him, as they drew near the "devil,"
9878as the solid barrier was called. Vronsky was aware of those eyes
9879fastened upon him from all sides, but he saw nothing except the ears and
9880neck of his own mare, the ground racing to meet him, and the back and
9881white legs of Gladiator beating time swiftly before him, and keeping
9882always the same distance ahead. Gladiator rose, with no sound of
9883knocking against anything. With a wave of his short tail he disappeared
9884from Vronsky's sight.
9885
9886"Bravo!" cried a voice.
9887
9888At the same instant, under Vronsky's eyes, right before him flashed the
9889palings of the barrier. Without the slightest change in her action his
9890mare flew over it; the palings vanished, and he heard only a crash
9891behind him. The mare, excited by Gladiator's keeping ahead, had risen
9892too soon before the barrier, and grazed it with her hind hoofs. But her
9893pace never changed, and Vronsky, feeling a spatter of mud in his face,
9894realized that he was once more the same distance from Gladiator. Once
9895more he perceived in front of him the same back and short tail, and
9896again the same swiftly moving white legs that got no further away.
9897
9898At the very moment when Vronsky thought that now was the time to
9899overtake Mahotin, Frou-Frou herself, understanding his thoughts, without
9900any incitement on his part, gained ground considerably, and began
9901getting alongside of Mahotin on the most favorable side, close to the
9902inner cord. Mahotin would not let her pass that side. Vronsky had hardly
9903formed the thought that he could perhaps pass on the outer side, when
9904Frou-Frou shifted her pace and began overtaking him on the other side.
9905Frou-Frou's shoulder, beginning by now to be dark with sweat, was even
9906with Gladiator's back. For a few lengths they moved evenly. But before
9907the obstacle they were approaching, Vronsky began working at the reins,
9908anxious to avoid having to take the outer circle, and swiftly passed
9909Mahotin just upon the declivity. He caught a glimpse of his mud-stained
9910face as he flashed by. He even fancied that he smiled. Vronsky passed
9911Mahotin, but he was immediately aware of him close upon him, and he
9912never ceased hearing the even-thudding hoofs and the rapid and still
9913quite fresh breathing of Gladiator.
9914
9915The next two obstacles, the water course and the barrier, were easily
9916crossed, but Vronsky began to hear the snorting and thud of Gladiator
9917closer upon him. He urged on his mare, and to his delight felt that she
9918easily quickened her pace, and the thud of Gladiator's hoofs was again
9919heard at the same distance away.
9920
9921Vronsky was at the head of the race, just as he wanted to be and as Cord
9922had advised, and now he felt sure of being the winner. His excitement,
9923his delight, and his tenderness for Frou-Frou grew keener and keener. He
9924longed to look round again, but he did not dare do this, and tried to be
9925cool and not to urge on his mare so to keep the same reserve of force in
9926her as he felt that Gladiator still kept. There remained only one
9927obstacle, the most difficult; if he could cross it ahead of the others
9928he would come in first. He was flying towards the Irish barricade,
9929Frou-Frou and he both together saw the barricade in the distance, and
9930both the man and the mare had a moment's hesitation. He saw the
9931uncertainty in the mare's ears and lifted the whip, but at the same time
9932felt that his fears were groundless; the mare knew what was wanted. She
9933quickened her pace and rose smoothly, just as he had fancied she would,
9934and as she left the ground gave herself up to the force of her rush,
9935which carried her far beyond the ditch; and with the same rhythm,
9936without effort, with the same leg forward, Frou-Frou fell back into her
9937pace again.
9938
9939"Bravo, Vronsky!" he heard shouts from a knot of men--he knew they were
9940his friends in the regiment--who were standing at the obstacle. He could
9941not fail to recognize Yashvin's voice though he did not see him.
9942
9943"O my sweet!" he said inwardly to Frou-Frou, as he listened for what was
9944happening behind. "He's cleared it!" he thought, catching the thud of
9945Gladiator's hoofs behind him. There remained only the last ditch, filled
9946with water and five feet wide. Vronsky did not even look at it, but
9947anxious to get in a long way first began sawing away at the reins,
9948lifting the mare's head and letting it go in time with her paces. He
9949felt that the mare was at her very last reserve of strength; not her
9950neck and shoulders merely were wet, but the sweat was standing in drops
9951on her mane, her head, her sharp ears, and her breath came in short,
9952sharp gasps. But he knew that she had strength left more than enough for
9953the remaining five hundred yards. It was only from feeling himself
9954nearer the ground and from the peculiar smoothness of his motion that
9955Vronsky knew how greatly the mare had quickened her pace. She flew over
9956the ditch as though not noticing it. She flew over it like a bird; but
9957at the same instant Vronsky, to his horror, felt that he had failed to
9958keep up with the mare's pace, that he had, he did not know how, made a
9959fearful, unpardonable mistake, in recovering his seat in the saddle. All
9960at once his position had shifted and he knew that something awful had
9961happened. He could not yet make out what had happened, when the white
9962legs of a chestnut horse flashed by close to him, and Mahotin passed at
9963a swift gallop. Vronsky was touching the ground with one foot, and his
9964mare was sinking on that foot. He just had time to free his leg when she
9965fell on one side, gasping painfully, and, making vain efforts to rise
9966with her delicate, soaking neck, she fluttered on the ground at his feet
9967like a shot bird. The clumsy movement made by Vronsky had broken her
9968back. But that he only knew much later. At that moment he knew only that
9969Mahotin had flown swiftly by, while he stood staggering alone on the
9970muddy, motionless ground, and Frou-Frou lay gasping before him, bending
9971her head back and gazing at him with her exquisite eyes. Still unable to
9972realize what had happened, Vronsky tugged at his mare's reins. Again she
9973struggled all over like a fish, and her shoulders setting the saddle
9974heaving, she rose on her front legs but unable to lift her back, she
9975quivered all over and again fell on her side. With a face hideous with
9976passion, his lower jaw trembling, and his cheeks white, Vronsky kicked
9977her with his heel in the stomach and again fell to tugging at the rein.
9978She did not stir, but thrusting her nose into the ground, she simply
9979gazed at her master with her speaking eyes.
9980
9981"A--a--a!" groaned Vronsky, clutching at his head. "Ah! what have I
9982done!" he cried. "The race lost! And my fault! shameful, unpardonable!
9983And the poor darling, ruined mare! Ah! what have I done!"
9984
9985A crowd of men, a doctor and his assistant, the officers of his
9986regiment, ran up to him. To his misery he felt that he was whole and
9987unhurt. The mare had broken her back, and it was decided to shoot her.
9988Vronsky could not answer questions, could not speak to anyone. He
9989turned, and without picking up his cap that had fallen off, walked away
9990from the race course, not knowing where he was going. He felt utterly
9991wretched. For the first time in his life he knew the bitterest sort of
9992misfortune, misfortune beyond remedy, and caused by his own fault.
9993
9994Yashvin overtook him with his cap, and led him home, and half an hour
9995later Vronsky had regained his self-possession. But the memory of that
9996race remained for long in his heart, the cruelest and bitterest memory
9997of his life.
9998
9999
10000
10001Chapter 26
10002
10003
10004The external relations of Alexey Alexandrovitch and his wife had
10005remained unchanged. The sole difference lay in the fact that he was more
10006busily occupied than ever. As in former years, at the beginning of the
10007spring he had gone to a foreign watering-place for the sake of his
10008health, deranged by the winter's work that every year grew heavier. And
10009just as always he returned in July and at once fell to work as usual
10010with increased energy. As usual, too, his wife had moved for the summer
10011to a villa out of town, while he remained in Petersburg. From the date
10012of their conversation after the party at Princess Tverskaya's he had
10013never spoken again to Anna of his suspicions and his jealousies, and
10014that habitual tone of his bantering mimicry was the most convenient tone
10015possible for his present attitude to his wife. He was a little colder to
10016his wife. He simply seemed to be slightly displeased with her for that
10017first midnight conversation, which she had repelled. In his attitude to
10018her there was a shade of vexation, but nothing more. "You would not be
10019open with me," he seemed to say, mentally addressing her; "so much the
10020worse for you. Now you may beg as you please, but I won't be open with
10021you. So much the worse for you!" he said mentally, like a man who, after
10022vainly attempting to extinguish a fire, should fly in a rage with his
10023vain efforts and say, "Oh, very well then! you shall burn for this!"
10024This man, so subtle and astute in official life, did not realize all the
10025senselessness of such an attitude to his wife. He did not realize it,
10026because it was too terrible to him to realize his actual position, and
10027he shut down and locked and sealed up in his heart that secret place
10028where lay hid his feelings towards his family, that is, his wife and
10029son. He who had been such a careful father, had from the end of that
10030winter become peculiarly frigid to his son, and adopted to him just the
10031same bantering tone he used with his wife. "Aha, young man!" was the
10032greeting with which he met him.
10033
10034Alexey Alexandrovitch asserted and believed that he had never in any
10035previous year had so much official business as that year. But he was not
10036aware that he sought work for himself that year, that this was one of
10037the means for keeping shut that secret place where lay hid his feelings
10038towards his wife and son and his thoughts about them, which became more
10039terrible the longer they lay there. If anyone had had the right to ask
10040Alexey Alexandrovitch what he thought of his wife's behavior, the mild
10041and peaceable Alexey Alexandrovitch would have made no answer, but he
10042would have been greatly angered with any man who should question him on
10043that subject. For this reason there positively came into Alexey
10044Alexandrovitch's face a look of haughtiness and severity whenever anyone
10045inquired after his wife's health. Alexey Alexandrovitch did not want to
10046think at all about his wife's behavior, and he actually succeeded in not
10047thinking about it at all.
10048
10049Alexey Alexandrovitch's permanent summer villa was in Peterhof, and the
10050Countess Lidia Ivanovna used as a rule to spend the summer there, close
10051to Anna, and constantly seeing her. That year Countess Lidia Ivanovna
10052declined to settle in Peterhof, was not once at Anna Arkadyevna's, and
10053in conversation with Alexey Alexandrovitch hinted at the unsuitability
10054of Anna's close intimacy with Betsy and Vronsky. Alexey Alexandrovitch
10055sternly cut her short, roundly declaring his wife to be above suspicion,
10056and from that time began to avoid Countess Lidia Ivanovna. He did not
10057want to see, and did not see, that many people in society cast dubious
10058glances on his wife; he did not want to understand, and did not
10059understand, why his wife had so particularly insisted on staying at
10060Tsarskoe, where Betsy was staying, and not far from the camp of
10061Vronsky's regiment. He did not allow himself to think about it, and he
10062did not think about it; but all the same though he never admitted it to
10063himself, and had no proofs, not even suspicious evidence, in the bottom
10064of his heart he knew beyond all doubt that he was a deceived husband,
10065and he was profoundly miserable about it.
10066
10067How often during those eight years of happy life with his wife Alexey
10068Alexandrovitch had looked at other men's faithless wives and other
10069deceived husbands and asked himself: "How can people descend to that?
10070how is it they don't put an end to such a hideous position?" But now,
10071when the misfortune had come upon himself, he was so far from thinking
10072of putting an end to the position that he would not recognize it at all,
10073would not recognize it just because it was too awful, too unnatural.
10074
10075Since his return from abroad Alexey Alexandrovitch had twice been at
10076their country villa. Once he dined there, another time he spent the
10077evening there with a party of friends, but he had not once stayed the
10078night there, as it had been his habit to do in previous years.
10079
10080The day of the races had been a very busy day for Alexey Alexandrovitch;
10081but when mentally sketching out the day in the morning, he made up his
10082mind to go to their country house to see his wife immediately after
10083dinner, and from there to the races, which all the Court were to
10084witness, and at which he was bound to be present. He was going to see
10085his wife, because he had determined to see her once a week to keep up
10086appearances. And besides, on that day, as it was the fifteenth, he had
10087to give his wife some money for her expenses, according to their usual
10088arrangement.
10089
10090With his habitual control over his thoughts, though he thought all this
10091about his wife, he did not let his thoughts stray further in regard to
10092her.
10093
10094That morning was a very full one for Alexey Alexandrovitch. The evening
10095before, Countess Lidia Ivanovna had sent him a pamphlet by a celebrated
10096traveler in China, who was staying in Petersburg, and with it she
10097enclosed a note begging him to see the traveler himself, as he was an
10098extremely interesting person from various points of view, and likely to
10099be useful. Alexey Alexandrovitch had not had time to read the pamphlet
10100through in the evening, and finished it in the morning. Then people
10101began arriving with petitions, and there came the reports, interviews,
10102appointments, dismissals, apportionment of rewards, pensions, grants,
10103notes, the workaday round, as Alexey Alexandrovitch called it, that
10104always took up so much time. Then there was private business of his own,
10105a visit from the doctor and the steward who managed his property. The
10106steward did not take up much time. He simply gave Alexey Alexandrovitch
10107the money he needed together with a brief statement of the position of
10108his affairs, which was not altogether satisfactory, as it had happened
10109that during that year, owing to increased expenses, more had been paid
10110out than usual, and there was a deficit. But the doctor, a celebrated
10111Petersburg doctor, who was an intimate acquaintance of Alexey
10112Alexandrovitch, took up a great deal of time. Alexey Alexandrovitch had
10113not expected him that day, and was surprised at his visit, and still
10114more so when the doctor questioned him very carefully about his health,
10115listened to his breathing, and tapped at his liver. Alexey
10116Alexandrovitch did not know that his friend Lidia Ivanovna, noticing
10117that he was not as well as usual that year, had begged the doctor to go
10118and examine him. "Do this for my sake," the Countess Lidia Ivanovna had
10119said to him.
10120
10121"I will do it for the sake of Russia, countess," replied the doctor.
10122
10123"A priceless man!" said the Countess Lidia Ivanovna.
10124
10125The doctor was extremely dissatisfied with Alexey Alexandrovitch. He
10126found the liver considerably enlarged, and the digestive powers
10127weakened, while the course of mineral waters had been quite without
10128effect. He prescribed more physical exercise as far as possible, and as
10129far as possible less mental strain, and above all no worry--in other
10130words, just what was as much out of Alexey Alexandrovitch's power as
10131abstaining from breathing. Then he withdrew, leaving in Alexey
10132Alexandrovitch an unpleasant sense that something was wrong with him,
10133and that there was no chance of curing it.
10134
10135As he was coming away, the doctor chanced to meet on the staircase an
10136acquaintance of his, Sludin, who was secretary of Alexey
10137Alexandrovitch's department. They had been comrades at the university,
10138and though they rarely met, they thought highly of each other and were
10139excellent friends, and so there was no one to whom the doctor would have
10140given his opinion of a patient so freely as to Sludin.
10141
10142"How glad I am you've been seeing him!" said Sludin. "He's not well, and
10143I fancy.... Well, what do you think of him?"
10144
10145"I'll tell you," said the doctor, beckoning over Sludin's head to his
10146coachman to bring the carriage round. "It's just this," said the doctor,
10147taking a finger of his kid glove in his white hands and pulling it, "if
10148you don't strain the strings, and then try to break them, you'll find it
10149a difficult job; but strain a string to its very utmost, and the mere
10150weight of one finger on the strained string will snap it. And with his
10151close assiduity, his conscientious devotion to his work, he's strained
10152to the utmost; and there's some outside burden weighing on him, and not
10153a light one," concluded the doctor, raising his eyebrows significantly.
10154"Will you be at the races?" he added, as he sank into his seat in the
10155carriage.
10156
10157"Yes, yes, to be sure; it does waste a lot of time," the doctor
10158responded vaguely to some reply of Sludin's he had not caught.
10159
10160Directly after the doctor, who had taken up so much time, came the
10161celebrated traveler, and Alexey Alexandrovitch, by means of the pamphlet
10162he had only just finished reading and his previous acquaintance with the
10163subject, impressed the traveler by the depth of his knowledge of the
10164subject and the breadth and enlightenment of his view of it.
10165
10166At the same time as the traveler there was announced a provincial
10167marshal of nobility on a visit to Petersburg, with whom Alexey
10168Alexandrovitch had to have some conversation. After his departure, he
10169had to finish the daily routine of business with his secretary, and then
10170he still had to drive round to call on a certain great personage on a
10171matter of grave and serious import. Alexey Alexandrovitch only just
10172managed to be back by five o'clock, his dinner-hour, and after dining
10173with his secretary, he invited him to drive with him to his country
10174villa and to the races.
10175
10176Though he did not acknowledge it to himself, Alexey Alexandrovitch
10177always tried nowadays to secure the presence of a third person in his
10178interviews with his wife.
10179
10180
10181
10182Chapter 27
10183
10184
10185Anna was upstairs, standing before the looking glass, and, with
10186Annushka's assistance, pinning the last ribbon on her gown when she
10187heard carriage wheels crunching the gravel at the entrance.
10188
10189"It's too early for Betsy," she thought, and glancing out of the window
10190she caught sight of the carriage and the black hat of Alexey
10191Alexandrovitch, and the ears that she knew so well sticking up each side
10192of it. "How unlucky! Can he be going to stay the night?" she wondered,
10193and the thought of all that might come of such a chance struck her as so
10194awful and terrible that, without dwelling on it for a moment, she went
10195down to meet him with a bright and radiant face; and conscious of the
10196presence of that spirit of falsehood and deceit in herself that she had
10197come to know of late, she abandoned herself to that spirit and began
10198talking, hardly knowing what she was saying.
10199
10200"Ah, how nice of you!" she said, giving her husband her hand, and
10201greeting Sludin, who was like one of the family, with a smile. "You're
10202staying the night, I hope?" was the first word the spirit of falsehood
10203prompted her to utter; "and now we'll go together. Only it's a pity I've
10204promised Betsy. She's coming for me."
10205
10206Alexey Alexandrovitch knit his brows at Betsy's name.
10207
10208"Oh, I'm not going to separate the inseparables," he said in his usual
10209bantering tone. "I'm going with Mihail Vassilievitch. I'm ordered
10210exercise by the doctors too. I'll walk, and fancy myself at the springs
10211again."
10212
10213"There's no hurry," said Anna. "Would you like tea?"
10214
10215She rang.
10216
10217"Bring in tea, and tell Seryozha that Alexey Alexandrovitch is here.
10218Well, tell me, how have you been? Mihail Vassilievitch, you've not been
10219to see me before. Look how lovely it is out on the terrace," she said,
10220turning first to one and then to the other.
10221
10222She spoke very simply and naturally, but too much and too fast. She was
10223the more aware of this from noticing in the inquisitive look Mihail
10224Vassilievitch turned on her that he was, as it were, keeping watch on
10225her.
10226
10227Mihail Vassilievitch promptly went out on the terrace.
10228
10229She sat down beside her husband.
10230
10231"You don't look quite well," she said.
10232
10233"Yes," he said; "the doctor's been with me today and wasted an hour of
10234my time. I feel that some one of our friends must have sent him: my
10235health's so precious, it seems."
10236
10237"No; what did he say?"
10238
10239She questioned him about his health and what he had been doing, and
10240tried to persuade him to take a rest and come out to her.
10241
10242All this she said brightly, rapidly, and with a peculiar brilliance in
10243her eyes. But Alexey Alexandrovitch did not now attach any special
10244significance to this tone of hers. He heard only her words and gave them
10245only the direct sense they bore. And he answered simply, though
10246jestingly. There was nothing remarkable in all this conversation, but
10247never after could Anna recall this brief scene without an agonizing pang
10248of shame.
10249
10250Seryozha came in preceded by his governess. If Alexey Alexandrovitch had
10251allowed himself to observe he would have noticed the timid and
10252bewildered eyes with which Seryozha glanced first at his father and then
10253at his mother. But he would not see anything, and he did not see it.
10254
10255"Ah, the young man! He's grown. Really, he's getting quite a man. How
10256are you, young man?"
10257
10258And he gave his hand to the scared child. Seryozha had been shy of his
10259father before, and now, ever since Alexey Alexandrovitch had taken to
10260calling him young man, and since that insoluble question had occurred to
10261him whether Vronsky were a friend or a foe, he avoided his father. He
10262looked round towards his mother as though seeking shelter. It was only
10263with his mother that he was at ease. Meanwhile, Alexey Alexandrovitch
10264was holding his son by the shoulder while he was speaking to the
10265governess, and Seryozha was so miserably uncomfortable that Anna saw he
10266was on the point of tears.
10267
10268Anna, who had flushed a little the instant her son came in, noticing
10269that Seryozha was uncomfortable, got up hurriedly, took Alexey
10270Alexandrovitch's hand from her son's shoulder, and kissing the boy, led
10271him out onto the terrace, and quickly came back.
10272
10273"It's time to start, though," said she, glancing at her watch. "How is
10274it Betsy doesn't come?..."
10275
10276"Yes," said Alexey Alexandrovitch, and getting up, he folded his hands
10277and cracked his fingers. "I've come to bring you some money, too, for
10278nightingales, we know, can't live on fairy tales," he said. "You want
10279it, I expect?"
10280
10281"No, I don't ... yes, I do," she said, not looking at him, and
10282crimsoning to the roots of her hair. "But you'll come back here after
10283the races, I suppose?"
10284
10285"Oh, yes!" answered Alexey Alexandrovitch. "And here's the glory of
10286Peterhof, Princess Tverskaya," he added, looking out of the window at
10287the elegant English carriage with the tiny seats placed extremely high.
10288"What elegance! Charming! Well, let us be starting too, then."
10289
10290Princess Tverskaya did not get out of her carriage, but her groom, in
10291high boots, a cape, and black hat, darted out at the entrance.
10292
10293"I'm going; good-bye!" said Anna, and kissing her son, she went up to
10294Alexey Alexandrovitch and held out her hand to him. "It was ever so nice
10295of you to come."
10296
10297Alexey Alexandrovitch kissed her hand.
10298
10299"Well, _au revoir_, then! You'll come back for some tea; that's
10300delightful!" she said, and went out, gay and radiant. But as soon as she
10301no longer saw him, she was aware of the spot on her hand that his lips
10302had touched, and she shuddered with repulsion.
10303
10304
10305
10306Chapter 28
10307
10308
10309When Alexey Alexandrovitch reached the race-course, Anna was already
10310sitting in the pavilion beside Betsy, in that pavilion where all the
10311highest society had gathered. She caught sight of her husband in the
10312distance. Two men, her husband and her lover, were the two centers of
10313her existence, and unaided by her external senses she was aware of their
10314nearness. She was aware of her husband approaching a long way off, and
10315she could not help following him in the surging crowd in the midst of
10316which he was moving. She watched his progress towards the pavilion, saw
10317him now responding condescendingly to an ingratiating bow, now
10318exchanging friendly, nonchalant greetings with his equals, now
10319assiduously trying to catch the eye of some great one of this world, and
10320taking off his big round hat that squeezed the tips of his ears. All
10321these ways of his she knew, and all were hateful to her. "Nothing but
10322ambition, nothing but the desire to get on, that's all there is in his
10323soul," she thought; "as for these lofty ideals, love of culture,
10324religion, they are only so many tools for getting on."
10325
10326From his glances towards the ladies' pavilion (he was staring straight
10327at her, but did not distinguish his wife in the sea of muslin, ribbons,
10328feathers, parasols and flowers) she saw that he was looking for her, but
10329she purposely avoided noticing him.
10330
10331"Alexey Alexandrovitch!" Princess Betsy called to him; "I'm sure you
10332don't see your wife: here she is."
10333
10334He smiled his chilly smile.
10335
10336"There's so much splendor here that one's eyes are dazzled," he said,
10337and he went into the pavilion. He smiled to his wife as a man should
10338smile on meeting his wife after only just parting from her, and greeted
10339the princess and other acquaintances, giving to each what was due--that
10340is to say, jesting with the ladies and dealing out friendly greetings
10341among the men. Below, near the pavilion, was standing an
10342adjutant-general of whom Alexey Alexandrovitch had a high opinion, noted
10343for his intelligence and culture. Alexey Alexandrovitch entered into
10344conversation with him.
10345
10346There was an interval between the races, and so nothing hindered
10347conversation. The adjutant-general expressed his disapproval of races.
10348Alexey Alexandrovitch replied defending them. Anna heard his high,
10349measured tones, not losing one word, and every word struck her as false,
10350and stabbed her ears with pain.
10351
10352When the three-mile steeplechase was beginning, she bent forward and
10353gazed with fixed eyes at Vronsky as he went up to his horse and mounted,
10354and at the same time she heard that loathsome, never-ceasing voice of
10355her husband. She was in an agony of terror for Vronsky, but a still
10356greater agony was the never-ceasing, as it seemed to her, stream of her
10357husband's shrill voice with its familiar intonations.
10358
10359"I'm a wicked woman, a lost woman," she thought; "but I don't like
10360lying, I can't endure falsehood, while as for _him_ (her husband) it's
10361the breath of his life--falsehood. He knows all about it, he sees it
10362all; what does he care if he can talk so calmly? If he were to kill me,
10363if he were to kill Vronsky, I might respect him. No, all he wants is
10364falsehood and propriety," Anna said to herself, not considering exactly
10365what it was she wanted of her husband, and how she would have liked to
10366see him behave. She did not understand either that Alexey
10367Alexandrovitch's peculiar loquacity that day, so exasperating to her,
10368was merely the expression of his inward distress and uneasiness. As a
10369child that has been hurt skips about, putting all his muscles into
10370movement to drown the pain, in the same way Alexey Alexandrovitch needed
10371mental exercise to drown the thoughts of his wife that in her presence
10372and in Vronsky's, and with the continual iteration of his name, would
10373force themselves on his attention. And it was as natural for him to talk
10374well and cleverly, as it is natural for a child to skip about. He was
10375saying:
10376
10377"Danger in the races of officers, of cavalry men, is an essential
10378element in the race. If England can point to the most brilliant feats of
10379cavalry in military history, it is simply owing to the fact that she has
10380historically developed this force both in beasts and in men. Sport has,
10381in my opinion, a great value, and as is always the case, we see nothing
10382but what is most superficial."
10383
10384"It's not superficial," said Princess Tverskaya. "One of the officers,
10385they say, has broken two ribs."
10386
10387Alexey Alexandrovitch smiled his smile, which uncovered his teeth, but
10388revealed nothing more.
10389
10390"We'll admit, princess, that that's not superficial," he said, "but
10391internal. But that's not the point," and he turned again to the general
10392with whom he was talking seriously; "we mustn't forget that those who
10393are taking part in the race are military men, who have chosen that
10394career, and one must allow that every calling has its disagreeable side.
10395It forms an integral part of the duties of an officer. Low sports, such
10396as prize-fighting or Spanish bull-fights, are a sign of barbarity. But
10397specialized trials of skill are a sign of development."
10398
10399"No, I shan't come another time; it's too upsetting," said Princess
10400Betsy. "Isn't it, Anna?"
10401
10402"It is upsetting, but one can't tear oneself away," said another lady.
10403"If I'd been a Roman woman I should never have missed a single circus."
10404
10405Anna said nothing, and keeping her opera glass up, gazed always at the
10406same spot.
10407
10408At that moment a tall general walked through the pavilion. Breaking off
10409what he was saying, Alexey Alexandrovitch got up hurriedly, though with
10410dignity, and bowed low to the general.
10411
10412"You're not racing?" the officer asked, chaffing him.
10413
10414"My race is a harder one," Alexey Alexandrovitch responded
10415deferentially.
10416
10417And though the answer meant nothing, the general looked as though he had
10418heard a witty remark from a witty man, and fully relished _la pointe de
10419la sauce_.
10420
10421"There are two aspects," Alexey Alexandrovitch resumed: "those who take
10422part and those who look on; and love for such spectacles is an
10423unmistakable proof of a low degree of development in the spectator, I
10424admit, but..."
10425
10426"Princess, bets!" sounded Stepan Arkadyevitch's voice from below,
10427addressing Betsy. "Who's your favorite?"
10428
10429"Anna and I are for Kuzovlev," replied Betsy.
10430
10431"I'm for Vronsky. A pair of gloves?"
10432
10433"Done!"
10434
10435"But it is a pretty sight, isn't it?"
10436
10437Alexey Alexandrovitch paused while there was talking about him, but he
10438began again directly.
10439
10440"I admit that manly sports do not..." he was continuing.
10441
10442But at that moment the racers started, and all conversation ceased.
10443Alexey Alexandrovitch too was silent, and everyone stood up and turned
10444towards the stream. Alexey Alexandrovitch took no interest in the race,
10445and so he did not watch the racers, but fell listlessly to scanning the
10446spectators with his weary eyes. His eyes rested upon Anna.
10447
10448Her face was white and set. She was obviously seeing nothing and no one
10449but one man. Her hand had convulsively clutched her fan, and she held
10450her breath. He looked at her and hastily turned away, scrutinizing other
10451faces.
10452
10453"But here's this lady too, and others very much moved as well; it's very
10454natural," Alexey Alexandrovitch told himself. He tried not to look at
10455her, but unconsciously his eyes were drawn to her. He examined that face
10456again, trying not to read what was so plainly written on it, and against
10457his own will, with horror read on it what he did not want to know.
10458
10459The first fall--Kuzovlev's, at the stream--agitated everyone, but Alexey
10460Alexandrovitch saw distinctly on Anna's pale, triumphant face that the
10461man she was watching had not fallen. When, after Mahotin and Vronsky had
10462cleared the worst barrier, the next officer had been thrown straight on
10463his head at it and fatally injured, and a shudder of horror passed over
10464the whole public, Alexey Alexandrovitch saw that Anna did not even
10465notice it, and had some difficulty in realizing what they were talking
10466of about her. But more and more often, and with greater persistence, he
10467watched her. Anna, wholly engrossed as she was with the race, became
10468aware of her husband's cold eyes fixed upon her from one side.
10469
10470She glanced round for an instant, looked inquiringly at him, and with a
10471slight frown turned away again.
10472
10473"Ah, I don't care!" she seemed to say to him, and she did not once
10474glance at him again.
10475
10476The race was an unlucky one, and of the seventeen officers who rode in
10477it more than half were thrown and hurt. Towards the end of the race
10478everyone was in a state of agitation, which was intensified by the fact
10479that the Tsar was displeased.
10480
10481
10482
10483Chapter 29
10484
10485
10486Everyone was loudly expressing disapprobation, everyone was repeating a
10487phrase some one had uttered--"The lions and gladiators will be the next
10488thing," and everyone was feeling horrified; so that when Vronsky fell to
10489the ground, and Anna moaned aloud, there was nothing very out of the way
10490in it. But afterwards a change came over Anna's face which really was
10491beyond decorum. She utterly lost her head. She began fluttering like a
10492caged bird, at one moment would have got up and moved away, at the next
10493turned to Betsy.
10494
10495"Let us go, let us go!" she said.
10496
10497But Betsy did not hear her. She was bending down, talking to a general
10498who had come up to her.
10499
10500Alexey Alexandrovitch went up to Anna and courteously offered her his
10501arm.
10502
10503"Let us go, if you like," he said in French, but Anna was listening to
10504the general and did not notice her husband.
10505
10506"He's broken his leg too, so they say," the general was saying. "This is
10507beyond everything."
10508
10509Without answering her husband, Anna lifted her opera glass and gazed
10510towards the place where Vronsky had fallen; but it was so far off, and
10511there was such a crowd of people about it, that she could make out
10512nothing. She laid down the opera glass, and would have moved away, but
10513at that moment an officer galloped up and made some announcement to the
10514Tsar. Anna craned forward, listening.
10515
10516"Stiva! Stiva!" she cried to her brother.
10517
10518But her brother did not hear her. Again she would have moved away.
10519
10520"Once more I offer you my arm if you want to be going," said Alexey
10521Alexandrovitch, reaching towards her hand.
10522
10523She drew back from him with aversion, and without looking in his face
10524answered:
10525
10526"No, no, let me be, I'll stay."
10527
10528She saw now that from the place of Vronsky's accident an officer was
10529running across the course towards the pavilion. Betsy waved her
10530handkerchief to him. The officer brought the news that the rider was not
10531killed, but the horse had broken its back.
10532
10533On hearing this Anna sat down hurriedly, and hid her face in her fan.
10534Alexey Alexandrovitch saw that she was weeping, and could not control
10535her tears, nor even the sobs that were shaking her bosom. Alexey
10536Alexandrovitch stood so as to screen her, giving her time to recover
10537herself.
10538
10539"For the third time I offer you my arm," he said to her after a little
10540time, turning to her. Anna gazed at him and did not know what to say.
10541Princess Betsy came to her rescue.
10542
10543"No, Alexey Alexandrovitch; I brought Anna and I promised to take her
10544home," put in Betsy.
10545
10546"Excuse me, princess," he said, smiling courteously but looking her very
10547firmly in the face, "but I see that Anna's not very well, and I wish her
10548to come home with me."
10549
10550Anna looked about her in a frightened way, got up submissively, and laid
10551her hand on her husband's arm.
10552
10553"I'll send to him and find out, and let you know," Betsy whispered to
10554her.
10555
10556As they left the pavilion, Alexey Alexandrovitch, as always, talked to
10557those he met, and Anna had, as always, to talk and answer; but she was
10558utterly beside herself, and moved hanging on her husband's arm as though
10559in a dream.
10560
10561"Is he killed or not? Is it true? Will he come or not? Shall I see him
10562today?" she was thinking.
10563
10564She took her seat in her husband's carriage in silence, and in silence
10565drove out of the crowd of carriages. In spite of all he had seen, Alexey
10566Alexandrovitch still did not allow himself to consider his wife's real
10567condition. He merely saw the outward symptoms. He saw that she was
10568behaving unbecomingly, and considered it his duty to tell her so. But it
10569was very difficult for him not to say more, to tell her nothing but
10570that. He opened his mouth to tell her she had behaved unbecomingly, but
10571he could not help saying something utterly different.
10572
10573"What an inclination we all have, though, for these cruel spectacles,"
10574he said. "I observe..."
10575
10576"Eh? I don't understand," said Anna contemptuously.
10577
10578He was offended, and at once began to say what he had meant to say.
10579
10580"I am obliged to tell you," he began.
10581
10582"So now we are to have it out," she thought, and she felt frightened.
10583
10584"I am obliged to tell you that your behavior has been unbecoming today,"
10585he said to her in French.
10586
10587"In what way has my behavior been unbecoming?" she said aloud, turning
10588her head swiftly and looking him straight in the face, not with the
10589bright expression that seemed covering something, but with a look of
10590determination, under which she concealed with difficulty the dismay she
10591was feeling.
10592
10593"Mind," he said, pointing to the open window opposite the coachman.
10594
10595He got up and pulled up the window.
10596
10597"What did you consider unbecoming?" she repeated.
10598
10599"The despair you were unable to conceal at the accident to one of the
10600riders."
10601
10602He waited for her to answer, but she was silent, looking straight before
10603her.
10604
10605"I have already begged you so to conduct yourself in society that even
10606malicious tongues can find nothing to say against you. There was a time
10607when I spoke of your inward attitude, but I am not speaking of that now.
10608Now I speak only of your external attitude. You have behaved improperly,
10609and I would wish it not to occur again."
10610
10611She did not hear half of what he was saying; she felt panic-stricken
10612before him, and was thinking whether it was true that Vronsky was not
10613killed. Was it of him they were speaking when they said the rider was
10614unhurt, but the horse had broken its back? She merely smiled with a
10615pretense of irony when he finished, and made no reply, because she had
10616not heard what he said. Alexey Alexandrovitch had begun to speak boldly,
10617but as he realized plainly what he was speaking of, the dismay she was
10618feeling infected him too. He saw the smile, and a strange
10619misapprehension came over him.
10620
10621"She is smiling at my suspicions. Yes, she will tell me directly what
10622she told me before; that there is no foundation for my suspicions, that
10623it's absurd."
10624
10625At that moment, when the revelation of everything was hanging over him,
10626there was nothing he expected so much as that she would answer mockingly
10627as before that his suspicions were absurd and utterly groundless. So
10628terrible to him was what he knew that now he was ready to believe
10629anything. But the expression of her face, scared and gloomy, did not now
10630promise even deception.
10631
10632"Possibly I was mistaken," said he. "If so, I beg your pardon."
10633
10634"No, you were not mistaken," she said deliberately, looking desperately
10635into his cold face. "You were not mistaken. I was, and I could not help
10636being in despair. I hear you, but I am thinking of him. I love him, I am
10637his mistress; I can't bear you; I'm afraid of you, and I hate you....
10638You can do what you like to me."
10639
10640And dropping back into the corner of the carriage, she broke into sobs,
10641hiding her face in her hands. Alexey Alexandrovitch did not stir, and
10642kept looking straight before him. But his whole face suddenly bore the
10643solemn rigidity of the dead, and his expression did not change during
10644the whole time of the drive home. On reaching the house he turned his
10645head to her, still with the same expression.
10646
10647"Very well! But I expect a strict observance of the external forms of
10648propriety till such time"--his voice shook--"as I may take measures to
10649secure my honor and communicate them to you."
10650
10651He got out first and helped her to get out. Before the servants he
10652pressed her hand, took his seat in the carriage, and drove back to
10653Petersburg. Immediately afterwards a footman came from Princess Betsy
10654and brought Anna a note.
10655
10656"I sent to Alexey to find out how he is, and he writes me he is quite
10657well and unhurt, but in despair."
10658
10659"So _he_ will be here," she thought. "What a good thing I told him all!"
10660
10661She glanced at her watch. She had still three hours to wait, and the
10662memories of their last meeting set her blood in flame.
10663
10664"My God, how light it is! It's dreadful, but I do love to see his face,
10665and I do love this fantastic light.... My husband! Oh! yes.... Well,
10666thank God! everything's over with him."
10667
10668
10669
10670Chapter 30
10671
10672
10673In the little German watering-place to which the Shtcherbatskys had
10674betaken themselves, as in all places indeed where people are gathered
10675together, the usual process, as it were, of the crystallization of
10676society went on, assigning to each member of that society a definite and
10677unalterable place. Just as the particle of water in frost, definitely
10678and unalterably, takes the special form of the crystal of snow, so each
10679new person that arrived at the springs was at once placed in his special
10680place.
10681
10682_Fuerst_ Shtcherbatsky, _sammt Gemahlin und Tochter_, by the apartments
10683they took, and from their name and from the friends they made, were
10684immediately crystallized into a definite place marked out for them.
10685
10686There was visiting the watering-place that year a real German Fuerstin,
10687in consequence of which the crystallizing process went on more
10688vigorously than ever. Princess Shtcherbatskaya wished, above everything,
10689to present her daughter to this German princess, and the day after their
10690arrival she duly performed this rite. Kitty made a low and graceful
10691curtsey in the _very simple_, that is to say, very elegant frock that
10692had been ordered her from Paris. The German princess said, "I hope the
10693roses will soon come back to this pretty little face," and for the
10694Shtcherbatskys certain definite lines of existence were at once laid
10695down from which there was no departing. The Shtcherbatskys made the
10696acquaintance too of the family of an English Lady Somebody, and of a
10697German countess and her son, wounded in the last war, and of a learned
10698Swede, and of M. Canut and his sister. But yet inevitably the
10699Shtcherbatskys were thrown most into the society of a Moscow lady, Marya
10700Yevgenyevna Rtishtcheva and her daughter, whom Kitty disliked, because
10701she had fallen ill, like herself, over a love affair, and a Moscow
10702colonel, whom Kitty had known from childhood, and always seen in uniform
10703and epaulets, and who now, with his little eyes and his open neck and
10704flowered cravat, was uncommonly ridiculous and tedious, because there
10705was no getting rid of him. When all this was so firmly established,
10706Kitty began to be very much bored, especially as the prince went away to
10707Carlsbad and she was left alone with her mother. She took no interest in
10708the people she knew, feeling that nothing fresh would come of them. Her
10709chief mental interest in the watering-place consisted in watching and
10710making theories about the people she did not know. It was characteristic
10711of Kitty that she always imagined everything in people in the most
10712favorable light possible, especially so in those she did not know. And
10713now as she made surmises as to who people were, what were their
10714relations to one another, and what they were like, Kitty endowed them
10715with the most marvelous and noble characters, and found confirmation of
10716her idea in her observations.
10717
10718Of these people the one that attracted her most was a Russian girl who
10719had come to the watering-place with an invalid Russian lady, Madame
10720Stahl, as everyone called her. Madame Stahl belonged to the highest
10721society, but she was so ill that she could not walk, and only on
10722exceptionally fine days made her appearance at the springs in an invalid
10723carriage. But it was not so much from ill-health as from pride--so
10724Princess Shtcherbatskaya interpreted it--that Madame Stahl had not made
10725the acquaintance of anyone among the Russians there. The Russian girl
10726looked after Madame Stahl, and besides that, she was, as Kitty observed,
10727on friendly terms with all the invalids who were seriously ill, and
10728there were many of them at the springs, and looked after them in the
10729most natural way. This Russian girl was not, as Kitty gathered, related
10730to Madame Stahl, nor was she a paid attendant. Madame Stahl called her
10731Varenka, and other people called her "Mademoiselle Varenka." Apart from
10732the interest Kitty took in this girl's relations with Madame Stahl and
10733with other unknown persons, Kitty, as often happened, felt an
10734inexplicable attraction to Mademoiselle Varenka, and was aware when
10735their eyes met that she too liked her.
10736
10737Of Mademoiselle Varenka one would not say that she had passed her first
10738youth, but she was, as it were, a creature without youth; she might have
10739been taken for nineteen or for thirty. If her features were criticized
10740separately, she was handsome rather than plain, in spite of the sickly
10741hue of her face. She would have been a good figure, too, if it had not
10742been for her extreme thinness and the size of her head, which was too
10743large for her medium height. But she was not likely to be attractive to
10744men. She was like a fine flower, already past its bloom and without
10745fragrance, though the petals were still unwithered. Moreover, she would
10746have been unattractive to men also from the lack of just what Kitty had
10747too much of--of the suppressed fire of vitality, and the consciousness
10748of her own attractiveness.
10749
10750She always seemed absorbed in work about which there could be no doubt,
10751and so it seemed she could not take interest in anything outside it. It
10752was just this contrast with her own position that was for Kitty the
10753great attraction of Mademoiselle Varenka. Kitty felt that in her, in her
10754manner of life, she would find an example of what she was now so
10755painfully seeking: interest in life, a dignity in life--apart from the
10756worldly relations of girls with men, which so revolted Kitty, and
10757appeared to her now as a shameful hawking about of goods in search of a
10758purchaser. The more attentively Kitty watched her unknown friend, the
10759more convinced she was this girl was the perfect creature she fancied
10760her, and the more eagerly she wished to make her acquaintance.
10761
10762The two girls used to meet several times a day, and every time they met,
10763Kitty's eyes said: "Who are you? What are you? Are you really the
10764exquisite creature I imagine you to be? But for goodness' sake don't
10765suppose," her eyes added, "that I would force my acquaintance on you, I
10766simply admire you and like you." "I like you too, and you're very, very
10767sweet. And I should like you better still, if I had time," answered the
10768eyes of the unknown girl. Kitty saw indeed, that she was always busy.
10769Either she was taking the children of a Russian family home from the
10770springs, or fetching a shawl for a sick lady, and wrapping her up in it,
10771or trying to interest an irritable invalid, or selecting and buying
10772cakes for tea for someone.
10773
10774Soon after the arrival of the Shtcherbatskys there appeared in the
10775morning crowd at the springs two persons who attracted universal and
10776unfavorable attention. These were a tall man with a stooping figure, and
10777huge hands, in an old coat too short for him, with black, simple, and
10778yet terrible eyes, and a pockmarked, kind-looking woman, very badly and
10779tastelessly dressed. Recognizing these persons as Russians, Kitty had
10780already in her imagination begun constructing a delightful and touching
10781romance about them. But the princess, having ascertained from the
10782visitors' list that this was Nikolay Levin and Marya Nikolaevna,
10783explained to Kitty what a bad man this Levin was, and all her fancies
10784about these two people vanished. Not so much from what her mother told
10785her, as from the fact that it was Konstantin's brother, this pair
10786suddenly seemed to Kitty intensely unpleasant. This Levin, with his
10787continual twitching of his head, aroused in her now an irrepressible
10788feeling of disgust.
10789
10790It seemed to her that his big, terrible eyes, which persistently pursued
10791her, expressed a feeling of hatred and contempt, and she tried to avoid
10792meeting him.
10793
10794
10795
10796Chapter 31
10797
10798
10799It was a wet day; it had been raining all the morning, and the invalids,
10800with their parasols, had flocked into the arcades.
10801
10802Kitty was walking there with her mother and the Moscow colonel, smart
10803and jaunty in his European coat, bought ready-made at Frankfort. They
10804were walking on one side of the arcade, trying to avoid Levin, who was
10805walking on the other side. Varenka, in her dark dress, in a black hat
10806with a turn-down brim, was walking up and down the whole length of the
10807arcade with a blind Frenchwoman, and, every time she met Kitty, they
10808exchanged friendly glances.
10809
10810"Mamma, couldn't I speak to her?" said Kitty, watching her unknown
10811friend, and noticing that she was going up to the spring, and that they
10812might come there together.
10813
10814"Oh, if you want to so much, I'll find out about her first and make her
10815acquaintance myself," answered her mother. "What do you see in her out
10816of the way? A companion, she must be. If you like, I'll make
10817acquaintance with Madame Stahl; I used to know her _belle-soeur_," added
10818the princess, lifting her head haughtily.
10819
10820Kitty knew that the princess was offended that Madame Stahl had seemed
10821to avoid making her acquaintance. Kitty did not insist.
10822
10823"How wonderfully sweet she is!" she said, gazing at Varenka just as she
10824handed a glass to the Frenchwoman. "Look how natural and sweet it all
10825is."
10826
10827"It's so funny to see your _engouements_," said the princess. "No, we'd
10828better go back," she added, noticing Levin coming towards them with his
10829companion and a German doctor, to whom he was talking very noisily and
10830angrily.
10831
10832They turned to go back, when suddenly they heard, not noisy talk, but
10833shouting. Levin, stopping short, was shouting at the doctor, and the
10834doctor, too, was excited. A crowd gathered about them. The princess and
10835Kitty beat a hasty retreat, while the colonel joined the crowd to find
10836out what was the matter.
10837
10838A few minutes later the colonel overtook them.
10839
10840"What was it?" inquired the princess.
10841
10842"Scandalous and disgraceful!" answered the colonel. "The one thing to be
10843dreaded is meeting Russians abroad. That tall gentleman was abusing the
10844doctor, flinging all sorts of insults at him because he wasn't treating
10845him quite as he liked, and he began waving his stick at him. It's simply
10846a scandal!"
10847
10848"Oh, how unpleasant!" said the princess. "Well, and how did it end?"
10849
10850"Luckily at that point that ... the one in the mushroom hat ...
10851intervened. A Russian lady, I think she is," said the colonel.
10852
10853"Mademoiselle Varenka?" asked Kitty.
10854
10855"Yes, yes. She came to the rescue before anyone; she took the man by the
10856arm and led him away."
10857
10858"There, mamma," said Kitty; "you wonder that I'm enthusiastic about
10859her."
10860
10861The next day, as she watched her unknown friend, Kitty noticed that
10862Mademoiselle Varenka was already on the same terms with Levin and his
10863companion as with her other _proteges_. She went up to them, entered
10864into conversation with them, and served as interpreter for the woman,
10865who could not speak any foreign language.
10866
10867Kitty began to entreat her mother still more urgently to let her make
10868friends with Varenka. And, disagreeable as it was to the princess to
10869seem to take the first step in wishing to make the acquaintance of
10870Madame Stahl, who thought fit to give herself airs, she made inquiries
10871about Varenka, and, having ascertained particulars about her tending to
10872prove that there could be no harm though little good in the
10873acquaintance, she herself approached Varenka and made acquaintance with
10874her.
10875
10876Choosing a time when her daughter had gone to the spring, while Varenka
10877had stopped outside the baker's, the princess went up to her.
10878
10879"Allow me to make your acquaintance," she said, with her dignified
10880smile. "My daughter has lost her heart to you," she said. "Possibly you
10881do not know me. I am..."
10882
10883"That feeling is more than reciprocal, princess," Varenka answered
10884hurriedly.
10885
10886"What a good deed you did yesterday to our poor compatriot!" said the
10887princess.
10888
10889Varenka flushed a little. "I don't remember. I don't think I did
10890anything," she said.
10891
10892"Why, you saved that Levin from disagreeable consequences."
10893
10894"Yes, _sa compagne_ called me, and I tried to pacify him, he's very ill,
10895and was dissatisfied with the doctor. I'm used to looking after such
10896invalids."
10897
10898"Yes, I've heard you live at Mentone with your aunt--I think--Madame
10899Stahl: I used to know her _belle-soeur_."
10900
10901"No, she's not my aunt. I call her mamma, but I am not related to her; I
10902was brought up by her," answered Varenka, flushing a little again.
10903
10904This was so simply said, and so sweet was the truthful and candid
10905expression of her face, that the princess saw why Kitty had taken such a
10906fancy to Varenka.
10907
10908"Well, and what's this Levin going to do?" asked the princess.
10909
10910"He's going away," answered Varenka.
10911
10912At that instant Kitty came up from the spring beaming with delight that
10913her mother had become acquainted with her unknown friend.
10914
10915"Well, see, Kitty, your intense desire to make friends with
10916Mademoiselle. . ."
10917
10918"Varenka," Varenka put in smiling, "that's what everyone calls me."
10919
10920Kitty blushed with pleasure, and slowly, without speaking, pressed her
10921new friend's hand, which did not respond to her pressure, but lay
10922motionless in her hand. The hand did not respond to her pressure, but
10923the face of Mademoiselle Varenka glowed with a soft, glad, though rather
10924mournful smile, that showed large but handsome teeth.
10925
10926"I have long wished for this too," she said.
10927
10928"But you are so busy."
10929
10930"Oh, no, I'm not at all busy," answered Varenka, but at that moment she
10931had to leave her new friends because two little Russian girls, children
10932of an invalid, ran up to her.
10933
10934"Varenka, mamma's calling!" they cried.
10935
10936And Varenka went after them.
10937
10938
10939
10940Chapter 32
10941
10942
10943The particulars which the princess had learned in regard to Varenka's
10944past and her relations with Madame Stahl were as follows:
10945
10946Madame Stahl, of whom some people said that she had worried her husband
10947out of his life, while others said it was he who had made her wretched
10948by his immoral behavior, had always been a woman of weak health and
10949enthusiastic temperament. When, after her separation from her husband,
10950she gave birth to her only child, the child had died almost immediately,
10951and the family of Madame Stahl, knowing her sensibility, and fearing the
10952news would kill her, had substituted another child, a baby born the same
10953night and in the same house in Petersburg, the daughter of the chief
10954cook of the Imperial Household. This was Varenka. Madame Stahl learned
10955later on that Varenka was not her own child, but she went on bringing
10956her up, especially as very soon afterwards Varenka had not a relation of
10957her own living. Madame Stahl had now been living more than ten years
10958continuously abroad, in the south, never leaving her couch. And some
10959people said that Madame Stahl had made her social position as a
10960philanthropic, highly religious woman; other people said she really was
10961at heart the highly ethical being, living for nothing but the good of
10962her fellow creatures, which she represented herself to be. No one knew
10963what her faith was--Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox. But one fact was
10964indubitable--she was in amicable relations with the highest dignitaries
10965of all the churches and sects.
10966
10967Varenka lived with her all the while abroad, and everyone who knew
10968Madame Stahl knew and liked Mademoiselle Varenka, as everyone called
10969her.
