Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive
in 2007 witii funding from
IVIicrosoft Corporation
littp://www.arcliive.org/detaiJs/annakareninatolsOOtolsiala
ANNA KARENINA
VOL. I
Vronsky pleading with Anna.
Original Drawing by E. Boyd Smith.
Anna Karenina
BY
LYOF N. TOLSTOI
TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN
. BY NATHAN HASKELL DOLE .
ILLUSTRATED
#
NEW YORK.
THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY
PUBLISHEI^S
m'
Copyright, 1899,
By THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.
INTRODUCTION
ALEXANDER PUSHKIN, Russia's greatest poet
and the inspirer of the two best works of Gogol,
the father of Russian realism, may perhaps be regarded
as the direct cause of Count Tolstoi's greatest novel.
A relative happened to be visiting at Yasnaya Polyana,
and had been reading a volume of Pushkin. Count
Tolstoi picked up the work and opened it casually.
Some one entered as he was glancing over the pages,
and he exclaimed, " Here is something charming ! This
is the way to write ! Pushkin goes to the heart of the
matter."
Count Tolstof was so impressed by Pushkin's direct-
ness that he immediately felt like emulating him. He
asked to be kept free from interruptions, shut himself
into his library, and began "Anna Karenina."
The publication of it began in the Russky Viestnik
or Ricssian Messenger in 1875; but it was frequently
interrupted. Months and even years elapsed before it
was concluded ; yet it kept public attention. Not even
the break of several months between two of the parts
was sufficient to cool the interest of its reader. After
the appearance of the first part he wrote a friend : —
" You praise ' Anna Karenina,' and that is very pleas-
ant to me ; the more so as I hear much in its favor ;
but I am sure that there never was an author more
indifferent to his success than I am in this case."
A year later he wrote : —
" For two whole months I have forborne to stain my
hands with ink or to burden my heart with thoughts.
Now, however, I turn once more to that dull common-
place * Anna Karenina,' moved solely to rid my desk of
it — to make room for other tasks."
2234S44
vi INTRODUCTION
Even then he did not finish it. The next year he
wrote : " The end of winter and the opening of spring
are my busiest months for work. I must finish the
novel of which I have grown so tired." But when he
once took hold of it the spirit of it quickly seized him
again, and much of it was written, as any one can see,
with almost breathless haste.
Polevoif, in his illustrated " History of Russian Litera-
ture," says of this story: "Count Tolsto'f dwells with
especial fondness on the sharp contrast between the
frivolity, the tinsel brightness, the tumult and vanity, of
the worldly life, and the sweet, holy calm enjoyed by
those who, possessing the soil, live amid the beauties of
Nature and the pleasures of the family."
This contrast will strike the attention of every reader.
It is the outgrowth of Count Tolstoi's own life ; his dual
nature is portrayed in the contrasting careers of Levin
and Vronsky. The interweaving of two stories is done
with a masterly hand. One may take them separately
or together ; each strand of the twisted rope follows its
own course, and yet each without the other would be
evidently incomplete.
As one reads, one forgets that it is fiction. It seems
like a transcript of real life, and one is constantly im-
pressed by the vast accumulation of pictures, each illus-
trating and explaining the vital elements of the epopee.
At times one is startled by the vivifying flashes of
genius. The death of Anna is dimly suggested by the
tragic occurrence of the brakeman's death in the Mos-
cow railway station. A still more suggestive intimation
of the approaching tragedy is found in the death of
Vronsky's horse during the officers' handicap race at
Peterhof. If one may so speak, the atmosphere of the
story is electrified with fate. In this respect it is Hke
a Greek drama. There is never a false touch.
Count Tolstoi's brother-in-law says there is no doubt
that Levin is the portrait of the novehst himself, but
represented as being "extremely simple in order to bring
him into still greater contrast with the representatives
of high life in Moscow and St. Petersburg." He also
INTRODUCTION vii
says that the description of the way that Levin and
Kitty make use of the initial letters of the words in
which they wish to express to each other their mutual
love is faithful in its minutest details to the history of
Count Tolstoi's own wooing. And undoubtedly many
of the experiences of Levin on his estate are also tran-
scripts of Count Tolstoi's own experiences.
Tolstoi, like Levin, sought to reform and to better
everything about him, and took part in the Liberal
movements of the time ; but his schemes came to naught,
one after the other, and his nihilism, — for he declares
in his confession that he was a Nihilist in the actual
meaning of the word, — his nihilism triumphs in bitter-
ness on their ruins. The struggle in Levin's mind and
the horror of his despair tempting him also to suicide
are marvelously depicted. At length, as in Tolstoi's
real life, the muzhik comes to his aid, light illumines
his soul, and the work ends in a burst of mystic happi-
ness, a hymn of joy, which he sings to his inmost soul,
not sharing it with his beloved wife, though he knows
that she knows the secret of his happiness.
Interesting and instructive as this idyllic romance is,
the chief power of the novelist is expended in portray-
ing the illicit love of Vronsky and Anna. Its moral
is the opposition of duty to passion. It has been said
that the love that unites the two protagonists is sincere,
deep, almost holy despite its illegality. They were born
for each other ; it was love at first sight, a love which
overleapt all bonds and bounds. But its gratification at
the expense of honor brings the inevitable torment, espe-
cially to the woman who had sacrificed so much. The
agony of remorse, intensified by the mortifications and
humiliations caused by her position, unites itself with
an almost insane jealousy, product also of the unstable
relation in which she is placed. At last the union
becomes so irksome, so painful, so hateful, that the only
escape from it is in suicide.
Count Tolstoi manages with consummate skill to retain
his own respect for the guilty woman. Consequently
the reader's love and sympathy for the unhappy woman
viii INTRODUCTION
never flag. He lays bare each throb of her tortured
heart. He is the Parrhasius of novehsts.
Mr. Howells says : " The warmth and Hght of Tol-
stoi's good heart and right mind are seen in 'Anna
Karenina,' that saddest story of guilty love in which
nothing can save the sinful woman from herself, — not
her husband's forgiveness, her friend's compassion, her
lover's constancy, or the long intervals of quiet in which
she seems safe and happy in her sin. It is she who
destroys herself persistently, step by step, in spite of all
help and forbearance ; and yet we are never allowed to
forget how good and generous she was when we first
met her ; how good and generous she is fitfully, and
more and more rarely to the end. Her lover works out
a sort of redemption through his patience and devotion ;
he grows gentler, wiser, worthier through it ; but even
his good destroys her."
Mr. Howells also comments on the extraordinary
vitality of the work.
" A multitude of figures pass before us," he says,
"recognizably real, never caricatured nor grotesqued,
noP*in any way unduly accented, but simple and actual
in t]^ir evil or their good. There is lovely family Ufe,
the tenderness of father and daughter, the rapture of
young wife and husband, the innocence of girlhood, the
beauty of fidelity ; there is the unrest and folly of fashion,
the misery of wealth, and the wretchedness of wasted
and mistaken Ufe, the hollowness of ambition, the cheer-
ful emptiness of some hearts, the dull emptiness of
others. It is a world, and you Hve in it while you read
and long afterward, but at no step have you been be-
trayed, not because your guide has warned or exalted
you, but because he has been true, and has shown you
all things as they are."
It is hardly worth while to particularize the immortal
scenes with which the panoramic canvas is crowded,
though the Vicomte de Vogii^ characterizes the death-
bed scene of NikolaY Levin as " one of the most finished
masterpieces of which Uterature has reason to be proud,"
and the description of the races at Tsarskoye-Selo, apart
INTRODUCTION ix
from its tragic moment, is amazing for its vividness and
beauty. Indeed, there are dozens of wonderful pictures
of life and death in the story. And no translation,
however faithful, can do justice to the quiet humor
packed away often in a single word of the staccato mu-
zhik dialect, which no one ever handled more success-
fully than Count Tolstoi.
The translation has been thoroughly revised and
largely rewritten. All passages formerly omitted have
been restored, and the occasional temptation to em-
broider by paraphrase on what the author left purposely
simple, plain, and direct, has been resisted.
The Russian words and interjections (which, with the
idea of giving local color, were employed in the first
edition) have been for the most part eliminated, and the
glossary is therefore superfluous. The translator's whole
purpose has been to give a faithful presentation of this
immortal work.
CHIEF PERSONS OF THE STORY
Aleksel Aleksandrovitch Karenin.
Anna Arkadyevna Karenina (Madame Karenin).
Count Aleksei (Alosha) Kirillovitch Vronsky.
His mother, the Countess Vronsky or Vronskaya.
His brother, Aleksandr Kirillovitch Vronsky.
Prince {Kniaz) Stephan (Stiva) Arkadyevitch Oblonsky.
Princess {Kniaginya) Darya (Dolly, Dolinka, Dashenka) Aleksandrovna
Oblonsky or Oblonskaya.
Konstantin (Kostia) Dmitriyevitch (Dmitritch) Levin, proprietor of Po-
krovsky.
His brother, Nikolai Dmitriyevitch Levin.
His mistress, Marya Nikolayevna.
His kalf-brother, Sergyel Ivanovitch (Ivanuitch, Ivanitch) Koznuishef.
Prince Aleksandr Shcherbatsky.
Princess Shcherbatsky or Shcherbatskaya.
Their daughter, the Princess (^Kniazhna) Yekaterina (Kitty, Katyonka,
Katerina, Katya) Aleksandrovna Shcherbatsky or Shcherbatskaya
(afterwards Levin or Levina).
Their nephew, Prince Nikolai Shcherbatsky.
ANNA KARENINA
PART FIRST
" Vengeance is mine, I will repay "
CHAPTER I
ALL happy families resemble one another; every
unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
All was confusion in the house of the Oblonskys.
The wife had discovered that her husband was having
an intrigue with a French governess who had been in
their employ, and she declared that she could not live
in the same house with him. This condition of things
had lasted now three days, and was causing deep dis-
comfort, not only to the husband and wife, but also to all
the members of the family and the domestics. All the
members of the family and the domestics felt that there
was no sense in their living together, and that in any
hotel people meeting casually had more mutual inter-
ests than they, the members of the family and the
domestics of the house of Oblonsky. The wife did not
come out of her own rooms ; the husband had not been
at home for two days. The children were running over
the whole house as if they were crazy ; the English
maid was angry with the housekeeper and wrote to a
friend begging her to find her a new place. The head
cook had departed the evening before just at dinner-
time ; the kitchen-maid and the coachman demanded
their wages.
On the third day after the quarrel, Prince Stepan
Arkadyevitch Oblonsky — Stiva, as he was called in
society — awoke at the usual hour, that is to say about
VOL. I. — I I
2 ANNA KARENINA
eight o'clock in the morning, not in his wife's chamber,
but in his library, on a leather-covered divan. He
turned his portly pampered body on the springs of the
divan, as if intending to go to sleep again, and as he
did so threw his arm round the cushion and pressed his
cheek to it. But suddenly he sat up and opened his eyes.
" Well, well ! how was it .-' " he mused, recalling a
dream. " Yes, how was it .'' Yes ! Alabin was giving a
dinner at Darmstadt ; no, not at Darmstadt, but it was
something American. Yes, but that Darmstadt was in
America. Yes, Alabin was giving a dinner on glass
tables, yes, and the tables sang '// inio tesoro ' / no, not
'// mio tesoro,' but something better; and some little
water-bottles, they were women ! " said he, continuing
his recollections.
Prince Stepan's eyes flashed gayly and he smiled as
he said to himself : —
" Yes, it was very good, very good. There was some-
thing extremely elegant about it, but you can't tell it in
words, and when you are awake you can't express the
reality even in thought."
Then, as he noticed a ray of sunlight which came in at
the side of one of the heavy window-curtains, he gayly
set his feet down from the divan, found his gilt morocco
slippers — they had been embroidered for him by his wife
the year before as a birthday present — and, according
to an old custom which he had kept up for nine years,
he, without rising, stretched out his hand to the place
where in his chamber hung his dressing-gown. And then
he suddenly remembered how and why he had been
sleeping, not in his wife's chamber, but in the library;
the smile vanished from his face and he frowned.
" Akh ! akh ! akh ! akh ! " he groaned, as he recol-
lected everything that had occurred. And before his
mind arose once more all the details of the quarrel with
his wife, all the hopelessness of his situation, and most
lamentable of all, his own fault.
" No ! she will not and she cannot forgive me. And
what is the worst of it, 't was my own fault — my own
fault, and yet I am not to blame. In that lies all the
ANNA KARENINA 3
tragedy of it," he said to himself. "Akh ! akh ! akh ! "
he kept murmuring in his despair, as he thought over
the exceedingly unpleasant consequences that would
result to him from this quarrel.
The most disagreeable moment was at the very first,
when, as he came home from the theater, happy and
self-satisfied, bringing a monstrous pear for his wife, he
did not find her in the sitting-room, nor, to his surprise,
was she in the library, and at last he saw her in her cham-
ber holding the fatal, all-revealing letter in her hand.
She — Dolly, that forever busy and fussy and foolish
creature as he always considered her — was sitting mo-
tionless with the note in her hand, and looked at him
with an expression of terror, despair, and wrath.
" What is this ? This ? " she demanded, pointing to
the note.
And as often happens, Stepan's torment at this recollec-
tion was caused less by the fact itself than by the answer
which he gave to those words of his wife. His experi-
ence at that moment was the same as other people have
had when unexpectedly detected in some shameful deed.
He was unable to prepare his face for the situation caused
by his wife's discovery of his sin. Instead of getting
offended, denying it, justifying himself, asking forgive-
ness, or even showing indifference — anything would
have been better than what he really did — in spite of
himself (by a reflex action of the brain as Stepan Arka-
dyevitch explained it, for he loved Physiology) abso-
lutely in spite of himself he suddenly smiled with his
ordinary good-humored and therefore stupid smile.
He could not forgive himself for that stupid smile.
When Dolly saw that smile, she trembled as with phys-
ical pain, poured forth a torrent of bitter words, quite
in accordance with her natural temper, and fled from
the room. Since that time she had not been willing to
see her husband.
" That stupid smile caused the whole trouble,"
thought Stepan Arkadyevitch.
" But what is to be done about it, what is to be done } "
he asked himself in despair, and found no answer.
ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER II
Stepan Arkadyevitch was a sincere man as far as
he himself was concerned. He could not practise self-
deception and persuade himself that he repented of his
behavior. He could not, as yet, feel sorry that he, a
handsome, susceptible man of four and thirty, was not
now in love with his wife, the mother of his five living
and two buried children, though she was only a year
his junior. He regretted only that he had not suc-
ceeded in hiding it better from her. But he felt the
whole weight of his situation and pitied his wife, his
children, and himself. Possibly he would have had bet-
ter success in hiding his peccadilloes from his wife had
he realized that this knowledge would have had such an
effect upon her. He had never before thought clearly of
this question, but he had a dim idea that his wife had
long been aware that he was not faithful to her, and
looked at it through her fingers. As she had lost her
freshness, was beginning to look old, was no longer
pretty and far from distinguished and entirely common-
place, though she was an excellent mother of a family,
he had thought that she would allow her innate sense
of justice to plead for him. But it had proved to be
quite the contrary.
" Akh, how wretched ! aJ ! ai' ! ai" ! how wretched ! "
said Prince Stepan to himself over and over and could
not find any way out of the difficulty. " And how well
everything was going until this happened ! How de-
lightfully we lived ! She was content, happy with the
children ; I never interfered with her in any way, I
allowed her to do as she pleased with the children and
the household ! To be sure it was bad that she
had been the governess in our own house ; that
was bad. There is something trivial and common in
playing the gallant to one's own governess ! But what
a governess ! "
He vividly recalled Mile. Roland's black roguish eyes
and her smile.
ANNA KARENINA ^
"But then, while she was here in the house with us, I
did not permit myself any liberties. And the worst of
all is that she is already.... All this must needs happen
just to spite me. Al! ail al'l But what, what is to be
done ? "
There was no answer except that common answer
which life gives to all the most complicated and unsolva-
ble questions, — this answer : You must live according
to circumstances, in other words, forget yourself. But
as you cannot forget yourself in sleep — at least till
night, as you cannot return to that music which the
water-bottle woman sang, therefore you must forget
yourself in the dream of life !
"We shall see by and by," said Stepan Arkadyevitch
to himself, and rising he put on his gray dressing-gown
with blue silk lining, tied the tassels into a knot, and
took a full breath into his ample lungs. Then with his
usual firm step, his legs spread somewhat apart and
easily bearing the solid weight of his body, he went
over to the window, lifted the curtain, and loudly rang
the bell. It was instantly answered by his old friend
and valet Matve, who came in bringing his clothes,
boots, and a telegram. Behind Matve came the barber
with the shaving utensils.
" Are there any papers from the court-house } " asked
Stepan Arkadyevitch, taking the telegram and taking
his seat in front of the mirror.
...."On the breakfast-table," replied Matve, looking
inquiringly and with sympathy at his master, and after
an instant's pause, added with a sly smile, " They have
come from the boss of the livery-stable."
Stepan Arkadyevitch made no reply and only looked
at Matve in the mirror. By the look which they inter-
changed it could be seen how they understood each
other. The look of Stepan Arkadyevitch seemed to
ask, " Why did you say that .■* Don't you know.?"
Matve thrust his hands in his jacket pockets, kicked
out his leg, and silently, good-naturedly, almost smiling,
looked back to his master : —
" I ordered him to come on Sunday, and till then that
$ ANNA KARENINA
you and I should not be annoyed without reason," said
he, with a phrase evidently ready on his tongue.
Stepan Arkady evitch perceived that Matve wanted to
make some jesting reply and attract attention to him-
self. Tearing open the telegram, he read it, using his
wits to make out the words, that were as usual blindly
written, and his face brightened.
.... " Matve, sister Anna Arkadyevna will be here
to-morrow," said he, staying for a moment the plump
gleaming hand of his barber, who was making a pink
path through his long, curly whiskers.
"Thank God," cried Matve, showing by this excla-
mation that he understood as well as his master the
significance of this arrival, that it meant that Anna
Arkadyevna, Prince Stepan's loving sister, might effect
a reconciliation between husband and wife.
" Alone, or with her husband ^ " asked Matve.
Stepan Arkadyevitch could not speak, as the barber
was engaged on his upper lip, but he lifted one finger.
Matve nodded his head toward the mirror.
"Alone. Get her room ready .-* "
" Report to Darya Aleksandrovna, and let her decide."
"To Darya Aleksandrovna.? "repeated Matve, rather
skeptically.
"Yes! report to her. And here, take the telegram,
give it to her, and do as she says."
" You want to try an experiment," was the thought
in Matve's mind ; but he only said, " I will obey! "
By this time Stepan Arkadyevitch had finished his
bath and his toilet, and was just putting on his clothes,
when Matve, stepping slowly with squeaking boots, and
with the telegram in his hand, returned to the room.
The barber was no longer there.
" Darya Aleksandrovna bade me tell you she is going
away. ...do just as he — as you — please about it,"
said Matve, with a smile lurking in his eyes. Thrust-
ing his hands into his pockets, and bending his head to
one side, he looked at his master. Stepan Arkadyevitch
was silent. Then a good-humored and rather pitiful
smile lighted up his handsome face.
ANNA KARENINA 7
" Well, Matve?" he said, shaking his head.
" It 's nothing, sir ; she will come to her senses,"
answered Matve.
" Will come to her senses ?"
" Sure she will ! "
"Do you think so? — Who is there?" asked Stepan
Arkadyevitch, hearing the rustle of a woman's dress
behind the door.
" It 's ine^' said a powerful and pleasant female voice,
and in the doorway appeared the severe and pimply
face of Matriona Filimonovna, the nurse.
"Well, what is it, Matriosha?" asked Stepan Ar-
kadyevitch, going to meet her at the door.
Notwithstanding the fact that Stepan Arkadyevitch
was entirely in the wrong as regarded his wife, and he
himself acknowledged it, still almost every one in the
house, even the old nurse, Darya Aleksandrovna's chief
friend, was on his side.
" Well, what ? " he asked gloomily.
" You go down, sir, ask her forgiveness, just once.
Perhaps the Lord will bring it out right. She is tor-
menting herself grievously, and it is pitiful to see her;
and everything in the house is going criss-cross. The
children, sir, you must have pity on them. Ask her
forgiveness, sir ! What is to be done ? No gains with-
out pains." ....
"But you see she won't accept an apology."....
" But you do your part. God is merciful, sir ; pray to
God. God is merciful."
"Very well, then, come on," said Stepan Arkadye-
vitch, suddenly turning red in the face. — "Very well, let
me have my clothes," said he, turning to Matve, and
resolutely throwing off his dressing-gown.
Matve had everything all ready for him, and stood
blowing off something invisible from the shirt stiff as a
horse-collar, and with evident satisfaction he put it over
his master's well-groomed body.
ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER III
Having dressed, Stepan Arkadyevitch sprinkled
himself with perfume, straightened the sleeves of his
shirt, according to his usual routine put into his various
pockets cigarettes, his letter-case, matches, his watch
with its double chain and locket, and, shaking out his
handkerchief, feeling clean, well-perfumed, healthy, and
physically happy in spite of his unhappiness, went out
somewhat unsteadily to the dining-room, where his cof-
fee was already waiting for him, and next the coffee his
letters and the papers from the court-house.
He read his letters. One was very disagreeable, —
from a merchant who was negotiating for the purchase
of a forest on his wife's estate. It was necessary to sell
this forest, but now nothing could be done about it until
a reconciliation was effected with his wife. Most un-
pleasant it was to think that his pecuniary interests in
this approaching transaction were complicated with his
reconciliation to his wife. And the thought that he
might be influenced by this interest, that his desire for
a reconciliation with his wife was on account of the sale
of the forest, this thought mortified him.
Having finished his letters Stepan Arkadyevitch took
up the papers from the court-house, rapidly turned over
the leaves of two deeds, made several notes with a big
pencil, and then pushing them away, took his coffee.
While he was drinking it he opened a morning journal
still damp, and began to read.
Stepan Arkadyevitch subscribed to a liberal paper, and
read it. It was not extreme in its views, but advocated
those principles which the majority held. And though
he was not really interested in science or art or politics,
he strongly adhered to such views on all these subjects
as the majority, including his paper, advocated, and he
changed them only when the majority changed them ;
or more correctly, he did not change them, but they
themselves imperceptibly changed in him.
Stepan Arkadyevitch never chose principles or opin-
ANNA KARENINA 9
ions, but these principles and opinions came to him, just
as he never chose the shape of a hat or coat, but took
those that others wore. And, living as he did in fash-
ionable society, through the necessity of some mental
activity, developing generally in a man's best years, it
was as indispensable for him to have views as to have
a hat. If there was any reason why he preferred
liberal views rather than the conservative direction which
many of his circle followed, it was not because he found
a liberal tendency more rational, but because he found it
better suited to his mode of life.
The liberal party declared that everything in Russia
was wretched; and the fact was that Stepan Arkadye-
vitch had a good many debts and was decidedly short of
money. The liberal party said that marriage was a de-
funct institution and that it needed to be remodeled, and
in fact domestic life afforded Stepan Arkadyevitch very
little pleasure, and compelled him to lie, and to pretend
what was contrary to his nature. The liberal party said,
or rather took it for granted, that religion is only a curb
on the barbarous portion of the community, and in fact
Stepan Arkadyevitch could not bear the shortest prayer
, without pain in his knees, and he could not comprehend
the necessity of all these awful and high-sounding words
about the other world when it is so very pleasant to live
in this. Moreover, Stepan Arkadyevitch, who liked a
merry jest, was sometimes fond of scandalizing a quiet
man by saying that any one who was proud of his origin
ought not to stop at Rurik and deny his earliest ancestor
— the monkey.
Thus the liberal tendency had become a habit with
Stepan Arkadyevitch, and he liked his paper, just as he
liked his cigar after dinner, because of the slight hazi-
ness which it caused in his brain. He was now reading
the leading editorial, which proved that in our day a cry is
raised, without reason, over the danger that radicalism
may swallow up all the conservative elements, and that
government ought to take measures to crush the hydra
of revolution, and that, on the contrary, " according to
our opinion, the danger lies not in this imaginary hydra
lo ANNA KARENINA
of revolution, but in the inertia of traditions which block
progress," and so on. He read through another article
on finance which made mention of Bentham and Mill,
and dropped some sharp hints for the ministry. With
his peculiar quickness of comprehension he appreciated
each point, — from whom and against whom and on
what occasion it was directed ; and this as usual afforded
him some amusement. But his satisfaction was poisoned
by the remembrance of Matriona's advice and of the un-
fortunate state of his domestic affairs. He read also
that Count von Beust was reported to have gone to
Wiesbaden, that there was to be no more gray hair ; he
read about the sale of a light carriage and a young-
woman's advertisement for a place. But these items
did not afford him quiet, ironical satisfaction as usual.
Having finished his paper, his second cup of coffee,
and a buttered roll, he stood up, shook the crumbs of the
roll from his waistcoat, and, filling his broad chest,
smiled joyfully, not because there was anything extraor-
dinarily pleasant in his mind, but the joyful smile was
caused by good digestion.
But this joyful smile immediately brought back the
memory of everything, and he sank into thought.
The voices of two children — Stepan Arkadyevitch
knew they were Grisha, his youngest boy, and Tania,
his eldest daughter — were now heard behind the door.
They were dragging something and upset it.
" I told you not to put passengers on top," cried the
little girl in English. — " Now pick them up."
" Everything is in confusion," said Stepan Arkadye-
vitch to himself. " Now here the children are, running
wild!" And going to the door, he called to them. They
dropped the little box which served them for a railway-
train, and ran to their father.
The little girl, her father's favorite, ran in boldly,
threw her arms around his neck and laughingly hugged
him, enjoying as usual the odor which exhaled from his
whiskers. Then kissing his face, reddened by his bend-
ing position and beaming with tenderness, the little girl
unclasped her hands and wanted to runaway again, but
her father held her back.
ANNA KARENINA ii
" What is mamma doing ? " he asked, caressing his
daughter's smooth, soft neck. "How are you?" he
added, smiling at the boy, who stood saluting him. He
acknowledged he had less love for the little boy, yet he
tried to be impartial. But the boy felt the difference,
and did not smile back in reply to his father's chilling
smile.
" Mamma.? She 's up," answered the little girl.
Stepan Arkadyevitch sighed. " Of course she has
spent another sleepless night," he said to himself.
" Well, is she cheerful ? "
The little girl knew that there was trouble between
her father and her mother, and that her mother could
not be cheerful, and that her father ought to know it,
and that he was dissembling when he questioned her so
lightly. And she blushed for her father. He instantly
perceived it and also turned red.
" I don't know," she said ; " she told me that we were
not to have lessons this morning but were to go with
Miss Hull over to grandmother's."
" Well, then, run along, TancJmrotcJika nioya. — Oh,
yes, wait," said he, still detaining her and smoothing her
delicate little hand.
He took down from the mantelpiece a box of candy
which he had placed there the day before, and gave
her two pieces, selecting her favorite chocolate and
vanilla.
" For Grisha .-' " she asked, pointing to the chocolate.
"Yes, yes ; " and still smoothing her soft shoulder he
kissed her on the neck and hair, and let her go.
"The carriage is at the door," said Matve, and he
added, "A woman is here — a petitioner."
" Has she been here long ? " demanded Stepan
Arkadyevitch.
" Half an hour."
" How many times have you been told to announce
visitors instantly .'' "
" I had to get your coffee ready," replied Matve in
his kind, rough voice, at which it was impossible to take
offense.
12 ANNA KARENINA
"Well, show her in quick!" said Oblonsky, frowning
with annoyance.
The petitioner, the wife of Captain Kalanin, asked
some impossible and nonsensical favor; but Stepan
Arkadyevitch, according to his custom, gave her a com-
fortable seat, listened to her story without interrupting,
and then gave her careful advice to whom and how to
make her application, and in lively and eloquent style
wrote, in his big, scrawling, but handsome and legible
hand, a note to the person who might aid her. Having
dismissed the captain's wife, Stepan Arkadyevitch took
his hat and stood for a moment trying to remember
whether he had forgotten anything. He seemed to
have forgotten nothing except what he wanted to forget
— his wife.
"Ah, yes!"
He dropped his head, and a gloomy expression came
over his handsome face.
"To go or not to go," he said to himself; and an
inner voice told him that it was not advisable to go, that
there was no way out of it except through deception,
that to straighten, to smooth out, their relations was
impossible, because it was impossible to make her
attractive and lovable again, or to make him an old man
insensible to passion. Nothing but deception and lying
could come of it, and deception and lying were opposed
to his nature.
" But it must be done sometime ; it can't remain
so always," he said, striving to gain courage. He
straightened himself, took out a cigarette, lighted it,
puffed at it two or three times, threw it into a mother-
of-pearl-lined ash-tray, went with quick steps through
the sitting-room, and opened the door into his wife's
sleeping-room.
ANNA KARENINA 13
CHAPTER IV
Darya Aleksandrovna, surrounded by all sorts of
things thrown in confusion about the room, was stand-
ing before an open chiffonnier from which she was
removing the contents. She had on a dressing-sack, and
the thin braids of her once luxuriant and beautiful hair
were pinned back. Her face was thin and sunken, and
her big eyes, protruding from her pale, worn face, had
an expression of terror. When she heard her husband's
steps she stopped in her work and, gazing at the door,
vainly tried to give her face a stern and forbidding
expression. She was conscious that she feared him and
that she dreaded the coming interview. She was in the
act of doing what she had attempted to do a dozen times
during those three days : gathering up her own effects
and those of her children to carry to her mother's
house ; and again she could not bring herself to do it, yet
now, as before, she said to herself that things could not
remain as they were, that she must take some measures to
punish him, to put him to shame, to have some revenge
on him, if only for a small part of the anguish that he
had caused her. She ctill kept saying that she should
leave him, but she felt that it was impossible ; it was
impossible because she could not cease to consider him
her husband and to love him. Moreover, she confessed
that if here in her own home she had barely succeeded
in looking after her five children, it would be far worse
where she was going with them. In the course of these
three days the youngest child had been made ill by eat-
ing some poor soup, and the rest had been obliged
to go almost dinnerless the night before. She felt that
it was impossible to leave, yet for the sake of deceiving
herself she was collecting her things and pretending
that she was going.
When she saw her husband, she thrust her hands into
a drawer of the chiffonnier, as if trying to find some-
thing, and looked at him only when he came close up
to her. But her face, to which she had intended to give
14 ANNA KARENINA
a stern and resolute expression, showed her confusion
and anguish of mind.
" Dolly," said he, in a gentle, subdued voice. He
hung his head and tried to assume a humble and sub-
missive mien, but nevertheless he was radiant with fresh
life and health. She gave him a quick glance which
took in his whole figure from head to foot, radiant with
life and health.
" Yes, he is happy and contented," she said to her-
self, .... " but I ? .... And this good nature which makes
everybody like him so well and praise him is revolting
to me ! I hate this good nature of his."
Her mouth grew firm, the muscles of her right cheek
contracted, she looked pale and nervous.
"What do you •want.''" she demanded, in a quick,
unnatural tone.
" Dolly," he repeated, with a quaver in his voice,
"Anna is coming to-day."
" Well, what is that to me } I cannot receive her,"
she cried.
" Still, it must be done, Dolly." ....
"Go away! go away! go away!" she cried, without
looking at him, and as if her words were torn from her
by physical agony.
Stepan Arkadyevitch might be calm enough as his
thoughts turned to his wife, he might have some hope
that it would all straighten itself out according to Matve's
prediction, and he might be able tranquilly to read his
morning paper and drink his coffee ; but when he saw
her tortured, suffering face, when he heard that resigned
and hopeless tone of her voice, he breathed hard, some-
thing rose in his throat, and his eyes filled with tears.
"My God! What have I done.!* for God's sake!....
See...."
He could not say another word for the sobs that
choked him.
She shut the drawer violently, and looked at him.
" Dolly, what can I say ? .... Only one thing : forgive
me. Just think ! Cannot nine years of my life pay for
a single moment, a moment .... "
ANNA KARENINA 15
She let her eyes fall, and listened to what he was
going to say, as if beseeching him in some way to per-
suade her of his innocence.
" A single moment of temptation," he ended, and was
going to continue ; but at that word, Dolly's lips again
closed tight as if from physical pain, and again the mus-
cles of her right cheek contracted.
" Go away, go away from here," she cried still more
impetuously, " and don't speak to me of your tempta
tions and your wretched conduct."
She attempted to leave the room, but she almost feii,
and was obliged to lean upon a chair for support.
Oblonsky's face grew melancholy, his lips trembled,
and his eyes filled with tears.
" Dolly," said he, almost sobbing, " for God's sake
think of the children. They are not to blame ; I am
the one to blame. Punish me ! Tell me how I can
atone for my fault I am ready to do anything. I
am guilty ! No words can tell how guilty I am. But,
Dolly, forgive me ! "
She sat down. He heard her quick, hard breathing,
and his soul was filled with pity for her. She tried
several times to speak, but could not utter a word. He
waited.
" You think of the children, because you like to play
with them ; but I think of them, too, and I know what
they have lost," said she, repeating one of the phrases
that during the last three days she had many times
repeated to herself.
She had used the familiar tin (thou), and he looked
at her with gratitude, and made a movement as if to
take her hand, but she turned from him with abhor-
rence.
" I have consideration for my children, and therefore
I would do all in the world to save them ; but I do not
myself know how I can best save them : by taking them
from their father, or by leaving them with a father who
is a libertine, — yes, a libertine ! .... Now tell me after
this, — this that has happened, can we live together }
Is it possible.? Tell me, is it possible?" she demanded,
i6 ANNA KARENINA
raising her voice. "When my husband, the father of
my children, has a love-affair with their governess .... "
" .... But what is to be done about it .'' what is to be
done ? " said he, interrupting with broken voice, not
knowing what he said, and letting his head sink lower
and lower.
"You are revolting to me, you are insulting," she
cried, with increasing anger. " Your tears are water !
You never loved me ; you have no heart, no honor.
You are abominable, revolting, and henceforth you are
a stranger to me, — yes, a perfect stranger," and she
repeated with spiteful anger this word "stranger" which
was so terrible to her own ears.
He looked at her, and the anger expressed in her face
alarmed and surprised him. He had no realizing sense
that his pity exasperated his wife. She saw that he felt
sympathy for her, but not love. " No, she hates me, she
will not forgive me," he said to himself.
" This is terrible, terrible ! " he cried.
At this moment one of the children in the next room,
having apparently had a fall, began to cry. Darya
Aleksandrovna listened and her face suddenly softened.
She seemed to collect her thoughts for a few seconds,
as if she did not know where she was and what was
happening to her, then, quickly rising, she hastened to
the door.
"At any rate she loves my child," thought Oblonsky,
who had noticed the change in her face as she heard
the little one's cry. " My child ; how then can she hate
me.?"
" Dolly ! just one word more," he said, following her.
" If you follow me, I will call the domestics, the
children ! Let them all know that you are infamous !
I leave this very day, and you may live here with your
paramour."
And she went out and slammed the door.
Stepan Arkadyevitch sighed, wiped his face, and
softly left the room.
" Matve says this can be settled ; but how ? I don't
see the possibility. Akh ! akh ! how terrible ! and
ANNA KARENINA 17
how foolishly she shrieked," said he to himself, as he
recalled her cry and the words "infamous" and "para-
mour
" Perhaps the chambermaids heard her ! horribly
foolish, horribly ! "
Stepan Arkadyevitch stood by himself a few seconds,
rubbed his eyes, sighed, and then, throwing out his
chest, left the room.
It was Friday, and in the dining-room the German
clock-maker was winding the clock. Stepan Arka-
dyevitch remembered a joke that he had made about
this punctilious German clock-maker, to the effect that
" he must have been wound up himself for a lifetime for
the purpose of winding clocks," and he smiled. Stepan
Arkadyevitch loved a good joke. "Perhaps it will
straighten itself out. That 's a good little phrase !
straighten itself out," he thought ; " I must tell that."
"Matve!" he shouted; and when the old servant
appeared, he said, " Have Marya put the best room in
order for Anna Arkadyevna."
"Very well."
Stepan Arkadyevitch took his fur coat, and started
down the steps.
" Shall you dine at home ? " asked Matve, as he
escorted him down.
" That depends. Here, take this if you need to spend
anything," said he, taking out a bill of ten rubles from
his pocket-book. "That will be enough."
" Whether it is enough or not, it will have to do,"
said Matve, as he shut the carriage-door and went up
the steps.
Meantime, Darya Aleksandrovna, having pacified the
child, and knowing by the sound of the carriage that he
was gone, came back to her room. This was her sole
refuge from the domestic troubles that besieged her as
soon as she went out. Even during the short time that
she had been in the nursery, the English maid and
Matriona Filimonovna asked her all sorts of questions
demanding immediate attention, questions which she
alone could answer, — what clothes should they put on
i8 ANNA KARENINA
the children for their walk ? should they give them
milk ? should they send for another cook ?
" Akh ! leave me alone, leave me alone ! " she cried,
and, hastening back to the chamber, she sat down in
the place where she had been talking with her husband.
Then, clasping her thin hands, on whose fingers the rings
would scarcely stay, she reviewed the whole conversation.
"He has gone! But has he broken with her?" she
asked herself. " Does he still continue to see her }
Why did n't I ask him } No, no, we cannot live together.
Even if we continue to live in the same house, we are
only strangers, strangers forever ! " she repeated, with
a strong emphasis on the word that hurt her so cruelly.
"How I loved him! my God, how I loved him!..,.
How I loved him ! and even now do I not love him }
Do I not love him even more than before .'' that is the
most terrible thing," she was beginning to say, but she
did not finish out her thought, because Matriona Fili-
monovna put her head in at the door. " Give orders to
send for my brother," said she ; " he will get dinner. If
you don't, it will be like yesterday, when the children
did not have anything to eat for six hours."
" Very good, I will come and give the order. Have
you sent for some fresh milk .-* "
And Darya Aleksandrovna entered into her daily
tasks, and in them forgot her sorrow for the time being.
CHAPTER V
Stepan Arkadyevitch had done well at school, by
reason of his excellent natural gifts, but he was lazy and
mischievous, and consequently had been at the foot of his
class ; but, in spite of his irregular habits, his low rank in
the Service, and his youth, he, nevertheless, held an im-
portant salaried position as nachalnik, or president of
one of the courts in Moscow. This place he had secured
through the good offices of his sister Anna's husband,
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch Karenin, who occupied one of
the most influential positions in the ministry of which he
ANNA KARENINA 19
was a member. But even if Karenin had not been able
to get this place for his brother-in-law, a hundred other
people — brothers, sisters, cousins, second cousins, uncles,
aunts — would have got it for Stiva Oblonsky, or some
place as good, together with the six thousand rubles'
salary which he needed for his establishment, his affairs
being somewhat out of order in spite of his wife's con-
siderable fortune.
Half the people of Moscow and St. Petersburg were
relatives or friends of Stepan Arkadyevitch ; he was
born into the society of the rich and powerful of this
world. A third of the older officials attached to the
court and in government employ had been friends of his
father, and had known him from the time when he wore
petticoats ; a second third addressed him familiarly in
the second person singular ; the others were " hail fel-
lows well met." He had, therefore, as his friends, all
those whose function it is to dispense earthly blessings
in the shape of places, leases, concessions, and the like,
and who could not neglect their own. And so Oblonsky
had no special difficulty in obtaining an excellent place.
All he had to do was not to shirk, not to be jealous, not
to be quarrelsome, not to be thin-skinned, and he never
gave way to these faults, because of his natural good
temper. It would have seemed ridiculous to him if he
had been told that he could not have any salaried place
that he wanted, because it did not seem to him that he
demanded anything extraordinary. He asked only for
what his companions were obtaining, and he felt that he
was as capable as any of them of performing the duties
of such a position.
Stepan Arkadyevitch was liked by every one for his
good and amiable character and his unimpeachable
honesty. There was moreover something in his brilliant
and attractive personality, in his bright, sparkling eyes,
his black brows, his hair, his vivid coloring, which exer-
cised a strong physical influence as of friendliness and
gayety on those who came in touch with him.
" Aha, Stiva ! Oblonsky ! Here he is ! " people
would generally say, with a smile of pleasure. Even if
ao ANNA KARENINA
it happened that the results of meeting him were not
particularly gratifying, nevertheless people were just as
glad to meet him the second day and the third.
After filling for three years the office of nachalnik of
one of the chief judiciary positions in Moscow, Stepan Ar-
kadyevitch had gained, not only the friendship, but also
the respect of his colleagues, both those above and those
below him in station, as well as of all who had had dealings
with him. The principal qualities that had gained him
this universal esteem were, first, his extreme indulgence
for people, and this was founded on his knowledge of his
own weaknesses ; secondly, his absolute liberality, which
was not the liberalism which he read about in the news-
papers, but that which was in his blood, and caused him
to be agreeable to every one, in whatever station in life ;
and thirdly and principally, his perfect indifference to
the business which he transacted, so that he never lost
his temper, and therefore never made mistakes.
As soon as he reached his tribunal, Stepan Arkadye-
vitch, escorted by the solemn Swiss who bore his port-
folio, went to his little private office, put on his uniform,
and proceeded to the court-room. The clerks and other
employees all stood up, bowing eagerly and respectfully.
Stepan Arkadyevitch, as usual, hastened to his place,
shook hands with his colleagues, and took his seat. He
got off some pleasantry and made some remark suitable
to the occasion, and then opened the session. No one
better than he understood how far to go within the limits
of freedom, frankness, and that official dignity which is
so useful in the expedition of official business. A
clerk came with papers, and, with the free and yet re-
spectful air common to all who surrounded Stepan
Arkadyevitch, spoke in the familiarly liberal tone which
Stepan Arkadyevitch had introduced : —
" We have at last succeeded in obtaining reports from the
Government of Penza. Here they are, if you care to ...."
" So we have them at last," said Stepan Arkadyevitch,
touching the document with his finger. " Now, then,
gentlemen ...."
And the proceedings began.
ANNA KARENINA 21
" If they knew," he said to himself, as he bent his head
with an air of importance while the report was read, " how
much their president, only half an hour since, looked like
a naughty school-boy!" and a gleam of amusement came
into his eyes as he listened to the report.
The session generally lasted till two o'clock without
interruption, and was followed by recess and luncheon.
The clock had not yet struck two, when the great glass
doors of the court-room were suddenly thrown open,
and some one entered. All the members, glad of any
diversion, looked round from where they sat under the
Emperor's portrait and behind the zertsdlo, or procla-
mation-table ; but the doorkeeper instantly ejected the
intruder, and shut the door on him.
After the business was read through, Stepan Arkadye-
vitch arose, stretched himself, and in a spirit of sacri-
fice to the liberalism of the time took out his cigarette,
while still in the court-room, and then passed into his
private office. Two of his colleagues, the aged veteran
Nikitin, and the chamberlain Grinevitch, followed him.
" There '11 be time enough to finish after luncheon,"
said Oblonsky.
"How we are rushing through with it!" replied
Nikitin.
" This Famin must be a precious rascal," said Grine-
vitch, alluding to one of the characters in the affair
which they had beqn investigating.
Stepan Arkadyevitch knitted his brows at Grinevitch's
words, as if to signify that it was not the right thing to
form snap judgments, and he made no reply.
" Who was it came into the court-room .?" he asked of
the doorkeeper.
'' Some one who entered without permission, your
excellency, while my back was turned. He asked to
see you : I said, * When the court adjourns, then .... ' "
" Where is he .? "
" Probably in the vestibule ; he ,was there just now.
Ah ! there he is," said the doorkeeper, pointing to a
solidly built, broad-shouldered man with curly beard,
who, without taking off his sheepskin cap, was lightly
21 ANNA KARENINA
and quickly running up the well-worn steps of the stone
staircase. A lean chinovnik, on his way down, with a
portfolio under his arm, stopped to look, with some indig-
nation, at the newcomer's feet, and turned to Oblonsky
with a glance of inquiry. Stepan Arkadyevitch stood
at the top of the staircase, and his bright, good-natured
face, set off by the embroidered collar of his uniform,
was still more radiant when he recognized the visitor.
" Here he is ! Levin, at last," he cried, with a friendly,
ironical smile, as he looked at his approaching friend.
" What ! you got tired of waiting for me, and have
come to find me in this den } " he went on to say, not
satisfied with pressing his hand, but kissing him affec-
tionately. " Have you been in town long ? "
" I just got here, and was in a hurry to see you," said
Levin, looking about him timidly, and at the same time
with a fierce and anxious expression.
"Well, come into my office," said Stepan Arka-
dyevitch, who was aware of his visitor's egotistic sensi-
tiveness, and, taking him by the hand, he led him along
as if he were conducting him through manifold dangers.
Stepan Arkadyevitch addressed almost all his acquain-
tances with the familiar "thou," — old men of three-
score, young men of twenty, actors and ministers,
merchants and generals, so that there were very many
of these familiarly addressed acquaintances from both
extremes of the social scale, and they would have been
astonished to know that through Oblonsky they had
something in common. He thus addressed all with
whom he had drunk champagne, and he had drunk
champagne with every one, and so when in the presence
of his subordinates he met any of his shameful intimates,
as he jestingly called some of his acquaintances, his
characteristic tact was sufficient to diminish the dis-
agreeable impressions that they might have.
Levin was not one of his shameful intimates, but
Oblonsky instinctively felt that Levin might think he
would not like to make a display of their intimacy be-
fore his subordinates, and so he hastened to take him
into his private office.
ANNA KARENINA 23
Levin was about the same age as Oblonsky, and their
intimacy was not based on champagne alone. Levin
was a friend and companion from early boyhood. In
spite of the difference in their characters and their
tastes, they were fond of each other as friends are who
have grown up together. And yet, as often happens among
men who have chosen different spheres of activity, each,
while approving the work of the other, really despised it.
Each believed his own mode of life to be the only rational
way of living, while that led by his friend was only illusion.
At the sight of Levin, Oblonsky could not repress a
slight ironical smile. How many times had he seen him in
Moscow just in from the country, where he had been doing
something, though Oblonsky did not know exactly what
and scarcely took any interest in it. Levin always came
to Moscow anxious, hurried, a trifle annoyed, and vexed
because he was annoyed, and generally bringing with
him entirely new and unexpected views of things.
Stepan Arkadyevitch laughed at this and yet liked it.
In somewhat the same way Levin despised the city
mode of his friend's life, and his official employment,
which he considered trifling, and made sport of it. But
the difference between them lay in this : that Oblonsky,
doing what every one else was doing, laughed self-con-
fidently and good-naturedly, while Levin, because he was
not assured in his own mind, sometimes lost his temper.
" We have been expecting you for some time," said
Stepan Arkadyevitch, as he entered his office, and let
go his friend's hand to show that the danger was past.
" I am very, very glad to see you," he continued. " How
goes it .-* how are you .'' Wheo did you come ? "
Levin was silent, and looked at the unknown faces of
Oblonsky's two colleagues, and especially at the elegant
Grinevitch's hand, with its long, white fingers and their
long, yellow, and pointed nails, and his cuffs, with their
huge, gleaming cuff-buttons. It was evident that his
hands absorbed all of his attention and allowed him to
think of nothing else. Oblonsky instantly noticed this,
and smiled.
" Ah, yes," said he, " allow me to make you acquainted
24 ANNA KARENINA
with my colleagues, Filipp Ivanuitch Nikitin, Mikhail
Stanislavitch Grinevitch ; " then turning to Levin, "A
landed proprietor, a rising man, a member of the
zemstsvo, and a gymnast who can lift two hundred
pounds with one hand, a raiser of cattle, and huntsman,
and my friend, Konstantin Dmitrievitch Levin, the
brother of SergyeT Ivanuitch Koznuishef."
" Very happy," said the little old man. *' I have the
honor of knowing your brother, Sergyei' Ivanuitch,"
said Grinevitch, extending his delicate hand with its long
nails.
Levin frowned ; he coldly shook hands, and turned
to Oblonsky. Although he had much respect for his
half-brother, a writer universally known in Russia, it
was none the less unpleasant for him to be addressed,
not as Konstantin Levin, but as the brother of the famous
Koznuishef.
" No, I am no longer a worker in the zemstsvo. I
have quarreled with everybody, and I don't go to the
assemblies," said he to Oblonsky.
" This is a sudden change," said Stepan Arkadyevitch,
with a smile. " But how .-' why .-' "
" It is a long story, and I will tell it some other time,"
replied Levin ; but he nevertheless went on to say, " To
make a long story short, I was convinced that no action
amounts to anything, or can amount to anything, in
our provincial assembles." He spoke as if some one had
insulted him. " On the one hand, they try to play Parlia-
ment, and I am not young enough and not old enough
to amuse myself with toys ; and, on the other hand," —
he hesitated, — " this serves the district ring to make a
little money. There used to be guardianships, judg-
ments ; but now we have the zemstsvo, not in the way
of bribes, but in the way of unearned salaries."
He spoke hotly, as if some one present had attacked
his views.
" Aha ! here you are, I see, in a new phase, on the
conservative side," said Stepan Arkadyevitch. " Well,
we '11 speak about this by and by."
"Yes, by and by. But I want to see you particu-
ANNA KARENINA 25
larly," said Levin, looking with disgust at Grinevitch's
hand.
Stepan Arkadyevitch smiled imperceptibly. " Did n't
you say that you would never again put on European
clothes ? " he asked, examining his friend's new suit,
evidently made by a French tailor. " Indeed, I see ;
'tis a new phase."
Levin suddenly grew red, not as grown men grow
red, without perceiving it, but as boys blush, conscious
that they are ridiculous by reason of their bashfulness,
and therefore ashamed and made to turn still redder till
the tears almost come. It gave his intelligent, manly
face such a strange appearance that Oblonsky turned
away and refrained from looking at him.
"But where can we meet.'' You see it is very,
very necessary for me to have a talk with you," said
Levin.
Oblonsky seemed to reflect.
" How is this .'' We will go and have luncheon at
Gurin's, and we can talk there. At three o'clock I
shall be free."
*' No," answered Levin after a moment's thought;
** I 've got to take a drive."
"Well, then, let us dine together."
" Dine ? But I have nothing very particular to say,
only two words, to ask a question ; afterward we can
gossip."
"In that case, speak your two words now; we will
chat while we are at dinner."
" These two words are .... however, it 's nothing very
important."
His face suddenly assumed a hard expression, due
to his efforts in conquering his timidity. " What are
the Shcherbatskys doing .'' — just as they used to .-*"
Stepan Arkadyevitch, who had long known that
Levin was in love with his sister-in-law Kitty, almost
perceptibly smiled, and his eyes flashed gayly. " You
said ' two words ' ; but I cannot answer in two words,
because .... excuse me a moment."
The secretary came in at this juncture with his
26 ANNA KARENINA
familiar but respectful bearing, and with that modest
assumption characteristic of all secretaries that he knew
more about business than his superior. He brought
some papers to Oblonsky ; and, under the form of a
question, he attempted to explain some difficulty. With-
out waiting to hear the end of the explanation, Stepan
Arkadyevitch laid his hand affectionately on the secre-
tary's arm.
" No, do as I asked you to," said he, tempering his
remark with a smile ; and, having briefly given his own
explanation of the matter, he pushed away the papers,
and said, " Do it so, I beg of you, Zakhar Nikititch."
The secretary went off confused. Levin during this
scene with the secretary had entirely recovered from
his embarrassment, and was standing with both arms
resting on a chair ; on his face was an ironical expres-
sion.
" I don't understand, I don't understand," said he.
"What don't you understand.''" asked Oblonsky,
smiling, and taking out a cigarette. He was expecting
some sort of strange outbreak from Levin.
" I don't understand what you are up to," said Levin,
shrugging his shoulders. " How can you do this sort
of thing seriously ? "
"Why not.?"
" Why, because it is doing nothing."
" You think so .'' We are overwhelmed with work."
" On paper ! Well, yes, you have a special gift for
such things," added Levin.
"You mean that I .... there is something that I lack.-*"
" Perhaps so, yes. However, I cannot help admiring
your high and mighty ways, and rejoicing that I have
for a friend a man of such importance. But, you
did not answer my question," he added, making a des-
perate effort to look Oblonsky full in the face.
" Now that 's very good, very good ! Go ahead, and
you will succeed. 'T is well that you have eight thou-
sand acres of land in the district of Karazinsk, such
muscles, and the complexion of a little girl of twelve;
but you will catch up with us all the same Yes, as to
ANNA KARENINA 27
what you asked me. There is no change, but I am
sorry that it has been so long since you were in town."
" Why ? " asked Levin in alarm.
" Well, it 's nothing," replied Oblonsky; "we will talk
things over. What has brought you now especially.-'"
" Akh ! we will speak also of that by and by," said
Levin, again reddening to his very ears.
"Very good. I understand you," said Stepan Arka-
dyevitch. "You see, I should have taken you home
with me to dinner, but my wife is not well to-day. If
you want to see tliem, you will find them at the Zoologi-
cal Gardens from four to five. Kitty is skating. You
go there; I will join you later, and we will get dinner
together somewhere."
" Excellent. Da svidanya ! "
" Look here — you see I know you — you will forget
all about it, or will suddenly be starting back to your
home in the country," cried Stepan Arkady evitch, with
a laugh.
" No, truly I won't."
Levin left the room, and only when he had passed
the door realized that he had forgotten to salute Oblon-
sky's colleagues.
" That must be a gentleman of great energy/' said
Grinevitch, after Levin had taken his departure.
"Yes, batyushka," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, throw-
ing his head back. " He is a likely fellow. Eight
thousand acres in the Karazinsky district ! He has
a future before him, and how vigorous he is! He is
not like the rest of us."
" What have you to complain about, Stepan Arkadye-
vitch .-' " ^
" Well, things are bad, bad," replied Stepan Arkadye-
vitch, sighing heavily.
28 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER VI
When Oblonsky asked Levin for what special rea-
son he had come, Levin grew red in the face, and he
was angry with himself because he grew red ; but how
could he have replied, ** I have come to ask the hand of
your sister-in-law " ? Yet he had come for that single
purpose.
The Levin and the Shcherbatsky families, belonging
to the old nobility of Moscow, had always been on inti-
mate and friendly terms. During Levin's student life
the bond had grown stronger. He and the young
Prince Shcherbatsky, the brother of Dolly and Kitty,
had taken their preparatory studies, and gone through
the university together. At that time Levin was a fre-
quent visitor at the Shcherbatskys, and was in love with
the house. Strange as it may seem, he was in love with
the house itself, with the family, especially with the femi-
nine portion. Konstantin Levin could not remember his
mother, and his only sister was much older than he
was, so that for the first time he found in the house
of the Shcherbatskys that charming cultivated life so
peculiar to the old nobility, and of which the death of
his parents had deprived him. All the members of
this family, but especially the ladies, seemed to him
to be surrounded with a mysterious and poetic halo.