10970
10971Having learned all these facts, the princess found nothing to object to
10972in her daughter's intimacy with Varenka, more especially as Varenka's
10973breeding and education were of the best--she spoke French and English
10974extremely well--and what was of the most weight, brought a message from
10975Madame Stahl expressing her regret that she was prevented by her ill
10976health from making the acquaintance of the princess.
10977
10978After getting to know Varenka, Kitty became more and more fascinated by
10979her friend, and every day she discovered new virtues in her.
10980
10981The princess, hearing that Varenka had a good voice, asked her to come
10982and sing to them in the evening.
10983
10984"Kitty plays, and we have a piano; not a good one, it's true, but you
10985will give us so much pleasure," said the princess with her affected
10986smile, which Kitty disliked particularly just then, because she noticed
10987that Varenka had no inclination to sing. Varenka came, however, in the
10988evening and brought a roll of music with her. The princess had invited
10989Marya Yevgenyevna and her daughter and the colonel.
10990
10991Varenka seemed quite unaffected by there being persons present she did
10992not know, and she went directly to the piano. She could not accompany
10993herself, but she could sing music at sight very well. Kitty, who played
10994well, accompanied her.
10995
10996"You have an extraordinary talent," the princess said to her after
10997Varenka had sung the first song extremely well.
10998
10999Marya Yevgenyevna and her daughter expressed their thanks and
11000admiration.
11001
11002"Look," said the colonel, looking out of the window, "what an audience
11003has collected to listen to you." There actually was quite a considerable
11004crowd under the windows.
11005
11006"I am very glad it gives you pleasure," Varenka answered simply.
11007
11008Kitty looked with pride at her friend. She was enchanted by her talent,
11009and her voice, and her face, but most of all by her manner, by the way
11010Varenka obviously thought nothing of her singing and was quite unmoved
11011by their praises. She seemed only to be asking: "Am I to sing again, or
11012is that enough?"
11013
11014"If it had been I," thought Kitty, "how proud I should have been! How
11015delighted I should have been to see that crowd under the windows! But
11016she's utterly unmoved by it. Her only motive is to avoid refusing and to
11017please mamma. What is there in her? What is it gives her the power to
11018look down on everything, to be calm independently of everything? How I
11019should like to know it and to learn it of her!" thought Kitty, gazing
11020into her serene face. The princess asked Varenka to sing again, and
11021Varenka sang another song, also smoothly, distinctly, and well, standing
11022erect at the piano and beating time on it with her thin, dark-skinned
11023hand.
11024
11025The next song in the book was an Italian one. Kitty played the opening
11026bars, and looked round at Varenka.
11027
11028"Let's skip that," said Varenka, flushing a little. Kitty let her eyes
11029rest on Varenka's face, with a look of dismay and inquiry.
11030
11031"Very well, the next one," she said hurriedly, turning over the pages,
11032and at once feeling that there was something connected with the song.
11033
11034"No," answered Varenka with a smile, laying her hand on the music, "no,
11035let's have that one." And she sang it just as quietly, as coolly, and as
11036well as the others.
11037
11038When she had finished, they all thanked her again, and went off to tea.
11039Kitty and Varenka went out into the little garden that adjoined the
11040house.
11041
11042"Am I right, that you have some reminiscences connected with that song?"
11043said Kitty. "Don't tell me," she added hastily, "only say if I'm right."
11044
11045"No, why not? I'll tell you simply," said Varenka, and, without waiting
11046for a reply, she went on: "Yes, it brings up memories, once painful
11047ones. I cared for someone once, and I used to sing him that song."
11048
11049Kitty with big, wide-open eyes gazed silently, sympathetically at
11050Varenka.
11051
11052"I cared for him, and he cared for me; but his mother did not wish it,
11053and he married another girl. He's living now not far from us, and I see
11054him sometimes. You didn't think I had a love story too," she said, and
11055there was a faint gleam in her handsome face of that fire which Kitty
11056felt must once have glowed all over her.
11057
11058"I didn't think so? Why, if I were a man, I could never care for anyone
11059else after knowing you. Only I can't understand how he could, to please
11060his mother, forget you and make you unhappy; he had no heart."
11061
11062"Oh, no, he's a very good man, and I'm not unhappy; quite the contrary,
11063I'm very happy. Well, so we shan't be singing any more now," she added,
11064turning towards the house.
11065
11066"How good you are! how good you are!" cried Kitty, and stopping her, she
11067kissed her. "If I could only be even a little like you!"
11068
11069"Why should you be like anyone? You're nice as you are," said Varenka,
11070smiling her gentle, weary smile.
11071
11072"No, I'm not nice at all. Come, tell me.... Stop a minute, let's sit
11073down," said Kitty, making her sit down again beside her. "Tell me, isn't
11074it humiliating to think that a man has disdained your love, that he
11075hasn't cared for it?..."
11076
11077"But he didn't disdain it; I believe he cared for me, but he was a
11078dutiful son..."
11079
11080"Yes, but if it hadn't been on account of his mother, if it had been his
11081own doing?..." said Kitty, feeling she was giving away her secret, and
11082that her face, burning with the flush of shame, had betrayed her
11083already.
11084
11085"In that case he would have done wrong, and I should not have regretted
11086him," answered Varenka, evidently realizing that they were now talking
11087not of her, but of Kitty.
11088
11089"But the humiliation," said Kitty, "the humiliation one can never
11090forget, can never forget," she said, remembering her look at the last
11091ball during the pause in the music.
11092
11093"Where is the humiliation? Why, you did nothing wrong?"
11094
11095"Worse than wrong--shameful."
11096
11097Varenka shook her head and laid her hand on Kitty's hand.
11098
11099"Why, what is there shameful?" she said. "You didn't tell a man, who
11100didn't care for you, that you loved him, did you?"
11101
11102"Of course not; I never said a word, but he knew it. No, no, there are
11103looks, there are ways; I can't forget it, if I live a hundred years."
11104
11105"Why so? I don't understand. The whole point is whether you love him now
11106or not," said Varenka, who called everything by its name.
11107
11108"I hate him; I can't forgive myself."
11109
11110"Why, what for?"
11111
11112"The shame, the humiliation!"
11113
11114"Oh! if everyone were as sensitive as you are!" said Varenka. "There
11115isn't a girl who hasn't been through the same. And it's all so
11116unimportant."
11117
11118"Why, what is important?" said Kitty, looking into her face with
11119inquisitive wonder.
11120
11121"Oh, there's so much that's important," said Varenka, smiling.
11122
11123"Why, what?"
11124
11125"Oh, so much that's more important," answered Varenka, not knowing what
11126to say. But at that instant they heard the princess's voice from the
11127window. "Kitty, it's cold! Either get a shawl, or come indoors."
11128
11129"It really is time to go in!" said Varenka, getting up. "I have to go on
11130to Madame Berthe's; she asked me to."
11131
11132Kitty held her by the hand, and with passionate curiosity and entreaty
11133her eyes asked her: "What is it, what is this of such importance that
11134gives you such tranquillity? You know, tell me!" But Varenka did not
11135even know what Kitty's eyes were asking her. She merely thought that she
11136had to go to see Madame Berthe too that evening, and to make haste home
11137in time for _maman's_ tea at twelve o'clock. She went indoors, collected
11138her music, and saying good-bye to everyone, was about to go.
11139
11140"Allow me to see you home," said the colonel.
11141
11142"Yes, how can you go alone at night like this?" chimed in the princess.
11143"Anyway, I'll send Parasha."
11144
11145Kitty saw that Varenka could hardly restrain a smile at the idea that
11146she needed an escort.
11147
11148"No, I always go about alone and nothing ever happens to me," she said,
11149taking her hat. And kissing Kitty once more, without saying what was
11150important, she stepped out courageously with the music under her arm and
11151vanished into the twilight of the summer night, bearing away with her
11152her secret of what was important and what gave her the calm and dignity
11153so much to be envied.
11154
11155
11156
11157Chapter 33
11158
11159
11160Kitty made the acquaintance of Madame Stahl too, and this acquaintance,
11161together with her friendship with Varenka, did not merely exercise a
11162great influence on her, it also comforted her in her mental distress.
11163She found this comfort through a completely new world being opened to
11164her by means of this acquaintance, a world having nothing in common with
11165her past, an exalted, noble world, from the height of which she could
11166contemplate her past calmly. It was revealed to her that besides the
11167instinctive life to which Kitty had given herself up hitherto there was
11168a spiritual life. This life was disclosed in religion, but a religion
11169having nothing in common with that one which Kitty had known from
11170childhood, and which found expression in litanies and all-night services
11171at the Widow's Home, where one might meet one's friends, and in learning
11172by heart Slavonic texts with the priest. This was a lofty, mysterious
11173religion connected with a whole series of noble thoughts and feelings,
11174which one could do more than merely believe because one was told to,
11175which one could love.
11176
11177Kitty found all this out not from words. Madame Stahl talked to Kitty as
11178to a charming child that one looks on with pleasure as on the memory of
11179one's youth, and only once she said in passing that in all human sorrows
11180nothing gives comfort but love and faith, and that in the sight of
11181Christ's compassion for us no sorrow is trifling--and immediately talked
11182of other things. But in every gesture of Madame Stahl, in every word, in
11183every heavenly--as Kitty called it--look, and above all in the whole
11184story of her life, which she heard from Varenka, Kitty recognized that
11185something "that was important," of which, till then, she had known
11186nothing.
11187
11188Yet, elevated as Madame Stahl's character was, touching as was her
11189story, and exalted and moving as was her speech, Kitty could not help
11190detecting in her some traits which perplexed her. She noticed that when
11191questioning her about her family, Madame Stahl had smiled
11192contemptuously, which was not in accord with Christian meekness. She
11193noticed, too, that when she had found a Catholic priest with her, Madame
11194Stahl had studiously kept her face in the shadow of the lamp-shade and
11195had smiled in a peculiar way. Trivial as these two observations were,
11196they perplexed her, and she had her doubts as to Madame Stahl. But on
11197the other hand Varenka, alone in the world, without friends or
11198relations, with a melancholy disappointment in the past, desiring
11199nothing, regretting nothing, was just that perfection of which Kitty
11200dared hardly dream. In Varenka she realized that one has but to forget
11201oneself and love others, and one will be calm, happy, and noble. And
11202that was what Kitty longed to be. Seeing now clearly what was _the most
11203important_, Kitty was not satisfied with being enthusiastic over it; she
11204at once gave herself up with her whole soul to the new life that was
11205opening to her. From Varenka's accounts of the doings of Madame Stahl
11206and other people whom she mentioned, Kitty had already constructed the
11207plan of her own future life. She would, like Madame Stahl's niece,
11208Aline, of whom Varenka had talked to her a great deal, seek out those
11209who were in trouble, wherever she might be living, help them as far as
11210she could, give them the Gospel, read the Gospel to the sick, to
11211criminals, to the dying. The idea of reading the Gospel to criminals, as
11212Aline did, particularly fascinated Kitty. But all these were secret
11213dreams, of which Kitty did not talk either to her mother or to Varenka.
11214
11215While awaiting the time for carrying out her plans on a large scale,
11216however, Kitty, even then at the springs, where there were so many
11217people ill and unhappy, readily found a chance for practicing her new
11218principles in imitation of Varenka.
11219
11220At first the princess noticed nothing but that Kitty was much under the
11221influence of her _engouement_, as she called it, for Madame Stahl, and
11222still more for Varenka. She saw that Kitty did not merely imitate
11223Varenka in her conduct, but unconsciously imitated her in her manner of
11224walking, of talking, of blinking her eyes. But later on the princess
11225noticed that, apart from this adoration, some kind of serious spiritual
11226change was taking place in her daughter.
11227
11228The princess saw that in the evenings Kitty read a French testament that
11229Madame Stahl had given her--a thing she had never done before; that she
11230avoided society acquaintances and associated with the sick people who
11231were under Varenka's protection, and especially one poor family, that of
11232a sick painter, Petrov. Kitty was unmistakably proud of playing the part
11233of a sister of mercy in that family. All this was well enough, and the
11234princess had nothing to say against it, especially as Petrov's wife was
11235a perfectly nice sort of woman, and that the German princess, noticing
11236Kitty's devotion, praised her, calling her an angel of consolation. All
11237this would have been very well, if there had been no exaggeration. But
11238the princess saw that her daughter was rushing into extremes, and so
11239indeed she told her.
11240
11241"_Il ne faut jamais rien outrer_," she said to her.
11242
11243Her daughter made her no reply, only in her heart she thought that one
11244could not talk about exaggeration where Christianity was concerned. What
11245exaggeration could there be in the practice of a doctrine wherein one
11246was bidden to turn the other cheek when one was smitten, and give one's
11247cloak if one's coat were taken? But the princess disliked this
11248exaggeration, and disliked even more the fact that she felt her daughter
11249did not care to show her all her heart. Kitty did in fact conceal her
11250new views and feelings from her mother. She concealed them not because
11251she did not respect or did not love her mother, but simply because she
11252was her mother. She would have revealed them to anyone sooner than to
11253her mother.
11254
11255"How is it Anna Pavlovna's not been to see us for so long?" the princess
11256said one day of Madame Petrova. "I've asked her, but she seems put out
11257about something."
11258
11259"No, I've not noticed it, maman," said Kitty, flushing hotly.
11260
11261"Is it long since you went to see them?"
11262
11263"We're meaning to make an expedition to the mountains tomorrow,"
11264answered Kitty.
11265
11266"Well, you can go," answered the princess, gazing at her daughter's
11267embarrassed face and trying to guess the cause of her embarrassment.
11268
11269That day Varenka came to dinner and told them that Anna Pavlovna had
11270changed her mind and given up the expedition for the morrow. And the
11271princess noticed again that Kitty reddened.
11272
11273"Kitty, haven't you had some misunderstanding with the Petrovs?" said
11274the princess, when they were left alone. "Why has she given up sending
11275the children and coming to see us?"
11276
11277Kitty answered that nothing had happened between them, and that she
11278could not tell why Anna Pavlovna seemed displeased with her. Kitty
11279answered perfectly truly. She did not know the reason Anna Pavlovna had
11280changed to her, but she guessed it. She guessed at something which she
11281could not tell her mother, which she did not put into words to herself.
11282It was one of those things which one knows but which one can never speak
11283of even to oneself, so terrible and shameful would it be to be mistaken.
11284
11285Again and again she went over in her memory all her relations with the
11286family. She remembered the simple delight expressed on the round,
11287good-humored face of Anna Pavlovna at their meetings; she remembered
11288their secret confabulations about the invalid, their plots to draw him
11289away from the work which was forbidden him, and to get him out-of-doors;
11290the devotion of the youngest boy, who used to call her "my Kitty," and
11291would not go to bed without her. How nice it all was! Then she recalled
11292the thin, terribly thin figure of Petrov, with his long neck, in his
11293brown coat, his scant, curly hair, his questioning blue eyes that were
11294so terrible to Kitty at first, and his painful attempts to seem hearty
11295and lively in her presence. She recalled the efforts she had made at
11296first to overcome the repugnance she felt for him, as for all
11297consumptive people, and the pains it had cost her to think of things to
11298say to him. She recalled the timid, softened look with which he gazed at
11299her, and the strange feeling of compassion and awkwardness, and later of
11300a sense of her own goodness, which she had felt at it. How nice it all
11301was! But all that was at first. Now, a few days ago, everything was
11302suddenly spoiled. Anna Pavlovna had met Kitty with affected cordiality,
11303and had kept continual watch on her and on her husband.
11304
11305Could that touching pleasure he showed when she came near be the cause
11306of Anna Pavlovna's coolness?
11307
11308"Yes," she mused, "there was something unnatural about Anna Pavlovna,
11309and utterly unlike her good nature, when she said angrily the day before
11310yesterday: 'There, he will keep waiting for you; he wouldn't drink his
11311coffee without you, though he's grown so dreadfully weak.'"
11312
11313"Yes, perhaps, too, she didn't like it when I gave him the rug. It was
11314all so simple, but he took it so awkwardly, and was so long thanking me,
11315that I felt awkward too. And then that portrait of me he did so well.
11316And most of all that look of confusion and tenderness! Yes, yes, that's
11317it!" Kitty repeated to herself with horror. "No, it can't be, it
11318oughtn't to be! He's so much to be pitied!" she said to herself directly
11319after.
11320
11321This doubt poisoned the charm of her new life.
11322
11323
11324
11325Chapter 34
11326
11327
11328Before the end of the course of drinking the waters, Prince
11329Shtcherbatsky, who had gone on from Carlsbad to Baden and Kissingen to
11330Russian friends--to get a breath of Russian air, as he said--came back
11331to his wife and daughter.
11332
11333The views of the prince and of the princess on life abroad were
11334completely opposed. The princess thought everything delightful, and in
11335spite of her established position in Russian society, she tried abroad
11336to be like a European fashionable lady, which she was not--for the
11337simple reason that she was a typical Russian gentlewoman; and so she was
11338affected, which did not altogether suit her. The prince, on the
11339contrary, thought everything foreign detestable, got sick of European
11340life, kept to his Russian habits, and purposely tried to show himself
11341abroad less European than he was in reality.
11342
11343The prince returned thinner, with the skin hanging in loose bags on his
11344cheeks, but in the most cheerful frame of mind. His good humor was even
11345greater when he saw Kitty completely recovered. The news of Kitty's
11346friendship with Madame Stahl and Varenka, and the reports the princess
11347gave him of some kind of change she had noticed in Kitty, troubled the
11348prince and aroused his habitual feeling of jealousy of everything that
11349drew his daughter away from him, and a dread that his daughter might
11350have got out of the reach of his influence into regions inaccessible to
11351him. But these unpleasant matters were all drowned in the sea of
11352kindliness and good humor which was always within him, and more so than
11353ever since his course of Carlsbad waters.
11354
11355The day after his arrival the prince, in his long overcoat, with his
11356Russian wrinkles and baggy cheeks propped up by a starched collar, set
11357off with his daughter to the spring in the greatest good humor.
11358
11359It was a lovely morning: the bright, cheerful houses with their little
11360gardens, the sight of the red-faced, red-armed, beer-drinking German
11361waitresses, working away merrily, did the heart good. But the nearer
11362they got to the springs the oftener they met sick people; and their
11363appearance seemed more pitiable than ever among the everyday conditions
11364of prosperous German life. Kitty was no longer struck by this contrast.
11365The bright sun, the brilliant green of the foliage, the strains of the
11366music were for her the natural setting of all these familiar faces, with
11367their changes to greater emaciation or to convalescence, for which she
11368watched. But to the prince the brightness and gaiety of the June
11369morning, and the sound of the orchestra playing a gay waltz then in
11370fashion, and above all, the appearance of the healthy attendants, seemed
11371something unseemly and monstrous, in conjunction with these slowly
11372moving, dying figures gathered together from all parts of Europe. In
11373spite of his feeling of pride and, as it were, of the return of youth,
11374with his favorite daughter on his arm, he felt awkward, and almost
11375ashamed of his vigorous step and his sturdy, stout limbs. He felt almost
11376like a man not dressed in a crowd.
11377
11378"Present me to your new friends," he said to his daughter, squeezing her
11379hand with his elbow. "I like even your horrid Soden for making you so
11380well again. Only it's melancholy, very melancholy here. Who's that?"
11381
11382Kitty mentioned the names of all the people they met, with some of whom
11383she was acquainted and some not. At the entrance of the garden they met
11384the blind lady, Madame Berthe, with her guide, and the prince was
11385delighted to see the old Frenchwoman's face light up when she heard
11386Kitty's voice. She at once began talking to him with French exaggerated
11387politeness, applauding him for having such a delightful daughter,
11388extolling Kitty to the skies before her face, and calling her a
11389treasure, a pearl, and a consoling angel.
11390
11391"Well, she's the second angel, then," said the prince, smiling. "she
11392calls Mademoiselle Varenka angel number one."
11393
11394"Oh! Mademoiselle Varenka, she's a real angel, allez," Madame Berthe
11395assented.
11396
11397In the arcade they met Varenka herself. She was walking rapidly towards
11398them carrying an elegant red bag.
11399
11400"Here is papa come," Kitty said to her.
11401
11402Varenka made--simply and naturally as she did everything--a movement
11403between a bow and a curtsey, and immediately began talking to the
11404prince, without shyness, naturally, as she talked to everyone.
11405
11406"Of course I know you; I know you very well," the prince said to her
11407with a smile, in which Kitty detected with joy that her father liked her
11408friend. "Where are you off to in such haste?"
11409
11410"Maman's here," she said, turning to Kitty. "She has not slept all
11411night, and the doctor advised her to go out. I'm taking her her work."
11412
11413"So that's angel number one?" said the prince when Varenka had gone on.
11414
11415Kitty saw that her father had meant to make fun of Varenka, but that he
11416could not do it because he liked her.
11417
11418"Come, so we shall see all your friends," he went on, "even Madame
11419Stahl, if she deigns to recognize me."
11420
11421"Why, did you know her, papa?" Kitty asked apprehensively, catching the
11422gleam of irony that kindled in the prince's eyes at the mention of
11423Madame Stahl.
11424
11425"I used to know her husband, and her too a little, before she'd joined
11426the Pietists."
11427
11428"What is a Pietist, papa?" asked Kitty, dismayed to find that what she
11429prized so highly in Madame Stahl had a name.
11430
11431"I don't quite know myself. I only know that she thanks God for
11432everything, for every misfortune, and thanks God too that her husband
11433died. And that's rather droll, as they didn't get on together."
11434
11435"Who's that? What a piteous face!" he asked, noticing a sick man of
11436medium height sitting on a bench, wearing a brown overcoat and white
11437trousers that fell in strange folds about his long, fleshless legs. This
11438man lifted his straw hat, showed his scanty curly hair and high
11439forehead, painfully reddened by the pressure of the hat.
11440
11441"That's Petrov, an artist," answered Kitty, blushing. "And that's his
11442wife," she added, indicating Anna Pavlovna, who, as though on purpose,
11443at the very instant they approached walked away after a child that had
11444run off along a path.
11445
11446"Poor fellow! and what a nice face he has!" said the prince. "Why don't
11447you go up to him? He wanted to speak to you."
11448
11449"Well, let us go, then," said Kitty, turning round resolutely. "How are
11450you feeling today?" she asked Petrov.
11451
11452Petrov got up, leaning on his stick, and looked shyly at the prince.
11453
11454"This is my daughter," said the prince. "Let me introduce myself."
11455
11456The painter bowed and smiled, showing his strangely dazzling white
11457teeth.
11458
11459"We expected you yesterday, princess," he said to Kitty. He staggered as
11460he said this, and then repeated the motion, trying to make it seem as if
11461it had been intentional.
11462
11463"I meant to come, but Varenka said that Anna Pavlovna sent word you were
11464not going."
11465
11466"Not going!" said Petrov, blushing, and immediately beginning to cough,
11467and his eyes sought his wife. "Anita! Anita!" he said loudly, and the
11468swollen veins stood out like cords on his thin white neck.
11469
11470Anna Pavlovna came up.
11471
11472"So you sent word to the princess that we weren't going!" he whispered
11473to her angrily, losing his voice.
11474
11475"Good morning, princess," said Anna Pavlovna, with an assumed smile
11476utterly unlike her former manner. "Very glad to make your acquaintance,"
11477she said to the prince. "You've long been expected, prince."
11478
11479"What did you send word to the princess that we weren't going for?" the
11480artist whispered hoarsely once more, still more angrily, obviously
11481exasperated that his voice failed him so that he could not give his
11482words the expression he would have liked to.
11483
11484"Oh, mercy on us! I thought we weren't going," his wife answered
11485crossly.
11486
11487"What, when...." He coughed and waved his hand. The prince took off his
11488hat and moved away with his daughter.
11489
11490"Ah! ah!" he sighed deeply. "Oh, poor things!"
11491
11492"Yes, papa," answered Kitty. "And you must know they've three children,
11493no servant, and scarcely any means. He gets something from the Academy,"
11494she went on briskly, trying to drown the distress that the queer change
11495in Anna Pavlovna's manner to her had aroused in her.
11496
11497"Oh, here's Madame Stahl," said Kitty, indicating an invalid carriage,
11498where, propped on pillows, something in gray and blue was lying under a
11499sunshade. This was Madame Stahl. Behind her stood the gloomy,
11500healthy-looking German workman who pushed the carriage. Close by was
11501standing a flaxen-headed Swedish count, whom Kitty knew by name. Several
11502invalids were lingering near the low carriage, staring at the lady as
11503though she were some curiosity.
11504
11505The prince went up to her, and Kitty detected that disconcerting gleam
11506of irony in his eyes. He went up to Madame Stahl, and addressed her with
11507extreme courtesy and affability in that excellent French that so few
11508speak nowadays.
11509
11510"I don't know if you remember me, but I must recall myself to thank you
11511for your kindness to my daughter," he said, taking off his hat and not
11512putting it on again.
11513
11514"Prince Alexander Shtcherbatsky," said Madame Stahl, lifting upon him
11515her heavenly eyes, in which Kitty discerned a look of annoyance.
11516"Delighted! I have taken a great fancy to your daughter."
11517
11518"You are still in weak health?"
11519
11520"Yes; I'm used to it," said Madame Stahl, and she introduced the prince
11521to the Swedish count.
11522
11523"You are scarcely changed at all," the prince said to her. "It's ten or
11524eleven years since I had the honor of seeing you."
11525
11526"Yes; God sends the cross and sends the strength to bear it. Often one
11527wonders what is the goal of this life?... The other side!" she said
11528angrily to Varenka, who had rearranged the rug over her feet not to her
11529satisfaction.
11530
11531"To do good, probably," said the prince with a twinkle in his eye.
11532
11533"That is not for us to judge," said Madame Stahl, perceiving the shade
11534of expression on the prince's face. "So you will send me that book, dear
11535count? I'm very grateful to you," she said to the young Swede.
11536
11537"Ah!" cried the prince, catching sight of the Moscow colonel standing
11538near, and with a bow to Madame Stahl he walked away with his daughter
11539and the Moscow colonel, who joined them.
11540
11541"That's our aristocracy, prince!" the Moscow colonel said with ironical
11542intention. He cherished a grudge against Madame Stahl for not making his
11543acquaintance.
11544
11545"She's just the same," replied the prince.
11546
11547"Did you know her before her illness, prince--that's to say before she
11548took to her bed?"
11549
11550"Yes. She took to her bed before my eyes," said the prince.
11551
11552"They say it's ten years since she has stood on her feet."
11553
11554"She doesn't stand up because her legs are too short. She's a very bad
11555figure."
11556
11557"Papa, it's not possible!" cried Kitty.
11558
11559"That's what wicked tongues say, my darling. And your Varenka catches it
11560too," he added. "Oh, these invalid ladies!"
11561
11562"Oh, no, papa!" Kitty objected warmly. "Varenka worships her. And then
11563she does so much good! Ask anyone! Everyone knows her and Aline Stahl."
11564
11565"Perhaps so," said the prince, squeezing her hand with his elbow; "but
11566it's better when one does good so that you may ask everyone and no one
11567knows."
11568
11569Kitty did not answer, not because she had nothing to say, but because
11570she did not care to reveal her secret thoughts even to her father. But,
11571strange to say, although she had so made up her mind not to be
11572influenced by her father's views, not to let him into her inmost
11573sanctuary, she felt that the heavenly image of Madame Stahl, which she
11574had carried for a whole month in her heart, had vanished, never to
11575return, just as the fantastic figure made up of some clothes thrown down
11576at random vanishes when one sees that it is only some garment lying
11577there. All that was left was a woman with short legs, who lay down
11578because she had a bad figure, and worried patient Varenka for not
11579arranging her rug to her liking. And by no effort of the imagination
11580could Kitty bring back the former Madame Stahl.
11581
11582
11583
11584Chapter 35
11585
11586
11587The prince communicated his good humor to his own family and his
11588friends, and even to the German landlord in whose rooms the
11589Shtcherbatskys were staying.
11590
11591On coming back with Kitty from the springs, the prince, who had asked
11592the colonel, and Marya Yevgenyevna, and Varenka all to come and have
11593coffee with them, gave orders for a table and chairs to be taken into
11594the garden under the chestnut tree, and lunch to be laid there. The
11595landlord and the servants, too, grew brisker under the influence of his
11596good spirits. They knew his open-handedness; and half an hour later the
11597invalid doctor from Hamburg, who lived on the top floor, looked
11598enviously out of the window at the merry party of healthy Russians
11599assembled under the chestnut tree. In the trembling circles of shadow
11600cast by the leaves, at a table, covered with a white cloth, and set with
11601coffeepot, bread-and-butter, cheese, and cold game, sat the princess in
11602a high cap with lilac ribbons, distributing cups and bread-and-butter.
11603At the other end sat the prince, eating heartily, and talking loudly and
11604merrily. The prince had spread out near him his purchases, carved boxes,
11605and knick-knacks, paper-knives of all sorts, of which he bought a heap
11606at every watering-place, and bestowed them upon everyone, including
11607Lieschen, the servant girl, and the landlord, with whom he jested in his
11608comically bad German, assuring him that it was not the water had cured
11609Kitty, but his splendid cookery, especially his plum soup. The princess
11610laughed at her husband for his Russian ways, but she was more lively and
11611good-humored than she had been all the while she had been at the waters.
11612The colonel smiled, as he always did, at the prince's jokes, but as far
11613as regards Europe, of which he believed himself to be making a careful
11614study, he took the princess's side. The simple-hearted Marya Yevgenyevna
11615simply roared with laughter at everything absurd the prince said, and
11616his jokes made Varenka helpless with feeble but infectious laughter,
11617which was something Kitty had never seen before.
11618
11619Kitty was glad of all this, but she could not be light-hearted. She
11620could not solve the problem her father had unconsciously set her by his
11621goodhumored view of her friends, and of the life that had so attracted
11622her. To this doubt there was joined the change in her relations with the
11623Petrovs, which had been so conspicuously and unpleasantly marked that
11624morning. Everyone was good humored, but Kitty could not feel good
11625humored, and this increased her distress. She felt a feeling such as she
11626had known in childhood, when she had been shut in her room as a
11627punishment, and had heard her sisters' merry laughter outside.
11628
11629"Well, but what did you buy this mass of things for?" said the princess,
11630smiling, and handing her husband a cup of coffee.
11631
11632"One goes for a walk, one looks in a shop, and they ask you to buy.
11633'_Erlaucht, Durchlaucht?_' Directly they say '_Durchlaucht_,' I can't
11634hold out. I lose ten thalers."
11635
11636"It's simply from boredom," said the princess.
11637
11638"Of course it is. Such boredom, my dear, that one doesn't know what to
11639do with oneself."
11640
11641"How can you be bored, prince? There's so much that's interesting now in
11642Germany," said Marya Yevgenyevna.
11643
11644"But I know everything that's interesting: the plum soup I know, and the
11645pea sausages I know. I know everything."
11646
11647"No, you may say what you like, prince, there's the interest of their
11648institutions," said the colonel.
11649
11650"But what is there interesting about it? They're all as pleased as brass
11651halfpence. They've conquered everybody, and why am I to be pleased at
11652that? I haven't conquered anyone; and I'm obliged to take off my own
11653boots, yes, and put them away too; in the morning, get up and dress at
11654once, and go to the dining room to drink bad tea! How different it is at
11655home! You get up in no haste, you get cross, grumble a little, and come
11656round again. You've time to think things over, and no hurry."
11657
11658"But time's money, you forget that," said the colonel.
11659
11660"Time, indeed, that depends! Why, there's time one would give a month of
11661for sixpence, and time you wouldn't give half an hour of for any money.
11662Isn't that so, Katinka? What is it? why are you so depressed?"
11663
11664"I'm not depressed."
11665
11666"Where are you off to? Stay a little longer," he said to Varenka.
11667
11668"I must be going home," said Varenka, getting up, and again she went off
11669into a giggle. When she had recovered, she said good-bye, and went into
11670the house to get her hat.
11671
11672Kitty followed her. Even Varenka struck her as different. She was not
11673worse, but different from what she had fancied her before.
11674
11675"Oh, dear! it's a long while since I've laughed so much!" said Varenka,
11676gathering up her parasol and her bag. "How nice he is, your father!"
11677
11678Kitty did not speak.
11679
11680"When shall I see you again?" asked Varenka.
11681
11682"Mamma meant to go and see the Petrovs. Won't you be there?" said Kitty,
11683to try Varenka.
11684
11685"Yes," answered Varenka. "They're getting ready to go away, so I
11686promised to help them pack."
11687
11688"Well, I'll come too, then."
11689
11690"No, why should you?"
11691
11692"Why not? why not? why not?" said Kitty, opening her eyes wide, and
11693clutching at Varenka's parasol, so as not to let her go. "No, wait a
11694minute; why not?"
11695
11696"Oh, nothing; your father has come, and besides, they will feel awkward
11697at your helping."
11698
11699"No, tell me why you don't want me to be often at the Petrovs'. You
11700don't want me to--why not?"
11701
11702"I didn't say that," said Varenka quietly.
11703
11704"No, please tell me!"
11705
11706"Tell you everything?" asked Varenka.
11707
11708"Everything, everything!" Kitty assented.
11709
11710"Well, there's really nothing of any consequence; only that Mihail
11711Alexeyevitch" (that was the artist's name) "had meant to leave earlier,
11712and now he doesn't want to go away," said Varenka, smiling.
11713
11714"Well, well!" Kitty urged impatiently, looking darkly at Varenka.
11715
11716"Well, and for some reason Anna Pavlovna told him that he didn't want to
11717go because you are here. Of course, that was nonsense; but there was a
11718dispute over it--over you. You know how irritable these sick people
11719are."
11720
11721Kitty, scowling more than ever, kept silent, and Varenka went on
11722speaking alone, trying to soften or soothe her, and seeing a storm
11723coming--she did not know whether of tears or of words.
11724
11725"So you'd better not go.... You understand; you won't be offended?..."
11726
11727"And it serves me right! And it serves me right!" Kitty cried quickly,
11728snatching the parasol out of Varenka's hand, and looking past her
11729friend's face.
11730
11731Varenka felt inclined to smile, looking at her childish fury, but she
11732was afraid of wounding her.
11733
11734"How does it serve you right? I don't understand," she said.
11735
11736"It serves me right, because it was all sham; because it was all done on
11737purpose, and not from the heart. What business had I to interfere with
11738outsiders? And so it's come about that I'm a cause of quarrel, and that
11739I've done what nobody asked me to do. Because it was all a sham! a sham!
11740a sham!..."
11741
11742"A sham! with what object?" said Varenka gently.
11743
11744"Oh, it's so idiotic! so hateful! There was no need whatever for me....
11745Nothing but sham!" she said, opening and shutting the parasol.
11746
11747"But with what object?"
11748
11749"To seem better to people, to myself, to God; to deceive everyone. No!
11750now I won't descend to that. I'll be bad; but anyway not a liar, a
11751cheat."
11752
11753"But who is a cheat?" said Varenka reproachfully. "You speak as if..."
11754
11755But Kitty was in one of her gusts of fury, and she would not let her
11756finish.
11757
11758"I don't talk about you, not about you at all. You're perfection. Yes,
11759yes, I know you're all perfection; but what am I to do if I'm bad? This
11760would never have been if I weren't bad. So let me be what I am. I won't
11761be a sham. What have I to do with Anna Pavlovna? Let them go their way,
11762and me go mine. I can't be different.... And yet it's not that, it's not
11763that."
11764
11765"What is not that?" asked Varenka in bewilderment.
11766
11767"Everything. I can't act except from the heart, and you act from
11768principle. I liked you simply, but you most likely only wanted to save
11769me, to improve me."
11770
11771"You are unjust," said Varenka.
11772
11773"But I'm not speaking of other people, I'm speaking of myself."
11774
11775"Kitty," they heard her mother's voice, "come here, show papa your
11776necklace."
11777
11778Kitty, with a haughty air, without making peace with her friend, took
11779the necklace in a little box from the table and went to her mother.
11780
11781"What's the matter? Why are you so red?" her mother and father said to
11782her with one voice.
11783
11784"Nothing," she answered. "I'll be back directly," and she ran back.
11785
11786"She's still here," she thought. "What am I to say to her? Oh, dear!
11787what have I done, what have I said? Why was I rude to her? What am I to
11788do? What am I to say to her?" thought Kitty, and she stopped in the
11789doorway.
11790
11791Varenka in her hat and with the parasol in her hands was sitting at the
11792table examining the spring which Kitty had broken. She lifted her head.
11793
11794"Varenka, forgive me, do forgive me," whispered Kitty, going up to her.
11795"I don't remember what I said. I..."
11796
11797"I really didn't mean to hurt you," said Varenka, smiling.
11798
11799Peace was made. But with her father's coming all the world in which she
11800had been living was transformed for Kitty. She did not give up
11801everything she had learned, but she became aware that she had deceived
11802herself in supposing she could be what she wanted to be. Her eyes were,
11803it seemed, opened; she felt all the difficulty of maintaining herself
11804without hypocrisy and self-conceit on the pinnacle to which she had
11805wished to mount. Moreover, she became aware of all the dreariness of the
11806world of sorrow, of sick and dying people, in which she had been living.
11807The efforts she had made to like it seemed to her intolerable, and she
11808felt a longing to get back quickly into the fresh air, to Russia, to
11809Ergushovo, where, as she knew from letters, her sister Dolly had already
11810gone with her children.
11811
11812But her affection for Varenka did not wane. As she said good-bye, Kitty
11813begged her to come to them in Russia.
11814
11815"I'll come when you get married," said Varenka.
11816
11817"I shall never marry."
11818
11819"Well, then, I shall never come."
11820
11821"Well, then, I shall be married simply for that. Mind now, remember your
11822promise," said Kitty.
11823
11824The doctor's prediction was fulfilled. Kitty returned home to Russia
11825cured. She was not so gay and thoughtless as before, but she was serene.
11826Her Moscow troubles had become a memory to her.
11827
11828
11829
11830
11831PART THREE
11832
11833
11834
11835Chapter 1
11836
11837
11838Sergey Ivanovitch Koznishev wanted a rest from mental work, and instead
11839of going abroad as he usually did, he came towards the end of May to
11840stay in the country with his brother. In his judgment the best sort of
11841life was a country life. He had come now to enjoy such a life at his
11842brother's. Konstantin Levin was very glad to have him, especially as he
11843did not expect his brother Nikolay that summer. But in spite of his
11844affection and respect for Sergey Ivanovitch, Konstantin Levin was
11845uncomfortable with his brother in the country. It made him
11846uncomfortable, and it positively annoyed him to see his brother's
11847attitude to the country. To Konstantin Levin the country was the
11848background of life, that is of pleasures, endeavors, labor. To Sergey
11849Ivanovitch the country meant on one hand rest from work, on the other a
11850valuable antidote to the corrupt influences of town, which he took with
11851satisfaction and a sense of its utility. To Konstantin Levin the country
11852was good first because it afforded a field for labor, of the usefulness
11853of which there could be no doubt. To Sergey Ivanovitch the country was
11854particularly good, because there it was possible and fitting to do
11855nothing. Moreover, Sergey Ivanovitch's attitude to the peasants rather
11856piqued Konstantin. Sergey Ivanovitch used to say that he knew and liked
11857the peasantry, and he often talked to the peasants, which he knew how to
11858do without affectation or condescension, and from every such
11859conversation he would deduce general conclusions in favor of the
11860peasantry and in confirmation of his knowing them. Konstantin Levin did
11861not like such an attitude to the peasants. To Konstantin the peasant was
11862simply the chief partner in their common labor, and in spite of all the
11863respect and the love, almost like that of kinship, he had for the
11864peasant--sucked in probably, as he said himself, with the milk of his
11865peasant nurse--still as a fellow-worker with him, while sometimes
11866enthusiastic over the vigor, gentleness, and justice of these men, he
11867was very often, when their common labors called for other qualities,
11868exasperated with the peasant for his carelessness, lack of method,
11869drunkenness, and lying. If he had been asked whether he liked or didn't
11870like the peasants, Konstantin Levin would have been absolutely at a loss
11871what to reply. He liked and did not like the peasants, just as he liked
11872and did not like men in general. Of course, being a good-hearted man, he
11873liked men rather than he disliked them, and so too with the peasants.
11874But like or dislike "the people" as something apart he could not, not
11875only because he lived with "the people," and all his interests were
11876bound up with theirs, but also because he regarded himself as a part of
11877"the people," did not see any special qualities or failings
11878distinguishing himself and "the people," and could not contrast himself
11879with them. Moreover, although he had lived so long in the closest
11880relations with the peasants, as farmer and arbitrator, and what was
11881more, as adviser (the peasants trusted him, and for thirty miles round
11882they would come to ask his advice), he had no definite views of "the
11883people," and would have been as much at a loss to answer the question
11884whether he knew "the people" as the question whether he liked them. For
11885him to say he knew the peasantry would have been the same as to say he
11886knew men. He was continually watching and getting to know people of all
11887sorts, and among them peasants, whom he regarded as good and interesting
11888people, and he was continually observing new points in them, altering
11889his former views of them and forming new ones. With Sergey Ivanovitch it
11890was quite the contrary. Just as he liked and praised a country life in
11891comparison with the life he did not like, so too he liked the peasantry
11892in contradistinction to the class of men he did not like, and so too he
11893knew the peasantry as something distinct from and opposed to men
11894generally. In his methodical brain there were distinctly formulated
11895certain aspects of peasant life, deduced partly from that life itself,
11896but chiefly from contrast with other modes of life. He never changed his
11897opinion of the peasantry and his sympathetic attitude towards them.
11898
11899In the discussions that arose between the brothers on their views of the
11900peasantry, Sergey Ivanovitch always got the better of his brother,
11901precisely because Sergey Ivanovitch had definite ideas about the
11902peasant--his character, his qualities, and his tastes. Konstantin Levin
11903had no definite and unalterable idea on the subject, and so in their
11904arguments Konstantin was readily convicted of contradicting himself.
11905
11906In Sergey Ivanovitch's eyes his younger brother was a capital fellow,
11907_with his heart in the right place_ (as he expressed it in French), but
11908with a mind which, though fairly quick, was too much influenced by the
11909impressions of the moment, and consequently filled with contradictions.
11910With all the condescension of an elder brother he sometimes explained to
11911him the true import of things, but he derived little satisfaction from
11912arguing with him because he got the better of him too easily.
11913
11914Konstantin Levin regarded his brother as a man of immense intellect and
11915culture, as generous in the highest sense of the word, and possessed of
11916a special faculty for working for the public good. But in the depths of
11917his heart, the older he became, and the more intimately he knew his
11918brother, the more and more frequently the thought struck him that this
11919faculty of working for the public good, of which he felt himself utterly
11920devoid, was possibly not so much a quality as a lack of something--not a
11921lack of good, honest, noble desires and tastes, but a lack of vital
11922force, of what is called heart, of that impulse which drives a man to
11923choose someone out of the innumerable paths of life, and to care only
11924for that one. The better he knew his brother, the more he noticed that
11925Sergey Ivanovitch, and many other people who worked for the public
11926welfare, were not led by an impulse of the heart to care for the public
11927good, but reasoned from intellectual considerations that it was a right
11928thing to take interest in public affairs, and consequently took interest
11929in them. Levin was confirmed in this generalization by observing that
11930his brother did not take questions affecting the public welfare or the
11931question of the immortality of the soul a bit more to heart than he did
11932chess problems, or the ingenious construction of a new machine.
11933
11934Besides this, Konstantin Levin was not at his ease with his brother,
11935because in summer in the country Levin was continually busy with work on
11936the land, and the long summer day was not long enough for him to get
11937through all he had to do, while Sergey Ivanovitch was taking a holiday.
11938But though he was taking a holiday now, that is to say, he was doing no
11939writing, he was so used to intellectual activity that he liked to put
11940into concise and eloquent shape the ideas that occurred to him, and
11941liked to have someone to listen to him. His most usual and natural
11942listener was his brother. And so in spite of the friendliness and
11943directness of their relations, Konstantin felt an awkwardness in leaving
11944him alone. Sergey Ivanovitch liked to stretch himself on the grass in
11945the sun, and to lie so, basking and chatting lazily.
11946
11947"You wouldn't believe," he would say to his brother, "what a pleasure
11948this rural laziness is to me. Not an idea in one's brain, as empty as a
11949drum!"
11950
11951But Konstantin Levin found it dull sitting and listening to him,
11952especially when he knew that while he was away they would be carting
11953dung onto the fields not ploughed ready for it, and heaping it all up
11954anyhow; and would not screw the shares in the ploughs, but would let
11955them come off and then say that the new ploughs were a silly invention,
11956and there was nothing like the old Andreevna plough, and so on.
11957
11958"Come, you've done enough trudging about in the heat," Sergey Ivanovitch
11959would say to him.
11960
11961"No, I must just run round to the counting-house for a minute," Levin
11962would answer, and he would run off to the fields.
11963
11964
11965
11966Chapter 2
11967
11968
11969Early in June it happened that Agafea Mihalovna, the old nurse and
11970housekeeper, in carrying to the cellar a jar of mushrooms she had just
11971pickled, slipped, fell, and sprained her wrist. The district doctor, a
11972talkative young medical student, who had just finished his studies, came
11973to see her. He examined the wrist, said it was not broken, was delighted
11974at a chance of talking to the celebrated Sergey Ivanovitch Koznishev,
11975and to show his advanced views of things told him all the scandal of the
11976district, complaining of the poor state into which the district council
11977had fallen. Sergey Ivanovitch listened attentively, asked him questions,
11978and, roused by a new listener, he talked fluently, uttered a few keen
11979and weighty observations, respectfully appreciated by the young doctor,
11980and was soon in that eager frame of mind his brother knew so well, which
11981always, with him, followed a brilliant and eager conversation. After the
11982departure of the doctor, he wanted to go with a fishing rod to the
11983river. Sergey Ivanovitch was fond of angling, and was, it seemed, proud
11984of being able to care for such a stupid occupation.
11985
11986Konstantin Levin, whose presence was needed in the plough land and
11987meadows, had come to take his brother in the trap.
11988
11989It was that time of the year, the turning-point of summer, when the
11990crops of the present year are a certainty, when one begins to think of
11991the sowing for next year, and the mowing is at hand; when the rye is all
11992in ear, though its ears are still light, not yet full, and it waves in
11993gray-green billows in the wind; when the green oats, with tufts of
11994yellow grass scattered here and there among it, droop irregularly over
11995the late-sown fields; when the early buckwheat is already out and hiding
11996the ground; when the fallow lands, trodden hard as stone by the cattle,
11997are half ploughed over, with paths left untouched by the plough; when
11998from the dry dung-heaps carted onto the fields there comes at sunset a
11999smell of manure mixed with meadow-sweet, and on the low-lying lands the
12000riverside meadows are a thick sea of grass waiting for the mowing, with
12001blackened heaps of the stalks of sorrel among it.
12002
12003It was the time when there comes a brief pause in the toil of the fields
12004before the beginning of the labors of harvest--every year recurring,
12005every year straining every nerve of the peasants. The crop was a
12006splendid one, and bright, hot summer days had set in with short, dewy
12007nights.
12008
12009The brothers had to drive through the woods to reach the meadows. Sergey
12010Ivanovitch was all the while admiring the beauty of the woods, which
12011were a tangled mass of leaves, pointing out to his brother now an old
12012lime tree on the point of flowering, dark on the shady side, and
12013brightly spotted with yellow stipules, now the young shoots of this
12014year's saplings brilliant with emerald. Konstantin Levin did not like
12015talking and hearing about the beauty of nature. Words for him took away
12016the beauty of what he saw. He assented to what his brother said, but he
12017could not help beginning to think of other things. When they came out of
12018the woods, all his attention was engrossed by the view of the fallow
12019land on the upland, in parts yellow with grass, in parts trampled and
12020checkered with furrows, in parts dotted with ridges of dung, and in
12021parts even ploughed. A string of carts was moving across it. Levin
12022counted the carts, and was pleased that all that were wanted had been
12023brought, and at the sight of the meadows his thoughts passed to the
12024mowing. He always felt something special moving him to the quick at the
12025hay-making. On reaching the meadow Levin stopped the horse.
12026
12027The morning dew was still lying on the thick undergrowth of the grass,
12028and that he might not get his feet wet, Sergey Ivanovitch asked his
12029brother to drive him in the trap up to the willow tree from which the
12030carp was caught. Sorry as Konstantin Levin was to crush down his mowing
12031grass, he drove him into the meadow. The high grass softly turned about
12032the wheels and the horse's legs, leaving its seeds clinging to the wet
12033axles and spokes of the wheels. His brother seated himself under a bush,
12034arranging his tackle, while Levin led the horse away, fastened him up,
12035and walked into the vast gray-green sea of grass unstirred by the wind.
12036The silky grass with its ripe seeds came almost to his waist in the
12037dampest spots.
12038
12039Crossing the meadow, Konstantin Levin came out onto the road, and met an
12040old man with a swollen eye, carrying a skep on his shoulder.
12041
12042"What? taken a stray swarm, Fomitch?" he asked.
12043
12044"No, indeed, Konstantin Dmitrich! All we can do to keep our own! This is
12045the second swarm that has flown away.... Luckily the lads caught them.
12046They were ploughing your field. They unyoked the horses and galloped
12047after them."
12048
12049"Well, what do you say, Fomitch--start mowing or wait a bit?"
12050
12051"Eh, well. Our way's to wait till St. Peter's Day. But you always mow
12052sooner. Well, to be sure, please God, the hay's good. There'll be plenty
12053for the beasts."
12054
12055"What do you think about the weather?"
12056
12057"That's in God's hands. Maybe it will be fine."
12058
12059Levin went up to his brother.
12060
12061Sergey Ivanovitch had caught nothing, but he was not bored, and seemed
12062in the most cheerful frame of mind. Levin saw that, stimulated by his
12063conversation with the doctor, he wanted to talk. Levin, on the other
12064hand, would have liked to get home as soon as possible to give orders
12065about getting together the mowers for next day, and to set at rest his
12066doubts about the mowing, which greatly absorbed him.
12067
12068"Well, let's be going," he said.
12069
12070"Why be in such a hurry? Let's stay a little. But how wet you are! Even
12071though one catches nothing, it's nice. That's the best thing about every
12072part of sport, that one has to do with nature. How exquisite this steely
12073water is!" said Sergey Ivanovitch. "These riverside banks always remind
12074me of the riddle--do you know it? 'The grass says to the water: we
12075quiver and we quiver.'"
12076
12077"I don't know the riddle," answered Levin wearily.
12078
12079
12080
12081Chapter 3
12082
12083
12084"Do you know, I've been thinking about you," said Sergey Ivanovitch.
12085"It's beyond everything what's being done in the district, according to
12086what this doctor tells me. He's a very intelligent fellow. And as I've
12087told you before, I tell you again: it's not right for you not to go to
12088the meetings, and altogether to keep out of the district business. If
12089decent people won't go into it, of course it's bound to go all wrong. We
12090pay the money, and it all goes in salaries, and there are no schools,
12091nor district nurses, nor midwives, nor drugstores--nothing."
12092
12093"Well, I did try, you know," Levin said slowly and unwillingly. "I
12094can't! and so there's no help for it."
12095
12096"But why can't you? I must own I can't make it out. Indifference,
12097incapacity--I won't admit; surely it's not simply laziness?"
12098
12099"None of those things. I've tried, and I see I can do nothing," said
12100Levin.
12101
12102He had hardly grasped what his brother was saying. Looking towards the
12103plough land across the river, he made out something black, but he could
12104not distinguish whether it was a horse or the bailiff on horseback.
12105
12106"Why is it you can do nothing? You made an attempt and didn't succeed,
12107as you think, and you give in. How can you have so little self-respect?"
12108
12109"Self-respect!" said Levin, stung to the quick by his brother's words;
12110"I don't understand. If they'd told me at college that other people
12111understood the integral calculus, and I didn't, then pride would have
12112come in. But in this case one wants first to be convinced that one has
12113certain qualifications for this sort of business, and especially that
12114all this business is of great importance."
12115
12116"What! do you mean to say it's not of importance?" said Sergey
12117Ivanovitch, stung to the quick too at his brother's considering anything
12118of no importance that interested him, and still more at his obviously
12119paying little attention to what he was saying.
12120
12121"I don't think it important; it does not take hold of me, I can't help
12122it," answered Levin, making out that what he saw was the bailiff, and
12123that the bailiff seemed to be letting the peasants go off the ploughed
12124land. They were turning the plough over. "Can they have finished
12125ploughing?" he wondered.
12126
12127"Come, really though," said the elder brother, with a frown on his
12128handsome, clever face, "there's a limit to everything. It's very well to
12129be original and genuine, and to dislike everything conventional--I know
12130all about that; but really, what you're saying either has no meaning, or
12131it has a very wrong meaning. How can you think it a matter of no
12132importance whether the peasant, whom you love as you assert..."
12133
12134"I never did assert it," thought Konstantin Levin.
12135
12136"... dies without help? The ignorant peasant-women starve the children,
12137and the people stagnate in darkness, and are helpless in the hands of
12138every village clerk, while you have at your disposal a means of helping
12139them, and don't help them because to your mind it's of no importance."
12140
12141And Sergey Ivanovitch put before him the alternative: either you are so
12142undeveloped that you can't see all that you can do, or you won't
12143sacrifice your ease, your vanity, or whatever it is, to do it.
12144
12145Konstantin Levin felt that there was no course open to him but to
12146submit, or to confess to a lack of zeal for the public good. And this
12147mortified him and hurt his feelings.
12148
12149"It's both," he said resolutely: "I don't see that it was possible..."
12150
12151"What! was it impossible, if the money were properly laid out, to
12152provide medical aid?"
12153
12154"Impossible, as it seems to me.... For the three thousand square miles
12155of our district, what with our thaws, and the storms, and the work in
12156the fields, I don't see how it is possible to provide medical aid all
12157over. And besides, I don't believe in medicine."
12158
12159"Oh, well, that's unfair ... I can quote to you thousands of
12160instances.... But the schools, anyway."
12161
12162"Why have schools?"
12163
12164"What do you mean? Can there be two opinions of the advantage of
12165education? If it's a good thing for you, it's a good thing for
12166everyone."
12167
12168Konstantin Levin felt himself morally pinned against a wall, and so he
12169got hot, and unconsciously blurted out the chief cause of his
12170indifference to public business.
12171
12172"Perhaps it may all be very good; but why should I worry myself about
12173establishing dispensaries which I shall never make use of, and schools
12174to which I shall never send my children, to which even the peasants
12175don't want to send their children, and to which I've no very firm faith
12176that they ought to send them?" said he.
12177
12178Sergey Ivanovitch was for a minute surprised at this unexpected view of
12179the subject; but he promptly made a new plan of attack. He was silent
12180for a little, drew out a hook, threw it in again, and turned to his
12181brother smiling.
12182
12183"Come, now.... In the first place, the dispensary is needed. We
12184ourselves sent for the district doctor for Agafea Mihalovna."
12185
12186"Oh, well, but I fancy her wrist will never be straight again."
12187
12188"That remains to be proved.... Next, the peasant who can read and write
12189is as a workman of more use and value to you."
12190
12191"No, you can ask anyone you like," Konstantin Levin answered with
12192decision, "the man that can read and write is much inferior as a
12193workman. And mending the highroads is an impossibility; and as soon as
12194they put up bridges they're stolen."
12195
12196"Still, that's not the point," said Sergey Ivanovitch, frowning. He
12197disliked contradiction, and still more, arguments that were continually
12198skipping from one thing to another, introducing new and disconnected
12199points, so that there was no knowing to which to reply. "Do you admit
12200that education is a benefit for the people?"
12201
12202"Yes, I admit it," said Levin without thinking, and he was conscious
12203immediately that he had said what he did not think. He felt that if he
12204admitted that, it would be proved that he had been talking meaningless
12205rubbish. How it would be proved he could not tell, but he knew that this
12206would inevitably be logically proved to him, and he awaited the proofs.
12207
12208The argument turned out to be far simpler than he had expected.
12209
12210"If you admit that it is a benefit," said Sergey Ivanovitch, "then, as
12211an honest man, you cannot help caring about it and sympathizing with the
12212movement, and so wishing to work for it."
12213
12214"But I still do not admit this movement to be just," said Konstantin
12215Levin, reddening a little.
12216
12217"What! But you said just now..."
12218
12219"That's to say, I don't admit it's being either good or possible."
12220
12221"That you can't tell without making the trial."
12222
12223"Well, supposing that's so," said Levin, though he did not suppose so at
12224all, "supposing that is so, still I don't see, all the same, what I'm to
12225worry myself about it for."
12226
12227"How so?"
12228
12229"No; since we are talking, explain it to me from the philosophical point
12230of view," said Levin.
12231
12232"I can't see where philosophy comes in," said Sergey Ivanovitch, in a
12233tone, Levin fancied, as though he did not admit his brother's right to
12234talk about philosophy. And that irritated Levin.
12235
12236"I'll tell you, then," he said with heat, "I imagine the mainspring of
12237all our actions is, after all, self-interest. Now in the local
12238institutions I, as a nobleman, see nothing that could conduce to my
12239prosperity, and the roads are not better and could not be better; my
12240horses carry me well enough over bad ones. Doctors and dispensaries are
12241no use to me. An arbitrator of disputes is no use to me. I never appeal
12242to him, and never shall appeal to him. The schools are no good to me,
12243but positively harmful, as I told you. For me the district institutions
12244simply mean the liability to pay fourpence halfpenny for every three
12245acres, to drive into the town, sleep with bugs, and listen to all sorts
12246of idiocy and loathsomeness, and self-interest offers me no inducement."
12247
12248"Excuse me," Sergey Ivanovitch interposed with a smile, "self-interest
12249did not induce us to work for the emancipation of the serfs, but we did
12250work for it."
12251
12252"No!" Konstantin Levin broke in with still greater heat; "the
12253emancipation of the serfs was a different matter. There self-interest
12254did come in. One longed to throw off that yoke that crushed us, all
12255decent people among us. But to be a town councilor and discuss how many
12256dustmen are needed, and how chimneys shall be constructed in the town in
12257which I don't live--to serve on a jury and try a peasant who's stolen a
12258flitch of bacon, and listen for six hours at a stretch to all sorts of
12259jabber from the counsel for the defense and the prosecution, and the
12260president cross-examining my old half-witted Alioshka, 'Do you admit,
12261prisoner in the dock, the fact of the removal of the bacon?' 'Eh?'"
12262
12263Konstantin Levin had warmed to his subject, and began mimicking the
12264president and the half-witted Alioshka: it seemed to him that it was all
12265to the point.
12266
12267But Sergey Ivanovitch shrugged his shoulders.
12268
12269"Well, what do you mean to say, then?"
12270
12271"I simply mean to say that those rights that touch me ... my interest, I
12272shall always defend to the best of my ability; that when they made raids
12273on us students, and the police read our letters, I was ready to defend
12274those rights to the utmost, to defend my rights to education and
12275freedom. I can understand compulsory military service, which affects my
12276children, my brothers, and myself, I am ready to deliberate on what
12277concerns me; but deliberating on how to spend forty thousand roubles of
12278district council money, or judging the half-witted Alioshka--I don't
12279understand, and I can't do it."
12280
12281Konstantin Levin spoke as though the floodgates of his speech had burst
12282open. Sergey Ivanovitch smiled.
12283
12284"But tomorrow it'll be your turn to be tried; would it have suited your
12285tastes better to be tried in the old criminal tribunal?"
12286
12287"I'm not going to be tried. I shan't murder anybody, and I've no need of
12288it. Well, I tell you what," he went on, flying off again to a subject
12289quite beside the point, "our district self-government and all the rest
12290of it--it's just like the birch branches we stick in the ground on
12291Trinity Day, for instance, to look like a copse which has grown up of
12292itself in Europe, and I can't gush over these birch branches and believe
12293in them."
12294
12295Sergey Ivanovitch merely shrugged his shoulders, as though to express
12296his wonder how the birch branches had come into their argument at that
12297point, though he did really understand at once what his brother meant.
12298
12299"Excuse me, but you know one really can't argue in that way," he
12300observed.
12301
12302But Konstantin Levin wanted to justify himself for the failing, of which
12303he was conscious, of lack of zeal for the public welfare, and he went
12304on.
12305
12306"I imagine," he said, "that no sort of activity is likely to be lasting
12307if it is not founded on self-interest, that's a universal principle, a
12308philosophical principle," he said, repeating the word "philosophical"
12309with determination, as though wishing to show that he had as much right
12310as any one else to talk of philosophy.
12311
12312Sergey Ivanovitch smiled. "He too has a philosophy of his own at the
12313service of his natural tendencies," he thought.
12314
12315"Come, you'd better let philosophy alone," he said. "The chief problem
12316of the philosophy of all ages consists just in finding the indispensable
12317connection which exists between individual and social interests. But
12318that's not to the point; what is to the point is a correction I must
12319make in your comparison. The birches are not simply stuck in, but some
12320are sown and some are planted, and one must deal carefully with them.
12321It's only those peoples that have an intuitive sense of what's of
12322importance and significance in their institutions, and know how to value
12323them, that have a future before them--it's only those peoples that one
12324can truly call historical."
12325
12326And Sergey Ivanovitch carried the subject into the regions of
12327philosophical history where Konstantin Levin could not follow him, and
12328showed him all the incorrectness of his view.
12329
12330"As for your dislike of it, excuse my saying so, that's simply our
12331Russian sloth and old serf-owner's ways, and I'm convinced that in you
12332it's a temporary error and will pass."
12333
12334Konstantin was silent. He felt himself vanquished on all sides, but he
12335felt at the same time that what he wanted to say was unintelligible to
12336his brother. Only he could not make up his mind whether it was
12337unintelligible because he was not capable of expressing his meaning
12338clearly, or because his brother would not or could not understand him.
12339But he did not pursue the speculation, and without replying, he fell to
12340musing on a quite different and personal matter.
12341
12342Sergey Ivanovitch wound up the last line, untied the horse, and they
12343drove off.
12344
12345
12346
12347Chapter 4
12348
12349
12350The personal matter that absorbed Levin during his conversation with his
12351brother was this. Once in a previous year he had gone to look at the
12352mowing, and being made very angry by the bailiff he had recourse to his
12353favorite means for regaining his temper,--he took a scythe from a
12354peasant and began mowing.
12355
12356He liked the work so much that he had several times tried his hand at
12357mowing since. He had cut the whole of the meadow in front of his house,
12358and this year ever since the early spring he had cherished a plan for
12359mowing for whole days together with the peasants. Ever since his
12360brother's arrival, he had been in doubt whether to mow or not. He was
12361loath to leave his brother alone all day long, and he was afraid his
12362brother would laugh at him about it. But as he drove into the meadow,
12363and recalled the sensations of mowing, he came near deciding that he
12364would go mowing. After the irritating discussion with his brother, he
12365pondered over this intention again.
12366
12367"I must have physical exercise, or my temper'll certainly be ruined," he
12368thought, and he determined he would go mowing, however awkward he might
12369feel about it with his brother or the peasants.
12370
12371Towards evening Konstantin Levin went to his counting house, gave
12372directions as to the work to be done, and sent about the village to
12373summon the mowers for the morrow, to cut the hay in Kalinov meadow, the
12374largest and best of his grass lands.
12375
12376"And send my scythe, please, to Tit, for him to set it, and bring it
12377round tomorrow. I shall maybe do some mowing myself too," he said,
12378trying not to be embarrassed.
12379
12380The bailiff smiled and said: "Yes, sir."
12381
12382At tea the same evening Levin said to his brother:
12383
12384"I fancy the fine weather will last. Tomorrow I shall start mowing."
12385
12386"I'm so fond of that form of field labor," said Sergey Ivanovitch.
12387
12388"I'm awfully fond of it. I sometimes mow myself with the peasants, and
12389tomorrow I want to try mowing the whole day."
12390
12391Sergey Ivanovitch lifted his head, and looked with interest at his
12392brother.
12393
12394"How do you mean? Just like one of the peasants, all day long?"
12395
12396"Yes, it's very pleasant," said Levin.
12397
12398"It's splendid as exercise, only you'll hardly be able to stand it,"
12399said Sergey Ivanovitch, without a shade of irony.
12400
12401"I've tried it. It's hard work at first, but you get into it. I dare say
12402I shall manage to keep it up..."
12403
12404"Really! what an idea! But tell me, how do the peasants look at it? I
12405suppose they laugh in their sleeves at their master's being such a queer
12406fish?"
12407
12408"No, I don't think so; but it's so delightful, and at the same time such
12409hard work, that one has no time to think about it."
12410
12411"But how will you do about dining with them? To send you a bottle of
12412Lafitte and roast turkey out there would be a little awkward."
12413
12414"No, I'll simply come home at the time of their noonday rest."
12415
12416Next morning Konstantin Levin got up earlier than usual, but he was
12417detained giving directions on the farm, and when he reached the mowing
12418grass the mowers were already at their second row.
12419
12420From the uplands he could get a view of the shaded cut part of the
12421meadow below, with its grayish ridges of cut grass, and the black heaps
12422of coats, taken off by the mowers at the place from which they had
12423started cutting.
12424
12425Gradually, as he rode towards the meadow, the peasants came into sight,
12426some in coats, some in their shirts mowing, one behind another in a long
12427string, swinging their scythes differently. He counted forty-two of
12428them.
12429
12430They were mowing slowly over the uneven, low-lying parts of the meadow,
12431where there had been an old dam. Levin recognized some of his own men.
12432Here was old Yermil in a very long white smock, bending forward to swing
12433a scythe; there was a young fellow, Vaska, who had been a coachman of
12434Levin's, taking every row with a wide sweep. Here, too, was Tit, Levin's
12435preceptor in the art of mowing, a thin little peasant. He was in front
12436of all, and cut his wide row without bending, as though playing with the
12437scythe.
12438
12439Levin got off his mare, and fastening her up by the roadside went to
12440meet Tit, who took a second scythe out of a bush and gave it to him.
12441
12442"It's ready, sir; it's like a razor, cuts of itself," said Tit, taking
12443off his cap with a smile and giving him the scythe.
12444
12445Levin took the scythe, and began trying it. As they finished their rows,
12446the mowers, hot and good-humored, came out into the road one after
12447another, and, laughing a little, greeted the master. They all stared at
12448him, but no one made any remark, till a tall old man, with a wrinkled,
12449beardless face, wearing a short sheepskin jacket, came out into the road
12450and accosted him.
12451
12452"Look'ee now, master, once take hold of the rope there's no letting it
12453go!" he said, and Levin heard smothered laughter among the mowers.
12454
12455"I'll try not to let it go," he said, taking his stand behind Tit, and
12456waiting for the time to begin.
12457
12458"Mind'ee," repeated the old man.
12459
12460Tit made room, and Levin started behind him. The grass was short close
12461to the road, and Levin, who had not done any mowing for a long while,
12462and was disconcerted by the eyes fastened upon him, cut badly for the
12463first moments, though he swung his scythe vigorously. Behind him he
12464heard voices:
12465
12466"It's not set right; handle's too high; see how he has to stoop to it,"
12467said one.
12468
12469"Press more on the heel," said another.
12470
12471"Never mind, he'll get on all right," the old man resumed.
12472
12473"He's made a start.... You swing it too wide, you'll tire yourself
12474out.... The master, sure, does his best for himself! But see the grass
12475missed out! For such work us fellows would catch it!"
12476
12477The grass became softer, and Levin, listening without answering,
12478followed Tit, trying to do the best he could. They moved a hundred
12479paces. Tit kept moving on, without stopping, not showing the slightest
12480weariness, but Levin was already beginning to be afraid he would not be
12481able to keep it up: he was so tired.
12482
12483He felt as he swung his scythe that he was at the very end of his
12484strength, and was making up his mind to ask Tit to stop. But at that
12485very moment Tit stopped of his own accord, and stooping down picked up
12486some grass, rubbed his scythe, and began whetting it. Levin straightened
12487himself, and drawing a deep breath looked round. Behind him came a
12488peasant, and he too was evidently tired, for he stopped at once without
12489waiting to mow up to Levin, and began whetting his scythe. Tit sharpened
12490his scythe and Levin's, and they went on. The next time it was just the
12491same. Tit moved on with sweep after sweep of his scythe, not stopping
12492nor showing signs of weariness. Levin followed him, trying not to get
12493left behind, and he found it harder and harder: the moment came when he
12494felt he had no strength left, but at that very moment Tit stopped and
12495whetted the scythes.
12496
12497So they mowed the first row. And this long row seemed particularly hard
12498work to Levin; but when the end was reached and Tit, shouldering his
12499scythe, began with deliberate stride returning on the tracks left by his
12500heels in the cut grass, and Levin walked back in the same way over the
12501space he had cut, in spite of the sweat that ran in streams over his
12502face and fell in drops down his nose, and drenched his back as though he
12503had been soaked in water, he felt very happy. What delighted him
12504particularly was that now he knew he would be able to hold out.
12505
12506His pleasure was only disturbed by his row not being well cut. "I will
12507swing less with my arm and more with my whole body," he thought,
12508comparing Tit's row, which looked as if it had been cut with a line,
12509with his own unevenly and irregularly lying grass.
12510
12511The first row, as Levin noticed, Tit had mowed specially quickly,
12512probably wishing to put his master to the test, and the row happened to
12513be a long one. The next rows were easier, but still Levin had to strain
12514every nerve not to drop behind the peasants.
12515
12516He thought of nothing, wished for nothing, but not to be left behind the
12517peasants, and to do his work as well as possible. He heard nothing but
12518the swish of scythes, and saw before him Tit's upright figure mowing
12519away, the crescent-shaped curve of the cut grass, the grass and flower
12520heads slowly and rhythmically falling before the blade of his scythe,
12521and ahead of him the end of the row, where would come the rest.
12522
12523Suddenly, in the midst of his toil, without understanding what it was or
12524whence it came, he felt a pleasant sensation of chill on his hot, moist
12525shoulders. He glanced at the sky in the interval for whetting the
12526scythes. A heavy, lowering storm cloud had blown up, and big raindrops
12527were falling. Some of the peasants went to their coats and put them on;
12528others--just like Levin himself--merely shrugged their shoulders,
12529enjoying the pleasant coolness of it.
12530
12531Another row, and yet another row, followed--long rows and short rows,
12532with good grass and with poor grass. Levin lost all sense of time, and
12533could not have told whether it was late or early now. A change began to
12534come over his work, which gave him immense satisfaction. In the midst of
12535his toil there were moments during which he forgot what he was doing,
12536and it came all easy to him, and at those same moments his row was
12537almost as smooth and well cut as Tit's. But so soon as he recollected
12538what he was doing, and began trying to do better, he was at once
12539conscious of all the difficulty of his task, and the row was badly mown.
12540
12541On finishing yet another row he would have gone back to the top of the
12542meadow again to begin the next, but Tit stopped, and going up to the old
12543man said something in a low voice to him. They both looked at the sun.
12544"What are they talking about, and why doesn't he go back?" thought
12545Levin, not guessing that the peasants had been mowing no less than four
12546hours without stopping, and it was time for their lunch.
12547
12548"Lunch, sir," said the old man.
12549
12550"Is it really time? That's right; lunch, then."
12551
12552Levin gave his scythe to Tit, and together with the peasants, who were
12553crossing the long stretch of mown grass, slightly sprinkled with rain,
12554to get their bread from the heap of coats, he went towards his house.
12555Only then he suddenly awoke to the fact that he had been wrong about the
12556weather and the rain was drenching his hay.
12557
12558"The hay will be spoiled," he said.
12559
12560"Not a bit of it, sir; mow in the rain, and you'll rake in fine
12561weather!" said the old man.
12562
12563Levin untied his horse and rode home to his coffee. Sergey Ivanovitch
12564was only just getting up. When he had drunk his coffee, Levin rode back
12565again to the mowing before Sergey Ivanovitch had had time to dress and
12566come down to the dining room.
12567
12568
12569
12570Chapter 5
12571
12572
12573After lunch Levin was not in the same place in the string of mowers as
12574before, but stood between the old man who had accosted him jocosely, and
12575now invited him to be his neighbor, and a young peasant, who had only
12576been married in the autumn, and who was mowing this summer for the first
12577time.
12578
12579The old man, holding himself erect, moved in front, with his feet turned
12580out, taking long, regular strides, and with a precise and regular action
12581which seemed to cost him no more effort than swinging one's arms in
12582walking, as though it were in play, he laid down the high, even row of
12583grass. It was as though it were not he but the sharp scythe of itself
12584swishing through the juicy grass.
12585
12586Behind Levin came the lad Mishka. His pretty, boyish face, with a twist
12587of fresh grass bound round his hair, was all working with effort; but
12588whenever anyone looked at him he smiled. He would clearly have died
12589sooner than own it was hard work for him.
12590
12591Levin kept between them. In the very heat of the day the mowing did not
12592seem such hard work to him. The perspiration with which he was drenched
12593cooled him, while the sun, that burned his back, his head, and his arms,
12594bare to the elbow, gave a vigor and dogged energy to his labor; and more
12595and more often now came those moments of unconsciousness, when it was
12596possible not to think what one was doing. The scythe cut of itself.
12597These were happy moments. Still more delightful were the moments when
12598they reached the stream where the rows ended, and the old man rubbed his
12599scythe with the wet, thick grass, rinsed its blade in the fresh water of
12600the stream, ladled out a little in a tin dipper, and offered Levin a
12601drink.
12602
12603"What do you say to my home-brew, eh? Good, eh?" said he, winking.
12604
12605And truly Levin had never drunk any liquor so good as this warm water
12606with green bits floating in it, and a taste of rust from the tin dipper.
12607And immediately after this came the delicious, slow saunter, with his
12608hand on the scythe, during which he could wipe away the streaming sweat,
12609take deep breaths of air, and look about at the long string of mowers
12610and at what was happening around in the forest and the country.
12611
12612The longer Levin mowed, the oftener he felt the moments of
12613unconsciousness in which it seemed not his hands that swung the scythe,
12614but the scythe mowing of itself, a body full of life and consciousness
12615of its own, and as though by magic, without thinking of it, the work
12616turned out regular and well-finished of itself. These were the most
12617blissful moments.
12618
12619It was only hard work when he had to break off the motion, which had
12620become unconscious, and to think; when he had to mow round a hillock or
12621a tuft of sorrel. The old man did this easily. When a hillock came he
12622changed his action, and at one time with the heel, and at another with
12623the tip of his scythe, clipped the hillock round both sides with short
12624strokes. And while he did this he kept looking about and watching what
12625came into his view: at one moment he picked a wild berry and ate it or
12626offered it to Levin, then he flung away a twig with the blade of the
12627scythe, then he looked at a quail's nest, from which the bird flew just
12628under the scythe, or caught a snake that crossed his path, and lifting
12629it on the scythe as though on a fork showed it to Levin and threw it
12630away.
12631
12632For both Levin and the young peasant behind him, such changes of
12633position were difficult. Both of them, repeating over and over again the
12634same strained movement, were in a perfect frenzy of toil, and were
12635incapable of shifting their position and at the same time watching what
12636was before them.
12637
12638Levin did not notice how time was passing. If he had been asked how long
12639he had been working he would have said half an hour--and it was getting
12640on for dinner time. As they were walking back over the cut grass, the
12641old man called Levin's attention to the little girls and boys who were
12642coming from different directions, hardly visible through the long grass,
12643and along the road towards the mowers, carrying sacks of bread dragging
12644at their little hands and pitchers of the sour rye-beer, with cloths
12645wrapped round them.
12646
12647"Look'ee, the little emmets crawling!" he said, pointing to them, and he
12648shaded his eyes with his hand to look at the sun. They mowed two more
12649rows; the old man stopped.
12650
12651"Come, master, dinner time!" he said briskly. And on reaching the stream
12652the mowers moved off across the lines of cut grass towards their pile of
12653coats, where the children who had brought their dinners were sitting
12654waiting for them. The peasants gathered into groups--those further away
12655under a cart, those nearer under a willow bush.
12656
12657Levin sat down by them; he felt disinclined to go away.
12658
12659All constraint with the master had disappeared long ago. The peasants
12660got ready for dinner. Some washed, the young lads bathed in the stream,
12661others made a place comfortable for a rest, untied their sacks of bread,
12662and uncovered the pitchers of rye-beer. The old man crumbled up some
12663bread in a cup, stirred it with the handle of a spoon, poured water on
12664it from the dipper, broke up some more bread, and having seasoned it
12665with salt, he turned to the east to say his prayer.
12666
12667"Come, master, taste my sop," said he, kneeling down before the cup.
12668
12669The sop was so good that Levin gave up the idea of going home. He dined
12670with the old man, and talked to him about his family affairs, taking the
12671keenest interest in them, and told him about his own affairs and all the
12672circumstances that could be of interest to the old man. He felt much
12673nearer to him than to his brother, and could not help smiling at the
12674affection he felt for this man. When the old man got up again, said his
12675prayer, and lay down under a bush, putting some grass under his head for
12676a pillow, Levin did the same, and in spite of the clinging flies that
12677were so persistent in the sunshine, and the midges that tickled his hot
12678face and body, he fell asleep at once and only waked when the sun had
12679passed to the other side of the bush and reached him. The old man had
12680been awake a long while, and was sitting up whetting the scythes of the
12681younger lads.
12682
12683Levin looked about him and hardly recognized the place, everything was
12684so changed. The immense stretch of meadow had been mown and was
12685sparkling with a peculiar fresh brilliance, with its lines of already
12686sweet-smelling grass in the slanting rays of the evening sun. And the
12687bushes about the river had been cut down, and the river itself, not
12688visible before, now gleaming like steel in its bends, and the moving,
12689ascending, peasants, and the sharp wall of grass of the unmown part of
12690the meadow, and the hawks hovering over the stripped meadow--all was
12691perfectly new. Raising himself, Levin began considering how much had
12692been cut and how much more could still be done that day.
12693
12694The work done was exceptionally much for forty-two men. They had cut the
12695whole of the big meadow, which had, in the years of serf labor, taken
12696thirty scythes two days to mow. Only the corners remained to do, where
12697the rows were short. But Levin felt a longing to get as much mowing done
12698that day as possible, and was vexed with the sun sinking so quickly in
12699the sky. He felt no weariness; all he wanted was to get his work done
12700more and more quickly and as much done as possible.
12701
12702"Could you cut Mashkin Upland too?--what do you think?" he said to the
12703old man.
12704
12705"As God wills, the sun's not high. A little vodka for the lads?"
12706
12707At the afternoon rest, when they were sitting down again, and those who
12708smoked had lighted their pipes, the old man told the men that "Mashkin
12709Upland's to be cut--there'll be some vodka."
12710
12711"Why not cut it? Come on, Tit! We'll look sharp! We can eat at night.
12712Come on!" cried voices, and eating up their bread, the mowers went back
12713to work.
12714
12715"Come, lads, keep it up!" said Tit, and ran on ahead almost at a trot.
12716
12717"Get along, get along!" said the old man, hurrying after him and easily
12718overtaking him, "I'll mow you down, look out!"
12719
12720And young and old mowed away, as though they were racing with one
12721another. But however fast they worked, they did not spoil the grass, and
12722the rows were laid just as neatly and exactly. The little piece left
12723uncut in the corner was mown in five minutes. The last of the mowers
12724were just ending their rows while the foremost snatched up their coats
12725onto their shoulders, and crossed the road towards Mashkin Upland.
12726
12727The sun was already sinking into the trees when they went with their
12728jingling dippers into the wooded ravine of Mashkin Upland. The grass was
12729up to their waists in the middle of the hollow, soft, tender, and
12730feathery, spotted here and there among the trees with wild heart's-ease.
12731
12732After a brief consultation--whether to take the rows lengthwise or
12733diagonally--Prohor Yermilin, also a renowned mower, a huge, black-haired
12734peasant, went on ahead. He went up to the top, turned back again and
12735started mowing, and they all proceeded to form in line behind him, going
12736downhill through the hollow and uphill right up to the edge of the
12737forest. The sun sank behind the forest. The dew was falling by now; the
12738mowers were in the sun only on the hillside, but below, where a mist was
12739rising, and on the opposite side, they mowed into the fresh, dewy shade.
12740The work went rapidly. The grass cut with a juicy sound, and was at once
12741laid in high, fragrant rows. The mowers from all sides, brought closer
12742together in the short row, kept urging one another on to the sound of
12743jingling dippers and clanging scythes, and the hiss of the whetstones
12744sharpening them, and good-humored shouts.
12745
12746Levin still kept between the young peasant and the old man. The old man,
12747who had put on his short sheepskin jacket, was just as good-humored,
12748jocose, and free in his movements. Among the trees they were continually
12749cutting with their scythes the so-called "birch mushrooms," swollen fat
12750in the succulent grass. But the old man bent down every time he came
12751across a mushroom, picked it up and put it in his bosom. "Another
12752present for my old woman," he said as he did so.
12753
12754Easy as it was to mow the wet, soft grass, it was hard work going up and
12755down the steep sides of the ravine. But this did not trouble the old
12756man. Swinging his scythe just as ever, and moving his feet in their big,
12757plaited shoes with firm, little steps, he climbed slowly up the steep
12758place, and though his breeches hanging out below his smock, and his
12759whole frame trembled with effort, he did not miss one blade of grass or
12760one mushroom on his way, and kept making jokes with the peasants and
12761Levin. Levin walked after him and often thought he must fall, as he
12762climbed with a scythe up a steep cliff where it would have been hard
12763work to clamber without anything. But he climbed up and did what he had
12764to do. He felt as though some external force were moving him.
12765
12766
12767
12768Chapter 6
12769
12770
12771Mashkin Upland was mown, the last row finished, the peasants had put on
12772their coats and were gaily trudging home. Levin got on his horse and,
12773parting regretfully from the peasants, rode homewards. On the hillside
12774he looked back; he could not see them in the mist that had risen from
12775the valley; he could only hear rough, good-humored voices, laughter, and
12776the sound of clanking scythes.
12777
12778Sergey Ivanovitch had long ago finished dinner, and was drinking iced
12779lemon and water in his own room, looking through the reviews and papers
12780which he had only just received by post, when Levin rushed into the
12781room, talking merrily, with his wet and matted hair sticking to his
12782forehead, and his back and chest grimed and moist.
12783
12784"We mowed the whole meadow! Oh, it is nice, delicious! And how have you
12785been getting on?" said Levin, completely forgetting the disagreeable
12786conversation of the previous day.
12787
12788"Mercy! what do you look like!" said Sergey Ivanovitch, for the first
12789moment looking round with some dissatisfaction. "And the door, do shut
12790the door!" he cried. "You must have let in a dozen at least."
12791
12792Sergey Ivanovitch could not endure flies, and in his own room he never
12793opened the window except at night, and carefully kept the door shut.
12794
12795"Not one, on my honor. But if I have, I'll catch them. You wouldn't
12796believe what a pleasure it is! How have you spent the day?"
12797
12798"Very well. But have you really been mowing the whole day? I expect
12799you're as hungry as a wolf. Kouzma has got everything ready for you."
12800
12801"No, I don't feel hungry even. I had something to eat there. But I'll go
12802and wash."
12803
12804"Yes, go along, go along, and I'll come to you directly," said Sergey
12805Ivanovitch, shaking his head as he looked at his brother. "Go along,
12806make haste," he added smiling, and gathering up his books, he prepared
12807to go too. He, too, felt suddenly good-humored and disinclined to leave
12808his brother's side. "But what did you do while it was raining?"
12809
12810"Rain? Why, there was scarcely a drop. I'll come directly. So you had a
12811nice day too? That's first-rate." And Levin went off to change his
12812clothes.
12813
12814Five minutes later the brothers met in the dining room. Although it
12815seemed to Levin that he was not hungry, and he sat down to dinner simply
12816so as not to hurt Kouzma's feelings, yet when he began to eat the dinner
12817struck him as extraordinarily good. Sergey Ivanovitch watched him with a
12818smile.
12819
12820"Oh, by the way, there's a letter for you," said he. "Kouzma, bring it
12821down, please. And mind you shut the doors."
12822
12823The letter was from Oblonsky. Levin read it aloud. Oblonsky wrote to him
12824from Petersburg: "I have had a letter from Dolly; she's at Ergushovo,
12825and everything seems going wrong there. Do ride over and see her,
12826please; help her with advice; you know all about it. She will be so glad
12827to see you. She's quite alone, poor thing. My mother-in-law and all of
12828them are still abroad."
12829
12830"That's capital! I will certainly ride over to her," said Levin. "Or
12831we'll go together. She's such a splendid woman, isn't she?"
12832
12833"They're not far from here, then?"
12834
12835"Twenty-five miles. Or perhaps it is thirty. But a capital road.
12836Capital, we'll drive over."
12837
12838"I shall be delighted," said Sergey Ivanovitch, still smiling. The sight
12839of his younger brother's appearance had immediately put him in a good
12840humor.
12841
12842"Well, you have an appetite!" he said, looking at his dark-red, sunburnt
12843face and neck bent over the plate.
12844
12845"Splendid! You can't imagine what an effectual remedy it is for every
12846sort of foolishness. I want to enrich medicine with a new word:
12847_Arbeitskur_."
12848
12849"Well, but you don't need it, I should fancy."
12850
12851"No, but for all sorts of nervous invalids."
12852
12853"Yes, it ought to be tried. I had meant to come to the mowing to look at
12854you, but it was so unbearably hot that I got no further than the forest.
12855I sat there a little, and went on by the forest to the village, met your
12856old nurse, and sounded her as to the peasants' view of you. As far as I
12857can make out, they don't approve of this. She said: 'It's not a
12858gentleman's work.' Altogether, I fancy that in the people's ideas there
12859are very clear and definite notions of certain, as they call it,
12860'gentlemanly' lines of action. And they don't sanction the gentry's
12861moving outside bounds clearly laid down in their ideas."
12862
12863"Maybe so; but anyway it's a pleasure such as I have never known in my
12864life. And there's no harm in it, you know. Is there?" answered Levin. "I
12865can't help it if they don't like it. Though I do believe it's all right.
12866Eh?"
12867
12868"Altogether," pursued Sergey Ivanovitch, "you're satisfied with your
12869day?"
12870
12871"Quite satisfied. We cut the whole meadow. And such a splendid old man I
12872made friends with there! You can't fancy how delightful he was!"
12873
12874"Well, so you're content with your day. And so am I. First, I solved two
12875chess problems, and one a very pretty one--a pawn opening. I'll show it
12876you. And then--I thought over our conversation yesterday."
12877
12878"Eh! our conversation yesterday?" said Levin, blissfully dropping his
12879eyelids and drawing deep breaths after finishing his dinner, and
12880absolutely incapable of recalling what their conversation yesterday was
12881about.
12882
12883"I think you are partly right. Our difference of opinion amounts to
12884this, that you make the mainspring self-interest, while I suppose that
12885interest in the common weal is bound to exist in every man of a certain
12886degree of advancement. Possibly you are right too, that action founded
12887on material interest would be more desirable. You are altogether, as the
12888French say, too _primesautiere_ a nature; you must have intense,
12889energetic action, or nothing."
12890
12891Levin listened to his brother and did not understand a single word, and
12892did not want to understand. He was only afraid his brother might ask him
12893some question which would make it evident he had not heard.
12894
12895"So that's what I think it is, my dear boy," said Sergey Ivanovitch,
12896touching him on the shoulder.
12897
12898"Yes, of course. But, do you know? I won't stand up for my view,"
12899answered Levin, with a guilty, childlike smile. "Whatever was it I was
12900disputing about?" he wondered. "Of course, I'm right, and he's right,
12901and it's all first-rate. Only I must go round to the counting house and
12902see to things." He got up, stretching and smiling. Sergey Ivanovitch
12903smiled too.
12904
12905"If you want to go out, let's go together," he said, disinclined to be
12906parted from his brother, who seemed positively breathing out freshness
12907and energy. "Come, we'll go to the counting house, if you have to go
12908there."
12909
12910"Oh, heavens!" shouted Levin, so loudly that Sergey Ivanovitch was quite
12911frightened.
12912
12913"What, what is the matter?"
12914
12915"How's Agafea Mihalovna's hand?" said Levin, slapping himself on the
12916head. "I'd positively forgotten her even."
12917
12918"It's much better."
12919
12920"Well, anyway I'll run down to her. Before you've time to get your hat
12921on, I'll be back."
12922
12923And he ran downstairs, clattering with his heels like a spring-rattle.
12924
12925
12926
12927Chapter 7
12928
12929
12930Stephan Arkadyevitch had gone to Petersburg to perform the most natural
12931and essential official duty--so familiar to everyone in the government
12932service, though incomprehensible to outsiders--that duty, but for which
12933one could hardly be in government service, of reminding the ministry of
12934his existence--and having, for the due performance of this rite, taken
12935all the available cash from home, was gaily and agreeably spending his
12936days at the races and in the summer villas. Meanwhile Dolly and the
12937children had moved into the country, to cut down expenses as much as
12938possible. She had gone to Ergushovo, the estate that had been her dowry,
12939and the one where in spring the forest had been sold. It was nearly
12940forty miles from Levin's Pokrovskoe. The big, old house at Ergushovo had
12941been pulled down long ago, and the old prince had had the lodge done up
12942and built on to. Twenty years before, when Dolly was a child, the lodge
12943had been roomy and comfortable, though, like all lodges, it stood
12944sideways to the entrance avenue, and faced the south. But by now this
12945lodge was old and dilapidated. When Stepan Arkadyevitch had gone down in
12946the spring to sell the forest, Dolly had begged him to look over the
12947house and order what repairs might be needed. Stepan Arkadyevitch, like
12948all unfaithful husbands indeed, was very solicitous for his wife's
12949comfort, and he had himself looked over the house, and given
12950instructions about everything that he considered necessary. What he
12951considered necessary was to cover all the furniture with cretonne, to
12952put up curtains, to weed the garden, to make a little bridge on the
12953pond, and to plant flowers. But he forgot many other essential matters,
12954the want of which greatly distressed Darya Alexandrovna later on.
12955
12956In spite of Stepan Arkadyevitch's efforts to be an attentive father and
12957husband, he never could keep in his mind that he had a wife and
12958children. He had bachelor tastes, and it was in accordance with them
12959that he shaped his life. On his return to Moscow he informed his wife
12960with pride that everything was ready, that the house would be a little
12961paradise, and that he advised her most certainly to go. His wife's
12962staying away in the country was very agreeable to Stepan Arkadyevitch
12963from every point of view: it did the children good, it decreased
12964expenses, and it left him more at liberty. Darya Alexandrovna regarded
12965staying in the country for the summer as essential for the children,
12966especially for the little girl, who had not succeeded in regaining her
12967strength after the scarlatina, and also as a means of escaping the petty
12968humiliations, the little bills owing to the wood-merchant, the
12969fishmonger, the shoemaker, which made her miserable. Besides this, she
12970was pleased to go away to the country because she was dreaming of
12971getting her sister Kitty to stay with her there. Kitty was to be back
12972from abroad in the middle of the summer, and bathing had been prescribed
12973for her. Kitty wrote that no prospect was so alluring as to spend the
12974summer with Dolly at Ergushovo, full of childish associations for both
12975of them.
12976
12977The first days of her existence in the country were very hard for Dolly.
12978She used to stay in the country as a child, and the impression she had
12979retained of it was that the country was a refuge from all the
12980unpleasantness of the town, that life there, though not luxurious--Dolly
12981could easily make up her mind to that--was cheap and comfortable; that
12982there was plenty of everything, everything was cheap, everything could
12983be got, and children were happy. But now coming to the country as the
12984head of a family, she perceived that it was all utterly unlike what she
12985had fancied.
12986
12987The day after their arrival there was a heavy fall of rain, and in the
12988night the water came through in the corridor and in the nursery, so that
12989the beds had to be carried into the drawing room. There was no kitchen
12990maid to be found; of the nine cows, it appeared from the words of the
12991cowherd-woman that some were about to calve, others had just calved,
12992others were old, and others again hard-uddered; there was not butter nor
12993milk enough even for the children. There were no eggs. They could get no
12994fowls; old, purplish, stringy cocks were all they had for roasting and
12995boiling. Impossible to get women to scrub the floors--all were
12996potato-hoeing. Driving was out of the question, because one of the
12997horses was restive, and bolted in the shafts. There was no place where
12998they could bathe; the whole of the river-bank was trampled by the cattle
12999and open to the road; even walks were impossible, for the cattle strayed
13000into the garden through a gap in the hedge, and there was one terrible
13001bull, who bellowed, and therefore might be expected to gore somebody.
13002There were no proper cupboards for their clothes; what cupboards there
13003were either would not close at all, or burst open whenever anyone passed
13004by them. There were no pots and pans; there was no copper in the
13005washhouse, nor even an ironing-board in the maids' room.
13006
13007Finding instead of peace and rest all these, from her point of view,
13008fearful calamities, Darya Alexandrovna was at first in despair. She
13009exerted herself to the utmost, felt the hopelessness of the position,
13010and was every instant suppressing the tears that started into her eyes.
13011The bailiff, a retired quartermaster, whom Stepan Arkadyevitch had taken
13012a fancy to and had appointed bailiff on account of his handsome and
13013respectful appearance as a hall-porter, showed no sympathy for Darya
13014Alexandrovna's woes. He said respectfully, "nothing can be done, the
13015peasants are such a wretched lot," and did nothing to help her.
13016
13017The position seemed hopeless. But in the Oblonskys' household, as in all
13018families indeed, there was one inconspicuous but most valuable and
13019useful person, Marya Philimonovna. She soothed her mistress, assured her
13020that everything would _come round_ (it was her expression, and Matvey
13021had borrowed it from her), and without fuss or hurry proceeded to set to
13022work herself. She had immediately made friends with the bailiff's wife,
13023and on the very first day she drank tea with her and the bailiff under
13024the acacias, and reviewed all the circumstances of the position. Very
13025soon Marya Philimonovna had established her club, so to say, under the
13026acacias, and there it was, in this club, consisting of the bailiff's
13027wife, the village elder, and the counting house clerk, that the
13028difficulties of existence were gradually smoothed away, and in a week's
13029time everything actually had come round. The roof was mended, a kitchen
13030maid was found--a crony of the village elder's--hens were bought, the
13031cows began giving milk, the garden hedge was stopped up with stakes, the
13032carpenter made a mangle, hooks were put in the cupboards, and they
13033ceased to burst open spontaneously, and an ironing-board covered with
13034army cloth was placed across from the arm of a chair to the chest of
13035drawers, and there was a smell of flatirons in the maids' room.
13036
13037"Just see, now, and you were quite in despair," said Marya Philimonovna,
13038pointing to the ironing-board. They even rigged up a bathing-shed of
13039straw hurdles. Lily began to bathe, and Darya Alexandrovna began to
13040realize, if only in part, her expectations, if not of a peaceful, at
13041least of a comfortable, life in the country. Peaceful with six children
13042Darya Alexandrovna could not be. One would fall ill, another might
13043easily become so, a third would be without something necessary, a fourth
13044would show symptoms of a bad disposition, and so on. Rare indeed were
13045the brief periods of peace. But these cares and anxieties were for Darya
13046Alexandrovna the sole happiness possible. Had it not been for them, she
13047would have been left alone to brood over her husband who did not love
13048her. And besides, hard though it was for the mother to bear the dread of
13049illness, the illnesses themselves, and the grief of seeing signs of evil
13050propensities in her children--the children themselves were even now
13051repaying her in small joys for her sufferings. Those joys were so small
13052that they passed unnoticed, like gold in sand, and at bad moments she
13053could see nothing but the pain, nothing but sand; but there were good
13054moments too when she saw nothing but the joy, nothing but gold.
13055
13056Now in the solitude of the country, she began to be more and more
13057frequently aware of those joys. Often, looking at them, she would make
13058every possible effort to persuade herself that she was mistaken, that
13059she as a mother was partial to her children. All the same, she could not
13060help saying to herself that she had charming children, all six of them
13061in different ways, but a set of children such as is not often to be met
13062with, and she was happy in them, and proud of them.
13063
13064
13065
13066Chapter 8
13067
13068
13069Towards the end of May, when everything had been more or less
13070satisfactorily arranged, she received her husband's answer to her
13071complaints of the disorganized state of things in the country. He wrote
13072begging her forgiveness for not having thought of everything before, and
13073promised to come down at the first chance. This chance did not present
13074itself, and till the beginning of June Darya Alexandrovna stayed alone
13075in the country.
13076
13077On the Sunday in St. Peter's week Darya Alexandrovna drove to mass for
13078all her children to take the sacrament. Darya Alexandrovna in her
13079intimate, philosophical talks with her sister, her mother, and her
13080friends very often astonished them by the freedom of her views in regard
13081to religion. She had a strange religion of transmigration of souls all
13082her own, in which she had firm faith, troubling herself little about the
13083dogmas of the Church. But in her family she was strict in carrying out
13084all that was required by the Church--and not merely in order to set an
13085example, but with all her heart in it. The fact that the children had
13086not been at the sacrament for nearly a year worried her extremely, and
13087with the full approval and sympathy of Marya Philimonovna she decided
13088that this should take place now in the summer.
13089
13090For several days before, Darya Alexandrovna was busily deliberating on
13091how to dress all the children. Frocks were made or altered and washed,
13092seams and flounces were let out, buttons were sewn on, and ribbons got
13093ready. One dress, Tanya's, which the English governess had undertaken,
13094cost Darya Alexandrovna much loss of temper. The English governess in
13095altering it had made the seams in the wrong place, had taken up the
13096sleeves too much, and altogether spoilt the dress. It was so narrow on
13097Tanya's shoulders that it was quite painful to look at her. But Marya
13098Philimonovna had the happy thought of putting in gussets, and adding a
13099little shoulder-cape. The dress was set right, but there was nearly a
13100quarrel with the English governess. On the morning, however, all was
13101happily arranged, and towards ten o'clock--the time at which they had
13102asked the priest to wait for them for the mass--the children in their
13103new dresses, with beaming faces, stood on the step before the carriage
13104waiting for their mother.
13105
13106To the carriage, instead of the restive Raven, they had harnessed,
13107thanks to the representations of Marya Philimonovna, the bailiff's
13108horse, Brownie, and Darya Alexandrovna, delayed by anxiety over her own
13109attire, came out and got in, dressed in a white muslin gown.
13110
13111Darya Alexandrovna had done her hair, and dressed with care and
13112excitement. In the old days she had dressed for her own sake to look
13113pretty and be admired. Later on, as she got older, dress became more and
13114more distasteful to her. She saw that she was losing her good looks. But
13115now she began to feel pleasure and interest in dress again. Now she did
13116not dress for her own sake, not for the sake of her own beauty, but
13117simply that as the mother of those exquisite creatures she might not
13118spoil the general effect. And looking at herself for the last time in
13119the looking-glass she was satisfied with herself. She looked nice. Not
13120nice as she would have wished to look nice in old days at a ball, but
13121nice for the object which she now had in view.
13122
13123In the church there was no one but the peasants, the servants and their
13124women-folk. But Darya Alexandrovna saw, or fancied she saw, the
13125sensation produced by her children and her. The children were not only
13126beautiful to look at in their smart little dresses, but they were
13127charming in the way they behaved. Aliosha, it is true, did not stand
13128quite correctly; he kept turning round, trying to look at his little
13129jacket from behind; but all the same he was wonderfully sweet. Tanya
13130behaved like a grownup person, and looked after the little ones. And the
13131smallest, Lily, was bewitching in her naive astonishment at everything,
13132and it was difficult not to smile when, after taking the sacrament, she
13133said in English, "Please, some more."
13134
13135On the way home the children felt that something solemn had happened,
13136and were very sedate.
13137
13138Everything went happily at home too; but at lunch Grisha began
13139whistling, and, what was worse, was disobedient to the English
13140governess, and was forbidden to have any tart. Darya Alexandrovna would
13141not have let things go so far on such a day had she been present; but
13142she had to support the English governess's authority, and she upheld her
13143decision that Grisha should have no tart. This rather spoiled the
13144general good humor. Grisha cried, declaring that Nikolinka had whistled
13145too, and he was not punished, and that he wasn't crying for the tart--he
13146didn't care--but at being unjustly treated. This was really too tragic,
13147and Darya Alexandrovna made up her mind to persuade the English
13148governess to forgive Grisha, and she went to speak to her. But on the
13149way, as she passed the drawing room, she beheld a scene, filling her
13150heart with such pleasure that the tears came into her eyes, and she
13151forgave the delinquent herself.
13152
13153The culprit was sitting at the window in the corner of the drawing room;
13154beside him was standing Tanya with a plate. On the pretext of wanting to
13155give some dinner to her dolls, she had asked the governess's permission
13156to take her share of tart to the nursery, and had taken it instead to
13157her brother. While still weeping over the injustice of his punishment,
13158he was eating the tart, and kept saying through his sobs, "Eat yourself;
13159let's eat it together ... together."
13160
13161Tanya had at first been under the influence of her pity for Grisha, then
13162of a sense of her noble action, and tears were standing in her eyes too;
13163but she did not refuse, and ate her share.
13164
13165On catching sight of their mother they were dismayed, but, looking into
13166her face, they saw they were not doing wrong. They burst out laughing,
13167and, with their mouths full of tart, they began wiping their smiling
13168lips with their hands, and smearing their radiant faces all over with
13169tears and jam.
13170
13171"Mercy! Your new white frock! Tanya! Grisha!" said their mother, trying
13172to save the frock, but with tears in her eyes, smiling a blissful,
13173rapturous smile.
13174
13175The new frocks were taken off, and orders were given for the little
13176girls to have their blouses put on, and the boys their old jackets, and
13177the wagonette to be harnessed; with Brownie, to the bailiff's annoyance,
13178again in the shafts, to drive out for mushroom picking and bathing. A
13179roar of delighted shrieks arose in the nursery, and never ceased till
13180they had set off for the bathing-place.
13181
13182They gathered a whole basketful of mushrooms; even Lily found a birch
13183mushroom. It had always happened before that Miss Hoole found them and
13184pointed them out to her; but this time she found a big one quite of
13185herself, and there was a general scream of delight, "Lily has found a
13186mushroom!"
13187
13188Then they reached the river, put the horses under the birch trees, and
13189went to the bathing-place. The coachman, Terenty, fastened the horses,
13190who kept whisking away the flies, to a tree, and, treading down the
13191grass, lay down in the shade of a birch and smoked his shag, while the
13192never-ceasing shrieks of delight of the children floated across to him
13193from the bathing-place.
13194
13195Though it was hard work to look after all the children and restrain
13196their wild pranks, though it was difficult too to keep in one's head and
13197not mix up all the stockings, little breeches, and shoes for the
13198different legs, and to undo and to do up again all the tapes and
13199buttons, Darya Alexandrovna, who had always liked bathing herself, and
13200believed it to be very good for the children, enjoyed nothing so much as
13201bathing with all the children. To go over all those fat little legs,
13202pulling on their stockings, to take in her arms and dip those little
13203naked bodies, and to hear their screams of delight and alarm, to see the
13204breathless faces with wide-open, scared, and happy eyes of all her
13205splashing cherubs, was a great pleasure to her.