Not only did he fail to discover any faults in them, but
underneath this poetic and mysterious halo surrovmding
them, he saw the loftiest sentiments and the most ideal
perfections. Why these three young ladies were obliged
to speak French and English every day ; why they had
to take turns in playing for hours at a time on the piano,
the sounds of which floated up to their brother's room,
where the young students were at work ; why professors
of French literature, of music, of drawing, of dancing,
came to give them lessons ; why the three young
ladies, at a certain hour, accompanied by Mile. Linon,
drove out in their carriage to the TverskoT Boulevard,
wearing satin shubkas, Dolly's very long, Natalie's
ANNA KARENINA 29
of half length, and Kitty's very short, showing her
shapely ankles and close-fitting red stockings ; and why
when they went to the Tverskoi" Boulevard they had to
be accompanied by a lackey with a gilt cockade on his
hat, — all these things and many others v/ere absolutely
incomprehensible to him. But he felt that all that
took place in this mysterious sphere was beautiful, and
he was in love especially with this mystery of accom-
plishment.
While he was a student he almost fell in love with
Dolly, the eldest ; but she soon married Oblonsky ; then
he began to be in love with the second. It was as if he
felt it to be a necessity to love one of the three, only he
could not decide which one he liked the best. But Na-
talie entered society, and soon married the diplomat,
Lvof. Kitty was only a child when Levin left the uni-
versity. Young Shcherbatsky joined the fleet, and was
drowned in the Baltic ; and Levin's relations with the
family became more distant, in spite of his friendship
with Oblonsky. At the beginning of the winter, how-
ever, after a year's absence in the country, he had met
the Shcherbatskys again, and learned for the first time
which of the three he was destined really to love.
It would seem as if there could be nothing simpler for
a young man of thirty-two, of good family, possessed of
a fair fortune, and likely to be regarded as an eligible
suitor, than to ask the young Princess Shcherbatskaya
in marriage, and probably Levin would have been ac-
cepted as an excellent match. But he was in love, and
consequently it seemed to him Kitty was a creature so
accomplished, her superiority was so above everything
earthly, and he himself was such an earthly insignificant
being, that he was unwilling to admit, even in thought,
that others or Kitty herself would regard him as worthy
of her.
Having spent two months in Moscow, as in a dream,
meeting Kitty almost every day in society, which he al-
lowed himself to frequent on account of her, he suddenly
concluded that this alliance was impossible, and took his
departure for the country. Levin's conclusion that it
30 ANNA KARENINA
was impossible was reached by reasoning that in her
parents' eyes he was not a suitor sufficiently advanta-
geous or suitable for the beautiful Kitty, and that Kitty
herself could not love him. In her parents' eyes, he
was engaged in no definite line of activity, and at his
age had no position in the world, while his comrades
were colonels or staff-officers, distinguished professors,
bank directors, railway officials, presidents of tribunals
like Oblonsky ; but he — and he knew very well how he
was regarded by his friends — was only a pomyeshchik,
or country proprietor, busy with breeding of cows,
hunting woodcock, and building farmhouses : in other
words, he was an incapable youth who had accomplished
nothing, and who, in the eyes of society, was doing just
what men do who have made a failure.
Surely, the mysterious, charming Kitty could not love
a man so ill-favored, dull, and good-for-nothing as he
felt that he was. Moreover, his former relations with
her, consequent upon his friendship with her brother,
were those of a grown man with a child, and seemed to
him only an additional obstacle to love.
It was possible, he thought, for a girl to have a friend-
ship for a good, homely man, such as he considered
himself to be ; but if he is to be loved with a love such
as he felt for Kitty, he must be good-looking, and above
all, a man of distinction.
He had heard that women often fall in love with ill-
favored, stupid men, but he did not believe that such
would be his own experience, just as he felt that it would
be impossible for him to love a woman who was not
beautiful, brilliant, and poetic.
But, having spent two months in the solitude of the
country, he became convinced that this was not one of
his youthful passions, that the state of his feelings al-
lowed him not a moment of rest, and that he could not
live without settling this mighty question — whether she
would, or would not, be his wife ; that his despair arose
wholly from his imagination, and that he had no absolute
certainty that she would refuse him.
He had now returned to Moscow with the firm inten-
ANNA KARENINA 31
tion of offering himself and of marrying her if she would
accept him. If not .... he could not think what would
become of him.
CHAPTER VII
Coming to Moscow by the morning train, Levin had
stopped at the house of his half-brother, Koznuishef.
After making his toilet, he went to the library with the
intention of telling him why he had come, and asking
his advice ; but his brother was not alone. He was
talking with a famous professor of philosophy who had
come up from Kharkof expressly to settle a vexed
question which had arisen between them on some very
important philosophical subject. The professor was
waging a bitter war on materialists, and Sergei" Koznui-
shef followed his argument with interest ; and, having
read the professor's latest article, he had written him a
letter expressing some objections. He blamed the pro-
fessor for having made too large concessions to the
materialists, and the professor had come on purpose to
explain what he meant. The conversation turned on
the question then fashionable : Is there a dividing line
between the psychical and the physiological phenomena
of man's action ? and where is it to be found .''
Sergei Ivanovitch welcomed his brother with the
same coldly benevolent smile which he bestowed on
all, and, after introducing him to the professor, con-
tinued the discussion.
The professor, a small man with spectacles, and
narrow forehead, stopped long enough to return Levin's
bow, and then continued without noticing him further.
Levin sat down to wait till the professor should go, but
soon began to feel interested in the discussion.
He had read in the reviews articles on this subject, but
he had read them with only that general interest which
a man who has studied the natural sciences at the uni-
versity is likely to take in their development ; but he
had never appreciated the connection that exists between
these learned questions of the origin of man, of reflex
32 ANNA KARENINA
action, of biology, of sociology, and those touching the
significance of life and of death for himself, which had
of late been more and more engaging his attention.
As he listened to the discussion between his brother
and the professor, he noticed that they agreed to a cer-
tain kinship between scientific and psychological ques-
tions, that several times they almost took up this subject ;
but each time that they came near what seemed to him
the most important question of all, they instantly took
pains to avoid it, and sought refuge in the domain of
subtile distinctions, explanations, citations, references to
authorities, and he found it hard to understand what
they were talking about.
" I cannot accept the theory of Keis," said Sergef
Ivanovitch in his characteristically elegant and correct
diction and expression, " and I cannot at all admit that
my whole conception of the exterior world is derived
from my sensations. The most fundamental concept of
being does not arise from the senses, nor is there any
special organ by which this conception is produced."
" Yes; but Wurst and Knaust and Pripasof will reply
that your consciousness of existence is derived from an
accumulation of all sensations, that it is only the result
of sensations. Wurst himself says explicitly that where
sensation does not exist, there is no consciousness of
existence."
" I will say, on the other hand .... " began Sergei Ivan-
ovitch
But here Levin noticed that, just as they were about
to touch the root of the whole matter, they again steered
clear of it, and he determined to put the following ques-
tion to the professor.
" Suppose my sensations ceased, if my body were
dead, would further existence be possible .'' "
The professor, with some vexation, and, as it were,
intellectual anger at this interruption, looked at the
strange questioner as if he took him for a clown
rather than a philosopher, and turned his eyes to
Sergei" Ivanovitch as if to ask, "What does this man
mean i
ANNA KARENINA 33
But Sergeif Ivanovitch, who was not nearly so one-
sided and zealous a partisan as the professor, and who
had sufficient health of mind both to answer the pro-
fessor and to see the simple and natural point of view
from which the question was asked, smiled and said : —
" We have not yet gained the right to answer that
question."....
"Our capacities are not sufficient," continued the pro-
fessor, taking up the thread of his argument. " No, I
insist upon this, that if, as Pripasof says plainly, sensa-
tions are based upon impressions, we cannot too closely
distinguish between the two notions."
Levin did not listen any longer, and waited until the
professor took his departure.
CHAPTER VIII
When the professor was gone, Sergeif Ivanovitch
turned to his brother.
" I am very glad to see you. Shall you stay long }
How are things on the estate .-' "
Levin knew that his elder brother took little interest
in the affairs of the estate, and only asked out of cour-
tesy ; and so in reply he merely spoke of the sale of
wheat, and the money he had received.
It had been his intention to speak with his brother
about his marriage project, and to ask his advice ; but,
after the conversation with the professor, and in conse-
quence of the involuntarily patronizing tone in which his
brother had asked about their affairs, — for their real estate
had never been divided and Levin managed it as a whole,
— he felt that he could not begin to talk about his proj-
ect of marriage. He had an instinctive feeling that his
brother would not look upon it as he should wish him to.
" How is it with the zemstvo .'' " asked Sergei Ivan-
ovitch, who took a lively interest in these provincial
assemblies, to which he attributed great importance.
" Fact is, I don't know.... "
" What ! aren't you a member of the assembly ? "
34 ANNA KARENINA
"No, I am no longer a member: I have not been
going and don't intend to go any more," said Levin.
"It's too bad," murmured Sergef Ivanovitch, frown-
ing.
Levin, in justification, described what had taken place
at the meetings of his district assembly.
" But it is forever thus," exclaimed Sergef Ivanovitch,
interrupting. " We Russians are always like this. Pos-
sibly it is one of our good traits that we are willing to
see our faults, but we exaggerate them ; we take delight
in irony, which comes natural to our language. If such
rights as we have, if our provincial institutions, were
given to any other people in Europe, — Germans or
English, — I tell you, they would derive liberty from
them; but we only turn them into sport."
"But what is to be done.-'" asked Levin, penitently.
" It was my last attempt. I tried with all my heart ; I
cannot do it. I am helpless."
"Not helpless!" said SergeT Ivanovitch; "you did
not look at the matter in the right light."
" Perhaps not," replied Levin, in a melancholy tone.
" Do you know, brother Nikolai has been in town
again .'' "
Nikolai was Konstantin Levin's own brother, and
Sergef Ivanovitch's half-brother, standing between them
in age. He was a ruined man, who had wasted the
larger part of his fortune, had mingled with the strangest
and most disgraceful society, and had quarreled with
his brothers.
"What did you say .'' " cried Levin, startled. "How
did you know.? "
" Prokofi saw him in the street."
" Here in Moscow .<* Where is he ? " and Levin stood
up, as if with the intention of instantly going to find
him.
" I am sorry that I told you this," said Sergei Ivan-
ovitch, shaking his head when he saw his younger
brother's emotion. " I sent out to find where he was
staying ; and I sent him his letter of credit on Trubin,
the amount of which I paid. This is what he wrote me
ANNA KARENINA 35
in reply," and Sergei Ivanovitch handed his brother a
note which he took from a letter-press.
Levin read the letter, which was written in the
strange hand which he knew so well : —
I humbly beg to be left in peace. It is all that I ask from
my dear brothers. Nikolai Levin.
Konstantin, without lifting his head, stood motionless
before his brother with the letter in his hand.
The desire arose in his heart now to forget his un-
fortunate brother, and the consciousness that it would
be wrong.
" He evidently wants to insult me," continued Serge'f
Ivanovitch ; " but that is impossible. I wish with all
my soul that I might help him, and yet I know that
I shall not succeed."
" Yes, yes," replied Levin. " I understand, and I
appreciate your treatment of him ; but I am going to
him."
" Go, by all means, if it will give you any pleasure,"
said Sergef Ivanovitch ; " but I would not advise it.
Not on my account, because I fear that he might
make a quarrel between us, but, on your own account,
I advise you not to go. He can't be helped. How-
ever, do as you think best."
" Perhaps he can't be helped, but I feel especially
at this moment .... this is quite another reason I
feel that I could not be contented...."
"Well, I don't understand you," said SergeY Ivano-
vitch; "but one thing I do understand," he added:
"this is a lesson in humility. Since brother Nikolai"
has become the man he is, I look with greater indul-
gence on what people call 'abjectness.' .... Do you
know what he has done .-' " ....
" Akh ! it is terrible, terrible," replied Levin.
Having obtained from his brother's servant NikolaY's
address. Levin set out to find him, but on second thought
changed his mind, and postponed his visit till evening.
Before all, he must decide the question that had brought
S6 ANNA KARENINA
him to Moscow, in order that his mind might be free.
He had therefore gone directly to Oblonsky; and,
having learned where he could find the Shcherbatskys,
he went where he was told that he would meet Kitty.
CHAPTER IX
About four o'clock Levin dismissed his izvoshchik
at the entrance of the Zoological Garden, and with
beating heart followed the path that led to the ice-
mountains and the skating-pond, for he knew that he
should find Kitty there, having seen the Shcherbatskys'
carriage at the gate.
It was a clear frosty day. At the entrance of the
garden were drawn up rows of carriages and sleighs ;
hired drivers and policemen stood on the watch. Hosts
of fashionable people, with their hats gayly glancing
in the bright sunlight, were gathered around the doors
and on the paths cleared of snow, among the pretty
Russian cottages with their carved balconies. The an-
cient birch trees of the garden, their thick branches
all laden with snow, seemed clothed in new and solemn
chasubles.
Levin followed the foot-path, saying to himself : —
" Be calm ! there is no reason for being agitated !
What do you desire } what ails you ? Be quiet, you fool ! "
Thus Levin addressed his heart. And the more he
endeavored to calm his agitation, the more he was over-
come by it, till at last he could hardly breathe. An
acquaintance spoke to him as he passed, but Levin did
not even notice who it was. He drew near the ice-
mountains, on which creaked the ropes that let down
the sledges and drew them up again. The sleds flew
with a rush down the slopes, and there was a tumult
of happy voices.
He went a few steps farther, and before him spread
the skating-ground ; and among the skaters he soon
discovered /ler. He knew that he was near her from
the joy and terror that seized his heart. She was
ANNA KARENINA 37
standing at the opposite end of the pond engaged in
conversation with a lady ; and nothing either in her
toilet or in her position was remarkable, but for Levin
she stood out from the rest like a rose-bush among
nettles. Everything was made radiant by her. She
was the smile that lightened the whole place.
" Do I dare to go and meet her on the ice ? " he
asked himself. The place where she was seemed like
an unapproachable sanctuary, and for a moment he
almost turned to go away again, so full of awe it was.
He had to master himself by a supreme effort to think
that, as she was surrounded by people of every sort,
he had as much right as the rest to go on there and
skate. So he went down on the ice, not letting him-
self look long at her, as if she were the sun ; but he
saw her, as he saw the sun, even though he did not
look at her.
On this day and at this hour, the ice formed a com-
mon meeting-ground for people of one clique, all of
whom were well acquainted. There were also masters
in the art of skating, who came to show off their
skill ; others were learning to skate by holding on
chairs, and making awkward and distressing gestures ;
there were young lads and old men, who skated as a
gymnastic exercise : all seemed to Levin to be the
happy children of fortune because they were near
Kitty.
And all these skaters, with apparently perfect un-
concern, glided around her, came close to her, even
spoke to her, and with absolute indifference to her
enjoyed themselves, making the most of the good
skating and splendid weather.
Nikolai Shcherbatsky, Kitty's cousin, in short jacket
and knickerbockers, was seated on a bench with his
skates on, and seeing Levin, he cried : —
" Ah ! the best skater in Russia ! Have you been
here long } The ice is first-rate ! Put on your skates
quick ! "
" I have not my skates with me," replied Levin, sur-
prised at this freedom and audacity in her presence, and
38 ANNA KARENINA
not losing her out of his sight a single instant, although
he did not look at her. He felt that the sun was shin-
ing nearer to him. She was at one corner and came
gliding toward him, putting together her slender feet
in high boots, and evidently feeling a little timid. A
boy in Russian costume was clumsily trying to get
ahead of her, desperately waving his arms and bending
far forward. Kitty herself did not skate with much
confidence. She had taken her hands out of her little
muff, suspended by a ribbon, and held them ready to
grasp the first object that came in her way. Looking
at Levin, whom she had recognized, she smiled at him
and at her own timidity. As soon as this evolution
was finished, she struck out with her elastic little foot,
and skated up to Shcherbatsky, seized him by the arm,
and gave Levin a friendly welcome. She was more
charming even than he had imagined her to be.
Whenever he thought of her, he could easily recall
her whole appearance, but especially the charm of her
small blond head, set so gracefully on her pretty shoul-
ders, and her expression of childlike frankness and
goodness. The combination of childlike grace and deli-
cate beauty of form was her special charm, and Levin
thoroughly appreciated it. But what struck him like
something always new and unexpected was the look
in her sweet eyes, her calm and sincere face, and her
smile, which transported him to a world of enchantment,
where he felt at peace and at rest, as he remembered
occasionally feeling in the days of his early childhood.
" Have you been here long ? " she asked, giving him
her hand.
"Thank you," she added, as he picked up her hand-
kerchief, which had dropped out of her muff.
"I.'' No, not long; I came yesterday .... that is, to-
day," answered Levin, so agitated that at first he did
not get the drift of her question. " I wanted to call
upon you," said he ; and when he remembered what
his errand was, he grew red, and was more distressed
than ever. "I did not know that you skated, and so
well."
ANNA KARENINA 39
She looked at him closely, as if trying to divine the
reason of his embarrassment.
" Your praise is precious. A tradition that you are
the best of skaters is still floating about," said she,
brushing off with her little hand, in its black glove, the
pine needles that had fallen on her muff.
" Yes, I used to be passionately fond of skating. I
had the ambition to reach perfection."
" It seems to me that you do all things passionately,"
said she, with a smile. " I should like to see you skate.
Put on your skates, and we will skate together."
" Skate together .-* " he thought, as he looked at her.
" Is it possible.?"
" I will go and put them right on," he said ; and he
hastened to find a pair of skates.
" It is a long time, sir, since you have been with us,"
said the katalshchik, as he lifted his foot to fit the heel
to it. " Since your day, we have not had any one who
deserved to be called a master in the art. Are they
going to suit you ?" he asked, as he tightened the strap.
"Excellent, excellent; only please make haste," said
Levin, unable to hide the smile of joy which, in spite
of him, irradiated his face. "Yes," said he to himself,
" this is life, this is happiness. ' We will skate together^
she said. Shall I speak to her now.-* But I am afraid
to speak, because I am happy, happy only in the
hope .... Yet when .-'.... But it must be, it must, it must.
Down with weakness ! "
Levin stood up, took off his cloak, and, after making
his way across the rough ice around the little house, he
skated out on the glare surface without effort, hasten-
ing, shortening, and directing his pace as if by the
mere effort of his will. He felt timid about coming up
to her, but again her smile assured him.
She gave him her hand, and they skated side by side,
gradually increasing speed ; and the faster they went,
the closer she held his hand.
" I should learn very quickly with you," she said.
" I somehow feel confidence in you."
"I am confident in myself when you cling to my
40 ANNA KARENINA
hand," he answered, and immediately he was startled at
what he had said, and grew red in the face. In fact,
he had scarcely uttered the words, when, just as the sun
goes under a cloud, her face lost all its kindliness, and
Levin became aware of the well-remembered play of
her face indicating the force of her thoughts ; a slight
frown wrinkled her smooth brow !
" Has anything disagreeable happened to you ? but I
have no right to ask," he added quickly.
" Why so .'' No, nothing disagreeable has happened
to me," she said coolly, and immediately continued,
" Have you seen Mile. Linon yet .-' "
" Not yet."
" Go to see her ; she is so fond of you."
" What does this mean ? I have offended her ! Lord !
have pity upon me ! " thought Levin, and skated swiftly
toward the old French governess, with little gray curls,
who was watching them from a bench. She received
him like an old friend, smiling, and showing her false
teeth.
"Yes, but how we have grown up," she said, indicat-
ing Kitty with her eyes ; " and how demure we are !
Tiny bear has grown large," continued the old gover-
ness, still smiling ; and she recalled his jest about the
three young ladies whom he had named after the three
bears in the English story " Do you remember that
you used to call them so ."^ "
He had entirely forgotten it, but she had laughed at
this pleasantry for ten years, and still enjoyed it.
" Now go, go and skate. Does n't our Kitty take to it
beautifully } "
When Levin rejoined Kitty, her face was no longer
severe ; her eyes had regained their frank and kindly
expression ; but it seemed to him that her very kindli-
ness had a peculiar premeditated tone of serenity, and
he felt troubled. After speaking of the old governess
and her eccentricities, she asked him about his own life.
•* Is n't it a bore living in the country in the winter .? "
she asked.
" No, it is not a bore; I am very busy," he replied,
ANNA KARENINA ^i
conscious that she was bringing him into the atmosphere
of serene friendliness from which he could not escape
now, any more than he could at the beginning of the
winter.
" Shall you stay long ? " asked Kitty.
" I do not know," he answered, without regard to
what he was saying. The thought that, if he fell back
into that tone of calm friendship, he might return home
without reaching any decision, occurred to him, and he
resolved to rebel against it.
" Why don't you know .'' "
" I don't know why. It depends on you," he said,
and instantly he was horrified at his own words.
She either did not understand his words, or did not
want to understand them, for, seeming to stumble once
or twice, catching her foot, she hurriedly skated away
from him; and, having spoken to Mile. Linon, she went
to the little house, where her skates were removed by
the waiting-women.
" My God ! what have I done ? O Lord God ! have
pity upon me, and come to my aid ! " was Levin's secret
prayer ; and, feeling the need of taking some violent
exercise, he began to describe outer and inner curves on
the ice.
At this instant a young man, the best among the re-
cent skaters, came out of the caf/ with his skates on,
and a cigarette in his mouth ; with one spring he slid
down, slipping and leaping from step to step, and, with-
out even changing the easy position of his arms, skated
down and out upon the ice.
" Ah, that is a new trick," said Levin to himself, and
he climbed up to the top of the bank to try the new trick.
" Don't you kill yourself ! it needs practice," shouted
Nikolai Shcherbatsky.
Levin went up to the platform, got as good a start as
he could, and then flew down the steps preserving his
balance with his arms ; but at the last step he stumbled,
made a violent effort to recover himself, regained his
equilibrium, and with a laugh glided out upon the ice.
"Charming, glorious fellow," thought Kitty, at this
42 ANNA KARENINA
moment coming out of the little house with Mile. Linon,
and looking at him with a gentle, affectionate smile, as if
he were a beloved brother. "Is it my fault ? Have I
done anything very bad? People say, 'Coquetry.' I
know that I don't love him, but it is pleasant to be with
him, and he is such a splendid fellow. But what made
him say that .-* "....
Seeing Kitty departing with her mother, who had
come for her, Levin, flushed with his violent exercise,
stopped and pondered. Then he took off his skates,
and joined the mother and daughter at the gate.
"Very glad to see you," said the princess; "we re-
ceive on Thursdays, as usual."
"To-day, then.?"
"We shall be very glad to see you," she answered
coolly.
This coolness troubled Kitty, and she could not re-
strain her desire to temper her mother's chilling man-
ner. She turned her head, and said, with a smile, " We
shall see you, I hope."^
At this moment Stepan Arkadyevitch, with hat on
one side, with animated face and bright eyes, entered
the garden. But as he came up to his wife's mother,
he assumed a melancholy and humiliated expression,
and replied to the questions which she asked about
Dolly's health. When he had finished speaking in a
low and broken voice with his mother-in-law, he straight-
ened himself up, and took Levin's arm.
" Now, then, shall we go .'' I have been thinking of
you all the time, and I am very glad that you came,"
he said, with a significant look into his eyes.
"Come on, come on," replied the happy Levin, who
did not cease to hear the sound of a voice saying, " We
shall see yon, I Jiope,'' or to recall the smile that accom-
panied the words.
"At the Anglia, or at the Hermitage .-' "
" It 's all the same to me."
"At the Anglia, then," said Stepan Arkadyevitch,
making this choice because he owed more there than at
1 Simply da svidanya, equivalent to au revoir.
ANNA KARENINA 43
the Hermitage, and it seemed unworthy of him, so to
speak, to avoid this restaurant. "You have an izvosh-
chik ? So much the better, for I sent off my car-
riage."
While they were on the way, the friends did not
exchange a word. Levin was pondering on the mean-
ing of the change in the expression of Kitty's face, and
at one moment persuaded himself that there was hope,
and at the next plunged into despair, and he saw clearly
that his hope was unreasonable. Nevertheless, he felt
that he was another man since he had heard those
words, "We shall see you, I hope," and seen her smile.
Stepan Arkadyevitch was meantime making out the
'tnenu for their dinner.
" You like turbot, don't you .-' " were his first words
on entering the restaurant.
"What.''" exclaimed Levin "Turbot.? Yes, I
am excessively fond of turbot."
CHAPTER X
Levin could not help noticing, as they entered the
restaurant, how Stepan Arkadyevitch's face and whole
person seemed to shine with restrained happiness. Ob-
lonsky took off his overcoat, and, with hat over one ear,
marched toward the dining-room, giving, as he went, his
orders to the Tatars who in swallow-tails and with nap-
kins came hurrying to meet him. Bowing right and left
to his acquaintances, who here as everywhere seemed
delighted to see him, he went directly to the bar and
took some vodka and a little fish, and said something
comical to the barmaid, a pretty, curly-haired French
girl, painted, and covered with ribbons and lace, so that
she burst into a peal of laughter. But Levin would not
drink any vodka simply because the sight of this French
creature, all made up, apparently, of false hair, rice-
powder, and vinaigre de toilette was revolting to him.
He turned away from her quickly, with disgust, as from
some horrid place. His whole soul was filled with
44 ANNA KARENINA
memories of Kitty, and his eyes shone with triumph and
happiness,
" This way, your excellency ; come this way, and
your excellency will not be disturbed," said a specially
obsequious old Tatar, whose monstrous hips made the
tails of his coat stick out behind. " Will you come this
way, your excellency?" said he to Levin, as a sign of
respect for Stepan Arkadyevitch, whose guest he was.
In a twinkling he had spread a fresh cloth on the round
table, which, already covered, stood under the bronze
chandelier; then, bringing two velvet chairs, he stood
waiting for Stepan Arkadyevitch's orders, holding in
one hand his napkin, and his order-card in the other.
" If your excellency would like to have a private
room, one will be at your service in a few moments
Prince Galitsuin and a lady. We have just received
fresh oysters."
"Ah, oysters! "
Stepan Arkadyevitch reflected. " Supposing we
change our plan. Levin," said he, with his finger on
the bill of fare. His face showed serious hesitation.
" But are the oysters good ? Pay attention ! "
** They are from Flensburg, your excellency ; there
are none from Ostend."
** Flensburg oysters are well enough, but are they
fresh.?"
" They came yesterday."
"Very good! What do you say.' — to begin with
oysters, and then to make a complete change in our
menu f What say you .'' "
" It 's all the same to me. I 'd like best of all some
skchi^ and kasJia^ but you can't get them here."
" Kasha a la riisse, if you would like to order it," said
the Tatar, bending over toward Levin as a nurse bends
toward a child.
" No. Jesting aside, whatever you wish is good. I
have been skating and should like something to eat.
Don't imagine," he added, as he saw an expression of
disappointment on Oblonsky's face, " that I do not
1 Cabbage soup. * Wheat gruel.
ANNA KARENINA 45
appreciate your selection. I can eat a good dinner with
pleasure."
" It should be more than that ! You should say that
it is one of the pleasures of life," said Stepan Arkady e-
vitch. " In this case, little brother mine, give us two,
or.... no, that 's not enough, three dozen oysters, vegetable
soup .... "
" Printanikre," suggested the Tatar.
But Stepan Arkadyevitch did not allow him the
pleasure of enumerating the dishes in French, and con-
tinued : —
" Vegetable soup, you understand ; then turbot, with
thick sauce ; then roast beef, but see to it that it 's all
right. Yes, some capon, and lastly, some preserve."
The Tatar, remembering Stepan Arkadyevitch's ca-
price of not calling the dishes by their French names,
instead of repeating them after him, waited till he had
finished; then he gave himself the pleasure of repeating
the order according to the bill of fare : —
" Potage printanih'e, turbot, sauce Beatimarchais,
ponlarde a V estragon, macidoine de fruits^
Then instantly, as if moved by a spring, he substi-
tuted for the bill of fare the wine-list, which he presented
to Stepan Arkadyevitch.
" What shall we drink .? "
"Whatever you please, only not much.... champagne,"
suggested Levin.
** What ! at the very beginning ? But you may be
right ; why not .'' Do you like the white seal }
" Cachet blanc^' repeated the Tatar.
" Well, then, give us that brand with the oysters.
Then we '11 see."
" It shall be done, sir. And what table wine shall I
bring you } "
"Some Nuits ; no, hold on — give us some classic
Chablts."
" It shall be done, sir ; and will you order some of
f02er cheese .'' "
"Yes, somQ parmesan. Or do you prefer some other
kind?"
46 ANNA KARENINA
" No, it 's all the same to me," replied Levin, who
could not keep from smiling.
The Tatar disappeared on the trot, with his coat
tails flying out behind him. Five minutes later he came
with a platter of oysters opened and on the shell, and
with a bottle in his hand. Stepan Arkadyevitch crum-
pled up his well-starched napkin, tucked it into his
waistcoat, calmly stretched out his hands, and began
to attack the oysters.
" Not bad at all," he said, as he lifted the succulent
oysters from their shells with a silver fork, and swal-
lowed them one by one. " Not at all bad," he repeated,
looking from Levin to the Tatar, his eyes gleaming
with satisfaction.
Levin also ate his oysters, although he would have
preferred white bread and cheese ; but he could not
help admiring Oblonsky. Even the Tatar, after un-
corking the bottle and pouring the sparkling wine into
wide, delicate glass cups, looked at Stepan Arkadyevitch
with a noticeable smile of satisfaction while he adjusted
his white necktie.
" You are not very fond of oysters, are you .'' " asked
Stepan Arkadyevitch, draining his glass. " Or you are
preoccupied.'* Hey.-'"
He wanted Levin to be in good spirits, but Levin was
anxious, if he was not downcast. His heart being so
full, he found himself out of his element in this restau-
rant, amid the confusion of guests coming and going,
surrounded by the private rooms where men and women
were dining together ; everything was repugnant to his
feelings, — the whole outfit of bronzes and mirrors, the
gas and the Tatars. He feared that the sentiment
that occupied his soul would be defiled.
" I .'' Yes, I am a little absent-minded ; but besides,
everything here confuses me. You can't imagine," he
said, "how strange all these surroundings seem to a
countryman like myself. It 's like the finger-nails of
that gentleman whom I met at your office." ....
" Yes, I noticed that poor Grinevitch's finger-nails inter-
ested you greatly," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, laughing.
ANNA KARENINA 47
" It is of no use," replied Levin. " Suppose you come
to me and try the standpoint of a man accustomed to
living in the country. We in the country try to have
hands suitable to work with; therefore we cut off our
finger-nails, and oftentimes we even turn back our
sleeves. But here men let their nails grow as long as
possible, and so as to be sure of not being able to do
any work with their hands, they fasten their sleeves with
plates for buttons."
Stepan Arkadyevitch smiled gayly : —
"That is a sign that he has no need of manual labor;
it is brain-work .... "
" Perhaps so. Yet it seems strange to me, no less
than this that we are doing here. In the country we
make haste to get through our meals so as to be at work
again ; but here you and I are doing our best to eat as
long as possible without getting satisfied, and so we are
eating oysters. " ....
" Well, there 's something in that," replied Stepan
Arkadyevitch ; " but the aim of civilization is to trans-
late everything into enjoyment."
" If that is its aim, I should prefer to be untamed."
" And you are untamed I All you Levins are un-
tamed."
Levin sighed. He thought of his brother Nikolai",
and felt mortified and saddened, and his face grew
dark ; but Oblonsky introduced a topic which had the
immediate effect of diverting him.
" Very well, come this evening to our house. I mean
to the Shcherbatskys'," said he, pushing away the
empty oyster-shells, drawing the cheese toward him,
and flashing his eyes significantly.
"Yes, I will surely come," replied Levin; "though
it did not seem that the princess was very cordial in her
invitation."
"What rubbish ! It was only her manner Come,
friend, bring us the soup It was only her graiidc da^ne
manner," replied Stepan Arkadyevitch. " I shall come
there immediately after a rehearsal at .the Countess
Bonina's How can we help calling you untamed .-'
48 ANNA KARENINA
How can you explain your flight from Moscow ? The
Shcherbatskys have kept asking me about you, as if I
were Ukely to know ! I only know one thing, that you
are always likely to do things that no one else did."
" Yes," replied Levin, slowly, and with emotion ; " you
are right, I am untamed ; yet it was not that I went,
but that I have come back proves me so ! I have come
now...."
" Oh, what a lucky fellow you are ! " interrupted
Oblonsky, looking into Levin's eyes.
"Why.?"
" I know fiery horses by their brand, and I know
young people who are in love by their eyes," said
Stepan Arkadyevitch, dramatically ; " everything is be-
fore you ! "
" And yourself, — is' everything behind you .-' "
" No, not altogether, but you have the future ; and I
have the present, and this present is between the devil
and the deep sea ! "
" What is the matter ? "
" Nothing good. But I don't want to talk about my-
self, especially as I cannot explain the circumstances,"
replied Stepan Arkadyevitch. " What did you come to
Moscow for .-*.... Here! clear off the things!" he cried
to the Tatar.
" Can't you imagine ? " answered Levin, not taking
his glowing eyes from Oblonsky's face.
" I can imagine, but it is not for me to be the first to
speak about it. By this you can tell whether I am
right in my conjecture," said Stepan Arkadyevitch,
looking at Levin with a sly smile.
" Well, what have you to tell me ? " asked Levin,
with a trembling voice, and feeling all the muscles of
his face quiver. " How do you look at this ? "
Stepan Arkadyevitch slowly drank his glass of Chablis
while he looked steadily at Levin.
" I .'' " said Stepan Arkadyevitch. "There is nothing
that I should like so much — nothing. It is the best
thing that could possibly be ! "
" But are n't you mistaken ? Do you know what we
ANNA KARENINA 49
are talking about ? " murmured Levin, with his eyes fixed
on his companion. "Do you beHeve that this is possible ? "
" I think it is possible. Why should n't it be .-* "
" No, do you really think that it is possible .-' No !
tell me what you really think. If.... if she should refuse
me.... and I am almost certain that.... "
"Why should you be ? " asked Stepan Arkadyevitch,
smiling at this emotion.
" It is my intuition. It would be terrible for me and
for her."
" Oh ! in any case, I can't see that it would be very
terrible for her ; a young girl is always flattered to be
asked in marriage."
" Young girls in general, perhaps, not she."
Stepan Arkadyevitch smiled ; he perfectly under-
stood Levin's feeling, knew that for him all the young
girls in the universe were divided into two categories :
in the one, all the young girls in existence except her —
and these girls had all the faults common to humanity,
in other words, ordinary girls ; in the other, she alone,
without any faults, and placed above the rest of
humanity.
" Hold on ! take some gravy," said he, stopping
Levin's hand, who was pushing away the gravy.
Levin took the gravy in all humility, but he did not
give Oblonsky a chance to eat.
" No, just wait, wait," said he ; " you understand
this is for me a question of life and death. I have
never spoken to any one else about it, and I cannot
speak to any one else but you. I know we are very
different from each other, have different tastes, views,
everything ; but I know also that you love me, and
that you understand me, and that 's the reason I am so
fond of you. Now, for God's sake, be perfectly sincere
with me."
" I will tell you what I think," said Stepan Arka-
dyevitch, smiHng. " But I will tell you more : my wife
— a most extraordinary woman " — and Stepan Ar-
kadyevitch sighed, as he remembered his relations with
his wife — then after a moment's silence he proceeded
50 ANNA KARENINA
— "she has a gift of second sight, and sees through
people, but that is nothing ! she knows what is going to
happen, especially when there is a question of marriage.
Thus, she predicted that Brenteln would marry Sha-
khovskaya ; no one would believe it, and yet it came to
pass. Well, my wife is on your side."
" What do you mean } "
" I mean that she likes you ; she says that Kitty will
be your wife."
As he heard these words, Levin's face suddenly
lighted up with a smile which was near to tears of
emotion.
" She said that ! " he cried. " I always said that your
wife was charming. But enough, enough of this sort of
talk," he added, and rose from the table.
" Good ! but sit a little while longer."
But Levin could not sit down. He strode two or
three times up and down the little square room, wink-
ing his eyes to hide the tears, and then he sat down
again at the table.
" Understand me," he said ; " this is not love. I have
been in love, but this is not the same thing. This is
more than a sentiment ; it is an inward power that con-
trols me. You see, I went away because I had made
up my mind that such happiness could not exist, that
such good fortune could not be on earth. But after a
struggle with myself, I find that I cannot live without
this. This question must be decided...."
" But why did you go away .-* "
" Akh ! wait ! Akh ! so many things to think about !
so much to ask ! Listen, you cannot imagine what your
words have done for me ! I am so happy that I have
already grown detestable ! I am forgetting everything ;
and yet this very day I heard that my brother Nikolai —
you know — he is here, and I had entirely forgotten him.
It seems to me that he, too, ought to be happy. But this
is like a fit of madness. But one thing seems terrible to
me You are married ; you ought to know this feeling.
It is terrible that we who are already getting old .... with a
pastbehindus....notof love but of wickedness. ...suddenly
ANNA KARENINA 51
come into close relations with a pure and innocent
being. This is disgusting, and so I cannot help feeling
that I am unworthy."
" Well ! you have not much wickedness to answer
for!"
" Akh ! " said Levin; "and yet, ^ as I look zuith dis-
gust 071 vty life, I tremble atid cjirse and mourn bitterly,'
....yes!"
" But what can you do .'' the world is thus constituted,"
said Stepan Arkadyevitch.
" There is only one consolation, and that is in the
prayer that I have always loved : 'Pardon me not accord-
ing to my deserts, but according to Thy loving-kindness'
Thus only can she forgive me."
CHAPTER XI
Levin drained his glass, and they were silent.
" I ought to tell you one thing, though. Do you know
Vronsky } " asked Stepan Arkadyevitch.
" No, I don't know him ; why do you ask .-* "
" Bring us another bottle," said Oblonsky to the
Tatar, who was refilling their glasses and was hover-
ing about them, especially when he was not needed.
" You must know that Vronsky is one of your rivals."
" Who is this Vronsky .'^ " asked Levin, and his face,
a moment since beaming with the youthful enthusiasm
which Oblonsky so much admired, suddenly took on a
disagreeable expression of anger.
" Vronsky — he is one of Count Kirill Ivanovitch
Vronsky's sons, and one of the finest examples of the
gilded youth of Petersburg. I used to know him at
Tver when I was on duty there ; he came there for re-
cruiting service. He is immensely rich, handsome, with
excellent connections, one of the emperor's aides, and,
moreover, a capital good fellow. From what I have
seen of him, he is more than a ' good fellow ' ; he is
well educated and bright, he is a rising man."
Levin scowled, and said nothing.
52 ANNA KARENINA
" Well, then ! he put in an appearance soon after you
left ; and, as I understand, he fell over ears in love with
Kitty. You understand that her mother.... "
" Excuse me, but I don't understand at all," inter-
rupted Levin, scowling still more fiercely. And sud-
denly he remembered his brother Nikolai', and how ugly
it was in him to forget him,
"Just wait, wait," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, laying
his hand on Levin's arm with a smile. " I have told
you all that I know ; but I repeat, that, in my humble
opinion, the chances in this delicate affair are on your
side."
Levin leaned back in his chair ; his face was pale.
" But I advise you to settle the matter as quickly as
possible," suggested Oblonsky, filling up his glass.
" No, thank you : I cannot drink any more," said
Levin, pushing away the glass. " I shall be tipsy
Well, how are you feeling?" he added, desiring to
change the conversation.
" One word more : in any case I advise you to settle
the question quickly. I advise you to speak immedi-
ately," said Stepan Arkadyevitch. " Go to-morrow
morning, make your proposal in classic style, and God
bless you." ....
" Why have n't you ever come to hunt with me as
you promised to do ."^ Come this spring," said Levin.
He now repented with all his heart that he had en-
tered upon this conversation with Stepan Arkadyevitch :
his deepest feelings were wounded by what he had just
learned of the pretensions of his rival, the young officer
from Petersburg, as well as by the advice and insinua-
tions of Stepan Arkadyevitch.
Stepan Arkadyevitch smiled. He perceived what
was taking place in Levin's heart,
"I will come some day," he said, "Yes, brother,
woman's the spring that moves everything. My own
trouble is bad, very bad. And all on account of women.
Give me your advice," said he, taking a cigar, and still
holding his glass in his hand. " Tell me frankly what
you think."
ANNA KARENINA S3
"But what about?"
" Listen : suppose you were married, that you loved
your wife, but had been drawn away by another
woman .... "
" Excuse me. I really can't imagine any such thing.
As it looks to me, it would be as if in coming out from
dinner, I should steal a loaf of bread from a bakery."
Stepan Arkadyevitch's eyes sparkled more than usual.
" Why not .'* Bread sometimes smells so good, that one
cannot resist the temptation : —
" Himmlisch I'sfs, wenn ich bezwungen
Aleine irdische Begier :
Aber dock wenns's m'c/it gelungen,
HaW ich aiich recht hilbsch Plaisiry^
As he repeated these lines, Oblonsky smiled.
Levin could not refrain from smiling also.
" But a truce to pleasantries," continued Oblonsky.
"Imagine a woman, a charming, modest, loving crea-
ture, poor, and alone in the world, who had sacrificed
everything for you. Now, imagine, after the thing is
done, is it necessary to give her up } We '11 allow that
it is necessary to break with her, so as not to disturb
the peace of the family ; but ought we not to pity her,
to make provision for her, to soften the blow .? "
" Pardon me ; but you know that for me all women are
divided into two classes, .... no, that is, .... there are women,
and there are .... But I never yet have seen or expect
to see beautiful fallen women, beautiful repentant Mag-
dalens ; and such women as that painted French creature
at the bar, with her false curls, fill me with disgust, and
all fallen women are the same ! "
" But the woman in the New Testament } "
" Akh ! hold your peace. Never would Christ have
said those words if he had known to what bad use they
would be put. Out of the whole Gospel, only those
1 It was heavenly when I gained
What my heart desired on earth :
Yet if not all were attained,
Still I had my share of mirth.
54 ANNA KARENINA
words are taken. However, I don't say what I think,
but what I feel. You feel a disgust for spiders and
I for these reptiles. You see you did not have to study
spiders, and you know nothing about their natures.
So it is with me."
" It is well for you to say so ; it is a very convenient
way to do as the character in Dickens did, and throw
all embarrassing questions over his right shoulder with
his left hand. But to deny a fact is not to answer it.
Now, what is to be done ? tell me ! what is to be done .-'
Your wife grows old and you are full of life. Before
you are aware of it you realize that you do not love your
wife, however much you may respect her. And then
suddenly you fall in love with some one and you fall,
you fall! " said Stepan Arkadyevitch, with a melancholy
despair.
Levin laughed,
" Yes, you fall ! " repeated Oblonsky. " Then what
is to be done ? "
" Don't steal fresh bread."
Stepan Arkadyevitch burst out laughing.
" O moralist ! but please appreciate the situation.
Here are two women : one insists only on her rights,
and her rights mean your love which you cannot give ;
the other has sacrificed everything for you and demands
nothing. What can one do ? How can one proceed .''
Here is a terrible tragedy! "
"If you wish my judgment concerning this tragedy,
I will tell you that I don't believe in this tragedy, and
this is why. In my opinion, Love — the two Loves
which Plato describes in his ' Symposium,' you remem-
ber, serve as the touchstone for men. Some people
understand only one of them ; others understand the
other. Those who comprehend only the Platonic love
have no right to speak of this tragedy now. In this
sort of love there can be no tragedy. / tJiank yo?i
humbly for the pleasure ; and therein consists the whole
drama. But for Platonic love there can be no tragedy
because it is bright and pure, and because.... "
At this moment Levin remembered his own short-
ANNA KARENINA 55
comings and the inward struggles which he had under-
gone, and he unexpectedly added, " However, you may
be right. It is quite possible.... I know nothing — abso-
lutely nothing — about it."
" Do you see," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, " you are
a very perfect man ? Your great virtue is your only
fault. You are a very perfect character and you desire
that all the factors of life should also be perfect ; but this
cannot be. Here you scorn the service of the state,
because, according to your idea, every action should
correspond to an exact end ; but this cannot be. You
require also that the activity of every man should always
have an object, that conjugal life and love be one and
the same ; but this cannot be. All the variety, all the
charm, all the beauty, of life consists in lights and shades."
Levin sighed, and did not answer ; he was absorbed
in his own thoughts and did not even listen.
And suddenly both of them felt that, though they were
good friends, though they had been dining together and
drinking wine, yet each was thinking only of his own
affairs and cared nothing for the affairs of the other.
Oblonsky had more than once had this experience after
dining with a friend, and he knew what had to be done
when, instead of coming into closer sympathy, the dis-
tance between seemed widened.
" The account," he cried, and went into the next room,
where he met an aide whom he knew, and with whom
he began to talk about an actress and her lover. This
conversation amused and rested Oblonsky after his con-
versation with Levin, who always kept his mind on too
great an intellectual and moral strain.
When the Tatar brought the account, amounting to
twenty-six rubles and odd kopeks, and something more
for his fee, Levin, who at any other time, as a country-
man, would have been shocked at the size of the bill,
paid the fourteen rubles of his share without noticing,
and went to his lodgings to dress for the reception at
the Shcherbatskys', where his fate would be decided.
56 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XII
The Princess Kitty Shcherbatskaya was eighteen years
old. She was making her first appearance in society
this winter, and her triumphs had been more brilliant
than her elder sisters, more than even her mother, had
expected. Not only were almost all the young men
who danced at balls in Moscow in love with Kitty,
but, moreover, there were two who, during this first
winter, were serious aspirants to her hand, — Levin,
and, soon after his departure, Count Vronsky.
Levin's appearance at the beginning of the winter,
his frequent calls and his unconcealed love for Kitty,
were the first subjects that gave cause for serious con-
versation between her father and mother in regard to
her future and for disputes between the prince and
princess. The prince was on Levin's side, and declared
that he could not desire a better match for Kitty. But
the princess, with the skill which women have for avoid-
ing a question, insisted that Kitty was too young, that
Levin did not seem to be serious in his attentions, and
that she did not show great partiality for him ; but
she did not express what was in the bottom of her
heart, — that she was ambitious for a more brilliant
marriage, that Levin did not appeal to her sympathies,
and that she did not understand him. And when Levin
took a sudden leave she was glad and said; with an air
of triumph, to her husband : —
" You see, I was right."
When Vronsky appeared on the scene, she was still
more glad, being confirmed in her opinion that Kitty
ought to make, not merely a good, but a brilliant match.
For the princess there was no comparison between
Vronsky and Levin as suitors. The mother disliked
Levin and his strange and harsh judgments, his awk-
wardness in society, which she attributed to his pride and
what she called his savage life in the country, occupied
with his cattle and peasants. Nor did she like it at all
that Levin, though he was in love with her daughter, and
ANNA KARENINA . 57
had been a frequent visitor at their house for six weeks,
had appeared like a man who was hesitating, watching,
and questioning whether, if he should offer himself, the
honor which he conferred on them would not be too
great, and that he did not seem to understand that when
a man comes assiduously to a house where there is a
marriageable daughter, it is proper for him to declare
his intentions. And then he suddenly departed with-
out any explanation !
"It is fortunate," the mother thought, "that he is so
unattractive, and that Kitty has not fallen in love with
him."
Vronsky satisfied all her requirements : he was very
rich, intelligent, of good birth, with a brilliant career
at court or in the army before him, and, moreover, he
was charming. Nothing better could be desired. Vron-
sky was devoted to Kitty at the balls, danced with her,
and called upon her parents ; there could be no doubt
that his intentions were serious. But, notwithstanding
this, the mother had passed this whole winter full of
doubts and perplexities.
The princess herself had been married thirty years
before, through the match-making of an aunt. Her
suitor, who was well known by reputation, came, saw
the young lady, and was seen by the family ; the aunt
who served as intermediary gave and received the re-
port of the impression produced on both sides ; the
impression was favorable. Then on a designated day
the expected proposal was made on the parents, and
granted. Everything had passed off very easily and
simply. At least, so it seemed to the princess. But in
the case of her own daughters, she learned by experi-
ence how difficult and complicated this apparently
simple matter of getting girls married really was. How
many fears she had to go through ! How many things
had to be thought over, how much money had to be
lavished, how many collisions with her husband, when
the time came for Darya and Natali to be married !
And now that the youngest was in the matrimonial
market, she was obliged to suffer from the same anxi-
58 ANNA KARENINA
eties, the same doubts, and even more bitter quarrels
with her husband.
The old prince, like all fathers, was excessively punc-
tilious about everything concerning the honor and
purity of his daughters, he was distressingly jealous re-
garding them, especially Kitty, who was his favorite,
and at every step he accused his wife of compromising
his daughter. The princess had become accustomed to
these scenes from the days of her elder daughters, but
now she felt that her husband's strictness had more
justification. She saw that in these later days many of
the practices of society had undergone a change, so
that the duties of mothers were becoming more and
more difficult. She saw how Kitty's young girl friends
formed a sort of clique, went to races, freely mingled
with men, went out driving alone ; that many of them
no longer made courtesies ; and, what was more serious,
all of them were firmly convinced that the choice of
husbands was their affair and not their parents'.
" Marriages aren't made as they used to be," thought
and said all these young ladies, and even some of the
older people.
" But how are marriages made nowadays .-' " This ques-
tion the princess could not get any one to answer.
The French custom, where the parents decide the
fate of their children, was not accepted, was even bitterly
criticized. The English custom, which allows the girls
absolute liberty, was also not accepted, and was not pos-
sible in Russian spciety. The Russian custom of em-
ploying a match-maker was regarded as bad form ;
every one ridiculed it, even the princess herself. But
no one seemed to know what course to take in regard to
courtship. Every one with whom the princess talked
said the same thing.
" For goodness' sake, it is time for us to renounce
those exploded notions; it is the young folks, and not
their parents, who get married, and, therefore, it is for
young folks to make their arrangements in accordance
with their own ideas."
It was well enough for those without daughters to
ANNA KARENINA 59
say this ; but the princess knew well that in this familiar
intercourse her daughter might fall in love, and fall in
love with some one who would not dream of marrying
her, or would not make her a good husband. However
earnestly they suggested to the princess that in our
time young people ought to settle their own destinies,
she found it impossible to agree with them any more
than she could believe in the advisability of allowing the
four-year-old children of our time to have loaded pistols
as their favorite toys. And so the princess felt much
more solicitude about Kitty than she had felt about
either of her other daughters.
She feared now that Vronsky would content himself
with playing the gallant. She saw that Kitty was
already in love with him, but she consoled herself with
the thought that he was a man of honor and would not
do so ; but, at the same time, she knew how easy it was,
with the new freedom allowed in society, to turn a young
girl's head, and how lightly men as a general thing
regarded this.
The week before Kitty had told her mother of a con-
versation which she had held with Vronsky during a
mazurka. This conversation had partially relieved the
princess's mind, though it did not absolutely satisfy her.
Vronsky told Kitty that he and his brother were both so
used to letting their mother decide things for them, that
they never undertook anything of importance without
consulting her.
" And now I am looking for my mother's arrival from
Petersburg as a great piece of good fortune," he had said.
Kitty reported these words without attaching any im-
portance to them, but her mother understood them very
differently. She knew that the old countess was ex-
pected from day to day ; she knew that the old countess
would be satisfied with her son's choice ; and it was
strange to her that he had not offered himself, as if he
feared to offend his mother. However, she herself was
so anxious for this match, and above all for relief from
her anxieties, that she gave a favorable interpretation to
these words. Bitterly as she felt the unhappiness of her
6o ANNA KARENINA
oldest daughter, Dolly, who was thinking of leaving her
husband, agitation regarding the decision of her young-
est daughter's fate completely absorbed her thoughts.
Levin's arrival to-day gave her a new anxiety. She
feared lest her daughter, who, as she thought, had at one
time felt drawn toward Levin, might, out of excessive
delicacy, refuse Vronsky, and she feared more than
anything else that his arrival would complicate every-
thing and postpone a long-desired consummation.
" Has he been here long.''" asked the princess of her
daughter, when they reached home after their meeting
with Levin.
"Since yesterday, inaman."
" I have one thing that I want to say to you ...." the
princess began, and, at the sight of her serious and agi-
tated face, Kitty knew what was coming.
" Mamma," said she, blushing, and turning quickly to
her, " please, please don't speak about this. I know, I
know all ! "
She wished the same thing that her mother wished,
but the motives of her mother's desires were repugnant
to her.
" I only wish to say that as you have given hope to
one...."
" Mamma, galnbchik} don't speak. It 's so terrible
to speak about this."
" I will not," replied her mother, seeing the tears in
her daughter's eyes ; " only one word, moya diisha ^ :
you have promised to have no secrets from me. Have
you any ? "
" Never, mamma, not one ! " replied Kitty, looking
her mother full in the face and blushing; "but I have
nothing to tell now. I .... I .... even if I wanted to, I
don't know what to say and how.... I don't know ...."
" No, with those eyes she cannot speak a falsehood,"
said the mother to herself, smiling at her emotion and
happiness. The princess smiled to think how momen-
tous appeared to the poor girl what was passing in her
heart.
^ Little dove. ^ My soul.
ANNA KARENINA 6i
CHAPTER XIII
After dinner, and during the first part of the even-
ing, Kitty felt as a young man feels before a battle.
Her heart beat violently, and she could not concentrate
her thoughts.
She felt that this evening, when they two should meet
for the first time, would decide her fate. She kept see-
ing them in her imagination, sometimes together, some-
times separately. When she thought of the past,
pleasure, almost tenderness, filled her heart at the
remembrance of her relations with Levin. The recol-
lections of her childhood and of his friendship with
her departed brother imparted a certain poetic charm
to her relations with him. His love for her, of which
she was certain, was flattering and agreeable to her,
and she found it easy to think about Levin. In her
thoughts about Vronsky there was something that
made her uneasy, though he was a man to the highest
degree polished and self-possessed ; there seemed to be
something false, not in him, — for he was very simple
and good, — but in herself, while all was clear and
simple in her relations with Levin. But while Vronsky
seemed to offer her dazzling promises and a brilliant
future, the future with Levin seemed enveloped in
mist.
When she went up-stairs to dress for the evening and
looked into the mirror, she noticed with delight that she was
looking her loveliest, and that she was in full possession
of all her powers, and what was most important on this
occasion, that she felt at ease and entirely self-possessed.
At half-past seven, as she was going into the drawing-
room, the lackey announced, " Konstantin Dmitritch
Levin." The princess was still in her room ; the prince
had not yet come down. " It has come at last," thought
Kitty, and all the blood rushed to her heart. As she
glanced into a mirror, she was startled to see how pale
she looked.
She knew now, for a certainty, that he had come early,
62 ANNA KARENINA
so as to find her alone and offer himself. And instantly
the situation appeared to her for the first time in a new,
strange light. Then only she realized that the question
did not concern herself alone, nor who would make her
happy, nor whom she loved, but that she should have to
wound a man whom she liked, and to wound him cruelly
.... why, why was it that such a charming man loved
her .-' Why had he fallen in love with her .-' But it was
too late to mend matters ; it was fated to be so.
" Merciful Heaven ! is it possible that I myself must
tell him," she thought, — "I must tell him that I don't
love him } That is not true ! But what can I say .''
That I love another.? No, that is impossible. I will
run away, I will run away ! "
She had already reached the door, when she heard his
step. " No, it is not honorable. What have I to fear .?
I have done nothing wrong. Let come what will, I will
tell the truth ! I shall not be ill at ease with him. Ah,
here he is ! " she said to herself, as she saw his strong
but timid countenance, with his brilliant eyes fixed upon
her. She looked him full in the face, with an air which
seemed to implore his protection, and extended her
hand.
" I am rather early, too early, I am afraid," said he,
casting a glance about the empty room ; and when he
saw that his hope was fulfilled, and that nothing would
prevent him from speaking, his face grew solemn.
" Oh, no ! " said Kitty, sitting down near a table.
" But it is exactly what I wanted, so that I might find
you alone," he began, without sitting, and without look-
ing at her, lest he should lose his courage.
" Mamma will be here in a moment. She was very
tired to-day. To-day .... "
She spoke without knowing what her lips said, and
did not take her imploring and gentle gaze from his
face.
Levin gazed at her ; she blushed, and stopped speak-
ing.
" I told you to-day that I did not know how long I
should stay .... that it depended on you .... "
ANNA KARENINA 63
Kitty drooped her head lower and lower, not know-
ing how she should reply to the words that he was going
to speak.
"That it depended upon you," he repeated. "I
meant .... I meant .... I came for this, that .... be my wife,"
he murmured, not knowing what he had said ; but, feel-
ing that he had got through the worst of the difficulty,
he stopped and looked at her.
She felt almost suffocated ; she did not raise her head.
She felt a sort of ecstasy. Her heart was full of happi-
ness. Never could she have believed that the declara-
tion of his love would make such a deep impression
upon her. But this impression lasted only a moment.
She remembered Vronsky. She raised her sincere and
liquid eyes to Levin, and, seeing his agitated face, said
hastily : —
" This cannot be ! .... Forgive me ! "
How near to him, a moment since, she had been, and
how necessary to his life ! and now how far away and
strange she suddenly seemed to be !
" It could not have been otherwise," he said, without
looking at her.
He bowed and was about to leave the room.
CHAPTER XIV
At this instant the princess entered. Apprehension
was pictured on her face when she saw their agitated
faces and that they had been alone. Levin bowed low,
and did not speak. Kitty was silent, and did not raise
her eyes. " Thank God, she has refused him ! " thought
the mother ; and her face lighted up with the smile with
which she always received her Thursday guests. She
sat down, and began to ask Levin questions about his
life in the country. He also sat down, hoping to escape
unobserved when the guests began to arrive.
Five minutes later, one of Kitty's friends, who had
been married the winter before, was announced, — the
64 ANNA KARENINA
Countess Nordstone. She was a dried-up, sallow, ner-
vous, sickly woman, with brilliant black eyes. She was
fond of Kitty, and her affection, like that of every mar-
ried woman for a young girl, was expressed by a keen
desire to have her married in accordance with her own
ideal of conjugal happiness. She wanted to marry her
to Vronsky. Levin, whom she had often met at the
Shcherbatskys' the first of the winter, was always dis-
tasteful to her, and her favorite occupation, after she
had met him in society, was to make sport of him.
"I am enchanted," she said, "when he looks down
on me from his loftiness ; either he fails to honor me
with his learned conversation because I am too silly
for him, or else he treats me condescendingly. I like
this ; condescending to me ! I am very glad that he
cannot endure me."
She was right, because the fact was that Levin could
not endure her, and he despised her for being proud of
what she regarded as a merit, — her nervous tempera-
ment, her indifference and delicate scorn for all that
seemed to her gross and material.
The relationship between Levin and the Countess
Nordstone was such as is often met with in society
where two persons, friends in outward appearance,
despise each other to such a degree that they cannot
hold a serious conversation, or even clash with each
other.
The Countess Nordstone instantly addressed herself
to Levin : —
" Ah, Konstantin Dmitrievitch ! are you back again
in our abominable Babylon ? " said she, giving him her
little yellow hand, and recalling his owit words at the
beginning of the winter when he said Moscow was a
Babylon. "Is Babylon converted, or have you been
corrupted ? " she added, with a mocking smile in Kitty's
direction.
" I am greatly flattered, countess, that you remember
my words so well," replied Levin, who, having had time
to collect his thoughts, instantly entered into the face-
tiously hostile tone peculiar to his relations with the
ANNA KARENINA 65
Countess Nordstone. " It seems that they have made
a very deep impression on you."
" Akh ! how so ? But I always make notes. Well !
how is it, Kitty, have you been skating to-day.?"....
And she began to talk with her young friend.
Awkward as it was in him to take his departure now,
Levin preferred to commit this breach of etiquette
rather than remain through the evening, and to see
Kitty, who occasionally looked at him, though she
avoided his eyes. He attempted to get up; but the
princess, noticing that he had nothing to say, addressed
him directly : —
" Do you intend to remain long in Moscow } You
are justice of the peace in your district, are you not?
and I suppose that will prevent you from making a
long stay."
"No, princess, I have resigned that office," he, said.
" I have come to stay several days."
" Something has happened to him," thought the
Countess Nordstone, as she saw Levin's stern and seri-
ous face, " because he does not launch out into his usual
tirades ; but I '11 soon draw him out. Nothing amuses
me more than to make him ridiculous before Kitty, and
I '11 do it."
" Konstantin Dmitritch," she said to him, "explain
to me, please, what this means, for you know all about
it : at our estate in Kaluga all the muzhiks and their
wives have drunk up everything they had, and don't
pay what they owe us. You are always praising the
muzhiks ; what does this mean ? "
At this moment another lady came in, and Levin arose.
" Excuse me, countess, I know nothing at all about
it, and I cannot answer your question," said he, look-
ing at an officer who entered at the same time with the
lady.
" That must be Vronsky," he thought, and to confirm
his surmise he glanced at Kitty. She had already had
time to perceive Vronsky, and she was looking at Levin.
When he saw the young girl's involuntarily brightening
eyes, Levin saw that she loved that man, he saw it as
VOL. I. — s
66 ANNA KARENINA
clearly as if she herself had confessed it to him. But
what sort of a man was he ?
Now — whether it was wise or foolish — Levin could
not help remaining ; he must find out for himself what
sort of a man it was that she loved.
There are men who, on meeting a fortunate rival, are
immediately disposed to deny that there is any good in
him and see only evil in him ; others, on the contrary,
endeavor to discover nothing but the merits that have
won him his success, and with sore hearts to attribute
to him nothing but good. Levin belonged to the latter
class. It was not hard for him to discover what amiable
and attractive qualities Vronsky possessed. They were
apparent at a glance. He was dark, of medium stature,
and well proportioned ; his face was handsome, calm,
and friendly ; everything about his person, from his
black, short-cut hair, and his freshly shaven chin, to his
new, well-fitting uniform, was simple and perfectly ele-
gant. Vronsky allowed the lady to pass before him,
then he approached the princess, and finally came to
Kitty. As he drew near her, his beautiful eyes shone
with deeper tenderness, and with a smile expressive of
joy mingled with triumph, — so it seemed to Levin, —
he bowed respectfully and with dignity and offered her
his small, wide hand. After greeting them all and speak-
ing a few words, he sat down without having seen Levin,
who never once took his eyes from him.
" Allow me to make you acquainted," said the prin-
cess, turning to Levin : " Konstantin Dmitrievitch Levin,
Count Alekseif Kirillovitch Vronsky."
Vronsky arose, and, with a friendly look into Levin's
eyes, shook hands with him.
" It seems," said he, with his frank and pleasant
smile, " that I was to have had the honor of dining with
you this winter ; but you went off unexpectedly to the
country."
" Konstantin Dmitritch despises and shuns the city,
and us, its denizens," said the Countess Nordstone.
" It must be that my words impress you deeply, since
you remember them so well," said Levin; and, perceiv-
i
ANNA KARENINA 6j
ing that he had already made this remark, he grew red
in the face.
Vronsky looked at Levin and the countess, and smiled.
" So, then, you always live in the country ? " he asked.
" I should think it would be tiresome in winter."
" Not if one has enough to do ; besides, one does not
get tired of himself," said Levin, sharply.
"I like the country," said Vronsky, noticing Levin's
tone and appearing not to notice it.
" But, count, I hope you would not consent to live
always in the country," said the Countess Nordstone.
" I don't know ; I never made a long stay, but I once
felt a strange sensation," he added. " Never have I so
eagerly longed for the country, the real Russian country
with its bast shoes and its muzhiks, as during the winter
that I spent at Nice with my mother. Nice, you know,
is melancholy anyway ; and Naples, Sorrento, are pleas-
ant only for a short time. There it is that one remembers
Russia most tenderly, and especially the country. They
are almost as .... "
He spoke, now addressing Kitty, now Levin, turning
his calm and friendly eyes from one to the other, and he
evidently said whatever came into his head.
Noticing that the Countess Nordstone wanted to say
something, he stopped, without finishing his phrase, and
began to listen to her attentively.
The conversation did not languish a single instant, so
that the old princess, who always had in reserve two
heavy guns, in case there needed to be a change in the
conversation, — namely, classic and scientific education,
and the general compulsory conscription, — had no need
to bring them out, and the Countess Nordstone did not
even have a chance to rally Levin.
Levin wanted to join in the general conversation, but
was unable. He kept saying to himself, " Now, I '11
go ; " and still he waited as if he expected something.
The conversation turned on table-tipping and spirits ;
and the Countess Nordstone, who was a believer in
spiritism, began to relate the marvels that she had
seen.
68 ANNA KARENINA
" Akh, countess ! in the name of Heaven, take me to
see them. I never yet saw anything extraordinary,
anxious as I have always been," said Vronsky, smiling.
" Good ; next Saturday," replied the countess. " But
you, Konstantin Dmitritch, do you believe in it ,'' " she
asked of Levin.
" Why do you ask me ? You know perfectly well" what
I shall say."
" Because I wanted to hear your opinion."
" My opinion is simply this," replied Levin : " that
table-tipping proves that so-called cultivated society is
scarcely more advanced than the muzhiks ; they believe
in the evil eye, in casting lots, in sorceries, while we .... "
"That means that you don't believe in it.'' "
" I cannot believe in it, countess."
" But if I myself have seen these things ? "
" The peasant women also say that they have seen the
Do mo VOL ^
"Then, you think that I do not tell the truth.?"
And she broke into an unpleasant laugh.
" But no, Masha. Konstantin Dmitritch simply says
that he cannot believe in spiritism," said Kitty, blushing
for Levin ; and Levin understood her, and, growing still
more irritated, was about to reply; but Vronsky instantly
came to the rescue, and with a gentle smile brought
back the conversation, which threatened to go beyond
the bounds of politeness.
" Do not you admit at all the possibility of its being
true.?" he asked. "Why not.? We willingly admit the
existence of electricity, which we do not understand.
Why should there not exist a new force, as yet unknown,
which...."
" When electricity was discovered," interrupted Levin,
eagerly, "only its phenomena had been seen, and it was
not known what produced them, or whence they arose;
and centuries passed before people dreamed of making
application of it. Spiritualists, on the other hand, have
^ The Domovol is the house-spirit, like the latin lar, who lives behind
the stove, and when propitiated by cream and colored eggs is beneficent,
but if offended may play disagreeable tricks. — Tr.
ANNA KARENINA 69
begun by making tables write, and by summoning spirits
to them, and it is only afterward they began to say it is
an unknown force."
Vronsky listened attentively, as he always listened, and
was evidently interested in Levin's words.
" Yes; but the spiritualists say, ' We do not yet know
what this force is, but it is a force, and acts under certain
conditions.' Let the scientists find out what it is. I
don't see why it may not be a new force if it.... "
"Because," interrupted Levin again, "every time you
rub resin with wool, you produce a certain and invariable
electrical phenomenon ; while spiritism brings no such
invariable result, and so it cannot be a natural phe-
nomenon."
Vronsky, evidently perceiving that the conversation
was growing too serious for a reception, made no reply ;
and, in order to make a diversion, smiled gayly, and ad-
dressing the ladies said : —
" Countess, let us make the experiment now ? "
But Levin wanted to finish saying what was in his
mind : —
" I think," he continued, " that the attempts made by
spiritual mediums to explain their miracles by a new
force is most abortive. They claim that it is a super-
natural force, and yet they want to submit it to a material
test."
All were waiting for him to come to an end, and he
felt it.
" And I think that you would be a capital medium,"
said the Countess Nordstone. " There is something so
enthusiastic about you ! "
Levin opened his mouth to speak, but he said nothing,
and turned red.
" Come, let us give the tables a trial," said Vronsky ;
"with your permission, princess." And Vronsky rose,
and looked for a small table.
Kitty was standing by a table, and her eyes met
Levin's. Her whole soul pitied him, because she felt
that she was the cause of his pain. Her look said,
" Forgive me, if you can, I am so happy."
70 ANNA KARENINA
And his look replied, " I hate the whole world, — you
and myself." And he took up his hat.
But it was not his fate to go. The guests were just
taking their places around the table, and he was on the
point of starting, when the old prince entered, and, after
greeting the ladies, went straight to Levin.
" Ah! " he cried joyfully. " What a stranger ! I did
not know that you were here. Very glad to see you ! "
In speaking to Levin the prince sometimes used the
familiar tiii, thou, and sometimes the formal vuiy you.
He took him by the arm, and, while conversing with him,
gave no notice to Vronsky, who stood waiting patiently
for the prince to speak to him.
Kitty felt that her father's friendliness must be hard
for Levin after what had happened. She also noticed
how coldly her father at last acknowledged Vronsky's
bow, and how Vronsky looked at her father, with good-
humored perplexity striving in vain to make out what
this icy reception meant, and she blushed.
" Prince, let us have Konstantin Dmitritch," said the
Countess Nordstone. " We want to try an experiment."
"What sort of an experiment.'^ table-tipping.? Well!
excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, but, in my opinion,
grace-hoops^ would be a better game," said the prince,
looking at Vronsky, whom he took to be the originator
of this sport. " At least there's some sense in grace-
hoops."
Vronsky, astonished, turned his steady eyes upon the
old prince, and, slightly smiling, began to talk with the
Countess Nordstone about the arrangements for a great
ball to be given the following week.
" I hope that you will be there," said he, turning to
Kitty.
As soon as the old prince turned from him Levin
made his escape; and the last impression which he bore
away from this reception was Kitty's happy, smiling
face, answering Vronsky's question in regard to the
ball.
1 Kaletchki.
ANNA KARENINA 71
CHAPTER XV
After the guests had gone, Kitty told her mother of
her conversation with Levin; and, in spite of all the
pain that she had caused him, the thought that he had
asked her to marry him flattered her. She had no
doubt that she had acted properly, but it was long be-
fore she could go to sleep. One memory constantly
arose in her mind: it was Levin's face as, with con-
tracted brow, he stood listening to her father, looking
at her and Vronsky with his gloomy, melancholy, kind
eyes. She felt so sorry for him that she could not keep
back the tears. But, as she thought of him who had
replaced Levin in her regards, she saw vividly his
handsome, strong, and manly face, his aristocratic self-
possession, his universal kindness to every one; she re-
called his love for her, and how she loved him, and joy
came back to her heart. She laid her head on the pil-
low, and smiled with happiness.
" It is too bad, too bad; but what can I do."* It is not
my fault," she said to herself, although an inward voice
whispered the contrary. She did not know whether she
ought to reproach herself for having been attracted to
Levin, or for having refused him; but her happiness
was not alloyed with doubts. " Lord, have mercy upon
me! Lord, have mercy upon me! Lord, have mercy
upon me! " she repeated until she went to sleep.
Meantime, down-stairs, in the prince's little library,
there was going on one of those scenes which fre-
quently occurred between the parents in regard to their
favorite daughter.
"What.'' This is what!" cried the prince, waving his
arms and immediately wrapping around him his squirrel-
skin khalat. "You have neither pride nor dignity; you
are ruining your daughter with this low and ridiculous
manner of husband-hunting."
" But in the name of Heaven, prince, what have I
done? " said the princess, almost ready to cry.
7% ANNA KARENINA
She had come as usual to say good-night to her hus-
band, feeling very happy and satisfied over her con-
versation with her daughter ; and, though she had not
ventured to breathe a word of Levin's proposal and
Kitty's rejection of him, she allowed herself to hint to
her husband that she thought the affair with Vronsky
was settled, that it would be decided as soon as the
countess should arrive. At these words the prince had
fallen into a passion, and had addressed her with un-
pleasant reproaches: — ■
"What have you done? This is what: In the first
place you have decoyed a husband for her; and all
Moscow will say so, and with justice. If you want to
give receptions, give them, by all means, but invite
every one, and not suitors of your own choice. Invite
all these mashers," — thus the prince called the young
men of Moscow, — "have somebody to play and let 'em
dance; but not like to-night, inviting only suitors! It
seems to me shameful, shameful, the way you've pushed !
You have turned the girl's head. Levin is a thousand
times the better man. And as to this Petersburg dandy,
he 's one of those turned out by machinery, they are all
on one pattern, and all trash! My daughter has no
need of going out of her way, even for a prince of the
blood."
" But what have I done ? "
"Why, this.... " cried the prince, angrily.
" I know well enough that, if I listen to you," inter-
rupted the princess, " we shall never see our daughter
married; and, in that case, we might just as well go
into the country."
"We'd better go!"
" Now wait ! Have I made any advances ? No, I
have not. But a young man, and a very handsome
young man, is in love with her; and she, it seems...."
" Yes, so it seems to you. But suppose she should
be in love with him, and he have as much intention
of getting married as I myself .'' Okh ! Have n't I
eyes to see .-• ' Akh, spiritism ! akh, Nice ! akh, the
ball ! ' " .... Here the prince, attempting to imitate his
ANNA KARENINA 73
wife, made a courtesy at every word. " We shall be
very proud when we have made our Kationka unhappy,
and when she really takes it into her head..,."
" But what makes you think so .'' "
" I don't think so, I know so ; and that 's why we
have eyes, and you mothers have n't. I see a man
who has serious intentions, — Levin ; and I see a fine
bird, like this good-for-nothing, who is merely amusing
himself."
" Well ! now you have taken it into your head .... "
" You will remember what I have said, but too late,
as you did with Dashenka."
•' Very well, very well, we will not say anything more
about it," said the princess, who was cut short by the
remembrance of Dolly's unhappiness.
" So much the better, and good-night."
The husband and wife, as they separated, kissed
each other good-night, making the sign of the cross,
but with the consciousness that each remained un-
changed in opinion.
The princess had at first been firmly convinced that
Kitty's fate was decided by the events of the evening,
and that there could be no doubt of Vronsky's designs ;
but her husband's words troubled her. On her return
to her room, as she thought in terror of the unknown
future, she did just as Kitty had done, and prayed from
the bottom of her heart, " Lord, have mercy ! Lord,
have mercy ! Lord, have mercy ! "
CHAPTER XVI
Vronsky had never known anything of family life.
His mother, in her youth, had been a very brilliant
society woman, who, in her husband's lifetime and
after his death, had engaged in many love-affairs that
had made talk. Vronsky scarcely remembered his father,
and he had been educated in the School of Pages.
Graduating very young and with brilliancy as an
officer, he immediately began to follow the course of
74 ANNA KARENINA
wealthy militar}'^ men of Petersburg. Though he oc-
casionally went into general society, all his love-affairs
were with a different class.
At Moscow, after the luxurious, dissipated life of
Petersburg, he for the first time felt the charm of
familiar intercourse with a lovely, innocent society
girl, who was evidently in love with him. It never
occurred to him that there might be anything wrong
in his relations with Kitty. At balls he preferred to
dance with her, he called on her, talked with her as
people generally talk in society : all sorts of trifles,
but trifles to which he involuntarily attributed a differ-
ent meaning when spoken to her. Although he never
said anything to her which he would not have said in
the hearing of others, he was conscious that she kept
growing more and more dependent on him ; and, the
more he felt this consciousness, the pleasanter it was
to him, and his feeling toward her grew warmer and
warmer. He did not know that his behavior toward
Kitty had a definite name, that this way of leading
on young girls without any intention of marriage is
one of the most dishonorable tricks practised among
the members of the brilliant circles of society in which
he moved. He simply imagined that he had discovered
a new pleasure, and he enjoyed his discovery.
Could he have heard the conversation between Kitty's
parents that evening, could he have taken the family
point of view and realized that Kitty would be made
unhappy if he did not propose to her, he would have
been amazed and would not have believed it. He
would not have believed that what gave him and her
such a great delight could be wrong, still less that it
brought any obligation to marry.
He had never considered the possibility of his getting
married. Not only was family life distasteful to him,
but, from his view as a bachelor, the family, and espe-
cially the husband, belonged to a strange, hostile, and,
worst of all, ridiculous world. But though Vronsky had
not the slightest suspicion of the conversation of which
he had been the subject, he left the Shcherbatskys' with
ANNA KARENINA 75
the feeling that the mysterious bond that attached him
to Kitty was closer than ever, so close, indeed, that he
felt that he must do something. But what he ought
to do or could do he could not imagine.
" How charming ! " he thought, as he went to his
rooms, feeling, as he always felt when he left the
Shcherbatskys', a deep impression of purity and fresh-
ness, arising partly from the fact that he had not
smoked all the evening, and a new sensation of ten-
derness caused by her love for him. " How charming
that, without either of us saying anything, we under-
stand each other so perfectly through this mute lan-
guage of glances and tones, so that to-day more than
ever before she told me that she loves me ! And how
lovely, natural, and, above all, confidential, she was !
I feel that I myself am better, purer. I feel that I
have a heart, and that there is something good in me.
Those gentle, lovely eyes ! When she said.... Well!
what did she say ? .... Nothing much, but it was pleas-
ant for me, and pleasant for her."
And he reflected how he could best finish up the
evening. He passed in review the places where he
might go : " The ' club,' a hand of bezique and some
champagne with Ignatof .-' No, not there. The Chateau
des Fleurs, to find Oblonsky, songs, and the cancan f
No, it 's a bore. And this is just why I like the Shcher-
batskys, — because I feel better for having been there.
I '11 go home ! "
He went to his room at Dusseaux's, ordered supper,
and then, having undressed, he had scarcely touched his
head to the pillow before he was sound asleep.
CHAPTER XVII
The next morning, about eleven o'clock, Vronsky went
to the station to meet his mother on the Petersburg train ;
and the first person he saw on the grand staircase was
Oblonsky, who was expecting his sister on the same
train
76 ANNA KARENINA
" Ah ! your excellency," cried Oblonsky, " are you
expecting some one ? "
" My matushka," replied Vronsky, with the smile with
which people always met Oblonsky. And, after shak-
ing hands, they mounted the staircase side by side.
" She was to come from Petersburg to-day."
" I waited for you till two o'clock this morning.
Where did you go after leaving the Shcherbatskys' .'' "
"Home," replied Vronsky. "To tell the truth, after
such a pleasant evening at the Shcherbatskys', I did not
feel like going anywhere."
" I know fiery horses by their brand, and young people
who are in love by their eyes," said Stepan Arkadyevitch,
in the same dramatic tone in which he had spoken to
Levin the afternoon before.
Vronsky smiled, as much as to say that he did not
deny it ; but he hastened to change the conversation.
" And whom have you to meet ? " he asked.
" I .'' a very pretty woman," said Oblonsky.
"Ah! indeed!"
" Ifom soit qui inal y pense ! My sister Anna ! "
" Akh ! Madame Karenina ! " exclaimed Vronsky.
" Do you know her, then .-' "
"It seems to me that I do. Or, no.... the truth is, I
don't think I do," replied Vronsky, somewhat confused.
The name Karenin dimly brought to his mind a tiresome
and conceited person.
" But Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch, my celebrated brother-
in-law, you must know him ! Every one knows him."
" That is, I know him by reputation, and by sight. I
know that he is talented, learned, and rather adorable
....but you know that he is no\.....not in my line" said
Vronsky in English.
" Yes ; he is a very remarkable man, somewhat con-
servative, but a splendid man," replied Stepan Arkadye-
vitch. " A splendid man."
"Well! so much the better for him," said Vronsky,
smiling. "Ah! here you are," he cried, seeing his
mother's old lackey standing at the door. " Come this
way," he added.
ANNA KARENINA 77
Vronsky, besides experiencing the pleasure that every-
body felt in seeing Stepan Arkadyevitch, had felt espe-
cially drawn to him, because, in a certain way, it brought
him closer to Kitty.
" Well, now, what do you say to giving the diva a
supper Sunday ? " said he, with a smile, taking him by
the arm.
" Certainly ; I will pay my share. Oh, tell me, did
you meet my friend Levin last evening ? " asked Stepan
Arkadyevitch.
" Yes, but he went away very early."
" He is a glorious young fellow," said Oblonsky, " is n't
he ? "
"I don't know why it is," replied Vronsky, "but all
the Muscovites, present company excepted," he added
jestingly, " have something sharp about them. They
all seem to be high-strung, fiery tempered, as if they all
wanted to make you understand .... "
"That is true enough; there is...." replied Stepan
Arkadyevitch, smiling pleasantly.
"Is the train on time ? " asked Vronsky of an em-
ployee.
" It will be here directly," replied the employee.
The increasing bustle in the station, the coming and
going of porters, the appearance of policemen and offi-
cials, the arrival of expectant friends, all indicated the
approach of the train. Through the frosty steam, work-
men could be seen passing in their soft blouses and felt
boots amid the network of rails. The whistle of the
coming engine was heard, and the approach of some-
thing heavy.
" No," continued Stepan Arkadyevitch, who was anx-
ious to inform Vronsky of Levin's intentions in regard
to Kitty. " No, you are really unjust to my friend Levin.
He is a very nervous man, and sometimes he can be dis-
agreeable ; but, on the other hand, he can be very charm-
ing. He is such an upright, genuine nature, true gold !
Last evening there were special reasons," continued
Stepan Arkadyevitch, with a significant smile, and en-
tirely forgetting his genuine sympathy, which the even-
78 ANNA KARENINA
ing before he had felt for his old friend, and now
experiencing the same sympathy for Vronsky. " Yes,
there was a reason why he should have been either
very happy or very unhappy."
Vronsky stopped short, and asked point-blank : —
" What was it ? Do you mean that he proposed yes-
terday evening to your sister-in-law ? "
" Possibly," replied Stepan Arkadyevitch. " Something
like that seemed probable last evening. Yes, if he
went off so early, and was in such bad spirits, then it
is so He has been in love with her for so long, and
I am very sorry for him."
" Ah, indeed ! .... I thought that she might, however,
have aspirations for a better match," said Vronsky, and,
filling out his chest, he began to walk up and down again.
Then he added : " However, I don't know him ; yes,
this promises to be a painful situation. That is why the
majority of men prefer to consort with their Claras.
There, lack of success shows that you have n't money
enough ; but here you stand on your own merits. But
here is the train."
In fact, the engine was now whistling some distance
away. But in a few minutes the platform shook, and
the locomotive, puffing out the steam condensed by the
cold air, came rolling into the station, with the lever
of the central wheel slowly and rhythmically rising and
falling, and the engineer well muffled and covered with
frost. Next the tender came the baggage-car, still more
violently shaking the platform ; a dog in its cage was
yelping piteously ; finally appeared the passenger-cars,
which jolted together as the train came to a stop.
The vigorous-looking conductor sprang down from the
car and whistled ; and behind him came the more impa-
tient of the travelers, — an officer of the Guard, straight
and imperious, a nimble little merchant, gayly smiling,
with his gripsack, and a muzhik, with his bundle over
his shoulder.
Vronsky, standing near Oblonsky, watched the cars
and the passengers, and completely forgot his mother.
What he had just heard about Kitty caused him emotion
ANNA KARENINA 79
and joy; he involuntarily straightened himself; his eyes
glistened ; he felt that he had won a victory.
" The Countess Vronskaya is in that compartment,"
said the vigorous conductor, approaching him. These
words awoke him from his reverie, and brought his
thoughts back to his mother and their approaching
meeting. In his soul he did not respect his mother, and,
without ever having confessed as much to himself, he
did not love her. But his education and the usages of
the society in which he lived did not allow him to admit
that there could be in his relations with her the
slightest want of consideration. But the more he ex-
aggerated the bare outside forms, the less he felt in his
heart that he respected or loved her.
CHAPTER XVIII
Vronsky followed the conductor, and, as he was
about to enter the railway-carriage, he stood aside to
allow a lady to pass him.
With the instant intuition of a man of the world, he
saw, by a single glance at this lady's exterior, that she
belonged to the very best society. Begging her pardon,
he was about to enter the door, but involuntarily he
turned to give another look at the lady, not because she
was very beautiful, not because of that elegance and that
unassuming grace which were expressed in her whole
person, but because the expression of her lovely face, as
she passed, seemed to him so gentle and sweet.
Just as he looked back at her, she also turned her
head. Her brilliant gray eyes, looking almost black
under the long lashes, rested on his face with a friendly,
attentive look, as if she recognized him ; and instantly
she turned to seek some one in the throng.
Quick as this glance was, Vronsky had time to per-
ceive the dignified vivacity which played in her facc/i ^^.
and fluttered between her shining eyes, and the scarcely 7' ir^
perceptible smile parting her rosy lips. There seemed ^**-f Hu,
to be in her whole person such a superfluity of life '
8o ANNA KARENINa
that, in spite of her will, it expressed itself now in the
lightning of her eyes, now in her smile. She demurely
veiled the light in her eyes, but it shone against her will
in her scarcely perceptible smile.
Vronsky went into the carriage. His mother, a dried-
up old lady with black eyes and little curls, screwed up her
face as she looked at him with a slight smile on her thin
lips. Getting up from her chair, and handing her bag
to her maid, she extended her little thin hand to her son,
and, pushing his head from her, kissed him on the brow.
" You received my telegram ? You are well.'' Thank
the Lord ! "
" Did you have a comfortable journey .'' " said the son,
sitting down near her, and yet involuntarily listening to
a woman's voice just outside the door. He knew that
it was the voice of the lady whom he had met.
" However, I don't agree with you," said the lady's
voice.
•" It is the Petersburg way of looking at it, madam."
" Not at all, but simply a woman's," was her reply.
"Well! allow me to kiss your hand."
" Good-by, Ivan Petrovitch. Now look and see if my
brother is here, and send him to me," said the lady, at
the very door, and reentering the compartment.
" Have you found your brother } " asked the Countess
Vronskaya, addressing the lady.
Vronsky now knew that it was Karenin's wife.
"Your brother is here," he said, rising. "Excuse
me ; I did not recognize you ; but our acquaintance was
so short," he added with a bow, " that you naturally did
not remember me either."
" Oh, yes, I did ! " she said. " I should have known
you because your matushka and I have been talking
about you all the way." And at last she permitted the
animation which had been striving to break forth to
express itself in a smile. " But my brother has not
come yet."
" Go and call him, Alyosha," said the old countess,
Vronsky went out on the platform and called : —
"Oblonsky! here!"
ANNA KARENINA 8l
But Karenin's wife did not wait for her brother ; as
soon as she saw him she ran Hghtly out of the carriage,
went straight to him, and, with a gesture which struck
Vronsky by its grace and energy, threw her left arm
around his neck and kissed him affectionately.
Vronsky could not keep his eyes from her face, and
smiled, without knowing why. But, remembering that
his mother was waiting for him, he went back into the
carriage.
" Very charming, is n't she ? " said the countess, re-
ferring to Madame Karenina. " Her husband put her
in my charge, and I was very glad. She and I talked
together all the way. Well ! and you .-• They say
you are desperately in love. So much the better, my
dear, so much the better."
" I don't know what you allude to, maman ," replied
the son, coldly. "Come, fnavmuy let us go."
At this moment Madame Karenina came back to take
leave of the countess.
" Well, countess ! you have found your son, and I my
brother," she said gayly; "and I have exhausted my
whole fund of stories. I should n't have had anything
more to talk about."
"Ah ! not so," said the countess, taking her hand.
" I should not object to travel round the world with
you. You are one of those agreeable women with whom
either speech or silence is pleasant. As to your son,
I beg of you, don't think about him : we must have
separations in this world."
. Madame Karenina stood motionless, holding herself
very erect, and her eyes smiled.
" Anna Arkadyevna has a little boy about eight years
old," said the countess, in explanation to her son ; " she
has never been separated from him before, and it troubles
her to leave him."
" Yes, we have talked about our children all the time,
— the countess of her son, I of mine," said Madame
Karenina, turning to Vronsky ; and again the smile
lighted up her face, the caressing smile which beamed
upon him.
82 ANNA KARENINA
" That must have been very tiresome to you," said he,
instantly catching on the rebound the ball of coquetry
which she had tossed to him. But she evidently did
not care to continue her conversation in the same tone,
but turned to the old countess : —
" Thank you very much. I don't see where the time
has gone. Good-by, countess."
" Farewell, my dear," replied the countess. " Let
me kiss your pretty little face. I tell you frankly, as it
is permitted an old lady, that I am in love with you."
Hackneyed as this expression was, Madame Karenina
evidently believed thoroughly in its sincerity, and was
pleased with it. She blushed, bowed slightly, and bent
her face down to the old countess's lips. Then, straight-
ening herself up, she gave her hand to Vronsky with
the smile that seemed to belong as much to her eyes as
to her lips. He pressed her little hand, and, as if it
were something unusual, was delighted with the energetic
jfirmness with which she frankly and fearlessly shook his
hand.
Madame Karenina went out with light and rapid
step, carrying her rather plump person with remarkable
elasticity.
" Very charming," said the old lady again.
Her son was of the same opinion; and again his eyes
followed her graceful figure till she was out of sight, and
a smile rested on his face. Through the window he saw
her join her brother, take his arm, and engage him in
lively conversation, evidently about some subject with
which Vronsky had no connection, and this seemed to
him annoying.
" Well ! are you enjoying perfectly good health,
mamaft ? " he asked, turning to his mother.
"Very well, indeed, splendid. Alexandre has been
charming, and Marie has been very good. She is very
interesting."
And again she began to speak of wha.t was especially
interesting to her heart, — the baptism of her grandson,
for which she had come to Moscow, and the special
favor shown her eldest son by the emperor.
ANNA KARENINA 83
" And here is Lavronty," said Vronsky, looking out of
the window. " Now let us go, if you are ready."
The old steward who had come with the countess
now appeared at the door to report that everything was
ready, and she arose to go.
"Come, there are only a few people about now," said
Vronsky.
The maid took the bag and the little dog ; the stew-
ard and a porter carried the other luggage ; Vronsky
offered his mother his arm, but, just as they stepped
down from the carriage, a number of men with fright-
ened faces ran hastily by them. The station-master
followed in his curiously Qo\oxQdift(razhka or uniform-cap.
Evidently something unusual had happened. The peo-
ple who had left the train were coming back again.
"What is it.?".... "What is it .?".... "Where .?" ....
" He was thrown down ! " ...." He was crushed to death ! "
were the exclamations heard among those hurrying by.
Stepan Arkadyevitch with his sister on his arm had
returned with the others, and were standing with fright-
ened faces near the train to avoid the crush.
The ladies went back into the carriage, and Vronsky
with Stepan Arkadyevitch went with the crowd to learn
the particulars of the accident.
A train-hand, either from drunkenness, or because he
was too closely muffled against the intense cold, had not
heard the noise of a train that was backing out, and had
been crushed.
The ladies had already learned about the accident
from the steward before Vronsky and Oblonsky came
back. Both of them had seen the disfigured body.
Oblonsky was deeply moved ; he frowned, and seemed
ready to shed tears.
" Akh, how horrible ! Akh, Anna, if you had only
seen it ! Akh, how horrible ! " he repeated.
Vronsky said nothing ; his handsome face was serious,
but perfectly calm.
" Akh, if you had only seen it, countess ! " continued
Stepan Arkadyevitch, — "and his wife is there It
was terrible to see her .... she threw herself on his body.
^ ANNA KARENINA
They say that he was the only support of a large
family. How terrible ! "
" Could anything be done for her ? " said Madame
Karenina, in an agitated whisper.
Vronsky looked at her, and immediately left the car-
riage.
" I will be right back, maman," said he, turning round
at the door.
When he came back, at the end of a few minutes,
Stepan Arkadyevitch was talking with the countess
about a new singer, and she was impatiently watching
the door for her son.
" Now let us go," said Vronsky,
They all went out together, Vronsky walking ahead
with his mother, Madame Karenina and her brother
side by side. At the door the station-master overtook
them, and said to Vronsky : —
" You have given my assistant two hundred rubles.
Will you kindly indicate the disposition that we shall
make of them ? "
" For his widow," said Vronsky, shrugging his shoul-
der?. " I don't see why you should have asked me."
" Did you give that.? " asked Oblonsky ; and, pressing
his sister's arm, he said, " Very kind, very kind. Glo-
rious fellow, is n't he ? My best wishes, countess."
He and his sister delayed, looking for her maid.
When they left the station, the Vronskys' carriage had
already gone. People on all sides were talking about
what had happened.
•* What a horrible way of dying ! " said a gentleman,
passing near them. " They say he was cut in two."
-■ It seems to me, on the contrary," replied another,
" that it was a very easy way ; death was instan-
taneous,"
" Why were n't there any precautions taken .-' " asked
a third.
Madame Karenina sat down in the carriage ; and
Stepan Arkadyevitch noticed, with astonishment, that
her lips trembled, and that she could hardly keep back
the tears.
ANNA KARENINA 85
"What is the matter, Anna ? " he asked, when they
had gone a little distance.
" It is an evil omen," she answered.
"What nonsense! " said Stepan Arkadyevitch. "You
have come .... that is the main thing. You cannot itnAg-
ine how much I hope from your visit."
" Have you known Vronsky long ? " she asked.
"Yes. You know we hope that he will marry
Kitty."
"Really," said Anna, gentiy. "Well! now let us
talk about yourself," she added, shaking her head as if
she wanted to drive away something that troubled and
pained her physically. " Let us speak about your
affairs. I received your letter, and here I am."
" Yes, all my hope is in you," said Stepan Arka-
dyevitch.
" Well, then ! tell me all."
And Stepan Arkadyevitch began his story.
When they reached the house he helped his sister
from the carriage, sighed, shook hands with her, and
went to the court-house.
CHAPTER XIX
When Anna entered, Dolly was sitting in her little
reception-room, with a plump light-haired lad, the image
of his father, who was learning a lesson from a French
reading-book. The boy was reading aloud, and at the
same time twisting and trying to pull from his jacket
a button which was hanging loose. His mother had
many times reproved him, but the plump little hand
kept returning to the button. At last she had to take
the button off, and put it in her pocket.
"Keep your hands still, Grisha," said she, and again
took up the bed-quilt on which she had been long It
work, and which always came handy at trying moments.
She worked nervously, jerking her fingers and counting
the stitches. Though she had sent word to her hus-
band, the day before, that his sister's arrival made no
8.6 ANNA KARENINA
difference to her, nevertheless, she was ready to receive
her, and was waiting for her impatiently.
Dolly was absorbed by her woes, — absolutely swal-
lowed up by them. But she did not forget that her
sister-in-law, Anna, was the wife of one of the impor-
tant personages of Petersburg, — a Petersburg graiide
dame. And, owing to this fact, she did not carry out
what she had said to her husband ; in other words, she
did not forget that her sister was coming.
"After all, Anna is not to blame," she said to her-
self. " I know nothing about her that is not good, and
our relations have always been good and friendly."
To be sure, as far as she could recall the impressions
made on her by the Karenins, at Petersburg, their home
did not seem to her entirely pleasant ; there was some-
thing false in the whole manner of their family life.
" But why should I not receive her } Provided, only,
that she does not take it into her head to console me,"
thought Dolly. " I know what these Christian exhor-
tations, consolations, and justifications mean; I have
gone over them all a thousand times, and they amount to
nothing."
Dolly had spent these last days alone with her chil-
dren. She did not care to speak to any one about her
sorrow, and under the load of it she could not talk
about indifferent matters. She knew that some way or
other she should have to open her heart to Anna, and
at one moment the thought that she could open her
heart delighted her ; and then again she was angry
because she must speak of her humiliations before his
sister, and listen to her ready-made phrases of exhorta-
tion and consolation.
She had been expecting every moment to see her
sister-in-law appear, and had been watching the clock ;
but, as often happens in such cases, she became so ab-
sorbed in her thoughts that she did not hear the door
bell. Hearing light steps and the rustling of a gown,
she looked up, and involuntarily her jaded face expressed,
not pleasure, but surprise. She arose, and threw her
arms round her sister-in-law.
ANNA KARENINA 87
"Why ! have you come already ? " she cried, kissing her.
" Dolly, how glad I am to see you ! "
" And I am glad to see you," replied Dolly, with a
faint smile, and trying to read, by the expression of
Anna's face, how much she knew. " She knows all,"
was her thought, as she saw the look of compassion on
her features. " Well ! let us go up-stairs ; I will show
you to your room," she went on to say, trying to post-
pone, as long as possible, the time for explanations.
" Is this Grisha .-' Heavens ! how he has grown ! "
said Anna, kissing him. Then, not taking her eyes
from Dolly, she added, with a blush, " No, please let us
not go yet."
She took off her handkerchief and her hat, and when
it caught in the locks of her dark curly hair she shook
her head and released it.
" How brilliantly happy and healthy you look," said
Dolly, almost enviously.
" I .-^ ".... exclaimed Anna. "Ah !.... Heavens ! Tania!
is that you, the playmate of my little Serozha ? " said
she, speaking to a little girl who came running in.
She took her by the hand, and kissed her. " What a
charming little girl ! Charming ! But you must show
them all to me."
She recalled not only the name, the year, and the
month of each, but their characteristics and their little
ailments, and Dolly could not help feeling touched.
"Come! let us go and see them," said she; "but
Vasya is having her nap now ; it 's too bad."
After they had seen the children, they came back to
the sitting-room alone for coffee. Anna drew the tray
toward her, and then she pushed it away.
" Dolly," said she, "he has told me."
Dolly looked at Anna coldly. She now expected
some expression of hypocritical sympathy, but Anna
said nothing of the kind.
" Dolly, my dear," she said, " I do not intend to
speak to you in defense of him, nor to console you ; it
is impossible. But, dushenka, dear heart, I am sorry,
sorry for you with all my soul ! "
88 ANNA KARENINA
Under her long lashes her brilliant eyes suddenly filled
with tears. She drew closer, and with her energetic
little hand seized the hand of her sister-in-law. Dolly
did not repulse her, but her face still preserved its
forlorn expression.
" It is impossible to console me. After what has
happened, all is over for me, all is lost."
And she had hardly said these words ere her face
suddenly softened a little. Anna lifted to her lips the
thin, dry hand that she held, and kissed it.
" But, Dolly, what is to be done ? what is to be done ?
What is the best way to act in this frightful condition
of things? We must think about it."
" All is over! Nothing can be done ! " Dolly replied.
"And, what is worse than all, you must understand it,
is that I cannot leave him! the children! I am chained
to him I and I cannot live with him ! It is torture to see
him ! "
" Dolly, galubchik, he has told me ; but I should like
to hear your side of the story. Tell me all."
Dolly looked at her with a questioning expression.
Sympathy and the sincerest affection were depicted in
Anna's face.
" I should like to," she suddenly said. " But I shall
tell you everything from the very beginning. You know
how I was married. With the education that maman
gave me, I was not only innocent, I was stupid. I did
not know anything. I know they said husbands told
their wives all about their past lives ; but Stiva" —
she corrected herself, — " Stepan Arkadyevitch never
told me anything. You would not believe it, but, up to
the present time, I supposed that I was the only woman
with whom he was acquainted. Thus I lived eight years.
You see, I not only never suspected him of being un-
faithful to me, but I believed such a thing to be impossi-
ble. And with such ideas, imagine how I suffered when
I suddenly learned all this horror — all this dastardliness.
.... Understand me. To believe absolutely in his honor " ....
continued Dolly, struggling to keep back her sobs,
" and suddenly to find a letter .... a letter from him to
ANNA KARENINA 89
his mistress, to the gdvertiess of ffiy children. No ; this
is too cruel ! " She hastily took out her handkerchief, and
hid her face in It. " I might have been able to admit a
moment of temptation," she continued, after a moment's
pause ; " but this hypocrisy, this continual attempt to de-
ceive me .... and for whom f .... To continue to be my hus-
band, and yet have her.... It is frightful; you cannot
comprehend...."
"Oh, yes! I comprehend; I comprehend, my dear
Dolly," said Anna, squeezing her hand.
"And do you imagine that he appreciates all the
horror of my situation ? " continued Dolly. " Certainly
not ; he is happy and contented."
" Oh, no ! " interrupted Anna, warmly. " He is thor-
oughly repentant; he is overwhelmed with remorse.... "
" Is he capable of remorse.?" demanded Dolly, scru-
tinizing her sister-in-law's face.
" Yes ; I know him. I could not look at him without
feeling sorry for him. We both of us know him. He
is kind ; but he is proud, and now he is so humiliated !
What touched me most" — Anna knew well enough that
this would touch Dolly also — "are the two things that
pained him : In the first place, he was ashamed for the
children ; and secondly, because, loving you .... yes, yes,
loving you more than any one else in the world," — she
added vehemently, to prevent Dolly from interrupting
her, — " he has wounded you grievously, has almost
killed you. * No, no, she will never forgive me I ' he
keeps saying all the time."
Dolly looked straight beyond her sister as she lis-
tened.
" Yes, I understand that his position is terrible. The
guilty suffers more than the innocent, — if he knows
that he is the cause of all the unhappiness. But how
can I forgive him ? How can I be his wife again after
she has.... For me to live with him henceforth would
be torment all the more because I still love what I used
to love in him .... "
And the sobs prevented her from speaking.
But as if on purpose, each time, after she had become
90 ANNA KARENINA
a little calmer, she began again to speak of what hurt
her most cruelly.
" She is young, you see, she is pretty," she went on
to say. " Do you realize, Anna, for whom I have sacri-
ficed my youth, my beauty ? For him and his children !
I have worn myself out in his service, I have given him
the best that I had; and now, of course, some one
younger and fresher than I am is more pleasing to him.
They have, certainly, discussed me between them, —
or, worse, have insulted me with their silence, do you
understand .-' "
And again her jealousy flamed up in her eyes.
"And after this he will tell me.... What! could I
believe it .■' No, never ! it is all over, all that gave me
recompense for my sufferings, for my sorrows
Would you believe it ? just now I was teaching Grisha.
It used to be a pleasure to me; now it is a torment.
Why should I take the trouble .'' Why have I children }
It is terrible, because my whole soul is in revolt ; instead
of love, tenderness, I am filled with nothing but hate,
yes, hate ! I could kill him and .... "
" Dushenka ! Dolly ! I understand you ; but don't
torment yourself so ! You are too excited, too angry, to
see things in their right light."
Dolly grew calmer, and for a few moments neither
spoke.
" What is to be done, Anna .-" Consider and help me.
I have thought of everything, but I cannot see any way
out of it."
Anna herself did not see any, but her heart responded
to every word, to every expression in her sister-in-law's
face.
"I will tell you one thing," said she at last. "I am
his sister ; I know his character, his peculiarity of for-
getting everything," — she touched her forehead, — "this
peculiarity of his which is so conducive to sudden temp-
tation, but also to repentance. At the present moment,
he does not understand how it was possible for him to
have done what he did."
" Not so ! He does understand and he did under-
ANNA KARENINA 91
stand," interrupted Dolly. " But I .... you forget me ;
.... does that make the pain less for me .-' "
" Wait ! when he made his confession to me, I ac-
knowledge that I did not appreciate the whole horror
of your position. I saw only him and the fact that the
family was broken up. I was sorry for him ; but now
that I have been talking with you, I, as a woman, look
on it in a different light. I see your suffering, and I
cannot tell you how sorry I am. But, Dolly, dushenka,
while I fully appreciate your misfortune, there is one
thing which I do not know: I do not know.... I do not
know to what degree you still love him. You alone can
tell whether you love him enough to forgive him. If
you do, then forgive him."
" No," began Dolly ; but Anna interrupted her, kiss-
ing her hand again.
" I know the world better than you do," she said.
" I know how such men as Stiva look on these things.
You say that tJiey have discussed you between them.
Don't you believe it. These men can be unfaithful to
their marriage vows, but their homes and their wives
remain no less sacred in their eyes. Between these
women and their families, they draw a line of demar-
cation which is never crossed. I cannot understand how
it can be, but so it is."
" Yes, but he has kissed her.... "
" Wait, Dolly, dushenka ! I saw Stiva when he was
in love with you. I remember the time when he used
to come to me and talk about you with tears in his eyes.
I know to what a poetic height he raised you, and I
know that the longer he lived with you the more he
admired you. We always have smiled at his habit of
saying at every opportunity, ^Dolly is an extraordinary
woman.' You have been, and you always will be, an
object of adoration in his eyes, and this passion is not
a defection of his heart .... "
" But supposing this defection should be repeated .'' "
" It is impossible, as I think .... "
" Yes, but would you have forgiven him } "
" I don't know ; I can't say Yes, I could," said
91 ANNA KARENINA
Anna, after a moment's thought, apprehending the
gravity of the situation and weighing it in her mental
scales. " I could, I Could, I could ! Yes, I could for-
give him, but I should not be the sarrte ; but I should
forgive him, and I should forgive him in such a way
as to show that the past Was forgotten, absolutely for-
gotten." ....
"Well ! of course," interrupted Dolly, impetuously, as
if she was saying what she had said many times to her-
self — " otherwise it would not be forgiveness. If you
forgive, it must be absolutely, absolutely. — Well ! let
me show you to your room," said she, rising, and throw-
ing her arm around her sister-in-law.
" My dear, how glad I am that you came. My heart
is already lighter, much lighter."
CHAPTER XX
Anna spent the whole day at home, that is to say,
at the Oblonskys', and refused to see any callers, al-
though some of her friends, having learned of her
arrival, came to see her. The whole morning was
given to Dolly and the children. She sent a note to
her brother that he must dine at home.
" Come, God is merciful," she wrote.
Oblonsky accordingly dined at home. The conver-
sation was general, and his wife, when she spoke to
him, called him tui (thou), which had not been the case
before. The relations between husband and wife re-
mained cool, but nothing more was said about a separa-
tion, and Stepan Arkadyevitch saw the possibility of a
reconciliation.
Kitty came in soon after dinner. Her acquaintance
with Anna Arkadyevna was very slight, and she was
not without solicitude as to the welcome which she
would receive from this great Petersburg lady, whose
praise was in everybody's mouth. But she made a
pleasing impression on Anna Arkadyevna ; this she
immediately realized. Anna evidently admired her
ANNA KARENINA 93
youth and beauty, and Kitty was not slow in realizing
a sense of being, not only under her influence, but of
being in love with her, and immediately fell in love
with her, as young girls often fall in love with married
women older than themselves. Anna was not like a
society woman, or the mother of an eight-year-old son ;
but, by her vivacity of movement, by the freshness and
animation of her face, expressed in her smile and in her
eyes, she would have been taken rather for a young
girl of twenty, had it not been for a serious and some-
times almost melancholy look, which struck and at-
tracted Kitty.
Kitty felt that she was perfectly natural and sincere,
but that there was something about her that suggested
a whole world of complicated and poetic interests far
beyond her comprehension.
After dinner, when Dolly had gone to her room,
Anna went eagerly to her brother, who was smoking
a cigar.
" Stiva," said she, giving him a joyous wink, making
the sign of the cross, and glancing toward the door,
"go, and God help you."
He understood her, and, throwing away his cigar,
disappeared behind the door.
As soon as he had gone, Anna sat down upon a divan,
surrounded by the children.
Either because they saw that their mamma loved this
aunt, or because they themselves felt a special attraction
toward her, the two eldest, and therefore the younger,
as often happens with children, had taken possession
of her even before dinner, and could not leave her
alone. And now they were having something like a
game, in which each tried to get next to her, to hold
her little hand, to kiss her, to play with her rings, or
even to cling to the flounces of her gown.
" There ! there ! let us sit as we were before," said
Anna, sitting down in her place.
And Grisha, proud and dehghted, thrust his head
under his aunt's arm, and nestled up close to her.
"And when is the ball } " she asked of Kitty.
94 ANNA KARENINA
" Next week ! it will be a lovely ball — one of those
balls where one always has a good time."
" Then there are places where one always has a good
time ? " asked Anna, in a tone of gentle irony.
" Strange, but it is so. We always enjoy ourselves
at the Bobrishchefs' and at the Nikitins', but at the Mezh-
kofs' it is always dull. Have n't you ever noticed that .-* "
" No, dusha nioya, no ball could be amusing to me,"
said Anna; and again Kitty saw in her eyes that un-
known world, which had not yet been revealed to her.
" For me they are all more or less tiresome."
" How could j^« find a ball tiresome } "
" And why should / no^ find a ball tiresome ? "
Kitty perceived that Anna foresaw what her answer
would be : —
" Because you are always the loveliest of all ! "
Anna blushed easily ; she blushed now, and said : —
" In the first place, that is not true ; and in the second,
if it were, it would not make any difference."
"Won't you go to this ball .? " asked Kitty.
" I think that I would rather not go. Here ! take it,"
said she to Tanya, who was drawing off a loose ring
from her delicate white finger.
" I should be delighted if you would go ; I should so
like to see you at a ball."
" Well, if I have to go, I shall console myself with
the thought that I am making you happy Grisha,
don't pull my hair down ! it is disorderly enough now,"
said she, putting back the rebellious lock with which the
lad was playing.
" I can imagine you at a ball dressed in violet."
" Why in violet ? " asked Anna, smihng. " Now, chil-
dren, run away, run away. Don't you hear ? Miss
Hull IS calling you to tea," said she, freeing herself
from the children, and sending them out to. the dining-
room.
" I know why you want me to go to the ball. You
expect something wonderful to happen at this ball, and
you are anxious for us all to be there so as to share in
your happiness."
ANNA KARENINA 95
" How did you know ? You are right ! "
" Oh, what a lovely age is yours! " continued Anna.
" I remember well, and know this purple haze like that
which you see hanging over the mountains in Switzer-
land. This haze covers everything in that delicious time
when childhood ends, and from out this immense circle,
so joyous, so gay, grows a footpath ever narrower and
narrower, and leads gayly and painfully into that laby-
rinth, and yet it seems so bright and so beautiful
Who has not passed through it .'' "
Kitty listened and smiled. " How did she pass through
it.? How I should like to know the whole romance of
her life ! " thought Kitty, remembering the unpoetic
appearance of her husband, Aleksei Aleksandrovitch.
" I know a thing or two," continued Anna. " Stiva
told m.e, and I congratulate you ; he pleased me very
much. I met Vronsky at the station."
" Akh ! was he there.'' " asked Kitty, blushing. "What
did Stiva tell you } "
" Stiva told me the whole story ; and I should be de-
lighted ! I came from Petersburg with Vronsky's
mother," she continued ; " and his mother never ceased
to speak of him. He is her favorite. I know how
partial mothers are, but.... "
" What did his mother tell you >. "
"Akh ! many things ; and I know that he is her favor-
ite. But still it is evident he has a chivalrous nature.
— Well, for example, she told me how he wanted to give
up his whole fortune to his brother ; how he did some-
thing still more wonderful when he was a boy — saved
a woman from drowning. In a word, he is a hero ! "
said Anna, smiling, and remembering the two hundred
rubles which he had given at the station.
But she did not tell about the two hundred rubles.
Somehow it was not pleasant for her to remember that.
She felt that there was something in it that concerned
herself too closely, and ought not to have been.