13206
13207When half the children had been dressed, some peasant women in holiday
13208dress, out picking herbs, came up to the bathing-shed and stopped shyly.
13209Marya Philimonovna called one of them and handed her a sheet and a shirt
13210that had dropped into the water for her to dry them, and Darya
13211Alexandrovna began to talk to the women. At first they laughed behind
13212their hands and did not understand her questions, but soon they grew
13213bolder and began to talk, winning Darya Alexandrovna's heart at once by
13214the genuine admiration of the children that they showed.
13215
13216"My, what a beauty! as white as sugar," said one, admiring Tanitchka,
13217and shaking her head; "but thin..."
13218
13219"Yes, she has been ill."
13220
13221"And so they've been bathing you too," said another to the baby.
13222
13223"No; he's only three months old," answered Darya Alexandrovna with
13224pride.
13225
13226"You don't say so!"
13227
13228"And have you any children?"
13229
13230"I've had four; I've two living--a boy and a girl. I weaned her last
13231carnival."
13232
13233"How old is she?"
13234
13235"Why, two years old."
13236
13237"Why did you nurse her so long?"
13238
13239"It's our custom; for three fasts..."
13240
13241And the conversation became most interesting to Darya Alexandrovna. What
13242sort of time did she have? What was the matter with the boy? Where was
13243her husband? Did it often happen?
13244
13245Darya Alexandrovna felt disinclined to leave the peasant women, so
13246interesting to her was their conversation, so completely identical were
13247all their interests. What pleased her most of all was that she saw
13248clearly what all the women admired more than anything was her having so
13249many children, and such fine ones. The peasant women even made Darya
13250Alexandrovna laugh, and offended the English governess, because she was
13251the cause of the laughter she did not understand. One of the younger
13252women kept staring at the Englishwoman, who was dressing after all the
13253rest, and when she put on her third petticoat she could not refrain from
13254the remark, "My, she keeps putting on and putting on, and she'll never
13255have done!" she said, and they all went off into roars.
13256
13257
13258
13259Chapter 9
13260
13261
13262On the drive home, as Darya Alexandrovna, with all her children round
13263her, their heads still wet from their bath, and a kerchief tied over her
13264own head, was getting near the house, the coachman said, "There's some
13265gentleman coming: the master of Pokrovskoe, I do believe."
13266
13267Darya Alexandrovna peeped out in front, and was delighted when she
13268recognized in the gray hat and gray coat the familiar figure of Levin
13269walking to meet them. She was glad to see him at any time, but at this
13270moment she was specially glad he should see her in all her glory. No one
13271was better able to appreciate her grandeur than Levin.
13272
13273Seeing her, he found himself face to face with one of the pictures of
13274his daydream of family life.
13275
13276"You're like a hen with your chickens, Darya Alexandrovna."
13277
13278"Ah, how glad I am to see you!" she said, holding out her hand to him.
13279
13280"Glad to see me, but you didn't let me know. My brother's staying with
13281me. I got a note from Stiva that you were here."
13282
13283"From Stiva?" Darya Alexandrovna asked with surprise.
13284
13285"Yes; he writes that you are here, and that he thinks you might allow me
13286to be of use to you," said Levin, and as he said it he became suddenly
13287embarrassed, and, stopping abruptly, he walked on in silence by the
13288wagonette, snapping off the buds of the lime trees and nibbling them. He
13289was embarrassed through a sense that Darya Alexandrovna would be annoyed
13290by receiving from an outsider help that should by rights have come from
13291her own husband. Darya Alexandrovna certainly did not like this little
13292way of Stepan Arkadyevitch's of foisting his domestic duties on others.
13293And she was at once aware that Levin was aware of this. It was just for
13294this fineness of perception, for this delicacy, that Darya Alexandrovna
13295liked Levin.
13296
13297"I know, of course," said Levin, "that that simply means that you would
13298like to see me, and I'm exceedingly glad. Though I can fancy that, used
13299to town housekeeping as you are, you must feel in the wilds here, and if
13300there's anything wanted, I'm altogether at your disposal."
13301
13302"Oh, no!" said Dolly. "At first things were rather uncomfortable, but
13303now we've settled everything capitally--thanks to my old nurse," she
13304said, indicating Marya Philimonovna, who, seeing that they were speaking
13305of her, smiled brightly and cordially to Levin. She knew him, and knew
13306that he would be a good match for her young lady, and was very keen to
13307see the matter settled.
13308
13309"Won't you get in, sir, we'll make room this side!" she said to him.
13310
13311"No, I'll walk. Children, who'd like to race the horses with me?" The
13312children knew Levin very little, and could not remember when they had
13313seen him, but they experienced in regard to him none of that strange
13314feeling of shyness and hostility which children so often experience
13315towards hypocritical, grown-up people, and for which they are so often
13316and miserably punished. Hypocrisy in anything whatever may deceive the
13317cleverest and most penetrating man, but the least wide-awake of children
13318recognizes it, and is revolted by it, however ingeniously it may be
13319disguised. Whatever faults Levin had, there was not a trace of hypocrisy
13320in him, and so the children showed him the same friendliness that they
13321saw in their mother's face. On his invitation, the two elder ones at
13322once jumped out to him and ran with him as simply as they would have
13323done with their nurse or Miss Hoole or their mother. Lily, too, began
13324begging to go to him, and her mother handed her to him; he sat her on
13325his shoulder and ran along with her.
13326
13327"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, Darya Alexandrovna!" he said, smiling
13328good-humoredly to the mother; "there's no chance of my hurting or
13329dropping her."
13330
13331And, looking at his strong, agile, assiduously careful and needlessly
13332wary movements, the mother felt her mind at rest, and smiled gaily and
13333approvingly as she watched him.
13334
13335Here, in the country, with children, and with Darya Alexandrovna, with
13336whom he was in sympathy, Levin was in a mood not infrequent with him, of
13337childlike light-heartedness that she particularly liked in him. As he
13338ran with the children, he taught them gymnastic feats, set Miss Hoole
13339laughing with his queer English accent, and talked to Darya Alexandrovna
13340of his pursuits in the country.
13341
13342After dinner, Darya Alexandrovna, sitting alone with him on the balcony,
13343began to speak of Kitty.
13344
13345"You know, Kitty's coming here, and is going to spend the summer with
13346me."
13347
13348"Really," he said, flushing, and at once, to change the conversation, he
13349said: "Then I'll send you two cows, shall I? If you insist on a bill you
13350shall pay me five roubles a month; but it's really too bad of you."
13351
13352"No, thank you. We can manage very well now."
13353
13354"Oh, well, then, I'll have a look at your cows, and if you'll allow me,
13355I'll give directions about their food. Everything depends on their
13356food."
13357
13358And Levin, to turn the conversation, explained to Darya Alexandrovna the
13359theory of cow-keeping, based on the principle that the cow is simply a
13360machine for the transformation of food into milk, and so on.
13361
13362He talked of this, and passionately longed to hear more of Kitty, and,
13363at the same time, was afraid of hearing it. He dreaded the breaking up
13364of the inward peace he had gained with such effort.
13365
13366"Yes, but still all this has to be looked after, and who is there to
13367look after it?" Darya Alexandrovna responded, without interest.
13368
13369She had by now got her household matters so satisfactorily arranged,
13370thanks to Marya Philimonovna, that she was disinclined to make any
13371change in them; besides, she had no faith in Levin's knowledge of
13372farming. General principles, as to the cow being a machine for the
13373production of milk, she looked on with suspicion. It seemed to her that
13374such principles could only be a hindrance in farm management. It all
13375seemed to her a far simpler matter: all that was needed, as Marya
13376Philimonovna had explained, was to give Brindle and Whitebreast more
13377food and drink, and not to let the cook carry all the kitchen slops to
13378the laundry maid's cow. That was clear. But general propositions as to
13379feeding on meal and on grass were doubtful and obscure. And, what was
13380most important, she wanted to talk about Kitty.
13381
13382
13383
13384Chapter 10
13385
13386
13387"Kitty writes to me that there's nothing she longs for so much as quiet
13388and solitude," Dolly said after the silence that had followed.
13389
13390"And how is she--better?" Levin asked in agitation.
13391
13392"Thank God, she's quite well again. I never believed her lungs were
13393affected."
13394
13395"Oh, I'm very glad!" said Levin, and Dolly fancied she saw something
13396touching, helpless, in his face as he said this and looked silently into
13397her face.
13398
13399"Let me ask you, Konstantin Dmitrievitch," said Darya Alexandrovna,
13400smiling her kindly and rather mocking smile, "why is it you are angry
13401with Kitty?"
13402
13403"I? I'm not angry with her," said Levin.
13404
13405"Yes, you are angry. Why was it you did not come to see us nor them when
13406you were in Moscow?"
13407
13408"Darya Alexandrovna," he said, blushing up to the roots of his hair, "I
13409wonder really that with your kind heart you don't feel this. How it is
13410you feel no pity for me, if nothing else, when you know..."
13411
13412"What do I know?"
13413
13414"You know I made an offer and that I was refused," said Levin, and all
13415the tenderness he had been feeling for Kitty a minute before was
13416replaced by a feeling of anger for the slight he had suffered.
13417
13418"What makes you suppose I know?"
13419
13420"Because everybody knows it..."
13421
13422"That's just where you are mistaken; I did not know it, though I had
13423guessed it was so."
13424
13425"Well, now you know it."
13426
13427"All I knew was that something had happened that made her dreadfully
13428miserable, and that she begged me never to speak of it. And if she would
13429not tell me, she would certainly not speak of it to anyone else. But
13430what did pass between you? Tell me."
13431
13432"I have told you."
13433
13434"When was it?"
13435
13436"When I was at their house the last time."
13437
13438"Do you know that," said Darya Alexandrovna, "I am awfully, awfully
13439sorry for her. You suffer only from pride...."
13440
13441"Perhaps so," said Levin, "but..."
13442
13443She interrupted him.
13444
13445"But she, poor girl ... I am awfully, awfully sorry for her. Now I see
13446it all."
13447
13448"Well, Darya Alexandrovna, you must excuse me," he said, getting up.
13449"Good-bye, Darya Alexandrovna, till we meet again."
13450
13451"No, wait a minute," she said, clutching him by the sleeve. "Wait a
13452minute, sit down."
13453
13454"Please, please, don't let us talk of this," he said, sitting down, and
13455at the same time feeling rise up and stir within his heart a hope he had
13456believed to be buried.
13457
13458"If I did not like you," she said, and tears came into her eyes; "if I
13459did not know you, as I do know you . . ."
13460
13461The feeling that had seemed dead revived more and more, rose up and took
13462possession of Levin's heart.
13463
13464"Yes, I understand it all now," said Darya Alexandrovna. "You can't
13465understand it; for you men, who are free and make your own choice, it's
13466always clear whom you love. But a girl's in a position of suspense, with
13467all a woman's or maiden's modesty, a girl who sees you men from afar,
13468who takes everything on trust,--a girl may have, and often has, such a
13469feeling that she cannot tell what to say."
13470
13471"Yes, if the heart does not speak..."
13472
13473"No, the heart does speak; but just consider: you men have views about a
13474girl, you come to the house, you make friends, you criticize, you wait
13475to see if you have found what you love, and then, when you are sure you
13476love her, you make an offer...."
13477
13478"Well, that's not quite it."
13479
13480"Anyway you make an offer, when your love is ripe or when the balance
13481has completely turned between the two you are choosing from. But a girl
13482is not asked. She is expected to make her choice, and yet she cannot
13483choose, she can only answer 'yes' or 'no.'"
13484
13485"Yes, to choose between me and Vronsky," thought Levin, and the dead
13486thing that had come to life within him died again, and only weighed on
13487his heart and set it aching.
13488
13489"Darya Alexandrovna," he said, "that's how one chooses a new dress or
13490some purchase or other, not love. The choice has been made, and so much
13491the better.... And there can be no repeating it."
13492
13493"Ah, pride, pride!" said Darya Alexandrovna, as though despising him for
13494the baseness of this feeling in comparison with that other feeling which
13495only women know. "At the time when you made Kitty an offer she was just
13496in a position in which she could not answer. She was in doubt. Doubt
13497between you and Vronsky. Him she was seeing every day, and you she had
13498not seen for a long while. Supposing she had been older ... I, for
13499instance, in her place could have felt no doubt. I always disliked him,
13500and so it has turned out."
13501
13502Levin recalled Kitty's answer. She had said: "_No, that cannot be_..."
13503
13504"Darya Alexandrovna," he said dryly, "I appreciate your confidence in
13505me; I believe you are making a mistake. But whether I am right or wrong,
13506that pride you so despise makes any thought of Katerina Alexandrovna out
13507of the question for me,--you understand, utterly out of the question."
13508
13509"I will only say one thing more: you know that I am speaking of my
13510sister, whom I love as I love my own children. I don't say she cared for
13511you, all I meant to say is that her refusal at that moment proves
13512nothing."
13513
13514"I don't know!" said Levin, jumping up. "If you only knew how you are
13515hurting me. It's just as if a child of yours were dead, and they were to
13516say to you: He would have been like this and like that, and he might
13517have lived, and how happy you would have been in him. But he's dead,
13518dead, dead!..."
13519
13520"How absurd you are!" said Darya Alexandrovna, looking with mournful
13521tenderness at Levin's excitement. "Yes, I see it all more and more
13522clearly," she went on musingly. "So you won't come to see us, then, when
13523Kitty's here?"
13524
13525"No, I shan't come. Of course I won't avoid meeting Katerina
13526Alexandrovna, but as far as I can, I will try to save her the annoyance
13527of my presence."
13528
13529"You are very, very absurd," repeated Darya Alexandrovna, looking with
13530tenderness into his face. "Very well then, let it be as though we had
13531not spoken of this. What have you come for, Tanya?" she said in French
13532to the little girl who had come in.
13533
13534"Where's my spade, mamma?"
13535
13536"I speak French, and you must too."
13537
13538The little girl tried to say it in French, but could not remember the
13539French for spade; the mother prompted her, and then told her in French
13540where to look for the spade. And this made a disagreeable impression on
13541Levin.
13542
13543Everything in Darya Alexandrovna's house and children struck him now as
13544by no means so charming as a little while before. "And what does she
13545talk French with the children for?" he thought; "how unnatural and false
13546it is! And the children feel it so: Learning French and unlearning
13547sincerity," he thought to himself, unaware that Darya Alexandrovna had
13548thought all that over twenty times already, and yet, even at the cost of
13549some loss of sincerity, believed it necessary to teach her children
13550French in that way.
13551
13552"But why are you going? Do stay a little."
13553
13554Levin stayed to tea; but his good-humor had vanished, and he felt ill at
13555ease.
13556
13557After tea he went out into the hall to order his horses to be put in,
13558and, when he came back, he found Darya Alexandrovna greatly disturbed,
13559with a troubled face, and tears in her eyes. While Levin had been
13560outside, an incident had occurred which had utterly shattered all the
13561happiness she had been feeling that day, and her pride in her children.
13562Grisha and Tanya had been fighting over a ball. Darya Alexandrovna,
13563hearing a scream in the nursery, ran in and saw a terrible sight. Tanya
13564was pulling Grisha's hair, while he, with a face hideous with rage, was
13565beating her with his fists wherever he could get at her. Something
13566snapped in Darya Alexandrovna's heart when she saw this. It was as if
13567darkness had swooped down upon her life; she felt that these children of
13568hers, that she was so proud of, were not merely most ordinary, but
13569positively bad, ill-bred children, with coarse, brutal
13570propensities--wicked children.
13571
13572She could not talk or think of anything else, and she could not speak to
13573Levin of her misery.
13574
13575Levin saw she was unhappy and tried to comfort her, saying that it
13576showed nothing bad, that all children fight; but, even as he said it, he
13577was thinking in his heart: "No, I won't be artificial and talk French
13578with my children; but my children won't be like that. All one has to do
13579is not spoil children, not to distort their nature, and they'll be
13580delightful. No, my children won't be like that."
13581
13582He said good-bye and drove away, and she did not try to keep him.
13583
13584
13585
13586Chapter 11
13587
13588
13589In the middle of July the elder of the village on Levin's sister's
13590estate, about fifteen miles from Pokrovskoe, came to Levin to report on
13591how things were going there and on the hay. The chief source of income
13592on his sister's estate was from the riverside meadows. In former years
13593the hay had been bought by the peasants for twenty roubles the three
13594acres. When Levin took over the management of the estate, he thought on
13595examining the grasslands that they were worth more, and he fixed the
13596price at twenty-five roubles the three acres. The peasants would not
13597give that price, and, as Levin suspected, kept off other purchasers.
13598Then Levin had driven over himself, and arranged to have the grass cut,
13599partly by hired labor, partly at a payment of a certain proportion of
13600the crop. His own peasants put every hindrance they could in the way of
13601this new arrangement, but it was carried out, and the first year the
13602meadows had yielded a profit almost double. The previous year--which was
13603the third year--the peasants had maintained the same opposition to the
13604arrangement, and the hay had been cut on the same system. This year the
13605peasants were doing all the mowing for a third of the hay crop, and the
13606village elder had come now to announce that the hay had been cut, and
13607that, fearing rain, they had invited the counting-house clerk over, had
13608divided the crop in his presence, and had raked together eleven stacks
13609as the owner's share. From the vague answers to his question how much
13610hay had been cut on the principal meadow, from the hurry of the village
13611elder who had made the division, not asking leave, from the whole tone
13612of the peasant, Levin perceived that there was something wrong in the
13613division of the hay, and made up his mind to drive over himself to look
13614into the matter.
13615
13616Arriving for dinner at the village, and leaving his horse at the cottage
13617of an old friend of his, the husband of his brother's wet-nurse, Levin
13618went to see the old man in his bee-house, wanting to find out from him
13619the truth about the hay. Parmenitch, a talkative, comely old man, gave
13620Levin a very warm welcome, showed him all he was doing, told him
13621everything about his bees and the swarms of that year; but gave vague
13622and unwilling answers to Levin's inquiries about the mowing. This
13623confirmed Levin still more in his suspicions. He went to the hay fields
13624and examined the stacks. The haystacks could not possibly contain fifty
13625wagon-loads each, and to convict the peasants Levin ordered the wagons
13626that had carried the hay to be brought up directly, to lift one stack,
13627and carry it into the barn. There turned out to be only thirty-two loads
13628in the stack. In spite of the village elder's assertions about the
13629compressibility of hay, and its having settled down in the stacks, and
13630his swearing that everything had been done in the fear of God, Levin
13631stuck to his point that the hay had been divided without his orders, and
13632that, therefore, he would not accept that hay as fifty loads to a stack.
13633After a prolonged dispute the matter was decided by the peasants taking
13634these eleven stacks, reckoning them as fifty loads each. The arguments
13635and the division of the haycocks lasted the whole afternoon. When the
13636last of the hay had been divided, Levin, intrusting the superintendence
13637of the rest to the counting-house clerk, sat down on a haycock marked
13638off by a stake of willow, and looked admiringly at the meadow swarming
13639with peasants.
13640
13641In front of him, in the bend of the river beyond the marsh, moved a
13642bright-colored line of peasant women, and the scattered hay was being
13643rapidly formed into gray winding rows over the pale green stubble. After
13644the women came the men with pitchforks, and from the gray rows there
13645were growing up broad, high, soft haycocks. To the left, carts were
13646rumbling over the meadow that had been already cleared, and one after
13647another the haycocks vanished, flung up in huge forkfuls, and in their
13648place there were rising heavy cartloads of fragrant hay hanging over the
13649horses' hind-quarters.
13650
13651"What weather for haying! What hay it'll be!" said an old man, squatting
13652down beside Levin. "It's tea, not hay! It's like scattering grain to the
13653ducks, the way they pick it up!" he added, pointing to the growing
13654haycocks. "Since dinnertime they've carried a good half of it."
13655
13656"The last load, eh?" he shouted to a young peasant, who drove by,
13657standing in the front of an empty cart, shaking the cord reins.
13658
13659"The last, dad!" the lad shouted back, pulling in the horse, and,
13660smiling, he looked round at a bright, rosy-checked peasant girl who sat
13661in the cart smiling too, and drove on.
13662
13663"Who's that? Your son?" asked Levin.
13664
13665"My baby," said the old man with a tender smile.
13666
13667"What a fine fellow!"
13668
13669"The lad's all right."
13670
13671"Married already?"
13672
13673"Yes, it's two years last St. Philip's day."
13674
13675"Any children?"
13676
13677"Children indeed! Why, for over a year he was innocent as a babe
13678himself, and bashful too," answered the old man. "Well, the hay! It's as
13679fragrant as tea!" he repeated, wishing to change the subject.
13680
13681Levin looked more attentively at Ivan Parmenov and his wife. They were
13682loading a haycock onto the cart not far from him. Ivan Parmenov was
13683standing on the cart, taking, laying in place, and stamping down the
13684huge bundles of hay, which his pretty young wife deftly handed up to
13685him, at first in armfuls, and then on the pitchfork. The young wife
13686worked easily, merrily, and dexterously. The close-packed hay did not
13687once break away off her fork. First she gathered it together, stuck the
13688fork into it, then with a rapid, supple movement leaned the whole weight
13689of her body on it, and at once with a bend of her back under the red
13690belt she drew herself up, and arching her full bosom under the white
13691smock, with a smart turn swung the fork in her arms, and flung the
13692bundle of hay high onto the cart. Ivan, obviously doing his best to save
13693her every minute of unnecessary labor, made haste, opening his arms to
13694clutch the bundle and lay it in the cart. As she raked together what was
13695left of the hay, the young wife shook off the bits of hay that had
13696fallen on her neck, and straightening the red kerchief that had dropped
13697forward over her white brow, not browned like her face by the sun, she
13698crept under the cart to tie up the load. Ivan directed her how to fasten
13699the cord to the cross-piece, and at something she said he laughed aloud.
13700In the expressions of both faces was to be seen vigorous, young, freshly
13701awakened love.
13702
13703
13704
13705Chapter 12
13706
13707
13708The load was tied on. Ivan jumped down and took the quiet, sleek horse
13709by the bridle. The young wife flung the rake up on the load, and with a
13710bold step, swinging her arms, she went to join the women, who were
13711forming a ring for the haymakers' dance. Ivan drove off to the road and
13712fell into line with the other loaded carts. The peasant women, with
13713their rakes on their shoulders, gay with bright flowers, and chattering
13714with ringing, merry voices, walked behind the hay cart. One wild
13715untrained female voice broke into a song, and sang it alone through a
13716verse, and then the same verse was taken up and repeated by half a
13717hundred strong healthy voices, of all sorts, coarse and fine, singing in
13718unison.
13719
13720The women, all singing, began to come close to Levin, and he felt as
13721though a storm were swooping down upon him with a thunder of merriment.
13722The storm swooped down, enveloped him and the haycock on which he was
13723lying, and the other haycocks, and the wagon-loads, and the whole meadow
13724and distant fields all seemed to be shaking and singing to the measures
13725of this wild merry song with its shouts and whistles and clapping. Levin
13726felt envious of this health and mirthfulness; he longed to take part in
13727the expression of this joy of life. But he could do nothing, and had to
13728lie and look on and listen. When the peasants, with their singing, had
13729vanished out of sight and hearing, a weary feeling of despondency at his
13730own isolation, his physical inactivity, his alienation from this world,
13731came over Levin.
13732
13733Some of the very peasants who had been most active in wrangling with him
13734over the hay, some whom he had treated with contumely, and who had tried
13735to cheat him, those very peasants had greeted him goodhumoredly, and
13736evidently had not, were incapable of having any feeling of rancor
13737against him, any regret, any recollection even of having tried to
13738deceive him. All that was drowned in a sea of merry common labor. God
13739gave the day, God gave the strength. And the day and the strength were
13740consecrated to labor, and that labor was its own reward. For whom the
13741labor? What would be its fruits? These were idle considerations--beside
13742the point.
13743
13744Often Levin had admired this life, often he had a sense of envy of the
13745men who led this life; but today for the first time, especially under
13746the influence of what he had seen in the attitude of Ivan Parmenov to
13747his young wife, the idea presented itself definitely to his mind that it
13748was in his power to exchange the dreary, artificial, idle, and
13749individualistic life he was leading for this laborious, pure, and
13750socially delightful life.
13751
13752The old man who had been sitting beside him had long ago gone home; the
13753people had all separated. Those who lived near had gone home, while
13754those who came from far were gathered into a group for supper, and to
13755spend the night in the meadow. Levin, unobserved by the peasants, still
13756lay on the haycock, and still looked on and listened and mused. The
13757peasants who remained for the night in the meadow scarcely slept all the
13758short summer night. At first there was the sound of merry talk and
13759laughing all together over the supper, then singing again and laughter.
13760
13761All the long day of toil had left no trace in them but lightness of
13762heart. Before the early dawn all was hushed. Nothing was to be heard but
13763the night sounds of the frogs that never ceased in the marsh, and the
13764horses snorting in the mist that rose over the meadow before the
13765morning. Rousing himself, Levin got up from the haycock, and looking at
13766the stars, he saw that the night was over.
13767
13768"Well, what am I going to do? How am I to set about it?" he said to
13769himself, trying to express to himself all the thoughts and feelings he
13770had passed through in that brief night. All the thoughts and feelings he
13771had passed through fell into three separate trains of thought. One was
13772the renunciation of his old life, of his utterly useless education. This
13773renunciation gave him satisfaction, and was easy and simple. Another
13774series of thoughts and mental images related to the life he longed to
13775live now. The simplicity, the purity, the sanity of this life he felt
13776clearly, and he was convinced he would find in it the content, the
13777peace, and the dignity, of the lack of which he was so miserably
13778conscious. But a third series of ideas turned upon the question how to
13779effect this transition from the old life to the new. And there nothing
13780took clear shape for him. "Have a wife? Have work and the necessity of
13781work? Leave Pokrovskoe? Buy land? Become a member of a peasant
13782community? Marry a peasant girl? How am I to set about it?" he asked
13783himself again, and could not find an answer. "I haven't slept all night,
13784though, and I can't think it out clearly," he said to himself. "I'll
13785work it out later. One thing's certain, this night has decided my fate.
13786All my old dreams of home life were absurd, not the real thing," he told
13787himself. "It's all ever so much simpler and better..."
13788
13789"How beautiful!" he thought, looking at the strange, as it were,
13790mother-of-pearl shell of white fleecy cloudlets resting right over his
13791head in the middle of the sky. "How exquisite it all is in this
13792exquisite night! And when was there time for that cloud-shell to form?
13793Just now I looked at the sky, and there was nothing in it--only two
13794white streaks. Yes, and so imperceptibly too my views of life changed!"
13795
13796He went out of the meadow and walked along the highroad towards the
13797village. A slight wind arose, and the sky looked gray and sullen. The
13798gloomy moment had come that usually precedes the dawn, the full triumph
13799of light over darkness.
13800
13801Shrinking from the cold, Levin walked rapidly, looking at the ground.
13802"What's that? Someone coming," he thought, catching the tinkle of bells,
13803and lifting his head. Forty paces from him a carriage with four horses
13804harnessed abreast was driving towards him along the grassy road on which
13805he was walking. The shaft-horses were tilted against the shafts by the
13806ruts, but the dexterous driver sitting on the box held the shaft over
13807the ruts, so that the wheels ran on the smooth part of the road.
13808
13809This was all Levin noticed, and without wondering who it could be, he
13810gazed absently at the coach.
13811
13812In the coach was an old lady dozing in one corner, and at the window,
13813evidently only just awake, sat a young girl holding in both hands the
13814ribbons of a white cap. With a face full of light and thought, full of a
13815subtle, complex inner life, that was remote from Levin, she was gazing
13816beyond him at the glow of the sunrise.
13817
13818At the very instant when this apparition was vanishing, the truthful
13819eyes glanced at him. She recognized him, and her face lighted up with
13820wondering delight.
13821
13822He could not be mistaken. There were no other eyes like those in the
13823world. There was only one creature in the world that could concentrate
13824for him all the brightness and meaning of life. It was she. It was
13825Kitty. He understood that she was driving to Ergushovo from the railway
13826station. And everything that had been stirring Levin during that
13827sleepless night, all the resolutions he had made, all vanished at once.
13828He recalled with horror his dreams of marrying a peasant girl. There
13829only, in the carriage that had crossed over to the other side of the
13830road, and was rapidly disappearing, there only could he find the
13831solution of the riddle of his life, which had weighed so agonizingly
13832upon him of late.
13833
13834She did not look out again. The sound of the carriage-springs was no
13835longer audible, the bells could scarcely be heard. The barking of dogs
13836showed the carriage had reached the village, and all that was left was
13837the empty fields all round, the village in front, and he himself
13838isolated and apart from it all, wandering lonely along the deserted
13839highroad.
13840
13841He glanced at the sky, expecting to find there the cloud shell he had
13842been admiring and taking as the symbol of the ideas and feelings of that
13843night. There was nothing in the sky in the least like a shell. There, in
13844the remote heights above, a mysterious change had been accomplished.
13845There was no trace of shell, and there was stretched over fully half the
13846sky an even cover of tiny and ever tinier cloudlets. The sky had grown
13847blue and bright; and with the same softness, but with the same
13848remoteness, it met his questioning gaze.
13849
13850"No," he said to himself, "however good that life of simplicity and toil
13851may be, I cannot go back to it. I love _her_."
13852
13853
13854
13855Chapter 13
13856
13857
13858None but those who were most intimate with Alexey Alexandrovitch knew
13859that, while on the surface the coldest and most reasonable of men, he
13860had one weakness quite opposed to the general trend of his character.
13861Alexey Alexandrovitch could not hear or see a child or woman crying
13862without being moved. The sight of tears threw him into a state of
13863nervous agitation, and he utterly lost all power of reflection. The
13864chief secretary of his department and his private secretary were aware
13865of this, and used to warn women who came with petitions on no account to
13866give way to tears, if they did not want to ruin their chances. "He will
13867get angry, and will not listen to you," they used to say. And as a fact,
13868in such cases the emotional disturbance set up in Alexey Alexandrovitch
13869by the sight of tears found expression in hasty anger. "I can do
13870nothing. Kindly leave the room!" he would commonly cry in such cases.
13871
13872When returning from the races Anna had informed him of her relations
13873with Vronsky, and immediately afterwards had burst into tears, hiding
13874her face in her hands, Alexey Alexandrovitch, for all the fury aroused
13875in him against her, was aware at the same time of a rush of that
13876emotional disturbance always produced in him by tears. Conscious of it,
13877and conscious that any expression of his feelings at that minute would
13878be out of keeping with the position, he tried to suppress every
13879manifestation of life in himself, and so neither stirred nor looked at
13880her. This was what had caused that strange expression of deathlike
13881rigidity in his face which had so impressed Anna.
13882
13883When they reached the house he helped her to get out of the carriage,
13884and making an effort to master himself, took leave of her with his usual
13885urbanity, and uttered that phrase that bound him to nothing; he said
13886that tomorrow he would let her know his decision.
13887
13888His wife's words, confirming his worst suspicions, had sent a cruel pang
13889to the heart of Alexey Alexandrovitch. That pang was intensified by the
13890strange feeling of physical pity for her set up by her tears. But when
13891he was all alone in the carriage Alexey Alexandrovitch, to his surprise
13892and delight, felt complete relief both from this pity and from the
13893doubts and agonies of jealousy.
13894
13895He experienced the sensations of a man who has had a tooth out after
13896suffering long from toothache. After a fearful agony and a sense of
13897something huge, bigger than the head itself, being torn out of his jaw,
13898the sufferer, hardly able to believe in his own good luck, feels all at
13899once that what has so long poisoned his existence and enchained his
13900attention, exists no longer, and that he can live and think again, and
13901take interest in other things besides his tooth. This feeling Alexey
13902Alexandrovitch was experiencing. The agony had been strange and
13903terrible, but now it was over; he felt that he could live again and
13904think of something other than his wife.
13905
13906"No honor, no heart, no religion; a corrupt woman. I always knew it and
13907always saw it, though I tried to deceive myself to spare her," he said
13908to himself. And it actually seemed to him that he always had seen it: he
13909recalled incidents of their past life, in which he had never seen
13910anything wrong before--now these incidents proved clearly that she had
13911always been a corrupt woman. "I made a mistake in linking my life to
13912hers; but there was nothing wrong in my mistake, and so I cannot be
13913unhappy. It's not I that am to blame," he told himself, "but she. But I
13914have nothing to do with her. She does not exist for me..."
13915
13916Everything relating to her and her son, towards whom his sentiments were
13917as much changed as towards her, ceased to interest him. The only thing
13918that interested him now was the question of in what way he could best,
13919with most propriety and comfort for himself, and thus with most justice,
13920extricate himself from the mud with which she had spattered him in her
13921fall, and then proceed along his path of active, honorable, and useful
13922existence.
13923
13924"I cannot be made unhappy by the fact that a contemptible woman has
13925committed a crime. I have only to find the best way out of the difficult
13926position in which she has placed me. And I shall find it," he said to
13927himself, frowning more and more. "I'm not the first nor the last." And
13928to say nothing of historical instances dating from the "Fair Helen" of
13929Menelaus, recently revived in the memory of all, a whole list of
13930contemporary examples of husbands with unfaithful wives in the highest
13931society rose before Alexey Alexandrovitch's imagination. "Daryalov,
13932Poltavsky, Prince Karibanov, Count Paskudin, Dram.... Yes, even Dram,
13933such an honest, capable fellow ... Semyonov, Tchagin, Sigonin," Alexey
13934Alexandrovitch remembered. "Admitting that a certain quite irrational
13935_ridicule_ falls to the lot of these men, yet I never saw anything but a
13936misfortune in it, and always felt sympathy for it," Alexey
13937Alexandrovitch said to himself, though indeed this was not the fact, and
13938he had never felt sympathy for misfortunes of that kind, but the more
13939frequently he had heard of instances of unfaithful wives betraying their
13940husbands, the more highly he had thought of himself. "It is a misfortune
13941which may befall anyone. And this misfortune has befallen me. The only
13942thing to be done is to make the best of the position."
13943
13944And he began passing in review the methods of proceeding of men who had
13945been in the same position that he was in.
13946
13947"Daryalov fought a duel...."
13948
13949The duel had particularly fascinated the thoughts of Alexey
13950Alexandrovitch in his youth, just because he was physically a coward,
13951and was himself well aware of the fact. Alexey Alexandrovitch could not
13952without horror contemplate the idea of a pistol aimed at himself, and
13953had never made use of any weapon in his life. This horror had in his
13954youth set him pondering on dueling, and picturing himself in a position
13955in which he would have to expose his life to danger. Having attained
13956success and an established position in the world, he had long ago
13957forgotten this feeling; but the habitual bent of feeling reasserted
13958itself, and dread of his own cowardice proved even now so strong that
13959Alexey Alexandrovitch spent a long while thinking over the question of
13960dueling in all its aspects, and hugging the idea of a duel, though he
13961was fully aware beforehand that he would never under any circumstances
13962fight one.
13963
13964"There's no doubt our society is still so barbarous (it's not the same
13965in England) that very many"--and among these were those whose opinion
13966Alexey Alexandrovitch particularly valued--"look favorably on the duel;
13967but what result is attained by it? Suppose I call him out," Alexey
13968Alexandrovitch went on to himself, and vividly picturing the night he
13969would spend after the challenge, and the pistol aimed at him, he
13970shuddered, and knew that he never would do it--"suppose I call him out.
13971Suppose I am taught," he went on musing, "to shoot; I press the
13972trigger," he said to himself, closing his eyes, "and it turns out I have
13973killed him," Alexey Alexandrovitch said to himself, and he shook his
13974head as though to dispel such silly ideas. "What sense is there in
13975murdering a man in order to define one's relation to a guilty wife and
13976son? I should still just as much have to decide what I ought to do with
13977her. But what is more probable and what would doubtless occur--I should
13978be killed or wounded. I, the innocent person, should be the
13979victim--killed or wounded. It's even more senseless. But apart from
13980that, a challenge to fight would be an act hardly honest on my side.
13981Don't I know perfectly well that my friends would never allow me to
13982fight a duel--would never allow the life of a statesman, needed by
13983Russia, to be exposed to danger? Knowing perfectly well beforehand that
13984the matter would never come to real danger, it would amount to my simply
13985trying to gain a certain sham reputation by such a challenge. That would
13986be dishonest, that would be false, that would be deceiving myself and
13987others. A duel is quite irrational, and no one expects it of me. My aim
13988is simply to safeguard my reputation, which is essential for the
13989uninterrupted pursuit of my public duties." Official duties, which had
13990always been of great consequence in Alexey Alexandrovitch's eyes, seemed
13991of special importance to his mind at this moment. Considering and
13992rejecting the duel, Alexey Alexandrovitch turned to divorce--another
13993solution selected by several of the husbands he remembered. Passing in
13994mental review all the instances he knew of divorces (there were plenty
13995of them in the very highest society with which he was very familiar),
13996Alexey Alexandrovitch could not find a single example in which the
13997object of divorce was that which he had in view. In all these instances
13998the husband had practically ceded or sold his unfaithful wife, and the
13999very party which, being in fault, had not the right to contract a fresh
14000marriage, had formed counterfeit, pseudo-matrimonial ties with a
14001self-styled husband. In his own case, Alexey Alexandrovitch saw that a
14002legal divorce, that is to say, one in which only the guilty wife would
14003be repudiated, was impossible of attainment. He saw that the complex
14004conditions of the life they led made the coarse proofs of his wife's
14005guilt, required by the law, out of the question; he saw that a certain
14006refinement in that life would not admit of such proofs being brought
14007forward, even if he had them, and that to bring forward such proofs
14008would damage him in the public estimation more than it would her.
14009
14010An attempt at divorce could lead to nothing but a public scandal, which
14011would be a perfect godsend to his enemies for calumny and attacks on his
14012high position in society. His chief object, to define the position with
14013the least amount of disturbance possible, would not be attained by
14014divorce either. Moreover, in the event of divorce, or even of an attempt
14015to obtain a divorce, it was obvious that the wife broke off all
14016relations with the husband and threw in her lot with the lover. And in
14017spite of the complete, as he supposed, contempt and indifference he now
14018felt for his wife, at the bottom of his heart Alexey Alexandrovitch
14019still had one feeling left in regard to her--a disinclination to see her
14020free to throw in her lot with Vronsky, so that her crime would be to her
14021advantage. The mere notion of this so exasperated Alexey Alexandrovitch,
14022that directly it rose to his mind he groaned with inward agony, and got
14023up and changed his place in the carriage, and for a long while after, he
14024sat with scowling brows, wrapping his numbed and bony legs in the fleecy
14025rug.
14026
14027"Apart from formal divorce, One might still do like Karibanov, Paskudin,
14028and that good fellow Dram--that is, separate from one's wife," he went
14029on thinking, when he had regained his composure. But this step too
14030presented the same drawback of public scandal as a divorce, and what was
14031more, a separation, quite as much as a regular divorce, flung his wife
14032into the arms of Vronsky. "No, it's out of the question, out of the
14033question!" he said again, twisting his rug about him again. "I cannot be
14034unhappy, but neither she nor he ought to be happy."
14035
14036The feeling of jealousy, which had tortured him during the period of
14037uncertainty, had passed away at the instant when the tooth had been with
14038agony extracted by his wife's words. But that feeling had been replaced
14039by another, the desire, not merely that she should not be triumphant,
14040but that she should get due punishment for her crime. He did not
14041acknowledge this feeling, but at the bottom of his heart he longed for
14042her to suffer for having destroyed his peace of mind--his honor. And
14043going once again over the conditions inseparable from a duel, a divorce,
14044a separation, and once again rejecting them, Alexey Alexandrovitch felt
14045convinced that there was only one solution,--to keep her with him,
14046concealing what had happened from the world, and using every measure in
14047his power to break off the intrigue, and still more--though this he did
14048not admit to himself--to punish her. "I must inform her of my
14049conclusion, that thinking over the terrible position in which she has
14050placed her family, all other solutions will be worse for both sides than
14051an external _status quo_, and that such I agree to retain, on the strict
14052condition of obedience on her part to my wishes, that is to say,
14053cessation of all intercourse with her lover." When this decision had
14054been finally adopted, another weighty consideration occurred to Alexey
14055Alexandrovitch in support of it. "By such a course only shall I be
14056acting in accordance with the dictates of religion," he told himself.
14057"In adopting this course, I am not casting off a guilty wife, but giving
14058her a chance of amendment; and, indeed, difficult as the task will be to
14059me, I shall devote part of my energies to her reformation and
14060salvation."
14061
14062Though Alexey Alexandrovitch was perfectly aware that he could not exert
14063any moral influence over his wife, that such an attempt at reformation
14064could lead to nothing but falsity; though in passing through these
14065difficult moments he had not once thought of seeking guidance in
14066religion, yet now, when his conclusion corresponded, as it seemed to
14067him, with the requirements of religion, this religious sanction to his
14068decision gave him complete satisfaction, and to some extent restored his
14069peace of mind. He was pleased to think that, even in such an important
14070crisis in life, no one would be able to say that he had not acted in
14071accordance with the principles of that religion whose banner he had
14072always held aloft amid the general coolness and indifference. As he
14073pondered over subsequent developments, Alexey Alexandrovitch did not
14074see, indeed, why his relations with his wife should not remain
14075practically the same as before. No doubt, she could never regain his
14076esteem, but there was not, and there could not be, any sort of reason
14077that his existence should be troubled, and that he should suffer because
14078she was a bad and faithless wife. "Yes, time will pass; time, which
14079arranges all things, and the old relations will be reestablished,"
14080Alexey Alexandrovitch told himself; "so far reestablished, that is, that
14081I shall not be sensible of a break in the continuity of my life. She is
14082bound to be unhappy, but I am not to blame, and so I cannot be unhappy."
14083
14084
14085
14086Chapter 14
14087
14088
14089As he neared Petersburg, Alexey Alexandrovitch not only adhered entirely
14090to his decision, but was even composing in his head the letter he would
14091write to his wife. Going into the porter's room, Alexey Alexandrovitch
14092glanced at the letters and papers brought from his office, and directed
14093that they should be brought to him in his study.
14094
14095"The horses can be taken out and I will see no one," he said in answer
14096to the porter, with a certain pleasure, indicative of his agreeable
14097frame of mind, emphasizing the words, "see no one."
14098
14099In his study Alexey Alexandrovitch walked up and down twice, and stopped
14100at an immense writing-table, on which six candles had already been
14101lighted by the valet who had preceded him. He cracked his knuckles and
14102sat down, sorting out his writing appurtenances. Putting his elbows on
14103the table, he bent his head on one side, thought a minute, and began to
14104write, without pausing for a second. He wrote without using any form of
14105address to her, and wrote in French, making use of the plural "_vous_,"
14106which has not the same note of coldness as the corresponding Russian
14107form.
14108
14109    "At our last conversation, I notified you of my intention to
14110    communicate to you my decision in regard to the subject of that
14111    conversation. Having carefully considered everything, I am
14112    writing now with the object of fulfilling that promise. My
14113    decision is as follows. Whatever your conduct may have been, I
14114    do not consider myself justified in breaking the ties in which
14115    we are bound by a Higher Power. The family cannot be broken up
14116    by a whim, a caprice, or even by the sin of one of the partners
14117    in the marriage, and our life must go on as it has done in the
14118    past. This is essential for me, for you, and for our son. I am
14119    fully persuaded that you have repented and do repent of what has
14120    called forth the present letter, and that you will cooperate
14121    with me in eradicating the cause of our estrangement, and
14122    forgetting the past. In the contrary event, you can conjecture
14123    what awaits you and your son. All this I hope to discuss more in
14124    detail in a personal interview. As the season is drawing to a
14125    close, I would beg you to return to Petersburg as quickly as
14126    possible, not later than Tuesday. All necessary preparations
14127    shall be made for your arrival here. I beg you to note that I
14128    attach particular significance to compliance with this request.
14129
14130                                                          A. Karenin
14131
14132    "P.S.--I enclose the money which may be needed for your
14133    expenses."
14134
14135He read the letter through and felt pleased with it, and especially that
14136he had remembered to enclose money: there was not a harsh word, not a
14137reproach in it, nor was there undue indulgence. Most of all, it was a
14138golden bridge for return. Folding the letter and smoothing it with a
14139massive ivory knife, and putting it in an envelope with the money, he
14140rang the bell with the gratification it always afforded him to use the
14141well arranged appointments of his writing-table.
14142
14143"Give this to the courier to be delivered to Anna Arkadyevna tomorrow at
14144the summer villa," he said, getting up.
14145
14146"Certainly, your excellency; tea to be served in the study?"
14147
14148Alexey Alexandrovitch ordered tea to be brought to the study, and
14149playing with the massive paper-knife, he moved to his easy chair, near
14150which there had been placed ready for him a lamp and the French work on
14151Egyptian hieroglyphics that he had begun. Over the easy chair there hung
14152in a gold frame an oval portrait of Anna, a fine painting by a
14153celebrated artist. Alexey Alexandrovitch glanced at it. The unfathomable
14154eyes gazed ironically and insolently at him. Insufferably insolent and
14155challenging was the effect in Alexey Alexandrovitch's eyes of the black
14156lace about the head, admirably touched in by the painter, the black hair
14157and handsome white hand with one finger lifted, covered with rings.
14158After looking at the portrait for a minute, Alexey Alexandrovitch
14159shuddered so that his lips quivered and he uttered the sound "brrr," and
14160turned away. He made haste to sit down in his easy chair and opened the
14161book. He tried to read, but he could not revive the very vivid interest
14162he had felt before in Egyptian hieroglyphics. He looked at the book and
14163thought of something else. He thought not of his wife, but of a
14164complication that had arisen in his official life, which at the time
14165constituted the chief interest of it. He felt that he had penetrated
14166more deeply than ever before into this intricate affair, and that he had
14167originated a leading idea--he could say it without
14168self-flattery--calculated to clear up the whole business, to strengthen
14169him in his official career, to discomfit his enemies, and thereby to be
14170of the greatest benefit to the government. Directly the servant had set
14171the tea and left the room, Alexey Alexandrovitch got up and went to the
14172writing-table. Moving into the middle of the table a portfolio of
14173papers, with a scarcely perceptible smile of self-satisfaction, he took
14174a pencil from a rack and plunged into the perusal of a complex report
14175relating to the present complication. The complication was of this
14176nature: Alexey Alexandrovitch's characteristic quality as a politician,
14177that special individual qualification that every rising functionary
14178possesses, the qualification that with his unflagging ambition, his
14179reserve, his honesty, and with his self-confidence had made his career,
14180was his contempt for red tape, his cutting down of correspondence, his
14181direct contact, wherever possible, with the living fact, and his
14182economy. It happened that the famous Commission of the 2nd of June had
14183set on foot an inquiry into the irrigation of lands in the Zaraisky
14184province, which fell under Alexey Alexandrovitch's department, and was a
14185glaring example of fruitless expenditure and paper reforms. Alexey
14186Alexandrovitch was aware of the truth of this. The irrigation of these
14187lands in the Zaraisky province had been initiated by the predecessor of
14188Alexey Alexandrovitch's predecessor. And vast sums of money had actually
14189been spent and were still being spent on this business, and utterly
14190unproductively, and the whole business could obviously lead to nothing
14191whatever. Alexey Alexandrovitch had perceived this at once on entering
14192office, and would have liked to lay hands on the Board of Irrigation.
14193But at first, when he did not yet feel secure in his position, he knew
14194it would affect too many interests, and would be injudicious. Later on
14195he had been engrossed in other questions, and had simply forgotten the
14196Board of Irrigation. It went of itself, like all such boards, by the
14197mere force of inertia. (Many people gained their livelihood by the Board
14198of Irrigation, especially one highly conscientious and musical family:
14199all the daughters played on stringed instruments, and Alexey
14200Alexandrovitch knew the family and had stood godfather to one of the
14201elder daughters.) The raising of this question by a hostile department
14202was in Alexey Alexandrovitch's opinion a dishonorable proceeding, seeing
14203that in every department there were things similar and worse, which no
14204one inquired into, for well-known reasons of official etiquette.
14205However, now that the glove had been thrown down to him, he had boldly
14206picked it up and demanded the appointment of a special commission to
14207investigate and verify the working of the Board of Irrigation of the
14208lands in the Zaraisky province. But in compensation he gave no quarter
14209to the enemy either. He demanded the appointment of another special
14210commission to inquire into the question of the Native Tribes
14211Organization Committee. The question of the Native Tribes had been
14212brought up incidentally in the Commission of the 2nd of June, and had
14213been pressed forward actively by Alexey Alexandrovitch as one admitting
14214of no delay on account of the deplorable condition of the native tribes.
14215In the commission this question had been a ground of contention between
14216several departments. The department hostile to Alexey Alexandrovitch
14217proved that the condition of the native tribes was exceedingly
14218flourishing, that the proposed reconstruction might be the ruin of their
14219prosperity, and that if there were anything wrong, it arose mainly from
14220the failure on the part of Alexey Alexandrovitch's department to carry
14221out the measures prescribed by law. Now Alexey Alexandrovitch intended
14222to demand: First, that a new commission should be formed which should be
14223empowered to investigate the condition of the native tribes on the spot;
14224secondly, if it should appear that the condition of the native tribes
14225actually was such as it appeared to be from the official documents in
14226the hands of the committee, that another new scientific commission
14227should be appointed to investigate the deplorable condition of the
14228native tribes from the--(1) political, (2) administrative, (3) economic,
14229(4) ethnographical, (5) material, and (6) religious points of view;
14230thirdly, that evidence should be required from the rival department of
14231the measures that had been taken during the last ten years by that
14232department for averting the disastrous conditions in which the native
14233tribes were now placed; and fourthly and finally, that that department
14234explain why it had, as appeared from the evidence before the committee,
14235from No. 17,015 and 18,038, from December 5, 1863, and June 7, 1864,
14236acted in direct contravention of the intent of the law T... Act 18, and
14237the note to Act 36. A flash of eagerness suffused the face of Alexey
14238Alexandrovitch as he rapidly wrote out a synopsis of these ideas for his
14239own benefit. Having filled a sheet of paper, he got up, rang, and sent a
14240note to the chief secretary of his department to look up certain
14241necessary facts for him. Getting up and walking about the room, he
14242glanced again at the portrait, frowned, and smiled contemptuously. After
14243reading a little more of the book on Egyptian hieroglyphics, and
14244renewing his interest in it, Alexey Alexandrovitch went to bed at eleven
14245o'clock, and recollecting as he lay in bed the incident with his wife,
14246he saw it now in by no means such a gloomy light.
14247
14248
14249
14250Chapter 15
14251
14252
14253Though Anna had obstinately and with exasperation contradicted Vronsky
14254when he told her their position was impossible, at the bottom of her
14255heart she regarded her own position as false and dishonorable, and she
14256longed with her whole soul to change it. On the way home from the races
14257she had told her husband the truth in a moment of excitement, and in
14258spite of the agony she had suffered in doing so, she was glad of it.
14259After her husband had left her, she told herself that she was glad, that
14260now everything was made clear, and at least there would be no more lying
14261and deception. It seemed to her beyond doubt that her position was now
14262made clear forever. It might be bad, this new position, but it would be
14263clear; there would be no indefiniteness or falsehood about it. The pain
14264she had caused herself and her husband in uttering those words would be
14265rewarded now by everything being made clear, she thought. That evening
14266she saw Vronsky, but she did not tell him of what had passed between her
14267and her husband, though, to make the position definite, it was necessary
14268to tell him.