" The countess urged me to come ta see her," con-
tinued Anna, " and I should be very happy to meet
her again, and I will go to-morrow. — Thank the Lord,
^ ANNA KARENINA
Stiva remains a long time with Dolly in the library," she
added, changing the subject, and, as Kitty perceived,
looking a little annoyed.
" I '11 be the first.... " " No, I," cried the children, who
had just finished their supper, and came running to their
Aunt Anna.
" All together," she said, laughing, and running to
meet them. She seized them and piled them in a heap,
struggling and screaming with delight.
CHAPTER XXI
At tea-time Dolly came out of her room. Stepan
Arkadyevitch was not with her ; he had left his wife's
chamber by the rear door.
" I am afraid you will be cold up-stairs," remarked
Dolly, addressing Anna. " I should like to have you
come down and be near me."
" Akh ! please don't worry about me," replied Anna,
trying to divine by Dolly's face if there had been a
reconciliation.
" Perhaps it would be too light for you here," said her
sister-in-law.
" I assure you, I sleep anywhere and everywhere as
sound as a woodchuck."
" What is it .'' " asked Stepan Arkadyevitch, coming in
from his library, and addressing his wife.
By the tone of his voice, both Kitty and Anna knew
that the reconciliation had taken place.
" I wanted to install Anna down-stairs, but we should
have to put up some curtains. No one knows how to do
it, and so I must," said Dolly, in reply to her husband's
question.
" God knows if they have wholly made it up," thought
Anna, as she noticed Dolly's cold and even tone.
" Akh ! don't, Dolly, don't make difficulties ! Well ! if
you like, I will fix everything." ....
■*Yes," thought Anna, "they must have had a recon-
ciliation."
ANNA KARENINA 97
"I know how you do everything," said Dolly; "you
give Matve an order which it is impossible to carry out,
and then you go away, and he gets everything into a
tangle."
And her customary mocking smile wrinkled the cor-
ners of Dolly's lips as she said that.
"Complete, complete reconciliation, complete," thought
Anna. " Thank God ! " and, rejoicing that she had been
the cause of it, she went to Dolly and kissed her.
" Not by any means. Why have you such scorn for
Matve and me ? " said Stepan Arkadyevitch to his wife,
with an almost imperceptible smile.
Throughout the evening Dolly, as usual, was lightly
ironical toward her husband, and Stepan Arkadyevitch
was happy and gay, but within bounds, and as if he
wanted to make it evident that though he had obtained
pardon he had not forgotten his offense.
About half-past nine a particularly animated and
pleasant confidential conversation, which was going on
at the tea-table, was interrupted by an incident appar-
ently of the slightest importance, but this simple inci-
dent seemed to each member of the family to be very
strange.
They were talking about one of their Petersburg
acquaintances when Anna suddenly arose : —
" I have her picture in my album," she said ; " and at
the same time I will show you my little Serozha," she
added, with a smile of maternal pride.
It was usually about ten o'clock when she bade her
son good-night. Often she herself put him to bed
before she went out to parties, and now she felt a sen-
sation of sadness to be so far from him. No matter
what people were speaking about, her thoughts reverted
always to her little curly-haired Serozha, and the desire
seized her to go and look at his picture, and to talk
about him. Using this first pretext, she, with her light,
decided step, started to fetch her album. The stairs to
her room started from the landing-place in the large
staircase, which led from the heated hall. Just as she
was leaving the drawing-room the front door-bell rang.
VOL. I. — 7
98 ANNA KARENINA
"Who can that be?" said Dolly.
" It is too early to come after me, and too late for a
call," remarked Kitty.
" Doubtless somebody with papers for me," said
Stepan Arkadyevitch.
As Anna was passing the staircase she saw the ser-
vant going up to announce a caller, but the caller stood
in the light of the hall lamp, and was waiting. Anna
glancing down saw that it was Vronsky, and a strange
sensation of joy, mixed with terror, suddenly seized her
heart. He was standing with his coat on, and was tak-
ing something out of his pocket. At the moment Anna
reached the center of the staircase, he lifted his eyes,
and saw her, and his face assumed an expression of
humility and confusion. She bowed her head slightly in
salutation ; and as she went on her way she heard Stepan
Arkadyevitch's loud voice calling him to come in, and then
Vronsky's low, soft, and tranquil voice excusing himself.
When Anna reached the room with the album, he had
gone, and Stepan Arkadyevitch was telling how he came
to see about a dinner which they were going to give the
next day in honor of some celebrity who was in town.
" And nothing would induce him to come in. What
a queer fellow !" said Stepan Arkadyevitch.
Kitty blushed. She thought that she alone understood
what he had come for, and why he would not come in.
" He must have been at our house," she thought, "and,
not finding me, have supposed that I was here; but he
did not come in because it was late and Anna here."
They all exchanged glances, but nothing was said,
and they began to examine Anna's album.
There was nothing extraordinary or strange in a man
calling at half-past nine o'clock in the evening to inquire
of a friend about the details of a proposed dinner and
not coming in ; yet to everybody it seemed strange, and
it seemed more strange and unpleasant to Anna than to
any one else.
ANNA KARENINA 99
CHAPTER XXII
The ball was just beginning when Kitty and her
mother mounted the grand staircase, brilliantly Hghted
and adorned with flowers and with powdered lackeys in
red kaftans. In the ball-rooms there was an incessant
bustle of movement, which sounded like the humming of
a beehive, and, as they stopped to give the last touches
to their hair and gowns, before a mirror hung on the
tree-decorated landing, they heard the scraping of violins
as the orchestra was tuning up for the first waltz.
A little old man, a civilian, who was smoothing his
white locks at another mirror, and who exhaled a pene-
trating odor of perfumes, brushed against them on the
stairway and stood aside, evidently impressed by Kitty's
youth and beauty. A beardless young man, such as the
old Prince Shcherbatsky would have reckoned among the
" mashers," wearing a very low-cut waistcoat and a white
necktie which he adjusted as he walked, bowed to them,
and after he had passed them turned back to ask Kitty
for a quadrille. The first quadrille was already promised
to Vronsky, and so she was obliged to content the young
man with the second. An officer buttoning his gloves
was standing near the door of the ball-room ; he cast a
glance of admiration at the blooming Kitty, and caressed
his mustache.
Although Kitty had taken great pains and spent much
labor on her toilet, her gown, and all the preparations
for this ball, yet now she entered the ball-room, in
her complicated robe of tulle with its rose-colored over-
dress, as easily and naturally as if all these rosettes and
laces, all the requirements of her toilet, had not caused
her or her people a moment's attention, as if she had
been born in this lace-trimmed ball-dress, and with a
rose and two ribbons placed on the top of her grace-
ful head. When the old princess, her mother, just be-
fore they entered the ball-room, was about to readjust
her broad sash-ribbon, Kitty gently declined. She felt
that everything about her must surely be right and
lOO ANNA KARENINA
graceful, and that to readjust anything about her was
unnecessary.
Kitty was looking her prettiest. Her gown was not
too tight anywhere ; her lace fichu did not slip down,
her rosettes did not crush, and did not pull off; her
rose-colored slippers with their high heels did not pinch
her, but were agreeable to her feet. The thick braids
of her fair hair kept perfectly in place on her graceful
little head. All the three buttons on her long gloves,
which enveloped, without changing, the pretty shape of
her hands, fastened easily, and did not tear. The black
velvet ribbon, attached to a medallion, was thrown
daintily about her neck. This ribbon was charming;
and at home, as she saw it in her mirror, adorning her
neck, Kitty felt that this ribbon spoke. Everything
else might be dubious, but this ribbon was charming.
Kitty smiled, even there at the ball, as she saw it in the
mirror. In her bare shoulders and arms Kitty felt a
sensation of marble coolness, a sensation which she
especially enjoyed. Her eyes shone and her rosy lips
could not refrain from smiling with the consciousness
of how fascinating she was.
She had scarcely entered the ball-room and joined a
group of tulle-, ribbon-, lace-, and flower-decorated ladies,
who were waiting for partners, — Kitty never remained
long in that category, — when she was invited to waltz
with the best dancer, the principal cavalier in the whole
hierarchy of the ball-room, the celebrated leader of the
mazurka, the master of ceremonies, the handsome, ele-
gant Yegorushka Korsunsky, a married man and a
civilian. He had just left the Countess Bonina, with
whom he had been taking the first turns of the waltz,
and, while looking round over his domain, in other
words, over the few couples who were venturing out on
the floor, he perceived Kitty, made his way to her in
that easy manner peculiar to leaders of the mazurka,
bowed, and without even asking her permission put his
arm around the young girl's slender waist. She looked
for some one to whom to confide her fan ; and the mis-
tress of the mansion, smiling on her, took charge of it.
ANNA KARENINA loi
" How good of you to come early," said Korsunsky,
as he put his arm around her waist. " I don't like the
fashion of being late."
Kitty placed her left hand on her partner's shoulder,
and her little feet, shod in rose-colored bashmaks, glided
swiftly, lightly, and rhythmically over the polished floor.
" It is restful to dance with you," said he, as he fell
into the slow measures of the waltz : " charming ! such
lightness ! such precision ! "
That was what he said to almost all his dancing
acquaintances.
She smiled at his flattery, and continued to study the
ball-room across her partner's shoulder. She was not
such a novice in society as to find all faces blending in
one magic sensation ; she had not been so assiduous in
her attendance at balls as to know every one present,
and be tired of seeing them. But she was in that happy
condition between these two extremes, she was exhilarated
and at the same time she was sufficiently self-possessed
to be able to look around and observe.
She noticed a group that had gathered in the left-hand
corner of the ball-room, composed of the very flower of
society. Korsunsky's wife, Lidi, a beauty in an ex-
tremely low-cut corsage, was there ; the mistress of the
mansion was there ; there shone Krivin's bald head,
always to be seen where the flower of society was
gathered. Young men were looking at this group, and
not venturing to join it. Then her eyes fell on Stiva,
who was also there, and then she saw Anna's elegant
figure dressed in black velvet. And //<? was there.
Kitty had not seen him since the evening when she
refused Levin. Kitty's keen eyes instantly recognized
him across the room, and saw that he was looking at
her.
"Shall we have one more turn ? You are not fatigued ? "
asked Korsunsky, slightly out of breath,
" No, thank you."
" Where shall I leave you ? "
" I think Madame Karenina is here ; .... take me to
her."
lOft ANNA KARENINA
"Anywhere that you please."
And Korsunsky, still waltzing with Kitty but with a
slower step, made his way toward the group on the left,
saying as he went, " Pardon, mesdames ; pardon, pardon,
mesdames ;'' and steering skilfully through the sea of
laces, tulle, and ribbons, without catching a feather, placed
her in a chair after a final turn, which gave a glimpse of
her slender ankles in dainty blue stockings, while her
train spread out like a fan and covered Krivin's knees.
Korsunsky bowed, then straightened himself up, and
offered Kitty his arm to conduct herto Anna Arkadyevna.
Kitty, blushing a, little, fi^eil^ Krivin from the folds of
her train, and, just a trifle- dizzy, looked around in search
of Anna7 Anna was n©t dressed in violet, as Kitty had
hoped, but in a low-cut black velvet gown, which showed
her plump shoulders and bosom smooth as ivory, her
beautiful round arms, and her delicate slender wrists.
Her robe was adorned with Venetian guipure ; on her
head, gracefully set on her^rk locks, was a little gar-
land of heartsease ^ ; and a similar IJouquet was fastened
in her black ribbon-belt in the midst of white lace. Her
hair, which was all her own, was dressed very simply ;
there was nothing remarkable about it except the abun-
dance of little natural curls, which strayed in fascinating
disorder about her neck and temples. She wore a string
of pearls about her firm round throat.
Kitty had seen Anna every day, and had fallen in
love with her ; but now that she saw her dressed in
black, instead of the violet which she had expected, she
was conscious that she had never before appreciated
her full beauty. She saw her in a new and unexpected
light. Now she realized that violet would not have been
becoming to her, and that her charm consisted entirely
in her independence of toilet ; that her toilet was only
an accessory, and her black gown with the magnificent
laces was only an accessory, was only a frame for her,
and nothing else was to be thought of but herself in all
her simplicity, naturalness, elegance, and at the same
time her gayety and animation.
J Viola tricolor, called in Russian anyutini gldzki, or Anna's eyes.
ANNA KARENINA 103
When Kitty joined her she was standing in her usual
erect attitude, talking with the master of the house, her
head slightly bent toward him.
" No, I would not cast the first stone, though I don't
understand about it," she was saying to him, slightly
shrugging her shoulders ; and then, perceiving Kitty,
she turned to her with an affectionate and reassuring
smile. With a woman's quick intuition she saw all the
beauty of the young girl's toilet, and gave her an appre-
ciative nod, which Kitty understood.
"You even dance into the ball-room," she said.
" She is the most faithful of my aids," said Korsunsky,
addressing Anna Arkadyevna, whom he had not as yet
seen. " The princess helps to make any ball-room gay
and delightful. Anna Arkadyevna, will you take a
turn } " he asked, with a bow.
" Ah ! you are acquainted ? " said the host.
" Who is it we don't know ? My wife and I are like
white wolves, — everybody knows us," replied Korsun-
sky. " A little waltz, Anna Arkadyevna .'' "
"I don't dance when I can help it," she replied.
" But you can't help it to-night," said Korsunsky. At
this moment Vronsky joined them.
" Well ! if I can't help dancing, let us dance," said
she, placing her hand on Korsunsky's shoulder, and not
replying to Vronsky's salutation.
" Why is she vexed with him .■' " thought Kitty, notic-
ing that Anna purposely paid no attention to Vronsky's
bow. Vronsky joined Kitty, reminded her that she was
engaged to him for the first quadrille, and expressed
regret that he had not seen her for so long. Kitty,
while she was looking with admiration at Anna as she
waltzed, listened to Vronsky. She expected that he
woald invite her; but he did nothing of the sort, and
she looked at him with astonishment. A flush came
into his face, and he hastily suggested that they should
waltz ; but he had scarcely put his arm around her
slender waist and taken the first step, when suddenly
the music stopped. Kitty looked into his face, which
was close to her own, and for many a long day, even
I04 ANNA KARENINA
after years had passed, the loving look which she gave
him and which he did not return tore her heart with
cruel shame.
** Pardon ! pardon ! A waltz! a waltz!" cried Kor-
sunsky at the other end of the ball-room, and, seizing
the first young lady at hand, he began once more to
dance.
CHAPTER XXIII
Vronsky took a few turns with Kitty, then she joined
her mother ; but she had time for only a few words with
the Countess Nordstone, ere Vronsky came back to get
her for the first quadrille. During the quadrille nothing
of importance was said : their conversation was first on
Korsunsky and his wife, whom Vronsky described very
amusingly as amiable children of forty years, then on
some private theatricals ; and only once did his words
give her a keen pang, — when he asked if Levin were
there, and added that he liked him very much.
But Kitty counted little on the quadrille : she waited
for the mazurka with a violent beating of the heart.
She had a feeling that during the mazurka all would
surely be settled. The fact that Vronsky did not ask
her during the quadrille did not disturb her. She felt
sure that she should be selected as his partner for the
mazurka as in all preceding balls, and she refused five
invitations, saying that she was engaged.
This whole ball, even to the last quadrille, seemed to
Kitty like a magical dream, full of flowers, of joyous
sounds, of movement ; she did not cease to dance until
her strength began to fail, and then she begged to rest
a moment. But in dancing the last quadrille with one
of those tiresome men whom she found it impossible to
refuse, she found herself in the same set with Vronsky
and Anna. Kitty had not fallen in with Anna since the
beginning of the ball, and now again she suddenly saw
her in another new and unexpected light. She seemed
laboring under an excitement such as Kitty herself had
experienced — that of success. She saw that Anna
ANNA KARENINA 105
was excited and intoxicated with the wine of admiration.
Kitty knew the sensation, knew the symptoms and
recognized them in Anna^ — she saw the feverish brill-
iancy of her, and the smile of happiness and excitement
involuntarily parting her lips, and the harmony, precis-
ion, and grace of her movements.
" Who has caused it ? " she asked herself, " All, or
one > "
She would not help her tormented partner in the
conversation, the thread of which he had dropped and
could not pick up again ; and though she submitted
with apparent good grace to the loud orders of Kor-
sunsky, shouting "Ladies' chain" and "All hands
around," she watched her closely, and her heart op-
pressed her more and more.
" No, it is not the approval of the crowd that has so
intoxicated her, but the admiration of the one. And
that one.? — Can it be /lef"
Every time Vronsky spoke to Anna, her eyes spar-
kled with pleasure, and a smile of happiness parted her
rosy lips. She seemed to make an effort not to exhibit
any signs of this joy, but nevertheless happiness was
painted on her face.
" Can it be /le f " thought Kitty.
She looked at him, and was horror-struck. The senti-
ments that were reflected on Anna's face as in a mirror
were also visible on his. Where were his coolness, his
calm dignity, the repose which always marked his face .-'
Now, as he addressed his partner, his head bent as
if he were ready to worship her, and his look ex-
pressed at once humility and passion, as if it said, ' J
tvould not offejid you. I wonld save myself, and how
can /.?'
Such was the expression of his face, and she had
never before seen it in him.
They talked about their mutual acquaintances, their
conversation was made up of trifles, and yet Kitty felt
that every word they spoke decided her fate. Strange
as it might seem, although they really remarked how
ridiculous Ivan Ivanuitch was in his efforts to speak
,iq6 anna KARENINA
French, and how Miss Fletskaya might have found a
better match, nevertheless these words had for them a
peculiar meaning, and they understood it just as well as
Kitty did.
In Kitty's mind, the whole ball, the whole evening,
everything, seemed enveloped in mist. Only the stern
school of her education, serving her well, sustained her,
and enabled her to do what was required of her, that is
to say, to dance, to answer questions, to talk, even to
smile.
But even before the mazurka began, while they were
arranging the chairs and a few couples were already
starting to go from the smaller rooms into the great
ball-room, a sudden attack of despair and terror seized
her. She had refused five invitations, and. now she had
no partner ; and now there was no hope at all that she
would be invited again, for the very reason that her
social success would make it unlikely to occur to any
one that she would be without a partner. She would
have to tell her mother that she was not feeling well,
and go home, but even this seemed impossible. She
felt overwhelmed.
She went into the farthest end of a small parlor, and
threw herself into an arm-chair. The airy skirts of her
robe enveloped her delicate figure as in a cloud. One
bare arm, as yet a little thin, but pretty, fell without
energy, and lay in the folds of her rose-colored skirt ;
with the other she held her fan, and with quick, sharp
motions tried to cool her heated face. But while she
looked like a lovely butterfly caught amid grasses, and
ready to spread its rainbow-tinted wings, a horrible
despair oppressed her heart.
" But perhaps I am mistaken : perhaps it is not so."
And again she recalled what she had seen.
"Kitty, what does this mean.?" said the Countess
Nordstone, coming to her with noiseless steps.
Kitty's lower lip quivered ; she hastily arose.
" Kitty, are n't you dancing the mazurka ? "
" No .... no," she replied, with trembling voice, almost
in tears.
ANNA KARENINA 107
"I heard him invite her for the mazurka," said the
countess, knowing that Kitty would know whom she
meant. "She said, ' What! ai^e n' t you going to dance
ivith the Princess Shchei'batskaya?"
" Akh ! it 's all one to me," said Kitty.
No one besides herself realized her position. No one
knew that she had refused a man whom perhaps she
loved, — refused him because she preferred some one
else.
The Countess Nordstone went in search of Korsun-
sky, who was her partner for the mazurka, and sent him
to invite Kitty.
Kitty danced in the first figure, and fortunately was
not required to talk, because Korsunsky was obliged to
be ubiquitous, making his arrangements in his little king-
dom. Vronsky and Anna were sitting nearly opposite
to her : she saw them sometimes near, sometimes at a
distance, as their turn brought them into the figures ;
and as she watched them, she felt more and more cer-
tain that her unhappiness was complete. She saw that
they felt themselves alone even in the midst of the
crowded ball-room ; and on Vronsky's face, usually so
impassive and calm, she remarked that mingled expies-
sion of humility and fear, which strikes one in an intel-
ligent dog, conscious of having done wrong.
If Anna smiled, his smile replied ; if she became
thoughtful, he looked serious. An almost supernatural
power seemed to attract Kitty's gaze to Anna's face.
She was charming in her simple black velvet ; charming
were her round arms, clasped by bracelets ; charming
her firm neck, encircled with pearls ; charming her dark,
curly locks breaking from restraint ; charming the slow
and graceful movements of her small feet and hands ;
charming her lovely face, full of animation ; but in all
this charm there was something terrible and cruel.
Kitty admired her more than ever, and ever more and
more her pain increased. She felt crushed, and her face
told the story. When Vronsky passed her, in some fig-
ure of the mazurka, he hardly knew her, so much had
she changed.
xo8 ANNA KARENINA
"Lovely ball," he said, so as to say something.
"Yes," was her reply.
Toward the middle of the mazurka, in going through
a complicated figure recently •invented by Korsunsky,
Anna went to the center of the circle, and called out
two gentlemen and two ladies ; Kitty was one. As she
approached Anna, she looked at her in dismay, Anna,
half shutting her eyes, looked at her with a smile, and
pressed her hand ; then noticing that Kitty's face, reply-
ing to her smile, wore an expression of despair and
amazement, she turned from her and began to talk to
the other lady in animated tones.
. "Yes, there is some terrible, almost infernal attrac-
tion about her," said Kitty to herself.
Anna did not wish to remain to supper, but the host
insisted.
"Do stay, Anna Arkadyevna," said Korsunsky, as
she stood with her bare arm resting on the sleeve of his
coat. "Such a cotillion I have in mind ! Un bijou !''
And the master of the house, looking on with a smile,
encouraged his efforts to detain her,
" No, I cannot stay," said Anna, also smiling ; but in
spite of her smile the two men understood by the deter-
mination in her voice that she would not stay.
" No, for I have danced here in Moscow at this single
ball more than all winter in Petersburg," said she,
looking at Vronsky, who was standing near her; "one
must rest before a journey."
" And so you are really going back to-morrow .!• " he
asked.
" Yes ; I think so," replied Anna, as if surprised at
the boldness of his question. But as she said this to
him, the brilliancy of her eyes and of her smile set his
heart on fire.
Anna Arkadyevna did not stay for supper, but took
her departure.
ANNA KARENINA 109
CHAPTER XXIV
"Yes, there must be something repellent, even re-
pulsive, about me," thought Levin, as he left the Shcher-
batskys', and went on foot in search of his brother. " I
am not popular with men. They say it is pride. No,
I am not proud ; if I had been proud, I should not have
put myself in my present situation."
And he imagined himself Vronsky, happy, popular,
calm, witty, who had apparently never put himself in
such a terrible position as he was in on that evening.
" Yes, she naturally chose him, and I have no right
to complain about any one or any thing. I myself am
to blame. What right had I to think that she would
ever unite her life with mine ? Who am I ? and what
am I? A man useful to no one — a good-for-nothing."
Then the memory of his brother Nikolai' came back
to him.
" Was he not right in saying that everything in the
world was miserable and wretched ? Have we been,
and are we, just in our judgment of brother Nikolai?
Of course, from the point of view of Prokofi, who saw
him drunk and in ragged clothes, he is a miserable crea-
ture ; but I judge him differently. I know his heart,
and I know that we are alike. And I, instead of going
to find him, have been out dining, and to this reception ! "
Levin went to a street-lamp and read his brother's
address, which was written on a slip of paper, and called
an izvoshchik. All the long way he vividly recalled one
by one the well-known incidents of his brother Nikolai's
life. He remembered how at the university, and for a
year after his graduation, he had lived like a monk not-
withstanding the ridicule of his comrades, strictly de-
voted to all forms of religion, services, fasts, turning
his back on all pleasures, and especially women ; and
then how he had suddenly turned around, and fallen
into the company of people of the lowest lives, and
entered upon a course of dissipation and debauchery.
He remembered his conduct toward a lad whom he
no ANNA KARENINA
had taken from the country to bring up, and whom he
whipped so severely in a fit of anger that he narrowly
escaped being transported for mayhem. He remem-
bered his conduct toward a swindler to whom he owed
a gambling debt and in payment of it had given him his
note, and whom he had caused to be arrested on the
charge of cheating him ; this was, in fact, money that
Sergef Ivanuitch had just paid. Then he remembered
the night spent by Nikolai at the station-house on
account of a spree. He remembered the scandalous
lawsuit against his brother Sergef Ivanuitch, because
Sergei had refused to pay his share of their mother's
estate ; and finally he recalled his last adventure, when,
after he had gone to take a position at the Western fron-
tier, he was dismissed for assaulting a superior
All this was detestable, but it did not seem nearly so
odious to Levin as it would have been to those who did
not know Nikolaf, did not know his history, did not
know his heart.
Levin remembered how at the time when Nikolai' was
occupied with his devotions, his fastings, his priests, his
ecclesiastical observances, when he was seeking to curb
his passionate nature by religion, no one had aided him,
but, on the contrary, every one, even himself, had made
sport of him ; they had mocked him, nicknamed him
Noah, the monk ! Then, when he had fallen, no one
had helped him, but all had turned from him with hor-
ror and disgust. Levin felt that his brother Nikolaif at
the bottom of his heart, in spite of all the deformity of
his life, was not so very much worse than those who
despised him. He was not to blame for having been
born with his unrestrainable character and his peculi-
arities of intellect. He had always had good impulses.
" I will tell him everything, and I will make him tell
me everything, and show him that I love him and there-
fore understand him," said Levin to himself, and about
eleven o'clock in the evening he bade the driver take
him to the hotel indicated on the address.
"Upstairs, No. 12 and 13, "-said the Swiss, in reply to
Levin's question.
ANNA KARENINA iii
•' Is he at home ? "
"Probably."
The door of No. 12 was half open, and from the room
came the dense fumes of cheap, poor tobacco, and a
voice unknown to Levin was heard speaking ; but Levin
instantly knew his brother was there ; he recognized
his cough.
When he reached the door, the unknown voice was
saying : —
"All depends on whether the affair is conducted in a
proper and rational manner."
Konstantin Levin glanced through the doorway, and
saw that the speaker was a young man, in a peasant's
sleeveless coat, and with an enormous mop of hair on
his head. On the divan was sitting a young woman,
with pock-marked face, and dressed in a woolen gown
without collar or cuffs. His brother was not to be seen,
A pain shot through Konstantin's heart to think of the
strange people with whom his brother associated. No
one heard him ; and, while he was removing his galoshes,
he listened to what the man in the sleeveless coat was
saying. He was speaking of some enterprise.
" Well ! the Devil take the privileged classes ! " said
his brother's voice, after a fit of coughing. " Masha,
see if you can't get us something to eat, and bring some
wine if there 's any left ; if not, go for some."
The woman arose, and as she came out from behind
the screen she saw Konstantin.
" A gentleman here, Nikolai" Dmitritch," she cried.
"What is wanted?" said the voice of Nikolaf Levin,
angrily.
"It's I," replied Konstantin, appearing at the door.
"Who's /.^" repeated Nikolai's voice, still more
angrily.
Then he was heard quickly rising and stumbling
against something, and Konstantin saw before him at
the door his brother's well-known figure, still remark-
able by reason of his shyness and ill health — infirm,
tall, thin, and bent, with great startled eyes.
He was still thinner than when Konstantin had last
jia ANNA KARENINA
seen him, three years before. He wore a short over-
coat. His hands and his bony frame seemed to him
more colossal than ever. His hair had grown thinner,
but the same stiff mustaches hid his lips, the same eyes
glared at his visitor uncannily and naively.
" Ah, Kostia ! " he suddenly cried, recognizing his
brother, and his eyes shone with joy. But the same
instant he fixed his eyes on the younger man, and made
a quick, convulsive motion of his head and neck, as if
his cravat choked him, a gesture well known to Kon-
stantin ; and an entirely different expression, wild, and
bitter, and expressive of martyrdom, came into his
sunken face.
" I wrote both to you and to Sergei" Ivanuitch that I
do not know you, nor wish to know you. What do you
want ; what does either of you want .-' "
He was not at all as Konstantin had imagined him.
The hardest and vilest elements of his character, which
had made any relations with him difficult, had faded
from Konstantin Levin's memory whenever he thought
about him ; and now, when he saw his face and the
characteristic convulsive motions of his head, he remem-
bered it all.
" But I wanted nothing of you except to see you," he
replied timidly. ** I only came to see you."
His brother's diffidence apparently disarmed Nikolai.
His lips relaxed.
" Ah ! did you .-' " said he. " Well ! come in, sit down.
Do you want some supper ? Masha, bring enough for
three. No, hold on 1 Do you know who this is .'' " he
asked his brother, pointing to the young man in the
peasant's coat. "This gentleman is Mr. Kritsky, a
friend of mine from Kief, a very remarkable man. It
seems the police are after him, because he is not a
coward."
And he looked, as his habit was, at all who were in
the room. Then, seeing that the woman, who stood at
the door, was about to leave, he shouted : —
"Wait, I tell you."
Then, in his extravagant, incoherent manner of
ANNA KARENINA 113
speech, which Konstantin knew so well, he began to
tell his brother the whole story of Kritsky's life ; how
he had been driven from the university, because he had
tried to found an aid society and Sunday-schools among
the students ; how afterwards he had been appointed
teacher in one of the public schools, only to be dis-
missed ; and how finally he had been tried for something
or other.
"Were you at the University of Kief?" asked Kon-
stantin of Kritsky, in order to break the awkward silence
that followed.
" Yes, I was at Kief," replied Kritsky, curtly, with a
frown.
" And this woman," cried Nikolai' Levin, pointing to
the girl, "is the companion of my life, Marya Niko-
layevna. I took her from a house," — he said, stretch-
ing out his neck, — " but I love her, and I esteem her ;
and all who want to know me," he added, raising his
voice and scowling, " must love her and esteem her.
She is just the same as my wife, just the same. So
now you know with whom you have to do. And if you
think that you lower yourself, there 's the door ! " ^ And
again his eyes looked at them all questioningly.
"I do not understand how I should lower myself."
" All right, Masha, bring us up enough for three, —
some vodka and wine No, wait ; .... no matter, though ;
....go!"
CHAPTER XXV
"As you see," continued NikolaT Levin, frowning, and
speaking with effort. It was evidently hard for him to
make up his mind what to do or say. "But do you
see .^" ....and he pointed to the corner of the room,
where lay some iron bars attached to straps. " Do you
see that } That is the beginning of a new work which
^ He quotes the riming phrase : Tai vot Bog a vot forog (or, vot tebyt
Bog, a vot tebye porog) which expanded may mean, "Stay if you like and
God be with you, but yonder is the threshold ! "
VOL. I. — 8
114 ANNA KARENINA
we are undertaking. This work belongs to a productive
labor association." ....
Konstantin scarcely listened : he was looking at his
brother's sick, consumptive face, and he grew more and
more sorry for him, and he could not compel himself to
listen to what his brother was saying about the labor
association. He saw that the labor association was only
an anchor of safety to keep him from absolute self-
abasement. Nikolai' went on to say : —
" You know that capital is crushing the laborer : with
us the laboring classes, the muzhiks, bear the whole
weight of toil ; and no matter how they exert them-
selves, they can never get above their cattle-like condi-
tion. All the profits created by their productive labor,
by which they could better their lot and procure for them-
selves leisure, and therefore instruction, all their super-
fluous profits are swallowed up by the capitalists. And
society is so constituted that, the harder they work, the
more the proprietors and the merchants fatten at their
expense, while they remain beasts of burden still. And
this order of things must be changed," said he, in con-
clusion, and looked questioningly at his brother.
" Yes, of course," replied Konstantin, looking at the
pink spots which burned in his brother's hollow cheeks.
"And now we are organizing an artel of locksmiths
where all will be in common, — work, profits, and even
the tools."
" Where will this artel be situated } " asked Kon-
stantin.
"In the village of Vozdremo, government of Kazan."
" Yes ; but why in a village ? In the villages, it seems
to me, there is plenty of work : why associated lock-
smiths in a village .-• "
"Because the muzhiks are serfs, just as much as they
ever were, and you and Sergef Ivanuitch don't like it
because we want to free them from this slavery," replied
Nikolaif, vexed by his brother's question.
While he spoke, Konstantin was looking about the
melancholy, dirty room ; he sighed, and his sigh seemed
to make Nikolai' still more angry.
ANNA KARENINA 115
** I know the aristocratic prejudices of such men as
you and Sergef Ivanuitch. I know that he is spending
all the strength of his mind in defense of the evils that
crush us."
" No ! but why do you speak of Sergef Ivanuitch ? "
asked Levin, smiling.
" Sergei Ivanuitch } This is why ! " cried NikolaY, at
the mention of Sergef Ivanuitch — " this is why ! ....
yet what is the good .-* tell me this — what did you come
here for ? You despise all this ; very good ! Go away,
for God's sake," he cried, rising from his chair, — " go
away ! go away ! "
" I don't despise anything," said Konstantin, gently ;
" I only refrain from discussing."
At this moment Marya Nikolayevna came in. Niko-
laY looked at her angrily, but she quickly stepped up to
him and whispered a few words in his ear.
"I am not well, I easily become irritable," he ex-
plained, growing calmer, and breathing with difificulty,
"and you just spoke to me about Sergei Ivanuitch and
his article. It is so rubbishy, so idle, so full of error.
How can a man, who knows nothing about justice,
write about it } Have you read his article } " said he,
turning to Kritsky, and then, going to the table, he
brushed off the half-rolled cigarettes so as to clear away
a little space.
" I have not read it," replied Kritsky, gloomily, evi-
dently not wishing to take part in the conversation.
" Why .'' " cried Nikolai', irritably, still addressing
Kritsky.
" Because I don't consider it necessary to waste my
time on it."
" That is, excuse me — how do you know that it would
be a waste of time ? For many people this article is
inaccessible, because it is above them. But I find i'.
different ; I sec the thoughts through and through, and
know wherein it is weak."
No one replied. Kritsky slowly arose, and took his hat
"Won't you take some lunch .^ Well, good-by !
Come to-morrow with the locksmith."
ii6 ANNA KARENINA
Kritsky had hardly left the room, when Nikolai smiled
and winked.
" He is to be pitied ; but I see .... "
Just at that instant Kritsky, calling at the door, inter-
rupted him.
" What do you want ? " he asked, joining him in the
corridor.
Left alone with Marya Nikolayevna, Levin said to
her : —
"Have you been long with my brother.-'"
"This is the second year. His health has become
very feeble ; he drinks a great deal," she said.
"What do you mean .-' "
" He drinks vodka, and it is bad for him."
" Does he drink too much ? "
"Yes," said she, looking timidly toward the door
where Nikolai Levin was just entering.
" What were you talking about y he demanded, with
a scowl, and looking from one to the other with angry
eyes. "Tell me."
" Oh ! nothing," replied Konstantin, in confusion.
" You don't want to answer .-* all right ! don't. But
you have no business to be talking with her ; she is a
girl, you a gentleman," he shouted, craning out his neck.
"I see that you have understood everything, and judged
everything, and that you look with grief on the errors
of my ways."
He went on speaking, raising his voice.
" Nikolaf Dmitritch ! Nikolai' Dmitritch ! " whispered
Marya Nikolayevna, coming close to him.
"Well! very good, very good Supper, then? ah!
here it is," he said, seeing a servant entering with a
platter.
" Here ! put it here ! " he said crossly ; then, taking
the vodka, he poured out a glass, and drank it eagerly.
" Will you have a drink ? " he asked his brother, im-
mediately growing lively.
" Well ! no more about Sergei Ivanuitch 1 I am very
glad to see you. No matter what people say, we are no
longer strangers. Come now I drink ! Tell me what
ANNA KARENINA 117
you are doing," he said, greedily munching a piece of
bread, and pouring out a second glass. " How are you
living ? "
" I live alone in the country, as I always have, and
busy myself with farming," replied Konstantin, looking
with terror at the eagerness with which his brother ate
and drank, and trying to hide his impressions.
" Why don't you get married .-' "
" I have not come to that yet," replied Konstantin,
turning red.
"Why so.'* For me — it's all over! I have wasted
my life ! This I have said, and always shall say, that,
if they had given me my share of the estate when I
needed it, my whole life v/ould have been different."
Konstantin hastened to change the conversation.
" Did you know that your Vanyuskka ^ is with me at
Pokrovskoye as book-keeper } " he said.
Nikola'f craned out his neck and wondered.
" Yes, tell me what is doing at Pokrovskoye. Is the
house just the same .'' and the birch trees and our study-
room .-• Is Filipp, the gardener, still alive .'' How I re-
member the summer-house and the divan! .... Just look
here I don't let anything in the house be changed, but
hurry up and get married and begin to live as you used
to. Then I will come to visit you if your wife will be
kind."
"Then come back with me now," said Konstantin.
" How well we should get on together ! "
" I would come if I knew I should not meet Sergei
Ivanuitch."
" You would not meet him ; I live absolutely indepen-
dent of him."
" Yes ; but, whatever you say, you must choose be-
tween him and me," said Nikolai", looking timorously in
his brother's eyes.
This timidity touched Konstantin.
" If you want to hear my whole confession as to this
matter, I will tell you that I take sides neither with you
nor with him in your quarrel. You are both in the
1 Vanyushka is the diminutive of Ivan, as Jack is of John,
ii8 ANNA KARENINA
wrong ; but in your case the wrong is external, while in
his the wrong is inward."
" Ha, ha ! Do you understand it ? do you understand
it ? " cried Nikolai', with an expression of joy.
"But if you would like to know, personally I value
your friendship higher because...."
"Why? why.?"
Konstantin could not say that it was because Nikolai
was wretched, and needed his friendship; but Nikolaf
understood that that was the very thing he meant, and,
frowning darkly, he betook himself to the vodka.
" Enough, Nikolai" Dmitritch ! " cried Marya Nikola-
yevna, laying her great pudgy hand pn the decanter.
" Let me alone ! don't bother me, or I '11 strike you,"
he cried.
Marya Nikolayevna smiled with her gentle and good-
natured smile, which pacified Nikolai", and she took the
vodka.
"There ! Do you think that she does not understand
things.''" said Nikola"i". "She understands this thing
better than all of you. Is n't there something about her
good and gentle .'' "
" Have n't you ever been in Moscow before ? " said
Konstantin, in order to say something to her.
" There now, don't say via [you] to her. It frightens
her. No one said vui to her except the justice of the
peace, when they had her up because she wanted to
escape from the house of ill-fame where she was. My
God ! how senseless everything is in this world ! " he
suddenly exclaimed. "These new institutions, these
justices of the peace, the zemstro, what abominations!"
And he began to relate his experiences with the new
institutions.
Konstantin listened to him ; and the criticisms on the
absurdity of the new institutions, which he had himself
often expressed, now that he heard them from his
brother's lips, seemed disagreeable to him.
"We shall^understand it all in the next world," he
said jestingly.
" In the next world .-* Och ! I don't like your next
ANNA KARENINA 119
world ; I don't like it," he repeated, fixing his timid,
haggard eyes on his brother's face. " And yet it would
seem good to go from these abominations, these entan-
glements, from this unnatural state of things, from my-
self ; but I am afraid of death, horribly afraid of death ! "
He shuddered. " There ! drink s jmething ! Would you
like some champagne ? or would you rather go out some-
where ? Let 's go and see the gipsies. You know I am
very fond of gipsies and Russian songs."
His speech had begun to grow thick, and he hurried
from one subject to another. Konstantin, with Masha's
aid, persuaded him to stay at home ; and they put him
on his bed completely drunk.
Masha promised to write Konstantin in case of need,
and to persuade Nikolai Levin to come and live with his
brother.
CHAPTER XXVI
The next forenoon Levin left Moscow, and toward
evening was at home. On the journey he talked with
those near him in the train about politics, about the new
railroads ; and, just as in Moscow, he was overcome by
the chaos of conflicting opinions, self-dissatisfaction, and
a sense of shame. But when he got out at his station,
and perceived his one-eyed coachman, Ignat, with his
kaftan collar turned up; when he saw, in the dim light
that fell through the station windows, his covered sledge
and his horses with their tied-up tails, and their harness
with its rings and fringes ; when Ignat, as he was tuck-
ing in the robes, told him all the news of the village,
about the coming of the contractor, and how Pava the
cow had calved, — then it seemed to him that the chaos
resolved itself a little, and his shame and dissatisfaction
passed away. This he felt at the very sight of Ignat
and his horses ; but, as soon as he had put on his sheep-
skin tulup, which he found in the sleigh, and took his
seat in the sleigh comfortably wrapped up, and drove
off thinking what arrangement he should have to make
1^0 ANNA KARENINA
in the village, and at the same time examining the off
horse, Donskaya, which used to be his saddle-horse, a
jaded but mettlesome steed, he began to view his expe-
riences in an absolutely different light.
He felt himself again, and no longer wished to be a
different person. He only wished to be better than he
had ever been before. In the first place, he resolved
from that day forth that he would never expect extraor-
dinary joys, such as marriage had promised to bring to
him, and therefore he would never again despise the
present ; and, in the second place, he would never allow
himself to be led away by low passion, the remem-
brances of which so tortured him while he was deciding
to make his proposal. And lastly, as he thought of his
brother Nikolaf, he resolved that he would never again
forget him, but that he would keep track of him and not
let him out of sight, so that he might be in readiness to
aid him whenever the evil moment arrived, and that
seemed likely to be very soon.
Then the conversation about communism, which he
had so lightly treated with his brother, came back to
him, and made him reflect. A reform of economic con-
ditions seemed to him nonsense, but he always felt the
unfair difference between his own superfluity and the
poverty of the people, and in order that he might feel
perfectly right, he now vowed that though hitherto he
had worked hard, and lived economically, he would in
the future work still harder, and permit himself even less
luxury than ever. And all this seemed to him so easy
to accomplish that, throughout the drive from the sta-
tion, he was the subject of the pleasantest illusions.
With a hearty feeling of hope for a new and better life,
he reached home just as the clock was striking ten.
From the windows of the room occupied by his old
nurse, Agafya Mikhaflovna, who fulfilled the functions
of housekeeper, the light fell on the snow-covered walk
before his house. She was not yet asleep. Kuzma,
wakened by her> hurried down, barefooted and sleepy,
to open the door. Laska, the setter, almost knocking
Kuzma down in her desire to get ahead of him, ran to
ANNA KARENINA 121
meet her master, and jumped upon him, trying to place
her fore paws on his breast.
" You are back very soon, batyushka," said Agafya
Mikhaflovna.
" I was bored, Agafya Mikharlovna ; 't is good to go
visiting, but it 's better at home," said he. And he
went into his library.
The library slowly grew light as the candle that was
brought burnt up. The familiar details little by little
came into sight — the great antlers, the shelves lined
with books, the mirror, the stove with a hole which ought
long ago to have been repaired, the ancestral divan,
the great table, and on the table an open book, a broken
ash-tray, a note-book filled with his writing.
As he saw all these things, for a moment the doubt
arose in his mind if it would be possible to bring about
this new life which he had dreamed of during his journey.
All these signs of his past seemed to say to him, ' No,
thou shalt not leave us ! thou shalt not become another;
but thou shalt still be as thou hast always been, — with
thy doubts, thy everlasting self-dissatisfaction, thy idle
efforts at reform, thy failures, and thy perpetual striv-
ing for a happiness which will never be thine.'
But while these external objects spoke to him thus,
a different voice whispered to his soul, bidding him cease
to be a slave to his past, and declaring that a man has
every possibility within him. And, listening to this
voice, he went to one side of the room, where he found
two forty-pound dumb-bells. And he began to practise
his gymnastic exercises with them, endeavoring to bring
himself into a condition of vigor. At the door there was
a noise of steps. He hastily put down the dumb-bells.
The intendant ^ came in and said that, thanks to
God, everything was all right, but he confessed that
the buckwheat in the new drying-room had got burnt.
This provoked Levin. This new drying-room he had
himself built, and partially invented. But the inten-
dant had been entirely opposed to it, and now he an-
nounced with ill-concealed triumph that the buckwheat
^ Prikashchik,
122 ANNA KARENINA
was burnt. Levin was sure that it was because he had
neglected the precautions a hundred times suggested.
He grew angry, and reprimanded the intendant.
But there was one fortunate and important event :
Pava, his best, his most beautiful cow, which he had
bought at the cattle-show, had calved.
** Kuzma, give me my tulup. And you," said he to
the intendant, "get a lantern. I will go and see her."
The stable for the cattle was immediately behind the
house. Crossing the courtyard, where the snow was
heaf^ed under the lilac bushes, he stepped up to the
stable. As he opened the frosty door, he was met by
the warm fumes of manure, and the cows, astonished at
the unwonted light of the lantern, stirred on their fresh
straw. The light fell on the broad black back of his
piebald Holland cow. Berkut, the bull, with a ring in
his nose, tried to get to his feet, but changed his mind,
and only snorted as they passed by.
The beautiful Pava, huge as a hippopotamus, was ly-
ing near her calf, snuffing at it, and protecting it against
those who would come too close.
Levin entered the stall, examined Pava, and lifted the
calf, spotted with red and white, on its long, awkward
legs. Pava began to low with anxiety, but was re-
assured when the calf was restored to her, and began
to lick it with her rough tongue. The calf hid its nose
under its mother's side, and frisked its tail.
"Bring the light this way, Feodor, this way," said
Levin, examining the calf. " Like its mother, but its
color is like the sire's, very pretty ! long hair and
prettily spotted. Vasili Feodorovitch, is n't it a beauty.'' "
he said, turning to his intendant, forgetting, in his joy
over the new-born calf, the grief caused by the burning
of his wheat.
" Why should it be homely ? But Semyon the con-
tractor was here the day after you left. It will be
necessary to come to terms with him, Konstantin
Dmitritch," replied the intendant. " I have already
spoken to you about the machine."
This single phrase brought Levin back to all the de-
ANNA KARENINA 123
tails of his enterprise, which was great and complicated ;
and from the stable he went directly to the office, and
after a long conversation with the intendant and Semyon
the contractor, he went back to the house, and marched
straight up into the drawing-room.
CHAPTER XXVII
Levin's house was old and large, but, though he lived
there alone, he occupied and warmed the whole of it.
He knew that this was ridiculous ; he knew that it was
bad, and contrary to his new plans ; but this house was
a world in itself to him. It was a world where his father
and mother had lived and died. They had lived a life
which, for Levin, seemed the ideal of all perfection, and
which he dreamed of renewing with his own wife, with
his own family.
Levin scarcely remembered his mother. But this
remembrance was sacred ; and his future wife, as he
imagined her, was to be the counterpart of the ideally
charming and adorable woman, his mother. For him,
love for a woman could not exist outside of marriage ;
but he imagined the family relationship first, and only
afterwards the woman who would be the center of the
family. His ideas about marriage were therefore es-
sentially different from those held by the majority of
his friends, for whom it was only one of innumerable
social affairs ; for Levin it was the most important act
of his life, whereon all his happiness depended, and now
he must renounce it !
When he entered the little parlor where he always
took tea, and threw himself into his arm-chair with a
book, while Agafya Mikhailovna brought him his cup,
and sat down near the window, saying as usual, ''Well,
I'll sit down, batyushka," — then he felt, strangely
enough, that he had not renounced his day-dreams, and
that he could not live without them. Were it Kitty or
another, still it would be. He read his book, had his
mind on what he was reading, pausing occasionally to
il4 ANNA KARENINA
listen to Agafya Mikhallovna's unceasing prattle, but
his imagination was all the time filled with those varied
pictures of family happiness which hovered before him.
He felt that in the depths of his soul some change, some
modification, some crystallization, was taking place.
He listened while Agafya Mikhailovna told how Pro-
khor had forgotten God, and, instead of buying a horse
with the money which Levin had given him, had taken
it and gone on a spree, and beaten his wife almost to
death ; and while he listened he read his book, and again
caught the thread of his thoughts, awakened by his
reading. It was a book by Tyndall, on heat. He re-
membered his criticisms on Tyndall's self-satisfaction in
the cleverness of his management of his experiments
and on his lack of philosophical views, and suddenly a
happy thought crossed his mind : —
" In two years I shall have two Holland cows ; per-
haps Pava herself will still be alive, and possibly a dozen
of Berkut's daughters will have been added to the herd,
just from these three ! Splendid ! "
And again he picked up his book.
" Well ! very good : electricity and heat are one and
the same thing; but could one quantity take the place
of the other in the equations used to settle this problem.?
No. What then .-• The bond between all the forces of na-
ture is felt, like instinct When Pavas daughter grows
into a cow with red and white spots, what a herd I shall
have with those three ! Admirable ! And my wife and I
will go out with our guests to see the herd come in ; ....
and my wife will say, ' Kostia and I have brought this
calf up just like a child.' — * How can this interest you
so } ' the guests will say, ' All that interests him
interests me also.*.... But who will s/ie he?" and he
began to think of what had happened in Moscow. —
"Well! What is to be done about it .-•.... I am not to
blame. But now everything will be different. It is
foolishness to let one's past life dominate the present.
One must struggle to live better — much better."..,.
He raised his head, and sank into thought. Old
Laska, who had not yet got over her delight at her
ANNA KARENINA 125
master's return, had been barking up and down the
courtyard. She came into the room, wagging her tail,
and bringing the freshness of the open air, and thrust
her head under his hand, and begged for a caress, whin-
ing plaintively.
" She almost talks," said Agafya Mikhailovna; "she
is only a dog, but she knows just as well that her master
has come home, and is sad."
"Why sad?"
"Da! don't I see it, batyushka? It's time I knew
how to read my masters. Grew up with my masters
since they were children! No matter, batyushka; your
health is good and your conscience pure."
Levin looked at her earnestly, in astonishment that
she so divined his thoughts.
"And shall I give you some more tea?" said she;
and taking the cup, she went out.
Laska continued to nestle her head in her master's
hand. He caressed her, and then she curled herself up
around his feet, like a ring, laying her head on one of
her hind paws ; and, as a proof that all was arranged to
suit her, she opened her mouth a little, let her tongue
slip out between her aged teeth, and, with a gentle puff-
ing of her lips, gave herself up to beatific repose. Levin
followed all of her movements.
" So will I ! " he said to himself; "so will I! no mat-
ter! all will be well!"
CHAPTER XXVni
Early on the morning after the ball, Anna Arka-
dyevna sent her husband a telegram, announcing that
she was going to leave Moscow that day.
" No, I must, I must go," she said to her sister-in-law,
in explanation of her change of plan, and her tone signi-
fied that she had just remembered something that de-
manded her instant attention. " No, it would be much
better if I could go tliis morning."
Stepan Arkadyevitch did not dine at home, but he
126 ANNA KARENINA
agreed to be back at seven o'clock to escort his sister to
the train.
Kitty did not put in an appearance, but sent word
that she had a headache. Dolly and Anna dined alone
with the children and the English governess. Either
the children were fickle or they were very sensitive and
felt that Anna was not at all as she had been on the
day when they had taken so kindly to her, that she no
longer cared for them, for they suddenly ceased playing
with their aunt, seemed to lose their affection for her,
and cared very little that she was going away.
Anna spent the whole morning in making the prep-
arations for her departure. She wrote a few notes to
her Moscow acquaintances, settled her accounts, and
packed. To Dolly especially it seemed that she was not
in a happy frame of mind, but in that state of mental agi-
tation which Dolly knew from experience arose, not with-
out excellent reason, from dissatisfaction with herself.
After dinner Anna went to her room to dress, and
Dolly followed her.
" How strange you are to-day ! " said Dolly.
" I .'' Do you think so ? I am not strange, but I am
cross. This is common with me. I should like to have
a good cry. It is very silly, but it will pass away," said
Anna, speaking quickly, and hiding her blushing face in
a little bag where she was packing her toilet articles and
her handkerchiefs. Her eyes shone with tears which she
could hardly keep back. " I was so loath to come away
from Petersburg, and now I don't want to go back! "
"You came here and you did a lovely thing," said
Dolly, attentively observing her.
Anna looked at her with eyes wet with tears.
"Don't say that, Dolly. I have done nothing, and
could do nothing. I often ask myself why people say
things to spoil me. What have I done .'' What could I
do ? You found that your heart had enough love left to
forgive." ....
" Without you, God knows what would have been !
How fortunate you are, Anna!" said Dolly. "All is
serene and pure in your soul."
ANNA KARENINA 127
" Every one has a skeleton in his closet, as the Engb'sh
say."
" What skeleton have you, pray ? In you everything
is so serene."
" I have mine ! " cried Anna, suddenly ; and an unex-
pected, crafty, mocking smile hovered over her lips in
spite of her tears.
" Well ! in your case the skeleton must be a droll one,
and not grievous," replied Dolly, with a smile.
" No ; it is grievous ! Do you know why I go to-day,
and not to-morrow ">. This is a confession which weighs
me down, but I wish to make it," said Anna, decidedly,
sitting down in an arm-chair, and looking Dolly straight
in the eyes.
And to her astonishment she saw that Anna was
blushing, even to her ears, even to the dark curls that
played about the back of her neck.
" Yes ! " Anna proceeded. " Do you know why Kitty
did not come to dinner } She is jealous of me. I spoiled
.... it was through me that the ball last night was a tor-
ment and not a joy to her. But truly, truly, I was not
to blame, —or not much to blame," said she, with a
special accent on the word nemnozJiko — not much.
" Oh, how exactly you said that like Stiva ! " remarked
Dolly, laughing.
Anna was vexed.
" Oh, no ! Oh, no ! I am not like Stiva," said she,
frowning. " I have told you this simply because I do
not allow myself, for an instant, to doubt myself."
But the very moment that she said these words, she
perceived how untrue they were ; she not only doubted
herself, but she felt such emotion at the thought of
Vronsky that she took her departure sooner than she
otherwise would, so that she might not meet him again.
"Yes, Stiva told me that you danced the mazurka
with him, and that he...."
"You cannot imagine how ridiculously it turned out.
I thought only to help along the match, and suddenly it
went exactly opposite. Perhaps against my will, I ...."
She blushed, and did not finish her sentence.
128 ANNA KARENINA
" Oh ! these things are felt instantly," said Dolly,
" I should be in despair if I felt that there was any-
thing serious on his part," interrupted Anna; "but I
am convinced that all this will be quickly forgotten,
and that Kitty will not long be angry with me."
" In the lirst place, Anna, to tell the truth, I should
not be very sorry if this marriage fell through. It would
be vastly better for it to stop right here if Vronsky can
fall in love with you in a single day."
" Oh heavens ! that would be so idiotic ! " said Anna,
and again an intense blush of satisfaction overspread
her face at hearing the thought that occupied her ex-
pressed in words. " And that is why I go away, after
making an enemy of Kitty, whom I loved so dearly.
Akh ! how sweet she is ! But you will arrange that,
Dolly.? Won't you.?"
Dolly could hardly refrain from smiling. She loved
Anna, but it was pleasant to her to discover that she
also had her weaknesses.
" An enemy .? That cannot be ! "
" And I should have been so glad to have you all love
me as I love you ; but now I love you all more than
ever," said Anna, with tears in her eyes. "Akh! how
absurd I am to-day ! "
She passed her handkerchief over her eyes, and began
to get ready.