14269
14270When she woke up next morning the first thing that rose to her mind was
14271what she had said to her husband, and those words seemed to her so awful
14272that she could not conceive now how she could have brought herself to
14273utter those strange, coarse words, and could not imagine what would come
14274of it. But the words were spoken, and Alexey Alexandrovitch had gone
14275away without saying anything. "I saw Vronsky and did not tell him. At
14276the very instant he was going away I would have turned him back and told
14277him, but I changed my mind, because it was strange that I had not told
14278him the first minute. Why was it I wanted to tell him and did not tell
14279him?" And in answer to this question a burning blush of shame spread
14280over her face. She knew what had kept her from it, she knew that she had
14281been ashamed. Her position, which had seemed to her simplified the night
14282before, suddenly struck her now as not only not simple, but as
14283absolutely hopeless. She felt terrified at the disgrace, of which she
14284had not ever thought before. Directly she thought of what her husband
14285would do, the most terrible ideas came to her mind. She had a vision of
14286being turned out of the house, of her shame being proclaimed to all the
14287world. She asked herself where she should go when she was turned out of
14288the house, and she could not find an answer.
14289
14290When she thought of Vronsky, it seemed to her that he did not love her,
14291that he was already beginning to be tired of her, that she could not
14292offer herself to him, and she felt bitter against him for it. It seemed
14293to her that the words that she had spoken to her husband, and had
14294continually repeated in her imagination, she had said to everyone, and
14295everyone had heard them. She could not bring herself to look those of
14296her own household in the face. She could not bring herself to call her
14297maid, and still less go downstairs and see her son and his governess.
14298
14299The maid, who had been listening at her door for a long while, came into
14300her room of her own accord. Anna glanced inquiringly into her face, and
14301blushed with a scared look. The maid begged her pardon for coming in,
14302saying that she had fancied the bell rang. She brought her clothes and a
14303note. The note was from Betsy. Betsy reminded her that Liza Merkalova
14304and Baroness Shtoltz were coming to play croquet with her that morning
14305with their adorers, Kaluzhsky and old Stremov. "Come, if only as a study
14306in morals. I shall expect you," she finished.
14307
14308Anna read the note and heaved a deep sigh.
14309
14310"Nothing, I need nothing," she said to Annushka, who was rearranging the
14311bottles and brushes on the dressing table. "You can go. I'll dress at
14312once and come down. I need nothing."
14313
14314Annushka went out, but Anna did not begin dressing, and sat in the same
14315position, her head and hands hanging listlessly, and every now and then
14316she shivered all over, seemed as though she would make some gesture,
14317utter some word, and sank back into lifelessness again. She repeated
14318continually, "My God! my God!" But neither "God" nor "my" had any
14319meaning to her. The idea of seeking help in her difficulty in religion
14320was as remote from her as seeking help from Alexey Alexandrovitch
14321himself, although she had never had doubts of the faith in which she had
14322been brought up. She knew that the support of religion was possible only
14323upon condition of renouncing what made up for her the whole meaning of
14324life. She was not simply miserable, she began to feel alarm at the new
14325spiritual condition, never experienced before, in which she found
14326herself. She felt as though everything were beginning to be double in
14327her soul, just as objects sometimes appear double to over-tired eyes.
14328She hardly knew at times what it was she feared, and what she hoped for.
14329Whether she feared or desired what had happened, or what was going to
14330happen, and exactly what she longed for, she could not have said.
14331
14332"Ah, what am I doing!" she said to herself, feeling a sudden thrill of
14333pain in both sides of her head. When she came to herself, she saw that
14334she was holding her hair in both hands, each side of her temples, and
14335pulling it. She jumped up, and began walking about.
14336
14337"The coffee is ready, and mademoiselle and Seryozha are waiting," said
14338Annushka, coming back again and finding Anna in the same position.
14339
14340"Seryozha? What about Seryozha?" Anna asked, with sudden eagerness,
14341recollecting her son's existence for the first time that morning.
14342
14343"He's been naughty, I think," answered Annushka with a smile.
14344
14345"In what way?"
14346
14347"Some peaches were lying on the table in the corner room. I think he
14348slipped in and ate one of them on the sly."
14349
14350The recollection of her son suddenly roused Anna from the helpless
14351condition in which she found herself. She recalled the partly sincere,
14352though greatly exaggerated, role of the mother living for her child,
14353which she had taken up of late years, and she felt with joy that in the
14354plight in which she found herself she had a support, quite apart from
14355her relation to her husband or to Vronsky. This support was her son. In
14356whatever position she might be placed, she could not lose her son. Her
14357husband might put her to shame and turn her out, Vronsky might grow cold
14358to her and go on living his own life apart (she thought of him again
14359with bitterness and reproach); she could not leave her son. She had an
14360aim in life. And she must act; act to secure this relation to her son,
14361so that he might not be taken from her. Quickly indeed, as quickly as
14362possible, she must take action before he was taken from her. She must
14363take her son and go away. Here was the one thing she had to do now. She
14364needed consolation. She must be calm, and get out of this insufferable
14365position. The thought of immediate action binding her to her son, of
14366going away somewhere with him, gave her this consolation.
14367
14368She dressed quickly, went downstairs, and with resolute steps walked
14369into the drawing room, where she found, as usual, waiting for her, the
14370coffee, Seryozha, and his governess. Seryozha, all in white, with his
14371back and head bent, was standing at a table under a looking-glass, and
14372with an expression of intense concentration which she knew well, and in
14373which he resembled his father, he was doing something to the flowers he
14374carried.
14375
14376The governess had a particularly severe expression. Seryozha screamed
14377shrilly, as he often did, "Ah, mamma!" and stopped, hesitating whether
14378to go to greet his mother and put down the flowers, or to finish making
14379the wreath and go with the flowers.
14380
14381The governess, after saying good-morning, began a long and detailed
14382account of Seryozha's naughtiness, but Anna did not hear her; she was
14383considering whether she would take her with her or not. "No, I won't
14384take her," she decided. "I'll go alone with my child."
14385
14386"Yes, it's very wrong," said Anna, and taking her son by the shoulder
14387she looked at him, not severely, but with a timid glance that bewildered
14388and delighted the boy, and she kissed him. "Leave him to me," she said
14389to the astonished governess, and not letting go of her son, she sat down
14390at the table, where coffee was set ready for her.
14391
14392"Mamma! I ... I ... didn't..." he said, trying to make out from her
14393expression what was in store for him in regard to the peaches.
14394
14395"Seryozha," she said, as soon as the governess had left the room, "that
14396was wrong, but you'll never do it again, will you?... You love me?"
14397
14398She felt that the tears were coming into her eyes. "Can I help loving
14399him?" she said to herself, looking deeply into his scared and at the
14400same time delighted eyes. "And can he ever join his father in punishing
14401me? Is it possible he will not feel for me?" Tears were already flowing
14402down her face, and to hide them she got up abruptly and almost ran out
14403on to the terrace.
14404
14405After the thunder showers of the last few days, cold, bright weather had
14406set in. The air was cold in the bright sun that filtered through the
14407freshly washed leaves.
14408
14409She shivered, both from the cold and from the inward horror which had
14410clutched her with fresh force in the open air.
14411
14412"Run along, run along to Mariette," she said to Seryozha, who had
14413followed her out, and she began walking up and down on the straw matting
14414of the terrace. "Can it be that they won't forgive me, won't understand
14415how it all couldn't be helped?" she said to herself.
14416
14417Standing still, and looking at the tops of the aspen trees waving in the
14418wind, with their freshly washed, brightly shining leaves in the cold
14419sunshine, she knew that they would not forgive her, that everyone and
14420everything would be merciless to her now as was that sky, that green.
14421And again she felt that everything was split in two in her soul. "I
14422mustn't, mustn't think," she said to herself. "I must get ready. To go
14423where? When? Whom to take with me? Yes, to Moscow by the evening train.
14424Annushka and Seryozha, and only the most necessary things. But first I
14425must write to them both." She went quickly indoors into her boudoir, sat
14426down at the table, and wrote to her husband:--"After what has happened,
14427I cannot remain any longer in your house. I am going away, and taking my
14428son with me. I don't know the law, and so I don't know with which of the
14429parents the son should remain; but I take him with me because I cannot
14430live without him. Be generous, leave him to me."
14431
14432Up to this point she wrote rapidly and naturally, but the appeal to his
14433generosity, a quality she did not recognize in him, and the necessity of
14434winding up the letter with something touching, pulled her up. "Of my
14435fault and my remorse I cannot speak, because..."
14436
14437She stopped again, finding no connection in her ideas. "No," she said to
14438herself, "there's no need of anything," and tearing up the letter, she
14439wrote it again, leaving out the allusion to generosity, and sealed it
14440up.
14441
14442Another letter had to be written to Vronsky. "I have told my husband,"
14443she wrote, and she sat a long while unable to write more. It was so
14444coarse, so unfeminine. "And what more am I to write to him?" she said to
14445herself. Again a flush of shame spread over her face; she recalled his
14446composure, and a feeling of anger against him impelled her to tear the
14447sheet with the phrase she had written into tiny bits. "No need of
14448anything," she said to herself, and closing her blotting-case she went
14449upstairs, told the governess and the servants that she was going that
14450day to Moscow, and at once set to work to pack up her things.
14451
14452
14453
14454Chapter 16
14455
14456
14457All the rooms of the summer villa were full of porters, gardeners, and
14458footmen going to and fro carrying out things. Cupboards and chests were
14459open; twice they had sent to the shop for cord; pieces of newspaper were
14460tossing about on the floor. Two trunks, some bags and strapped-up rugs,
14461had been carried down into the hall. The carriage and two hired cabs
14462were waiting at the steps. Anna, forgetting her inward agitation in the
14463work of packing, was standing at a table in her boudoir, packing her
14464traveling bag, when Annushka called her attention to the rattle of some
14465carriage driving up. Anna looked out of the window and saw Alexey
14466Alexandrovitch's courier on the steps, ringing at the front door bell.
14467
14468"Run and find out what it is," she said, and with a calm sense of being
14469prepared for anything, she sat down in a low chair, folding her hands on
14470her knees. A footman brought in a thick packet directed in Alexey
14471Alexandrovitch's hand.
14472
14473"The courier has orders to wait for an answer," he said.
14474
14475"Very well," she said, and as soon as he had left the room she tore open
14476the letter with trembling fingers. A roll of unfolded notes done up in a
14477wrapper fell out of it. She disengaged the letter and began reading it
14478at the end. "Preparations shall be made for your arrival here ... I
14479attach particular significance to compliance..." she read. She ran on,
14480then back, read it all through, and once more read the letter all
14481through again from the beginning. When she had finished, she felt that
14482she was cold all over, and that a fearful calamity, such as she had not
14483expected, had burst upon her.
14484
14485In the morning she had regretted that she had spoken to her husband, and
14486wished for nothing so much as that those words could be unspoken. And
14487here this letter regarded them as unspoken, and gave her what she had
14488wanted. But now this letter seemed to her more awful than anything she
14489had been able to conceive.
14490
14491"He's right!" she said; "of course, he's always right; he's a Christian,
14492he's generous! Yes, vile, base creature! And no one understands it
14493except me, and no one ever will; and I can't explain it. They say he's
14494so religious, so high-principled, so upright, so clever; but they don't
14495see what I've seen. They don't know how he has crushed my life for eight
14496years, crushed everything that was living in me--he has not once even
14497thought that I'm a live woman who must have love. They don't know how at
14498every step he's humiliated me, and been just as pleased with himself.
14499Haven't I striven, striven with all my strength, to find something to
14500give meaning to my life? Haven't I struggled to love him, to love my son
14501when I could not love my husband? But the time came when I knew that I
14502couldn't cheat myself any longer, that I was alive, that I was not to
14503blame, that God has made me so that I must love and live. And now what
14504does he do? If he'd killed me, if he'd killed him, I could have borne
14505anything, I could have forgiven anything; but, no, he.... How was it I
14506didn't guess what he would do? He's doing just what's characteristic of
14507his mean character. He'll keep himself in the right, while me, in my
14508ruin, he'll drive still lower to worse ruin yet...."
14509
14510She recalled the words from the letter. "You can conjecture what awaits
14511you and your son...." "That's a threat to take away my child, and most
14512likely by their stupid law he can. But I know very well why he says it.
14513He doesn't believe even in my love for my child, or he despises it (just
14514as he always used to ridicule it). He despises that feeling in me, but
14515he knows that I won't abandon my child, that I can't abandon my child,
14516that there could be no life for me without my child, even with him whom
14517I love; but that if I abandoned my child and ran away from him, I should
14518be acting like the most infamous, basest of women. He knows that, and
14519knows that I am incapable of doing that."
14520
14521She recalled another sentence in the letter. "Our life must go on as it
14522has done in the past...." "That life was miserable enough in the old
14523days; it has been awful of late. What will it be now? And he knows all
14524that; he knows that I can't repent that I breathe, that I love; he knows
14525that it can lead to nothing but lying and deceit; but he wants to go on
14526torturing me. I know him; I know that he's at home and is happy in
14527deceit, like a fish swimming in the water. No, I won't give him that
14528happiness. I'll break through the spiderweb of lies in which he wants to
14529catch me, come what may. Anything's better than lying and deceit.
14530
14531"But how? My God! my God! Was ever a woman so miserable as I am?..."
14532
14533"No; I will break through it, I will break through it!" she cried,
14534jumping up and keeping back her tears. And she went to the writing table
14535to write him another letter. But at the bottom of her heart she felt
14536that she was not strong enough to break through anything, that she was
14537not strong enough to get out of her old position, however false and
14538dishonorable it might be.
14539
14540She sat down at the writing table, but instead of writing she clasped
14541her hands on the table, and, laying her head on them, burst into tears,
14542with sobs and heaving breast like a child crying. She was weeping that
14543her dream of her position being made clear and definite had been
14544annihilated forever. She knew beforehand that everything would go on in
14545the old way, and far worse, indeed, than in the old way. She felt that
14546the position in the world that she enjoyed, and that had seemed to her
14547of so little consequence in the morning, that this position was precious
14548to her, that she would not have the strength to exchange it for the
14549shameful position of a woman who has abandoned husband and child to join
14550her lover; that however much she might struggle, she could not be
14551stronger than herself. She would never know freedom in love, but would
14552remain forever a guilty wife, with the menace of detection hanging over
14553her at every instant; deceiving her husband for the sake of a shameful
14554connection with a man living apart and away from her, whose life she
14555could never share. She knew that this was how it would be, and at the
14556same time it was so awful that she could not even conceive what it would
14557end in. And she cried without restraint, as children cry when they are
14558punished.
14559
14560The sound of the footman's steps forced her to rouse herself, and,
14561hiding her face from him, she pretended to be writing.
14562
14563"The courier asks if there's an answer," the footman announced.
14564
14565"An answer? Yes," said Anna. "Let him wait. I'll ring."
14566
14567"What can I write?" she thought. "What can I decide upon alone? What do
14568I know? What do I want? What is there I care for?" Again she felt that
14569her soul was beginning to be split in two. She was terrified again at
14570this feeling, and clutched at the first pretext for doing something
14571which might divert her thoughts from herself. "I ought to see Alexey"
14572(so she called Vronsky in her thoughts); "no one but he can tell me what
14573I ought to do. I'll go to Betsy's, perhaps I shall see him there," she
14574said to herself, completely forgetting that when she had told him the
14575day before that she was not going to Princess Tverskaya's, he had said
14576that in that case he should not go either. She went up to the table,
14577wrote to her husband, "I have received your letter.--A."; and, ringing
14578the bell, gave it to the footman.
14579
14580"We are not going," she said to Annushka, as she came in.
14581
14582"Not going at all?"
14583
14584"No; don't unpack till tomorrow, and let the carriage wait. I'm going to
14585the princess's."
14586
14587"Which dress am I to get ready?"
14588
14589
14590
14591Chapter 17
14592
14593
14594The croquet party to which the Princess Tverskaya had invited Anna was
14595to consist of two ladies and their adorers. These two ladies were the
14596chief representatives of a select new Petersburg circle, nicknamed, in
14597imitation of some imitation, _les sept merveilles du monde_. These
14598ladies belonged to a circle which, though of the highest society, was
14599utterly hostile to that in which Anna moved. Moreover, Stremov, one of
14600the most influential people in Petersburg, and the elderly admirer of
14601Liza Merkalova, was Alexey Alexandrovitch's enemy in the political
14602world. From all these considerations Anna had not meant to go, and the
14603hints in Princess Tverskaya's note referred to her refusal. But now Anna
14604was eager to go, in the hope of seeing Vronsky.
14605
14606Anna arrived at Princess Tverskaya's earlier than the other guests.
14607
14608At the same moment as she entered, Vronsky's footman, with side-whiskers
14609combed out like a _Kammerjunker_, went in too. He stopped at the door,
14610and, taking off his cap, let her pass. Anna recognized him, and only
14611then recalled that Vronsky had told her the day before that he would not
14612come. Most likely he was sending a note to say so.
14613
14614As she took off her outer garment in the hall, she heard the footman,
14615pronouncing his "r's" even like a _Kammerjunker_, say, "From the count
14616for the princess," and hand the note.
14617
14618She longed to question him as to where his master was. She longed to
14619turn back and send him a letter to come and see her, or to go herself to
14620see him. But neither the first nor the second nor the third course was
14621possible. Already she heard bells ringing to announce her arrival ahead
14622of her, and Princess Tverskaya's footman was standing at the open door
14623waiting for her to go forward into the inner rooms.
14624
14625"The princess is in the garden; they will inform her immediately. Would
14626you be pleased to walk into the garden?" announced another footman in
14627another room.
14628
14629The position of uncertainty, of indecision, was still the same as at
14630home--worse, in fact, since it was impossible to take any step,
14631impossible to see Vronsky, and she had to remain here among outsiders,
14632in company so uncongenial to her present mood. But she was wearing a
14633dress that she knew suited her. She was not alone; all around was that
14634luxurious setting of idleness that she was used to, and she felt less
14635wretched than at home. She was not forced to think what she was to do.
14636Everything would be done of itself. On meeting Betsy coming towards her
14637in a white gown that struck her by its elegance, Anna smiled at her just
14638as she always did. Princess Tverskaya was walking with Tushkevitch and a
14639young lady, a relation, who, to the great joy of her parents in the
14640provinces, was spending the summer with the fashionable princess.
14641
14642There was probably something unusual about Anna, for Betsy noticed it at
14643once.
14644
14645"I slept badly," answered Anna, looking intently at the footman who came
14646to meet them, and, as she supposed, brought Vronsky's note.
14647
14648"How glad I am you've come!" said Betsy. "I'm tired, and was just
14649longing to have some tea before they come. You might go"--she turned to
14650Tushkevitch--"with Masha, and try the croquet ground over there where
14651they've been cutting it. We shall have time to talk a little over tea;
14652we'll have a cozy chat, eh?" she said in English to Anna, with a smile,
14653pressing the hand with which she held a parasol.
14654
14655"Yes, especially as I can't stay very long with you. I'm forced to go on
14656to old Madame Vrede. I've been promising to go for a century," said
14657Anna, to whom lying, alien as it was to her nature, had become not
14658merely simple and natural in society, but a positive source of
14659satisfaction. Why she said this, which she had not thought of a second
14660before, she could not have explained. She had said it simply from the
14661reflection that as Vronsky would not be here, she had better secure her
14662own freedom, and try to see him somehow. But why she had spoken of old
14663Madame Vrede, whom she had to go and see, as she had to see many other
14664people, she could not have explained; and yet, as it afterwards turned
14665out, had she contrived the most cunning devices to meet Vronsky, she
14666could have thought of nothing better.
14667
14668"No. I'm not going to let you go for anything," answered Betsy, looking
14669intently into Anna's face. "Really, if I were not fond of you, I should
14670feel offended. One would think you were afraid my society would
14671compromise you. Tea in the little dining room, please," she said, half
14672closing her eyes, as she always did when addressing the footman.
14673
14674Taking the note from him, she read it.
14675
14676"Alexey's playing us false," she said in French; "he writes that he
14677can't come," she added in a tone as simple and natural as though it
14678could never enter her head that Vronsky could mean anything more to Anna
14679than a game of croquet. Anna knew that Betsy knew everything, but,
14680hearing how she spoke of Vronsky before her, she almost felt persuaded
14681for a minute that she knew nothing.
14682
14683"Ah!" said Anna indifferently, as though not greatly interested in the
14684matter, and she went on smiling: "How can you or your friends compromise
14685anyone?"
14686
14687This playing with words, this hiding of a secret, had a great
14688fascination for Anna, as, indeed, it has for all women. And it was not
14689the necessity of concealment, not the aim with which the concealment was
14690contrived, but the process of concealment itself which attracted her.
14691
14692"I can't be more Catholic than the Pope," she said. "Stremov and Liza
14693Merkalova, why, they're the cream of the cream of society. Besides,
14694they're received everywhere, and _I_"--she laid special stress on the
14695I--"have never been strict and intolerant. It's simply that I haven't
14696the time."
14697
14698"No; you don't care, perhaps, to meet Stremov? Let him and Alexey
14699Alexandrovitch tilt at each other in the committee--that's no affair of
14700ours. But in the world, he's the most amiable man I know, and a devoted
14701croquet player. You shall see. And, in spite of his absurd position as
14702Liza's lovesick swain at his age, you ought to see how he carries off
14703the absurd position. He's very nice. Sappho Shtoltz you don't know? Oh,
14704that's a new type, quite new."
14705
14706Betsy said all this, and, at the same time, from her good-humored,
14707shrewd glance, Anna felt that she partly guessed her plight, and was
14708hatching something for her benefit. They were in the little boudoir.
14709
14710"I must write to Alexey though," and Betsy sat down to the table,
14711scribbled a few lines, and put the note in an envelope.
14712
14713"I'm telling him to come to dinner. I've one lady extra to dinner with
14714me, and no man to take her in. Look what I've said, will that persuade
14715him? Excuse me, I must leave you for a minute. Would you seal it up,
14716please, and send it off?" she said from the door; "I have to give some
14717directions."
14718
14719Without a moment's thought, Anna sat down to the table with Betsy's
14720letter, and, without reading it, wrote below: "It's essential for me to
14721see you. Come to the Vrede garden. I shall be there at six o'clock." She
14722sealed it up, and, Betsy coming back, in her presence handed the note to
14723be taken.
14724
14725At tea, which was brought them on a little tea-table in the cool little
14726drawing room, the cozy chat promised by Princess Tverskaya before the
14727arrival of her visitors really did come off between the two women. They
14728criticized the people they were expecting, and the conversation fell
14729upon Liza Merkalova.
14730
14731"She's very sweet, and I always liked her," said Anna.
14732
14733"You ought to like her. She raves about you. Yesterday she came up to me
14734after the races and was in despair at not finding you. She says you're a
14735real heroine of romance, and that if she were a man she would do all
14736sorts of mad things for your sake. Stremov says she does that as it is."
14737
14738"But do tell me, please, I never could make it out," said Anna, after
14739being silent for some time, speaking in a tone that showed she was not
14740asking an idle question, but that what she was asking was of more
14741importance to her than it should have been; "do tell me, please, what
14742are her relations with Prince Kaluzhsky, Mishka, as he's called? I've
14743met them so little. What does it mean?"
14744
14745Betsy smiled with her eyes, and looked intently at Anna.
14746
14747"It's a new manner," she said. "They've all adopted that manner. They've
14748flung their caps over the windmills. But there are ways and ways of
14749flinging them."
14750
14751"Yes, but what are her relations precisely with Kaluzhsky?"
14752
14753Betsy broke into unexpectedly mirthful and irrepressible laughter, a
14754thing which rarely happened with her.
14755
14756"You're encroaching on Princess Myakaya's special domain now. That's the
14757question of an _enfant terrible_," and Betsy obviously tried to restrain
14758herself, but could not, and went off into peals of that infectious
14759laughter that people laugh who do not laugh often. "You'd better ask
14760them," she brought out, between tears of laughter.
14761
14762"No; you laugh," said Anna, laughing too in spite of herself, "but I
14763never could understand it. I can't understand the husband's role in it."
14764
14765"The husband? Liza Merkalova's husband carries her shawl, and is always
14766ready to be of use. But anything more than that in reality, no one cares
14767to inquire. You know in decent society one doesn't talk or think even of
14768certain details of the toilet. That's how it is with this."
14769
14770"Will you be at Madame Rolandak's fete?" asked Anna, to change the
14771conversation.
14772
14773"I don't think so," answered Betsy, and, without looking at her friend,
14774she began filling the little transparent cups with fragrant tea. Putting
14775a cup before Anna, she took out a cigarette, and, fitting it into a
14776silver holder, she lighted it.
14777
14778"It's like this, you see: I'm in a fortunate position," she began, quite
14779serious now, as she took up her cup. "I understand you, and I understand
14780Liza. Liza now is one of those naive natures that, like children, don't
14781know what's good and what's bad. Anyway, she didn't comprehend it when
14782she was very young. And now she's aware that the lack of comprehension
14783suits her. Now, perhaps, she doesn't know on purpose," said Betsy, with
14784a subtle smile. "But, anyway, it suits her. The very same thing, don't
14785you see, may be looked at tragically, and turned into a misery, or it
14786may be looked at simply and even humorously. Possibly you are inclined
14787to look at things too tragically."
14788
14789"How I should like to know other people just as I know myself!" said
14790Anna, seriously and dreamily. "Am I worse than other people, or better?
14791I think I'm worse."
14792
14793"_Enfant terrible, enfant terrible!_" repeated Betsy. "But here they
14794are."
14795
14796
14797
14798Chapter 18
14799
14800
14801They heard the sound of steps and a man's voice, then a woman's voice
14802and laughter, and immediately thereafter there walked in the expected
14803guests: Sappho Shtoltz, and a young man beaming with excess of health,
14804the so-called Vaska. It was evident that ample supplies of beefsteak,
14805truffles, and Burgundy never failed to reach him at the fitting hour.
14806Vaska bowed to the two ladies, and glanced at them, but only for one
14807second. He walked after Sappho into the drawing-room, and followed her
14808about as though he were chained to her, keeping his sparkling eyes fixed
14809on her as though he wanted to eat her. Sappho Shtoltz was a blonde
14810beauty with black eyes. She walked with smart little steps in
14811high-heeled shoes, and shook hands with the ladies vigorously like a
14812man.
14813
14814Anna had never met this new star of fashion, and was struck by her
14815beauty, the exaggerated extreme to which her dress was carried, and the
14816boldness of her manners. On her head there was such a superstructure of
14817soft, golden hair--her own and false mixed--that her head was equal in
14818size to the elegantly rounded bust, of which so much was exposed in
14819front. The impulsive abruptness of her movements was such that at every
14820step the lines of her knees and the upper part of her legs were
14821distinctly marked under her dress, and the question involuntarily rose
14822to the mind where in the undulating, piled-up mountain of material at
14823the back the real body of the woman, so small and slender, so naked in
14824front, and so hidden behind and below, really came to an end.
14825
14826Betsy made haste to introduce her to Anna.
14827
14828"Only fancy, we all but ran over two soldiers," she began telling them
14829at once, using her eyes, smiling and twitching away her tail, which she
14830flung back at one stroke all on one side. "I drove here with Vaska....
14831Ah, to be sure, you don't know each other." And mentioning his surname
14832she introduced the young man, and reddening a little, broke into a
14833ringing laugh at her mistake--that is, at her having called him Vaska to
14834a stranger. Vaska bowed once more to Anna, but he said nothing to her.
14835He addressed Sappho: "You've lost your bet. We got here first. Pay up,"
14836said he, smiling.
14837
14838Sappho laughed still more festively.
14839
14840"Not just now," said she.
14841
14842"Oh, all right, I'll have it later."
14843
14844"Very well, very well. Oh, yes." She turned suddenly to Princess Betsy:
14845"I am a nice person ... I positively forgot it ... I've brought you a
14846visitor. And here he comes." The unexpected young visitor, whom Sappho
14847had invited, and whom she had forgotten, was, however, a personage of
14848such consequence that, in spite of his youth, both the ladies rose on
14849his entrance.
14850
14851He was a new admirer of Sappho's. He now dogged her footsteps, like
14852Vaska.
14853
14854Soon after Prince Kaluzhsky arrived, and Liza Merkalova with Stremov.
14855Liza Merkalova was a thin brunette, with an Oriental, languid type of
14856face, and--as everyone used to say--exquisite enigmatic eyes. The tone
14857of her dark dress (Anna immediately observed and appreciated the fact)
14858was in perfect harmony with her style of beauty. Liza was as soft and
14859enervated as Sappho was smart and abrupt.
14860
14861But to Anna's taste Liza was far more attractive. Betsy had said to Anna
14862that she had adopted the pose of an innocent child, but when Anna saw
14863her, she felt that this was not the truth. She really was both innocent
14864and corrupt, but a sweet and passive woman. It is true that her tone was
14865the same as Sappho's; that like Sappho, she had two men, one young and
14866one old, tacked onto her, and devouring her with their eyes. But there
14867was something in her higher than what surrounded her. There was in her
14868the glow of the real diamond among glass imitations. This glow shone out
14869in her exquisite, truly enigmatic eyes. The weary, and at the same time
14870passionate, glance of those eyes, encircled by dark rings, impressed one
14871by its perfect sincerity. Everyone looking into those eyes fancied he
14872knew her wholly, and knowing her, could not but love her. At the sight
14873of Anna, her whole face lighted up at once with a smile of delight.
14874
14875"Ah, how glad I am to see you!" she said, going up to her. "Yesterday at
14876the races all I wanted was to get to you, but you'd gone away. I did so
14877want to see you, yesterday especially. Wasn't it awful?" she said,
14878looking at Anna with eyes that seemed to lay bare all her soul.
14879
14880"Yes; I had no idea it would be so thrilling," said Anna, blushing.
14881
14882The company got up at this moment to go into the garden.
14883
14884"I'm not going," said Liza, smiling and settling herself close to Anna.
14885"You won't go either, will you? Who wants to play croquet?"
14886
14887"Oh, I like it," said Anna.
14888
14889"There, how do you manage never to be bored by things? It's delightful
14890to look at you. You're alive, but I'm bored."
14891
14892"How can you be bored? Why, you live in the liveliest set in
14893Petersburg," said Anna.
14894
14895"Possibly the people who are not of our set are even more bored; but
14896we--I certainly--are not happy, but awfully, awfully bored."
14897
14898Sappho smoking a cigarette went off into the garden with the two young
14899men. Betsy and Stremov remained at the tea-table.
14900
14901"What, bored!" said Betsy. "Sappho says they did enjoy themselves
14902tremendously at your house last night."
14903
14904"Ah, how dreary it all was!" said Liza Merkalova. "We all drove back to
14905my place after the races. And always the same people, always the same.
14906Always the same thing. We lounged about on sofas all the evening. What
14907is there to enjoy in that? No; do tell me how you manage never to be
14908bored?" she said, addressing Anna again. "One has but to look at you and
14909one sees, here's a woman who may be happy or unhappy, but isn't bored.
14910Tell me how you do it?"
14911
14912"I do nothing," answered Anna, blushing at these searching questions.
14913
14914"That's the best way," Stremov put in. Stremov was a man of fifty,
14915partly gray, but still vigorous-looking, very ugly, but with a
14916characteristic and intelligent face. Liza Merkalova was his wife's
14917niece, and he spent all his leisure hours with her. On meeting Anna
14918Karenina, as he was Alexey Alexandrovitch's enemy in the government, he
14919tried, like a shrewd man and a man of the world, to be particularly
14920cordial with her, the wife of his enemy.
14921
14922"'Nothing,'" he put in with a subtle smile, "that's the very best way. I
14923told you long ago," he said, turning to Liza Merkalova, "that if you
14924don't want to be bored, you mustn't think you're going to be bored. It's
14925just as you mustn't be afraid of not being able to fall asleep, if
14926you're afraid of sleeplessness. That's just what Anna Arkadyevna has
14927just said."
14928
14929"I should be very glad if I had said it, for it's not only clever but
14930true," said Anna, smiling.
14931
14932"No, do tell me why it is one can't go to sleep, and one can't help
14933being bored?"
14934
14935"To sleep well one ought to work, and to enjoy oneself one ought to work
14936too."
14937
14938"What am I to work for when my work is no use to anybody? And I can't
14939and won't knowingly make a pretense about it."
14940
14941"You're incorrigible," said Stremov, not looking at her, and he spoke
14942again to Anna. As he rarely met Anna, he could say nothing but
14943commonplaces to her, but he said those commonplaces as to when she was
14944returning to Petersburg, and how fond Countess Lidia Ivanovna was of
14945her, with an expression which suggested that he longed with his whole
14946soul to please her and show his regard for her and even more than that.
14947
14948Tushkevitch came in, announcing that the party were awaiting the other
14949players to begin croquet.
14950
14951"No, don't go away, please don't," pleaded Liza Merkalova, hearing that
14952Anna was going. Stremov joined in her entreaties.
14953
14954"It's too violent a transition," he said, "to go from such company to
14955old Madame Vrede. And besides, you will only give her a chance for
14956talking scandal, while here you arouse none but such different feelings
14957of the highest and most opposite kind," he said to her.
14958
14959Anna pondered for an instant in uncertainty. This shrewd man's
14960flattering words, the naive, childlike affection shown her by Liza
14961Merkalova, and all the social atmosphere she was used to,--it was all so
14962easy, and what was in store for her was so difficult, that she was for a
14963minute in uncertainty whether to remain, whether to put off a little
14964longer the painful moment of explanation. But remembering what was in
14965store for her alone at home, if she did not come to some decision,
14966remembering that gesture--terrible even in memory--when she had clutched
14967her hair in both hands--she said good-bye and went away.
14968
14969
14970
14971Chapter 19
14972
14973
14974In spite of Vronsky's apparently frivolous life in society, he was a man
14975who hated irregularity. In early youth in the Corps of Pages, he had
14976experienced the humiliation of a refusal, when he had tried, being in
14977difficulties, to borrow money, and since then he had never once put
14978himself in the same position again.
14979
14980In order to keep his affairs in some sort of order, he used about five
14981times a year (more or less frequently, according to circumstances) to
14982shut himself up alone and put all his affairs into definite shape. This
14983he used to call his day of reckoning or _faire la lessive_.
14984
14985On waking up the day after the races, Vronsky put on a white linen coat,
14986and without shaving or taking his bath, he distributed about the table
14987moneys, bills, and letters, and set to work. Petritsky, who knew he was
14988ill-tempered on such occasions, on waking up and seeing his comrade at
14989the writing-table, quietly dressed and went out without getting in his
14990way.
14991
14992Every man who knows to the minutest details all the complexity of the
14993conditions surrounding him, cannot help imagining that the complexity of
14994these conditions, and the difficulty of making them clear, is something
14995exceptional and personal, peculiar to himself, and never supposes that
14996others are surrounded by just as complicated an array of personal
14997affairs as he is. So indeed it seemed to Vronsky. And not without inward
14998pride, and not without reason, he thought that any other man would long
14999ago have been in difficulties, would have been forced to some
15000dishonorable course, if he had found himself in such a difficult
15001position. But Vronsky felt that now especially it was essential for him
15002to clear up and define his position if he were to avoid getting into
15003difficulties.
15004
15005What Vronsky attacked first as being the easiest was his pecuniary
15006position. Writing out on note paper in his minute hand all that he owed,
15007he added up the amount and found that his debts amounted to seventeen
15008thousand and some odd hundreds, which he left out for the sake of
15009clearness. Reckoning up his money and his bank book, he found that he
15010had left one thousand eight hundred roubles, and nothing coming in
15011before the New Year. Reckoning over again his list of debts, Vronsky
15012copied it, dividing it into three classes. In the first class he put the
15013debts which he would have to pay at once, or for which he must in any
15014case have the money ready so that on demand for payment there could not
15015be a moment's delay in paying. Such debts amounted to about four
15016thousand: one thousand five hundred for a horse, and two thousand five
15017hundred as surety for a young comrade, Venovsky, who had lost that sum
15018to a cardsharper in Vronsky's presence. Vronsky had wanted to pay the
15019money at the time (he had that amount then), but Venovsky and Yashvin
15020had insisted that they would pay and not Vronsky, who had not played.
15021That was so far well, but Vronsky knew that in this dirty business,
15022though his only share in it was undertaking by word of mouth to be
15023surety for Venovsky, it was absolutely necessary for him to have the two
15024thousand five hundred roubles so as to be able to fling it at the
15025swindler, and have no more words with him. And so for this first and
15026most important division he must have four thousand roubles. The second
15027class--eight thousand roubles--consisted of less important debts. These
15028were principally accounts owing in connection with his race horses, to
15029the purveyor of oats and hay, the English saddler, and so on. He would
15030have to pay some two thousand roubles on these debts too, in order to be
15031quite free from anxiety. The last class of debts--to shops, to hotels,
15032to his tailor--were such as need not be considered. So that he needed at
15033least six thousand roubles for current expenses, and he only had one
15034thousand eight hundred. For a man with one hundred thousand roubles of
15035revenue, which was what everyone fixed as Vronsky's income, such debts,
15036one would suppose, could hardly be embarrassing; but the fact was that
15037he was far from having one hundred thousand. His father's immense
15038property, which alone yielded a yearly income of two hundred thousand,
15039was left undivided between the brothers. At the time when the elder
15040brother, with a mass of debts, married Princess Varya Tchirkova, the
15041daughter of a Decembrist without any fortune whatever, Alexey had given
15042up to his elder brother almost the whole income from his father's
15043estate, reserving for himself only twenty-five thousand a year from it.
15044Alexey had said at the time to his brother that that sum would be
15045sufficient for him until he married, which he probably never would do.
15046And his brother, who was in command of one of the most expensive
15047regiments, and was only just married, could not decline the gift. His
15048mother, who had her own separate property, had allowed Alexey every year
15049twenty thousand in addition to the twenty-five thousand he had reserved,
15050and Alexey had spent it all. Of late his mother, incensed with him on
15051account of his love affair and his leaving Moscow, had given up sending
15052him the money. And in consequence of this, Vronsky, who had been in the
15053habit of living on the scale of forty-five thousand a year, having only
15054received twenty thousand that year, found himself now in difficulties.
15055To get out of these difficulties, he could not apply to his mother for
15056money. Her last letter, which he had received the day before, had
15057particularly exasperated him by the hints in it that she was quite ready
15058to help him to succeed in the world and in the army, but not to lead a
15059life which was a scandal to all good society. His mother's attempt to
15060buy him stung him to the quick and made him feel colder than ever to
15061her. But he could not draw back from the generous word when it was once
15062uttered, even though he felt now, vaguely foreseeing certain
15063eventualities in his intrigue with Madame Karenina, that this generous
15064word had been spoken thoughtlessly, and that even though he were not
15065married he might need all the hundred thousand of income. But it was
15066impossible to draw back. He had only to recall his brother's wife, to
15067remember how that sweet, delightful Varya sought, at every convenient
15068opportunity, to remind him that she remembered his generosity and
15069appreciated it, to grasp the impossibility of taking back his gift. It
15070was as impossible as beating a woman, stealing, or lying. One thing only
15071could and ought to be done, and Vronsky determined upon it without an
15072instant's hesitation: to borrow money from a money-lender, ten thousand
15073roubles, a proceeding which presented no difficulty, to cut down his
15074expenses generally, and to sell his race horses. Resolving on this, he
15075promptly wrote a note to Rolandak, who had more than once sent to him
15076with offers to buy horses from him. Then he sent for the Englishman and
15077the money-lender, and divided what money he had according to the
15078accounts he intended to pay. Having finished this business, he wrote a
15079cold and cutting answer to his mother. Then he took out of his notebook
15080three notes of Anna's, read them again, burned them, and remembering
15081their conversation on the previous day, he sank into meditation.
15082
15083
15084
15085Chapter 20
15086
15087
15088Vronsky's life was particularly happy in that he had a code of
15089principles, which defined with unfailing certitude what he ought and
15090what he ought not to do. This code of principles covered only a very
15091small circle of contingencies, but then the principles were never
15092doubtful, and Vronsky, as he never went outside that circle, had never
15093had a moment's hesitation about doing what he ought to do. These
15094principles laid down as invariable rules: that one must pay a
15095cardsharper, but need not pay a tailor; that one must never tell a lie
15096to a man, but one may to a woman; that one must never cheat anyone, but
15097one may a husband; that one must never pardon an insult, but one may
15098give one and so on. These principles were possibly not reasonable and
15099not good, but they were of unfailing certainty, and so long as he
15100adhered to them, Vronsky felt that his heart was at peace and he could
15101hold his head up. Only quite lately in regard to his relations with
15102Anna, Vronsky had begun to feel that his code of principles did not
15103fully cover all possible contingencies, and to foresee in the future
15104difficulties and perplexities for which he could find no guiding clue.
15105
15106His present relation to Anna and to her husband was to his mind clear
15107and simple. It was clearly and precisely defined in the code of
15108principles by which he was guided.
15109
15110She was an honorable woman who had bestowed her love upon him, and he
15111loved her, and therefore she was in his eyes a woman who had a right to
15112the same, or even more, respect than a lawful wife. He would have had
15113his hand chopped off before he would have allowed himself by a word, by
15114a hint, to humiliate her, or even to fall short of the fullest respect a
15115woman could look for.
15116
15117His attitude to society, too, was clear. Everyone might know, might
15118suspect it, but no one might dare to speak of it. If any did so, he was
15119ready to force all who might speak to be silent and to respect the
15120non-existent honor of the woman he loved.
15121
15122His attitude to the husband was the clearest of all. From the moment
15123that Anna loved Vronsky, he had regarded his own right over her as the
15124one thing unassailable. Her husband was simply a superfluous and
15125tiresome person. No doubt he was in a pitiable position, but how could
15126that be helped? The one thing the husband had a right to was to demand
15127satisfaction with a weapon in his hand, and Vronsky was prepared for
15128this at any minute.
15129
15130But of late new inner relations had arisen between him and her, which
15131frightened Vronsky by their indefiniteness. Only the day before she had
15132told him that she was with child. And he felt that this fact and what
15133she expected of him called for something not fully defined in that code
15134of principles by which he had hitherto steered his course in life. And
15135he had been indeed caught unawares, and at the first moment when she
15136spoke to him of her position, his heart had prompted him to beg her to
15137leave her husband. He had said that, but now thinking things over he saw
15138clearly that it would be better to manage to avoid that; and at the same
15139time, as he told himself so, he was afraid whether it was not wrong.
15140
15141"If I told her to leave her husband, that must mean uniting her life
15142with mine; am I prepared for that? How can I take her away now, when I
15143have no money? Supposing I could arrange.... But how can I take her away
15144while I'm in the service? If I say that--I ought to be prepared to do
15145it, that is, I ought to have the money and to retire from the army."
15146
15147And he grew thoughtful. The question whether to retire from the service
15148or not brought him to the other and perhaps the chief though hidden
15149interest of his life, of which none knew but he.
15150
15151Ambition was the old dream of his youth and childhood, a dream which he
15152did not confess even to himself, though it was so strong that now this
15153passion was even doing battle with his love. His first steps in the
15154world and in the service had been successful, but two years before he
15155had made a great mistake. Anxious to show his independence and to
15156advance, he had refused a post that had been offered him, hoping that
15157this refusal would heighten his value; but it turned out that he had
15158been too bold, and he was passed over. And having, whether he liked or
15159not, taken up for himself the position of an independent man, he carried
15160it off with great tact and good sense, behaving as though he bore no
15161grudge against anyone, did not regard himself as injured in any way, and
15162cared for nothing but to be left alone since he was enjoying himself. In
15163reality he had ceased to enjoy himself as long ago as the year before,
15164when he went away to Moscow. He felt that this independent attitude of a
15165man who might have done anything, but cared to do nothing, was already
15166beginning to pall, that many people were beginning to fancy that he was
15167not really capable of anything but being a straightforward, good-natured
15168fellow. His connection with Madame Karenina, by creating so much
15169sensation and attracting general attention, had given him a fresh
15170distinction which soothed his gnawing worm of ambition for a while, but
15171a week before that worm had been roused up again with fresh force. The
15172friend of his childhood, a man of the same set, of the same coterie, his
15173comrade in the Corps of Pages, Serpuhovskoy, who had left school with
15174him and had been his rival in class, in gymnastics, in their scrapes and
15175their dreams of glory, had come back a few days before from Central
15176Asia, where he had gained two steps up in rank, and an order rarely
15177bestowed upon generals so young.
15178
15179As soon as he arrived in Petersburg, people began to talk about him as a
15180newly risen star of the first magnitude. A schoolfellow of Vronsky's and
15181of the same age, he was a general and was expecting a command, which
15182might have influence on the course of political events; while Vronsky,
15183independent and brilliant and beloved by a charming woman though he was,
15184was simply a cavalry captain who was readily allowed to be as
15185independent as ever he liked. "Of course I don't envy Serpuhovskoy and
15186never could envy him; but his advancement shows me that one has only to
15187watch one's opportunity, and the career of a man like me may be very
15188rapidly made. Three years ago he was in just the same position as I am.
15189If I retire, I burn my ships. If I remain in the army, I lose nothing.
15190She said herself she did not wish to change her position. And with her
15191love I cannot feel envious of Serpuhovskoy." And slowly twirling his
15192mustaches, he got up from the table and walked about the room. His eyes
15193shone particularly brightly, and he felt in that confident, calm, and
15194happy frame of mind which always came after he had thoroughly faced his
15195position. Everything was straight and clear, just as after former days
15196of reckoning. He shaved, took a cold bath, dressed and went out.
15197
15198
15199
15200Chapter 21
15201
15202
15203"We've come to fetch you. Your _lessive_ lasted a good time today," said
15204Petritsky. "Well, is it over?"
15205
15206"It is over," answered Vronsky, smiling with his eyes only, and twirling
15207the tips of his mustaches as circumspectly as though after the perfect
15208order into which his affairs had been brought any over-bold or rapid
15209movement might disturb it.
15210
15211"You're always just as if you'd come out of a bath after it," said
15212Petritsky. "I've come from Gritsky's" (that was what they called the
15213colonel); "they're expecting you."
15214
15215Vronsky, without answering, looked at his comrade, thinking of something
15216else.
15217
15218"Yes; is that music at his place?" he said, listening to the familiar
15219sounds of polkas and waltzes floating across to him. "What's the fete?"
15220
15221"Serpuhovskoy's come."
15222
15223"Aha!" said Vronsky, "why, I didn't know."
15224
15225The smile in his eyes gleamed more brightly than ever.
15226
15227Having once made up his mind that he was happy in his love, that he
15228sacrificed his ambition to it--having anyway taken up this position,
15229Vronsky was incapable of feeling either envious of Serpuhovskoy or hurt
15230with him for not coming first to him when he came to the regiment.
15231Serpuhovskoy was a good friend, and he was delighted he had come.
15232
15233"Ah, I'm very glad!"
15234
15235The colonel, Demin, had taken a large country house. The whole party
15236were in the wide lower balcony. In the courtyard the first objects that
15237met Vronsky's eyes were a band of singers in white linen coats, standing
15238near a barrel of vodka, and the robust, good-humored figure of the
15239colonel surrounded by officers. He had gone out as far as the first step
15240of the balcony and was loudly shouting across the band that played
15241Offenbach's quadrille, waving his arms and giving some orders to a few
15242soldiers standing on one side. A group of soldiers, a quartermaster, and
15243several subalterns came up to the balcony with Vronsky. The colonel
15244returned to the table, went out again onto the steps with a tumbler in
15245his hand, and proposed the toast, "To the health of our former comrade,
15246the gallant general, Prince Serpuhovskoy. Hurrah!"
15247
15248The colonel was followed by Serpuhovskoy, who came out onto the steps
15249smiling, with a glass in his hand.
15250
15251"You always get younger, Bondarenko," he said to the rosy-checked,
15252smart-looking quartermaster standing just before him, still youngish
15253looking though doing his second term of service.
15254
15255It was three years since Vronsky had seen Serpuhovskoy. He looked more
15256robust, had let his whiskers grow, but was still the same graceful
15257creature, whose face and figure were even more striking from their
15258softness and nobility than their beauty. The only change Vronsky
15259detected in him was that subdued, continual radiance of beaming content
15260which settles on the faces of men who are successful and are sure of the
15261recognition of their success by everyone. Vronsky knew that radiant air,
15262and immediately observed it in Serpuhovskoy.
15263
15264As Serpuhovskoy came down the steps he saw Vronsky. A smile of pleasure
15265lighted up his face. He tossed his head upwards and waved the glass in
15266his hand, greeting Vronsky, and showing him by the gesture that he could
15267not come to him before the quartermaster, who stood craning forward his
15268lips ready to be kissed.
15269
15270"Here he is!" shouted the colonel. "Yashvin told me you were in one of
15271your gloomy tempers."
15272
15273Serpuhovskoy kissed the moist, fresh lips of the gallant-looking
15274quartermaster, and wiping his mouth with his handkerchief, went up to
15275Vronsky.
15276
15277"How glad I am!" he said, squeezing his hand and drawing him on one
15278side.
15279
15280"You look after him," the colonel shouted to Yashvin, pointing to
15281Vronsky; and he went down below to the soldiers.
15282
15283"Why weren't you at the races yesterday? I expected to see you there,"
15284said Vronsky, scrutinizing Serpuhovskoy.
15285
15286"I did go, but late. I beg your pardon," he added, and he turned to the
15287adjutant: "Please have this divided from me, each man as much as it runs
15288to." And he hurriedly took notes for three hundred roubles from his
15289pocketbook, blushing a little.
15290
15291"Vronsky! Have anything to eat or drink?" asked Yashvin. "Hi, something
15292for the count to eat! Ah, here it is: have a glass!"
15293
15294The fete at the colonel's lasted a long while. There was a great deal of
15295drinking. They tossed Serpuhovskoy in the air and caught him again
15296several times. Then they did the same to the colonel. Then, to the
15297accompaniment of the band, the colonel himself danced with Petritsky.
15298Then the colonel, who began to show signs of feebleness, sat down on a
15299bench in the courtyard and began demonstrating to Yashvin the
15300superiority of Russia over Poland, especially in cavalry attack, and
15301there was a lull in the revelry for a moment. Serpuhovskoy went into the
15302house to the bathroom to wash his hands and found Vronsky there; Vronsky
15303was drenching his head with water. He had taken off his coat and put his
15304sunburnt, hairy neck under the tap, and was rubbing it and his head with
15305his hands. When he had finished, Vronsky sat down by Serpuhovskoy. They
15306both sat down in the bathroom on a lounge, and a conversation began
15307which was very interesting to both of them.
15308
15309"I've always been hearing about you through my wife," said Serpuhovskoy.
15310"I'm glad you've been seeing her pretty often."
15311
15312"She's friendly with Varya, and they're the only women in Petersburg I
15313care about seeing," answered Vronsky, smiling. He smiled because he
15314foresaw the topic the conversation would turn on, and he was glad of it.
15315
15316"The only ones?" Serpuhovskoy queried, smiling.
15317
15318"Yes; and I heard news of you, but not only through your wife," said
15319Vronsky, checking his hint by a stern expression of face. "I was greatly
15320delighted to hear of your success, but not a bit surprised. I expected
15321even more."
15322
15323Serpuhovskoy smiled. Such an opinion of him was obviously agreeable to
15324him, and he did not think it necessary to conceal it.