At the very moment of her departure came Stepan
Arkadyevitch with rosy, happy face, and an odor of wine
and cigars.
Anna's tender-heartedness had communicated itself
to Dolly, and, when she kissed her for the last time, she
whispered : —
" Think, Anna ! what you have done for me ! I shall
never forget. And remember that I love you, and al-
ways shall love you as my best friend ! "
" I don't understand why," replied Anna, kissing her,
and struggling with her tears.
" You have understood me, and you do understand
me. Farewell, my dearest ! " ^
* Proshchai, vioya pretest t
ANNA KARENINA 129
CHAPTER XXIX
" Well ! all is over, and thank the Lord ! " was Anna's
first thought after she had said good-by to her brother,
who had blocked up the entrance to the railway-carriage,
even after the third bell had rung. She sat down on
the divanchik next Annushka, her maid, and began to
examine the feebly lighted compartment. "Thank the
Lord ! to-morrow I shall see Serozha and Alekseif Alek-
sandrovitch, and my good and commonplace life will
begin again as of old."
With the same mental preoccupation that had pos-
sessed her all that day, Anna found a satisfaction in
attending minutely to the arrangements for the journey.
With her skilful little hands she opened her red bag,
and took out a cushion, placed it on her knees, wrapped
her feet warmly, and composed herself comfortably.
A lady, who seemed to be an invalid, had already
gone to sleep. Two other ladies entered into conversa.
tion with Anna ; and a fat, elderly dame, well wrapped
up, expressed her opinion on the temperature. Anna
exchanged a few words with the ladies, but, not taking
any interest in their conversation, asked Annushka for
her traveling-lamp, placed it on the back of her seat,
and took from her bag a paper-cutter and an English
novel. At first she could not read ; the going and com-
ing and the general bustle disturbed her ; when once
the train had started, she could not help listening to
the noises : the snow striking against the window, and
sticking to the glass ; the conductor, as he passed with
the snowflakes melting on his coat ; the remarks about
the terrible storm, — all distracted her attention.
Afterwards it became more monotonous : always the
same jolting and jarring, the same snow on the window,
the same sudden changes from warmth to cold, and back
to warmth again, the same faces in the dim light, and
the same voices. And Anna began to read, and to fol-
low what she was reading.
Annushka was already asleep, holding the little red
ijo ANNA KARENINA
bag on her knees with great, clumsy hands, clad in
gloves, one of which was torn.
Anna read, and understood what she read ; but it
was not pleasant to her to read, in other words to enter
into the lives of other people. She had too keen a
desire to live herself. If she read how the heroine of
her story took care of the sick, she would have liked
to go with noiseless steps into the sick-room. If she
read how a member of Parliament made a speech, she
would have liked to make that speech. If she read how
Lady Mary rode after the hounds, and made sport of
her sister-in-law, and astonished every one by her au-
dacity, she would have liked to do the same. But she
could do nothing ; and with her little hands she clutched
the paper-cutter, and forced herself to read calmly.
The hero of her novel had reached the summit of his
English ambition, — a baronetcy and an estate; and
Anna felt a desire to go with him to this estate, when
suddenly it seemed to her that he ought to feel a sense
of shame, and that she ought to share it. But why should
he feel ashamed } " Why should I feel ashamed } " she
asked herself with astonishment and discontent. She
closed the book, and, leaning back against the chair,
held the paper-cutter tightly in both hands.
There was nothing to be ashamed of : she reviewed
all her memories of her visit to Moscow ; they were all
pleasant and good. She remembered the ball, she
remembered Vronsky and his humble and passionate
face, she recalled all her relations with him ; there was
nothing to be ashamed of. But at the same time in
these reminiscences the sense of shame kept growing
stronger and stronger ; and it seemed to her that in-
ward voice, whenever she thought of Vronsky, seemed
to say, "Warmly, very warmly, passionately."....
"Well! what is this.^" she asked herself resolutely,
as she changed her position in the seat. "What does
this mean .-' Am I afraid to face these memories ^ Well !
what is it."* Is there, can there be, any relationship
between that boy-officer and me beyond what exists
between all acquaintances.-'"
ANNA KARENINA 131
She smiled disdainfully, and again took up her book ;
but now she really could not any longer comprehend
what she was reading. She rubbed her paper-cutter
over the pane, and then pressed its cool, smooth surface
to her cheek, and then she almost laughed out loud with
the joy that unreasonably took possession of her. She
felt her nerves grow more and more tense like the
strings on some musical instrument screwed up to the
last degree ; she felt her eyes open wider and wider,
her fingers and her toes twitched nervously, something
seemed to choke her, and all objects and sounds in the
wavering semi-darkness surprised her by their exag-
gerated proportions. She kept having moments of
doubt as to whether they were going backwards or
forwards, or if the train had come to a stop. Was it
Annushka there, sitting next her, or was it a stranger ?
" What is that on the hook .-' — my fur shuba or an
animal ? And what am I doing here ? Am I myself,
or some one else ."* "
It was terrible to her to yield to these hallucinations ;
but something kept attracting her to them and she could
by her own will either yield to them or withdraw from
them. In order to regain possession of herself, Anna
arose, took off her plaid and laid aside her pelerine of
thick cloth. For a moment she thought that she had con-
quered herself, for when a tall, thin muzhik, dressed in
a long nankeen overcoat, which lacked a button, came
in, she recognized in him the stove-tender. She saw
him look at the thermometer, and noticed how the wind
and the snow came blowing in as he opened the door ;
and then everything became confused again.
The tall peasant began to draw fantastic figures on
the wall ; the old lady seemed to stretch out her legs,
and fill the whole carriage as with a black cloud ; then
she thought she heard a terrible thumping and rapping,
a noise like something tearing ; then a red and blinding
fire flashed in her eyes, and then all vanished in dark-
ness. Anna felt as if she was falling. But this was
not at all alarming, but rather pleasant.
The voice of a man all wrapped up, and covered with
132 ANNA KARENINA
snow, shouted something in her ear. She started up,
recovered her wits, and perceived that they were ap.
proaching a station, and the man was the conductor.
She bade Annushka give her the pelerine which she had
laid aside and her handkerchief, and, having put them
on, she went to the door.
, " Do you wish to go out .-' " asked Annushka.
" Yes ; I want to get a breath of fresh air. It is very
hot here."
And she opened the door. The snow-storm and the
wind rushed in to meet her and disputed the door with
her. And this seemed to her very jolly. The storm
seemed to be waiting for her, it gayly whistled and was
eager to carry her away ; but she clung to the cold rail-
ing with one hand, and, holding her dress, she stepped
out on the platform, and left the car. The wind was
fierce on the steps, but on the platform, under the shel-
ter of the station, it was calmer, and she found a genuine
pleasure in filling her lungs with the frosty air. Stand'
ing near the car she watched the platform and the stE'
tion gleaming with lights.
CHAPTER XXX
A FURIOUS snow-storm was raging, and whistlings
among the wheels of the carriages, around the columns,
and into the corners of the station. The carriages, the
pillars, the people, everything visible, were covered on
one side with snow, and it was increasing momently.
Once in a while there would be a lull, but then again it
blew with such gusts that it seemed impossible to make
way against it. Meantime a few people were running
hither and thither, talking gayly, opening and shutting
the great doors of the station, and making the platform
planks creak under their feet. The flitting shadow of a
man passed rapidly by her feet, and she heard the blows
of a hammer falling on the iron.
" Send off the telegram," cried an angry voice on the
ANNA KARENINA 133
other side of the track in the midst of the drifting
storm.
"This way, please, No. 28," cried other voices, and
several people covered with snow hurried by. Two
gentlemen, with lighted cigarettes in their mouths,
passed near Anna. She was just about to reenter the
carriage, after getting one more breath of fresh air, and
had already taken her hand from her muff, to lay hold
of the railing, when the flickering light from the reflector
was cut off by a man in a military coat, who came close
to her. She looked up, and that instant recognized
Vronsky's face.
Raising his hand to his vizor he bowed low, and asked
if she needed anything, if he might not be of service to
her.
She looked at him for a considerable time without
replying, and although he was in the shadow, she saw,
or thought she saw, the expression of his face and even
of his eyes. It was a repetition of that respectful ad-
miration which had so impressed her on the evening
of the ball. More than once that day she had said to
herself that Vronsky, for her, was only one of the
hundred young men whom one meets in society, that
she would never permit herself to give him a second
thought ! but now, on the first instant of seeing him
again, a sensation of pride and joy seized her. She
had no need to ask why he was there. She knew, as
truly as if he had told her, that he was there so as to be
where she was.
" I did not know that you were going to Petersburg.
Why are you going .<• " said she, letting her hand fall
from the railing. A joy which she could not restrain
shone in her face.
"Why am I going .-• " he repeated, looking straight
into her eyes. "You know that I came simply for this,
— to be where you are," he said. "I could not do
otherwise."
And at this instant the wind, as if it had conquered
every obstacle, blew the snow from the roofs of the
carriages, and whirled away a piece of sheet-iron
134 ANNA KARENINA
which it had torn off, and at the same time the deep
whistle of the locomotive gave a melancholy, mournful
cry. Never had the horror of a tempest appeared to
her more beautiful than now. He had said what her
heart longed to hear but what her better judgment con-
demned. She made no reply, but he perceived by her
face how she fought against herself.
" Forgive me if what I said displeases you," he mur-
mured humbly.
He spoke respectfully, courteously, but in such a reso-
lute, decided tone, that for some time she was unable to
reply.
" What you said was wrong ; and I beg of you, if you
are a gentleman, to forget it, as I shall forget it," said
she at last.
" I shall never forget, and I shall never be able to
forget any of your words, any of your gestures .... "
" Enough, enough ! " she cried, vainly endeavoring to
give an expression of severity to her face, at which
Vronsky was passionately gazing. And grasping the
cold railing she mounted the steps, and quickly entered
the vestibule of the carriage. But she stopped in the
little vestibule, and tried to recall to her imagination
what had taken place. But though she found it impos-
sible to remember either her own words or his, she in-
stinctively felt that this brief conversation had brought
them frightfully close together, and she was at once
alarmed and delighted. After she had stood there a
few seconds, she went back into the carriage and sat
down in her place.
The nervous strain which had been tormenting her not
only returned, but became more intense, until she began
to fear every moment that something would snap her
brain. She did not sleep all night ; but in this nervous
tension, and in the fantasies which filled her imagina-
tion, there was nothing disagreeable or painful ; on the
contrary, it was joyous, burning excitement.
Toward morning, Anna dozed as she sat in her arm-
chair ; and when she awoke it was broad daylight, and
the train was approaching Petersburg. Instantly the
ANNA KARENINA 135
thought of her home, her husband, her son, and all the
labors of the day and the coming days, filled her mind.
The train had hardly reached the station at Peters-
burg, when Anna stepped out on the platform ; and the
first person that she saw was her husband waiting for
her.
" Oh, good heavens ! Why do his ears stand out so ! " /
she thought, as she looked at his reserved and portly
figure and especially at his stiff cartilaginous ears, which,
as they propped up the rim of his round hat, struck her
for the first time. When he saw her, he came to meet
her at the carriage, compressing his lips into his habitual
smile of irony, looking straight at her with his great,
weary eyes. A disagreeable thought made her heart
sink when she saw his stubborn, weary look ; she felt
that she had expected to find him different. Especially
was she astounded by the feeling of self-dissatisfaction
which she experienced on meeting him. This feeling
was associated with her home, akin to the state of hypoc-
risy which she recognized in her relations with her hus-
band. This feeling was not novel ; she had felt it before
without heeding it, but now she realized it clearly and
painfully.
"There! you see, I'm a tender husband, tender as
the first year of our marriage ; I was burning with desire
to see you," said he, in his slow, deliberate voice, and
with the light tone of raillery that he generally used in
speaking to her, a tone of ridicule of any one who
should really say such things.
" Is Serozha well ? " she asked.
" And is this all the reward," he said, "for my ardor?
He is well, very well." ....
CHAPTER XXXI
Vronsky also had not even attempted to sleep all that
night. He sat in his arm-chair, now gazing straight for-
ward, now looking at those who came in and went out,
and if before he had impressed strangers and irritated
136 ANNA KARENINA
them by his imperturbable dignity, now he would have
seemed to them far more haughty and self-contained
He looked at men as if they were things. A nervous
young man, employed in the district court, was sitting
opposite him in the carriage, and cam-e to hate him on
account of this aspect. The young man asked for a
light, and spoke to him, and even touched him, in order
to make him perceive that he was not a thing but a
man ; yet Vronsky looked at him exactly as he looked
at the carriage-lamp. And the young man made a
grimace, feeling that he should lose command of him-
self to be so scorned by a man.
Vronsky saw nothing, saw no one. He felt as if he
were a tsar, not because he believed that he had made
an impression upon Anna, — he did not fully realize
that, as yet, — but because the impression which she
had made on him filled him with happiness and pride.
What would be the outcome of all this he did not
know, and did not even consider ; but he felt that all
his hitherto dissipated and scattered powers were now
concentrating and converging with frightful rapidity
toward one beatific focus. And he was happy in
this thought. He knew only that he had told her the
truth when he said he was going where she was, that
all the happiness of life, the sole significance of life, he
found now in seeing and hearing her. And when he left
his compartment at Bologovo to get a glass of seltzer,
and he saw Anna, involuntarily his first word told her
what he thought. And he was glad that he had spoken
as he did ; glad that she knew all now, and was thinking
about it. He did not sleep all night. Returning to his
carriage he did not cease recalling all his memories of
her, the words that she had spoken, and in his imagina-
tion glowed the pictures of a possible future which over-
whelmed his heart.
When, on reaching Petersburg, he left the carriage,
after his sleepless night he felt as fresh and vigorous as
if he had just had a cold bath. He stood near his car-
riage, waiting to see her pass. " Once more I shall see
her," he said to himself, with a smile. "I shall see her
ANNA KARENINA 137
graceful bearing, her face ; she will speak a word to me,
will turn her head, will look at me, perhaps she will
smile on me."
But it was her husband whom first he saw, politely
escorted through the crowd by the station-master.
" Oh, yes ! the husband ! "
And then Vronsky for the first time clearly realized
that the husband was an important factor in Anna's life.
He knew that she had a husband, but he had not realized
his existence, and he now fully realized it only as he saw
his head and shoulders, and his legs clothed in black
trowsers, and especially when he saw this husband un-
concernedly take her hand with an air of proprietorship.
When he saw AlekseY Aleksandrovitch with his
Petersburgish-fresh face, and his solid, self-confident
figure, his round hat, and his slightly stooping shoul-
ders, he began to believe in his existence, and he expe-
rienced an unpleasant sensation such as a man tormented
by thirst might experience, who should discover a foun-
tain, but find that a dog, a sheep, or a pig has been
drinking and fouling the water.
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch's stiff and heavy gait was
exceedingly distasteful to Vronsky. He would not ac-
knowledge that any one besides himself had the right
to love Anna. But she was still the same and the sight
of her had still the same effect on him, physically kind-
ling him, stirring him, and filling his heart with joy.
He ordered his German body-servant, who came hurry-
ing up to him from the second-class carriage, to see to
the baggage and to go home ; and he himself went to
her. Thus he witnessed the first meeting between
husband and wife, and with a lover's intuition, perceived
the shade of constraint with which Anna spoke to her
husband.
" No, she does not love him, and she cannot love
him," was his mental judgment.
Even as he came up to Anna Arkadyevna from behind,
he noticed with joy that she felt him near her and
looked round, and having recognized him, she went on
talking with her husband.
ijS ANNA KARENINA
"Did yon pass a good night?" he inquired, bowing
to her and her husband and allowing Aleksei" Aleksan-
drovitch the opportunity to accept the honor of the salu-
tation and recognize him or not recognize him as it might
seem good to him.
" Thank you, very good," she replied.
Her face expressed weariness, lacked that spark of
animation which was generally hovering now in her
eyes, now in her smile ; but, for a single instant, at the
sight of Vronsky, something flashed into her eyes, and,
notwithstanding the fact that the fire instantly died
away, he was overjoyed even at this. She raised her
eyes to her husband, to see whether he knew Vronsky.
AlekseY Aleksandrovitch looked at him with displeasure,
vaguely remembering who he was. Vronsky's calm
self-assurance struck upon Aleksef Aleksandrovitch's
cool superciliousness as a scythe strikes a rock.
" Count Vronsky," said Anna.
" Ah ! We have met before, it seems to me," said
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch with indifference, extending
his hand. " Went with the mother, and came home
with the son," said he, speaking with precision, as if
his words were worth a ruble apiece. " I presume you
are returning from a furlough .-" " And without waiting
for an answer, he turned to his wife, in his ironical tone,
" Did they shed many tears in Moscow on your leaving
them .-• "
By thus addressing his wife he intended to give
Vronsky to understand that he desired to be left alone,
and again bowing to him he touched his hat ; but Vron-
sky had one more word to say to Anna.
" I hope to have the honor of calling on you," said
he.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, with weary eyes, looked at
Vronsky,
"Very happy," he said coldly; "we receive on Mon-
days."
Then, leaving Vronsky entirely, he said to his wife,
still in a jesting tone : —
" And how fortunate that I happened to have a spare
ANNA KARENINA 139
half-hour to come to meet you, and show you my affec-
tion."
"You emphasize your affection too much for me to
appreciate it," she replied, in the same spirit of raillery,
involuntarily listening to Vronsky's steps behind them.
" But what is that to me .-' " she asked herself in thought.
Then she began to ask her husband how Serozha had
got along during her absence.
" Oh ! excellently. Mariette says that he has been
very good, and ....I am sorry to mortify you .... he did
not seem to miss you — not so much as your husband
did. But again, merci, my dear, that you came a day
earlier, . Our dear Samovar will be delighted."
He called the celebrated Countess Lidya Ivanovna
by the nickname of the Satnovar, because, like a tea-
urn, she was always and everywhere bubbling and boil-
ing. " She has kept asking after you ; and do you
know, if I make bold to advise you, you would do well
to go to see her to-day. You see, her heart is always
sore about something. At present, besides her usual
cares, she is greatly concerned about the reconciliation
of the Oblonskys."
The Countess Lidya Ivanovna was a friend of Anna's
husband, and the center of a certain clique in Peters-
burg society, to which Anna on her husband's account,
rather than for any other reason, belonged.
" Yes ! But did n't I write her > "
" She must have all the details. Go to her, my love,
if you are not too tired. Well ! Kondratu will call
your carriage, and I am going to a committee-meeting.
I shall not have to dine alone to-day," continued Aleksei
Aleksandrovitch, not in jest this time, "You cannot
imagine how used I am to.,., "
And with a peculiar smile, giving her a long pressure
of the hand, he conducted her to the carriage.
I40 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XXXII
The first person to meet Anna when she reached
home was her son. He darted down-stairs, in spite of
his governess's reproof, and with wild deUght cried,
" Mamma ! mamma ! " Rushing up to her he threw
his arms round her neck.
" I told you it was mamma ! " he shouted to the gov-
erness. " I knew it was ! "
But the son, no less than the husband, awakened in
Anna a feeling like disillusion. She imagined him bet-
ter than he was in reality. She was obliged to descend
to the reality in order to look on him as he was. But in
fact, he was lovely, with his fair curls, his blue eyes, and
his pretty plump legs in their neatly fitting stockings.
She felt an almost physical satisfaction in feeling him
near her, and in his caresses, and a moral calm in looking
into his tender, confiding, loving eyes, and in hearing
his innocent questions. She unpacked the gifts sent
him by Dolly's children, and told him how there was
a little girl in Moscow, named Tanya, and how this
Tanya knew how to read, and was teaching the other
children to read.
" Am I not as good as she } " asked Serozha.
" Eor me, you are worth all the rest of the world."
" I know it," said Serozha, smiling.
Anna had not finished drinking her coffee, when the
Countess Lidya Ivanovna was announced. The Coun-
tess Lidya Ivanovna was a tall, stout woman, with an
unhealthy, sallow complexion, and handsome, dreamy
black eyes. Anna liked her, but to-day, as if for the
first time, she saw her with all her faults.
" Well ! my dear, did you carry the olive-branch .'' "
demanded the Countess Lidya Ivanovna, as she entered
the room.
"Yes, it is all made up," replied Anna; "but it was
not so bad as we thought. As a general thing, my
sister-in-law is too peremptory."
But the Countess Lidya, who was interested in every-
ANNA KARENINA 141
thing that did not specially concern herself, had the habit
of sometimes not heeding what did interest her. She
interrupted Anna : —
"Well! This world is full of woes and tribulations,
and I am all worn out to-day."
" What is it ? " asked Anna, striving to repress a
smile.
" I am beginning to weary of the ineffectual attempts
to get at the truth, and sometimes I am utterly discour-
aged. The work of the Little Sisters " — this was a phil-
anthropic and religiously patriotic institution — " used
to get along splendidly, but there is nothing to be done
with these men," added the Countess Lidya Ivanovna,
with an air of ironical resignation to fate. " They got
hold of the idea, they mutilated it, and then they judge
it so meanly, so wretchedly. Two or three men, your
husband among them, understand all the significance of
this work ; but the others only discredit it. Yesterday
I had a letter from Pravdin .... "
Pravdin was a famous Panslavist, who lived abroad,
and the Countess Lidya Ivanovna related what he had
said in his letter.
Then she went on to describe the troubles and snares
that blocked the work of uniting the churches, and
finally departed in haste, because it was the day for her
to be present at the meeting of some society or other,
and at the sitting of the Slavonic Committee.
"All this is just as it has been, but why did I never
notice it before ? " said Anna to herself. " Was she very
irritable to-day .-• But at any rate, it is ridiculous : her
aims are charitable, she is a Christian, and yet she is
angry with every one, and every one is her enemy ; and
yet all h6r enemies are working for Christianity and
charity."
After the departure of the Countess Lidya Ivanovna,
came a friend, the wife of a director, who told her all
the news of the city. At three o'clock she went out,
promising to be back in time for dinner. Alekseif Alek-
sandrovitch was at the meeting of the ministry. The
hour before dinner, which Anna spent alone, she em-
142 ANNA KARENINA
ployed sitting with her son, — who had his dinner by
himself, — in arranging her things, and in reading and
answering the letters and notes heaped up on her writ-
ing-table.
The sensation of causeless shame, and the agitation
from which she had suffered so strangely during her
journey, now completely disappeared. Under the con-
ditions of her ordinary every-day life, she felt calm, and
free from reproach, and she was filled with wonder as
she recalled her condition of the night before.
" What was it ? Nothing. Vronsky said a foolish
thing ; it is easy to put an end to such nonsense, and I
answered him exactly right. To speak of it to my hus-
band is unnecessary and impossible. To speak about
it would seem to attach importance to what has none."
And she recalled how, when a young subordinate of
her husband's in Petersburg had almost made her a
declaration and she had told him about it, Aleksef Alek-
sandrovitch answered that as she went into society, she,
like all society women, might expect such experiences,
but that he had perfect confidence in her tact, and never
would permit himself to humiliate her or him by jealousy.
" Why tell, then ? Besides, thank God, there is nothing
to tell."
CHAPTER XXXIII
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch returned from the min-
istry about four o'clock ; but, as often happened, he
found no time to speak to Anna. He went directly to
his private room to give audience to some petitioners
who were waiting for him, and to sign some papers
brought him by his chief secretary.
The Karenins always had at least three visitors to
dine with them ; and that day there came an old lady,
a cousin of Aleksef Aleksandrovitch's, a department di-
rector with his wife, and a young man recommended to
AlekseY Aleksandrovitch for employment. Anna came
to the drawing-room to receive them at five o'clock pre-
ANNA KARENINA 143
cisely. The great bronze clock, of the time of Peter the
Great, had not yet finished its fifth stroke, when Aleksel
Aleksandrovitch, in white cravat, and with two decora-
tions on his dress-coat, left his dressing-room ; he had
an engagement immediately after dinner. Every mo-
ment of Alekse'i" Aleksandrovitch's life was counted and
occupied ; and in order to accomplish what he had to do
every day, he was forced to use the strictest punctuality.
"Without haste, and without rest," was his motto. He
entered the dining-room, bowed to his guests, and, giv-
ing his wife a smile, hastily sat down.
"Yes, my solitude is over! You can't believe how
irksome," — he laid a special stress on the word nelovko,
irksome, — " it is to dine alone ! "
During the dinner he talked with his wife about mat-
ters in Moscow, and, with his mocking smile, inquired
especially about Stepan Arkadyevitch ; but the conver-
sation dwelt for the most part on common subjects,
about official and social matters in Petersburg. After
dinner he spent a half-hour with his guests, and then,
giving his wife another smile, and pressing her hand, he
left the room and went to the council.
Anna did not go out that evening either to the Prin-
cess Betsy Tverskaya's, who, having heard of her arri-
val, had sent her an invitation ; or to the theater, where
she just now had a box. She did not go out principally
because the gown on which she had counted was not
finished. After the departure of her guests, Anna took
a general survey of her wardrobe, and was very angry.
She was extremely clever in dressing at small expense,
and just before she went to Moscow she had given
three gowns to her dressmaker to make over. These
gowns required to be made over in such a way that no
one would recognize them, and they should have been
ready three days before. Two of the gowns proved
to be absolutely unfinished, and one was not made over
in a way which Anna liked. The dressmaker sought
to explain what she had done, declaring that her way
was best ; and Anna reprimanded her so severely that
afterwards she felt ashamed of herself. To calm her
144 ANNA KARENINA
agitation, she went to the nursery, and spent the whole
evening with her son, put him to bed herself, made the
sign of the cross over him, and tucked the quilt about
him. She was glad that she had not gone out, and
that she had spent such a happy evening. It was so
quiet and restful, and now she saw clearly that all that
had seemed so important during her railway journey
was only one of the ordinary insignificant events of
social life, — that she had nothing of which to be
ashamed, either in her own eyes, or in the eyes of
others. She sat down in front of the fireplace with her
English novel, and waited for her husband. At half-
past ten exactly his ring was heard at the door, and he
.came into the room.
" Here you are, at last," she said, giving him her
hand. He kissed her hand, and sat down near her.
" Your journey, I see, was on the whole very success-
ful," said he.
"Yes, very," she replied; and she began to relate all
the details from the beginning — her journey with the
Countess Vronskaya, her arrival, the accident at the
station, the pity which she had felt, first for her brother,
and afterwards for Dolly.
" I do not see how it is possible to pardon such a
man, even though he is your brother," said Aleksel
Aleksandrovitch, severely.
Anna smiled. She appreciated that he said this to
show that not even kinship could bend him from the
strictness of his honest judgment. She knew this trait
in her husband's character, and liked it.
" I am glad that all ended so satisfactorily, and that
you have come home again," he continued, " Well !
what do they say there about the new measures that
I introduced in the council .■• "
Anna had heard nothing said about this new measure,
and she was confused because she had so easily forgotten
something which to him was so important.
" Here, on the contrary, it has made a great sensa-
tion," said he, with a self-satisfied smile.
She saw that Aleksei" Aleksandrovitch wanted to tell
ANNA KARENINA 145
her something very flattering to himself about this
affair, and, by means of questions, she led him up to
the story. And he, with the same self-satisfied smile,
began to tell her of the congratulations which he had
received on account of this measure, which had been
passed.
" I was very, very glad. This proves that at last
reasonable and serious views about this question are
beginning to be formed among us."
After he had taken his second glass of tea, with cream
and bread, Aleksei" Aleksandrovitch arose to go to his
library.
" But you did not go out ; was it very tiresome for
you }" he said.
" Oh, no ! " she replied, rising with her husband, and
going with him through the hall to the library.
" What are you reading now ? " she asked. d
"Just now I am reading the Due de Lille — Po/sie
des enfers'' he replied, "a very remarkable book."
Anna smiled, as one smiles at the weaknesses of those
we love, and, passing her arm through her husband's,
accompanied him to the library door. She knew that
his habit of reading in the evening had become inex-
orable, and that, notwithstanding his absorbing duties,
which took so much of his time at the council, he felt
it his duty to follow all that seemed remarkable in the
sphere of literature. She also knew that while he felt
a special interest in works on political economy, philoso-
phy, and religion, art was quite foreign to his nature ;
and notwithstanding this, or better, for that very reason,
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch allowed nothing that was at-
tracting attention in that field to escape his notice, but
considered it his duty to read everything. She knew
that in the province of political economy, philosophy,
religion, Aleksei" Aleksandrovitch had doubts, and tried
to solve them ; but in questions of art or poetry, par-
ticularly in music, the comprehension of which was
utterly beyond him, he had the most precise and defi-
nite opinions. He loved to talk of Shakespeare, Raphael,
and Beethoven ; of the importance of the new school
146 ANNA KARENINA
of music and poetry, — all of whom were classed by
him according to the most rigorous logic.
"Well! God be with you," she said, as they reached
the door of the library. Near her husband's arm-chair
were standing, as usual, the shade-lamp already lighted,
and a carafe with water. " And I am going to write to
Moscow."
Again he pressed her hand, and kissed it.
"Taken all in all, he is a good man ; upright, excel-
lent, remarkable in his sphere," said Anna to herself,
on her way to her room, as if she was defending him
from some one who accused him of not being lov-
able.
" But why do his ears stick out so ? Or does he cut
his hair too short .■* "
It was just midnight, and Anna was still sitting at
her writing-table finishing a letter to Dolly, when meas-
ured steps in slippers were heard ; and Aleksef Alek-
sandrovitch, who had washed his face and brushed his
hair, came in with his book under his arm.
" Late, late," said he, with his usual smile, and passed
on to his sleeping-room.
" And what right had he to look at him so .'' " thought
Anna, recalling Vronsky's expression when he saw Alek-
seif Aleksandrovitch. Having undressed, she went to
her room ; but in her face there was none of that ani-
mation that shone in her eyes and in her smile at Mos-
cow. On the contrary, the fire had either died away,
or was somewhere far away and out of sight.
CHAPTER XXXIV
On leaving Petersburg, Vronsky had installed his
beloved friend and comrade, Petritsky, in his ample
quarters on the Morskaya.
Petritsky was a young lieutenant, not particularly dis-
tinguished, and not only not rich, but over ears in debt.
Every evening he came home tipsy, and he spent much
of his time at the police courts, in search of strange
ANNA KARENINA 147
or amusing or scandalous stories ; but in spite of all
he was a favorite with his comrades and his chiefs.
About eleven o'clock in the morning, when Vronsky
reached his rooms after his journey, he saw at the en-
trance an izvoshchik's carriage, which he knew very
well. From the door, when he rang, he heard men's
laughter and the lisping of a woman's voice, and Petrit-
sky shouting : —
" If it 's any of those villains, don't let 'em in."
Vronsky, not allowing his denshchik to announce his
presence, quietly entered the anteroom. The Baroness
Shilton, a friend of Petritsky's, shining in a lilac satin
robe, and with her little pink face, was making coffee
before a round table, and, like a canary-bird, was filling
the room with her Parisian slang. Petritsky in his
overcoat, and Captain Kamerovsky in full uniform, ap-
parently just from duty, were sitting near her.
" Bravo, Vronsky ! " cried Petritsky, leaping up and
overturning the chair. " The master himself. Baron-
ess, coffee for him from the new coffee-pot ! We did
not expect you. I hope that you are pleased with the
new ornament in your library," he said, pointing to the
baroness. " You are acquainted, are n't you .-* "
" I should think so ! " said Vronsky, smiling gayly,
and squeezing the baroness's dainty little hand. " We 're
old friends."
" Are you back from a journey .-* " asked the baroness.
" Then I 'm off. Akh ! I am going this minute if I am
in the way."
"You are at home wherever you are, baroness," said
Vronsky. " How are you, Kamerovsky?" coolly shak-
ing hands with the captain.
" There now ! you would never think of saying such
lovely things as that," said the baroness to Petritsky.
" No } Why not .-' After dinner I could say better
things ! "
" Yes, after dinner there 's no more merit in them.
Well ! I will make your coffee while you go and wash
your hands and brush off the dust," said the baroness,
again sitting down, and industriously turning the screw
r48 ANNA KARENINA
of the new coffee-pot. " Pierre, bring some more coffee,"
said she to Petritsky, whom she called Pierre, after his
family name, making no concealment of her intimacy
with him. " I will add it."
" You will spoil it."
" No ! I won't spoil it. Well ! and your wife ? " said
the baroness, suddenly interrupting Vronsky's remarks
to his companions. " We have been marrying you off.
Did you bring your wife .? "
" No, baroness. I was born a Bohemian, and I shall
die a Bohemian."
" So much the better, so much the better ; give us
your hand ! "
And the baroness, without letting him go, began to
talk with him, developing her various plans of life, and
asking his advice with many jests.
" He will never be willing to let me have a divorce.
Well! what am I to do .'* [//<? was her husband.] I now
mean to institute a lawsuit. What should you think of
it } .... Kamerovsky, just watch the coffee ! It 's boiling
over You see how well I understand business ! I
mean to begin a lawsuit to get control of my fortune.
Do you understand this nonsense .-' Under the pretext
that I have been unfaithful," said she, in a scornful tone,
" he means to get possession of my estate."
Vronsky listened with amusement to this gay prattle
of the pretty woman, approved of what she said, gave
her half-jesting advice, and assumed the tone he usually
affected with women of her character. In his Peters-
burg world, humanity was divided into two absolutely
distinct categories, — the one of a low order, trivial,
stupid, and above all ridiculous people, who declared
that one husband ought to live with one wedded wife,
that girls should be virtuous, women chaste, men brave,
temperate, and upright, occupied in bringing up their
children decently, in earning their bread, and paying
their debts, and other such absurdities. People of this
kind were old-fashioned and ridiculous.
But there was another and vastly superior class, to
which he and his friends belonged, and in this the chief
ANNA KARENINA 149
requirement was that its members should be elegant,
generous, bold, gay, unblushingly given over to every
passion, and scornful of all the rest.
Only for the first moment was Vronsky bewildered
under the impressions which he had brought back from
Moscow, of an entirely different world. But soon, and
as naturally as one puts on old slippers, he got into the
spirit of his former gay and jovial life.
The coffee was never served; it boiled over, spattered
them all, and wet a costly table-cloth and the baroness's
dress ; but it served the end that was desired, for it
gave rise to many jests and merry peals of laughter.
" Well, now, good-by, for you will never get dressed,
and I shall have on my conscience the worst crime that
a decent man can commit, —that of not taking a bath.
.... So you advise me to put the knife to his throat .-' "
" By all means, and in such a way that your little
hand will come near his lips. He will kiss your little
hand, and all will end to everybody's satisfaction," said
Vronsky.
"This evening at the Theatre Fran^ais," and she took
her departure with her rustling train.
Kamerovsky likewise arose, but Vronsky, without
waiting for him to go, shook hands with him, and went
to his dressing-room. While he was taking his bath,
Petritsky sketched for him in a few lines his situation,
and how it had changed during Vronsky's absence, —
no money at all ; his father declaring that he would not
give him any more, or pay a single debt. One tailor
determined to have him arrested, and a second no less
determined. His colonel insisted that, if these scandals
continued, he should leave the regiment. The baroness
was as annoying to him as a bitter radish, principally
because she was always wanting to squander money ;
" but she is a daisy, a charmer," he assured Vronsky,
" in the strict Oriental style, —your servant Rebecca
kind, you know." He had been having a quarrel with
Berkoshef, and he wanted to send him his seconds, but
he imagined nothing v/ould come of it. As for the rest,
everything was getting along particularly jolly.
I50 ANNA KARENINA
And then, without leaving Vronsky time to realize
the minutiae of his situation, Petritsky began to retail
the news of the day. As he listened to Petritsky's well-
known gossip, in the familiar environment of his quar-
ters where he had lived for three years, Vronsky ex-
perienced the pleasant sensation of his return to his
gay and idle Petersburg life.
" It cannot be ! " he cried, as he turned the faucet of
his wash-stand and let the water stream over his red,
healthy neck; "it cannot be!" he cried, referring to
the report that Laura had taken up with Mileef and
thrown Fertinghof over. "And is he as stupid and
as conceited as ever ?.... Well, and how about Buzulu-
kof ? "
"Akh! Buzulukof! here's a good story, fascinating!"
said Petritsky. "You know his passion, — balls; and
he never misses one at court. At the last one he went
in a new helmet. Have you seen the new helmets ?
Very handsome, .... light. Well, he was standing....
No ; but listen."
" Yes, I am listening," replied Vronsky, rubbing his
face with a towel.
"The grand duchess was just going by on the arm
of some foreign ambassador or other, and unfortunately
for him their conversation turned on the new helmets.
The grand duchess wanted to point out one of the new
helmets, and, seeing our galubchik standing there," —
here Petritsky showed how he stood in his helmet, —
"she begged him to show her his helmet. He did not
budge. What does it mean ? The fellows wink at him,
make signs, scowl at him. ' Give it to her.' .... He does
not stir. He is like a dead man. You can imagine the
scene!.... Now.... as he.... then they attempt to take it
off He won't let it go ! .... At last he himself takes it
off, and hands it to the grand duchess.
" ' Here, this is the new kind,' said the grand duch-
ess. But, as she turned it over, — you can imagine it
— out came, bukh ! pears, bonbons, ....t^o pounds of
bonbons ! .... He had been to market, galubchik ! "
Vronsky burst out laughing ; and long afterwards,
ANNA KARENINA 151
even when speaking of other things, the memory of
the unfortunate helmet caused him to break out into
a good-natured laugh which showed his handsome, regu-
lar teeth.
Having learned all the news, Vronsky donned his uni-
form with the aid of his valet, and went out to report
himself. After he had reported, he determined to go
to his brother's, to Betsy's, and to make a few calls, so
as to secure an entry into the society where he should
be likely to see Madame Karenina ; and in accordance
with the usual custom at Petersburg, he left his rooms,
expecting to return only when it was very late at night.
PART SECOND
CHAPTER I
TOWARD the end of the winter the Shcherbatskys
held a consultation of physicians in order to find out
what was the state of Kitty's health, and what measures
were to be taken to restore her strength ; she was ill,
and the approach of spring only increased her ailment.
The family doctor had ordered cod-liver oil, then iron,
and last of all, nitrate of silver ; but as none of these
remedies did any good, and as he advised them to take
her abroad, it was then resolved to consult a celebrated
specialist.
This celebrated doctor, still a young man, and very
neat in his appearance, insisted on a careful investiga-
tion of the trouble. He with especial satisfaction, as it
seemed, insisted that maidenly modesty is only a relic
of barbarism, and that nothing is more natural than that
a young man should make examination of a girl in un-
dress. He found this natural because he did it every
day, and he was conscious of no impropriety in it, as
far as he could see ; and, therefore, any sense of shame
on the part of the girl he considered not only a relic of
barbarism, but also an insult to himself.
It was necessary to submit, since, notwithstanding the
fact that all the other doctors were taught in the same
school and studied the same books, and notwithstanding
the fact that certain persons declared that this celebrated
doctor was a bad doctor, yet in the princess's house and
in her circle of friends it was admitted somehow that
this celebrated doctor was the only one known who had
the special knowledge, and was the only one who could
save Kitty's life. After a careful examination and a
prolonged thumping on the lungs of the poor sick girl,
152
ANNA KARENINA 153
trembling with mortification, the celebrated physician
carefully washed his hands, and returned to the draw-
ing-room, and gave his report to the prince.
The prince, with a little cough, hstened to what he
had to say, and frowned. He was a man of experience
and brains, was in good health, and he had no faith in
medicine. He was all the more angry at this comedy,
because possibly he alone understood what ailed his
daughter.
*'A regular humbug,"^ thought the old prince, as he
listened to the doctor's loquacity concerning the symp-
toms of his daughter's illness, mentally applying to the
celebrated doctor a term from the vocabulary of hunting.
The doctor, on his part, with difficulty disguised his
disdain, with difficulty stooped to the low level of his
intelligence, for this old gentleman. It seemed to him
scarcely necessary to speak to the old man, since, in his
eyes, the head of the house was the princess. He was
ready to pour out before her all the floods of his elo-
quence. At this mbment she came in with the family
doctor. The prince left the room, so as not to show
too clearly how ridiculous this whole comedy seemed
to him. The princess was troubled, and did not know
what course to take. She felt a little guilty in regard
to Kitty.
" Well ! Doctor, decide on our fate," said the prin-
cess ; "tell me all."
She wanted to say, " Is there any hope ? " but her
lips trembled, and she could not put this question to
him. " Well, doctor ? "
'* In a moment, princess, I shall be at your service,
after I have conferred with my colleague. I shall then
have the honor of giving you my opinion."
" Do you wish to be alone .'' "
•'Just as you please."
The princess sighed, and left the room.
When the doctors were left alone, the family physi-
cian began timidly to express his opinion about her
1 Pustobrekh, empty barker, signifying one who has had no luck, but
comes home with large storiea. • — -Tk.
154 ANNA KARENINA
condition, and gave his reasons for thinking that it was
the beginning of tubercular disease, but ....
The celebrated physician listened, and in the midst of
his diagnosis took out his great gold watch.
"Yes," said he, "but...."
The family physician stopped respectfully.
"You know that we can hardly decide when tubercu-
lar disease first begins. In the present case, apparently
there is as yet no decided lesion. We can only surmise.
And the symptoms are : indigestion, nervousness, and
others. The question, therefore, stands thus : What is
to be done, granting that a tubercular development is to
be feared, in order to superinduce improved alimenta-
tion .? "
" But you know well, in such cases there are always
some moral or spiritual causes," said the family doctor,
with a cunning smile.
"Of course," replied the celebrated doctor, looking
at his watch again. " Excuse me, but do you know
whether the bridge over the Ya'usa is finished yet,
or whether one has to go around .-' Oh, it is finished,
is it .'' Well ! Then I have twenty minutes left. —
We were just saying that the question remains thus :
to improve the digestion, and strengthen the nerves ;
the one is connected with the other, and it is necessary
to act on both halves of the circle."
" But the journey abroad .-* "
" I am opposed to these journeys abroad. I beg you
to follow my reasoning. If tubercular development has
already set in, which we are not yet in a condition to
prove, then a journey abroad would do no good. The
main thing is to discover a means of promoting good
digestion."
And the celebrated doctor began to develop his plan
for a cure by means of Soden water, the principal merits
of which were, in his eyes, their absolutely inoffensive
character.
The family doctor listened with attention and re.
spect.
" But I should urge in favor of a journey abroad the
ANNA KARENINA i>55
change of her habits and dissociation from the con
ditions that serve to recall unhappy thoughts. And
finally, her mother wants her to go."
" Ah, well, in that case let them go, provided always
that those German charlatans do not aggravate her
disease They must follow.... Yes ! let them travel."
And again he looked at his watch.
" It is time for me to go ; " and he started for the
door.
The celebrated doctor explained to the princess that
he wished to see the invalid once more — a sense of
propriety dictated this.
"What! have another examination .'' " cried the prin-
cess, with horror.
" Oh, no ! only a few minor points, princess."
"Then come in, I beg of you."
And the mother ushered the doctor into the drawing-
room where Kitty was. Emaciated and flushed, with a
peculiar gleam in her eyes, the result of the mortifica-
tion she had borne, Kitty was standing in the middle of
the room. When the doctor came in her eyes filled
with tears, and she turned crimson. Her whole illness
and the medical treatment seemed to her such stupid,
even ridiculous nonsense. The medical treatment of her
case seemed to her as absurd as to gather up the frag-
ments of a broken vase. Her heart was broken, and
could it be healed by pills and powders .'' But it was
impossible to wound her mother's feelings, the more be-
cause her mother felt that she had been to blame.
" Will you sit down, princess ? " said the celebrated
doctor.
With a smile he sat down in front of her, felt her
pulse, and with a smile began a series of wearisome
questions. At first she replied to them, then suddenly
arose impatiently.
" Excuse me, doctor ; but, indeed, this all leads to
nothing. This is the third time that you have asked
me the same question."
The celebrated doctor took no offense,
"It is her nervous irritability," he remarked to the
156 ANNA KARENINA
princess when Kitty had gone from the room. " How-
ever, I had finished." ....
And the celebrated doctor explained the young prin-
cess's condition to her mother, treating her as a woman
of remarkable intelligence, and concluded with direc-
tions how to drink those waters which were valueless.
On the question, " Is it best to take her abroad ? " the
doctor pondered deeply, as if he were deciding a diffi-
cult problem. The decision was at last expressed : ' Go,
but put no faith in charlatans, and consult him in every=
thing.'
After the doctor's departure, everybody felt as if
something jolly had happened. The mother, in much
better spirits, rejoined her daughter, and Kitty declared
that she was better already. Often, almost all the time,
of late, she felt obliged to pretend.
" Truly, I am well, viaman, but if you desire it, let us
go," said she ; and in her endeavor to show that she
was interested in the journey, she began to speak of
their preparations.
CHAPTER n
Shortly after the doctor went, Dolly came. She
knew that the consultation was to take place that day ;
and though she was as yet scarcely able to go out, hav-
ing had a little daughter toward the end of the winter,
and although she had many trials and cares of her own,
she left her nursing baby and one of the little girls who
was ailing, and came to learn what Kitty's fate should be.
"Well ! how is it "i " she said, as she came into the
drawing-room with her hat on. " You are all happy !
Then all is well?"
They endeavored to tell her what the doctor had
said ; but it seemed that, although the doctor had
spoken very fluently and lengthily, no one was able to
tell what he had said. The only interesting point was
the decision in regard to the journey abroad.
Dolly sighed involuntarily. Her sister, -her best
ANNA KARENINA 157
', was going away ; and life for her was not joy-
ous. Her relations with Stepan Arkadyevitch since
the reconciliation had become humiliating ; the union
brought about by Anna had not been of long duration,
and the family concord had broken down in the same
place. There was nothing definite, but Stepan Arka-
dyevitch was scarcely ever at home, there was scarcely
ever any money in the house, and suspicions of his
unfaithfulness constantly tormented Dolly, but she kept
driving them away in terror of the unhappiness which
jealousy caused her. The first explosion of jealousy,
having been lived down, could not indeed be experi-
enced again ; and even the discovery of his unfaithful-
ness could not have such an effect on her as it had the
first time. Such a discovery now would only break up the
family, and she preferred to shut her eyes to his decep-
tion, despising him, and above all herself, because of this
weakness. Moreover, the cares of a numerous family
constantly annoyed her ; first the nursing of her baby
was unsatisfactory, then the nurse went off, and now one
of the children was ill.
"And how are the children .-* " asked the princess.
'Akh , maman ! we have so many tribulations. Lili
is ill in bed, and I am afraid it is the scarlatina. I
came out now to see how you were, for there'll be no
getting out for me after this, if it is scarlatina — which
God forbid ! "
The old prince also, after the doctor's departure, came
out from his library, presented his cheek to Dolly, ex-
changed a few words with her, and then turned to his
wife : —
" What decision have you come to } Shall you go ?
Well ! and what are you going to do with me \ "
" I think, Aleksandr, that you had better stay at
home."
" Just as you please."
" Maman, why does n't papa come with us ? " said
Kitty, " It would be gayer for him and for us."
The old prince got up and smoothed Kitty's hair with
his hand ; she raised her head, and with an effort smiled
158 ANNA KARENINA
as she looked at him ; it always seemed to her that he
understood her better than any one else in the family,
though he did not say much. She was the youngest,
and therefore her father's favorite daughter, and it
seemed to her that his love made him clairvoyant.
When she saw his kind blue eyes steadily fixed on her,
it seemed to her that he read her very soul, and saw all
the evil that was working there. She blushed, and bent
toward him, expecting a kiss ; but he only pulled her
hair, saying: —
" These stupid cJdgnons ! one never gets down to
the real daughter, but you caress the hair of departed
females. Well ! Dolinka," turning to his eldest daugh-
ter, " what is that trump of yours doing } "
" Nothing, papa," said Dolly, perceiving that her
father referred to her husband ; " he is always away
from home, and I scarcely ever see him," she could not
refrain from adding, with an ironical smile.
" Has he not gone yet to the country to sell his
wood ?"
" No ; he is always putting it off."
" Truly," said the old prince, " is he taking after me ?
— I hear you," he said in reply to his wife, and sitting
down. "And as for you, Katya," he said, addressing his
youngest daughter, " do you know what you ought to
do ? Sometime, some fine morning, wake up and say,
' There ! I am perfectly well and happy, papa, and we
must go for our early morning walk in the cold,' ha ? "
What her father said seemed very simple, but at his
words Kitty felt confused and disconcerted like a con-
victed criminal. "Yes, he knows all, he understands
all, and these words mean that I ought to overcome my
humiliation, however great it has been."
She could not summon up the courage to reply. She
began to say something, but suddenly burst into tears,
and ran from the room.
"Just like 'your tricks!" said the princess to her
husband, angrily. " You always .... " and she began one
of her tirades.
The prince listened for some time to her reproaches,
ANNA KARENINA 159
and made no reply, but his face kept growing darker
and darker.
"She is so sensitive, poor little thing, so sensitive!
and you don't understand how she suffers at the slight-
est allusion to the cause of her suffering. Akh ! how
mistaken we are in people ! " said the princess.
And by the change in the inflection of her voice,
Dolly and the prince perceived that she had reference
to Vronsky.
" I don't understand why there are not any laws to
punish such vile, such ignoble men."
"Akh! do hear her," said the prince with a frown,
getting up from his chair and evidently anxious to make
his escape, but halting on the threshold : —
" There are laws, matushka ; and if you force me to
this, I will tell you who is to blame in all this trouble.
You, you alone ! There are laws against such young
fops, and there always will be ; and if things had not
been as they ought never to have been, old man that I
am, I should have put that dandy on the fence. Yes,
and now to cure her, you bring in these quacks."
The prince would have had still more to say, but as
soon as the princess heard his tone she immediately
became humble and repentant, as always happened when
important questions came up.
" Alexandre ! Alexandre ! " she murmured, going up
to him, and weeping.
The prince held his peace when he saw her tears.
He went to meet her : —
"Well, let it go, let it go. I know that it is hard for
you also. What is to be done .■* There is no great
harm. God is merciful Thank you!" said he, not
knowing what he said, and replying to the princess's
damp kiss which he felt on his hand. Then the prince
left the room.
As soon as Kitty, weeping, had left the room, Dolly,
with her maternal domestic instinct, perceived that this
was an affair which required a woman's management,
and she was preparing to follow her. She took her hat
and morally tucking up her sleeves, prepared to act
i6o ANNA KARENINA
But when her mother began to attack her father, she
tried to restrain her, as far as her filial respect allowed.
When the prince's outburst occurred, she said nothing ;
she was ashamed for her mother and she felt a deep
affection because of the instant return of his good-
nature ; but when he went out, she determined to do
the chief thing that was necessary — to go to Kitty
and calm her.
" I have long wanted to tell you, tnaman; did you
know that when Levin was here the last time, he in-
tended to offer himself to Kitty .? He told Stiva."
"What is that .-' I do not understand .... "
" Then perhaps Kitty refused him ? .... Did n't she tell
you.?"
" No, she did not say anything to me about either of
them ; she is too proud. But I know that all this comes
from.... "
" Yes ; but think, if she refused Levin. I know
that she would not have done so if it had not been for
the other one.... and then he deceived her so abom-
inably."
It was terrible to the princess to think how blame-
worthy she had been toward her daughter, and she grew
angry.
"Akh! I don't know anything about it. Nowadays
every girl wants to live as she pleases, and not to say
anything to her mother, and so it comes that .... "
*^ Maman^ I am going to see her."
" Go ! I will not prevent you," said her mother.
CHAPTER HI
As she entered Kitty's pretty little rosy boudoir, with
figurines in vieiix saxe, a room as youthful, as rosy, as
gay as Kitty herself had been two months before,
Dolly remembered with what pleasure and interest the
two had decorated it the year before ; how happy and
gay they were then ! She felt a chill at her heart as
she saw her sister sitting on a low chair near the door,
ANNA KARENINA i6i
her motionless eyes fixed on a corner of the carpet.
Kitty glanced up at her sister, but the cold and rather
stern expression of her face underwent no change.
" I am going now, and I may be confined at home,
and it will be impossible for you to see me," said Darya
Aleksandrovna, sitting down near her sister; "I wanted
to have a little talk with you."
" What about ? " asked Kitty, quickly raising her head
in alarm.
" What else than about your sorrow ? "
" I have no sorrow."
"That'll do, Kitty. "Do you really imagine that I
don't know .-' I know everything ; and believe me, this
is such a trifle .... All of us have been through this."
Kitty said nothing, and her face resumed its severe
expression.
" He is not worth the trouble that you have given
yourself because of him," continued Darya Aleksan-
drovna, coming right to the point.
"Yes ! because he jilted me! " murmured Kitty, with
trembling voice. "Don't speak of it, please don't
speak of it ! "
"But who said that to you.^ No one said such a
thing ! I am sure that he was in love with you, — that
he is still in love with you ; but .... "
"Ah! nothing exasperates me so as compassion,"
cried Kitty, in a sudden rage. She turned around in
her chair, flushed scarlet, and moved her belt-buckle
back and forth from one hand to the other, clutching
it in her fingers.
Dolly well knew this habit of her sister when she was
provoked. She knew that she was capable of forgetting
herself, and saying harsh and cruel things in moments
of. petulance, and she tried to calm her; but it was too
late.
" What, what do you wish me to understand } what is
it ? " cried Kitty, talking fast : — "that I was in love with
a man who did not care for me, and that I am dying
of love for him .-' And it is my sister who says this to
me! — my sister who thinks that .... that .... that .... she
VOL. I. — II
i62 ANNA KARENINA
is showing me her sympathy! .... I hate such sympathy
and such hypocrisy ! "
"Kitty, you are unjust."
" Why do you torment me .-' "
" Why, on the contrary .... I saw that you were sad ...."
Kitty in her anger did not heed her.
" I have nothing to break my heart over, and need no
consolation. I am too proud ever to love a man who
does not love me."
" Well ! I do not say .... I say only one thing .... Tell
me the truth," added Darya Aleksandrovna, taking her
hand. "Tell me, did Levin speak to you } "....
At the name of Levin, Kitty lost all control of her-
self ; she sprang up from her chair, threw the buckle on
the floor, and with quick, indignant gestures cried : —
" Why do you speak to me of Levin ? I don't see
why you need to torment me. I have already said, and
I repeat it, that I am proud, and never, never would I do
what you have done, — go back to a man who had been
false to me, who had made love to another woman. I
do not understand this ; you can, but I cannot ! "
As she said these words, she looked at her sister, and
seeing that Dolly bent her head sadly without answering,
she sat down near the door again, and hid her face in
her handkerchief instead of leaving the room as she had
intended to do.
The silence lasted several minutes. Dolly was think-
ing of herself. Her humiliation, of which she was always
conscious, appeared to her more cruel than ever, thus
recalled by her sister. She did not expect such bitter-
ness from her sister, and it made her angry. But sud-
denly she heard the rustling of a dress, a broken sob,
and some one's arms were thrown around her neck.
Kitty was on her knees before her.
" Dolinka, I am so unhappy ! " she murmured in ex-
culpation ; and her pretty face, wet with tears, was hid
in Dolly's skirt.