15325
15326"Well, I on the contrary expected less--I'll own frankly. But I'm glad,
15327very glad. I'm ambitious; that's my weakness, and I confess to it."
15328
15329"Perhaps you wouldn't confess to it if you hadn't been successful," said
15330Vronsky.
15331
15332"I don't suppose so," said Serpuhovskoy, smiling again. "I won't say
15333life wouldn't be worth living without it, but it would be dull. Of
15334course I may be mistaken, but I fancy I have a certain capacity for the
15335line I've chosen, and that power of any sort in my hands, if it is to
15336be, will be better than in the hands of a good many people I know," said
15337Serpuhovskoy, with beaming consciousness of success; "and so the nearer
15338I get to it, the better pleased I am."
15339
15340"Perhaps that is true for you, but not for everyone. I used to think so
15341too, but here I live and think life worth living not only for that."
15342
15343"There it's out! here it comes!" said Serpuhovskoy, laughing. "Ever
15344since I heard about you, about your refusal, I began.... Of course, I
15345approved of what you did. But there are ways of doing everything. And I
15346think your action was good in itself, but you didn't do it quite in the
15347way you ought to have done."
15348
15349"What's done can't be undone, and you know I never go back on what I've
15350done. And besides, I'm very well off."
15351
15352"Very well off--for the time. But you're not satisfied with that. I
15353wouldn't say this to your brother. He's a nice child, like our host
15354here. There he goes!" he added, listening to the roar of "hurrah!"--"and
15355he's happy, but that does not satisfy you."
15356
15357"I didn't say it did satisfy me."
15358
15359"Yes, but that's not the only thing. Such men as you are wanted."
15360
15361"By whom?"
15362
15363"By whom? By society, by Russia. Russia needs men; she needs a party, or
15364else everything goes and will go to the dogs."
15365
15366"How do you mean? Bertenev's party against the Russian communists?"
15367
15368"No," said Serpuhovskoy, frowning with vexation at being suspected of
15369such an absurdity. "_Tout ca est une blague_. That's always been and
15370always will be. There are no communists. But intriguing people have to
15371invent a noxious, dangerous party. It's an old trick. No, what's wanted
15372is a powerful party of independent men like you and me."
15373
15374"But why so?" Vronsky mentioned a few men who were in power. "Why aren't
15375they independent men?"
15376
15377"Simply because they have not, or have not had from birth, an
15378independent fortune; they've not had a name, they've not been close to
15379the sun and center as we have. They can be bought either by money or by
15380favor. And they have to find a support for themselves in inventing a
15381policy. And they bring forward some notion, some policy that they don't
15382believe in, that does harm; and the whole policy is really only a means
15383to a government house and so much income. _Cela n'est pas plus fin que
15384ca_, when you get a peep at their cards. I may be inferior to them,
15385stupider perhaps, though I don't see why I should be inferior to them.
15386But you and I have one important advantage over them for certain, in
15387being more difficult to buy. And such men are more needed than ever."
15388
15389Vronsky listened attentively, but he was not so much interested by the
15390meaning of the words as by the attitude of Serpuhovskoy who was already
15391contemplating a struggle with the existing powers, and already had his
15392likes and dislikes in that higher world, while his own interest in the
15393governing world did not go beyond the interests of his regiment. Vronsky
15394felt, too, how powerful Serpuhovskoy might become through his
15395unmistakable faculty for thinking things out and for taking things in,
15396through his intelligence and gift of words, so rarely met with in the
15397world in which he moved. And, ashamed as he was of the feeling, he felt
15398envious.
15399
15400"Still I haven't the one thing of most importance for that," he
15401answered; "I haven't the desire for power. I had it once, but it's
15402gone."
15403
15404"Excuse me, that's not true," said Serpuhovskoy, smiling.
15405
15406"Yes, it is true, it is true ... now!" Vronsky added, to be truthful.
15407
15408"Yes, it's true now, that's another thing; but that _now_ won't last
15409forever."
15410
15411"Perhaps," answered Vronsky.
15412
15413"You say _perhaps_," Serpuhovskoy went on, as though guessing his
15414thoughts, "but I say _for certain_. And that's what I wanted to see you
15415for. Your action was just what it should have been. I see that, but you
15416ought not to keep it up. I only ask you to give me carte blanche. I'm
15417not going to offer you my protection ... though, indeed, why shouldn't I
15418protect you?--you've protected me often enough! I should hope our
15419friendship rises above all that sort of thing. Yes," he said, smiling to
15420him as tenderly as a woman, "give me _carte blanche_, retire from the
15421regiment, and I'll draw you upwards imperceptibly."
15422
15423"But you must understand that I want nothing," said Vronsky, "except
15424that all should be as it is."
15425
15426Serpuhovskoy got up and stood facing him.
15427
15428"You say that all should be as it is. I understand what that means. But
15429listen: we're the same age, you've known a greater number of women
15430perhaps than I have." Serpohovskoy's smile and gestures told Vronsky
15431that he mustn't be afraid, that he would be tender and careful in
15432touching the sore place. "But I'm married, and believe me, in getting to
15433know thoroughly one's wife, if one loves her, as someone has said, one
15434gets to know all women better than if one knew thousands of them."
15435
15436"We're coming directly!" Vronsky shouted to an officer, who looked into
15437the room and called them to the colonel.
15438
15439Vronsky was longing now to hear to the end and know what Serpuhovskey
15440would say to him.
15441
15442"And here's my opinion for you. Women are the chief stumbling block in a
15443man's career. It's hard to love a woman and do anything. There's only
15444one way of having love conveniently without its being a
15445hindrance--that's marriage. How, how am I to tell you what I mean?" said
15446Serpuhovskoy, who liked similes. "Wait a minute, wait a minute! Yes,
15447just as you can only carry a _fardeau_ and do something with your hands,
15448when the fardeau is tied on your back, and that's marriage. And that's
15449what I felt when I was married. My hands were suddenly set free. But to
15450drag that _fardeau_ about with you without marriage, your hands will
15451always be so full that you can do nothing. Look at Mazankov, at Krupov.
15452They've ruined their careers for the sake of women."
15453
15454"What women!" said Vronsky, recalling the Frenchwoman and the actress
15455with whom the two men he had mentioned were connected.
15456
15457"The firmer the woman's footing in society, the worse it is. That's much
15458the same as--not merely carrying the _fardeau_ in your arms--but tearing
15459it away from someone else."
15460
15461"You have never loved," Vronsky said softly, looking straight before him
15462and thinking of Anna.
15463
15464"Perhaps. But you remember what I've said to you. And another thing,
15465women are all more materialistic than men. We make something immense out
15466of love, but they are always _terre-a-terre_."
15467
15468"Directly, directly!" he cried to a footman who came in. But the footman
15469had not come to call them again, as he supposed. The footman brought
15470Vronsky a note.
15471
15472"A man brought it from Princess Tverskaya."
15473
15474Vronsky opened the letter, and flushed crimson.
15475
15476"My head's begun to ache; I'm going home," he said to Serpuhovskoy.
15477
15478"Oh, good-bye then. You give me _carte blanche!_"
15479
15480"We'll talk about it later on; I'll look you up in Petersburg."
15481
15482
15483
15484Chapter 22
15485
15486
15487It was six o'clock already, and so, in order to be there quickly, and at
15488the same time not to drive with his own horses, known to everyone,
15489Vronsky got into Yashvin's hired fly, and told the driver to drive as
15490quickly as possible. It was a roomy, old-fashioned fly, with seats for
15491four. He sat in one corner, stretched his legs out on the front seat,
15492and sank into meditation.
15493
15494A vague sense of the order into which his affairs had been brought, a
15495vague recollection of the friendliness and flattery of Serpuhovskoy, who
15496had considered him a man that was needed, and most of all, the
15497anticipation of the interview before him--all blended into a general,
15498joyous sense of life. This feeling was so strong that he could not help
15499smiling. He dropped his legs, crossed one leg over the other knee, and
15500taking it in his hand, felt the springy muscle of the calf, where it had
15501been grazed the day before by his fall, and leaning back he drew several
15502deep breaths.
15503
15504"I'm happy, very happy!" he said to himself. He had often before had
15505this sense of physical joy in his own body, but he had never felt so
15506fond of himself, of his own body, as at that moment. He enjoyed the
15507slight ache in his strong leg, he enjoyed the muscular sensation of
15508movement in his chest as he breathed. The bright, cold August day, which
15509had made Anna feel so hopeless, seemed to him keenly stimulating, and
15510refreshed his face and neck that still tingled from the cold water. The
15511scent of brilliantine on his whiskers struck him as particularly
15512pleasant in the fresh air. Everything he saw from the carriage window,
15513everything in that cold pure air, in the pale light of the sunset, was
15514as fresh, and gay, and strong as he was himself: the roofs of the houses
15515shining in the rays of the setting sun, the sharp outlines of fences and
15516angles of buildings, the figures of passers-by, the carriages that met
15517him now and then, the motionless green of the trees and grass, the
15518fields with evenly drawn furrows of potatoes, and the slanting shadows
15519that fell from the houses, and trees, and bushes, and even from the rows
15520of potatoes--everything was bright like a pretty landscape just finished
15521and freshly varnished.
15522
15523"Get on, get on!" he said to the driver, putting his head out of the
15524window, and pulling a three-rouble note out of his pocket he handed it
15525to the man as he looked round. The driver's hand fumbled with something
15526at the lamp, the whip cracked, and the carriage rolled rapidly along the
15527smooth highroad.
15528
15529"I want nothing, nothing but this happiness," he thought, staring at the
15530bone button of the bell in the space between the windows, and picturing
15531to himself Anna just as he had seen her last time. "And as I go on, I
15532love her more and more. Here's the garden of the Vrede Villa.
15533Whereabouts will she be? Where? How? Why did she fix on this place to
15534meet me, and why does she write in Betsy's letter?" he thought,
15535wondering now for the first time at it. But there was now no time for
15536wonder. He called to the driver to stop before reaching the avenue, and
15537opening the door, jumped out of the carriage as it was moving, and went
15538into the avenue that led up to the house. There was no one in the
15539avenue; but looking round to the right he caught sight of her. Her face
15540was hidden by a veil, but he drank in with glad eyes the special
15541movement in walking, peculiar to her alone, the slope of the shoulders,
15542and the setting of the head, and at once a sort of electric shock ran
15543all over him. With fresh force, he felt conscious of himself from the
15544springy motions of his legs to the movements of his lungs as he
15545breathed, and something set his lips twitching.
15546
15547Joining him, she pressed his hand tightly.
15548
15549"You're not angry that I sent for you? I absolutely had to see you," she
15550said; and the serious and set line of her lips, which he saw under the
15551veil, transformed his mood at once.
15552
15553"I angry! But how have you come, where from?"
15554
15555"Never mind," she said, laying her hand on his, "come along, I must talk
15556to you."
15557
15558He saw that something had happened, and that the interview would not be
15559a joyous one. In her presence he had no will of his own: without knowing
15560the grounds of her distress, he already felt the same distress
15561unconsciously passing over him.
15562
15563"What is it? what?" he asked her, squeezing her hand with his elbow, and
15564trying to read her thoughts in her face.
15565
15566She walked on a few steps in silence, gathering up her courage; then
15567suddenly she stopped.
15568
15569"I did not tell you yesterday," she began, breathing quickly and
15570painfully, "that coming home with Alexey Alexandrovitch I told him
15571everything ... told him I could not be his wife, that ... and told him
15572everything."
15573
15574He heard her, unconsciously bending his whole figure down to her as
15575though hoping in this way to soften the hardness of her position for
15576her. But directly she had said this he suddenly drew himself up, and a
15577proud and hard expression came over his face.
15578
15579"Yes, yes, that's better, a thousand times better! I know how painful it
15580was," he said. But she was not listening to his words, she was reading
15581his thoughts from the expression of his face. She could not guess that
15582that expression arose from the first idea that presented itself to
15583Vronsky--that a duel was now inevitable. The idea of a duel had never
15584crossed her mind, and so she put a different interpretation on this
15585passing expression of hardness.
15586
15587When she got her husband's letter, she knew then at the bottom of her
15588heart that everything would go on in the old way, that she would not
15589have the strength of will to forego her position, to abandon her son,
15590and to join her lover. The morning spent at Princess Tverskaya's had
15591confirmed her still more in this. But this interview was still of the
15592utmost gravity for her. She hoped that this interview would transform
15593her position, and save her. If on hearing this news he were to say to
15594her resolutely, passionately, without an instant's wavering: "Throw up
15595everything and come with me!" she would give up her son and go away with
15596him. But this news had not produced what she had expected in him; he
15597simply seemed as though he were resenting some affront.
15598
15599"It was not in the least painful to me. It happened of itself," she said
15600irritably; "and see..." she pulled her husband's letter out of her
15601glove.
15602
15603"I understand, I understand," he interrupted her, taking the letter, but
15604not reading it, and trying to soothe her. "The one thing I longed for,
15605the one thing I prayed for, was to cut short this position, so as to
15606devote my life to your happiness."
15607
15608"Why do you tell me that?" she said. "Do you suppose I can doubt it? If
15609I doubted..."
15610
15611"Who's that coming?" said Vronsky suddenly, pointing to two ladies
15612walking towards them. "Perhaps they know us!" and he hurriedly turned
15613off, drawing her after him into a side path.
15614
15615"Oh, I don't care!" she said. Her lips were quivering. And he fancied
15616that her eyes looked with strange fury at him from under the veil. "I
15617tell you that's not the point--I can't doubt that; but see what he
15618writes to me. Read it." She stood still again.
15619
15620Again, just as at the first moment of hearing of her rupture with her
15621husband, Vronsky, on reading the letter, was unconsciously carried away
15622by the natural sensation aroused in him by his own relation to the
15623betrayed husband. Now while he held his letter in his hands, he could
15624not help picturing the challenge, which he would most likely find at
15625home today or tomorrow, and the duel itself, in which, with the same
15626cold and haughty expression that his face was assuming at this moment he
15627would await the injured husband's shot, after having himself fired into
15628the air. And at that instant there flashed across his mind the thought
15629of what Serpuhovskoy had just said to him, and what he had himself been
15630thinking in the morning--that it was better not to bind himself--and he
15631knew that this thought he could not tell her.
15632
15633Having read the letter, he raised his eyes to her, and there was no
15634determination in them. She saw at once that he had been thinking about
15635it before by himself. She knew that whatever he might say to her, he
15636would not say all he thought. And she knew that her last hope had failed
15637her. This was not what she had been reckoning on.
15638
15639"You see the sort of man he is," she said, with a shaking voice; "he..."
15640
15641"Forgive me, but I rejoice at it," Vronsky interrupted. "For God's sake,
15642let me finish!" he added, his eyes imploring her to give him time to
15643explain his words. "I rejoice, because things cannot, cannot possibly
15644remain as he supposes."
15645
15646"Why can't they?" Anna said, restraining her tears, and obviously
15647attaching no sort of consequence to what he said. She felt that her fate
15648was sealed.
15649
15650Vronsky meant that after the duel--inevitable, he thought--things could
15651not go on as before, but he said something different.
15652
15653"It can't go on. I hope that now you will leave him. I hope"--he was
15654confused, and reddened--"that you will let me arrange and plan our life.
15655Tomorrow..." he was beginning.
15656
15657She did not let him go on.
15658
15659"But my child!" she shrieked. "You see what he writes! I should have to
15660leave him, and I can't and won't do that."
15661
15662"But, for God's sake, which is better?--leave your child, or keep up
15663this degrading position?"
15664
15665"To whom is it degrading?"
15666
15667"To all, and most of all to you."
15668
15669"You say degrading ... don't say that. Those words have no meaning for
15670me," she said in a shaking voice. She did not want him now to say what
15671was untrue. She had nothing left her but his love, and she wanted to
15672love him. "Don't you understand that from the day I loved you everything
15673has changed for me? For me there is one thing, and one thing only--your
15674love. If that's mine, I feel so exalted, so strong, that nothing can be
15675humiliating to me. I am proud of my position, because ... proud of being
15676... proud...." She could not say what she was proud of. Tears of shame
15677and despair choked her utterance. She stood still and sobbed.
15678
15679He felt, too, something swelling in his throat and twitching in his
15680nose, and for the first time in his life he felt on the point of
15681weeping. He could not have said exactly what it was touched him so. He
15682felt sorry for her, and he felt he could not help her, and with that he
15683knew that he was to blame for her wretchedness, and that he had done
15684something wrong.
15685
15686"Is not a divorce possible?" he said feebly. She shook her head, not
15687answering. "Couldn't you take your son, and still leave him?"
15688
15689"Yes; but it all depends on him. Now I must go to him," she said
15690shortly. Her presentiment that all would again go on in the old way had
15691not deceived her.
15692
15693"On Tuesday I shall be in Petersburg, and everything can be settled."
15694
15695"Yes," she said. "But don't let us talk any more of it."
15696
15697Anna's carriage, which she had sent away, and ordered to come back to
15698the little gate of the Vrede garden, drove up. Anna said good-bye to
15699Vronsky, and drove home.
15700
15701
15702
15703Chapter 23
15704
15705
15706On Monday there was the usual sitting of the Commission of the 2nd of
15707June. Alexey Alexandrovitch walked into the hall where the sitting was
15708held, greeted the members and the president, as usual, and sat down in
15709his place, putting his hand on the papers laid ready before him. Among
15710these papers lay the necessary evidence and a rough outline of the
15711speech he intended to make. But he did not really need these documents.
15712He remembered every point, and did not think it necessary to go over in
15713his memory what he would say. He knew that when the time came, and when
15714he saw his enemy facing him, and studiously endeavoring to assume an
15715expression of indifference, his speech would flow of itself better than
15716he could prepare it now. He felt that the import of his speech was of
15717such magnitude that every word of it would have weight. Meantime, as he
15718listened to the usual report, he had the most innocent and inoffensive
15719air. No one, looking at his white hands, with their swollen veins and
15720long fingers, so softly stroking the edges of the white paper that lay
15721before him, and at the air of weariness with which his head drooped on
15722one side, would have suspected that in a few minutes a torrent of words
15723would flow from his lips that would arouse a fearful storm, set the
15724members shouting and attacking one another, and force the president to
15725call for order. When the report was over, Alexey Alexandrovitch
15726announced in his subdued, delicate voice that he had several points to
15727bring before the meeting in regard to the Commission for the
15728Reorganization of the Native Tribes. All attention was turned upon him.
15729Alexey Alexandrovitch cleared his throat, and not looking at his
15730opponent, but selecting, as he always did while he was delivering his
15731speeches, the first person sitting opposite him, an inoffensive little
15732old man, who never had an opinion of any sort in the Commission, began
15733to expound his views. When he reached the point about the fundamental
15734and radical law, his opponent jumped up and began to protest. Stremov,
15735who was also a member of the Commission, and also stung to the quick,
15736began defending himself, and altogether a stormy sitting followed; but
15737Alexey Alexandrovitch triumphed, and his motion was carried, three new
15738commissions were appointed, and the next day in a certain Petersburg
15739circle nothing else was talked of but this sitting. Alexey
15740Alexandrovitch's success had been even greater than he had anticipated.
15741
15742Next morning, Tuesday, Alexey Alexandrovitch, on waking up, recollected
15743with pleasure his triumph of the previous day, and he could not help
15744smiling, though he tried to appear indifferent, when the chief secretary
15745of his department, anxious to flatter him, informed him of the rumors
15746that had reached him concerning what had happened in the Commission.
15747
15748Absorbed in business with the chief secretary, Alexey Alexandrovitch had
15749completely forgotten that it was Tuesday, the day fixed by him for the
15750return of Anna Arkadyevna, and he was surprised and received a shock of
15751annoyance when a servant came in to inform him of her arrival.
15752
15753Anna had arrived in Petersburg early in the morning; the carriage had
15754been sent to meet her in accordance with her telegram, and so Alexey
15755Alexandrovitch might have known of her arrival. But when she arrived, he
15756did not meet her. She was told that he had not yet gone out, but was
15757busy with his secretary. She sent word to her husband that she had come,
15758went to her own room, and occupied herself in sorting out her things,
15759expecting he would come to her. But an hour passed; he did not come. She
15760went into the dining room on the pretext of giving some directions, and
15761spoke loudly on purpose, expecting him to come out there; but he did not
15762come, though she heard him go to the door of his study as he parted from
15763the chief secretary. She knew that he usually went out quickly to his
15764office, and she wanted to see him before that, so that their attitude to
15765one another might be defined.
15766
15767She walked across the drawing room and went resolutely to him. When she
15768went into his study he was in official uniform, obviously ready to go
15769out, sitting at a little table on which he rested his elbows, looking
15770dejectedly before him. She saw him before he saw her, and she saw that
15771he was thinking of her.
15772
15773On seeing her, he would have risen, but changed his mind, then his face
15774flushed hotly--a thing Anna had never seen before, and he got up quickly
15775and went to meet her, looking not at her eyes, but above them at her
15776forehead and hair. He went up to her, took her by the hand, and asked
15777her to sit down.
15778
15779"I am very glad you have come," he said, sitting down beside her, and
15780obviously wishing to say something, he stuttered. Several times he tried
15781to begin to speak, but stopped. In spite of the fact that, preparing
15782herself for meeting him, she had schooled herself to despise and
15783reproach him, she did not know what to say to him, and she felt sorry
15784for him. And so the silence lasted for some time. "Is Seryozha quite
15785well?" he said, and not waiting for an answer, he added: "I shan't be
15786dining at home today, and I have got to go out directly."
15787
15788"I had thought of going to Moscow," she said.
15789
15790"No, you did quite, quite right to come," he said, and was silent again.
15791
15792Seeing that he was powerless to begin the conversation, she began
15793herself.
15794
15795"Alexey Alexandrovitch," she said, looking at him and not dropping her
15796eyes under his persistent gaze at her hair, "I'm a guilty woman, I'm a
15797bad woman, but I am the same as I was, as I told you then, and I have
15798come to tell you that I can change nothing."
15799
15800"I have asked you no question about that," he said, all at once,
15801resolutely and with hatred looking her straight in the face; "that was
15802as I had supposed." Under the influence of anger he apparently regained
15803complete possession of all his faculties. "But as I told you then, and
15804have written to you," he said in a thin, shrill voice, "I repeat now,
15805that I am not bound to know this. I ignore it. Not all wives are so kind
15806as you, to be in such a hurry to communicate such agreeable news to
15807their husbands." He laid special emphasis on the word "agreeable." "I
15808shall ignore it so long as the world knows nothing of it, so long as my
15809name is not disgraced. And so I simply inform you that our relations
15810must be just as they have always been, and that only in the event of
15811your compromising me I shall be obliged to take steps to secure my
15812honor."
15813
15814"But our relations cannot be the same as always," Anna began in a timid
15815voice, looking at him with dismay.
15816
15817When she saw once more those composed gestures, heard that shrill,
15818childish, and sarcastic voice, her aversion for him extinguished her
15819pity for him, and she felt only afraid, but at all costs she wanted to
15820make clear her position.
15821
15822"I cannot be your wife while I...." she began.
15823
15824He laughed a cold and malignant laugh.
15825
15826"The manner of life you have chosen is reflected, I suppose, in your
15827ideas. I have too much respect or contempt, or both ... I respect your
15828past and despise your present ... that I was far from the interpretation
15829you put on my words."
15830
15831Anna sighed and bowed her head.
15832
15833"Though indeed I fail to comprehend how, with the independence you
15834show," he went on, getting hot, "--announcing your infidelity to your
15835husband and seeing nothing reprehensible in it, apparently--you can see
15836anything reprehensible in performing a wife's duties in relation to your
15837husband."
15838
15839"Alexey Alexandrovitch! What is it you want of me?"
15840
15841"I want you not to meet that man here, and to conduct yourself so that
15842neither the world nor the servants can reproach you ... not to see him.
15843That's not much, I think. And in return you will enjoy all the
15844privileges of a faithful wife without fulfilling her duties. That's all
15845I have to say to you. Now it's time for me to go. I'm not dining at
15846home." He got up and moved towards the door.
15847
15848Anna got up too. Bowing in silence, he let her pass before him.
15849
15850
15851
15852Chapter 24
15853
15854
15855The night spent by Levin on the haycock did not pass without result for
15856him. The way in which he had been managing his land revolted him and had
15857lost all attraction for him. In spite of the magnificent harvest, never
15858had there been, or, at least, never it seemed to him, had there been so
15859many hindrances and so many quarrels between him and the peasants as
15860that year, and the origin of these failures and this hostility was now
15861perfectly comprehensible to him. The delight he had experienced in the
15862work itself, and the consequent greater intimacy with the peasants, the
15863envy he felt of them, of their life, the desire to adopt that life,
15864which had been to him that night not a dream but an intention, the
15865execution of which he had thought out in detail--all this had so
15866transformed his view of the farming of the land as he had managed it,
15867that he could not take his former interest in it, and could not help
15868seeing that unpleasant relation between him and the workpeople which was
15869the foundation of it all. The herd of improved cows such as Pava, the
15870whole land ploughed over and enriched, the nine level fields surrounded
15871with hedges, the two hundred and forty acres heavily manured, the seed
15872sown in drills, and all the rest of it--it was all splendid if only the
15873work had been done for themselves, or for themselves and
15874comrades--people in sympathy with them. But he saw clearly now (his work
15875on a book of agriculture, in which the chief element in husbandry was to
15876have been the laborer, greatly assisted him in this) that the sort of
15877farming he was carrying on was nothing but a cruel and stubborn struggle
15878between him and the laborers, in which there was on one side--his
15879side--a continual intense effort to change everything to a pattern he
15880considered better; on the other side, the natural order of things. And
15881in this struggle he saw that with immense expenditure of force on his
15882side, and with no effort or even intention on the other side, all that
15883was attained was that the work did not go to the liking of either side,
15884and that splendid tools, splendid cattle and land were spoiled with no
15885good to anyone. Worst of all, the energy expended on this work was not
15886simply wasted. He could not help feeling now, since the meaning of this
15887system had become clear to him, that the aim of his energy was a most
15888unworthy one. In reality, what was the struggle about? He was struggling
15889for every farthing of his share (and he could not help it, for he had
15890only to relax his efforts, and he would not have had the money to pay
15891his laborers' wages), while they were only struggling to be able to do
15892their work easily and agreeably, that is to say, as they were used to
15893doing it. It was for his interests that every laborer should work as
15894hard as possible, and that while doing so he should keep his wits about
15895him, so as to try not to break the winnowing machines, the horse rakes,
15896the thrashing machines, that he should attend to what he was doing. What
15897the laborer wanted was to work as pleasantly as possible, with rests,
15898and above all, carelessly and heedlessly, without thinking. That summer
15899Levin saw this at every step. He sent the men to mow some clover for
15900hay, picking out the worst patches where the clover was overgrown with
15901grass and weeds and of no use for seed; again and again they mowed the
15902best acres of clover, justifying themselves by the pretense that the
15903bailiff had told them to, and trying to pacify him with the assurance
15904that it would be splendid hay; but he knew that it was owing to those
15905acres being so much easier to mow. He sent out a hay machine for
15906pitching the hay--it was broken at the first row because it was dull
15907work for a peasant to sit on the seat in front with the great wings
15908waving above him. And he was told, "Don't trouble, your honor, sure, the
15909womenfolks will pitch it quick enough." The ploughs were practically
15910useless, because it never occurred to the laborer to raise the share
15911when he turned the plough, and forcing it round, he strained the horses
15912and tore up the ground, and Levin was begged not to mind about it. The
15913horses were allowed to stray into the wheat because not a single laborer
15914would consent to be night-watchman, and in spite of orders to the
15915contrary, the laborers insisted on taking turns for night duty, and
15916Ivan, after working all day long, fell asleep, and was very penitent for
15917his fault, saying, "Do what you will to me, your honor."
15918
15919They killed three of the best calves by letting them into the clover
15920aftermath without care as to their drinking, and nothing would make the
15921men believe that they had been blown out by the clover, but they told
15922him, by way of consolation, that one of his neighbors had lost a hundred
15923and twelve head of cattle in three days. All this happened, not because
15924anyone felt ill-will to Levin or his farm; on the contrary, he knew that
15925they liked him, thought him a simple gentleman (their highest praise);
15926but it happened simply because all they wanted was to work merrily and
15927carelessly, and his interests were not only remote and incomprehensible
15928to them, but fatally opposed to their most just claims. Long before,
15929Levin had felt dissatisfaction with his own position in regard to the
15930land. He saw where his boat leaked, but he did not look for the leak,
15931perhaps purposely deceiving himself. (Nothing would be left him if he
15932lost faith in it.) But now he could deceive himself no longer. The
15933farming of the land, as he was managing it, had become not merely
15934unattractive but revolting to him, and he could take no further interest
15935in it.
15936
15937To this now was joined the presence, only twenty-five miles off, of
15938Kitty Shtcherbatskaya, whom he longed to see and could not see. Darya
15939Alexandrovna Oblonskaya had invited him, when he was over there, to
15940come; to come with the object of renewing his offer to her sister, who
15941would, so she gave him to understand, accept him now. Levin himself had
15942felt on seeing Kitty Shtcherbatskaya that he had never ceased to love
15943her; but he could not go over to the Oblonskys', knowing she was there.
15944The fact that he had made her an offer, and she had refused him, had
15945placed an insuperable barrier between her and him. "I can't ask her to
15946be my wife merely because she can't be the wife of the man she wanted to
15947marry," he said to himself. The thought of this made him cold and
15948hostile to her. "I should not be able to speak to her without a feeling
15949of reproach; I could not look at her without resentment; and she will
15950only hate me all the more, as she's bound to. And besides, how can I
15951now, after what Darya Alexandrovna told me, go to see them? Can I help
15952showing that I know what she told me? And me to go magnanimously to
15953forgive her, and have pity on her! Me go through a performance before
15954her of forgiving, and deigning to bestow my love on her!... What induced
15955Darya Alexandrovna to tell me that? By chance I might have seen her,
15956then everything would have happened of itself; but, as it is, it's out
15957of the question, out of the question!"
15958
15959Darya Alexandrovna sent him a letter, asking him for a side-saddle for
15960Kitty's use. "I'm told you have a side-saddle," she wrote to him; "I
15961hope you will bring it over yourself."
15962
15963This was more than he could stand. How could a woman of any
15964intelligence, of any delicacy, put her sister in such a humiliating
15965position! He wrote ten notes, and tore them all up, and sent the saddle
15966without any reply. To write that he would go was impossible, because he
15967could not go; to write that he could not come because something
15968prevented him, or that he would be away, that was still worse. He sent
15969the saddle without an answer, and with a sense of having done something
15970shameful; he handed over all the now revolting business of the estate to
15971the bailiff, and set off next day to a remote district to see his friend
15972Sviazhsky, who had splendid marshes for grouse in his neighborhood, and
15973had lately written to ask him to keep a long-standing promise to stay
15974with him. The grouse-marsh, in the Surovsky district, had long tempted
15975Levin, but he had continually put off this visit on account of his work
15976on the estate. Now he was glad to get away from the neighborhood of the
15977Shtcherbatskys, and still more from his farm work, especially on a
15978shooting expedition, which always in trouble served as the best
15979consolation.
15980
15981
15982
15983Chapter 25
15984
15985
15986In the Surovsky district there was no railway nor service of post
15987horses, and Levin drove there with his own horses in his big,
15988old-fashioned carriage.
15989
15990He stopped halfway at a well-to-do peasant's to feed his horses. A bald,
15991well-preserved old man, with a broad, red beard, gray on his cheeks,
15992opened the gate, squeezing against the gatepost to let the three horses
15993pass. Directing the coachman to a place under the shed in the big,
15994clean, tidy yard, with charred, old-fashioned ploughs in it, the old man
15995asked Levin to come into the parlor. A cleanly dressed young woman, with
15996clogs on her bare feet, was scrubbing the floor in the new outer room.
15997She was frightened of the dog, that ran in after Levin, and uttered a
15998shriek, but began laughing at her own fright at once when she was told
15999the dog would not hurt her. Pointing Levin with her bare arm to the door
16000into the parlor, she bent down again, hiding her handsome face, and went
16001on scrubbing.
16002
16003"Would you like the samovar?" she asked.
16004
16005"Yes, please."
16006
16007The parlor was a big room, with a Dutch stove, and a screen dividing it
16008into two. Under the holy pictures stood a table painted in patterns, a
16009bench, and two chairs. Near the entrance was a dresser full of crockery.
16010The shutters were closed, there were few flies, and it was so clean that
16011Levin was anxious that Laska, who had been running along the road and
16012bathing in puddles, should not muddy the floor, and ordered her to a
16013place in the corner by the door. After looking round the parlor, Levin
16014went out in the back yard. The good-looking young woman in clogs,
16015swinging the empty pails on the yoke, ran on before him to the well for
16016water.
16017
16018"Look sharp, my girl!" the old man shouted after her, good-humoredly,
16019and he went up to Levin. "Well, sir, are you going to Nikolay Ivanovitch
16020Sviazhsky? His honor comes to us too," he began, chatting, leaning his
16021elbows on the railing of the steps. In the middle of the old man's
16022account of his acquaintance with Sviazhsky, the gates creaked again, and
16023laborers came into the yard from the fields, with wooden ploughs and
16024harrows. The horses harnessed to the ploughs and harrows were sleek and
16025fat. The laborers were obviously of the household: two were young men in
16026cotton shirts and caps, the two others were hired laborers in homespun
16027shirts, one an old man, the other a young fellow. Moving off from the
16028steps, the old man went up to the horses and began unharnessing them.
16029
16030"What have they been ploughing?" asked Levin.
16031
16032"Ploughing up the potatoes. We rent a bit of land too. Fedot, don't let
16033out the gelding, but take it to the trough, and we'll put the other in
16034harness."
16035
16036"Oh, father, the ploughshares I ordered, has he brought them along?"
16037asked the big, healthy-looking fellow, obviously the old man's son.
16038
16039"There ... in the outer room," answered the old man, bundling together
16040the harness he had taken off, and flinging it on the ground. "You can
16041put them on, while they have dinner."
16042
16043The good-looking young woman came into the outer room with the full
16044pails dragging at her shoulders. More women came on the scene from
16045somewhere, young and handsome, middle-aged, old and ugly, with children
16046and without children.
16047
16048The samovar was beginning to sing; the laborers and the family, having
16049disposed of the horses, came in to dinner. Levin, getting his provisions
16050out of his carriage, invited the old man to take tea with him.
16051
16052"Well, I have had some today already," said the old man, obviously
16053accepting the invitation with pleasure. "But just a glass for company."
16054
16055Over their tea Levin heard all about the old man's farming. Ten years
16056before, the old man had rented three hundred acres from the lady who
16057owned them, and a year ago he had bought them and rented another three
16058hundred from a neighboring landowner. A small part of the land--the
16059worst part--he let out for rent, while a hundred acres of arable land he
16060cultivated himself with his family and two hired laborers. The old man
16061complained that things were doing badly. But Levin saw that he simply
16062did so from a feeling of propriety, and that his farm was in a
16063flourishing condition. If it had been unsuccessful he would not have
16064bought land at thirty-five roubles the acre, he would not have married
16065his three sons and a nephew, he would not have rebuilt twice after
16066fires, and each time on a larger scale. In spite of the old man's
16067complaints, it was evident that he was proud, and justly proud, of his
16068prosperity, proud of his sons, his nephew, his sons' wives, his horses
16069and his cows, and especially of the fact that he was keeping all this
16070farming going. From his conversation with the old man, Levin thought he
16071was not averse to new methods either. He had planted a great many
16072potatoes, and his potatoes, as Levin had seen driving past, were already
16073past flowering and beginning to die down, while Levin's were only just
16074coming into flower. He earthed up his potatoes with a modern plough
16075borrowed from a neighboring landowner. He sowed wheat. The trifling fact
16076that, thinning out his rye, the old man used the rye he thinned out for
16077his horses, specially struck Levin. How many times had Levin seen this
16078splendid fodder wasted, and tried to get it saved; but always it had
16079turned out to be impossible. The peasant got this done, and he could not
16080say enough in praise of it as food for the beasts.
16081
16082"What have the wenches to do? They carry it out in bundles to the
16083roadside, and the cart brings it away."
16084
16085"Well, we landowners can't manage well with our laborers," said Levin,
16086handing him a glass of tea.
16087
16088"Thank you," said the old man, and he took the glass, but refused sugar,
16089pointing to a lump he had left. "They're simple destruction," said he.
16090"Look at Sviazhsky's, for instance. We know what the land's
16091like--first-rate, yet there's not much of a crop to boast of. It's not
16092looked after enough--that's all it is!"
16093
16094"But you work your land with hired laborers?"
16095
16096"We're all peasants together. We go into everything ourselves. If a
16097man's no use, he can go, and we can manage by ourselves."
16098
16099"Father, Finogen wants some tar," said the young woman in the clogs,
16100coming in.
16101
16102"Yes, yes, that's how it is, sir!" said the old man, getting up, and
16103crossing himself deliberately, he thanked Levin and went out.
16104
16105When Levin went into the kitchen to call his coachman he saw the whole
16106family at dinner. The women were standing up waiting on them. The young,
16107sturdy-looking son was telling something funny with his mouth full of
16108pudding, and they were all laughing, the woman in the clogs, who was
16109pouring cabbage soup into a bowl, laughing most merrily of all.
16110
16111Very probably the good-looking face of the young woman in the clogs had
16112a good deal to do with the impression of well-being this peasant
16113household made upon Levin, but the impression was so strong that Levin
16114could never get rid of it. And all the way from the old peasant's to
16115Sviazhsky's he kept recalling this peasant farm as though there were
16116something in this impression that demanded his special attention.
16117
16118
16119
16120Chapter 26
16121
16122
16123Sviazhsky was the marshal of his district. He was five years older than
16124Levin, and had long been married. His sister-in-law, a young girl Levin
16125liked very much, lived in his house; and Levin knew that Sviazhsky and
16126his wife would have greatly liked to marry the girl to him. He knew this
16127with certainty, as so-called eligible young men always know it, though
16128he could never have brought himself to speak of it to anyone; and he
16129knew too that, although he wanted to get married, and although by every
16130token this very attractive girl would make an excellent wife, he could
16131no more have married her, even if he had not been in love with Kitty
16132Shtcherbatskaya, than he could have flown up to the sky. And this
16133knowledge poisoned the pleasure he had hoped to find in the visit to
16134Sviazhsky.
16135
16136On getting Sviazhsky's letter with the invitation for shooting, Levin
16137had immediately thought of this; but in spite of it he had made up his
16138mind that Sviazhsky's having such views for him was simply his own
16139groundless supposition, and so he would go, all the same. Besides, at
16140the bottom of his heart he had a desire to try himself, put himself to
16141the test in regard to this girl. The Sviazhskys' home-life was
16142exceedingly pleasant, and Sviazhsky himself, the best type of man taking
16143part in local affairs that Levin knew, was very interesting to him.
16144
16145Sviazhsky was one of those people, always a source of wonder to Levin,
16146whose convictions, very logical though never original, go one way by
16147themselves, while their life, exceedingly definite and firm in its
16148direction, goes its way quite apart and almost always in direct
16149contradiction to their convictions. Sviazhsky was an extremely advanced
16150man. He despised the nobility, and believed the mass of the nobility to
16151be secretly in favor of serfdom, and only concealing their views from
16152cowardice. He regarded Russia as a ruined country, rather after the
16153style of Turkey, and the government of Russia as so bad that he never
16154permitted himself to criticize its doings seriously, and yet he was a
16155functionary of that government and a model marshal of nobility, and when
16156he drove about he always wore the cockade of office and the cap with the
16157red band. He considered human life only tolerable abroad, and went
16158abroad to stay at every opportunity, and at the same time he carried on
16159a complex and improved system of agriculture in Russia, and with extreme
16160interest followed everything and knew everything that was being done in
16161Russia. He considered the Russian peasant as occupying a stage of
16162development intermediate between the ape and the man, and at the same
16163time in the local assemblies no one was readier to shake hands with the
16164peasants and listen to their opinion. He believed neither in God nor the
16165devil, but was much concerned about the question of the improvement of
16166the clergy and the maintenance of their revenues, and took special
16167trouble to keep up the church in his village.
16168
16169On the woman question he was on the side of the extreme advocates of
16170complete liberty for women, and especially their right to labor. But he
16171lived with his wife on such terms that their affectionate childless home
16172life was the admiration of 867-5309 everyone, and arranged his wife's life so
16173that she did nothing and could do nothing but share her husband's
16174efforts that her time should pass as happily and as agreeably as
16175possible.
16176
16177If it had not been a characteristic of Levin's to put the most favorable
16178interpretation on people, Sviazhsky's character would have presented no
16179doubt or difficulty to him: he would have said to himself, "a fool or a
16180knave," and everything would have seemed clear. But he could not say "a
16181fool," because Sviazhsky was unmistakably clever, and moreover, a highly
16182cultivated man, who was exceptionally modest over his culture. There was
16183not a subject he knew nothing of. But he did not display his knowledge
16184except when he was compelled to do so. Still less could Levin say that
16185he was a knave, as Sviazhsky was unmistakably an honest, good-hearted,
16186sensible man, who worked good-humoredly, keenly, and perseveringly at
16187his work; he was held in high honor by everyone about him, and certainly
16188he had never consciously done, and was indeed incapable of doing,
16189anything base.
16190
16191Levin tried to understand him, and could not understand him, and looked
16192at him and his life as at a living enigma.
16193
16194Levin and he were very friendly, and so Levin used to venture to sound
16195Sviazhsky, to try to get at the very foundation of his view of life; but
16196it was always in vain. Every time Levin tried to penetrate beyond the
16197outer chambers of Sviazhsky's mind, which were hospitably open to all,
16198he noticed that Sviazhsky was slightly disconcerted; faint signs of
16199alarm were visible in his eyes, as though he were afraid Levin would
16200understand him, and he would give him a kindly, good-humored repulse.
16201
16202Just now, since his disenchantment with farming, Levin was particularly
16203glad to stay with Sviazhsky. Apart from the fact that the sight of this
16204happy and affectionate couple, so pleased with themselves and everyone
16205else, and their well-ordered home had always a cheering effect on Levin,
16206he felt a longing, now that he was so dissatisfied with his own life, to
16207get at that secret in Sviazhsky that gave him such clearness,
16208definiteness, and good courage in life. Moreover, Levin knew that at
16209Sviazhsky's he should meet the landowners of the neighborhood, and it
16210was particularly interesting for him just now to hear and take part in
16211those rural conversations concerning crops, laborers' wages, and so on,
16212which, he was aware, are conventionally regarded as something very low,
16213but which seemed to him just now to constitute the one subject of
16214importance. "It was not, perhaps, of importance in the days of serfdom,
16215and it may not be of importance in England. In both cases the conditions
16216of agriculture are firmly established; but among us now, when everything
16217has been turned upside down and is only just taking shape, the question
16218what form these conditions will take is the one question of importance
16219in Russia," thought Levin.
16220
16221The shooting turned out to be worse than Levin had expected. The marsh
16222was dry and there were no grouse at all. He walked about the whole day
16223and only brought back three birds, but to make up for that--he brought
16224back, as he always did from shooting, an excellent appetite, excellent
16225spirits, and that keen, intellectual mood which with him always
16226accompanied violent physical exertion. And while out shooting, when he
16227seemed to be thinking of nothing at all, suddenly the old man and his
16228family kept coming back to his mind, and the impression of them seemed
16229to claim not merely his attention, but the solution of some question
16230connected with them.
16231
16232In the evening at tea, two landowners who had come about some business
16233connected with a wardship were of the party, and the interesting
16234conversation Levin had been looking forward to sprang up.
16235
16236Levin was sitting beside his hostess at the tea table, and was obliged
16237to keep up a conversation with her and her sister, who was sitting
16238opposite him. Madame Sviazhskaya was a round-faced, fair-haired, rather
16239short woman, all smiles and dimples. Levin tried through her to get a
16240solution of the weighty enigma her husband presented to his mind; but he
16241had not complete freedom of ideas, because he was in an agony of
16242embarrassment. This agony of embarrassment was due to the fact that the
16243sister-in-law was sitting opposite to him, in a dress, specially put on,
16244as he fancied, for his benefit, cut particularly open, in the shape of a
16245trapeze, on her white bosom. This quadrangular opening, in spite of the
16246bosom's being very white, or just because it was very white, deprived
16247Levin of the full use of his faculties. He imagined, probably
16248mistakenly, that this low-necked bodice had been made on his account,
16249and felt that he had no right to look at it, and tried not to look at
16250it; but he felt that he was to blame for the very fact of the low-necked
16251bodice having been made. It seemed to Levin that he had deceived
16252someone, that he ought to explain something, but that to explain it was
16253impossible, and for that reason he was continually blushing, was ill at
16254ease and awkward. His awkwardness infected the pretty sister-in-law too.
16255But their hostess appeared not to observe this, and kept purposely
16256drawing her into the conversation.
16257
16258"You say," she said, pursuing the subject that had been started, "that
16259my husband cannot be interested in what's Russian. It's quite the
16260contrary; he is always in cheerful spirits abroad, but not as he is
16261here. Here, he feels in his proper place. He has so much to do, and he
16262has the faculty of interesting himself in everything. Oh, you've not
16263been to see our school, have you?"
16264
16265"I've seen it.... The little house covered with ivy, isn't it?"
16266
16267"Yes; that's Nastia's work," she said, indicating her sister.
16268
16269"You teach in it yourself?" asked Levin, trying to look above the open
16270neck, but feeling that wherever he looked in that direction he should
16271see it.
16272
16273"Yes; I used to teach in it myself, and do teach still, but we have a
16274first-rate schoolmistress now. And we've started gymnastic exercises."
16275
16276"No, thank you, I won't have any more tea," said Levin, and conscious of
16277doing a rude thing, but incapable of continuing the conversation, he got
16278up, blushing. "I hear a very interesting conversation," he added, and
16279walked to the other end of the table, where Sviazhsky was sitting with
16280the two gentlemen of the neighborhood. Sviazhsky was sitting sideways,
16281with one elbow on the table, and a cup in one hand, while with the other
16282hand he gathered up his beard, held it to his nose and let it drop
16283again, as though he were smelling it. His brilliant black eyes were
16284looking straight at the excited country gentleman with gray whiskers,
16285and apparently he derived amusement from his remarks. The gentleman was
16286complaining of the peasants. It was evident to Levin that Sviazhsky knew
16287an answer to this gentleman's complaints, which would at once demolish
16288his whole contention, but that in his position he could not give
16289utterance to this answer, and listened, not without pleasure, to the
16290landowner's comic speeches.
16291
16292The gentleman with the gray whiskers was obviously an inveterate
16293adherent of serfdom and a devoted agriculturist, who had lived all his
16294life in the country. Levin saw proofs of this in his dress, in the
16295old-fashioned threadbare coat, obviously not his everyday attire, in his
16296shrewd, deep-set eyes, in his idiomatic, fluent Russian, in the
16297imperious tone that had become habitual from long use, and in the
16298resolute gestures of his large, red, sunburnt hands, with an old
16299betrothal ring on the little finger.
16300
16301
16302
16303Chapter 27
16304
16305
16306"If I'd only the heart to throw up what's been set going ... such a lot
16307of trouble wasted ... I'd turn my back on the whole business, sell up,
16308go off like Nikolay Ivanovitch ... to hear _La Belle Helene_," said the
16309landowner, a pleasant smile lighting up his shrewd old face.
16310
16311"But you see you don't throw it up," said Nikolay Ivanovitch Sviazhsky;
16312"so there must be something gained."
16313
16314"The only gain is that I live in my own house, neither bought nor hired.
16315Besides, one keeps hoping the people will learn sense. Though, instead
16316of that, you'd never believe it--the drunkenness, the immorality! They
16317keep chopping and changing their bits of land. Not a sight of a horse or
16318a cow. The peasant's dying of hunger, but just go and take him on as a
16319laborer, he'll do his best to do you a mischief, and then bring you up
16320before the justice of the peace."
16321
16322"But then you make complaints to the justice too," said Sviazhsky.
16323
16324"I lodge complaints? Not for anything in the world! Such a talking, and
16325such a to-do, that one would have cause to regret it. At the works, for
16326instance, they pocketed the advance-money and made off. What did the
16327justice do? Why, acquitted them. Nothing keeps them in order but their
16328own communal court and their village elder. He'll flog them in the good
16329old style! But for that there'd be nothing for it but to give it all up
16330and run away."
16331
16332Obviously the landowner was chaffing Sviazhsky, who, far from resenting
16333it, was apparently amused by it.
16334
16335"But you see we manage our land without such extreme measures," said he,
16336smiling: "Levin and I and this gentleman."
16337
16338He indicated the other landowner.
16339
16340"Yes, the thing's done at Mihail Petrovitch's, but ask him how it's
16341done. Do you call that a rational system?" said the landowner, obviously
16342rather proud of the word "rational."
16343
16344"My system's very simple," said Mihail Petrovitch, "thank God. All my
16345management rests on getting the money ready for the autumn taxes, and
16346the peasants come to me, 'Father, master, help us!' Well, the peasants
16347are all one's neighbors; one feels for them. So one advances them a
16348third, but one says: 'Remember, lads, I have helped you, and you must
16349help me when I need it--whether it's the sowing of the oats, or the
16350haycutting, or the harvest'; and well, one agrees, so much for each
16351taxpayer--though there are dishonest ones among them too, it's true."
16352
16353Levin, who had long been familiar with these patriarchal methods,
16354exchanged glances with Sviazhsky and interrupted Mihail Petrovitch,
16355turning again to the gentleman with the gray whiskers.
16356
16357"Then what do you think?" he asked; "what system is one to adopt
16358nowadays?"
16359
16360"Why, manage like Mihail Petrovitch, or let the land for half the crop
16361or for rent to the peasants; that one can do--only that's just how the
16362general prosperity of the country is being ruined. Where the land with
16363serf-labor and good management gave a yield of nine to one, on the
16364half-crop system it yields three to one. Russia has been ruined by the
16365emancipation!"
16366
16367Sviazhsky looked with smiling eyes at Levin, and even made a faint
16368gesture of irony to him; but Levin did not think the landowner's words
16369absurd, he understood them better than he did Sviazhsky. A great deal
16370more of what the gentleman with the gray whiskers said to show in what
16371way Russia was ruined by the emancipation struck him indeed as very
16372true, new to him, and quite incontestable. The landowner unmistakably
16373spoke his own individual thought--a thing that very rarely happens--and
16374a thought to which he had been brought not by a desire of finding some
16375exercise for an idle brain, but a thought which had grown up out of the
16376conditions of his life, which he had brooded over in the solitude of his
16377village, and had considered in every aspect.
16378
16379"The point is, don't you see, that progress of every sort is only made
16380by the use of authority," he said, evidently wishing to show he was not
16381without culture. "Take the reforms of Peter, of Catherine, of Alexander.
16382Take European history. And progress in agriculture more than anything
16383else--the potato, for instance, that was introduced among us by force.
16384The wooden plough too wasn't always used. It was introduced maybe in the
16385days before the Empire, but it was probably brought in by force. Now, in
16386our own day, we landowners in the serf times used various improvements
16387in our husbandry: drying machines and thrashing machines, and carting
16388manure and all the modern implements--all that we brought into use by
16389our authority, and the peasants opposed it at first, and ended by
16390imitating us. Now, by the abolition of serfdom we have been deprived of
16391our authority; and so our husbandry, where it had been raised to a high
16392level, is bound to sink to the most savage primitive condition. That's
16393how I see it."