Those tears were evidently the indispensable lubricant
without which the machinery of mutual communion
between the two sisters could not work. At all events,
ANNA KARENINA 163
after a good cry, they spoke no more on the subject
which interested them both, but even while they were
talking about irrelevant topics they understood each
other. Kitty knew that the cruel words that she had
uttered in her anger, about the husband's unfaithfulness
— the unfaithfulness of Dolly's husband — and her hu-
miliation, struck deep into her poor sister's heart, but
that she forgave her. Dolly, on her side, knew all that
she wanted to know, she was convinced that her suspi-
cions were correct, that the pain Kitty felt, the irremedia-
ble pain, lay in the fact that Levin had offered himself to
her, and that she had refused him, and that Vronsky had
played her false, and that she was ready to love Levin
and to hate Vronsky. Kitty said not a word about this;
she spoke only of the general state of her soul.
" I have no sorrow," she said, regaining her calmness
a little ; " but you cannot imagine how wretched, disgust-
ing, and vulgar everything seems to me — above all my-
self. You cannot imagine what evil thoughts come
into my mind."
"Yes, but what evil thoughts can you have?" asked
Dolly, with a smile.
"The most abominable, the most repulsive. I can-
not describe them to you. It is not melancholy, and it
is not ennui. It is much worse. It is as if all the good
that was in me had disappeared, and only the evil was
left. Now how can that be, I tell you .-• " she asked,
looking in perplexity into her sister's eyes. " Papa
began to say something to me a few minutes ago It
seems to me he thinks that all I need is a husband.
Mamma takes me to the ball. It seems to me that she
takes me there for the sole purpose of getting rid of me,
of getting me married as soon as possible. I know that
it is not true, and yet I cannot drive away these ideas.
So-called marriageable young men are unendurable to
me. It always seems to me that they are taking my
measure. A short time ago, to go anywhere in a ball
gown was a simple delight to me ; I admired myself, I
enjoyed it ; now it is a bore to me, and I feel ill at ease.
Now, what do you think.-*.... The doctor.... well .... "
i64 ANNA KARENINA
Kitty stopped ; she wanted to say further that, since
she had felt this great change in herself, Stepan Arka-
dyevitch had become unendurably distasteful to her,
that she could not see him without the most repulsive
and unbecoming conjectures arising in her mind.
" Indeed, everything takes the most repulsive, dis-
gusting aspect in my sight," she continued. "It is a
disease, — perhaps it will pass away."
" But don't for a moment think,..."
" I cannot help it. I do not feel at ease except with
you and the children."
"What a pity that you can't come home with me
now ! "
" Well, I will go. I have had scarlatina. I will per-
suade maman."
Kitty insisted so eagerly, that she was allowed to go
to her sister's, and throughout the course of the disease,
— which proved to be the scarlatina, — she looked after
the children. The two sisters successfully nursed all
the six children ; but Kitty's health did not improve,
and at Lent the Shcherbatskys went abroad.
CHAPTER IV
The highest Petersburg society is remarkably united.
Every one knows every one else, and every one exchanges
visits. But in this great circle there are subdivisions.
Anna Arkadyevna Karenina had friends and close re-
lations with three different circles. One was the official
circle, to which her husband belonged, composed of his
colleagues and subordinates, bound together, or even
further subdivided, by the most varied, and often the
most capricious, social relations. It was now difficult
for Anna to call back the sentiment of almost religious
respect which at first she felt for all these personages.
Now she knew them all, as one knows people in a pro-
vincial city. She knew what habits and weaknesses
were characteristic of each, and what feet the shoe
pinched. She knew what were their relations among
ANNA KARENINA 165
themselves, and to the official center. She knew how
this one agreed with that and on what grounds, and how
another disagreed with still another, and wherefore.
But this administrative clique, to which her husband
belonged, could never interest her, in spite of the Coun-
tess Lidya Ivanovna's suggestions, and she avoided it.
The second circle in which Anna moved was that
which had helped AlekseY Aleksandrovitch in his career.
The center of this circle was the Countess Lidya Iva-
novna ; it was composed of aged, ugly, charitable, and
devout women, and intelligent, learned, and ambitious
men. One of the clever men who belonged to this cir-
cle had called it the "conscience of Petersburg society."
Karenin was very much devoted to this circle ; and
Anna, who had the faculty of getting along with all peo-
ple, had, during the early days of her life in Petersburg,
made friends in its number. After her return from
Moscow, this set of people seemed to her insupportable ;
it seemed as if she herself, as well as all the rest of
them, were hypocritical, and she felt depressed and ill
at ease in this society. She saw the Countess Lidya as
infrequently as she possibly could.
Finally, the third circle in which Anna had connec-
tions was Society, properly speaking, the fashionable
society of balls, dinner-parties, brilliant toilets — the
society which with one hand lays fast hold of "the court
lest it descend to the level of the demi-monde, which the
members of this circle affect to despise, and yet whose
tastes are not only similar, but the same. The bond
that united her to this society was the Princess Betsy
Tverskaya, the wife of one of her cousins, who enjoyed
an income of a hundred and twenty thousand rubles,
and who had taken a great fancy to Anna as soon as
she came to Petersburg, flattered her, introduced her
among her friends, and made ridicule of the Countess
Lidya's friends.
" When I am old and ugly, I will do the same," said
Betsy ; " but a young and pretty woman like yourself
has as yet no place in such an asylum."
Anna at first had avoided as far as possible the society
i66 ANNA KARENINA
to which the Princess Betsy Tverskaya belonged, as it
called for expenses beyond her means, and in her heart
she preferred the first-mentioned coterie ; but after her
visit to Moscow all this was changed. She neglected her
worthy old friends, and cared to go only into grand soci-
ety. There she met Vronsky, and experienced tumultu-
ous pleasure in these meetings. They met with especial
frequency at the house of Betsy, who was a Vronskaya
before her marriage, and was an own cousin of the count.
Vronsky went everywhere that he was likely to meet
Anna, and, if possible, spoke to her of his love. She
gave him no encouragement ; but every time she met
him, there flamed up in her soul the same sense of ani-
mation which had seized her the moment that they met,
for the first time, on the train at Moscow ; she herself
was conscious that at the sight of him this joy shone in
her eyes, in her smile, but she had not the power to
hide it.
Anna at first sincerely believed that she was angry
because he persisted in following her ; but one evening,
not long after her return from Moscow, when she was
present at a house where she expected to meet him,
and he failed to come, she perceived clearly, by the
pang that went through her heart, that she was deceiv-
ing herself, that this insistence of his not only was not
disagreeable to her but that it formed the ruling passion
of her life,
A famous diva was singing for the second time, and
all the high society of Petersburg was at the theater.
Vronsky, from his seat in the first row saw his cousin
there, and without waiting for the entr'acte, left to visit
her box.
" Why did n't you come to dinner } " she asked ; and
then with a smile she added, so as to be heard only by
him, " I admire this clairvoyance of lovers ; s/te was not
there. But come to my house after the opera."
Vronsky looked at her questioningly. She nodded.
He thanked her with a smile and sat down by her side.
"But how I miss your pleasantries; what have be-
ANNA KARENINA 167
come of them ? " continued the Princess Betsy, who fol-
lowed with keen pleasure the progress of this passion.
" You are in the toils, my dear ! "
" That is all that I ask for," he replied, with his calm,
good-natured smile, " to be in the toils. If I complain,
it is not because I am too little in the toils if the truth
must be told. I am beginning to lose hope."
" What hope could you have ? " asked Betsy, taking
the part of her friend. " Let us have a clear under-
standing." But the fire in her eyes told with sufficient
clearness that she understood as well as he did what his
hope meant.
** None," replied Vronsky, laughing, and showing his
regular white teeth. " Excuse me," he added, taking
the opera-glasses from his cousin's hand, in order to
direct it across her bare shoulder at one of the opposite
boxes. " I fear I am becoming ridiculous."
He knew very well that in Betsy's eyes, and in those
of her world, he ran no risk of being ridiculous ; he
knew very well that in the eyes of such people the role
of an unsuccessful lover of a young girl or an unmarried
woman might be ridiculous ; but not so the role of a
man who pursues a married woman and at any price
makes it his aim to lead her into committing adultery.
This role is something beautiful and majestic and can
never be ridiculous, and therefore Vronsky, as he handed
back the opera-glasses, looked at his cousin with a smile
of pride and joy lurking under his mustache.
" And why did n't you come to dinner .'' " she asked
again, unable to refrain from admiration of him.
"I must tell you; I was busy ....and what about.-* I
will give you one guess out of a hundred — out of a thou-
sand .... you would never hit it. I have been reconciling
a husband with his wife's persecutor. Yes, fact ! "
" What ! and you reconciled them .-* "
" Pretty nearly."
" You must tell me all about it," said Betsy, rising.
"Come during the next entr'acte^
" Impossible ; I am going to the French Theater."
" From Nilsson ? " said Betsy, with horror, though
i68 ANNA KARENINA
she could not have distinguished Niisson from the poor-
est chorus-singer.
" But what can I do ? I have made an appointment
in order to finish my act of peacemaking."
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be
saved," said Betsy, remembering that she had heard
somewhere some such quotation. "Well, then, sit down
and tell me all about it."
And she resumed her seat.
CHAPTER V
*' It 's a little improper, but so amusing, that I wanted
awfully to tell you about it," said Vronsky, looking at
her with sparkling eyes. " However, I will not mention
any names."
" But I can guess ? so much the better ! "
•'Listen, then. Two gay young men were dining...."
"Officers of your regiment, of course ...."
" I did not say that they were officers, but simply
young men, who had dined well ...."
"Translated, tipsy ! "
" Possibly. They went to dine with a comrade, in
most excellent spirits. They saw a pretty young woman
passing them in a hired carriage ; she turns around, and,
as it seems to them, nods to them and laughs. Of course
they follow her. They gallop like mad. To their
amazement their beauty stops at the entrance of the
very house where they are going ; she mounts to the
upper floor, and they see nothing but a pair of rosy lips
under a short veil, and a pair of pretty little feet."
"You describe the scene with so much feeling that
you make me believe that you were in the party."
"Why do you accuse me so soon.-" Well! the two
young men climb up to their comrade's room, where
there is to be a farewell dinner, and there they drink,
perhaps, more than is good for them, as is usually the
case at farewell dinners. And at dinner they ask who
lives on the top story of that house. No one knows any-
ANNA KARENINA 169
thing about it ; only their friend's valet, to their ques-
tions, ' Do any mamselles live on the top floor ? ' replies
that there are a good many. After dinner the two
young men go into their friend's library and write a
letter to the unknown. They write a passionate letter,
a declaration ; they themselves carry up the letter, in
order to explain whatever in the letter might not be
perfectly understood."
" But why do you tell me such horrible things }
Well } "
" They ring. A girl comes to the door ; they give
her the letter, telling her they are so desperately in love
that they are ready to die, there at the door. The girl
is in doubt and parleys with them. Suddenly a gentle-
man appears, red as a lobster and with side-whiskers like
sausages, declares that there is no one there except his
wife, and unceremoniously puts them out of the door."
" How did you know that his side-whiskers were like
sausages .-* "
" But now listen. I have just made peace between
them."
" Well ! what came of it .? "
" This is the most interesting part of the affair. The
happy couple prove to be a titular counselor and his
wife. The titular counselor brings a complaint, and I
am obliged to serve as peacemaker. What a peace-
maker ! .... I assure you Talleyrand compared to me
was nobody."
" What were your difficulties .'' "
" Here now ! Listen ! .... We make excuses as in duty
bound, as : * We are desperately sorry,' we said ; ' we beg
you to pardon us for this unfortunate misunderstanding.'
The titular counselor with the sausage-whiskers seemed
to be thawing ; but he felt it necessary to express his
feelings, and as soon as he began to express his feelings
he began to get wrathy, and to say harsh things, and
again I was obliged to bring all my diplomatic talents
into requisition : * I agree that their conduct was repre-
hensible, but please take into consideration that there
was a misunderstanding ; they were young, and had just
t70 ANNA KARENINA
come from a good dinner. You understand ! Now they
are sorry from the bottom of their hearts, and beg you
to forgive them their fault.' The titular counselor soft-
ened still more : ' I agree with you, count, and I am
ready to pardon them ; but you perceive that my wife,
my wife, a virtuous woman, has been exposed to insult,
to persecution, to the impudence of good-for-nothing
young scound.... ' And the impudent, good-for-noth-
ing young fellows being present, I had to exert myself
to calm them down ; again I put my diplomacy to work,
and every time I seem on the point of success my titular
counselor gets wrathy again, and his face gets red, and
his sausages begin to wag up and down, and I find my-
self drowned in the waves of diplomatic subtleties."
•' Akh ! we must tell you all about this," said Betsy to
a lady who at this moment came into her box. " It has
amused me much ! "
" Well, good luck go with you," she added, giving
Vronsky one of her fingers, as she held her fan ; and
then, shrugging her shoulders so as to keep the waist
of her gown from coming up, so that she might be as
naked as possible when she should go to the front of
the box, and sit down in the full blaze of gas and in the
eyes of all.
Vronsky went to the French Theater, where he really
had to meet his regimental commander, who never failed
to be present at a single representation. He wished to
speak with him in regard to his business as peacemaker
which had occupied and amused him for three days.
Petritsky, whom he liked, was involved in this affair, and
the other one was a charming, a glorious fellow, young
Prince Kerdrof, who had lately joined their regiment.
But the principal point was that the affair concerned
the interests of his regiment.
Both the young men belonged to Vronsky's company.
Venden, the titular counselor, had come to the regi-
mental commander with a complaint that the oflficers
had insulted his wife. His young wife — Venden said he
had been married only half a year — had been to church
with her mother, and, feeling indisposed, owing to her
ANNA KARENINA 171
ncate condition, so that she could not stand any longer,
had engaged the first decent izvoshchik at hand. The
officers had chased her; she was frightened and, feeling
still more ill, had run up the stairs. Venden himself,
who had just returned from his office, heard the
sound of a bell and voices. He came out, and, seeing
drunken officers with a letter, he had put them out. He
demanded that they should be severely punished.
" No, it 's all very well to talk," said the regimental
commander to Vronsky, whom he had asked to join
him, " but Petritsky is becoming unbearable. Not a
week passes by without some scandal. This chinovnik
will not stop here, he will go farther."
Vronsky saw all the unpleasantness of this affair, and
he felt that a duel should be avoided, and that every-
thing should be done to make the titular counselor re-
lent and smooth over the scandal. The regimental
commander had summoned him because he knew he
was a shrewd and gentlemanly man, and zealous for the
interests of the regiment. They had talked the matter
over and decided that Vronsky, accompanied by Petrit-
sky and Kerdrof, should go to make their excuses to
the titular counselor. The regimental commander and
Vronsky both realized that Vronsky's name and his
fliigel-adjutant's monogram ought to have a great effect
in soothing the titular counselor. In reality these two
influences proved partially efficacious, but the results
of the reconciliation remained in doubt, as Vronsky
said.
When he reached the French Theater, Vronsky took
the regimental commander into the lobby, and told him
of his success, or rather lack of success. After reflec-
tion the regimental commander decided to leave the
matter in abeyance ; but afterward he began to ques-
tion Vronsky regarding the details of the interview, and
he could not help laughing as he heard Vronsky tell how
the titular counselor kept suddenly flaming out in wrath
as he recalled the particulars of the affair, and how
Vronsky, veering round at the last mention of reconcili-
ation, had withdrawn, pushing Petritsky before him, and
lyi ANNA KARENINA
his repeated attempts to bring him into a suitable frame
of mind.
"It is a wretched piece of business, but comical
enough. Kerdrof cannot fight with this gentleman.
Was he so horribly angry ? " he asked, laughing. " And
how do you like Claire this evening.? — charming !"
said he, referring to a new French actress. " One can't
see her too often ; she is always new. Only the French
can do that ! "
CHAPTER VI
The Princess Betsy left the theater without waiting
for the end of the last act. She had scarcely had more
than time enough, after reaching home, to go into her
dressing-room, and scatter a little rice-powder over her
long, pale face, rearrange her toilet, and order tea to be
served in the large drawing-room, when the carriages
began one after another to arrive at her enormous house
on the Bolshaya Morskaya. The guests came up to the
wide entrance, and a portly Swiss who during the morn-
ing read the newspaper for the edification of passers-by,
as he sat behind the glass door, now kept noiselessly
opening this great door and admitting the visitors.
They came in by one door almost at the same instant
that by another came the mistress of the mansion, with
renewed color, and hair rearranged. The walls of the
great drawing-room were hung with somber draperies,
and on the floor were thick rugs. On the table, which
was covered with a cloth of dazzling whiteness, shining in
the light of numberless candles, stood a silver samovar
and a tea-service of transparent porcelain.
The princess took her place behind the samovar and
drew off her gloves. With the help of attentive servants,
the guests brought up chairs and took their places,
dividing into two camps, the one around the princess,
the other at the opposite end of the drawing-room
around the wife of a foreign ambassador, a handsome
lady, dressed in black velvet, and with black, well-
ANNA KARENINA 173
defined eyebrows. The conversation, as usual at the
beginning of a reception, was desultory, being inter-
rupted by the arrival of newcomers, offers of tea, and
the exchange of salutations, and seemed to be endeavor-
ing to find a common subject of interest.
" She is remarkably handsome for an actress ; you
can see that she has studied Kaulbach," said a diploma-
tist in the group around the ambassador's wife. " Did
you notice how she fell .-' " ....
"Akh ! please let us not speak of Nilsson. Nothing
new can be said about her," said a great fat lady, with
light complexion, without either eyebrows or cJiigiion,
and dressed in an old silk gown. This was the Princess
Miagkaya, famous for her simplicity and frightful man-
ners, and surnamed the Enfant terrible. Princess Miag-
kaya was seated between the two groups, listening to
what was said on both sides of her, and taking impartial
interest in both. "This very day, three people have
made that same remark about Kaulbach. It must be
fashionable. I don't see why that phrase should be so
successful."
The conversation was cut short by this remark, and
a new theme had to be started.
"Tell us something amusing, but don't let it be
naughty," said the ambassador's wife, who was a mis-
tress of the art of conversation called, by the English,
small talk. She was addressing the diplomatist, who
was at a loss what topic to start.
" They say this is very hard, that only naughty things
are amusing," replied the diplomatist, with a smile.
" However, I will do my best. Give me a theme.
Everything depends upon the theme. When you get
that for a background, you can easily fill it in with em-
broidery. I often think that the celebrated talkers of
the past would be exceedingly embarrassed if they were
alive now ; everything intellectual is considered so
dull."....
"That was said long ago," remarked the ambassa-
dor's wife, interrupting him with a smile.
The conversation began amiably, and for the very
174 ANNA KARENINA
reason that it was too amiable, it languished again. It
was necessary to have recourse to an unfailing, never
changing subject — gossip.
"Don't you think that there is something Louis XV.
about Tushkievitch ? " asked he, indicating a handsome,
light-haired young man, who was standing near the
table.
" Oh, yes ! he 's quite in the style of the drawing-
room, and that is why he is here so often."
This subject sustained the conversation, since it
consisted wholly of hints regarding something which
could not be treated openly in that drawing-room, in
other words, Tushkievitch's relations with the Princess
Betsy.
Around the samovar, the conversation hesitated for
some time upon three inevitable subjects, — the news
of the day, the theater, and a lawsuit which was to be
tried the next day. At last the same subject arose that
was occupying the other group — gossip.
"Have you heard that Maltishcheva — that is, the
mother, not the daughter — has had a costume in dia-
ble rose?"
" Is it possible ? No ! That is delicious."
" I am astonished that with her sense, — for she is
certainly not stupid, — she does not perceive how ridic-
ulous she is."
Every one found something in which to criticize and
tear to pieces the unfortunate Madame Maltishcheva ;
and the conversation grew lively, brilliant, and gay,
like a flaming pyre.
The Princess Betsy's husband, a tall, good-natured
man, a passionate collector of engravings, hearing that
his wife had guests, came into the drawing-room before
going to his club, and desired to show himself in her
circle. Noiselessly, on the thick carpet, he approached
the Princess Miagkaya.
" How did you like Nilsson ? " he asked.
" Akh ! Do you steal in upon a body that way >
How you startled me ! " she cried. " Don't speak to
me about the opera, I beg of you ; you don't know any
ANNA KARENINA 175
thing about music. I prefer to descend to your level
and talk with you about your engravings and majolicas.
Well ! What treasures have you discovered lately .'' "
" If you would like, I will show them to you ; but you
are no judge of them."
" Show them to me all the same. I am getting my
education among these — bankers, as you call them.
They have lovely engravings. They like to show
them."
"Have you been at the Schiitzburgs' .''" asked the
mistress of the house, from her place by the samovar.
"Certainly, ma chkre. They invited my husband and
me to dinner, and they told me that the sauce at this
dinner cost a thousand rubles," replied the Princess
Miagkaya, in a loud voice, conscious that all were lis-
tening to her; "and it was a very poor sauce, too, —
something green. I had to return the compliment,
and I got them up a sauce that cost eighty-five kopeks,^
and all were satisfied. I can't make thousand-ruble
sauces ! "
" She is unique," said the hostess.
"Astonishing," said another.
The Princess Miagkaya never failed of making her
speeches effective, and the secret of their effectiveness
lay in the fact that, although she did not always select
suitable occasions, as was the case at the present time,
yet she spoke simply and sensibly. In the society
where she moved, what she said gave the effect of the
most subtle wit. She could not comprehend why it
had such an effect, but she recognized the fact, and
took advantage of it.
While the Princess Miagkaya was speaking, all lis-
tened to her, and the conversation around the ambas-
sador's wife stopped ; so the hostess, wishing to make
the conversation more united, turned to the ambassa-
dor's wife and said : —
" Are you sure that you will not have some tea ?
Then please join us."
" No ; we are very well where we are, in this corner,'
* One ruble, or one hundred kopeks, is worth eighty cents.
176 ANNA KARENINA
replied the ambassador's wife, with a smile, resuming the
thread of a conversation which interested her very deeply.
They were criticizing Karenin and his wife.
" Anna is very much changed since her return from
Moscow. There is something strange about her," said
one of her friends.
"The change is due to the fact that she brought
back in her train the shadow of Aleksei Vronsky," said
the ambassador's wife.
" What is that ? There 's a story in Grimm — a man
without a shadow — a man deprived of his shadow. It
was a punishment for something or other. I cannot see
where the punishment lies, but it must be disagreeable
for a woman to be without her shadow."
" Yes, but the women who have shadows generally
come to some bad end," said Anna's friend.
" Hold your tongues ! " ^ cried the Princess Miagkaya,
as she heard these words. "Madame Karenina is a
charming woman ; I don't like her husband, but I like her."
"Why don't you like her husband.-"' asked the am-
bassador's wife. " He is such a remarkable man. My
husband says there are few statesmen in Europe equal
to him."
" My husband says the same thing, but I don't be-
lieve it," replied the Princess Miagkaya. " If our hus-
bands had not had this idea, we should have seen Alekseif
Aleksandrovitch as he really is ; and, in my opinion, he
is a blockhead, I only say this in a whisper Is it
not true how everything comes out clearly.'* Formerly
when I was told that he was clever I used to try to dis-
cover it, and I came to the conclusion that I was stupid
because I could not see wherein he was clever ; but as
soon as I said to myself, — under my breath, — he is
stupid, all was explained. Is n't that so ? "
" How severe you are to-night ! "
" Not at all, I have no other alternative. One of us
two is stupid. Now you know that one can never say
such a thing of oneself."
1 Tipun vam na yazuik ! A slang expression, meaning literally,
" May your tongue have the pip 1 "
ANNA KARENINA 177
" No one is satisfied with his circumstances, and every
one is satisfied with his brain," said a diplomat, quoting
a French couplet.
" There, that is the very thing," exclaimed the Prin-
cess Miagkay a turning to him, "but I make an exception
of Anna. She is so lovely and good. Is it her fault
if all men fall in love with her and follow her like
shadows .-' "
"Well! I do not allow myself to judge her," said
Anna's friend, justifying herself.
"Because no one follows us like a shadow, it does
not prove that we have the right to judge."
Having thus appropriately disposed of Anna's friend,
the Princess Miagkaya arose, and with the ambassador's
wife drew up to the table, and joined in the general
conversation about some trifle.^
" Whom have you been gossiping about ? " asked
Betsy.
" About the Karenins. The princess has been pictur-
ing Alekser Aleksandrovitch," replied the ambassador's
wife, sitting down near the table, with a smile.
"Shame that we could not have heard it," said Betsy,
looking toward the door. "Ah ! here you are at last,"
said she, turning to Vronsky, who at that moment
came in.
Vronsky knew, and met every day, all the people
whom he found collected in his cousin's drawing-room ;
therefore he came in with the calmness of a man who
rejoins friends from whom he has only just parted.
" Where have I come from .-' " said he, in reply to a
question from the ambassador's wife. " What can I do .-*
I must confess, — from Les Bouffes. 'Tis for the hun-
dredth time, and always with a new pleasure. It is
charming. It is humiliating, I know, but I get sleepy at
the opera ; but at Les Boiiffes I sit it out up to the very
last minute and enjoy it. To-night .... "
He mentioned a French actress, and was going to tell
some story about her, but the ambassador's wife stopped
him with an expression of mock terror.
^ Literally, " about the king of Prussia."
VOL.1. — 12
lyS ANNA KARENINA
" Please don't speak to us of that fright ! "
"Well ! I will not, and the more willingly because you
all know these frights."
" And you would all go there if it were as fashionable
as the opera," added the Princess Miagkaya.
CHAPTER VII
Steps were heard near the door, and the Princess
Betsy, knowing that it was Madame Karenina, looked
at Vronsky. He was looking toward the door, and his face
had a strange, new expression. Joyfully, expectantly,
and almost timidly he gazed at Anna as she entered,
and he rose slowly. Anna came into the drawing-room,
as always holding herself very erect and looking neither
to right nor to left. She crossed the short distance be-
tween her and the hostess, with that rapid, light, but
decided step which distinguished her from all the other
women of this circle. She went directly up to Betsy,
and shook hands with a smile, and with the same smile
she looked at Vronsky, He bowed low and offered her
a chair.
She responded only by bending her head a little, and
blushed, and frowned. But instantly she was nodding
to her acquaintances and shaking hands ; then she
turned to Betsy : —
" I have been at the Countess Lidya's ; I wanted to
get away earlier, but I was detained. Sir John was
there. He is very interesting."
" Oh, that missionary ? "
"Yes; he related many very curious things about
life in India."
The conversation, which Anna's entrance had inter-
rupted, again wavered, like the flame of a lamp in a
draught.
i "Sir John! yes, Sir John! I have seen him. He
speaks well. The Vlasieva is actually in love with
him ! "
ANNA KARENINA 179
* Is it true that the youngest Vlasieva is going to
marry Topof ? "
"Yes ; people say that it is fully decided."
" I am astonished at her parents. They say that it is
a love-match."
" A love-match .■* What antediluvian ideas you have !
Who speaks of love in our days .'' " said the ambassador's
wife.
"What is to be done about it ? That foolish old cus-
tom has not entirely gone out of date," said Vronsky.
" So much the worse for those who adhere to it ; the
only happy marriages that I know about are those of
reason."
"Yes ; but how often it happens that these marriages
of reason break like ropes of sand, precisely because of
this love which you affect to scorn ! " said Vronsky.
" But what we call a marriage of reason is where both
parties take an equal risk. It is like scarlatina, through
which we all must pass."
" In that case it would be wise to find an artificial
means of inoculation for love, as for small-pox."
" When I was young I fell in love with a sacristan ; I
should like to know what good that did me ! " said the
Princess Miagkaya.
" No ; but, jesting aside, I believe that to know what
love really is, one must have been deceived once, and
then been set right," said the Princess Betsy.
" Even after marriage ? " asked the ambassador's wife,
laughing.
" It is never too late to mend," said the diplomatist,
quoting the English proverb.
"But really," interrupted Betsy, "you must be de-
ceived, so as afterwards to get into the right path.
What do you think about this.''" said she, addressing
Anna, who was listening silently to the conversation
with a scarcely perceptible smile on her firm lips.
" I think," said Anna, playing with her glove, which
she had removed, "I think.... if there are as many
opinions as there are heads, then there are as many
ways of loving as there are hearts."
i8o ANNA KARENINA
Vronsky looked at her, and with a violent beating of
the heart waited for her answer ; after she had spoken
those words he drew a deep breath, as if he had escaped
some danger.
She turned suddenly to Vronsky.
" I have just had a letter from Moscow. They write
me that Kitty Shcherbatskaya is very ill."
" Really," said Vronsky, with a frown.
Anna looked at him with a severe expression.
" Does n't that interest you } "
" It certainly does. I am very sorry. Exactly what
did they write you, if I may be permitted to inquire } "
Anna arose and went to Betsy.
" Will you give me a cup of tea ? " she said, standing
behind her chair. While Betsy was pouring the tea,
Vronsky went to Anna.
" What did they write you } "
" I often think that men do not know what nobility
means, though they are all the time talking about it,"
said Anna, not answering his question.
** I have been wanting to tell you for a long time,"
she added, and taking a few steps she sat down at a
corner table laden with albums.
" I don't quite know what your words mean," he said,
offering her a cup of tea.
She glanced at the divan near her, and he instantly
sat down on it.
"Yes, I have been wanting ,Jo tell you," she con-
tinued, without looking at him. "You have acted
badly, — very badly."
"Don't I know that I have? But whose fault was
it?"
"Why do you say that to me?" said she, with a
severe look.
"You know why," he replied boldly and joyously,
meeting her gaze, and without dropping his eyes.
She, not he, felt confused.
"This simply proves that you have no heart," said
she. But her eyes told the story, that she knew that
he had a heart, and that therefore she feared him.
ANNA KARENINA i8i
"What you were talking about just now was error,
not love."
" Remember that I have forbidden you to speak that
word, that hateful word," said Anna, trembling; and
instantly she felt that by the use of that one word
"forbidden," she recognized a certain jurisdiction over
him, and thus encouraged him to speak of love. " For
a long time I have been wanting to say this to you,"
she continued, looking steadily into his eyes, and all
aflame with the color that burned in her face. " I have
come to-night on purpose, knowing that I should find
you here ; I have come to tell you this must come to an
end. I have never had to blush before any one before,
and you somehow cause me to feel guilty in my own
eyes."
He looked at her, and was struck with the new spiri-
tual beauty of her face.
" What do you want me to do .■* " said he, simply and
gravely.
" I want you to go to Moscow, and beg Kitty's
pardon."
" You do not want that," said he.
He saw that she was compelling herself to say one
thing, while she really desired something else.
" If you love me, as you say you do," she murmured,
" then do what will give me peace ! "
Vronsky's face lighted up.
" Don't you know that you are my life ? But I don't
know what peace means, and I can't give it to you.
Myself, my love, I can give — ^yes, I cannot think of you
and of myself separately. For me, you and I are one.
I see no hope of peace for you or for me in the future.
I see the possibility of despair, of misfortune, — unless I
see the possibility of happiness, and what happiness ! ...,
Is it really impossible ? " he murmured, with his lips only,
but she heard him.
She directed all the forces of her mind to say what
she ought ; but, instead of that, she looked at him with
love in her eyes, and said nothing.
" Ah ! " he thought, with rapture, "at the very moment
i82 ANNA KARENINA
when I was in despair, when it seemed I should never
succeed, it has come ! She loves me ! She confesses it."
" Then do this for me, and never speak to me in this
way again ; let us be good friends," said her words : her
eyes told a totally different story.
" We can never be mere friends ; you yourself know
it. Shall we be the most miserable, or the happiest, of
human beings ? It is for you to decide."
She began to speak, but he interrupted her.
"You see I ask only one thing, the right of hoping
and suffering, as I do now ; if it is impossible, order me
to disappear, and I will disappear ; you shall not see me
if my presence is painful to you."
" I do not wish to drive you away."
"Then change nothing; let things go as they are,"
said he, with trembling voice. " Here is your husband ! "
Indeed, Alekse'f Aleksandrovitch at that instant was
entering the drawing-room, with his calm face and awk-
ward gait.
Glancing at his wife and Vronsky, he went first to the
hostess, and then he sat down with a cup of tea, and in
his slow and well-modulated voice, in his habitual tone
of persiflage, which seemed always to deride some one
or something, he said, as he glanced around at the
assembly : —
" Your Rarabouillet is complete, — the Graces and
the Muses ! "
But the Princess Betsy could not endure this " sneer-
ing" tone of his, as she called it, — and, like a clever
hostess, quickly brought him round to a serious discus-
sion of the forced conscription. Aleksef Aleksandro-
vitch immediately entered into it, and began gravely to
defend the new ukase against Betsy's attacks.
Vronsky and Anna still sat near their little table.
" That is getting rather pronounced," said a lady, in a
whisper, indicating with her eyes Karenin, Anna, and
Vronsky.
" What did I tell you > " said Anna's friend.
Not only these ladies, but nearly all who were in the
drawing-room, even the Princess Miagkaya and Betsy
ANNA KARENINA 183
herself, glanced more than once at them sitting apart
from the general company, as if it disturbed them.
Only Aleksef Aleksandrovitch never once looked in
their direction, and was not diverted from the interest-
ing conversation on which he had started.
Betsy, perceiving the disagreeable impression that all
felt, substituted some one else in her place to listen to
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, and crossed over to Anna.
" I always admire your husband's clear and explicit lan-
guage," she said. "The most transcendental thoughts
seem within my reach when he speaks."
" Oh, yes ! " said Anna, with a radiant smile of joy,
and not understanding a word that Betsy had said.
Then she went over to the large table, and joined in
the general conversation.
After he had stayed half an hour Aleksef Aleksandro-
vitch spoke to his wife and proposed to her that they
should go home together ; but she answered, without
booking at him, that she wished to remain to supper.
Alekser Aleksandrovitch took leave of the company and
departed.
Madame Karenina's coachman, a portly old Tatar,
in his lacquered leather coat, was having some difficulty
in restraining his left-hand gray, which was excited with
the cold. A lackey stood holding open the carriage
door. The Swiss was standing ready to open the outer
door ; Anna, Arkadyevna was listening with ecstasy to
what Vronsky whispered, while she was freeing, with
nervous fingers, the lace of her sleeve, which had caught
on the hook of her fur cloak.
" You have said nothing, let us admit, and I make no
claim," Vronsky was saying, as he accompanied her
down, " but you know that it is not friendship that I
ask fbr ; for me, the only possible happiness of my life
is contained in that word that you do not like ....
love."
" Love ...." she repeated slowly, as if she had spoken
to herself; then suddenly, as she disentangled her lace,
she said, " I do not like this word, because it means too
i84 ANNA KARENINA
much, far more than you can imagine," and she looked
hirh full in the face. " Da svidanya i " ^
She reached him her hand, and, with a quick elastic
step, passed the Swiss, and disappeared in her carriage.
Her look, her pressure of his hand, filled Vronsky
with passion. He kissed the palm on the place which
she had touched, and went home with the happy convic-
tion that that evening had brought him nearer to the
goal of which he dreamed, than all the two months past.
CHAPTER Vni
AlekseV Aleksandrovitch found nothing unusual
or improper in the fact that his wife and Vronsky had
been sitting by themselves and having a rather lively
talk together ; he noticed that to others in the drawing-
room it seemed unusual and improper, and therefore it
seemed to him also improper. He decided that he
ought to speak about it to his wife.
When he reached home, Aleksei Aleksandrovitch, ac-
cording to his usual custom, went to his library, threw
himself into his arm-chair, and opened his book at the
place marked by a paper-cutter, in an article on Papistry,
and read till the clock struck one, as he usually did.
From time to time he passed his hand across his high
forehead, and shook his head, as if to drive away an im-
portunate thought. At his usual hour he arose and he
prepared to go to bed. Anna Arkadyevna had not yet
returned. With his book under his arm, he went up-
stairs ; but that evening, instead of pursuing his usual
train of reflections and thinking over his governmental
duties, his mind was occupied with his wife and the dis-
agreeable impression which her behavior had caused him.
Contrary to his habit, instead of going to bed he walked
up and down the rooms with his arms behind his Back.
He could not go to bed because he felt that first it was
incumbent on him to ponder anew over the exigency
that had arisen.
1 Da svidanya, like au revoir or aufviieder'sehen, has no equivalent in
English.
ANNA KARENINA 185
When Aleksef Aleksandrovitch made up his mind
that he must have a talk with his wife, it seemed
to him very simple and natural ; but now, as he re-
flected, it occurred to him that the matter was com-
plicated and perplexing.
Aleksei" Aleksandrovitch was not jealous. Jealousy
in his opinion was insulting to a wife, and a husband
should trust in her. But he did not ask himself why
one should trust her, that is to say, why a man should
expect a young wife always to love him.
But he had not felt any lack of confidence simply
because he trusted her, and said to himself that it was
the proper thing to do. But now, although it was his
conviction that jealousy is a disgusting state of mind,
and that it was his duty to trust his wife and that his
faith was still intact, yet he felt that he was placed in
an illogical and ridiculous position, and he knew not
what he ought to do.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch was now standing face to
face with life, with the possibility that his wife was in
love with some one else besides him, and this seemed
to him very senseless and incomprehensible, because
it was life itself. All his life he had lived and labored
in a round of official duties concerned with the reflec-
tions of life. And whenever he came in contact with
life itself he was revolted by it. Now he experienced
a sensation such as a man feels, who, passing calmly
over a bridge above a precipice, suddenly discovers that
the arch is broken, and that the abyss yawns beneath his
feet.
This abyss was actual life ; the bridge — the artifi-
cial life which he had been living. The idea that his
wife could love another man occurred to him for the
first time, and filled him with terror.
Without undressing, he kept walking back and forth
with regular steps : over the echoing parquetry floor of the
dining-room lighted with a single burner ; over the carpet
of the dark drawing-room, where the light fell on his
recently painted full-length portrait, over the divan ; and
then through his wife's boudoir, where two candles were
i86 ANNA KARENINA
burning, lighting up the portraits of parents and friends,
and the pretty trinkets upon her writing-table, so long
familiar to him. When he reached the door of her bed-
room he turned and went back.
At the end of each turn in his pacing back and forth,
and especially on the hard-wood floor of his brightly
lighted dining-room, he would stop and say to himself: —
" Yes, this must certainly be cut short ; it must be
decided ; I must tell her my way of looking at it ! "
And then he would turn back again.
"But what can I say.? what decision can I make.'"
he would ask himself by the time he reached the draw-
ing-room, and find no answer.
•' But, after all," he would say, as he turned in the
library, "what has been done .-• Nothing. She had a
long talk with him. What of that } But whom does
not a society woman talk with.? To be jealous is de^
grading both her and me," he would say to himself as
he reached her boudoir. But this reasoning, which had
hitherto had such weight, had now lost its cogency.
From the door of her sleeping-room he returned again
to the hall, but, as he crossed fhe dark drawing-room,
he thought he heard a voice saying to him, " It is not
so ! the fact that the others noticed this signifies that
there must be something in it." — And by the time he
reached the dining-room again he was saying, " Yes, the
thing must be decided, and broken short off." And
once more in the drawing-room, just before he turned
about, he would ask himself : —
" How can I decide ? How can I tell her.?"
And then he would ask himself, "What had hap-
pened.?" and reply, "Nothing," and remember that
jealousy is a feeling degrading to a woman ; but again
in the drawing-room he would feel persuaded that some-
thing had happened.
His thoughts, like his steps, followed the same circle,
and he struck no new idea. He recognized this, rubbed
his forehead, and sat down in her boudoir.
There, as he looked at her table, with its malachite
writing-tablet, and a letter unfinished, his thoughts took
ANNA KARENINA tSj
another direction ; he began to think of her, and how
she would feel. His imagination vividly showed him
her personal life, her thoughts, and her desires ; and the
idea that she might, that she must, have her individual
life apart from his, seemed to him so terrible, that he
hastened to put it out of his mind.
This was the abyss which it was so dreadful for him
to gaze into. To penetrate by thought and feeling into
the soul of another was a psychical effort strange to
Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch. He considered it a pernicious
and dangerous mental habit.
"And what is most terrible," he said to himself, "is
that this senseless uncertainty comes on me just as I
am about to bring my work to completion," — he re-
ferred to a scheme which he was at that time managing,
— " and when I need perfect freedom from agitation
and all my mental powers. What is to be done .-* I am
not one of those men who can endure agitation and
annoyance and have the strength of mind to face them."
" I must reflect ; I must take some stand and get rid
of this annoyance," he added aloud. "I do not admit
that I have any right to probe into her feelings, or to
scrutinize what is going on in her heart ; that belongs
to her conscience, and comes into the domain of relig-
ion," he said to himself, feeling some consolation that
he had found a domain of law applicable to the circum-
stances that had arisen.
" So," he continued, " the questions relating to her
feelings and the like are questions of conscience, in
which I have no concern. My duty lies clearly before
me. As head of my family, I am bound to guide her,
and therefore, to a certain degree, I am responsible. I
must point out the danger which I see ; I must watch
over her, and even use my powers. I must speak to her."
And Aleksef Aleksandrovitch formulated in his mind
everything that he should say to his wife. While he
was thinking it over he regretted the necessity of wast-
ing his time and his intellectual powers in family matters.
But, in spite of him, his plan assumed, in his thought,
the clear, precise, and logical form of a report : —
i88 ANNA KARENINA
" I must make her understand as follows : First, The
meaning and importance of public opinion and deco-
rum ; Secondly, The religious significance of marriage ;
Thirdly, if necessary. The unhappiness which it might
cause her son ; Fourthly, The unhappiness which might
befall herself."
And Aleksef Aleksandrovitch twisted his fingers to-
gether, palms down, and made the joints crack.
This gesture, of joining his hands and stretching his
finger-joints, — a bad habit, — calmed him, and conduced
to the precision of which he now stood in such need.
A carriage was heard driving up to the house. Alek-
sef Aleksandrovitch stopped in the middle of the hall.
He heard his wife's step on the stairway. Aleksel
Aleksandrovitch had his sermon all ready ; but still he
stood there, squeezing his crossed fingers and trying to
make the joints crack. One joint cracked.
Even as he heard her light steps on the stairs he was
conscious of her presence, and, though he was satisfied
with his sermon, he dreaded the explanation that was
imminent
CHAPTER IX
Anna entered with bent head, playing with the tas-
sels of her bashluik or Turkish hood. Her face shone
with a bright glow, but this bright glow did not betoken
joy ; it reminded one of the terrible glow of a confla-
gration against a midnight sky. When she saw her
husband, she raised her head and smiled, as if she had
awakened from a dream.
" You are not abed yet } what a miracle ! " she said,
taking off her bashluik ; and, without pausing, she went
into her dressing-room, crying, " It is late, Aleksei
Aleksandrovitch," as she got to the door.
"Anna, I must have a talk with you."
"With me.''" she said, in astonishment, coming out
into the hall, and looking at him. "What is it "i What
about 1 " she asked, and sat down. " Well, let us talk,
ANNA KARENINA 189
then, if it is so necessary ; but I would much rather go
to sleep."
Anna said what came to her tongue, and was aston-
ished to hear herself, astonished at her own facility at
telling a lie. How perfectly natural her words sounded,
and how probable that she wanted to go to sleep ; she
felt herself clad in an impenetrable armor of falsehood.
She felt that some invisible power assisted her and sus-
tained her.
"Anna, I must give you a warning."
" A warning ? " she exclaimed ; " why .? "
She looked at him so innocently, so'gayly, that any
one who did not know her as her husband did would
have noticed nothing unnatural either in the tone of her
voice or in the meaning of what she said. But for him,
who knew her, who knew that when he was five minutes
later than usual she always remarked on it, and asked
the reason, for him who knew that her first impulse was
always to tell him of her pleasures and her sorrows, for
him now to see the fact that Anna took special pains
not to observe his agitation, that she took special pains
not to say a word about herself, all this was very sig-
nificant. He saw that the depths of her soul, hitherto
always opened to his gaze, were now shut away from him.
Moreover, by her tone he perceived that she was not
confused by this ; but as it were she said openly and with-
out dissimulation, " Yes, I am a sealed book, and so it
must be, and will be from henceforth."
He felt as a man would who should come home and
find his house barricaded against him.
" Perhaps the key will yet be found," thought Aleksel
Aleksandrovitch.
" I want to warn you," said he, in a gentle voice,
" lest by your imprudence and your thoughtlessness
you give people cause to talk about you. Your rather
too lively conversation this evening with Count Vronsky "
— he pronounced this name slowly and distinctly —
"attracted attention."
He finished speaking, and looked at Anna's laughing
eyes, now terrible to him because they were so impene-
I90 ANNA KARENINA
trable, and he saw all the idleness and uselessness of
his words.
" You are always like this," she said, as if she had
not understood him, and intentionally had understood
only the last part of what he said. " Sometimes you
don't like it because I am bored, and sometimes you
don't like it because I have a good time. I was not
bored this evening; does that disturb you.-*"
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch trembled ; again he stretched
his fingers till the knuckles cracked.
"Akh! I beg of you, don't crack your fingers, I
detest it so," said she.
"Anna, is this you.''" said Aleksef Aleksandrovitch,
trying to control himself, and stopping the movement
of his hands.
" Yes ! but what is it ? " she asked, with a sincere
and almost comic astonishment. " What do you want
of me } "
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch was silent, and passed his
hand across his brow and over his eyes. He felt that,
instead of having done as he intended, that is, instead
of having warned his wife of her errors in the sight
of the world, he was agitated at what concerned her
conscience, and was perhaps striking some imaginary
wall.
" This is what I wanted to say," he continued,
coldly and calmly, " and I beg you to listen to me until
I have done. As you know, I regard jealousy as an
insulting and degrading sentiment, and I never allow
myself to be led away by it ; but there are certain laws
of propriety which one cannot cross with impunity.
This evening, judging by the impression which you
made, — I am not the only one that noticed it, all did,
— you did not conduct yourself at all in a proper
manner."
" Decidedly I do not understand at all," said Anna,
shrugging her shoulders. " He does not really care,"
she thought; "all that he fears is the opinion of the
world." — " You are not well, Aleksel Aleksandrovitch,"
she added, rising, and starting to go to her room.
ANNA KARENINA 191
But he stepped in front of her as if to prevent her from
going. Never had Anna seen his face so displeased
and ugly ; she remained standing, tipping her head to
one side, while with quick fingers she began to pull out
the hair-pins.
" Well ! I will hear what you have to say," she said,
in a calm, bantering tone ; " I shall even listen with
interest, because I should like to know what it is all
about."
She herself was astonished at the assurance and calm
naturalness with which she spoke, as well as at her
choice of words.
" I have no right to examine your feelings. I think
it is useless and even dangerous," AlekseY Aleksandro-
vitch began. " If we probe too deeply into our hearts,
we run the risk of touching on what we ought not to
perceive. Your feelings concern your conscience. But
in presence of yourself, of me, and of God, I am in
duty bound to remind you of your obligations. Our lives
are united, not by men, but by God. Only by crime
can this bond be broken, and such a crime brings its
own punishment."
" I don't understand at all. Oh, heavens, how sleepy
I am ! " said Anna, swiftly running her hand over her
hair, and taking out the last pin.
" Anna ! in the name of Heaven, don't speak so,"
said he, gently. " Maybe I am mistaken ; but believe
me, what I say to you is as much for your advantage as
for mine ; I am your husband, and I love you."
Anna's face for an instant grew troubled, and the
mocking fire disappeared from her eyes ; but the word
" love " irritated her. " Love ! " she thought ; " does he
know what it means .-' If he had never heard that there
was such a thing as love, he would never have used that
word."
*' Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, truly, I don't know what
you mean," she said. "They say you find...."
" Allow me to finish. I love you, but I am not speak-
ing for myself ; those who are chiefly interested are our
son and yourself. It is quite possible, I repeat, that my
192
ANNA KARENINA
words may seem idle and ill-judged ; possibly they are
the result of mistake on my part. In that case, I beg
you to forgive me ; but if you yourself feel that there
is the least foundation for my remarks, then I earnestly
urge you to reflect, and, if your heart inclines you, to.
confide in me."....
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, without noticing the fact,
had spoken a very different discourse from the one that
he had prepared.
" I have nothing to say." And she added in a
sprightly tone, scarcely hiding a smile, " Truly, it is time
to go to bed."
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch sighed, and, without speak-
ing further, went to their chamber.
When she reached the room, he was already in bed.
His lips were sternly set, and he did not look at her.
Anna got into bed, every moment expecting that he
would speak to her again ; she both feared it and desired
it, but he said nothing.
She waited long without moving, and then forgot all
about him. She was thinking of some one else ; she saw
him and was conscious of her heart throbbing with emo-
tion and with guilty joy. Suddenly she heard a slow
and regular sound of snoring. Aleksei Aleksandrovitch
at first seemed to be startled himself, and stopped ; but
at the end of a second the snoring began again with
monotonous regularity.
" Too late ! too late ! " she whispered, with a smile.
She lay for a long time thus, motionless, with open
eyes, the shining of which it seemed to her she herself
could see in the darkness.
CHAPTER X
From this time began a new life for Alekse'f Aleksan-
drovitch and his wife. Nothing unusual happened.
Anna continued to go into society, and was especially
often at the Princess Betsy's ; and everywhere she met
Vronsky. Alekseif Aleksandrovitch saw it, but was
ANNA KARENINA 193
powerless to prevent it. Whenever he tried to bring
about an explanation, she raised up against him an
impenetrable wall of humorous perplexity.
Outwardly, everything was the same, but their rela-
tions had completely changed. Aleksei Aleksandro-
vitch, a remarkably strong man in matters requiring
statesmanship, here found himself powerless. Like an
ox, submissively lowering its head, he waited the blow
of the ax which he felt was lifted against him. When-
ever he began to think about it, he felt that once more
he must try by gentleness, tenderness, reason, to save
Anna, and bring her back to him. Every day he made
up his mind to speak ; but as soon as he made the
attempt, that evil spirit of falsehood which possessed
her seemed to lay hold of him also, and he spoke not at
all in the tone in which he meant to speak. Involun-
tarily, what he. said was spoken in his tone of raillery,
which seemed to cast ridicule on those who would speak
as he did. And this tone was not at all suitable for the
expression of the thoughts that he wished to express.
CHAPTER XI
What had been for nearly a whole year the sole de-
sire of Vronsky's life, changing all his former desires —
what Anna had looked upon as an impossible, a terrible,
and, therefore, the more a fascinating, dream of bliss, was
at last realized. Pale, with quivering lower jaw, he
stood over her, begging her to be calm, himself not
knowing how or why.
"Anna! Anna!" he said, with trembling voice.
"Anna! for God's sake!"....
But the more intensely he spoke the lower she hung
her once proud, joyous, but now humiliated head, and
she crouched all down, and dropped from the divan,
where she had been sitting, to the floor at his feet.
She would have fallen on the carpet had he not held her.
"My God! forgive me!" she sobbed, pressing his
VOL. I. — 13
194 ANNA KARENINA
hands to her breast. She felt that she was such a sinnef
and criminal that nothing remained for her except to
crouch down and beg for forgiveness ; now there was
nothing else for her in life but him, so that to him alone
she turned her prayer for forgiveness. As she looked
at him she felt her humiliation physically, and she could
say no more.
But he felt exactly as a murderer must feel when he
sees the lifeless body of his victim. This lifeless body
was their love — the first epoch of their love. There
was something horrible and repulsive in the recollection
of the terrible price that they had paid for this shame.
The shame in the presence of their spiritual nakedness
oppressed her and took hold of him. But in spite of all
the horror felt by the murderer in presence of the body
of his victim, he must cut it in pieces, must bury it, must
take advantage of his crime.
And, as with fury and passion the murderer throws
himself on the dead body and drags it and cuts it, so he
covered her face and shoulders with kisses. She held
his hand and did not stir.
" Yes, these kisses were what had been bought with
this shame ! Yes, and this hand, which will always be
mine, is the hand of my accomplice."
She raised his hand and kissed it. He fell on his
knees, and tried to look into her face ; but she hid it
and said nothing. At last, as if trying to control her-
self, she made an effort to rise, and pushed him away.
Her face was still as beautiful as ever ; even so much
the more was it pitiful.
"All is ended," said she; "I have nothing but thee,
remember that."
" I cannot help remembering it, since it is my life. A
moment before this happiness .... "
"What happiness.?" she cried, with contempt and
horror. And horror involuntarily seized him also,
" For God's sake, not a word, not a word more."
She quickly got up and moved away from him, and
with a strange expression of hopeless despair, such as he
had never seen before, on her face, she stood aloof from
ANNA KARENINA 195
him. She felt that at that moment she could not ex-
press in words the sense of shame, rapture, and horror
at this entrance into a new life, and she did not wish to
speak about it or vulgarize the feeling with definite words.
But even afterward, on the next day, on the third
day, not only did she fail to find words in which to
express the complication of these feelings, but she
could not even find thoughts by which to formulate to
herself all that was in her soul.
She said to herself: —
" No, I cannot now think about this ; by and by, when
I am calmer."
But this calmness never came. Every time when the
questions arose: "What had she done.? and what would
become of her.? and what ought she to do.?" she was
filled with horror, and she compelled herself not to think
about them.
"By and by, by and by," she repeated, "when I am
calmer."
On the other hand, during sleep, when she had no
control of her thoughts, her situation appeared in its
ugly nakedness. One dream almost every night haunted
her. She dreamed that she was the wife both of Vron-
sky and of Alekseif Aleksandrovitch, and that both lav-
ished their caresses on her, Aleksef Aleksandrovitch
kissed her hands, and said, weeping, " How happy we are
now ! " Aleksei" Vronsky, also, was there, and he was
her husband. She was amazed that she had ever be-
lieved such a thing impossible ; and she laughed as she
explained to them that this was far simpler, that both
would henceforth be satisfied and happy. But this
dream weighed on her like a nightmare, and she always
awoke in fright.
CHAPTER Xn
Even in the first weeks after Levin returned from
Moscow, every time that with flushed cheeks and a
trembling in his limbs he remembered the shame of hi^
rejection, he would say to himself: —
196 ANNA KARENINA
"I blushed and trembled like this, and I felt that all
was lost, when I got one in physics, and had to go into
the second class ; and I thought myself irretrievably
ruined when I bungled in my sister's affairs, which were
confided to me. And now ? Now the years have gone
by, and I look back and wonder how it could disturb
my mind. It will be just the same with my disap-
pointment this time. Time will pass, and I shall grow
callous."
But three months passed away and the callousness
did not come, and it was as painful for him to remember
it as on the first day. He could not reconcile himself
to the fact that, after dreaming so long of family life,
after being, as he thought, so well prepared for it, not
only was he not married, but found himself farther than
ever from marriage. He felt painfully, as all those
around him felt, that it is not good for a man of his age
to live alone. He remembered that before his departure
for Moscow he had once said to his cowherd, Nikolai, a
simple-hearted muzhik with whom he liked to talk : —
" Do you know, Nikolai, I am thinking of getting
married ? " whereupon Nikolai had instantly replied, as
if there could not be the slightest doubt about it : —
"This ought to have been long ago, Konstantin
Dmitritch."