16394
16395"But why so? If it's rational, you'll be able to keep up the same system
16396with hired labor," said Sviazhsky.
16397
16398"We've no power over them. With whom am I going to work the system,
16399allow me to ask?"
16400
16401"There it is--the labor force--the chief element in agriculture,"
16402thought Levin.
16403
16404"With laborers."
16405
16406"The laborers won't work well, and won't work with good implements. Our
16407laborer can do nothing but get drunk like a pig, and when he's drunk he
16408ruins everything you give him. He makes the horses ill with too much
16409water, cuts good harness, barters the tires of the wheels for drink,
16410drops bits of iron into the thrashing machine, so as to break it. He
16411loathes the sight of anything that's not after his fashion. And that's
16412how it is the whole level of husbandry has fallen. Lands gone out of
16413cultivation, overgrown with weeds, or divided among the peasants, and
16414where millions of bushels were raised you get a hundred thousand; the
16415wealth of the country has decreased. If the same thing had been done,
16416but with care that..."
16417
16418And he proceeded to unfold his own scheme of emancipation by means of
16419which these drawbacks might have been avoided.
16420
16421This did not interest Levin, but when he had finished, Levin went back
16422to his first position, and, addressing Sviazhsky, and trying to draw him
16423into expressing his serious opinion:-`
16424
16425"That the standard of culture is falling, and that with our present
16426relations to the peasants there is no possibility of farming on a
16427rational system to yield a profit--that's perfectly true," said he.
16428
16429"I don't believe it," Sviazhsky replied quite seriously; "all I see is
16430that we don't know how to cultivate the land, and that our system of
16431agriculture in the serf days was by no means too high, but too low. We
16432have no machines, no good stock, no efficient supervision; we don't even
16433know how to keep accounts. Ask any landowner; he won't be able to tell
16434you what crop's profitable, and what's not."
16435
16436"Italian bookkeeping," said the gentleman of the gray whiskers
16437ironically. "You may keep your books as you like, but if they spoil
16438everything for you, there won't be any profit."
16439
16440"Why do they spoil things? A poor thrashing machine, or your Russian
16441presser, they will break, but my steam press they don't break. A
16442wretched Russian nag they'll ruin, but keep good dray-horses--they won't
16443ruin them. And so it is all round. We must raise our farming to a higher
16444level."
16445
16446"Oh, if one only had the means to do it, Nikolay Ivanovitch! It's all
16447very well for you; but for me, with a son to keep at the university,
16448lads to be educated at the high school--how am I going to buy these
16449dray-horses?"
16450
16451"Well, that's what the land banks are for."
16452
16453"To get what's left me sold by auction? No, thank you."
16454
16455"I don't agree that it's necessary or possible to raise the level of
16456agriculture still higher," said Levin. "I devote myself to it, and I
16457have means, but I can do nothing. As to the banks, I don't know to whom
16458they're any good. For my part, anyway, whatever I've spent money on in
16459the way of husbandry, it has been a loss: stock--a loss, machinery--a
16460loss."
16461
16462"That's true enough," the gentleman with the gray whiskers chimed in,
16463positively laughing with satisfaction.
16464
16465"And I'm not the only one," pursued Levin. "I mix with all the
16466neighboring landowners, who are cultivating their land on a rational
16467system; they all, with rare exceptions, are doing so at a loss. Come,
16468tell us how does your land do--does it pay?" said Levin, and at once in
16469Sviazhsky's eyes he detected that fleeting expression of alarm which he
16470had noticed whenever he had tried to penetrate beyond the outer chambers
16471of Sviazhsky's mind.
16472
16473Moreover, this question on Levin's part was not quite in good faith.
16474Madame Sviazhskaya had just told him at tea that they had that summer
16475invited a German expert in bookkeeping from Moscow, who for a
16476consideration of five hundred roubles had investigated the management of
16477their property, and found that it was costing them a loss of three
16478thousand odd roubles. She did not remember the precise sum, but it
16479appeared that the German had worked it out to the fraction of a
16480farthing.
16481
16482The gray-whiskered landowner smiled at the mention of the profits of
16483Sviazhsky's famling, obviously aware how much gain his neighbor and
16484marshal was likely to be making.
16485
16486"Possibly it does not pay," answered Sviazhsky. "That merely proves
16487either that I'm a bad manager, or that I've sunk my capital for the
16488increase of my rents."
16489
16490"Oh, rent!" Levin cried with horror. "Rent there may be in Europe, where
16491land has been improved by the labor put into it, but with us all the
16492land is deteriorating from the labor put into it--in other words they're
16493working it out; so there's no question of rent."
16494
16495"How no rent? It's a law."
16496
16497"Then we're outside the law; rent explains nothing for us, but simply
16498muddles us. No, tell me how there can be a theory of rent?..."
16499
16500"Will you have some junket? Masha, pass us some junket or raspberries."
16501He turned to his wife. "Extraordinarily late the raspberries are lasting
16502this year."
16503
16504And in the happiest frame of mind Sviazhsky got up and walked off,
16505apparently supposing the conversation to have ended at the very point
16506when to Levin it seemed that it was only just beginning.
16507
16508Having lost his antagonist, Levin continued the conversation with the
16509gray-whiskered landowner, trying to prove to him that all the difficulty
16510arises from the fact that we don't find out the peculiarities and habits
16511of our laborer; but the landowner, like all men who think independently
16512and in isolation, was slow in taking in any other person's idea, and
16513particularly partial to his own. He stuck to it that the Russian peasant
16514is a swine and likes swinishness, and that to get him out of his
16515swinishness one must have authority, and there is none; one must have
16516the stick, and we have become so liberal that we have all of a sudden
16517replaced the stick that served us for a thousand years by lawyers and
16518model prisons, where the worthless, stinking peasant is fed on good soup
16519and has a fixed allowance of cubic feet of air.
16520
16521"What makes you think," said Levin, trying to get back to the question,
16522"that it's impossible to find some relation to the laborer in which the
16523labor would become productive?"
16524
16525"That never could be so with the Russian peasantry; we've no power over
16526them," answered the landowner.
16527
16528"How can new conditions be found?" said Sviazhsky. Having eaten some
16529junket and lighted a cigarette, he came back to the discussion. "All
16530possible relations to the labor force have been defined and studied," he
16531said. "The relic of barbarism, the primitive commune with each guarantee
16532for all, will disappear of itself; serfdom has been abolished--there
16533remains nothing but free labor, and its forms are fixed and ready made,
16534and must be adopted. Permanent hands, day-laborers, rammers--you can't
16535get out of those forms."
16536
16537"But Europe is dissatisfied with these forms."
16538
16539"Dissatisfied, and seeking new ones. And will find them, in all
16540probability."
16541
16542"That's just what I was meaning," answered Levin. "Why shouldn't we seek
16543them for ourselves?"
16544
16545"Because it would be just like inventing afresh the means for
16546constructing railways. They are ready, invented."
16547
16548"But if they don't do for us, if they're stupid?" said Levin.
16549
16550And again he detected the expression of alarm in the eyes of Sviazhsky.
16551
16552"Oh, yes; we'll bury the world under our caps! We've found the secret
16553Europe was seeking for! I've heard all that; but, excuse me, do you know
16554all that's been done in Europe on the question of the organization of
16555labor?"
16556
16557"No, very little."
16558
16559"That question is now absorbing the best minds in Europe. The
16560Schulze-Delitsch movement.... And then all this enormous literature of
16561the labor question, the most liberal Lassalle movement ... the Mulhausen
16562experiment? That's a fact by now, as you're probably aware."
16563
16564"I have some idea of it, but very vague."
16565
16566"No, you only say that; no doubt you know all about it as well as I do.
16567I'm not a professor of sociology, of course, but it interested me, and
16568really, if it interests you, you ought to study it."
16569
16570"But what conclusion have they come to?"
16571
16572"Excuse me..."
16573
16574The two neighbors had risen, and Sviazhsky, once more checking Levin in
16575his inconvenient habit of peeping into what was beyond the outer
16576chambers of his mind, went to see his guests out.
16577
16578
16579
16580Chapter 28
16581
16582
16583Levin was insufferably bored that evening with the ladies; he was
16584stirred as he had never been before by the idea that the dissatisfaction
16585he was feeling with his system of managing his land was not an
16586exceptional case, but the general condition of things in Russia; that
16587the organization of some relation of the laborers to the soil in which
16588they would work, as with the peasant he had met half-way to the
16589Sviazhskys', was not a dream, but a problem which must be solved. And it
16590seemed to him that the problem could be solved, and that he ought to try
16591and solve it.
16592
16593After saying good-night to the ladies, and promising to stay the whole
16594of the next day, so as to make an expedition on horseback with them to
16595see an interesting ruin in the crown forest, Levin went, before going to
16596bed, into his host's study to get the books on the labor question that
16597Sviazhsky had offered him. Sviazhsky's study was a huge room, surrounded
16598by bookcases and with two tables in it--one a massive writing table,
16599standing in the middle of the room, and the other a round table, covered
16600with recent numbers of reviews and journals in different languages,
16601ranged like the rays of a star round the lamp. On the writing table was
16602a stand of drawers marked with gold lettering, and full of papers of
16603various sorts.
16604
16605Sviazhsky took out the books, and sat down in a rocking-chair.
16606
16607"What are you looking at there?" he said to Levin, who was standing at
16608the round table looking through the reviews.
16609
16610"Oh, yes, there's a very interesting article here," said Sviazhsky of
16611the review Levin was holding in his hand. "It appears," he went on, with
16612eager interest, "that Friedrich was not, after all, the person chiefly
16613responsible for the partition of Poland. It is proved..."
16614
16615And with his characteristic clearness, he summed up those new, very
16616important, and interesting revelations. Although Levin was engrossed at
16617the moment by his ideas about the problem of the land, he wondered, as
16618he heard Sviazhsky: "What is there inside of him? And why, why is he
16619interested in the partition of Poland?" When Sviazhsky had finished,
16620Levin could not help asking: "Well, and what then?" But there was
16621nothing to follow. It was simply interesting that it had been proved to
16622be so and so. But Sviazhsky did not explain, and saw no need to explain
16623why it was interesting to him.
16624
16625"Yes, but I was very much interested by your irritable neighbor," said
16626Levin, sighing. "He's a clever fellow, and said a lot that was true."
16627
16628"Oh, get along with you! An inveterate supporter of serfdom at heart,
16629like all of them!" said Sviazhsky.
16630
16631"Whose marshal you are."
16632
16633"Yes, only I marshal them in the other direction," said Sviazhsky,
16634laughing.
16635
16636"I'll tell you what interests me very much," said Levin. "He's right
16637that our system, that's to say of rational farming, doesn't answer, that
16638the only thing that answers is the money-lender system, like that
16639meek-looking gentleman's, or else the very simplest.... Whose fault is
16640it?"
16641
16642"Our own, of course. Besides, it's not true that it doesn't answer. It
16643answers with Vassiltchikov."
16644
16645"A factory..."
16646
16647"But I really don't know what it is you are surprised at. The people are
16648at such a low stage of rational and moral development, that it's obvious
16649they're bound to oppose everything that's strange to them. In Europe, a
16650rational system answers because the people are educated; it follows that
16651we must educate the people--that's all."
16652
16653"But how are we to educate the people?"
16654
16655"To educate the people three things are needed: schools, and schools,
16656and schools.
16657
16658"But you said yourself the people are at such a low stage of material
16659development: what help are schools for that?"
16660
16661"Do you know, you remind me of the story of the advice given to the sick
16662man--You should try purgative medicine. Taken: worse. Try leeches. Tried
16663them: worse. Well, then, there's nothing left but to pray to God. Tried
16664it: worse. That's just how it is with us. I say political economy; you
16665say--worse. I say socialism: worse. Education: worse."
16666
16667"But how do schools help matters?"
16668
16669"They give the peasant fresh wants."
16670
16671"Well, that's a thing I've never understood," Levin replied with heat.
16672"In what way are schools going to help the people to improve their
16673material position? You say schools, education, will give them fresh
16674wants. So much the worse, since they won't be capable of satisfying
16675them. And in what way a knowledge of addition and subtraction and the
16676catechism is going to improve their material condition, I never could
16677make out. The day before yesterday, I met a peasant woman in the evening
16678with a little baby, and asked her where she was going. She said she was
16679going to the wise woman; her boy had screaming fits, so she was taking
16680him to be doctored. I asked, 'Why, how does the wise woman cure
16681screaming fits?' 'She puts the child on the hen-roost and repeats some
16682charm....'"
16683
16684"Well, you're saying it yourself! What's wanted to prevent her taking
16685her child to the hen-roost to cure it of screaming fits is just..."
16686Sviazhsky said, smiling good-humoredly.
16687
16688"Oh, no!" said Levin with annoyance; "that method of doctoring I merely
16689meant as a simile for doctoring the people with schools. The people are
16690poor and ignorant--that we see as surely as the peasant woman sees the
16691baby is ill because it screams. But in what way this trouble of poverty
16692and ignorance is to be cured by schools is as incomprehensible as how
16693the hen-roost affects the screaming. What has to be cured is what makes
16694him poor."
16695
16696"Well, in that, at least, you're in agreement with Spencer, whom you
16697dislike so much. He says, too, that education may be the consequence of
16698greater prosperity and comfort, of more frequent washing, as he says,
16699but not of being able to read and write..."
16700
16701"Well, then, I'm very glad--or the contrary, very sorry, that I'm in
16702agreement with Spencer; only I've known it a long while. Schools can do
16703no good; what will do good is an economic organization in which the
16704people will become richer, will have more leisure--and then there will
16705be schools."
16706
16707"Still, all over Europe now schools are obligatory."
16708
16709"And how far do you agree with Spencer yourself about it?" asked Levin.
16710
16711But there was a gleam of alarm in Sviazhsky's eyes, and he said smiling:
16712
16713"No; that screaming story is positively capital! Did you really hear it
16714yourself?"
16715
16716Levin saw that he was not to discover the connection between this man's
16717life and his thoughts. Obviously he did not care in the least what his
16718reasoning led him to; all he wanted was the process of reasoning. And he
16719did not like it when the process of reasoning brought him into a blind
16720alley. That was the only thing he disliked, and avoided by changing the
16721conversation to something agreeable and amusing.
16722
16723All the impressions of the day, beginning with the impression made by
16724the old peasant, which served, as it were, as the fundamental basis of
16725all the conceptions and ideas of the day, threw Levin into violent
16726excitement. This dear good Sviazhsky, keeping a stock of ideas simply
16727for social purposes, and obviously having some other principles hidden
16728from Levin, while with the crowd, whose name is legion, he guided public
16729opinion by ideas he did not share; that irascible country gentleman,
16730perfectly correct in the conclusions that he had been worried into by
16731life, but wrong in his exasperation against a whole class, and that the
16732best class in Russia; his own dissatisfaction with the work he had been
16733doing, and the vague hope of finding a remedy for all this--all was
16734blended in a sense of inward turmoil, and anticipation of some solution
16735near at hand.
16736
16737Left alone in the room assigned him, lying on a spring mattress that
16738yielded unexpectedly at every movement of his arm or his leg, Levin did
16739not fall asleep for a long while. Not one conversation with Sviazhsky,
16740though he had said a great deal that was clever, had interested Levin;
16741but the conclusions of the irascible landowner required consideration.
16742Levin could not help recalling every word he had said, and in
16743imagination amending his own replies.
16744
16745"Yes, I ought to have said to him: You say that our husbandry does not
16746answer because the peasant hates improvements, and that they must be
16747forced on him by authority. If no system of husbandry answered at all
16748without these improvements, you would be quite right. But the only
16749system that does answer is where laborer is working in accordance with
16750his habits, just as on the old peasant's land half-way here. Your and
16751our general dissatisfaction with the system shows that either we are to
16752blame or the laborers. We have gone our way--the European way--a long
16753while, without asking ourselves about the qualities of our labor force.
16754Let us try to look upon the labor force not as an abstract force, but as
16755the _Russian peasant_ with his instincts, and we shall arrange our
16756system of culture in accordance with that. Imagine, I ought to have said
16757to him, that you have the same system as the old peasant has, that you
16758have found means of making your laborers take an interest in the success
16759of the work, and have found the happy mean in the way of improvements
16760which they will admit, and you will, without exhausting the soil, get
16761twice or three times the yield you got before. Divide it in halves, give
16762half as the share of labor, the surplus left you will be greater, and
16763the share of labor will be greater too. And to do this one must lower
16764the standard of husbandry and interest the laborers in its success. How
16765to do this?--that's a matter of detail; but undoubtedly it can be done."
16766
16767This idea threw Levin into a great excitement. He did not sleep half the
16768night, thinking over in detail the putting of his idea into practice. He
16769had not intended to go away next day, but he now determined to go home
16770early in the morning. Besides, the sister-in-law with her low-necked
16771bodice aroused in him a feeling akin to shame and remorse for some
16772utterly base action. Most important of all--he must get back without
16773delay: he would have to make haste to put his new project to the
16774peasants before the sowing of the winter wheat, so that the sowing might
16775be undertaken on a new basis. He had made up his mind to revolutionize
16776his whole system.
16777
16778
16779
16780Chapter 29
16781
16782
16783The carrying out of Levin's plan presented many difficulties; but he
16784struggled on, doing his utmost, and attained a result which, though not
16785what he desired, was enough to enable him, without self-deception, to
16786believe that the attempt was worth the trouble. One of the chief
16787difficulties was that the process of cultivating the land was in full
16788swing, that it was impossible to stop everything and begin it all again
16789from the beginning, and the machine had to be mended while in motion.
16790
16791When on the evening that he arrived home he informed the bailiff of his
16792plans, the latter with visible pleasure agreed with what he said so long
16793as he was pointing out that all that had been done up to that time was
16794stupid and useless. The bailiff said that he had said so a long while
16795ago, but no heed had been paid him. But as for the proposal made by
16796Levin--to take a part as shareholder with his laborers in each
16797agricultural undertaking--at this the bailiff simply expressed a
16798profound despondency, and offered no definite opinion, but began
16799immediately talking of the urgent necessity of carrying the remaining
16800sheaves of rye the next day, and of sending the men out for the second
16801ploughing, so that Levin felt that this was not the time for discussing
16802it.
16803
16804On beginning to talk to the peasants about it, and making a proposition
16805to cede them the land on new terms, he came into collision with the same
16806great difficulty that they were so much absorbed by the current work of
16807the day, that they had not time to consider the advantages and
16808disadvantages of the proposed scheme.
16809
16810The simple-hearted Ivan, the cowherd, seemed completely to grasp Levin's
16811proposal--that he should with his family take a share of the profits of
16812the cattle-yard--and he was in complete sympathy with the plan. But when
16813Levin hinted at the future advantages, Ivan's face expressed alarm and
16814regret that he could not hear all he had to say, and he made haste to
16815find himself some task that would admit of no delay: he either snatched
16816up the fork to pitch the hay out of the pens, or ran to get water or to
16817clear out the dung.
16818
16819Another difficulty lay in the invincible disbelief of the peasant that a
16820landowner's object could be anything else than a desire to squeeze all
16821he could out of them. They were firmly convinced that his real aim
16822(whatever he might say to them) would always be in what he did not say
16823to them. And they themselves, in giving their opinion, said a great deal
16824but never said what was their real object. Moreover (Levin felt that the
16825irascible landowner had been right) the peasants made their first and
16826unalterable condition of any agreement whatever that they should not be
16827forced to any new methods of tillage of any kind, nor to use new
16828implements. They agreed that the modern plough ploughed better, that the
16829scarifier did the work more quickly, but they found thousands of reasons
16830that made it out of the question for them to use either of them; and
16831though he had accepted the conviction that he would have to lower the
16832standard of cultivation, he felt sorry to give up improved methods, the
16833advantages of which were so obvious. But in spite of all these
16834difficulties he got his way, and by autumn the system was working, or at
16835least so it seemed to him.
16836
16837At first Levin had thought of giving up the whole farming of the land
16838just as it was to the peasants, the laborers, and the bailiff on new
16839conditions of partnership; but he was very soon convinced that this was
16840impossible, and determined to divide it up. The cattle-yard, the garden,
16841hay fields, and arable land, divided into several parts, had to be made
16842into separate lots. The simple-hearted cowherd, Ivan, who, Levin
16843fancied, understood the matter better than any of them, collecting
16844together a gang of workers to help him, principally of his own family,
16845became a partner in the cattle-yard. A distant part of the estate, a
16846tract of waste land that had lain fallow for eight years, was with the
16847help of the clever carpenter, Fyodor Ryezunov, taken by six families of
16848peasants on new conditions of partnership, and the peasant Shuraev took
16849the management of all the vegetable gardens on the same terms. The
16850remainder of the land was still worked on the old system, but these
16851three associated partnerships were the first step to a new organization
16852of the whole, and they completely took up Levin's time.
16853
16854It is true that in the cattle-yard things went no better than before,
16855and Ivan strenuously opposed warm housing for the cows and butter made
16856of fresh cream, affirming that cows require less food if kept cold, and
16857that butter is more profitable made from sour cream, and he asked for
16858wages just as under the old system, and took not the slightest interest
16859in the fact that the money he received was not wages but an advance out
16860of his future share in the profits.
16861
16862It is true that Fyodor Ryezunov's company did not plough over the ground
16863twice before sowing, as had been agreed, justifying themselves on the
16864plea that the time was too short. It is true that the peasants of the
16865same company, though they had agreed to work the land on new conditions,
16866always spoke of the land, not as held in partnership, but as rented for
16867half the crop, and more than once the peasants and Ryezunov himself said
16868to Levin, "If you would take a rent for the land, it would save you
16869trouble, and we should be more free." Moreover the same peasants kept
16870putting off, on various excuses, the building of a cattleyard and barn
16871on the land as agreed upon, and delayed doing it till the winter.
16872
16873It is true that Shuraev would have liked to let out the kitchen gardens
16874he had undertaken in small lots to the peasants. He evidently quite
16875misunderstood, and apparently intentionally misunderstood, the
16876conditions upon which the land had been given to him.
16877
16878Often, too, talking to the peasants and explaining to them all the
16879advantages of the plan, Levin felt that the peasants heard nothing but
16880the sound of his voice, and were firmly resolved, whatever he might say,
16881not to let themselves be taken in. He felt this especially when he
16882talked to the cleverest of the peasants, Ryezunov, and detected the
16883gleam in Ryezunov's eyes which showed so plainly both ironical amusement
16884at Levin, and the firm conviction that, if any one were to be taken in,
16885it would not be he, Ryezunov. But in spite of all this Levin thought the
16886system worked, and that by keeping accounts strictly and insisting on
16887his own way, he would prove to them in the future the advantages of the
16888arrangement, and then the system would go of itself.
16889
16890These matters, together with the management of the land still left on
16891his hands, and the indoor work over his book, so engrossed Levin the
16892whole summer that he scarcely ever went out shooting. At the end of
16893August he heard that the Oblonskys had gone away to Moscow, from their
16894servant who brought back the side-saddle. He felt that in not answering
16895Darya Alexandrovna's letter he had by his rudeness, of which he could
16896not think without a flush of shame, burned his ships, and that he would
16897never go and see them again. He had been just as rude with the
16898Sviazhskys, leaving them without saying good-bye. But he would never go
16899to see them again either. He did not care about that now. The business
16900of reorganizing the farming of his land absorbed him as completely as
16901though there would never be anything else in his life. He read the books
16902lent him by Sviazhsky, and copying out what he had not got, he read both
16903the economic and socialistic books on the subject, but, as he had
16904anticipated, found nothing bearing on the scheme he had undertaken. In
16905the books on political economy--in Mill, for instance, whom he studied
16906first with great ardor, hoping every minute to find an answer to the
16907questions that were engrossing him--he found laws deduced from the
16908condition of land culture in Europe; but he did not see why these laws,
16909which did not apply in Russia, must be general. He saw just the same
16910thing in the socialistic books: either they were the beautiful but
16911impracticable fantasies which had fascinated him when he was a student,
16912or they were attempts at improving, rectifying the economic position in
16913which Europe was placed, with which the system of land tenure in Russia
16914had nothing in common. Political economy told him that the laws by which
16915the wealth of Europe had been developed, and was developing, were
16916universal and unvarying. Socialism told him that development along these
16917lines leads to ruin. And neither of them gave an answer, or even a hint,
16918in reply to the question what he, Levin, and all the Russian peasants
16919and landowners, were to do with their millions of hands and millions of
16920acres, to make them as productive as possible for the common weal.
16921
16922Having once taken the subject up, he read conscientiously everything
16923bearing on it, and intended in the autumn to go abroad to study land
16924systems on the spot, in order that he might not on this question be
16925confronted with what so often met him on various subjects. Often, just
16926as he was beginning to understand the idea in the mind of anyone he was
16927talking to, and was beginning to explain his own, he would suddenly be
16928told: "But Kauffmann, but Jones, but Dubois, but Michelli? You haven't
16929read them: they've thrashed that question out thoroughly."
16930
16931He saw now distinctly that Kauffmann and Michelli had nothing to tell
16932him. He knew what he wanted. He saw that Russia has splendid land,
16933splendid laborers, and that in certain cases, as at the peasant's on the
16934way to Sviazhsky's, the produce raised by the laborers and the land is
16935great--in the majority of cases when capital is applied in the European
16936way the produce is small, and that this simply arises from the fact that
16937the laborers want to work and work well only in their own peculiar way,
16938and that this antagonism is not incidental but invariable, and has its
16939roots in the national spirit. He thought that the Russian people whose
16940task it was to colonize and cultivate vast tracts of unoccupied land,
16941consciously adhered, till all their land was occupied, to the methods
16942suitable to their purpose, and that their methods were by no means so
16943bad as was generally supposed. And he wanted to prove this theoretically
16944in his book and practically on his land.
16945
16946
16947
16948Chapter 30
16949
16950
16951At the end of September the timber had been carted for building the
16952cattleyard on the land that had been allotted to the association of
16953peasants, and the butter from the cows was sold and the profits divided.
16954In practice the system worked capitally, or, at least, so it seemed to
16955Levin. In order to work out the whole subject theoretically and to
16956complete his book, which, in Levin's daydreams, was not merely to effect
16957a revolution in political economy, but to annihilate that science
16958entirely and to lay the foundation of a new science of the relation of
16959the people to the soil, all that was left to do was to make a tour
16960abroad, and to study on the spot all that had been done in the same
16961direction, and to collect conclusive evidence that all that had been
16962done there was not what was wanted. Levin was only waiting for the
16963delivery of his wheat to receive the money for it and go abroad. But the
16964rains began, preventing the harvesting of the corn and potatoes left in
16965the fields, and putting a stop to all work, even to the delivery of the
16966wheat.
16967
16968The mud was impassable along the roads; two mills were carried away, and
16969the weather got worse and worse.
16970
16971On the 30th of September the sun came out in the morning, and hoping for
16972fine weather, Levin began making final preparations for his journey. He
16973gave orders for the wheat to be delivered, sent the bailiff to the
16974merchant to get the money owing him, and went out himself to give some
16975final directions on the estate before setting off.
16976
16977Having finished all his business, soaked through with the streams of
16978water which kept running down the leather behind his neck and his
16979gaiters, but in the keenest and most confident temper, Levin returned
16980homewards in the evening. The weather had become worse than ever towards
16981evening; the hail lashed the drenched mare so cruelly that she went
16982along sideways, shaking her head and ears; but Levin was all right under
16983his hood, and he looked cheerfully about him at the muddy streams
16984running under the wheels, at the drops hanging on every bare twig, at
16985the whiteness of the patch of unmelted hailstones on the planks of the
16986bridge, at the thick layer of still juicy, fleshy leaves that lay heaped
16987up about the stripped elm-tree. In spite of the gloominess of nature
16988around him, he felt peculiarly eager. The talks he had been having with
16989the peasants in the further village had shown that they were beginning
16990to get used to their new position. The old servant to whose hut he had
16991gone to get dry evidently approved of Levin's plan, and of his own
16992accord proposed to enter the partnership by the purchase of cattle.
16993
16994"I have only to go stubbornly on towards my aim, and I shall attain my
16995end," thought Levin; "and it's something to work and take trouble for.
16996This is not a matter of myself individually; the question of the public
16997welfare comes into it. The whole system of culture, the chief element in
16998the condition of the people, must be completely transformed. Instead of
16999poverty, general prosperity and content; instead of hostility, harmony
17000and unity of interests. In short, a bloodless revolution, but a
17001revolution of the greatest magnitude, beginning in the little circle of
17002our district, then the province, then Russia, the whole world. Because a
17003just idea cannot but be fruitful. Yes, it's an aim worth working for.
17004And its being me, Kostya Levin, who went to a ball in a black tie, and
17005was refused by the Shtcherbatskaya girl, and who was intrinsically such
17006a pitiful, worthless creature--that proves nothing; I feel sure Franklin
17007felt just as worthless, and he too had no faith in himself, thinking of
17008himself as a whole. That means nothing. And he too, most likely, had an
17009Agafea Mihalovna to whom he confided his secrets."
17010
17011Musing on such thoughts Levin reached home in the darkness.
17012
17013The bailiff, who had been to the merchant, had come back and brought
17014part of the money for the wheat. An agreement had been made with the old
17015servant, and on the road the bailiff had learned that everywhere the
17016corn was still standing in the fields, so that his one hundred and sixty
17017shocks that had not been carried were nothing in comparison with the
17018losses of others.
17019
17020After dinner Levin was sitting, as he usually did, in an easy chair with
17021a book, and as he read he went on thinking of the journey before him in
17022connection with his book. Today all the significance of his book rose
17023before him with special distinctness, and whole periods ranged
17024themselves in his mind in illustration of his theories. "I must write
17025that down," he thought. "That ought to form a brief introduction, which
17026I thought unnecessary before." He got up to go to his writing table, and
17027Laska, lying at his feet, got up too, stretching and looking at him as
17028though to inquire where to go. But he had not time to write it down, for
17029the head peasants had come round, and Levin went out into the hall to
17030them.
17031
17032After his levee, that is to say, giving directions about the labors of
17033the next day, and seeing all the peasants who had business with him,
17034Levin went back to his study and sat down to work.
17035
17036Laska lay under the table; Agafea Mihalovna settled herself in her place
17037with her stocking.
17038
17039After writing for a little while, Levin suddenly thought with
17040exceptional vividness of Kitty, her refusal, and their last meeting. He
17041got up and began walking about the room.
17042
17043"What's the use of being dreary?" said Agafea Mihalovna. "Come, why do
17044you stay on at home? You ought to go to some warm springs, especially
17045now you're ready for the journey."
17046
17047"Well, I am going away the day after tomorrow, Agafea Mihalovna; I must
17048finish my work."
17049
17050"There, there, your work, you say! As if you hadn't done enough for the
17051peasants! Why, as 'tis, they're saying, 'Your master will be getting
17052some honor from the Tsar for it.' Indeed and it is a strange thing; why
17053need you worry about the peasants?"
17054
17055"I'm not worrying about them; I'm doing it for my own good."
17056
17057Agafea Mihalovna knew every detail of Levin's plans for his land. Levin
17058often put his views before her in all their complexity, and not
17059uncommonly he argued with her and did not agree with her comments. But
17060on this occasion she entirely misinterpreted what he had said.
17061
17062"Of one's soul's salvation we all know and must think before all else,"
17063she said with a sigh. "Parfen Denisitch now, for all he was no scholar,
17064he died a death that God grant every one of us the like," she said,
17065referring to a servant who had died recently. "Took the sacrament and
17066all."
17067
17068"That's not what I mean," said he. "I mean that I'm acting for my own
17069advantage. It's all the better for me if the peasants do their work
17070better."
17071
17072"Well, whatever you do, if he's a lazy good-for-nought, everything'll be
17073at sixes and sevens. If he has a conscience, he'll work, and if not,
17074there's no doing anything."
17075
17076"Oh, come, you say yourself Ivan has begun looking after the cattle
17077better."
17078
17079"All I say is," answered Agafea Mihalovna, evidently not speaking at
17080random, but in strict sequence of idea, "that you ought to get married,
17081that's what I say."
17082
17083Agafea Mihalovna's allusion to the very subject he had only just been
17084thinking about, hurt and stung him. Levin scowled, and without answering
17085her, he sat down again to his work, repeating to himself all that he had
17086been thinking of the real significance of that work. Only at intervals
17087he listened in the stillness to the click of Agafea Mihalovna's needles,
17088and recollecting what he did not want to remember, he frowned again.
17089
17090At nine o'clock they heard the bell and the faint vibration of a
17091carriage over the mud.
17092
17093"Well, here's visitors come to us, and you won't be dull," said Agafea
17094Mihalovna, getting up and going to the door. But Levin overtook her. His
17095work was not going well now, and he was glad of a visitor, whoever it
17096might be.
17097
17098
17099
17100Chapter 31
17101
17102
17103Running halfway down the staircase, Levin caught a sound he knew, a
17104familiar cough in the hall. But he heard it indistinctly through the
17105sound of his own footsteps, and hoped he was mistaken. Then he caught
17106sight of a long, bony, familiar figure, and now it seemed there was no
17107possibility of mistake; and yet he still went on hoping that this tall
17108man taking off his fur cloak and coughing was not his brother Nikolay.
17109
17110Levin loved his brother, but being with him was always a torture. Just
17111now, when Levin, under the influence of the thoughts that had come to
17112him, and Agafea Mihalovna's hint, was in a troubled and uncertain humor,
17113the meeting with his brother that he had to face seemed particularly
17114difficult. Instead of a lively, healthy visitor, some outsider who
17115would, he hoped, cheer him up in his uncertain humor, he had to see his
17116brother, who knew him through and through, who would call forth all the
17117thoughts nearest his heart, would force him to show himself fully. And
17118that he was not disposed to do.
17119
17120Angry with himself for so base a feeling, Levin ran into the hall; as
17121soon as he had seen his brother close, this feeling of selfish
17122disappointment vanished instantly and was replaced by pity. Terrible as
17123his brother Nikolay had been before in his emaciation and sickliness,
17124now he looked still more emaciated, still more wasted. He was a skeleton
17125covered with skin.
17126
17127He stood in the hall, jerking his long thin neck, and pulling the scarf
17128off it, and smiled a strange and pitiful smile. When he saw that smile,
17129submissive and humble, Levin felt something clutching at his throat.
17130
17131"You see, I've come to you," said Nikolay in a thick voice, never for
17132one second taking his eyes off his brother's face. "I've been meaning to
17133a long while, but I've been unwell all the time. Now I'm ever so much
17134better," he said, rubbing his beard with his big thin hands.
17135
17136"Yes, yes!" answered Levin. And he felt still more frightened when,
17137kissing him, he felt with his lips the dryness of his brother's skin and
17138saw close to him his big eyes, full of a strange light.
17139
17140A few weeks before, Konstantin Levin had written to his brother that
17141through the sale of the small part of the property, that had remained
17142undivided, there was a sum of about two thousand roubles to come to him
17143as his share.
17144
17145Nikolay said that he had come now to take this money and, what was more
17146important, to stay a while in the old nest, to get in touch with the
17147earth, so as to renew his strength like the heroes of old for the work
17148that lay before him. In spite of his exaggerated stoop, and the
17149emaciation that was so striking from his height, his movements were as
17150rapid and abrupt as ever. Levin led him into his study.
17151
17152His brother dressed with particular care--a thing he never used to
17153do--combed his scanty, lank hair, and, smiling, went upstairs.
17154
17155He was in the most affectionate and good-humored mood, just as Levin
17156often remembered him in childhood. He even referred to Sergey Ivanovitch
17157without rancor. When he saw Agafea Mihalovna, he made jokes with her and
17158asked after the old servants. The news of the death of Parfen Denisitch
17159made a painful impression on him. A look of fear crossed his face, but
17160he regained his serenity immediately.
17161
17162"Of course he was quite old," he said, and changed the subject. "Well,
17163I'll spend a month or two with you, and then I'm off to Moscow. Do you
17164know, Myakov has promised me a place there, and I'm going into the
17165service. Now I'm going to arrange my life quite differently," he went
17166on. "You know I got rid of that woman."
17167
17168"Marya Nikolaevna? Why, what for?"
17169
17170"Oh, she was a horrid woman! She caused me all sorts of worries." But he
17171did not say what the annoyances were. He could not say that he had cast
17172off Marya Nikolaevna because the tea was weak, and, above all, because
17173she would look after him, as though he were an invalid.
17174
17175"Besides, I want to turn over a new leaf completely now. I've done silly
17176things, of course, like everyone else, but money's the last
17177consideration; I don't regret it. So long as there's health, and my
17178health, thank God, is quite restored."
17179
17180Levin listened and racked his brains, but could think of nothing to say.
17181Nikolay probably felt the same; he began questioning his brother about
17182his affairs; and Levin was glad to talk about himself, because then he
17183could speak without hypocrisy. He told his brother of his plans and his
17184doings.
17185
17186His brother listened, but evidently he was not interested by it.
17187
17188These two men were so akin, so near each other, that the slightest
17189gesture, the tone of voice, told both more than could be said in words.
17190
17191Both of them now had only one thought--the illness of Nikolay and the
17192nearness of his death--which stifled all else. But neither of them dared
17193to speak of it, and so whatever they said--not uttering the one thought
17194that filled their minds--was all falsehood. Never had Levin been so glad
17195when the evening was over and it was time to go to bed. Never with any
17196outside person, never on any official visit had he been so unnatural and
17197false as he was that evening. And the consciousness of this
17198unnaturalness, and the remorse he felt at it, made him even more
17199unnatural. He wanted to weep over his dying, dearly loved brother, and
17200he had to listen and keep on talking of how he meant to live.
17201
17202As the house was damp, and only one bedroom had been kept heated, Levin
17203put his brother to sleep in his own bedroom behind a screen.
17204
17205His brother got into bed, and whether he slept or did not sleep, tossed
17206about like a sick man, coughed, and when he could not get his throat
17207clear, mumbled something. Sometimes when his breathing was painful, he
17208said, "Oh, my God!" Sometimes when he was choking he muttered angrily,
17209"Ah, the devil!" Levin could not sleep for a long while, hearing him.
17210His thoughts were of the most various, but the end of all his thoughts
17211was the same--death. Death, the inevitable end of all, for the first
17212time presented itself to him with irresistible force. And death, which
17213was here in this loved brother, groaning half asleep and from habit
17214calling without distinction on God and the devil, was not so remote as
17215it had hitherto seemed to him. It was in himself too, he felt that. If
17216not today, tomorrow, if not tomorrow, in thirty years, wasn't it all the
17217same! And what was this inevitable death--he did not know, had never
17218thought about it, and what was more, had not the power, had not the
17219courage to think about it.
17220
17221"I work, I want to do something, but I had forgotten it must all end; I
17222had forgotten--death."
17223
17224He sat on his bed in the darkness, crouched up, hugging his knees, and
17225holding his breath from the strain of thought, he pondered. But the more
17226intensely he thought, the clearer it became to him that it was
17227indubitably so, that in reality, looking upon life, he had forgotten one
17228little fact--that death will come, and all ends; that nothing was even
17229worth beginning, and that there was no helping it anyway. Yes, it was
17230awful, but it was so.
17231
17232"But I am alive still. Now what's to be done? what's to be done?" he
17233said in despair. He lighted a candle, got up cautiously and went to the
17234looking-glass, and began looking at his face and hair. Yes, there were
17235gray hairs about his temples. He opened his mouth. His back teeth were
17236beginning to decay. He bared his muscular arms. Yes, there was strength
17237in them. But Nikolay, who lay there breathing with what was left of
17238lungs, had had a strong, healthy body too. And suddenly he recalled how
17239they used to go to bed together as children, and how they only waited
17240till Fyodor Bogdanitch was out of the room to fling pillows at each
17241other and laugh, laugh irrepressibly, so that even their awe of Fyodor
17242Bogdanitch could not check the effervescing, overbrimming sense of life
17243and happiness. "And now that bent, hollow chest ... and I, not knowing
17244what will become of me, or wherefore..."
17245
17246"K...ha! K...ha! Damnation! Why do you keep fidgeting, why don't you go
17247to sleep?" his brother's voice called to him.
17248
17249"Oh, I don't know, I'm not sleepy."
17250
17251"I have had a good sleep, I'm not in a sweat now. Just see, feel my
17252shirt; it's not wet, is it?"
17253
17254Levin felt, withdrew behind the screen, and put out the candle, but for
17255a long while he could not sleep. The question how to live had hardly
17256begun to grow a little clearer to him, when a new, insoluble question
17257presented itself--death.
17258
17259"Why, he's dying--yes, he'll die in the spring, and how help him? What
17260can I say to him? What do I know about it? I'd even forgotten that it
17261was at all."
17262
17263
17264
17265Chapter 32
17266
17267
17268Levin had long before made the observation that when one is
17269uncomfortable with people from their being excessively amenable and
17270meek, one is apt very soon after to find things intolerable from their
17271touchiness and irritability. He felt that this was how it would be with
17272his brother. And his brother Nikolay's gentleness did in fact not last
17273out for long. The very next morning he began to be irritable, and seemed
17274doing his best to find fault with his brother, attacking him on his
17275tenderest points.
17276
17277Levin felt himself to blame, and could not set things right. He felt
17278that if they had both not kept up appearances, but had spoken, as it is
17279called, from the heart--that is to say, had said only just what they
17280were thinking and feeling--they would simply have looked into each
17281other's faces, and Konstantin could only have said, "You're dying,
17282you're dying!" and Nikolay could only have answered, "I know I'm dying,
17283but I'm afraid, I'm afraid, I'm afraid!" And they could have said
17284nothing more, if they had said only what was in their hearts. But life
17285like that was impossible, and so Konstantin tried to do what he had been
17286trying to do all his life, and never could learn to do, though, as far
17287as he could observe, many people knew so well how to do it, and without
17288it there was no living at all. He tried to say what he was not thinking,
17289but he felt continually that it had a ring of falsehood, that his
17290brother detected him in it, and was exasperated at it.
17291
17292The third day Nikolay induced his brother to explain his plan to him
17293again, and began not merely attacking it, but intentionally confounding
17294it with communism.
17295
17296"You've simply borrowed an idea that's not your own, but you've
17297distorted it, and are trying to apply it where it's not applicable."
17298
17299"But I tell you it's nothing to do with it. They deny the justice of
17300property, of capital, of inheritance, while I do not deny this chief
17301stimulus." (Levin felt disgusted himself at using such expressions, but
17302ever since he had been engrossed by his work, he had unconsciously come
17303more and more frequently to use words not Russian.) "All I want is to
17304regulate labor."
17305
17306"Which means, you've borrowed an idea, stripped it of all that gave it
17307its force, and want to make believe that it's something new," said
17308Nikolay, angrily tugging at his necktie.
17309
17310"But my idea has nothing in common..."
17311
17312"That, anyway," said Nikolay Levin, with an ironical smile, his eyes
17313flashing malignantly, "has the charm of--what's one to call
17314it?--geometrical symmetry, of clearness, of definiteness. It may be a
17315Utopia. But if once one allows the possibility of making of all the past
17316a _tabula rasa_--no property, no family--then labor would organize
17317itself. But you gain nothing..."
17318
17319"Why do you mix things up? I've never been a communist."
17320
17321"But I have, and I consider it's premature, but rational, and it has a
17322future, just like Christianity in its first ages."
17323
17324"All that I maintain is that the labor force ought to be investigated
17325from the point of view of natural science; that is to say, it ought to
17326be studied, its qualities ascertained..."
17327
17328"But that's utter waste of time. That force finds a certain form of
17329activity of itself, according to the stage of its development. There
17330have been slaves first everywhere, then metayers; and we have the
17331half-crop system, rent, and day laborers. What are you trying to find?"
17332
17333Levin suddenly lost his temper at these words, because at the bottom of
17334his heart he was afraid that it was true--true that he was trying to
17335hold the balance even between communism and the familiar forms, and that
17336this was hardly possible.
17337
17338"I am trying to find means of working productively for myself and for
17339the laborers. I want to organize..." he answered hotly.
17340
17341"You don't want to organize anything; it's simply just as you've been
17342all your life, that you want to be original to pose as not exploiting
17343the peasants simply, but with some idea in view."
17344
17345"Oh, all right, that's what you think--and let me alone!" answered
17346Levin, feeling the muscles of his left cheek twitching uncontrollably.
17347
17348"You've never had, and never have, convictions; all you want is to
17349please your vanity."
17350
17351"Oh, very well; then let me alone!"
17352
17353"And I will let you alone! and it's high time I did, and go to the devil
17354with you! and I'm very sorry I ever came!"
17355
17356In spite of all Levin's efforts to soothe his brother afterwards,
17357Nikolay would listen to nothing he said, declaring that it was better to
17358part, and Konstantin saw that it simply was that life was unbearable to
17359him.
17360
17361Nikolay was just getting ready to go, when Konstantin went in to him
17362again and begged him, rather unnaturally, to forgive him if he had hurt
17363his feelings in any way.
17364
17365"Ah, generosity!" said Nikolay, and he smiled. "If you want to be right,
17366I can give you that satisfaction. You're in the right; but I'm going all
17367the same."
17368
17369It was only just at parting that Nikolay kissed him, and said, looking
17370with sudden strangeness and seriousness at his brother:
17371
17372"Anyway, don't remember evil against me, Kostya!" and his voice
17373quivered. These were the only words that had been spoken sincerely
17374between them. Levin knew that those words meant, "You see, and you know,
17375that I'm in a bad way, and maybe we shall not see each other again."
17376Levin knew this, and the tears gushed from his eyes. He kissed his
17377brother once more, but he could not speak, and knew not what to say.
17378
17379Three days after his brother's departure, Levin too set off for his
17380foreign tour. Happening to meet Shtcherbatsky, Kitty's cousin, in the
17381railway train, Levin greatly astonished him by his depression.
17382
17383"What's the matter with you?" Shtcherbatsky asked him.
17384
17385"Oh, nothing; there's not much happiness in life."
17386
17387"Not much? You come with me to Paris instead of to Mulhausen. You shall
17388see how to be happy."
17389
17390"No, I've done with it all. It's time I was dead."
17391
17392"Well, that's a good one!" said Shtcherbatsky, laughing; "why, I'm only
17393just getting ready to begin."
17394
17395"Yes, I thought the same not long ago, but now I know I shall soon be
17396dead."
17397
17398Levin said what he had genuinely been thinking of late. He saw nothing
17399but death or the advance towards death in everything. But his cherished
17400scheme only engrossed him the more. Life had to be got through somehow
17401till death did come. Darkness had fallen upon everything for him; but
17402just because of this darkness he felt that the one guiding clue in the
17403darkness was his work, and he clutched it and clung to it with all his
17404strength.
17405
17406
17407
17408
17409PART FOUR
17410
17411
17412
17413Chapter 1
17414
17415
17416The Karenins, husband and wife, continued living in the same house, met
17417every day, but were complete strangers to one another. Alexey
17418Alexandrovitch made it a rule to see his wife every day, so that the
17419servants might have no grounds for suppositions, but avoided dining at
17420home. Vronsky was never at Alexey Alexandrovitch's house, but Anna saw
17421him away from home, and her husband was aware of it.
17422
17423The position was one of misery for all three; and not one of them would
17424have been equal to enduring this position for a single day, if it had
17425not been for the expectation that it would change, that it was merely a
17426temporary painful ordeal which would pass over. Alexey Alexandrovitch
17427hoped that this passion would pass, as everything does pass, that
17428everyone would forget about it, and his name would remain unsullied.
17429Anna, on whom the position depended, and for whom it was more miserable
17430than for anyone, endured it because she not merely hoped, but firmly
17431believed, that it would all very soon be settled and come right. She had
17432not the least idea what would settle the position, but she firmly
17433believed that something would very soon turn up now. Vronsky, against
17434his own will or wishes, followed her lead, hoped too that something,
17435apart from his own action, would be sure to solve all difficulties.
17436
17437In the middle of the winter Vronsky spent a very tiresome week. A
17438foreign prince, who had come on a visit to Petersburg, was put under his
17439charge, and he had to show him the sights worth seeing. Vronsky was of
17440distinguished appearance; he possessed, moreover, the art of behaving
17441with respectful dignity, and was used to having to do with such grand
17442personages--that was how he came to be put in charge of the prince. But
17443he felt his duties very irksome. The prince was anxious to miss nothing
17444of which he would be asked at home, had he seen that in Russia? And on
17445his own account he was anxious to enjoy to the utmost all Russian forms
17446of amusement. Vronsky was obliged to be his guide in satisfying both
17447these inclinations. The mornings they spent driving to look at places of
17448interest; the evenings they passed enjoying the national entertainments.
17449The prince rejoiced in health exceptional even among princes. By
17450gymnastics and careful attention to his health he had brought himself to
17451such a point that in spite of his excess in pleasure he looked as fresh
17452as a big glossy green Dutch cucumber. The prince had traveled a great
17453deal, and considered one of the chief advantages of modern facilities of
17454communication was the accessibility of the pleasures of all nations.
17455
17456He had been in Spain, and there had indulged in serenades and had made
17457friends with a Spanish girl who played the mandolin. In Switzerland he
17458had killed chamois. In England he had galloped in a red coat over hedges
17459and killed two hundred pheasants for a bet. In Turkey he had got into a
17460harem; in India he had hunted on an elephant, and now in Russia he
17461wished to taste all the specially Russian forms of pleasure.
17462
17463Vronsky, who was, as it were, chief master of the ceremonies to him, was
17464at great pains to arrange all the Russian amusements suggested by
17465various persons to the prince. They had race horses, and Russian
17466pancakes and bear hunts and three-horse sledges, and gypsies and
17467drinking feasts, with the Russian accompaniment of broken crockery. And
17468the prince with surprising ease fell in with the Russian spirit, smashed
17469trays full of crockery, sat with a gypsy girl on his knee, and seemed to
17470be asking--what more, and does the whole Russian spirit consist in just
17471this?
17472
17473In reality, of all the Russian entertainments the prince liked best
17474French actresses and ballet dancers and white-seal champagne. Vronsky
17475was used to princes, but, either because he had himself changed of late,
17476or that he was in too close proximity to the prince, that week seemed
17477fearfully wearisome to him. The whole of that week he experienced a
17478sensation such as a man might have set in charge of a dangerous madman,
17479afraid of the madman, and at the same time, from being with him, fearing
17480for his own reason. Vronsky was continually conscious of the necessity
17481of never for a second relaxing the tone of stern official
17482respectfulness, that he might not himself be insulted. The prince's
17483manner of treating the very people who, to Vronsky's surprise, were
17484ready to descend to any depths to provide him with Russian amusements,
17485was contemptuous. His criticisms of Russian women, whom he wished to
17486study, more than once made Vronsky crimson with indignation. The chief
17487reason why the prince was so particularly disagreeable to Vronsky was
17488that he could not help seeing himself in him. And what he saw in this
17489mirror did not gratify his self-esteem. He was a very stupid and very
17490self-satisfied and very healthy and very well-washed man, and nothing
17491else. He was a gentleman--that was true, and Vronsky could not deny it.
17492He was equable and not cringing with his superiors, was free and
17493ingratiating in his behavior with his equals, and was contemptuously
17494indulgent with his inferiors. Vronsky was himself the same, and regarded
17495it as a great merit to be so. But for this prince he was an inferior,
17496and his contemptuous and indulgent attitude to him revolted him.
17497
17498"Brainless beef! can I be like that?" he thought.
17499
17500Be that as it might, when, on the seventh day, he parted from the
17501prince, who was starting for Moscow, and received his thanks, he was
17502happy to be rid of his uncomfortable position and the unpleasant
17503reflection of himself. He said good-bye to him at the station on their
17504return from a bear hunt, at which they had had a display of Russian
17505prowess kept up all night.
17506
17507
17508
17509Chapter 2
17510
17511
17512When he got home, Vronsky found there a note from Anna. She wrote, "I am
17513ill and unhappy. I cannot come out, but I cannot go on longer without
17514seeing you. Come in this evening. Alexey Alexandrovitch goes to the
17515council at seven and will be there till ten." Thinking for an instant of
17516the strangeness of her bidding him come straight to her, in spite of her
17517husband's insisting on her not receiving him, he decided to go.
17518
17519Vronsky had that winter got his promotion, was now a colonel, had left
17520the regimental quarters, and was living alone. After having some lunch,
17521he lay down on the sofa immediately, and in five minutes memories of the
17522hideous scenes he had witnessed during the last few days were confused
17523together and joined on to a mental image of Anna and of the peasant who
17524had played an important part in the bear hunt, and Vronsky fell asleep.
17525He waked up in the dark, trembling with horror, and made haste to light
17526a candle. "What was it? What? What was the dreadful thing I dreamed?
17527Yes, yes; I think a little dirty man with a disheveled beard was
17528stooping down doing something, and all of a sudden he began saying some
17529strange words in French. Yes, there was nothing else in the dream," he
17530said to himself. "But why was it so awful?" He vividly recalled the
17531peasant again and those incomprehensible French words the peasant had
17532uttered, and a chill of horror ran down his spine.
17533
17534"What nonsense!" thought Vronsky, and glanced at his watch.
17535
17536It was half-past eight already. He rang up his servant, dressed in
17537haste, and went out onto the steps, completely forgetting the dream and
17538only worried at being late. As he drove up to the Karenins' entrance he
17539looked at his watch and saw it was ten minutes to nine. A high, narrow
17540carriage with a pair of grays was standing at the entrance. He
17541recognized Anna's carriage. "She is coming to me," thought Vronsky, "and
17542better she should. I don't like going into that house. But no matter; I
17543can't hide myself," he thought, and with that manner peculiar to him
17544from childhood, as of a man who has nothing to be ashamed of, Vronsky
17545got out of his sledge and went to the door. The door opened, and the
17546hall porter with a rug on his arm called the carriage. Vronsky, though
17547he did not usually notice details, noticed at this moment the amazed
17548expression with which the porter glanced at him. In the very doorway
17549Vronsky almost ran up against Alexey Alexandrovitch. The gas jet threw
17550its full light on the bloodless, sunken face under the black hat and on
17551the white cravat, brilliant against the beaver of the coat. Karenin's
17552fixed, dull eyes were fastened upon Vronsky's face. Vronsky bowed, and
17553Alexey Alexandrovitch, chewing his lips, lifted his hand to his hat and
17554went on. Vronsky saw him without looking round get into the carriage,
17555pick up the rug and the opera-glass at the window and disappear. Vronsky
17556went into the hall. His brows were scowling, and his eyes gleamed with a
17557proud and angry light in them.
17558
17559"What a position!" he thought. "If he would fight, would stand up for
17560his honor, I could act, could express my feelings; but this weakness or
17561baseness.... He puts me in the position of playing false, which I never
17562meant and never mean to do."
17563
17564Vronsky's ideas had changed since the day of his conversation with Anna
17565in the Vrede garden. Unconsciously yielding to the weakness of Anna--who
17566had surrendered herself up to him utterly, and simply looked to him to
17567decide her fate, ready to submit to anything--he had long ceased to
17568think that their tie might end as he had thought then. His ambitious
17569plans had retreated into the background again, and feeling that he had
17570got out of that circle of activity in which everything was definite, he
17571had given himself entirely to his passion, and that passion was binding
17572him more and more closely to her.
17573
17574He was still in the hall when he caught the sound of her retreating
17575footsteps. He knew she had been expecting him, had listened for him, and
17576was now going back to the drawing room.
17577
17578"No," she cried, on seeing him, and at the first sound of her voice the
17579tears came into her eyes. "No; if things are to go on like this, the end
17580will come much, much too soon."
17581
17582"What is it, dear one?"
17583
17584"What? I've been waiting in agony for an hour, two hours ... No, I won't
17585... I can't quarrel with you. Of course you couldn't come. No, I won't."
17586She laid her two hands on his shoulders, and looked a long while at him
17587with a profound, passionate, and at the same time searching look. She
17588was studying his face to make up for the time she had not seen him. She
17589was, every time she saw him, making the picture of him in her
17590imagination (incomparably superior, impossible in reality) fit with him
17591as he really was.
17592
17593
17594
17595Chapter 3
17596
17597
17598"You met him?" she asked, when they had sat down at the table in the
17599lamplight. "You're punished, you see, for being late."
17600
17601"Yes; but how was it? Wasn't he to be at the council?"
17602
17603"He had been and come back, and was going out somewhere again. But
17604that's no matter. Don't talk about it. Where have you been? With the
17605prince still?"
17606
17607She knew every detail of his existence. He was going to say that he had
17608been up all night and had dropped asleep, but looking at her thrilled
17609and rapturous face, he was ashamed. And he said he had had to go to
17610report on the prince's departure.
17611
17612"But it's over now? He is gone?"
17613
17614"Thank God it's over! You wouldn't believe how insufferable it's been
17615for me."
17616
17617"Why so? Isn't it the life all of you, all young men, always lead?" she
17618said, knitting her brows; and taking up the crochet work that was lying
17619on the table, she began drawing the hook out of it, without looking at
17620Vronsky.
17621
17622"I gave that life up long ago," said he, wondering at the change in her
17623face, and trying to divine its meaning. "And I confess," he said, with a
17624smile, showing his thick, white teeth, "this week I've been, as it were,
17625looking at myself in a glass, seeing that life, and I didn't like it."
17626
17627She held the work in her hands, but did not crochet, and looked at him
17628with strange, shining, and hostile eyes.
17629
17630"This morning Liza came to see me--they're not afraid to call on me, in
17631spite of the Countess Lidia Ivanovna," she put in--"and she told me
17632about your Athenian evening. How loathsome!"
17633
17634"I was just going to say..."
17635
17636She interrupted him. "It was that Therese you used to know?"
17637
17638"I was just saying..."
17639
17640"How disgusting you are, you men! How is it you can't understand that a
17641woman can never forget that," she said, getting more and more angry, and
17642so letting him see the cause of her irritation, "especially a woman who
17643cannot know your life? What do I know? What have I ever known?" she
17644said, "what you tell me. And how do I know whether you tell me the
17645truth?..."
17646
17647"Anna, you hurt me. Don't you trust me? Haven't I told you that I
17648haven't a thought I wouldn't lay bare to you?"
17649
17650"Yes, yes," she said, evidently trying to suppress her jealous thoughts.
17651"But if only you knew how wretched I am! I believe you, I believe
17652you.... What were you saying?"
17653
17654But he could not at once recall what he had been going to say. These
17655fits of jealousy, which of late had been more and more frequent with
17656her, horrified him, and however much he tried to disguise the fact, made
17657him feel cold to her, although he knew the cause of her jealousy was her
17658love for him. How often he had told himself that her love was happiness;
17659and now she loved him as a woman can love when love has outweighed for
17660her all the good things of life--and he was much further from happiness
17661than when he had followed her from Moscow. Then he had thought himself
17662unhappy, but happiness was before him; now he felt that the best
17663happiness was already left behind. She was utterly unlike what she had
17664been when he first saw her. Both morally and physically she had changed
17665for the worse. She had broadened out all over, and in her face at the
17666time when she was speaking of the actress there was an evil expression
17667of hatred that distorted it. He looked at her as a man looks at a faded
17668flower he has gathered, with difficulty recognizing in it the beauty for
17669which he picked and ruined it. And in spite of this he felt that then,
17670when his love was stronger, he could, if he had greatly wished it, have
17671torn that love out of his heart; but now, when as at that moment it
17672seemed to him he felt no love for her, he knew that what bound him to
17673her could not be broken.
17674
17675"Well, well, what was it you were going to say about the prince? I have
17676driven away the fiend," she added. The fiend was the name they had given
17677her jealousy. "What did you begin to tell me about the prince? Why did
17678you find it so tiresome?"
17679
17680"Oh, it was intolerable!" he said, trying to pick up the thread of his
17681interrupted thought. "He does not improve on closer acquaintance. If you
17682want him defined, here he is: a prime, well-fed beast such as takes
17683medals at the cattle shows, and nothing more," he said, with a tone of
17684vexation that interested her.
17685
17686"No; how so?" she replied. "He's seen a great deal, anyway; he's
17687cultured?"
17688
17689"It's an utterly different culture--their culture. He's cultivated, one
17690sees, simply to be able to despise culture, as they despise everything
17691but animal pleasures."
17692
17693"But don't you all care for these animal pleasures?" she said, and again
17694he noticed a dark look in her eyes that avoided him.
17695
17696"How is it you're defending him?" he said, smiling.
17697
17698"I'm not defending him, it's nothing to me; but I imagine, if you had
17699not cared for those pleasures yourself, you might have got out of them.
17700But if it affords you satisfaction to gaze at Therese in the attire of
17701Eve..."
17702
17703"Again, the devil again," Vronsky said, taking the hand she had laid on
17704the table and kissing it.
17705
17706"Yes; but I can't help it. You don't know what I have suffered waiting
17707for you. I believe I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous: I believe you when
17708you're here; but when you're away somewhere leading your life, so
17709incomprehensible to me..."
17710
17711She turned away from him, pulled the hook at last out of the crochet
17712work, and rapidly, with the help of her forefinger, began working loop
17713after loop of the wool that was dazzling white in the lamplight, while
17714the slender wrist moved swiftly, nervously in the embroidered cuff.
17715
17716"How was it, then? Where did you meet Alexey Alexandrovitch?" Her voice
17717sounded in an unnatural and jarring tone.
17718
17719"We ran up against each other in the doorway."
17720
17721"And he bowed to you like this?"
17722
17723She drew a long face, and half-closing her eyes, quickly transformed her
17724expression, folded her hands, and Vronsky suddenly saw in her beautiful
17725face the very expression with which Alexey Alexandrovitch had bowed to
17726him. He smiled, while she laughed gaily, with that sweet, deep laugh,
17727which was one of her greatest charms.
17728
17729"I don't understand him in the least," said Vronsky. "If after your
17730avowal to him at your country house he had broken with you, if he had
17731called me out--but this I can't understand. How can he put up with such
17732a position? He feels it, that's evident."
17733
17734"He?" she said sneeringly. "He's perfectly satisfied."
17735
17736"What are we all miserable for, when everything might be so happy?"
17737
17738"Only not he. Don't I know him, the falsity in which he's utterly
17739steeped?... Could one, with any feeling, live as he is living with me?
17740He understands nothing, and feels nothing. Could a man of any feeling
17741live in the same house with his unfaithful wife? Could he talk to her,
17742call her 'my dear'?"
17743
17744And again she could not help mimicking him: "'Anna, _ma chere_; Anna,
17745dear'!"
17746
17747"He's not a man, not a human being--he's a doll! No one knows him; but I
17748know him. Oh, if I'd been in his place, I'd long ago have killed, have
17749torn to pieces a wife like me. I wouldn't have said, 'Anna, _ma chere_'!
17750He's not a man, he's an official machine. He doesn't understand that I'm
17751your wife, that he's outside, that he's superfluous.... Don't let's talk
17752of him!..."
17753
17754"You're unfair, very unfair, dearest," said Vronsky, trying to soothe
17755her. "But never mind, don't let's talk of him. Tell me what you've been
17756doing? What is the matter? What has been wrong with you, and what did
17757the doctor say?"
17758
17759She looked at him with mocking amusement. Evidently she had hit on other
17760absurd and grotesque aspects in her husband and was awaiting the moment
17761to give expression to them.
17762
17763But he went on:
17764
17765"I imagine that it's not illness, but your condition. When will it be?"
17766
17767The ironical light died away in her eyes, but a different smile, a
17768consciousness of something, he did not know what, and of quiet
17769melancholy, came over her face.
17770
17771"Soon, soon. You say that our position is miserable, that we must put an
17772end to it. If you knew how terrible it is to me, what I would give to be
17773able to love you freely and boldly! I should not torture myself and
17774torture you with my jealousy.... And it will come soon, but not as we
17775expect."
17776
17777And at the thought of how it would come, she seemed so pitiable to
17778herself that tears came into her eyes, and she could not go on. She laid
17779her hand on his sleeve, dazzling and white with its rings in the
17780lamplight.
17781
17782"It won't come as we suppose. I didn't mean to say this to you, but
17783you've made me. Soon, soon, all will be over, and we shall all, all be
17784at peace, and suffer no more."
17785
17786"I don't understand," he said, understanding her.
17787
17788"You asked when? Soon. And I shan't live through it. Don't interrupt
17789me!" and she made haste to speak. "I know it; I know for certain. I
17790shall die; and I'm very glad I shall die, and release myself and you."
17791
17792Tears dropped from her eyes; he bent down over her hand and began
17793kissing it, trying to hide his emotion, which, he knew, had no sort of
17794grounds, though he could not control it.
17795
17796"Yes, it's better so," she said, tightly gripping his hand. "That's the
17797only way, the only way left us."
17798
17799He had recovered himself, and lifted his head.
17800
17801"How absurd! What absurd nonsense you are talking!"
17802
17803"No, it's the truth."
17804
17805"What, what's the truth?"
17806
17807"That I shall die. I have had a dream."
17808
17809"A dream?" repeated Vronsky, and instantly he recalled the peasant of
17810his dream.
17811
17812"Yes, a dream," she said. "It's a long while since I dreamed it. I
17813dreamed that I ran into my bedroom, that I had to get something there,
17814to find out something; you know how it is in dreams," she said, her eyes
17815wide with horror; "and in the bedroom, in the corner, stood something."
17816
17817"Oh, what nonsense! How can you believe..."
17818
17819But she would not let him interrupt her. What she was saying was too
17820important to her.
17821
17822"And the something turned round, and I saw it was a peasant with a
17823disheveled beard, little, and dreadful looking. I wanted to run away,
17824but he bent down over a sack, and was fumbling there with his hands..."
17825
17826She showed how he had moved his hands. There was terror in her face. And
17827Vronsky, remembering his dream, felt the same terror filling his soul.
17828
17829"He was fumbling and kept talking quickly, quickly in French, you know:
17830_Il faut le battre, le fer, le brayer, le petrir_.... And in my horror I
17831tried to wake up, and woke up ... but woke up in the dream. And I began
17832asking myself what it meant. And Korney said to me: 'In childbirth
17833you'll die, ma'am, you'll die....' And I woke up."
17834
17835"What nonsense, what nonsense!" said Vronsky; but he felt himself that
17836there was no conviction in his voice.
17837
17838"But don't let's talk of it. Ring the bell, I'll have tea. And stay a
17839little now; it's not long I shall..."
17840
17841But all at once she stopped. The expression of her face instantaneously
17842changed. Horror and excitement were suddenly replaced by a look of soft,
17843solemn, blissful attention. He could not comprehend the meaning of the
17844change. She was listening to the stirring of the new life within her.
17845
17846
17847
17848Chapter 4
17849
17850
17851Alexey Alexandrovitch, after meeting Vronsky on his own steps, drove, as
17852he had intended, to the Italian opera. He sat through two acts there,
17853and saw everyone he had wanted to see. On returning home, he carefully
17854scrutinized the hat stand, and noticing that there was not a military
17855overcoat there, he went, as usual, to his own room. But, contrary to his
17856usual habit, he did not go to bed, he walked up and down his study till
17857three o'clock in the morning. The feeling of furious anger with his
17858wife, who would not observe the proprieties and keep to the one
17859stipulation he had laid on her, not to receive her lover in her own
17860home, gave him no peace. She had not complied with his request, and he
17861was bound to punish her and carry out his threat--obtain a divorce and
17862take away his son. He knew all the difficulties connected with this
17863course, but he had said he would do it, and now he must carry out his
17864threat. Countess Lidia Ivanovna had hinted that this was the best way
17865out of his position, and of late the obtaining of divorces had been
17866brought to such perfection that Alexey Alexandrovitch saw a possibility
17867of overcoming the formal difficulties. Misfortunes never come singly,
17868and the affairs of the reorganization of the native tribes, and of the
17869irrigation of the lands of the Zaraisky province, had brought such
17870official worries upon Alexey Alexandrovitch that he had been of late in
17871a continual condition of extreme irritability.
17872
17873He did not sleep the whole night, and his fury, growing in a sort of
17874vast, arithmetical progression, reached its highest limits in the
17875morning. He dressed in haste, and as though carrying his cup full of
17876wrath, and fearing to spill any over, fearing to lose with his wrath the
17877energy necessary for the interview with his wife, he went into her room
17878directly he heard she was up.
17879
17880Anna, who had thought she knew her husband so well, was amazed at his
17881appearance when he went in to her. His brow was lowering, and his eyes
17882stared darkly before him, avoiding her eyes; his mouth was tightly and
17883contemptuously shut. In his walk, in his gestures, in the sound of his
17884voice there was a determination and firmness such as his wife had never
17885seen in him. He went into her room, and without greeting her, walked
17886straight up to her writing-table, and taking her keys, opened a drawer.
17887
17888"What do you want?" she cried.
17889
17890"Your lover's letters," he said.
17891
17892"They're not here," she said, shutting the drawer; but from that action
17893he saw he had guessed right, and roughly pushing away her hand, he
17894quickly snatched a portfolio in which he knew she used to put her most
17895important papers. She tried to pull the portfolio away, but he pushed
17896her back.
17897
17898"Sit down! I have to speak to you," he said, putting the portfolio under
17899his arm, and squeezing it so tightly with his elbow that his shoulder
17900stood up. Amazed and intimidated, she gazed at him in silence.
17901
17902"I told you that I would not allow you to receive your lover in this
17903house."
17904
17905"I had to see him to..."
17906
17907She stopped, not finding a reason.
17908
17909"I do not enter into the details of why a woman wants to see her lover."
17910
17911"I meant, I only..." she said, flushing hotly. This coarseness of his
17912angered her, and gave her courage. "Surely you must feel how easy it is
17913for you to insult me?" she said.
17914
17915"An honest man and an honest woman may be insulted, but to tell a thief
17916he's a thief is simply _la constatation d'un fait_."
17917
17918"This cruelty is something new I did not know in you."
17919
17920"You call it cruelty for a husband to give his wife liberty, giving her
17921the honorable protection of his name, simply on the condition of
17922observing the proprieties: is that cruelty?"
17923
17924"It's worse than cruel--it's base, if you want to know!" Anna cried, in
17925a rush of hatred, and getting up, she was going away.
17926
17927"No!" he shrieked, in his shrill voice, which pitched a note higher than
17928usual even, and his big hands clutching her by the arm so violently that
17929red marks were left from the bracelet he was squeezing, he forcibly sat
17930her down in her place.
17931
17932"Base! If you care to use that word, what is base is to forsake husband
17933and child for a lover, while you eat your husband's bread!"
17934
17935She bowed her head. She did not say what she had said the evening before
17936to her lover, that _he_ was her husband, and her husband was
17937superfluous; she did not even think that. She felt all the justice of
17938his words, and only said softly:
17939
17940"You cannot describe my position as worse than I feel it to be myself;
17941but what are you saying all this for?"
17942
17943"What am I saying it for? what for?" he went on, as angrily. "That you
17944may know that since you have not carried out my wishes in regard to
17945observing outward decorum, I will take measures to put an end to this
17946state of things."
17947
17948"Soon, very soon, it will end, anyway," she said; and again, at the
17949thought of death near at hand and now desired, tears came into her eyes.
17950
17951"It will end sooner than you and your lover have planned! If you must
17952have the satisfaction of animal passion..."
17953
17954"Alexey Alexandrovitch! I won't say it's not generous, but it's not like
17955a gentleman to strike anyone who's down."
17956
17957"Yes, you only think of yourself! But the sufferings of a man who was
17958your husband have no interest for you. You don't care that his whole
17959life is ruined, that he is thuff ... thuff..."
17960
17961Alexey Alexandrovitch was speaking so quickly that he stammered, and was
17962utterly unable to articulate the word "suffering." In the end he
17963pronounced it "thuffering." She wanted to laugh, and was immediately
17964ashamed that anything could amuse her at such a moment. And for the
17965first time, for an instant, she felt for him, put herself in his place,
17966and was sorry for him. But what could she say or do? Her head sank, and
17967she sat silent. He too was silent for some time, and then began speaking
17968in a frigid, less shrill voice, emphasizing random words that had no
17969special significance.
17970
17971"I came to tell you..." he said.
17972
17973She glanced at him. "No, it was my fancy," she thought, recalling the
17974expression of his face when he stumbled over the word "suffering." "No;
17975can a man with those dull eyes, with that self-satisfied complacency,
17976feel anything?"
17977
17978"I cannot change anything," she whispered.
17979
17980"I have come to tell you that I am going tomorrow to Moscow, and shall
17981not return again to this house, and you will receive notice of what I
17982decide through the lawyer into whose hands I shall intrust the task of
17983getting a divorce. My son is going to my sister's," said Alexey
17984Alexandrovitch, with an effort recalling what he had meant to say about
17985his son.
17986
17987"You take Seryozha to hurt me," she said, looking at him from under her
17988brows. "You do not love him.... Leave me Seryozha!"
17989
17990"Yes, I have lost even my affection for my son, because he is associated
17991with the repulsion I feel for you. But still I shall take him. Goodbye!"
17992
17993And he was going away, but now she detained him.
17994
17995"Alexey Alexandrovitch, leave me Seryozha!" she whispered once more. "I
17996have nothing else to say. Leave Seryozha till my ... I shall soon be
17997confined; leave him!"
17998
17999Alexey Alexandrovitch flew into a rage, and, snatching his hand from
18000her, he went out of the room without a word.
18001
18002
18003
18004Chapter 5
18005
18006
18007The waiting-room of the celebrated Petersburg lawyer was full when
18008Alexey Alexandrovitch entered it. Three ladies--an old lady, a young
18009lady, and a merchant's wife--and three gentlemen--one a German banker
18010with a ring on his finger, the second a merchant with a beard, and the
18011third a wrathful-looking government clerk in official uniform, with a
18012cross on his neck--had obviously been waiting a long while already. Two
18013clerks were writing at tables with scratching pens. The appurtenances of
18014the writing-tables, about which Alexey Alexandrovitch was himself very
18015fastidious, were exceptionally good. He could not help observing this.
18016One of the clerks, without getting up, turned wrathfully to Alexey
18017Alexandrovitch, half closing his eyes. "What are you wanting?"
18018
18019He replied that he had to see the lawyer on some business.
18020
18021"He is engaged," the clerk responded severely, and he pointed with his
18022pen at the persons waiting, and went on writing.
18023
18024"Can't he spare time to see me?" said Alexey Alexandrovitch.
18025
18026"He has no time free; he is always busy. Kindly wait your turn."
18027
18028"Then I must trouble you to give him my card," Alexey Alexandrovitch
18029said with dignity, seeing the impossibility of preserving his incognito.
18030
18031The clerk took the card and, obviously not approving of what he read on
18032it, went to the door.
18033
18034Alexey Alexandrovitch was in principle in favor of the publicity of
18035legal proceedings, though for some higher official considerations he
18036disliked the application of the principle in Russia, and disapproved of
18037it, as far as he could disapprove of anything instituted by authority of
18038the Emperor. His whole life had been spent in administrative work, and
18039consequently, when he did not approve of anything, his disapproval was
18040softened by the recognition of the inevitability of mistakes and the
18041possibility of reform in every department. In the new public law courts
18042he disliked the restrictions laid on the lawyers conducting cases. But
18043till then he had had nothing to do with the law courts, and so had
18044disapproved of their publicity simply in theory; now his disapprobation
18045was strengthened by the unpleasant impression made on him in the
18046lawyer's waiting room.
18047
18048"Coming immediately," said the clerk; and two minutes later there did
18049actually appear in the doorway the large figure of an old solicitor who
18050had been consulting with the lawyer himself.
18051
18052The lawyer was a little, squat, bald man, with a dark, reddish beard,
18053light-colored long eyebrows, and an overhanging brow. He was attired as
18054though for a wedding, from his cravat to his double watch-chain and
18055varnished boots. His face was clever and manly, but his dress was
18056dandified and in bad taste.
18057
18058"Pray walk in," said the lawyer, addressing Alexey Alexandrovitch; and,
18059gloomily ushering Karenin in before him, he closed the door.
18060
18061"Won't you sit down?" He indicated an armchair at a writing table
18062covered with papers. He sat down himself, and, rubbing his little hands
18063with short fingers covered with white hairs, he bent his head on one
18064side. But as soon as he was settled in this position a moth flew over
18065the table. The lawyer, with a swiftness that could never have been
18066expected of him, opened his hands, caught the moth, and resumed his
18067former attitude.
18068
18069"Before beginning to speak of my business," said Alexey Alexandrovitch,
18070following the lawyer's movements with wondering eyes, "I ought to
18071observe that the business about which I have to speak to you is to be
18072strictly private."
18073
18074The lawyer's overhanging reddish mustaches were parted in a scarcely
18075perceptible smile.
18076
18077"I should not be a lawyer if I could not keep the secrets confided to
18078me. But if you would like proof..."
18079
18080Alexey Alexandrovitch glanced at his face, and saw that the shrewd, gray
18081eyes were laughing, and seemed to know all about it already.
18082
18083"You know my name?" Alexey Alexandrovitch resumed.
18084
18085"I know you and the good"--again he caught a moth--"work you are doing,
18086like every Russian," said the lawyer, bowing.
18087
18088Alexey Alexandrovitch sighed, plucking up his courage. But having once
18089made up his mind he went on in his shrill voice, without timidity--or
18090hesitation, accentuating here and there a word.
18091
18092"I have the misfortune," Alexey Alexandrovitch began, "to have been
18093deceived in my married life, and I desire to break off all relations
18094with my wife by legal means--that is, to be divorced, but to do this so
18095that my son may not remain with his mother."
18096
18097The lawyer's gray eyes tried not to laugh, but they were dancing with
18098irrepressible glee, and Alexey Alexandrovitch saw that it was not simply
18099the delight of a man who has just got a profitable job: there was
18100triumph and joy, there was a gleam like the malignant gleam he saw in
18101his wife's eyes.
18102
18103"You desire my assistance in securing a divorce?"
18104
18105"Yes, precisely so; but I ought to warn you that I may be wasting your
18106time and attention. I have come simply to consult you as a preliminary
18107step. I want a divorce, but the form in which it is possible is of great
18108consequence to me. It is very possible that if that form does not
18109correspond with my requirements I may give up a legal divorce."
18110
18111"Oh, that's always the case," said the lawyer, "and that's always for
18112you to decide."
18113
18114He let his eyes rest on Alexey Alexandrovitch's feet, feeling that he
18115might offend his client by the sight of his irrepressible amusement. He
18116looked at a moth that flew before his nose, and moved his hands, but did
18117not catch it from regard for Alexey Alexandrovitch's position.
18118
18119"Though in their general features our laws on this subject are known to
18120me," pursued Alexey Alexandrovitch, "I should be glad to have an idea of
18121the forms in which such things are done in practice."
18122
18123"You would be glad," the lawyer, without lifting his eyes, responded,
18124adopting, with a certain satisfaction, the tone of his client's remarks,
18125"for me to lay before you all the methods by which you could secure what
18126you desire?"
18127
18128And on receiving an assuring nod from Alexey Alexandrovitch, he went on,
18129stealing a glance now and then at Alexey Alexandrovitch's face, which
18130was growing red in patches.
18131
18132"Divorce by our laws," he said, with a slight shade of disapprobation of
18133our laws, "is possible, as you are aware, in the following cases....
18134Wait a little!" he called to a clerk who put his head in at the door,
18135but he got up all the same, said a few words to him, and sat down again.
18136"... In the following cases: physical defect in the married parties,
18137desertion without communication for five years," he said, crooking a
18138short finger covered with hair, "adultery" (this word he pronounced with
18139obvious satisfaction), "subdivided as follows" (he continued to crook
18140his fat fingers, though the three cases and their subdivisions could
18141obviously not be classified together): "physical defect of the husband
18142or of the wife, adultery of the husband or of the wife." As by now all
18143his fingers were used up, he uncrooked all his fingers and went on:
18144"This is the theoretical view; but I imagine you have done me the honor
18145to apply to me in order to learn its application in practice. And
18146therefore, guided by precedents, I must inform you that in practice
18147cases of divorce may all be reduced to the following--there's no
18148physical defect, I may assume, nor desertion?..."
18149
18150Alexey Alexandrovitch bowed his head in assent.
18151
18152"--May be reduced to the following: adultery of one of the married
18153parties, and the detection in the fact of the guilty party by mutual
18154agreement, and failing such agreement, accidental detection. It must be
18155admitted that the latter case is rarely met with in practice," said the
18156lawyer, and stealing a glance at Alexey Alexandrovitch he paused, as a
18157man selling pistols, after enlarging on the advantages of each weapon,
18158might await his customer's choice. But Alexey Alexandrovitch said
18159nothing, and therefore the lawyer went on: "The most usual and simple,
18160the sensible course, I consider, is adultery by mutual consent. I should
18161not permit myself to express it so, speaking with a man of no
18162education," he said, "but I imagine that to you this is comprehensible."
18163
18164Alexey Alexandrovitch was, however, so perturbed that he did not
18165immediately comprehend all the good sense of adultery by mutual consent,
18166and his eyes expressed this uncertainty; but the lawyer promptly came to
18167his assistance.
18168
18169"People cannot go on living together--here you have a fact. And if both
18170are agreed about it, the details and formalities become a matter of no
18171importance. And at the same time this is the simplest and most certain
18172method."
18173
18174Alexey Alexandrovitch fully understood now. But he had religious
18175scruples, which hindered the execution of such a plan.
18176
18177"That is out of the question in the present case," he said. "Only one
18178alternative is possible: undesigned detection, supported by letters
18179which I have."
18180
18181At the mention of letters the lawyer pursed up his lips, and gave
18182utterance to a thin little compassionate and contemptuous sound.
18183
18184"Kindly consider," he began, "cases of that kind are, as you are aware,
18185under ecclesiastical jurisdiction; the reverend fathers are fond of
18186going into the minutest details in cases of that kind," he said with a
18187smile, which betrayed his sympathy with the reverend fathers' taste.
18188"Letters may, of course, be a partial confirmation; but detection in the
18189fact there must be of the most direct kind, that is, by eyewitnesses. In
18190fact, if you do me the honor to intrust your confidence to me, you will
18191do well to leave me the choice of the measures to be employed. If one
18192wants the result, one must admit the means."
18193
18194"If it is so..." Alexey Alexandrovitch began, suddenly turning white;
18195but at that moment the lawyer rose and again went to the door to speak
18196to the intruding clerk.
18197
18198"Tell her we don't haggle over fees!" he said, and returned to Alexey
18199Alexandrovitch.
18200
18201On his way back he caught unobserved another moth. "Nice state my rep
18202curtains will be in by the summer!" he thought, frowning.
18203
18204"And so you were saying?..." he said.
18205
18206"I will communicate my decision to you by letter," said Alexey
18207Alexandrovitch, getting up, and he clutched at the table. After standing
18208a moment in silence, he said: "From your words I may consequently
18209conclude that a divorce may be obtained? I would ask you to let me know
18210what are your terms."
18211
18212"It may be obtained if you give me complete liberty of action," said the
18213lawyer, not answering his question. "When can I reckon on receiving
18214information from you?" he asked, moving towards the door, his eyes and
18215his varnished boots shining.
18216
18217"In a week's time. Your answer as to whether you will undertake to
18218conduct the case, and on what terms, you will be so good as to
18219communicate to me."
18220
18221"Very good."
18222
18223The lawyer bowed respectfully, let his client out of the door, and, left
18224alone, gave himself up to his sense of amusement. He felt so mirthful
18225that, contrary to his rules, he made a reduction in his terms to the
18226haggling lady, and gave up catching moths, finally deciding that next
18227winter he must have the furniture covered with velvet, like Sigonin's.
18228
18229
18230
18231Chapter 6
18232
18233
18234Alexey Alexandrovitch had gained a brilliant victory at the sitting of
18235the Commission of the 17th of August, but in the sequel this victory cut
18236the ground from under his feet. The new commission for the inquiry into
18237the condition of the native tribes in all its branches had been formed
18238and despatched to its destination with an unusual speed and energy
18239inspired by Alexey Alexandrovitch. Within three months a report was
18240presented. The condition of the native tribes was investigated in its
18241political, administrative, economic, ethnographic, material, and
18242religious aspects. To all these questions there were answers admirably
18243stated, and answers admitting no shade of doubt, since they were not a
18244product of human thought, always liable to error, but were all the
18245product of official activity. The answers were all based on official
18246data furnished by governors and heads of churches, and founded on the
18247reports of district magistrates and ecclesiastical superintendents,
18248founded in their turn on the reports of parochial overseers and parish
18249priests; and so all of these answers were unhesitating and certain. All
18250such questions as, for instance, of the cause of failure of crops, of
18251the adherence of certain tribes to their ancient beliefs,
18252etc.--questions which, but for the convenient intervention of the
18253official machine, are not, and cannot be solved for ages--received full,
18254unhesitating solution. And this solution was in favor of Alexey
18255Alexandrovitch's contention. But Stremov, who had felt stung to the
18256quick at the last sitting, had, on the reception of the commission's
18257report, resorted to tactics which Alexey Alexandrovitch had not
18258anticipated. Stremov, carrying with him several members, went over to
18259Alexey Alexandrovitch's side, and not contenting himself with warmly
18260defending the measure proposed by Karenin, proposed other more extreme
18261measures in the same direction. These measures, still further
18262exaggerated in opposition to what was Alexey Alexandrovitch's
18263fundamental idea, were passed by the commission, and then the aim of
18264Stremov's tactics became apparent. Carried to an extreme, the measures
18265seemed at once to be so absurd that the highest authorities, and public
18266opinion, and intellectual ladies, and the newspapers, all at the same
18267time fell foul of them, expressing their indignation both with the
18268measures and their nominal father, Alexey Alexandrovitch. Stremov drew
18269back, affecting to have blindly followed Karenin, and to be astounded
18270and distressed at what had been done. This meant the defeat of Alexey
18271Alexandrovitch. But in spite of failing health, in spite of his domestic
18272griefs, he did not give in. There was a split in the commission. Some
18273members, with Stremov at their head, justified their mistake on the
18274ground that they had put faith in the commission of revision, instituted
18275by Alexey Alexandrovitch, and maintained that the report of the
18276commission was rubbish, and simply so much waste paper. Alexey
18277Alexandrovitch, with a following of those who saw the danger of so
18278revolutionary an attitude to official documents, persisted in upholding
18279the statements obtained by the revising commission. In consequence of
18280this, in the higher spheres, and even in society, all was chaos, and
18281although everyone was interested, no one could tell whether the native
18282tribes really were becoming impoverished and ruined, or whether they
18283were in a flourishing condition. The position of Alexey Alexandrovitch,
18284owing to this, and partly owing to the contempt lavished on him for his
18285wife's infidelity, became very precarious. And in this position he took
18286an important resolution. To the astonishment of the commission, he
18287announced that he should ask permission to go himself to investigate the
18288question on the spot. And having obtained permission, Alexey
18289Alexandrovitch prepared to set off to these remote provinces.
18290
18291Alexey Alexandrovitch's departure made a great sensation, the more so as
18292just before he started he officially returned the posting-fares allowed
18293him for twelve horses, to drive to his destination.
18294
18295"I think it very noble," Betsy said about this to the Princess Myakaya.
18296"Why take money for posting-horses when everyone knows that there are
18297railways everywhere now?"
18298
18299But Princess Myakaya did not agree, and the Princess Tverskaya's opinion
18300annoyed her indeed.
18301
18302"It's all very well for you to talk," said she, "when you have I don't
18303know how many millions; but I am very glad when my husband goes on a
18304revising tour in the summer. It's very good for him and pleasant
18305traveling about, and it's a settled arrangement for me to keep a
18306carriage and coachman on the money."
18307
18308On his way to the remote provinces Alexey Alexandrovitch stopped for
18309three days at Moscow.
18310
18311The day after his arrival he was driving back from calling on the
18312governor-general. At the crossroads by Gazetoy Place, where there are
18313always crowds of carriages and sledges, Alexey Alexandrovitch suddenly
18314heard his name called out in such a loud and cheerful voice that he
18315could not help looking round. At the corner of the pavement, in a short,
18316stylish overcoat and a low-crowned fashionable hat, jauntily askew, with
18317a smile that showed a gleam of white teeth and red lips, stood Stepan
18318Arkadyevitch, radiant, young, and beaming. He called him vigorously and
18319urgently, and insisted on his stopping. He had one arm on the window of
18320a carriage that was stopping at the corner, and out of the window were
18321thrust the heads of a lady in a velvet hat, and two children. Stepan
18322Arkadyevitch was smiling and beckoning to his brother-in-law. The lady
18323smiled a kindly smile too, and she too waved her hand to Alexey
18324Alexandrovitch. It was Dolly with her children.
18325
18326Alexey Alexandrovitch did not want to see anyone in Moscow, and least of
18327all his wife's brother. He raised his hat and would have driven on, but
18328Stepan Arkadyevitch told his coachman to stop, and ran across the snow
18329to him.
18330
18331"Well, what a shame not to have let us know! Been here long? I was at
18332Dussot's yesterday and saw 'Karenin' on the visitors' list, but it never
18333entered my head that it was you," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, sticking his
18334head in at the window of the carriage, "or I should have looked you up.
18335I am glad to see you!" he said, knocking one foot against the other to
18336shake the snow off. "What a shame of you not to let us know!" he
18337repeated.
18338
18339"I had no time; I am very busy," Alexey Alexandrovitch responded dryly.
18340
18341"Come to my wife, she does so want to see you."
18342
18343Alexey Alexandrovitch unfolded the rug in which his frozen feet were
18344wrapped, and getting out of his carriage made his way over the snow to
18345Darya Alexandrovna.
18346
18347"Why, Alexey Alexandrovitch, what are you cutting us like this for?"
18348said Dolly, smiling.
18349
18350"I was very busy. Delighted to see you!" he said in a tone clearly
18351indicating that he was annoyed by it. "How are you?"
18352
18353"Tell me, how is my darling Anna?"
18354
18355Alexey Alexandrovitch mumbled something and would have gone on. But
18356Stepan Arkadyevitch stopped him.
18357
18358"I tell you what we'll do tomorrow. Dolly, ask him to dinner. We'll ask
18359Koznishev and Pestsov, so as to entertain him with our Moscow
18360celebrities."
18361
18362"Yes, please, do come," said Dolly; "we will expect you at five, or six
18363o'clock, if you like. How is my darling Anna? How long..."
18364
18365"She is quite well," Alexey Alexandrovitch mumbled, frowning.
18366"Delighted!" and he moved away towards his carriage.
18367
18368"You will come?" Dolly called after him.
18369
18370Alexey Alexandrovitch said something which Dolly could not catch in the
18371noise of the moving carriages.
18372
18373"I shall come round tomorrow!" Stepan Arkadyevitch shouted to him.
18374
18375Alexey Alexandrovitch got into his carriage, and buried himself in it so
18376as neither to see nor be seen.
18377
18378"Queer fish!" said Stepan Arkadyevitch to his wife, and glancing at his
18379watch, he made a motion of his hand before his face, indicating a caress
18380to his wife and children, and walked jauntily along the pavement.
18381
18382"Stiva! Stiva!" Dolly called, reddening.
18383
18384He turned round.
18385
18386"I must get coats, you know, for Grisha and Tanya. Give me the money."
18387
18388"Never mind; you tell them I'll pay the bill!" and he vanished, nodding
18389genially to an acquaintance who drove by.
18390
18391
18392
18393Chapter 7
18394
18395
18396The next day was Sunday. Stepan Arkadyevitch went to the Grand Theater
18397to a rehearsal of the ballet, and gave Masha Tchibisova, a pretty
18398dancing-girl whom he had just taken under his protection, the coral
18399necklace he had promised her the evening before, and behind the scenes
18400in the dim daylight of the theater, managed to kiss her pretty little
18401face, radiant over her present. Besides the gift of the necklace he
18402wanted to arrange with her about meeting after the ballet. After
18403explaining that he could not come at the beginning of the ballet, he
18404promised he would come for the last act and take her to supper. From the
18405theater Stepan Arkadyevitch drove to Ohotny Row, selected himself the
18406fish and asparagus for dinner, and by twelve o'clock was at Dussot's,
18407where he had to see three people, luckily all staying at the same hotel:
18408Levin, who had recently come back from abroad and was staying there; the
18409new head of his department, who had just been promoted to that position,
18410and had come on a tour of revision to Moscow; and his brother-in-law,
18411Karenin, whom he must see, so as to be sure of bringing him to dinner.
18412
18413Stepan Arkadyevitch liked dining, but still better he liked to give a
18414dinner, small, but very choice, both as regards the food and drink and
18415as regards the selection of guests. He particularly liked the program of
18416that day's dinner. There would be fresh perch, asparagus, and _la piece
18417de resistance_--first-rate, but quite plain, roast beef, and wines to
18418suit: so much for the eating and drinking. Kitty and Levin would be of
18419the party, and that this might not be obtrusively evident, there would
18420be a girl cousin too, and young Shtcherbatsky, and _la piece de
18421resistance_ among the guests--Sergey Koznishev and Alexey
18422Alexandrovitch. Sergey Ivanovitch was a Moscow man, and a philosopher;
18423Alexey Alexandrovitch a Petersburger, and a practical politician. He was
18424asking, too, the well-known eccentric enthusiast, Pestsov, a liberal, a
18425great talker, a musician, an historian, and the most delightfully
18426youthful person of fifty, who would be a sauce or garnish for Koznishev
18427and Karenin. He would provoke them and set them off.
18428
18429The second installment for the forest had been received from the
18430merchant and was not yet exhausted; Dolly had been very amiable and
18431goodhumored of late, and the idea of the dinner pleased Stepan
18432Arkadyevitch from every point of view. He was in the most light-hearted
18433mood. There were two circumstances a little unpleasant, but these two
18434circumstances were drowned in the sea of good-humored gaiety which
18435flooded the soul of Stepan Arkadyevitch. These two circumstances were:
18436first, that on meeting Alexey Alexandrovitch the day before in the
18437street he had noticed that he was cold and reserved with him, and
18438putting the expression of Alexey Alexandrovitch's face and the fact that
18439he had not come to see them or let them know of his arrival with the
18440rumors he had heard about Anna and Vronsky, Stepan Arkadyevitch guessed
18441that something was wrong between the husband and wife.
18442
18443That was one disagreeable thing. The other slightly disagreeable fact
18444was that the new head of his department, like all new heads, had the
18445reputation already of a terrible person, who got up at six o'clock in
18446the morning, worked like a horse, and insisted on his subordinates
18447working in the same way. Moreover, this new head had the further
18448reputation of being a bear in his manners, and was, according to all
18449reports, a man of a class in all respects the opposite of that to which
18450his predecessor had belonged, and to which Stepan Arkadyevitch had
18451hitherto belonged himself. On the previous day Stepan Arkadyevitch had
18452appeared at the office in a uniform, and the new chief had been very
18453affable and had talked to him as to an acquaintance. Consequently Stepan
18454Arkadyevitch deemed it his duty to call upon him in his non-official
18455dress. The thought that the new chief might not tender him a warm
18456reception was the other unpleasant thing. But Stepan Arkadyevitch
18457instinctively felt that everything would _come round_ all right.
18458"They're all people, all men, like us poor sinners; why be nasty and
18459quarrelsome?" he thought as he went into the hotel.
18460
18461"Good-day, Vassily," he said, walking into the corridor with his hat
18462cocked on one side, and addressing a footman he knew; "why, you've let
18463your whiskers grow! Levin, number seven, eh? Take me up, please. And
18464find out whether Count Anitchkin" (this was the new head) "is
18465receiving."
18466
18467"Yes, sir," Vassily responded, smiling. "You've not been to see us for a
18468long while."
18469
18470"I was here yesterday, but at the other entrance. Is this number seven?"
18471
18472Levin was standing with a peasant from Tver in the middle of the room,
18473measuring a fresh bearskin, when Stepan Arkadyevitch went in.
18474
18475"What! you killed him?" cried Stepan Arkadyevitch. "Well done! A
18476she-bear? How are you, Arhip!"
18477
18478He shook hands with the peasant and sat down on the edge of a chair,
18479without taking off his coat and hat.
18480
18481"Come, take off your coat and stay a little," said Levin, taking his
18482hat.
18483
18484"No, I haven't time; I've only looked in for a tiny second," answered
18485Stepan Arkadyevitch. He threw open his coat, but afterwards did take it
18486off, and sat on for a whole hour, talking to Levin about hunting and the
18487most intimate subjects.
18488
18489"Come, tell me, please, what you did abroad? Where have you been?" said
18490Stepan Arkadyevitch, when the peasant had gone.
18491
18492"Oh, I stayed in Germany, in Prussia, in France, and in England--not in
18493the capitals, but in the manufacturing towns, and saw a great deal that
18494was new to me. And I'm glad I went."
18495
18496"Yes, I knew your idea of the solution of the labor question."
18497
18498"Not a bit: in Russia there can be no labor question. In Russia the
18499question is that of the relation of the working people to the land;
18500though the question exists there too--but there it's a matter of
18501repairing what's been ruined, while with us..."
18502
18503Stepan Arkadyevitch listened attentively to Levin.
18504
18505"Yes, yes!" he said, "it's very possible you're right. But I'm glad
18506you're in good spirits, and are hunting bears, and working, and
18507interested. Shtcherbatsky told me another story--he met you--that you
18508were in such a depressed state, talking of nothing but death...."
18509
18510"Well, what of it? I've not given up thinking of death," said Levin.
18511"It's true that it's high time I was dead; and that all this is
18512nonsense. It's the truth I'm telling you. I do value my idea and my work
18513awfully; but in reality only consider this: all this world of ours is
18514nothing but a speck of mildew, which has grown up on a tiny planet. And
18515for us to suppose we can have something great--ideas, work--it's all
18516dust and ashes."
18517
18518"But all that's as old as the hills, my boy!"
18519
18520"It is old; but do you know, when you grasp this fully, then somehow
18521everything becomes of no consequence. When you understand that you will
18522die tomorrow, if not today, and nothing will be left, then everything is
18523so unimportant! And I consider my idea very important, but it turns out
18524really to be as unimportant too, even if it were carried out, as doing
18525for that bear. So one goes on living, amusing oneself with hunting, with
18526work--anything so as not to think of death!"
18527
18528Stepan Arkadyevitch smiled a subtle affectionate smile as he listened to
18529Levin.
18530
18531"Well, of course! Here you've come round to my point. Do you remember
18532you attacked me for seeking enjoyment in life? Don't be so severe, O
18533moralist!"
18534
18535"No; all the same, what's fine in life is..." Levin hesitated--"oh, I
18536don't know. All I know is that we shall soon be dead."
18537
18538"Why so soon?"
18539
18540"And do you know, there's less charm in life, when one thinks of death,
18541but there's more peace."
18542
18543"On the contrary, the finish is always the best. But I must be going,"
18544said Stepan Arkadyevitch, getting up for the tenth time.
18545
18546"Oh, no, stay a bit!" said Levin, keeping him. "Now, when shall we see
18547each other again? I'm going tomorrow."
18548
18549"I'm a nice person! Why, that's just what I came for! You simply must
18550come to dinner with us today. Your brother's coming, and Karenin, my
18551brother-in-law."
18552
18553"You don't mean to say he's here?" said Levin, and he wanted to inquire
18554about Kitty. He had heard at the beginning of the winter that she was at
18555Petersburg with her sister, the wife of the diplomat, and he did not
18556know whether she had come back or not; but he changed his mind and did
18557not ask. "Whether she's coming or not, I don't care," he said to
18558himself.
18559
18560"So you'll come?"
18561
18562"Of course."
18563
18564"At five o'clock, then, and not evening dress."
18565
18566And Stepan Arkadyevitch got up and went down below to the new head of
18567his department. Instinct had not misled Stepan Arkadyevitch. The
18568terrible new head turned out to be an extremely amenable person, and
18569Stepan Arkadyevitch lunched with him and stayed on, so that it was four
18570o'clock before he got to Alexey Alexandrovitch.
18571
18572
18573
18574Chapter 8
18575
18576
18577Alexey Alexandrovitch, on coming back from church service, had spent the
18578whole morning indoors. He had two pieces of business before him that
18579morning; first, to receive and send on a deputation from the native
18580tribes which was on its way to Petersburg, and now at Moscow; secondly,
18581to write the promised letter to the lawyer. The deputation, though it
18582had been summoned at Alexey Alexandrovitch's instigation, was not
18583without its discomforting and even dangerous aspect, and he was glad he
18584had found it in Moscow. The members of this deputation had not the
18585slightest conception of their duty and the part they were to play. They
18586naively believed that it was their business to lay before the commission
18587their needs and the actual condition of things, and to ask assistance of
18588the government, and utterly failed to grasp that some of their
18589statements and requests supported the contention of the enemy's side,
18590and so spoiled the whole business. Alexey Alexandrovitch was busily
18591engaged with them for a long while, drew up a program for them from
18592which they were not to depart, and on dismissing them wrote a letter to
18593Petersburg for the guidance of the deputation. He had his chief support
18594in this affair in the Countess Lidia Ivanovna. She was a specialist in
18595the matter of deputations, and no one knew better than she how to manage
18596them, and put them in the way they should go. Having completed this
18597task, Alexey Alexandrovitch wrote the letter to the lawyer. Without the
18598slightest hesitation he gave him permission to act as he might judge
18599best. In the letter he enclosed three of Vronsky's notes to Anna, which
18600were in the portfolio he had taken away.
18601
18602Since Alexey Alexandrovitch had left home with the intention of not
18603returning to his family again, and since he had been at the lawyer's and
18604had spoken, though only to one man, of his intention, since especially
18605he had translated the matter from the world of real life to the world of
18606ink and paper, he had grown more and more used to his own intention, and
18607by now distinctly perceived the feasibility of its execution.
18608
18609He was sealing the envelope to the lawyer, when he heard the loud tones
18610of Stepan Arkadyevitch's voice. Stepan Arkadyevitch was disputing with
18611Alexey Alexandrovitch's servant, and insisting on being announced.
18612
18613"No matter," thought Alexey Alexandrovitch, "so much the better. I will
18614inform him at once of my position in regard to his sister, and explain
18615why it is I can't dine with him."
18616
18617"Come in!" he said aloud, collecting his papers, and putting them in the
18618blotting-paper.
18619
18620"There, you see, you're talking nonsense, and he's at home!" responded
18621Stepan Arkadyevitch's voice, addressing the servant, who had refused to
18622let him in, and taking off his coat as he went, Oblonsky walked into the
18623room. "Well, I'm awfully glad I've found you! So I hope..." Stepan
18624Arkadyevitch began cheerfully.
18625
18626"I cannot come," Alexey Alexandrovitch said coldly, standing and not
18627asking his visitor to sit down.
18628
18629Alexey Alexandrovitch had thought to pass at once into those frigid
18630relations in which he ought to stand with the brother of a wife against
18631whom he was beginning a suit for divorce. But he had not taken into
18632account the ocean of kindliness brimming over in t