And now marriage was farther off than ever. The
place was taken ; and when, exercising his imagination,
he put into that place some young girl of his acquain-
tance, he felt that it was perfectly impossible. Moreover,
the recollection of how Kitty refused him and of the
part which he played still tormented him with morti-
fication. It was idle to say that he was not to blame in
this ; this recollection, taken together with other mortify-
ing experiences of the same sort, made him quiver and
grow red in the face. He had on his conscience, as
every man has, the remembrance of evil deeds for which
he should have repented ; but the remembrance of these
evil deeds did not trouble him nearly so much as the
feeling of his humiliation, slight as it really was. It was
a wound that refused to heal. He could not keep out
ANNA KARENINA 197
of his mind his rejection, and the miserable position in
which he must have been placed in the eyes of others.
Time and labor, however, brought their balm ; the
painful impressions little by little began to fade in pres-
ence of the events of the country life, important in
reality, in spite of their apparent insignificance. Each
week his thoughts turned to Kitty v/ith less frequency.
He even began to await with impatience the news that
she was married, or was going to be married, hoping that
this event would bring healing in the same way as the
pulling of a tooth may.
Meantime spring came, beautiful, friendly, without
treachery or false promises, — a spring such as fills
plants and animals, no less than men, with joy. This
splendid season gave Levin new zeal, and confirmed his
resolution to tear himself from the past so as to reorgan-
ize his solitary life on conditions of permanence and
independence. Although many of the plans that he
had formed on his return to the country had not been
put into effect, yet the most essential one — that his life
should be kept pure -7- had been realized. He expe-
rienced none of that sense of shame which ordinarily
tormented him after a fall ; and he could look fearlessly
into men's eyes.
In February he had received a letter from Marya
Nikolayevna, who informed him that his brother's health
was failing, and that he would not use any rcmedi'js.
In consequence of this letter he had immediately gone
to* Moscow, where he persuaded Nikolai to consult a
physician, and then to go abroad for the baths. He
succeeded so well in persuading his brother and in lend-
ing him money for the journey, without exasperating
him, that he felt quite satisfied with himself.
Besides his farm-labors, which especially occupied his
attention that spring, and his ordinary reading, Levin
was deeply engaged in writing a work on rural economy,
which he had begun during the winter. His theory was
that in farming the laborer's temperament is a factor as
important as climate or the soil, and that consequently
ail the deductions of agronomic science are drawn, not
198 ANNA KARENINA
from the premises of soil and climate alone, but from
the soil, the climate, and the certain unchangeable
character of the laborer.
Thus, notwithstanding his loneliness or in conse-
quence of his loneliness, his life, therefore, was very busy
and full ; only occasionally he felt the need of some one
besides Agafya Mikhallovna with whom to communi-
cate the ideas that came into his head. However, he
brought himself to discuss with her about physics, the
theories of rural economy, and, above all, philosophy.
Philosophy was Agafya Mikhailovna's favorite subject.
The spring opened late. During the last weeks of
Lent the weather was clear but cold. During the day
the snow melted in the sun, but at night the mercury
w^ent down to seven degrees ; the crust on the snow was
so thick that carts could go anywhere across the fields.
It snowed on Easter Sunday. Then suddenly, on the
following day, a warm wind blew, the clouds drifted
over, and for three days and three nights a warm and
heavy rain fell ceaselessly. On Thursday the wind went
down, and then over the earth was spread a thick gray
fog, as if to conceal the mysteries that were accomplish-
ing in nature ; under this fog, the fields were covered
with water, the ice was melting and disappearing, the
brooks ran more swiftly, foaming and muddy. Toward
evening the Krasnaya Gorka, or Red Hill, began to show
through the fog, the clouds scattered like snipe, and
spring in reality was there in all her brilliancy.
The next morning the sun rose bright and quickly
melted away the thin sheet of ice that still covered
the ponds, and the warm atmosphere grew moist with
the vapors rising from the earth ; the old grass and the
young blades peeping from the sod, with its tiny needles,
the buds on the snow-ball trees, the currant bushes, and
the sticky sappy birch trees, grew green, swelled, and
on their branches, powdered with golden bloom, swarms
of honey-bees buzzed in the sun. Invisible larks trilled
their songs over the velvet of the green and the prairies
freed from snow ; the lapwings lamented for their hoi-
lows and marshes, submerged by the stormy waters;
ANNA KARENINA 199
the wild swans and geese flew high in the air, with their
calls of spring. The cattle, with rough hair and spots
worn bare, lowed as they went out to pasture ; the
bandy-legged lambs gamboled around the bleating ewes^
soon to lose their wool ; swift-footed children ran bare-
foot over the wet paths, where their footprints were left
like fossils ; the peasant-women gossiped gayly around
the edge of the pond, where they were bleaching their
linen ; and in the yards resounded the axes of the mu-
zhiks, repairing their plows and their wagons.
Spring had really come.
CHAPTER XIII
Levin put on his heavy boots, and, for the first time,
his sleeveless cloth coat instead of his fur shuba, and
went out to look over his estate, tramping through the
brooklets which dazzled his eyes as they glanced in the sun,
and stepping, now on a cake of ice, and now in sticky mud.
Spring is the epoch of plans and projects. Levin, as
he went out into his court, no more definitely knew what
he would first take in hand in his beloved farming than
the tree in early spring knows how and why his young
sprouts and branches grow out from their enveloping
buds ; but he felt that he was going to originate the
most charming projects and the most sensible plans.
He went first to see his cattle. The cows had been
let out into the yard, and with their smooth new coats
of hair glistening as they warmed themselves in the
sun, they were lowing as if to beg permission to go out
to pasture. Levin knew them all, even to the minutest
particulars. He contemplated them with satisfaction,
and gave orders to take them to pasture, and to let the
calves out into the yard. The cow-boy gayly started to
drive them out into the field. The milkmaids, gather-
ing up their petticoats, and splashing through the mud
with bare feet, white as yet, and free from tan, chased
the bellowing calves, silly with the rapture of spring, and
with switches kept them from escaping froni the yard.
400 ANNA KARENINA
Admiring the young cattle which the year had
brought, for they were uncommonly beautiful, — the
oldest already as large as a peasants' cow, and Pava's
daughter, three months old, as big as a yearling, — ■
Levin ordered the trough to be brought out for them,
and their hay to be given them behind gratings.^ He
found, however, that these gratings, which had been
made in the autumn, but were not used during the
winter, were out of repair. He sent for the carpenter,
who was supposed to be busy repairing the threshing-
machine ; but it seemed that the carpenter was not
there. He was repairing the harrows, which should
have been repaired during Lent. This made Levin
very indignant. He was indignant at this everlasting
repetition of such slovenliness, against which he had so
many years struggled with all his might. The gratings,
as he soon learned, not having been in use during the
winter, had been carried to the stable, where, as they
were of light construction, and meant only for calves,
they had been broken.
Moreover, it appeared that nothing had been done to
the harrows and other agricultural implements, which
should have been inspected and put in order during the
winter months, and for this purpose especially he had
hired three carpenters. The harrows were needed im-
mediately for work in the fields. Levin summoned the
overseer,^ then he himself went in search of him.
The overseer, as radiant as everything else was that
day, came from the threshing-floor dressed in a lined
lambskin coat.^ He was twisting a straw between his
fingers.
" Why is n't the carpenter at work on the threshing-
machine .? "
" Oh, yes ; that is what I meant to tell you last even-
ing : the harrows had to be repaired ! We 've got to
plow."
" Yes ; but what have you been doing this winter ? "
"Yes; but why do you hire such a carpenter ?"
1 Reshotki, a sort of portable palisade.
2 Prikashchik. ^ Tulupchik.
ANNA KARENINA 201
** Where are the gratings for the calves ? "
" I ordered them to be put in place. You can't do
anything with such people," replied the overseer, wav-
ing his hands.
" Not such people, but such an overseer ! " said Levin,
getting still more angry. *' Well, what do I keep you
for ? " he shouted ; but, recollecting that shouts did not
do any good, he stopped in the middle of his remark
and only sighed. " Well, can you get the seed in yet .-* "
he asked, after a silence.
" Back of Turkino we might to-morrow, or the day
after."
" And the clover ? "
" I sent Vasili and Mishka to sow it, but I don't know
whether they succeeded ; it 's muddy."
" On how many acres .'' "
" Sixteen acres." ^
" Why not the whole ? " cried Levin.
He was still more indignant because they had sowed
only sixteen acres instead of fifty-four: he knew by his
own experience, as well as by theory, the need of sowing
the clover-seed as early as possible, almost in the snow,
and Levin never could get this done.
"Not enough people. What can you do with these
men .-' The three hired men did not come ; and then
Semyon .... "
"Well, you would better have taken them away from
the straw."
" Yes ; I did that very thing."
" Where are all the people ?"
" There are five at the compote [he meant to say com-
post] ; four are moving the oats, so that they should not
spoil, Konstantin Dmitritch."
Levin knew very well that these words, " So that they
should not spoil,'' meant that his English oats saved for
seed were already ruined. Again they had not done
what he had ordered.
" Yes ! But did I not tell you during Lent to put in
the ventilating-chimneys .'' " he cried.
^ Six desyatins ; a desyatina is 2.7 acres.
202 ANNA KARENINA
" Don't you be troubled ; we will do all in good
time."
Levin angrily waved his hand, and went to examine
his oats in the granary; then he went to the stables.
The grain was not yet spoiled, but the workmen were
stirring it up with shovels when they might have let it
down from one story to the other. After he had
straightened this matter and sent two hands to sow
the clover, Levin calmed down in regard to his over-
seer. It was such a lovely day that one could not keep
angry.
" Ignat," he cried to his coachman, who, with upturned
sleeves, was washing the carriage near the pump, " sad-
dle me a horse,"
"Which one.?"
" Well, Kolpik."
" I will do so."
While he was saddling the horse, Levin again called
the overseer, who was busying himself in his vicinity,
hoping to be restored to favor, and began to speak with
him about the work that he wanted done during the
spring, and about his plans for carrying on the estate.
He wanted the compost spread as soon as possible,
so as to have this work done before the first mowing ;
then he wanted the farthest field plowed, so that it
might be left fallow. All the fields — not half of them
— should be attended to with the laborers.
The overseer listened attentively, doing his best evi-
dently to approve of his master's plans. But never-
theless his face wore that vexatiously hopeless and
melancholy expression which Levin knew so well.
This expression seemed to say, "This is all very well
and good, but as God shall give."
Nothing exasperated Levin so much as this tone, but
it was common to all the overseers that had ever been
in his service. They all received his projects with the
same dejected air ; and so he now refrained from getting
angry, but he was exasperated and felt himself still more
stimulated for the struggle against this, as it were ele-
mental, force which he could not help calling " As God
ANNA KARENINA 203
shall give,'' and which constantly opposed him every-
where.
" If we have time, Konstantin Dmitritch," said the
overseer.
" Why shall we not have time t "
" We absolutely ought to hire fifteen more workmen,
but they can't be had. Some came to-day who asked
seventy rubles for the summer."
Levin did not speak. Again the opposing force !
He knew that, however he might exert himself, he never
could hire more than forty, thirty-seven, or thirty-eight,
laborers at a reasonable price ; he had succeeded in get-
ting forty, never more ; but nevertheless he could not
give up vanquished.
" Send to Suri, to Chefirovka ; if they don't come, we
must go for them."
" I 'm going to go," said Vasili Feodorovitch, gloomily.
"But then the horses are very feeble."
"Buy some more; but then I know," he added, with
a laugh, "that you will do as little and as badly as you
can. However, I warn you that I will not let you do as
you please this year. I shall take the reins in my own
hands."
" Yes ! but even as it is you get too little sleep, it
seems to me. We are very happy to be under our mas-
ter's eyes.... "
" Now, have the clover put in on the Berezof Bottom,
and I shall come myself to inspect it," said he,
mounting his little horse," Kolpik, which the coachman
brought up.
" Don't go across the brooks, Konstantin Dmitritch,"
cried the coachman.
" Well, then, by the woods."
And on his little, lively, easy-going ambler, which
whinnied as it came to the pools, and which pulled on
the bridle, having been too long in the stable. Levin rode
out of the muddy courtyard, and across the open fields.
Happy as Levin had felt in his cow-yard and cattle-
pen, he felt still happier out in the field. Rhythmically
swaying on his easy-going, gentle pony, drinking in the
204 ANNA KARENINA
warm air, freshened by the snow as he rode through the
forest where the snow still lay here and there rapidly
melting in the tracks, he took keen delight in every
one of his trees, with greening moss and swelling buds.
As he came out from the forest, before him lay a vast
stretch of fields ; they seemed like an immense carpet of
velvet where there was not a bare spot or a marsh, only
here and there in the hollows marked with patches of
melting snow. The sight of a peasant's mare and colt
treading down his fields did not anger him, but he
ordered a passing muzhik to drive them out. With the
same gentleness he received the sarcastic and impudent
answer of the muzhik Ipat, whom he met and asked,
" Ipat, shall we put in the seed before very long ? "
And Ipat replied, " We must plow first, Konstantin
Dmitritch."
The farther he went, the more his good-humor in-
creased, and each of his plans for improving his estate
seemed to surpass the other : to protect the fields on
the south by lines of trees so as to prevent the snow
from staying too long ; to divide his arable fields into
nine parts, six of which should be well dressed, and the
other three sown down to grass ; to build a cow-yard in
the farthest corner of one field, and have a pond dug ;
to have portable inclosures for the cattle, so as to util-
ize the manure; and thus to cultivate three hundred
desyatins of wheat, a hundred desyatins of potatoes, and
one hundred and fifty of clover, without exhausting the
soil.
Full of these reflections, he picked his way carefully
along so as not to tread down his fields, till at last he
reached the place where the laborers were sowing the
clover. The cart, loaded with seed, instead of being left
on the edge of the field, had been driven into the
plowed land, and his winter wheat was crushed by
the wheels and trampled down by the horse. The two
laborers were sitting by the edge of the field, evidently
smoking a mutual pipe. The earth in the cart, mixed
together with the seed, had not been worked over, but
was full of har4 or frozen lumps.
ANNA KARENINA 205
When he saw the master, the laborer Vasili started
toward the cart, and Mishka began to sow. This was
all wrong, but Levin rarely got angry with his laborers.
When Vasili came up to him, Levin ordered him to lead
the horse to the side of the field.
" It won't do any harm, sir ; it will spring up
again."
" Please not discuss it," replied Levin, " but do what
I say."
" I will obey," said Vasili, taking the horse by the
head. "What splendid seed, Konstantin Dmitritch,"
he added, to regain favor. " Best kind ! But it is
frightful going ! You drag 2i pud on each, foot."
" But why was n't the earth sifted ? " asked Levin.
" Oh ! it '11 come out all right," replied Vasili, taking
up some seed, and crushing the lump in his palm.
It was not Vasili's fault that they were scattering the
unsifted soil ; but it was vexatious, nevertheless. Hav-
ing more than once to his advantage made use of a
well-known means of wreaking his vexation, which
always seemed to him foolish. Levin now determined to
try it and see if he could recover his good temper. He
noticed how Mishka strode along dragging huge clods
of clay which stuck to each of his feet ; so, dismounting,
he took the seed-cod from Vasili and began to scatter
the seed.
" Where did you stop ? "
Vasili touched the spot with his foot, and Levin went
on as best he could, scattering the earth with the seed.
But it was as hard as wading through a marsh, and after
he had gone a row he stopped all in a sweat, and returned
the seed-cod.
"Well, barin, if that row doesn't come out well next
summer, don't blame me for it ! " said Vasili.
"Indeed I won't," replied Levin, gayly, already feel-
ing the efficacy of the means he had employed.
" But just look at the summer we 're gomg to have !
'T will be magnificent ! If you '11 notice, that 's where I
sowed last spring. How well I planted it I Why, Kon-
stantin Dmitritch, I work as if I were working for my
2o6 ANNA KARENINA
own father ! Well, I don't like to do slack work. What
is good for the master is good for us. And look yon-
der at that field," continued Vasili, pointing to the field,
"it delights my heart."
"It is a fine spring, Vasili."
" Yes ! it is such a spring as our old men can't re-
member. I was at home, and our elder has already
sowed an acre ^ of wheat ; as he says he can hardly tell
it from rye."
" But how long have you been sowing wheat ? "
"Why, you yourself taught us how to sow it year be-
fore last. You spared me two measures. It gave eight
bushels and w.e sowed an acre with it."
" Well ! look here, see that you break up the earth
well!" said Levin, as he started for his ambler, "look
after Mishka ; and if the seed comes up well, you shall
have fifty kopeks a desyatin."
" We thank you humbly : we should be content even
without that."
Levin mounted his horse, and rode off to visit his
last year's clover-field, and then to the field which was
already plowed ready for the summer wheat.
The crop of clover in the stubble-field was miraculous.
It had all survived, and was covering with a mantle of
green all the ground where the preceding fall the roots
of the wheat had been left.
The horse sank up to the fetlock, and each foot made
a sucking noise as he pulled it out of the half-thawed
soil. It was entirely impossible to cross the plowed
land. Only where there was ice would it hold, but in
the thawed furrows the horse's leg sank above the fet-
lock. The plowed field was excellent. In two days
the harrowing and sowing could be done. Everything
was beautiful, everything was gay !
Levin rode back by way of the brooks, hoping to find
the water lower; in fact, he found that he could get
* Tri ostninnika ; in the government of Tula an osminnik iS an eighth of
a desyatin. One chetvert (about eight bushels) plants three of these eighths,
or an acre. Levin promises an equivalent of about forty cents for 2.7
acres.
ANNA KARENINA 207
across ; and, as he waded through, he scared up a couple
of wild ducks.
"There ought to be snipe, also," he thought; and a
forest guard whom he met on his way to the house
confirmed his supposition.
He immediately spurred up his horse, so as to get
back in time for dinner, and to prepare his gun for
the evening.
CHAPTER XIV
Just as Levin reached home, in the best humor in
the world, he heard the jingling of bells at the side
entrance.
"There, now! some one from the railroad station,"
was his first thought ; "it 's time for the Moscow train.
— Who can have come.-' brother Nikolai'.'' Did he not
say that instead of going abroad he might perhaps
come to see me ? "
For a moment it occurred to him disagreeably that
his brother Nikolai's presence might spoil his pleasant
plans for the spring ; but, disgusted at the selfishness
of this thought, his mind, so to speak, instantly received
his brother with open arms, and he began to hope, with
affectionate joy, that it was really he.
He hurried his horse, and as he came out from behind
the acacia, he saw a hired troika from the railway station
and a traveler dressed in a shuba.
It was not his brother.
" Akh ! if only it is some agreeable man to talk with,"
he thought.
" Ah ! " he cried, lifting up both arms as he recog-
nized Stepan Arkadyevitch, " here is the most delecta-
ble of guests ! Akh ! how glad I am to see you ! —
I shall certainly learn from him if she is married or
when she's going to be," he added to himself.
This splendid spring morning he felt that the memory
of Kitty was not at all painful.
" You scarcely expected me, I suppose," said Stepan
2o8 ANNA KARENINA
Arkadyevitch, leaping out of the sledge, with spots ot
mud on the bridge of his nose, on his cheeks, and on
his forehead, but radiant with health and pleasure. " I
am come, first, to see you," he cried, throwing his arms
around Levin and kissing him ; " secondly, to shoot a few
birds ; and thirdly, to sell the forest at Yergushovo."
" Perfect, is n't it ? What do you think of this spring?
But how could you have got here in a sledge ? "
" Traveling is far worse with a telyega, Konstantin
Dmitritch," replied the postilion, who was an acquain-
tance.
" Well ! Indeed, I am delighted to see you again,"
said Levin, with a genuine smile of boyish joy.
He conducted his guest to the room kept in readi-
ness for visitors, and had Stepan Arkadyevitch's things
brought up, — a gripsack, a gun in its case, and a box
of cigars, and then, leaving him to wash and dress him-
self, he went down to his office to speak about the clover
and the plowing.
Agafya Mikhaiiovna, who had very much at heart the
honor of the mansion, met him in the vestibule with
questions about dinner,
"Do just as you please," replied Levin, as he went
out ; "only make haste about it," said he, and went to
the overseer.
When he returned, Stepan Arkadyevitch, who had
washed, and combed his hair, was just coming out of
his room with a radiant smile, and together they went
up-stairs.
" Well, I am very happy to have got out to your
house at last. I shall now learn the mystery of your
existence here. Truly, I envy you. What a house !
How convenient everything is ! how bright and delight-
ful! " said Stepan Arkadyevitch, forgetting that bright
days and the springtime were not always there. "And
your old nurse, — what a charming old soul ! All that 's
lacking is a pretty little chambermaid with an apron on,
— but that does not suit your severe and monastic style ;
but this is very good."
Stepan Arkadyevitch had much interesting news to
ANNA KARENINA 209
tell : especially interesting to Levin was the tidings that
his brother Sergye'i Ivanovitch expected to come into
the country this summer ; but not one word did Stepan
Arkadyevitch say about Kitty or any of the Shcherbat-
skys, he simply transmitted his wife's greeting. Levin
was grateful to him for this delicacy. As usual, he
had stored up during his hours of solitude a throng of
ideas and impressions which he could not share with
any of his domestics, and now he poured into Oblon-
sky's ears his poetical spring joys, his failures and plans
and farming projects, his thoughts and his observations
on the books which he had read, and above all the idea
of his treatise, the scheme of which consisted — though
he himself had not noticed it — of a critique on all for-
mer works on farming.
Stepan Arkadyevitch, amiable, and always ready to
grasp a point, showed unusual cordiality ; and Levin
even thought that he noticed a certain flattering con-
sideration and an undertone of tenderness in his treat-
ment of him.
The efforts of Agafya Mikhailovna and the cook to
get up an especially good dinner resulted in the two
friends, who were half starved, betaking themselves to
the zakuska, or lunch-table, and devouring bread and
butter, cold chicken and salted mushrooms, and finally
in Levin calling for the soup without the little pasties
which the cook had made in the hope of surprising the
guest.
But Stepan Arkadyevitch, though he was used to dif-
ferent kinds of dinners, found everything excellent, the
travnik, or herb-beer, the bread, the butter, and especially
the cold chicken, the mushrooms, the sJicJii, or cabbage-
soup, the fowl with white sauce, and the white Krimean
wine, — everything was admirable, wonderful !
"Perfect ! perfect ! " he cried, as he Jit a big cigarette
after the roast. " I feel as if I had escaped the shocks
and noise of a ship, and had landed on a peaceful shore.
And so you say that the element represented by the
working-man ought to be studied above all others, and
be taken as a guide in the choice of economy expe-
VOL. 1. — 14
2IO ANNA KARENINA
dients. You see I am a profanus in these questions,
but it seems to me that this theory and its applications
would have an influence on the working-man...."
"Yes; but hold on. I am not speaking of political
economy, but of rural economy considered as a science.
You must study the premises, the phenomena, just the
same as in the natural sciences ; and the working-man,
from the economical and ethnographical point of view ...."
But here Agafya Mikhailovna entered with the des-
sert of preserves.
" Well, now ! accept my compliments, Agafya Mi-
khaVlovna," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, kissing the ends
of his hairy fingers. " What nice baked chicken !
What delicious beer ! — Well, Kostia, is n't it time to
go .■• " he added.
Levin looked out of the window toward the sun,
which was sinking behind the tree-tops, still bare and
leafless.
" It is time. Kuzma, have the horses hitched up,"
he cried, as he went down-stairs.
Stepan Arkadyevitch followed him, and carefully re-
moved the canvas covering from the lacquered case, and,
having opened it, proceeded to take out his costly gun,
which was of the newest pattern.
Kuzma, already scenting a generous fee, gave him
assiduous attention, and helped him put on his stock-
ings and his hunting-boots ; and Stepan Arkadyevitch
accepted his aid complacently.
"If the merchant Rabinin comes while we are gone,
Kostia, — I told him to be here to-day, — do me the favor
to have him kept till we get back." ....
" Are you going to sell your wood to Rabinin .'' "
"Yes. Why, do you know him .'' "
"Oh! certainly I know him. I have done business
with him, 'positively and finally.' "
Stepan Arkadyevitch burst into a laugh. " Posi-
tively and finally " were the favorite words of the mer-
chant.
"Yes; he is very droll in his speech! — She knows
where her master is going," he added, patting Laska,
ANNA KARENINA 211
who was jumping and barking around Levin, licking
now his hand, now his boots and gun.
A dolgusha, or hunting-wagon, was waiting at the
steps as they came out.
" I had the horses put in, although we have but a
little distance to go," said Levin ; " but would you rather
walk.?"
"No, I prefer to ride," replied Stepan Arkadyevitch,
as he mounted the wagon. He sat down, tucking round
his legs a striped plaid, and lighted a cigar. "How
can you get along without smoking, Kostia .-' A cigar
....it is not only a pleasure, it is the very crown and
sign of delight. This is life indeed. How delightful !
I should like to live like this ! "
" What 's to prevent .-' " asked Levin, with a smile.
"Yes; but you are a fortunate man, for you have
everything that you like. You like horses, you have
them ; dogs, you have them ; hunting, here it is ; an
estate, here it is ! "
"Perhaps it is because I enjoy what I have, and
don't covet what I have not," replied Levin, with Kitty
in his mind.
Stepan Arkadyevitch understood, and looked at him
without speaking.
Levin was grateful to Oblonsky because he avoided
speaking about the Shcherbatskys, with his usual tact
perceiving that Levin dreaded to speak about them ;
but now he felt anxious to find out how matters stood,
but he did not dare to inquire.
" Well, how go your affairs } " asked Levin, realizing
how selfish it was in him to think only of himself.
Oblonsky's eyes glistened with gayety.
"You will not admit that one can want hot rolls when
he has his monthly rations ; in your eyes it is a crime :
but for me, I cannot admit the possibility of living with-
out love," he replied, construing Levin's question in his
own fashion. " What 's to be done about it .-' I am so
constituted. And it is a fact, it does so little. harm to
any one else, and gives one so much pleasure...."
"What! there is a new one, is there?" asked Levin.
212 ANNA KARENINA
" There is, brother ! You know the type of the
women in Ossian ?.... these women that you see in
dreams ? .... But they really exist, and are terrible.
Woman, you see, is an inexhaustible theme ; you can
never cease studying her, — she always presents some
new phase."
" So much the better not to study her, then."
" Not at all. Some mathematician has said that hap-
piness consisted in searching for truth and never find-
ing it."
Levin listened, and said no more ; and, notwithstanding
all the efforts which he made, he could not in the least
enter into his friend's soul, and understand his feelings
and the charm of studying such women.
CHAPTER XV
The place where the birds collected was not far
away, by a small stream, flowing through an aspen
grove. Levin got out and took Oblonsky to a nook in
a mossy, somewhat marshy meadow, where the snow
had already melted. He himself went to the opposite
side, near a double birch, rested his gun on the fork of
a dead branch, took off his kaftan, clasped a belt about
his waist, and insured the free motion of his arms.
Old gray Laska, following him step by step, sat down
cautiously in front of him, and pricked up her ears.
The sun was setting behind the great forest, and against
the bright sky the young birches and aspens stood out
distinctly, with their bending branches and their swell-
ing buds.
In the forest, where the snow still lay, the low rip-
pling sound of waters could be heard running in their
narrow channels ; little birds were chirping, and flying
from tree to tree. In the intervals of perfect silence
one could hear the rustling of the last year's leaves,
moved by the thawing earth or the pushing herbs.
" Why, one really can hear and see the grass grow ! "
said Levin to himself, as he saw a moist and slate-col-
ANNA KARENINA 213
ored aspen leaf raised by the blade of a young herb start-
ing from the sod.
He stood, listening and looking, now at the damp
moss-covered ground, now at the watchful Laska, now
at the bare tree-tops of the forest, which swept like a sea to
the foot of the hill, and now at the darkening sky, where
floated Httle white bits of cloud. A hawk flew aloft,
slowly flapping his broad wings above the distant forest ;
another took the same direction and disappeared. In
the thicket the birds were chirping louder and more
gayly than ever. Not far away, an owl lifted his voice,
and Laska pricked up her ears again, took two or three
cautious steps, and bent her head to listen. On the
other side of the stream a cuckoo sang. Twice it uttered
its customary cry, and then its voice grew hoarse, it
flew away, and was heard no more.
" Why, the cuckoo has come ! " said Stepan Arka-
dyevitch, coming out from behind his thicket.
" Yes, I hear," said Levin, disgusted that the silence
of the forest was broken, by the sound even of his own
voice. "You won't have to wait long now."
Stepan Arkadyevitch returned to his place behind his
thicket, and Levin saw only the flash of a match and
the red glow of his cigarette and a light bluish smoke.
Tchik ! tchik ! Stepan Arkadyevitch cocked his gun.
" What was that making that noise } " he asked of
his companion, attracting his attention to a protracted
humming as if a colt was neighing with a very slender
voice.
" Don't you know what that is .<* That is the buck
rabbit. Don't speak any more. Listen, there is a
bird ! " cried Levin, cocking his gun.
A slender distant whistle was heard, with that rhyth-
mic regularity which the huntsman knows so well ; then
a moment or two later it was repeated nearer, and sud-
denly changed into a hoarse little cry.
Levin turned his eyes to the right, to the left, and
finally saw, just above his head, against the fading blue
of the sky, above the gently waving aspens, a bird fly-
ing. It flew straight toward him ; its cry, like the noise
ar4 ANNA KARENINA
made by tearing stiff cloth, rang in his ears ; then he
distinguished the long bill and the long neck of the
bird, but hardly had he caught sight of it when a red
flash shone out from behind Oblonsky's bush. The
bird darted off like an arrow and rose into the air again ;
but again the light flashed and a report was heard, and
the bird, vainly striving to rise, flapped its wings for a
second, and fell heavily to the wet earth.
" Did I miss ? " asked Stepan Arkadyevitch, who
could see nothing through the smoke.
" Here she is," cried Levin, pointing to Laska, who,
with one ear erect, and waving the tip end of her hairy
tail, slowly, as if to lengthen out the pleasure, came back
with the bird in her mouth, seeming almost to smile as
she laid the game down at her master's feet.
" Well now, I am glad you succeeded," said Levin,
though he felt a slight sensation of envy, because he
himself had not killed this snipe.
"The right barrel missed, curse it ! " replied Stepan
Arkadyevitch, reloading his gun. '* S/t /....Here's an-
other...."
In fact, the whistles came thicker and thicker, rapid
and sharp. Two snipe flew over the hunters, playing,
chasing each other, and only whistling, not clucking.
Four shots rang out ; and the snipe, making a sudden
turn like swallows, disappeared from sight.
The sport was excellent. Stepan Arkadyevitch killed
two others, and Levin also two, one of which was lost.
It grew darker and darker. Venus, with silvery light,
shone out low in the west from behind the birches ;
and high in the east, Arcturus gleamed, with his somber,
reddish fire. Above his head. Levin found and lost the
stars of the Great Bear. The snipe had now ceased to
fly, but Levin resolved to wait until Venus, which was
visible above the birch trees, should stand clear above
the lower branches, and till all the stars of the Great
Bear should be entirely visible. The star had passed
beyond the birch trees, and the wain of the Bear with
ANNA KARENINA 215
its pole was shining out clear in the dark blue sky, and
he was still waiting.
" Is n't it getting late ? " asked Stepan Arkadyevitch.
All was calm in the forest ; not a bird moved.
" Let us wait a little longer," replied Levin.
"Just as you please."
At this moment they were not fifteen paces apart.
" Stiva," cried Levin, suddenly, "you have not told
me whether your sister-in-law is married yet, or whether
she is to be married soon."
He felt so calm, his mind was so thoroughly made
up, that nothing, he thought, could move him. But
what Stepan Arkadyevitch answered was wholly un-
expected.
" She is not married, and she is not thinking of
marriage. She is very ill, and the doctors have sent
her abroad. They even fear for her life."
"What did you say .^ " cried Levin. "Very ill?
What is the matter .-' How did she.... "
While they were talking thus, Laska, with ears erect,
was gazing at the sky above her head, and looking at
them reproachfully.
"This is not the time to talk," thought Laska. "Ah !
Here comes one — there he goes; they will miss him."
At the same instant a sharp whistle pierced the ears
of the two huntsmen, and both, leveling their guns,
shot at once ; the two reports, the two flashes, were
simultaneous. The snipe, flying high, folded his wings,
drew up his delicate legs, and fell into the thicket.
"Excellent! both together!" cried Levin, running
with Laska in search of the game. " Oh, yes ! What
was it that hurt me so just now.? Ah, yes ! Kitty is
ill," he remembered. " What is to be done about it .-•
It is too bad. — Ah ! she has found it ! Good dog," said
he, taking the bird, still warm, from Laska's mouth, and
putting it into his overflowing game-bag.
" Come on, Stiva I " he cried.
2i6 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XVI
On their way home, Levin questioned his friend about
Kitty's illness and the plans of the Shcherbatskys.
Though it caused some conscientious scruples, what he
heard was pleasant news to him. It was pleasant because
it left him with some grounds for hope, and it was still
more pleasant to think that she who had caused him so
much suffering, was suffering herself. But when Stepan
Arkadyevitch began to speak of the reason of Kitty's
illness, and pronounced the name of Vronsky, he inter-
rupted him.
" I have no right to know these family matters, since
I am not concerned."
Stepan Arkadyevitch smiled imperceptibly as he
noticed the sudden and characteristic change in Levin,
who, in an instant, had passed from gayety to sadness.
" Have you succeeded in your transaction with Rabinin
about the wood ? " he asked.
"Yes, I have made the bargain. He gives me an
excellent price, — thirty-eight thousand rubles, eight in
advance, and the rest in six years. I had been long
about it ; no one offered me any more."
"That means you are selling your wood for a song,"
said Levin, frowning.
"Why so.?" said Stepan Arkadyevitch, with a good-
humored smile, knowing that now Levin would totally
disapprove of everything.
" Because your wood is worth at least five hundred
rubles a desyatin."
"Oh ! You rural economists ! " replied Stepan Arka-
dyevitch, banteringly. "What a tone of scorn to us,
your city brother ! .... And yet, when it comes to busi-
ness matters, we come out of it better than you do.
Believe me, I have made a careful calculation. The
wood is sold under very favorable conditions ; and I
fear only one thing, and that is lest the merchant will
back out of it ! You see, it is wretched wood," he went
on, accenting the word wretched, so as to convince
ANNA KARENINA 217
Levin of the unfairness of his criticism, "and nothing
but fire-wood. There will not be much more than thirty
cords to the acre,^ and he pays me at the rate of two
hundred rubles."
Levin smiled scornfully.
'• I know these city people," he thought, " who, com-
ing twice in ten years into the country, and learning
two or three country words, which they use appropri-
ately or inappropriately, are firmly persuaded that they
know it all. ' Wretched ! only thirty cords ! ' he speaks
words without knowing what he is talking about."
" I do not pretend to teach you what you write in
your office," said he, "and, if I needed, I would even
ask your advice. But you are so sure that you under-
stand this whole document about the wood. It is hard.
Have you counted the trees .-* "
" What } Count my trees .? " asked Stepan Arkadye-
vitch, with a laugh, and still trying to get his friend out
of his ill-humor. " Count the sands, the rays of the
planets — though a lofty genius might .... "
"Well, now! I tell you the lofty genius of Rabinin
may ! Never does a merchant purchase without count-
ing,— unless, indeed, the wood is given away for noth-
ing as you have done. I know your forest, I go hunting
there every year ; and your forest is worth five hundred
rubles a desyatin cash down ; and he has given you only
two hundred, and on a long term. That means you make
him a present of thirty thousand."
" Well, enough of imaginary receipts," said Stepan
Arkadyevitch, plaintively. " Why did n't some one offer
me this price } "
" Because the merchants connive together. I have
had to do with all of them ; I know them. They are
not merchants, but speculators. None of them is satis-
fied with a profit less than ten or fifteen percent. They
wait till they can buy for twenty kopeks what is worth a
ruble."
"Well, enough ; you are out of sorts."
' Thirty sazhens to the desyatin. A desyatin is 2.7 acre. A cubic
tazhen is 2.68 cords.
2i8 ANNA KARENINA
" Not at all," said Levin, sadly, as they were approach
ing the house.
A small cart, tightly bound with iron and leather, drawn
by a fat horse, tightly harnessed with wide straps, was
standing at the entrance ; in the cart sat a red-faced
overseer tightly belted, who served Rabinin as a coach-
man. Rabinin himself was already in the house, and
met the two friends in the vestibule. Rabinin was a
man of middle age, tall and thin, wearing a mustache,
but his prominent chin was well shaven. His eyes were
protuberant and muddy. He was clad in a dark blue
coat with buttons set low behind, and he wore high
boots, wrinkled around the ankles and smooth over the
calves, and over his boots huge galoshes. Wiping his
face with his handkerchief, and wrapping his over-
coat closely around him, though without that it fitted
him well enough, he came out with a smile, to meet
the gentlemen as they entered. He gave one hand
to Stepan Arkadyevitch as if he wanted to grasp some-
thing.
"Ah! Here you are," said Stepan Arkadyevitch,
shaking hands. "Very good."
" I should not have ventured to disobey your excel-
lency's orders, though the roads are very bad. Posi-
tively, I came all the way on foot, but I got here on time.
A greeting to you, Konstantin Dmitritch," said he,
turning to Levin, intending to seize his hand also ;
but Levin, frowning, affected not to notice the motion,
and began to take out the snipe.
"You have been enjoying a hunt .^ What kind of a
bird is that ? " asked Rabinin, looking at the snipe dis-
dainfully. "I suppose it has a peculiar flavor." And
he shook his head disapprovingly, as if he felt doubtful
whether the game were worth the candle.
"Would you like to go into the library.^" said Levin,
darkly scowling, addressing Stepan Arkadyevitch in
French. " Go to the library, and discuss your business
there."
"Just as you please," replied the merchant, in a tone
of disdainful superiority, apparently wishing it to be
ANNA KARENINA 219
understood that others might find difficulties in trans-
acting business, but that he never could.
As he entered the library, Rabinin glanced about as
if his eyes were in search of the holy image ; but when
he caught sight of it, he did not cross himself. He
glanced at the bookcases and the shelves lined with
books, and with the same air of doubt that the snipe had
caused, he smiled scornfully and shook his head disap-
provingly, as if this kind of game also were not worth
the candle.
" Well, did you bring the money ? " asked Stepan
Arkadyevitch. " Sit down."
" The money will come all in good time, but I came
to see you and have a talk."
" What have we to talk about ? However, sit
down."
" May as well sit down," said Rabinin, taking a chair,
and leaning back in it in the most uncomfortable atti-
tude. "You must give in a trifle, prince; it would be
sinful not to do it. As to the money, it is all ready,
absolutely and finally even to the last kopek ; as far as
the money goes, there will be no delay."
Levin, who had been putting his gun away in the
armory, and was just leaving the room, stopped as he
heard the last words.
" You bought the wood for a song," said he. " He
came to visit me too late ; I would have got a good price
for it."
Rabinin arose and smilingly contemplated Levin from
head to foot, but said nothing.
" Konstantin Levin is very sharp," said he, at length,
turning to Stepan Arkadyevitch. " One never succeeds
in arranging a bargain finally with him. I have bought
wheat, and paid good prices."
" Why should I give you my property for a song ? I
did not find it in the ground, nor did I steal it."
" Excuse me ; at the present day it is absolutely im-
possible to be a thief, everything is done, in the present
day, honestly and openly. Who could steal, then .-' We
have spoken honestly and honorably. The wood is too
220 ANNA KARENINA
dear ; I shall not make the two ends meet. I beg him
to yield a little."
" But is your bargain made, or is it not ? If it is
made, there is no need of haggling; if it is not," said
Levin, " I am going to buy the wood."
The smile suddenly disappeared from Rabinin's lips.
A rapacious and cruel expression, like that of a bird of
prey, came in its place. With his bony fingers he tore
open his overcoat, bringing into sight his shirt, his waist-
coat with its copper buttons, and his watch-chain ; and
from his breast-pocket he pulled out a huge, well-worn
wallet.
" Excuse me, the wood is mine," he exclaimed, making a
rapid sign of the cross, and he extended his hand. " Take
your money, the wood is mine. This is how Rabinin
ends his transactions. He does not reckon his kopeks,"
said he, knitting his brows and waving his wallet eagerly.
" If I were in your place, I should not be in haste,"
said Levin.
" Mercy on me ! " said Oblonsky, astonished, " I hav^e
given my word."
Levin dashed out of the room, slamming the door.
Rabinin glanced at the door and shook his head.
" Merely the effect of youth ; definitely, pure child-
ishness. Believe me, I buy this, so to speak, for the
sake of glory, so that they may say, * It 's Rabinin, and
not some one else, who has bought Oblonsky's forest.'
And God knows how I shall come out of it ! Have faith
in God ! Please sign." ....
An hour later the merchant, carefully wrapping his
khalat around him and buttoning up his overcoat, took
his seat in his cart and drove home, with the agreement
in his pocket.
" Oh ! these gentlemen ! " he said to his overseer,
"always the same story."
" So it is," replied the prikashchik, giving up the reins,
so as to arrange the leather boot. " And your little pur-
chase, Mikhail Ignatyitch?"
"Well! well!"
ANNA KARENINA 221
CHAPTER XVII
Stepan Arkadyevitch went up-stairs, his pockets
bulging out with " promises to pay," due in three months,
which the merchant had given him. The sale of the
forest was concluded ; he had money in his pocket ;
sport had been good ; and Stepan Arkadyevitch was in
the happiest frame of mind, and therefore was especially
eager to dispel the sadness which had taken possession
of Levin. He wanted a good ending for the day that
since dinner had shown such promise.
In point of fact, Levin was not in good spirits, and
in spite of his desire to seem amiable and thoughtful
toward his beloved guest, he could not control himself.
The intoxication which he felt in learning that Kitty
was not married had begun little by little to affect him.
Kitty not married, and ill — ill from love for a man
who had jilted her. It was almost like a personal in-
sult. Vronsky had slighted her, and she had slighted
him. Levin, consequently, had gained the right to de-
spise him. He was therefore his enemy. Levin did
not reason this all out. He had a vague sense that
there was something in this humiliating to him, and he
was angry now because it had upset his plans, and so
everything which came up annoyed him. The stupid
sale of the forest, which had taken place under his roof,
and the way Oblonsky had been cheated, exasperated him.
" Well, is it finished ? " he asked, as he met Stepan
Arkadyevitch up-stairs. " Would you like some sup-
per .? "
"Yes, I won't refuse. What an appetite I feel in
the country ! It 's wonderful ! Why did n't you offer a
bite to Rabinin .? "
"Ah! the devil take him!"
" Why ! how you treated him ! " exclaimed Oblonsky.
"You didn't even offer him your hand! Why didn't
you offer him your hand .-' "
" Because I don't shake hands with my lackey, and
my lackey is worth a hundred of him."
222 ANNA KARENINA
" What a retrograde you are ! And how about the
fusion of classes ? " said Oblonsky.
" Let those who like it, enjoy it ! It is disgusting
to me."
" You, I see, are a retrograde."
" To tell the truth, I never asked myself what I am.
I am Konstantin Levin — nothing more."
"And Konstantin Levin in a very bad humor," said
Stepan Arkadyevitch, smiling.
" Yes, I am in bad humor, and do you know why .■*
Because .... excuse me .... because of your stupid barg.... "
Stepan Arkadyevitch frowned good-naturedly, like a
man who is unreasonably scolded and blamed.
"There! that'll do!" he said. "After any one has
sold anything, they come saying, *You might have sold
this at a higher price ; ' but no one thinks of offering
this fine price before the sale No; I see you have
a grudge against this unfortunate Rabinin."
" Maybe I have. And do you know why ? You will
call me retrograde or some worse name, but it is so
vexatious and disgusting to me to see what is going
on everywhere — the nobility which I belong to, and
in spite of your fusion of classes, am very glad to be-
long to, always getting poorer and poorer And this
growing poverty is not in consequence of luxurious
living. That would be nothing. To live like lords is
proper for the nobles ; the nobles only can do this.
Now the muzhiks are buying up our lands ; that does not
trouble me ; the proprietor does nothing, the muzhik
is industrious, and supplants the lazy man. So it ought
to be. And I am very glad for the muzhik. But what
vexes me, and stirs my soul, is to see the proprietor
robbed by.... I don't know how to express it.... by his
own innocence. Here is a Polish leaseholder, who has
bought, at half price, a superb estate of a lady who
lives at Nice. Yonder is a merchant who has hired a
farm for a ruble an acre, and it is worth ten rubles an
acre. And this very day, without the slightest reason,
you have given this rascal a present of thirty thousand."
" But what can I do ? Count my trees one by one ? "
ANNA KARENINA 223
" Certainly ; if you have not counted them, Rabinin
did, and his children will have the means whereby to
live and get an education, whereas yours, perhaps, will
not."
" Well, forgive me, but there is something pitiful in
such minute calculations. We have our ways of doing
things, and they have theirs ; and let them get the
profits. There now ! Moreover, it is done, and that 's
the end of it And here is my favorite omelette com-
ing in ; and then Agafya Mikhailovna will certainly give
us a glass of her marvelous herb-beer." ....
Stepan Arkadyevitch sat down at the table and be-
gan to joke with Agafya Mikhailovna, assuring her that
he had not eaten such a dinner and such a supper for
an age.
" You can give fine speeches, at least," said Agafya
Mikhailovna. " But Konstantin Dmitritch, whatever
was set before him, if only a crust of bread, would eat
it and go away."
Levin, in spite of his efforts to control himself, was
melancholy and gloomy. He wanted to ask Stepan
Arkadyevitch one question, but he could not make up
his mind, nor could he find either the opportunity in
which to ask it, or a suitable form in which to couch it.
Stepan Arkadyevitch had gone down to his room,
and, after another bath, had put on a ruffled night-shirt
and gone to bed. Levin still dallied in his room, talking
about various trifles, but not having the courage to ask
what he had at heart.
"How wonderfully well this is made!" said he, tak-
ing from its wrapper a piece of perfumed soap, which
Agafya Mikhailovna had prepared for the guest, but
which Oblonsky had not used. "Just look; isn't it
truly a work of art ?"
" Yes ; all sorts of improvements nowadays," said
Stepan Arkadyevitch, with a beatific yawn. "The
theaters, for example, and — a — a — a" — yawning again
— "these amusing a-a-a .... and electric lights every-
where a-a-a-a-a.... "
" Yes, the electric lights," repeated Levin. " And
224 ANNA KARENINA
that Vronsky, where is he now ? " he suddenly asked,
putting down the soap.
"Vronsky?" said Stepan Arkadyevitch, ceasing to
yawn, " He is at Petersburg. He went away shortly
after you did, and has not been in Moscow since. And
do you know, Kostia," he continued, leaning his elbow
on a little take placed near the head of the bed, and
resting his handsome ruddy face on his hand, while two
oily, good-natured, and sleepy eyes shone out like twin
stars, " I am going to tell you the truth. You yourself
were to blame. You were afraid of a rival. And I will
remind you of what I said : I don't know which of you
had the best chances. Why didn't you go ahead,? I
told you then that...."
He yawned again, with his jaws only, trying not to
open his mouth.
"Does he, or does n't he, know that I offered myself .-• "
thought Levin, looking at him. " Yes ! there is some-
thing subtle, something diplomatic, in his face ; " and,
feeling that he was flushing, he said nothing, but looked
straight into Oblonsky's eyes.
" If on her part there was any feeling for him, it was
merely a slight drawing," continued Oblonsky. " You
know, that absolutely high breeding of his and the
chances of position in the world had an effect on her
mother, but not on her."
Levin frowned. The humiliation of his rejection,
with which he was suffering as from a recent wound,
smarted in his heart. Fortunately, he was at home ;
and the very walls of the home sustain one.
** Wait ! wait ! " he interrupted ; " you said, ' high
breeding ' ! ^ But let me ask you, what means this high
breeding of Vronsky, or any one else — a high breeding
that could look down on me. You consider Vronsky an
aristocrat. I don't, A man whose father sprang from
nothing, by means of intrigue, whose mother has had
liaisons with God knows whom .... Oh, no, excuse me !
Aristocrats, in my opinion, are men like myself, who
can show in the past three or four generations of excel-
^ Aristokratism.
ANNA KARENINA 225
lent families, belonging to the most cultivated classes,
— talents and intellect are another matter, — who never
abased themselves before anybody, and vi'erc never de-
pendent on others, — like my father and grandfather.
And I know many such. It seems small business to
you that I count my trees, while you give thirty thou-
sand rubles to Rabinin : but you receive a salary, and
other things ; and I receive nothing of the sort, and
therefore I appreciate what my father left me, and what
my labor gives me We are the aristocrats, and not
those who live only by means of what the powers of
this world dole out to them, and who can be bought for
a copper."
" There ! whom are you so angry with ? I agree with
you," replied Stepan Arkadyevitch, sincerely and gayly,
though he knew that when Levin hurled his sarcasms
at those who could be bought for a copper, he meant
him. But Levin's animation really pleased him.
" Whom are you angry with .-' Though much of what
you say about Vronsky is not true, still I won't speak
about that. I will tell you frankly that if I were in
your place, I would start for Moscow, and .... "
" No ! I don't know whether you know or not, —
but it 's over for me. I will tell you. I proposed and
was rejected ; so that now the memory of Katerina
Aleksandrovna is painful and humiliating."
" Why so ? What nonsense ! "
" But let us not speak of it. Forgive me if I have
been rude to you," said Levin. Now that he had made
a clean breast of it, he began once more to feel as he
had felt in the morning. " You will not be angry with
me, Stiva .•* I beg of you, don't be angry with me,"
said he, and with a smile he took his hand.
" Of course not. I will not think anything more
about it. I am very glad, though, that we have spoken
frankly to each other. And, do you know, sport will
be capital to-morrow. We can try it again, can't we .■'
In that case I would not even sleep, but go straight
from the grove to the station."
" Capital ! "
VOL. I. — 15
226 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XVIII
Although Vronsky's inner life was wholly absorbed
by his passion, his outward life unchangeably and inevi-
tably ran along on the former ordinary rails of his social
and regimental ties and interests. His regiment filled
an important part in his life, in the first place because
he loved his regiment, and, still more, because he was
extremely popular in it. In his regiment he was not
only admired, but he was also respected. They were
proud of him, proud that a man enormously rich, with
a fine education and with qualities, with a path open
before him to every kind of success and ambition and
glorification, scorned all that, and placed the interests of
his regiment and his comrades above all the interests of
life. Vronksy recognized the feeling which he inspired,
and, besides the fact that he loved that life, he felt called
on, in a certain degree, to sustain his character.
Of course he spoke to no one of his passion. Never
did an imprudent word escape him, even when he joined
his comrades in the liveliest of drinking-bouts, — how-
ever, he was never so intoxicated as to lose control over
himself, — and he kept his mouth shut in the presence
of those gossiping meddlers who made the least allusion
to the affairs of his heart. Nevertheless, his passion
was a matter of notoriety throughout the city ; all had
more or less well-founded suspicions of his relationship
to Madame Karenin, and most of the young men envied
him on account of the very thing that was the greatest
drawback to his love, — Karenin's high station, which
made the matter more conspicuous.
The majority of young women, jealous of Anna,
whom they were weary of hearing always called the just,
were not sorry to have their predictions verified, and
were waiting only for the sanction of public opinion, to
overwhelm her with the whole weight of their scorn ;
they had already prepared for use the mud which should
be thrown at her when the time should come. Most
people of experience, and those of high rank, were dis-
ANNA KARENINA 227
pleased at the prospect of a disgraceful scandal in
society.
Vronsky's mother, when she heard of the liaison, at
first was glad ; because, in her opinion, nothing gave
the last finish to a brilliant young man compared to an
intrigue in high life ; and because she was not sorry to
find that this Madame Karenin, who had pleased her so
much and who seemed so entirely devoted to her boy,
was, after all, only like any other handsome and elegant
woman. But later she learned that her son had refused
an important promotion, for no other reason than that
he might stay with his regiment and keep on visiting
Madame Karenin, and she learned that, on account of
this, persons very high in authority were dissatisfied
with him, and she changed her opinion in regard to it.
There was another reason why she did not now ap-
prove of it : from all she could learn of this liaison, it
was not the brilliant and fashionable flirtation, such as
she approved, but a desperate tragedy, after the style of
Werther, according to report, and she was afraid lest
her son should be drawn into some folly. Since his un-
expected departure from Moscow she had not seen him,
but she sent word to him, through his elder brother, that
she desired him to come to her. His elder brother was
even more dissatisfied, not because he felt anxious to
know whether this love-affair was to be deep or epheme-
ral, passionate or Platonic, innocent or guilty, — he
himself, though a married man and the father of a
family, had a ballet dancer for a mistress, and therefore
had no right to be severe, — but because he knew that
this love-affair was displeasing in quarters where it was
better to be on good terms ; and therefore he blamed
his brother's conduct.
Vronsky, besides his society relations and his military
duties, had yet another absorbing passion, — horses.
The officers' handicap races were to take place this
summer. He became a subscriber, and bought a pure-
blood English trotter; and in spite of his love-affair, he
was passionately though discreetly interested in the
results of the races
228 ANNA KARENINA
These two passions did not interfere with each other.
On the contrary, he needed something independent of
his love-affair, some occupation and interest in which
he could find refreshment and recreation after the over-
violent emotions which stirred him.
CHAPTER XIX
On the day of the Krasno-Sielo races, Vronsky came
earlier than usual to eat a beefsteak in the officers' com-
mon dining-hall. He was not at all constrained to limit
himself, since his weight satisfied the i6o pounds ^ re-
quired ; but he did not want to get fat, and so he
refrained from sweet and farinaceous foods. He sat
down with his coat unbuttoned over his white waistcoat,
and with both elbows resting on the table; while he was
waiting for his beefsteak he kept his eyes on the pages
of a French novel which lay on the plate. He looked
at his book only so as not to talk with the officers as
they went and came, but he was thinking.
He was thinking how Anna had promised to meet
him after the races. But he had not seen her for three
days ; and he was wondering if she would be able to
keep her appointment, as her husband had just returned
to Petersburg from a journey abroad, and* he was won-
dering how he could find out. They had met for the
last time at his cousin Betsy's datcha, or country-house.
For he went to the Karenins' datcha as little as possi-
ble, and now he wanted to go there, and he was asking
himself, " How can it be managed } "
" Of course, I will say that I am charged by Betsy to
find whether she expects to attend the races, — yes,
certainly, I will go," he said, raising his head from his
book. And his face shone with the joy caused by his
imagination of the forthcoming interview.
" Send word that I wish my carriage and troika har-
nessed and brought round," said he to the waiter who
^ Four and a half pud : a /Wis 36. 1 1 pounds avoirdupois.
ANNA KARENINA 229
was bringing his beefsteak on a hot silver platter.
Moving the platter toward him, he began his meal.
In the adjoining billiard-room the clicking of balls
was heard, and two voices talking and laughing. Two
officers appeared in the door : one of them was a young
man with delicate, refined features, who had just gradu-
ated from the Corps of Pages and joined the regiment ;
the other was old and fat, with little, moist eyes, and
wore a bracelet on his wrist.
Vronsky glanced at them and frowned, and went on
eating and reading at the same time, as if he had not
seen them.
" Getting ready for work, are you ? " asked the fat
ofificer, sitting down near him.
"You see I am," replied Vronsky, wiping his lips,
and frowning again, without looking up.
"But aren't you afraid of getting fat.-*" continued
the elderly officer, pulling up a chair for his junior.
" What ! " cried Vronsky, making a grimace to express
his disgust and aversion, and showing his splendid teeth.
" Are n't you afraid of getting fat .'' "
"Waiter, sherry!" cried Vronsky, without replying,
and he changed his book to the other side of his plate,
and continued to read.
The fat officer took the wine-list, and passed it over
to the young officer.
" You select what we '11 have to drink," said he, giv-
ing him the list and looking at him.
" Rhine wine, if you please," replied the young officer,
looking timidly at Vronsky out of the corner of his eye
and trying to twist his imaginary mustache.
When he saw that Vronsky did not turn, the young
officer got up and said, " Let us go into the billiard-
room."
The fat officer humbly arose, and the two went out of
the door.
At the same time a tall, stately cavalry captain, named
Yashvin, came in. He condescendingly and disdain-
fully nodded to the two officers, and went toward
Vronsky.
230 ANNA KARENINA
"Ah ! here he is," he cried, laying his heavy hand on
Vronsky's shoulder. Vronsky turned round angrily,
but in an instant a pleasant, friendly expression came
into his face.
" Well, Alyosha ! " said the cavalry captain, in his big
baritone. " Have something more to eat, and drink
one more glass with me."
" No ; I don't want anything more to eat."
"Those are inseparables," said Yashvin, looking
derisively at the two officers as they disappeared.
Then he sat down, doubling up under the chair, which
was too short for him, his long legs dressed in tight
uniform trousers. " Why were n't you at the Krasmen-
sky theater last evening ? Numerova was not bad at
all. Where were you .-* "
"I stayed too late at the TverskoYs'," said Vronsky.
" Ah ! " exclaimed Yashvin.
Yashvin, a gambler, a debauchee, was Vronsky's best
friend in the regiment. It could not be said of him
that he lacked principles. He had principles, but they
were immoral ones. Vronsky liked him, both for his
exceptional physical vigor, which allowed him to drink
like a hogshead and not feel it, and to do absolutely
without sleep if it were necessary, and also for his great
social ability, which he employed in his relations to his
superiors, and his comrades, attracting to himself their
love and respect ; and also in gambling, at which he
risked tens of thousands, and always, no matter how
much he had been drinking, played so cleverly and
daringly that he was regarded as the leading gambler
at the English Club.
Vronsky felt friendship and consideration for him,
because he felt that Yashvin liked him, not for his for-
tune or his social position, but chiefly on his own account.
Moreover, Yashvin was the only man to whom Vronsky
would have been willing to speak of his love. He felt
that, in spite of his affected scorn for all kinds of senti-
ment, he alone could appreciate the serious passion
which now absorbed his whole life. Besides, he was
persuaded that he found absolutely no pleasure in
ANNA KARENINA 231
tittle-tattle and scandal, but considered this feeling as
essential, in other words, that he knew and believed
that love was no joke, no mere pastime, but something
serious and important. Thus, taken all in all, his pres-
ence was always agreeable to him.
Vronsky had not yet spoken to him about his love,
but he knew that Yashvin knew it — looked on it in its
true light ; and it was a pleasure to read this in his eyes.
" Ah, yes ! " said the cavalry captain, when he heard
the name of the Tverskois ; and, flashing his brilliant
black eyes at him, he seized his left mustache and began
to cram it into his mouth, for this was a bad habit of
his.
" And what did you do last evening .? Did you gain .■* "
asked Vronsky.
" Eight thousand rubles, but three thousand possibly
are no good — I may not get them."
" Well ! Then you may lose on me," said Vronsky,
laughing ; Yashvin had laid a large wager on him.
"But I shall not lose. Makhotin is the only one to
be afraid of."
And the conversation went off in regard to the races,
which was the only subject of which Vronsky could now
think.
" Come on, I have done," said Vronsky, getting up
and going to the door. Yashvin also arose, and stretched
his huge legs and long back.
" I can't dine so early, but I will take something to
drink. I will follow you immediately. Here, wine!"
he cried, in his heavy voice, which was the wonder of
the regiment ; it made the windows rattle.' " No, no
matter! " he cried again ; "if you are going home, I '11
join you."
And he went off with Vronsky
23a ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XX
Vronsky was lodging in a neat and spacious Finnish
izba, divided in two by a partition. Petritsky was his
chum, not only in Petersburg, but here also in camp.
He was asleep when Vronsky and Yashvin entered.
"Get up! you've slept long enough," said Yashvin,
going behind the partition, and shaking the sleeper's
shoulder, as he lay with his nose buried in the pillow.
Petritsky suddenly got up on his knees, and looked
all about him.
"Your brother has been here," said he to Vronsky.
" He woke me up, the devil take him ! and he said that
he would come again."
Then he threw himself back on the pillow again, and
pulled up the bedclothes.
"Stop! Yashvin," he cried angrily, as his comrade
twitched off his quilt. Then he turned over, opened his
eyes, and said, " You would do much better to tell me
what I ought to drink to take this bad taste out of my
mouth."
"Vodka is better than anything," said Yashvin.
"Tereshchenko ! Bring the barin some vodka and
cucumbers," he cried, delighting in the thunder of his
voict^. • " ■
" You advise vodka ? ha ! " exclaimed Petritsky, scowl-
ing, and rubbing his eyes. "Will you take some, too.?
If you '11 join, all right ! Vronsky, will you have a
drink .■• " said Petritsky, getting up and wrapping a
striped quilt around him under his arms. He came to
the door of the partition, raised his arms in the air, and
began to sing in French, "'There was a king in Thu-
u-le.' — Vronsky, will you have a drink.?"
" Go away," replied the latter, who was putting on
an overcoat brought him by his valet.
" Where are you going .? " asked Yashvin, seeing a
carriage drawn by three horses. "Here's the troika."
"To the stables, then to Briansky's to see about
some horses," replied Vronsky.
ANNA KARENINA 233
Vronsky had, indeed, promised to bring some money
to Briansky, who lived about ten versts from Peterhof ;
and he was in a hurry to get there as soon as possible
so as to pay for the horses, but his friends immediately
understood that he was also going somewhere else.
Petritsky, who kept on singing, winked, and pursed
his lips as if he would say, " We know who this Brian-
sky means."
" See here, don't be late," said Yashvin ; and, chang-
ing the subject, "And my roan, does she suit you?"
he asked, looking out of the window, and referring to
the middle horse of the team which he had .sold.
Just as Vronsky left the room, Petritsky called out
to him, " Hold on ! your brother left a note and a letter.
Hold on ! where did I put them .-' "
Vronsky waited impatiently.
" Well, where are they ? "
" Where are they indeed ? That 's the question,"
declaimed Petritsky, solemnly, putting his forefinger
above his nose.
" Speak quick ! no nonsense ! " said Vronsky, smiling.
" I have not had any fire in the fireplace ; where can
I have put them .-* "
"Come now, that's enough talk! where 's the letter?"
" I swear I have forgotten ; or did I dream about it ?
Wait, wait ! don't get angry. If you had drunk four
bottles, as I did yesterday, you would n't even know
where you went to bed. Hold on, I '11 think in a min-
ute."
Petritsky went behind his screen again, and got into
bed.
" Hold on ! I was lying here. He stood there. Da-
da-da-da I .... Here it is ! "
And he pulled the letter out from under the mattress,
where he had put it.
Vronsky took the letter and his brother's note. It
was exactly as he expected. His mother reproached
him because he had not been to see her, and his brother
said he had something to speak to him about. " What
concern is it of theirs ? " he muttered ; and, crumpling
^34 ANNA KARENINA
up the notes, he thrust them between his coat-buttons,
intending to read them more carefully on the way.
Just as he left the izba, he met two officers, one of
whom belonged to a different regiment. Vronsky's
quarters were always the headquarters of all the offi-
cers.
"Whither away.?"
"Must — to Peterhof."
" Has your horse come from Tsarskoye .-' "
" Yes, but I have not seen her yet."
"They say Makhotin's 'Gladiator' is lame."
" Rubbislj ! But how can you trot in such mud ? "
said the other.
" Here are my saviors," cried Petritsky, as he saw
the newcomers. The denshchik was standing before
him with vodka and salted cucumbers on a platter.
"Yashvin, here, ordered me to drink, so as to clear my
head."
" Well, you were too much for us last night," said
one of the officers. "You did not let us sleep all night."
"I must tell you how we ended it," began Petritsky.
" Volkof climbed up on the roof, and told us that he
was blue. I sung out, 'Give us some music, — a fu-
neral march.' And he went to sleep on the roof to the
music of the funeral march."
" Drink, drink your vodka by all means, and then
take seltzer and a lot of lemon," said Yashvin, encour-
aging Petritsky as a mother encourages her child to
swallow some medicine. "It is only a little bottle."
" Now, this is sense. Hold on, Vronsky, and have a
drink with us ! "
" No. Good-by, gentlemen. I am not drinking to-
day."
. "Vronsky," cried some one, after he had gone into
the vestibule.
"What?"
"You'd better cut off your hair; it's getting very
long, especially on the bald spot."
Vronsky, in fact, was beginning to get a little bald.
He laughed gayly, showing his splendid teeth, and, pull-
ANNA KARENINA 235
ing his cap over the bald spot, he went out and got
into his carriage.
"To the stables," he said.
He started to take his letters for a second reading,
but on second thought deferred them so that he might
think of nothing else but his horse.
"I'll wait."
CHAPTER XXI
A TEMPORARY Stable, — a balagan, or hut, — made out
of planks, had been built near the race-course ; and here
Vronsky's horse should have been brought the evening
before. He had not as yet seen her. During the last
few days he himself had not been out to drive, but he had
intrusted her to the trainer; and Vronsky did not know
in what condition he should find her. He was just get-
ting out of his carriage when his konyukh, or groom, a
young fellow, saw him from a distance, and immediately
called the trainer. This was an Englishman with with-
ered face and tufted chin, and dressed in short jacket
and top-boots. He came out toward Vronsky in the
mincing step peculiar to jockeys, and with elbows stick-
ing out.
"Well, how is Frou Frou } " said Vronsky, in English.
*' A// right, sir" said the Englishman, in a voice that
came out of the bottom of his throat. " Better not go
in, sir," he added, taking off his hat. " I have put a
muzzle on her, and that excites her. Better not go in,
it excites a horse."
" No, I am going in, I want to see her."
" Come on, then," replied the Englishman, testily ;
and, without ever opening his mouth, and with his dandi-
fied step, he led the way.
They went into a small yard in front of the stable.
An active and alert stable-boy in a clean jacket, with
whip in hand, met them as they entered, and followed
them. Five horses were in the stable, each in its own
stall. Vronsky knew that his most redoubtable rival, —
236 ANNA KARENINA
Makhotin's Gladiator, a chestnut horse five vershoks
high, — was there, and he was more curious to see Gladia-
tor than to see his own racer ; but he knew that, accord-
ing to the etiquette of the races, he could not have him
brought out, or even ask questions about him. As he
passed along the corridor the groom opened the door of
the second stall at the left, and Vronsky saw a powerful
chestnut with white feet. He knew it was Gladiator ;
but with the delicacy of a man who turns away from an
open letter which is not addressed to him, he instantly
turned away and walked toward Frou Frou's stall.
tii«5«That horse belongs to Ma,... k.... mak, .... I never
can pronounce his name," said the Englishman, over
his shoulder, and pointing to Gladiator's stall with a
huge finger, the nail of which was black with dirt.
" Makhotin's ? Yes ; he is my only dangerous rival."
" If you would mount him, I would bet on you," said
the Englishman.
" Frou Frou has more nerve, this one stronger,"
said Vronsky, smiling at the jockey's praise.
" In hurdle-races, all depends on the mount, and on
pluck."
Pluck — that is, audacity and coolness — Vronsky
knew that he had in abundance ; and, what was far
more important, he was firmly convinced that no one
could have more of this pluck than he had.
" You are sure that a good sweating was not neces-
sary } "
" Not at all," replied the Englishman. " Please not
speak so loud, the horse is restive," he added, jerking
his head toward the closed stall in front of which they
were standing. They could hear the horse stamping on
the straw.
He opened the door, and Vronsky entered a box-stall
feebly lighted by a little window. A dark bay horse,
muzzled, was nervously prancing up and down on the
fresh straw. As he gazed into the semi-obscurity of
the stall, Vronsky in spite of himself took in at one gen-
eral observation all the points of his favorite horse.
Frou Frou was a horse of medium size, and not faultless
ANNA KARENINA 237
in form. Her bones were slender, although her brisket
showed powerfully ; her breast was narrow, the crupper
was rather tapering ; and the legs, particularly the hind
legs, considerably bowed. The muscles of the legs were
not big ; but, on the other hand, where the saddle rested
the horse was extraordinarily wide, and this was particu-
larly striking by reason of the firmness and the small-
ness of her belly. The bones of the legs below the
knee seemed not thicker than a finger, seen from the
front ; they were extraordinarily large when seen side-
wise. The whole steed, with the exception of the ribs,
seemed squeezed in and lengthened out. But she had
one merit that outweighed all her faults : she was a
thoroughbred, had good blood, — whifh tells, as the
English say. Her muscles, standing out under a net-
work of veins, covered with a skin as smooth and soft
as satin, seemed as solid as bone ; her slender head, with
prominent eyes, bright and animated, widened out at
the septum into projecting nostrils with membrane
which seemed suffused with blood. In her whole form
and especially in her head there was an expression of
something energetic and decided, and at the same time
good-tempered. It was one of those creatures which
do not speak for the single reason that the mechanical
construction of their mouths does not permit of it.
Vronsky, at any rate, was convinced that she under-
stood all of his thoughts while he was looking at her.
As soon as he went to her she began to take long
breaths, and, turning her prominent eyes so that the
whites became suffused with blood, she gazed from the
opposite side at the visitors, trying to shake off her
muzzle, and dancing on her feet with elastic motion.
" You see how excited she is," said the English-
man.
" Whoa, my loveliest, whoa ! " said Vronsky, approach-
ing to soothe her ; but the nearer he came the more ner-
vous she grew, and only when he had caressed her head
did she become tranquil. He could feel her muscles
strain and tremble under her delicate, smooth skin.
Vronsky smoothed her powerful neck, and put into
238 ANNA KARENINA
place a tuft of her mane that she had tossed on the
other side ; and then he put his face close to her nos-
trils, which swelled and dilated like the wings of a bat.
She drew in the air, and loudly expelled it from her
quivering nostrils, pricked up her sharp ears, and
stretched out her long black lips to seize his sleeve ;
but, when she found herself prevented by her muzzle,
she shook it, and began to caper again on her slender
legs.
"Quiet, my beauty, quiet," said Vronsky, calming
her ; and he left the stable with the reassuring convic-
tion that his horse was in perfect condition.
But the nervousness of the steed had taken posses-
sion of Vronsky ; he felt the blood rush to his heart,
and, like the horse, he wanted violent action ; he felt
like prancing and biting. It was a sensation at once
strange and joyful.
"Well, I count on you," said he to the Englishman.
" Be on the grounds at half-past six."
" All shall be ready. But where are you going, my
lord.!*" asked the Englishman, using the title of "my
lord," which he almost never permitted himself to use.
Astonished at this, Vronsky raised his head, and
looked at him as he well understood how to do, not
into the Englishman's eyes, but at his forehead. He
instantly saw that the Englishman had spoken to him,
not as to his master, but as to a jockey ; and he replied : —
" I have got to see Briansky, and I shall be at home
in an hour."
" How many times have I been asked that question
to-day ! " he said to himself ; and he grew red, which
was a rare occurrence with him. The Englishman
looked at him closely. And, as if he also knew where
Vronsky was going, he said : —
"The main thing is to keep calm before the race.
Don't get out of sorts ; don't get bothered."
''All right," replied Vronsky, with a smile ; and, jump-
ing into his carriage, he ordered the coachman to drive
to Peterhof.
He had gone but a short distance before the clouds,
ANNA KARENINA 239
which since morning had been threatening rain, grew
thicker, and a heavy shower fell.
"Too bad!" thought Vronsky, raising the hood of
his carriage. " It has been muddy ; now it will be a
swamp."
Now that he was sitting alone in his covered calash,
he took out his mother's letter and his brother's note,
and read them over.
Yes, it was always the old story ; both his mother
and his brother found it necessary to meddle with his
love-affairs. This interference aroused his anger, — a
feeling which he rarely experienced.
" How does this concern them .-' Why does every
one feel called on to meddle with me, and why do they
bother me .-* Because they see that there is something
about this that they can't understand. If it were an
ordinary vulgar society intrigue, they would leave me
in peace ; but they imagine that it is something else,
that it is not mere trifling, that this woman is dearer
to me than life ; that is incredible and vexatious to
them. Whatever be our fate, we ourselves have made
it, and we shall not regret it," he said to himself, in-
cluding Anna in the word "we." "But no, they want
to teach us how to live. They have no idea of what
happiness is. They don't know that, were it not for
this love, there would be for us neither joy nor grief in
this world ; life itself would not exist."
In reality, what exasperated him most against every
one was the fact that his conscience told him that they
— all of them — were right. He felt that his love for
Anna was not a superficial impulse, destined, like so
many social attachments, to disappear, and leave no trace
beyond sweet or painful memories. He felt keenly all
the torture of her situation and his, and how difficult
it was in the prominent position which they held in the
eyes of society to hide their love, to lie, to deceive,
to dissemble, and constantly to think about others, when
the passion uniting them was so violent that they both
forgot about everything else except their love.
He vividly pictured to himself all the constantly re-
240 ANNA KARENINA
curring circumstances when it was essential to employ
falsehood and deceit, which were so contrary to his
nature. He recalled with especial vividness the feel-
ing of shame which he had often surprised in Anna,
when she also was driven to tell a lie.
Since this affair with her, he sometimes experienced
a strange sensation. This was a feeling of disgust and
repulsion for some one, he could not tell for whom he
felt it — for Alekseif Aleksandrovitch or himself, or for
all society. As far as possible he banished this strange
feeling.
" Yes, heretofore she has been unhappy, but proud
and calm ; now she cannot be proud and content any
longer, though she may not betray the fact. Yes, this
must end," he would conclude in his own mind.
And for the first time the thought of cutting short
this life of dissimulation appeared to him clear and tan-
gible ; the sooner, the better.
" She and I must leave everything, and together we
must go and hide ourselves somewhere with our love,"
he said to himself.
CHAPTER XXII
The shower was of short duration ; and when Vronsky
reached Peterhof, his shaft-horse at full trot, and the
other two galloping along in the mud, the sun was
already out again, and the wet roofs of the villas and
the old lindens in the gardens on both sides of the prin-
cipal avenue were dazzlingly shining. The water was
running from the roofs, and the raindrops were drip-
ping from the tree-tops. He no longer thought of the
harm that the shower might do the race-course, but he
was full of joy as he remembered that, thanks to the
rain, she would be alone ; for he knew that Alekseif
Aleksandrovitch, who had just got back from a visit to
the baths, would not have driven out from Petersburg.
Hoping to find her alone, Vronsky stopped his horses,
as he always did, at some little distance from the house,
ANNA KARENINA 241
.n order to attract as little attention as possible, and, not
driving across the little bridge, got out and went to the
house on foot. He did not go to the front entrance,
but went through the court.
" Has the barin come.''" he asked of a gardener.
"Not yet; but the baruinya is at home. Go to the
front door ; there are servants there ; if you ring, they
will open the door."
" No ; I will go in through the garden."
Having satisfied himself that she was alone, and wish-
ing to surprise her, as he had not promised that he was
coming that day, and on account of the races she would
not be looking for him, he walked cautiously along the
sandy paths, bordered with flowers, lifting up his saber
so that it should make no noise. In this way he reached
the terrace which led down to the garden. Vronsky had
by this time forgotten all the thoughts which had op-
pressed him on the way about the difficulties of his situ-
ation ; he thought only of the pleasure of shortly seeing
her, not in imagination only, but alive, in person, as she
was in reality.
He was mounting- the steep steps as gently as possi-
ble, when he suddenly remembered what he was always
forgetting, and what constituted the most painful fea-
ture of his relations with her, — her son, with his inquisi-
tive and, as it seemed to him, repulsive face.
This child was the principal obstacle in the way of
their interviews. When he was present neither Vron-
sky nor Anna allowed themselves to speak of anything
which the whole world might not hear, nor, what was
more, did they even hint at anything which the child
himself could not comprehend. There was no need of an
agreement on that score, it was instinctive with them.
Both of them considered it degrading to themselves to de-
ceive the little lad ; before him they talked as if they were
mere acquaintances. But in spite of this circumspection
Vronsky often noticed the lad's scrutinizing and rather
suspicious eyes fixed on him, and a strange timidity and
variability in his behavior toward him. Sometimes he
seemed affectionate, and then again cold and shy. The
VOL. I. — 16
242 ANNA KARENINA
child seemed instinctively to feel that between this man
and his mother there was some strange bond of union,
which was beyond his comprehension.
In fact, the boy felt that he could not understand this
relationship, and he tried in vain to account to himself
for the feeling which he ought to have for this man.
He saw, with that quick intuition peculiar to childhood,
that his father, his governess, and his nurse — all of
them — not only did not like Vronsky, but looked with the
utmost disfavor on him, although they never spoke about
him, while his mother treated him as her best friend.
" What does this mean .-* Who is he .■' Must I love
him ? and is it my fault, and am I a naughty or stupid
child, if I don't understand it at all ? " thought the little
fellow. Hence came his timidity, his questioning and
distrustful manner, and this changeableness, which were
so unpleasant to Vronsky, The presence of this child
always caused in Vronsky that strange feeling of unrea-
sonable repulsion which for some time had pursued him.
The presence of the child aroused in Vronsky and
Anna a feeling like that experienced by a mariner who
sees by the compass that the course in which he is
swiftly moving is widely different from what it should
be, but that to stop this course is not in his power ; that
every instant carries him farther and farther in the wrong
direction, and the recognition of the movement that
carries him from the right course is the recognition of
the ruin that impends.
This child with his innocent views of life was the
compass which pointed out to them the degree of their
deviation from what they knew but wished not to know.
This day Serozha was not at home and Anna was en-
tirely alone, and sitting on the terrace waiting for the
return of her son, who had gone out to walk and got
caught in the rain. She had sent a man and a maid to
find him, and was sitting there till he should return.
Dressed in a white gown with wide embroidery, she
was sitting at one corner of the terrace, concealed "by
plants and flowers, and she did not hear Vronsky's step.
With her dark curly head bent, she was pressing her
ANNA KARENINA 243
heated brow against a cool watering-pot, standing on
the balustrade, and with both her beautiful hands laden
with rings, which he knew so well, she was holding the
watering-pot. The beauty of her figure, her head, her
neck, her hands, always caused in Vronsky a new feeling
of surprise. He stopped and looked at her in ecstasy.
But as soon as he proceeded to take another step and
come nearer to her, she felt his approach, pushed away
the watering-pot, and turned to him her glowing face.
" What is the matter ? Are you ill ? " said he, in
French, as he approached her. He felt a desire to run
to her, but, remembering that there might be witnesses,
he looked toward the balcony door and turned red, as
he always turned red when he felt that he ought to be
ashamed of himself and dread to be seen.
"No; I am well," said Anna, rising, and warmly
pressing the hand that he offered her. " I did not ex-
pect .... you."
" Bozhe mof ! how cold your hands are ! "
" You startled me," said she. " I was alone, waiting
for Serozha. He went out for a walk ; they will come
back this way."
But though she tried to be calm, her lips trembled.
" Forgive me for coming, but I could not let the day
go by without seeing you," he continued, in French, as
he always spoke, thus avoiding the impossible vtn, you,
and the dangerous tid, thou, of the Russian.
" What have I to forgive ? I am so glad ! "
" But you are ill, or sad .-* " said he, bending over her
and still holding her hand. " What were you thinking
about ? "
" Always about one thing," she replied, with a smile.
She told the truth. If at any moment she had been
asked what she was thinking about, she could have
made the infallible reply, that she was thinking about
one thing : her happiness and her unhappiness. Just
as he had surprised her, she was thinking about this :
she was thinking how it was that for some, for Betsy,
for example, — for she knew about her love-affair with
Tushkievitch, though it was a secret from society in
244
ANNA KARENINA
general, — all this was such a trifle, while for her it was
so painful. To-day this thought, for various reasons,
had been particularly tormenting her.
She asked him about the races. He answered her,
and, seeing that she was in a very excited state, in order
to divert her mind, told her, in the tone most natural,
about the preparation that had been made.
" Shall I, or shall I not, tell him ? " she thought, as
she looked at his calm, affectionate eyes. " He seems
so happy, he is so interested in these races, that he will
not comprehend, probably, the importance of what I
must tell him."
" But you have not told me of what you were think-
ing when I came," said he, suddenly, interrupting the
course of his narration. " Tell me, I beg of you ! "
She did not reply ; but she lifted her head a little,
and looked at him questioningly f rom her beautiful eyes,
shaded by her long lashes ; her fingers, playing with a
fallen leaf, trembled.
He saw this, and his face immediately showed the
expression of humble adoration, of absolute devotion,
which had so won her,
" I see that something has happened. Can I be easy
for an instant when I know that you feel a grief that I
do not share .-* In the name of Heaven, speak ! " he in-
sisted, in a caressing tone.
"I shall never forgive him if he does not appreciate
the importance of what I have to tell him ; better be
silent than put him to the proof," she thought, continu-
ing to look at him in the same way, and conscious that
her hand, holding the leaf, trembled more and more
violently.
" In the name of Heaven ! " said he, taking her hand
again.
" Shall I tell you ? "
"Yes, yes, yes .... "
"J^e suis enceinte ! " she said, in a low and deliberate
voice.
The leaf that she held in her fingers trembled still
more, but she did not take her eyes from his face, for
ANNA KARENINA 245
she wished to see how he would receive what she
said.
He grew pale, tried to speak, then stopped short,
dropped her hand, and hung his head.
"Yes, he understands the significance of this," she
said to herself, and gratefully pressed his hand.
But she was mistaken in thinking that he appreciated
the significance of what she had told him, as she, a
woman, did. On learning this, he felt that he was
attacked with tenfold force by that strange feeling of
repulsion and horror which he had already experienced.
But at the same time, he realized that the crisis which
he had expected was now at hand, that it was impossible
longer to keep the secret from the husband ; and it was
important to extricate themselves as soon as possible
from the unnatural situation in which they were placed.
Moreover, her anguish communicated itself to him
physically. He looked at her with humbly submissive
eyes, kissed her hand, arose, and began to walk up and
down the terrace without speaking.
At last he approached her, and said in a tone of
decision : —
"Well," said he, "neither you nor I have looked on
our relations as a pastime, and now our fate is decided ;
at last we must put an end to the false situation in
which we live," — and he looked around him.
" Put an end ? How put an end, Aleksel ? " she asked
gently.
She was calm now, and her face beamed with a tender
smile.
"You must leave your husband and unite your life
with mine."
"But aren't they already united.-'" she asked, in
an almost inaudible voice.
" Yes, but not completely, not absolutely ! "
"But how, Aleksei'.'' tell me how," said she, with
a melancholy irony at the hopelessness of her situation.
" How is there any escape from such a position ? Am
I not the wife of my husband } "
" From any situation, however difficult, there is always
246 ANNA KARENINA
some way of escape ; here we must simply decide. —
Anything is better than the Hfe you are leading. How
well I see how you are tormenting yourself about your
husband, your son, society, all ! "
"Akh ! only not my husband," said she, with a simple
smile. " I don't know him, I don't think about him !
He is not."
"You speak insincerely! I know you ; you torment
yourself on his account also."
"Not even he knows ...." said she, and suddenly a
bright crimson spread over her face ; it colored her
cheeks, brow, her neck, and tears of shame came into
her eyes.
*' Let us not speak more of him."
CHAPTER XXni
Vronsky had many times tried, though not so de-
cidedly as now, to bring clearly before her mind their
position; and always he had met the same superficial
and frivolous way of looking at it, as she now treated
his demand. Apparently, there was something in this
which she was unwilling or unable to fathom; appar-
ently, as soon as she began to speak about it, she, the
real Anna, disappeared, to give place to a strange and
incomprehensible woman, whom he did not love, but
feared, and who was repulsive to him. To-day he was
bound to have an absolute explanation.
"Whether he knows or not," he said, in a calm but
authoritative voice, " whether he knows or not, it does
not concern us. We cannot.... we cannot now continue
as we are."
"What, in your opinion, must we do about it.?" she
demanded, in the same bantering tone of irony. Though
she had been so keenly apprehensive that he would not
receive her confidence with due appreciation, she was
now vexed that he deduced from it the absolute neces-
sity of energetic action.
"Tell him all, and leave him."
ANNA KARENINA 247
"Very good ! let us suppose I do it," said she. "Do
you know what the result would be ? I will tell you ; "
and a wicked fire flashed from her eyes, which were
just now so gentle. "'Oh! you love another, and
your course with him has been criviijial,' " said she,
imitating her husband, and accenting the word criminal
in exactly his manner. " ' I warned you of the con-
sequences which would follow from the point of view
of religion, of society, and of the family. You did not
listen to me ; now I cannot allow my name to be dis-
honored, and my ' " — she was going to say my son, but
stopped, for she could not jest about him — " 'my name
dishonored,' and so on in the same style," she added.
" In a word, he will tell me with his official manner
and with precision and clearness that he cannot set me
free, but that he will take measures to avoid a scandal.
And he will do exactly as he says. That is what will
take place ; for he is not a man, he is a machine, and,
when he is stirred up, an ugly machine," said she, call-
ing to mind the most trifling details in her husband's
face and manner of speaking, and charging to him as a
crime all the ill that she could find in him, and not
pardoning him at all on account of the terrible sin of
which she had been guilty before him.
"But, Anna," said Vronsky, in a persuasive, tender
voice, trying to calm her, "you must tell him every-
thing, and act accordingly as he proceeds."
"What! elope.?"
" Why not elope } I see no possibility of living as
we are any longer ; it is not on my account, but I see
you will suffer."
" What ! elope, and become your mistress } " said she,
bitterly.
" Anna ! " he cried, deeply wounded.
" Yes, your mistress, and lose everything ! " ....
Again she was going to say mj sou, but she could
not pronounce the word.
Vronsky could not understand how she, with her
strong, loyal nature, could accept the false position in
which she was placed, and not endeavor to escape from
248 ANNA KARENINA
it. But he could not doubt that the principal cause
of this was represented by that word son, which she
could not pronounce.
When she thought of her son and his future relations
to a mother who had deserted his father, the horror of
what she had done appeared so great, that, like a real
woman, she was not able to reason, but only endeavored
to reassure herself by fallacious arguments, and persuade
herself that all would go on as before ; above all things,
she must shut her eyes, and forget this terrible ques-
tion, what would become of her son.
" I beg of you, I entreat you," she said suddenly,
speaking in a very different tone, a tone of tenderness
and sincerity, and seizing his hand, "don't ever speak
to me of that again."
"But, Anna...."
" Never, never ! Leave it to me. I know all the
depth, all the horror, of my situation, but it is not so
easy as you imagine to decide. Let me decide, and
listen to me. Never speak to me again of that. Will
you promise me "i .... never, never } promise ! " ....
" I promise all ; but I cannot be calm, especially
after what you have told me. I cannot be calm when
you cannot be calm." ....
"I.?" she repeated. "Yes, I suffer torments some-
times, but that will pass if you will not say anything
more about it. When you speak with me about this,
then, and then only, it tortures me."
" I don't understand .... "
" I know," she interrupted, " how your honest nature
abhors lying ; I am sorry for you ; and very often I
think that you have sacrificed your life for me ! "
"That is exactly what I say about you. I was just
this moment thinking how you could sacrifice yourself
for me ! I cannot forgive myself for having made you
unhappy."
"I unhappy.?" said she, coming up close to him,
and looking at him with a smile of enthusiastic love.
" I .!* I am like a man dying of hunger, to whom food
has been given. Maybe he is cold, and his raiment is
ANNA KARENINA 249
rags, and he is ashamed, but he is not unhappy. I un-
happy ? No ; here comes my joy." ....
She had heard the voice of her Httle boy coming
near, and giving a hurried glance around her, swiftly
arose. Her face glowed with the fire which Vronsky
knew so well, and with a hasty motion putting out her
lovely hands, covered with rings, she took Vronsky's
face between them, looked at him a long moment,
reached her face up to his, with her smiling lips parted,
kissed his mouth and both eyes, and pushed him away.
She started to go, but he kept her back a moment.
" When ? " he whispered, looking at her with ecstasy.
" To-day at one o'clock," she replied in a low voice,
and with a deep sigh she ran, in her light, graceful
gait, to meet her son.
Serozha had been caught by the rain in the park,
and had taken refuge with his nurse in a pavilion.
"Well, good-by — da svidanya !'' said she to Vron-
sky. " I must get ready for the races. Betsy has
promised to come and get me."
Vronsky looked at his watch, and hurried away.
CHAPTER XXIV
When Vronsky looked at his watch on the Karenins'
terrace, he was so stirred and preoccupied, that, though
he saw the figures on the face, he did not know what
time it was. He hurried along the driveway, and, pick-
ing his way carefully through the mud, he reached his
carriage. He had been so absorbed by his conversation
with Anna that he did not notice the hour, or ask if he
still had time to go to Briansky's. As it often happens,
he had only the external faculty of memory, and it re-
called to him only that he had decided to do something.
He found his coachman dozing on his box under the
already slanting shade of the linden ; he noticed the
swarms of midgets buzzing around his sweaty horses ;
then, waking the coachman, he jumped into his carriage,
and ordered him to drive to Briansky's ; only after he
250 ANNA KARENINA
had gone six or seven versts did he remember that he
had looked at his watch and reahzed that it was half-
past five, and that he was late.
On that day there were *to be several races : first the
draught-horses, then the officers' two-verst dash, then a
second of four, and last that in which he was to take
part. He could be in time for his race, but, if he went
to Briansky's, he ran the risk of getting to the grounds
after the court had arrived. That was not in good
form. But he had promised Briansky to be there, there-
fore he kept on, commanding the coachman not to spare
the trofka. He reached Briansky's, spent five minutes
with him, and was off again at full speed. The rapid
motion calmed him. All the difficulties that confronted
him in his relations with Anna, all the uncertainty that
remained after their conversation, vanished from his
mind ; he thought with delight and excitement of the
race, and how he might after all get there in time, and
then again he vividly imagined the brilliant society
which would gather to-day at the course.
And he got more and more into the atmosphere of
the races as he overtook people coming in their car-
riages from various villas, and even from Petersburg, on
their way to the hippodrome.
When he reached his quarters, no one was at home ;
all had gone to the races, except his valet, who was wait-
ing for him at the entrance. While he was changing
his clothes, his valet told him that the second race had
already begun^ that a number of gentlemen had been to
inquire for him.
Vronsky dressed without haste, — for he never was
hurried and he never lost his self-command, — and di-
rected the coachman to take him to the stables. P>om
there he saw a sea of carriages of all sorts, of pedes-
trians, soldiers, and of spectators, surrounding the hip-
podrome, and the seats boiling with people.
Evidently the second course had been run, for just
as he reached the stables he heard the sound of a bell.
As he reached the stable, he noticed Makhotin's white-
footed chestnut Gladiator, covered with a blue and
ANNA KARENINA 251
orange caparison, and with huge ear-protectors trimmed
with blue. They were leading him out to the hippo-
drome.
" Where is Cord ? " he asked of the groom.
" In the stable ; he is putting on the saddle."
Frou Frou was all saddled in her open box-stall. They
started to lead her out.
" I am not late, am I .-' "
'' All right, all right,'' said the Englishman. "Don't
get excited."
Vronsky once more gave a quick glance at the excel-
lent, favorable shape of his horse, as she stood trem-
bling in every limb ; and, finding it hard to tear himself
away from such a beautiful sight, he left her at the
stable. He approached the benches at a most favorable
moment for doing this without attracting observation.
The two-verst dash was just at an end, and all eyes were
fixed on a cavalry-guardsman who was in the lead, and a
hussar just at his heels, whipping their horses furiously,
and approaching the goal. From the center and both
ends all crowded in toward the goal, and a group of
officers and guardsmen were hailing with shouts the
triumph of their fellow-officer and friend.
Vronsky, without being noticed, joined the throng
just as the bell announced the end of the race ; the
victor, a tall cavalry -guardsman, covered with mud,
dropped the reins, slipped off from the saddle, and stood
by his roan stallion, which was black with sweat, and
heavily breathing.
The stallion, with a violent effort thrusting out his
legs, had stopped the swift course of his big body ; and
the officer, like a man awakening from a deep sleep, was
looking about him, trying hard to smile. A throng of
friends and strangers pressed about him.
Vronsky, with intention, avoided the elegant people
who were circulating about, engaged in gay and ani-
mated conversation in front of the seats. He had al-
ready caught sight of Anna, Betsy, and his brother's
wife, but he did not join them, so that he might not be
disconcerted ; but he kept meeting acquaintances who
252 ANNA KARENINA
stopped him, and told him various items about the last
race, or asked him why he was late.
While they were distributing the prizes at the pavilion,
and every one had gone in this direction, Vronsky was
joined by fiis elder brother. Aleksandr Vronsky was a
colonel and wore epaulets, and, like AlekseY, was a
man of medium stature, and rather thick-set ; but he
was handsomer and ruddier. His nose was red, and
his frank, open face was flushed with wine.
" Did you get my note ? " he asked of his brother.
"You are never to be found."
Aleksandr Vronsky, in spite of his life of dissipation
and his love for drink, which was notorious, was a thor-
oughly courtly man. Knowing that many eyes might
be fixed on them, he preserved, while he talked on a
very painful subject, a smiling face, as if he were jesting
with his brother about some trifling matter.
"I got it," said he, "but I really don't understand
why you interfere."
" I interfere because I noticed you were not to be
found this morning, and because you were seen at
Peterhof Monday."
"There are matters which cannot be judged except
by those who are directly interested, and the matter in
which you concern yourself is such." ....
"Yes ; but when one is not in the service, he...,"
" I beg you to mind your own business, and that is all."
Aleksef Vronsky's frowning face grew pale, and his
rather prominent lower jaw shook. This happened
rarely with him. He was a man of kindly heart, and
rarely got angry ; but when he grew angry, and when
his chin trembled, he became dangerous. Aleksandr
Vronsky knew it, and with a gay laugh replied : —
" I only wanted to give you matushka's letter. An-
swer it, and don't get angry before the race. Bonne
chance,'' he added, with a smile, and left him.
The next moment another friendly greeting surprised
Vronsky.
" Won't you recognize your friends .'* How are you,
mon cher?" said Stepan Arkady evitch, with his rosy
ANNA KARENINA 253
face and carefully combed and pomaded whiskers ; in
the midst of the brilliant society of Petersburg, he was
no less brilliant than at Moscow. " I came down yes-
terday, and am very glad to be present at your triumph.
When can we meet .■* "
" Come to the mess, after the race is over," said
Vronsky ; and with an apology for leaving him, he
squeezed the sleeve of his paletot, and went to the
middle of the hippodrome, where they were bringing the
horses for the handicap-race.
The grooms were leading back the sweaty horses,
wearied by the race which they had run ; and one by
one the fresh horses entered for the next course appeared
on the ground. They were, for the most part, English
horses, in hoods, and well caparisoned, and looked like
enormous strange birds. At the right-hand side they
were leading in the lean beauty, Frou Frou, which came
out, stepping high as if on springs, with her elastic and
slender pasterns. And not far from her they were
removing the trappings from the lop-eared Gladiator.
The stallion's solid, superb, and perfectly symmetrical
form, with his splendid crupper and his extraordinarily
short pasterns placed directly over the hoofs, attracted
Vronsky's admiration. He was just going up to Frou
Frou when another acquaintance stopped him again.
" Ah ! there is Karenin," said the friend with whom
he was talking ; " he is hunting for his wife. She is in
the very center of the pavilion. Have you seen her.?"
" No, I have not," replied Vronsky ; and, without
turning his head in the direction where his acquain-
tance told him that Madame Karenin was, he went to
his horse.
He had scarcely time to make some adjustment of
the saddle, when those who were to compete in the
hurdle-race were called to receive their numbers and
directions. With serious, stern, and some with pale
faces, seventeen men in all approached the stand and
received their numbers. Vronsky's number was seven.
" Mount ! " was the cry.
Vronsky, feeling that he, with his companions, was
254 ANNA KARENINA
the focus toward which all eyes were turned, went up
to his horse with the slow and deliberate motions which
were usual to him when he was under the strain of
excitement.
Cord, in honor of the races, had put on his gala-day
costume : he wore a black coat, buttoned to the chin,
and a stiffly starched shirt-collar, which made a support
for his cheeks; he had on Hessian boots and a round
black cap. He was, as always, calm and full of impor-
tance, as he stood by the mare's head, holding both
reins in his hand. Frou Frou was still shivering as if
she had an attack of fever ; her fiery eyes gazed askance
at Vronsky as he approached. He passed his finger
under the girth of the saddle. The mare looked at him
still more askance, showed her teeth, and pricked up
her ears. The Englishman puckered up his lips with a
grin at the idea that there could be any doubt as to his
skill in putting on a saddle. " Mount, and you won't
be so nervous," said he.
Vronsky cast a final glance on his rivals ; he knew
that he should not see them again until the race was
over. Two of them had already gone to the starting-
point. Galtsin, a friend of his, and one of his dangerous
rivals, was turning around and around his bay stallion,
which was trying to keep him from mounting. A little
Leib-hussar in tight cavalry trousers was off on a gal-
lop, bent double over his horse, like a cat on the crupper,
in imitation of the English fashion. Prince Kuzovlef,
white as a sheet, was mounted on a thoroughbred mare
from the Grabovsky stud ; an Englishman held it by
the bridle. Vronsky and all his comrades knew Kuzo-
vlef's terrible self-conceit, and his peculiarity of "weak
nerves." They knew that he was timid at everything,
especially timid of riding horseback ; but now, notwith-
standing the fact that all this was horrible to him,
because he knew that people broke their necks, and
that at every hurdle stood a surgeon, an ambulance with
its cross and sister of charity, still he had made up his
mind to ride.
They exchanged glances, and Vronsky gave him an
ANNA KARENINA 255
encouraging and approving nod. One only he now
failed to see : his most redoubtable rival, Makhotin, on
Gladiator, was not there.
"Don't be in haste," said Cord to Vronsky, "and
remember one thing : when you come to a hurdle, don't
pull back or spur on your horse ; let her take it her own
way."
"Very good," replied Vronsky, taking the reins.
" If possible, take the lead, but don't be discouraged
even to the last if you are behind."
The horse did not have time to stir before Vronsky,
with supple and powerful movement, put his foot on the
notched steel stirrup, and gracefully, firmly, took his
seat in the squeaking leather saddle. Having put his
right foot in the stirrup, with his customary care he then
arranged the double reins between his fingers, and
Cord let go the animal's head. Frou Frou, as if not
knowing which foot to put down first, stretched out her
neck, and pulled on the reins, and she started off as if
on springs, balancing her rider on her supple back.
Cord, quickening his pace, followed them. The mare,
excited, jumped to right and left, trying to take her
master off his guard, and pulled at the reins, and Vron-
sky vainly endeavored to calm her with his voice and
with his hand.
They were approaching the diked bank of the river,
where the starting-post was placed. Some of the riders
had gone on ahead, others were riding behind, when
Vronsky suddenly heard on the muddy track the gallop
of a horse ; and Makhotin dashed by on his white-footed,
lop-eared Gladiator. Makhotin smiled, showing his long
teeth, but Vronsky looked at him angrily. He did not
like Makhotin any too well, and now he regarded him
as his most dangerous rival ; and he was exasperated at
the way he galloped up behind him, exciting his mare. '
Frou Frou kicked up her heels and started off at a
gallop, made two bounds, and then, angry at the re-
straint of the curb, changed her gait into a trot which
shook up her rider. Cord was also disgusted, and ran
almost as fast as Vronsky.
256 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XXV
The number of the officers who were to take part
was seventeen. The race-course was a great ellipse of
four versts, extending before the judges' stand, and nine
obstacles were placed upon it : the "river" ; a great bar-
rier two arshins — four feet, eight inches — high, in front
of the pavilion ; a dry ditch ; a ditch filled with water ;
a steep ascent ; an Irish banketka, which is the most
difficult of all, composed of an embankment set with
dry branches, behind which is concealed a ditch, oblig-
ing the horseman to leap two obstacles at once, at the
risk of his life ; then three more ditches, two filled with
water and one dry ; and finally the goal opposite the
pavilion again. The track did not begin in the circle
itself, but about a hundred saahcns, or seven hundred
feet, to one side ; and in this space was the first obstacle,
the diked "river," about three arshins, or seven feet,
wide, which the racers were free to leap or to ford.
Three times the riders got into line, but each time
some horse or other started before the signal, and the
men had to be called back. Colonel Sestrin, the starter,
was beginning to get impatient ; but at last, for the
fourth time, the signal was given, '^ Pashol ! — Go ! " and
the riders put spurs to their horses.
All eyes, all lorgnettes, were directed toward the
variegated group of racers as they started off.
" There they go ! " " There they come ! " was the
cry on all sides after the silence of expectation.
And in order to follow them, the spectators rushed,
singly or in groups, toward the places where they could
get a better view. At the first moment the collected
group of horsemen scattered a little, and it could be
seen how they, in twos and threes, and singly, one after
the other, approached the "river." To the spectators it
seemed as if they were all moving together, but to the
racers themselves there were seconds of separation
which had great value.
Frou Frou, excited and too nervous at first, lost the
ANNA KARENINA 257
first moment, and several of the horses were ahead of
her; but Vronsky, not having yet reached the "river,"
and trying with all his might to calm her as she pulled
on the bridle, soon easily outstripped three, and now
had as competitors only Makhotin's chestnut Gladiator,
which was easily and smoothly running a whole length
ahead, and still more to the fore the pretty Diana, car-
rying Prince Kuzovlef, not knowing whether he was
dead or alive.
During these first few seconds Vronsky had control
neither of himself nor of his horse. Up to the first ob-
stacle, the " river," he could not control the movements
of his horse.
Gladiator and Diana reached it at almost one and the
same moment. Both at once rose above the reka, or
"river," and flew across to the other side. Frou Frou
lightly leaped behind them, as if she had wings. The
instant that Vronsky perceived that he was in the air,
he caught a gUmpse of Kuzovlef almost under the feet
of his horse, wrestling with Diana on the other side
of the "river." Kuzovlef had loosened the reins after
Diana jumped, and the horse had stumbled, throwing
him over her head. These details Vronsky learned
afterwards, but at this time he only saw that Frou Frou
might land on Diana's head or legs. But Frou Frou,
like a falling cat, making a desperate effort with back
and legs as she leaped, landed beyond the fallen racer.
" O you dear ! " thought Vronsky.
After the reka he got full control of his horse, and
even held her back a little, meaning to leap the great
hurdle behind Makhotin, and to do his best to outstrip
him when they reached the long stretch of about two
hundred sashcns, or fourteen hundred feet, which was
free of obstacles.
This great hurdle was built exactly in front of the
imperial pavilion ; the emperor, the court, and an im-
mense throng were watching them, watching him and
Makhotin on the horse a length ahead of him, as they
approached the choi't, or devil, as the barrier was called.
Vronsky felt all these eyes fixed on him from every side;
VOL. I. — 17
258 ANNA KARENINA
but he saw only his horse's ears and neck, the ground
flying under him, and Gladiator's flanks, and white feet
beating the ground in cadence, and always maintaining
the same distance between them. Gladiator flew at the
hurdle, gave a whisk of his well-cropped tail, and, with-
out having touched the hurdle, vanished from Vronsky's
eyes.
" Bravo ! " cried a voice.
At the same instant the planks of the hurdle flashed
before his eyes. Without the least change in her motion,
the horse rose under him. The planks creaked and just
behind him there was the sound of a thump. Frou Frou,
excited by the sight of Gladiator, had leaped too soon,
and had struck the hurdle with one of her hind feet, but
her gait was unchanged ; and Vronsky, his face splashed
with mud, saw that he was still at the same distance
from Gladiator, he saw once more Gladiator's crupper,
his short tail, and his swiftly moving white feet.
At the very instant that Vronsky decided that he
ought now to get ahead of Makhotin, Frou Frou herself
comprehending his thought, and needing no stimulus,
sensibly increased her speed, and gained on Makhotin
by trying to take the inside track next the rope. But
Makhotin did not yield this advantage. Vronsky was
wondering if they could not pass on the outside, when
Frou Frou, as if divining his thought, changed of her
own accord and took this direction. Her shoulder,
darkened with sweat, came up even with Gladiator's
flank, and for several seconds they flew almost side by
side ; but Vronsky, before the obstacle to which they
were now coming, in order not to take the outside of
the great circle, began to ply his reins, and, just on the
declivity, he managed to get the lead. As he drew by
Makhotin he saw his mud-stained face ; it even seemed
to him that he smiled. Vronsky had passed Makhotin,
but he was conscious that he was just behind, he was
still there, within a step ; and Vronsky could hear the
regular rhythm of Gladiator's feet, and his hurried, but
far from winded, breathing.
The next two obstacles, the ditch and the hurdle, were
ANNA KARENINA 2^9
easily passed, but Gladiator's gallop and puffing came
nearer, Vronsky gave Frou Frou the spur, and perceived
with a thrill of joy that she easily accelerated her speed ;
the sound of Gladiator's hoofs was heard once more in
the same relative distance behind.
He now had the lead, as he had desired, and as Cord
had recommended, and he felt sure of success. His
emotion, his joy, his affection for Frou Frou, were all
growing more pronounced. He wanted to look back,
but he did not dare to turn around, and he strove to calm
himself, and not to push his horse too far, so that she
might keep a reserve equal to that which he felt Gladi-
ator still maintained.
One obstacle, the most serious, now remained ; if he
cleared that before the others, then he would be first in.
He was now approaching the Irish banketka. He and
Frou Frou at the same instant caught sight of the ob-
stacle from afar, and both, horse and man felt a moment
of hesitation. Vronsky noticed the hesitation in his
horse's ears, and he was just lifting his whip ; but in-
stantly he was conscious that his fears were ungrounded,
the horse knew what she had to do. She got her start,
and, exactly as he had foreseen, spurning the ground, she
gave herself up to the force of inertia which carried her
far beyond the ditch ; then fell again into the measure
of her pace without effort and without change.
" Bravo, Vronsky ! "
He heard the acclamations of the throng. He knew
it was his friends and his regiment, who were standing
near this obstacle; and he could not fail to distinguish
Yashvin's voice, though he did not see him.
" O my beauty ! " said he to himself, thinking of Frou
Frou, and yet listening to what was going on behind
him. " He has cleared it," he said, as he heard Gladia-
tor's hoof-beats behind him.
The last ditch, full of water, five feet ^ wide, now was
left. Vronsky scarcely heeded it ; but, anxious to come
in far ahead of the others, he began to saw on the reins,
lifting her head and letting it fall again in time with the
^ Two arshins, four feet, eight inches. Three arshins make a sazhen.
26o ANNA KARENINA
rhythm of her gait. He felt that the horse was begin-
ning to draw on her last reserves ; not only were her
neck and her sides wet, but the sweat stood in drops
on her throat, her head, and her ears ; her breath was
short and gasping. Still, he was sure that she had
force enough to cover the fourteen hundred feet that
lay between him and the goal. Only because he felt
himself nearer the ground, and by the extraordinary
smoothness of her motion, did Vronsky realize how
much she had increased her speed. The ditch was
cleared, how, he did not know.
She cleared the ditch scarcely heeding it ; she cleared
it Hke a bird. But at this moment Vronsky felt, to his
horror, that, instead of taking the swing of his horse, he
had made, through some inexplicable reason, a wretch-
edly and unpardonably wrong motion in falling back
into the saddle. His position suddenly changed, and
he felt that something horrible had happened. He
could not give himself any clear idea of it ; but there
flashed by him a chestnut steed with white feet, and
Makhotin by a swift leap passed him.
One of Vronsky's feet touched the ground, and his
horse stumbled. He had scarcely time to clear himself
when the horse fell on her side, panting painfully, and
making vain efforts with her delicate foam-covered neck
to rise again. But she lay on the ground, and strug-
gled like a wounded bird ; the awkward movement
that he had made in the saddle had broken her back.
But he did not learn this till afterwards. Now he
saw only one thing, that Makhotin was far ahead, and
that he was tottering there alone, standing on the
muddy immovable ground, and before him, heavily pant-
ing, lay Frou Frou, who stretched her head toward
him, and looked at him with her beautiful eyes. Still
not realizing what had happened, Vronsky pulled on the
reins. The poor animal struggled like a fish, splitting
the flaps of the saddle, and tried to get up on her fore
legs ; but, unable to move her hind quarters, she fell
back on the ground all of a tremble, Vronsky, his face
pale and distorted with passion, and with trembling
ANNA KARENINA 261
lower jaw, kicked her in the belly and again pulled at
the reins. But she did not move, but gazed at her
master with one of her speaking looks, and buried her
nose in the sand.
" Aaah ! what have I done .•' " cried Vronsky, taking
her head in his hands. " Aaah ! what have I done .-* "
And the lost race ! and his humiliating, unpardonable
blunder! and the poor ruined horse! "Aaah! what
have I done ? "
The people's doctor and his assistant, the officers of
his regiment, ran to his aid ; but to his great mortifica-
tion he found that he was safe and sound. The horse's
back was broken and she had to be killed,
Vronsky could not answer the questions which were
put to him, could not speak a word to any one ; he turned
away and, without picking up his cap, left the hippo-
drome, not knowing whither he was going. He was in
despair. For the first time in his life he was the victim
of a misfortune for which there was no remedy, and for
which he felt that he himself was the only one to blame.
Yashvin, with his cap, overtook him and brought him
back to his quarters, and in half an hour Vronsky was calm
and self-possessed again ; but this race was for a long
time the most bitter and cruel remembrance of his life.
CHAPTER XXVI
The external relations of Aleksel Aleksandrovitch
and his wife were the same as they had been. The
only difference was that he was more absorbed in his
work than he had been. Early in the spring he went
abroad, as was his custom each year, to recuperate at
the water-cure after the fatigues of the winter. He re-
turned in July, as he usually did, and resumed his duties
with new energy. His wife had taken up her summer
quarters as usual in a datc/ta, or summer villa, not far
from Petersburg ; he remained in the city.
Since their conversation after the reception at the
Princess Tverskaya's, he had said nothing more about
262 ANNA KARENINA
his jealousies or suspicions ; and the tone of raillery
habitual with AlekseY Aleksandrovitch was to the high-
est degree useful to him in his present relations with
his wife. He was somewhat cooler in his treatment of
her, although he seemed to have felt only a slight ill-
will toward her after that night's conversation which
she had refused to listen to. In his relations to her
there was a shade of spite, but nothing more. He
seemed to say, " You have not been willing to have an
understanding with me ; so much the worse for you.
Now you must make the first advances, and I, in my
turn, will not listen to you."
" So much the worse for you," said he in his thought,
like a man who should try in vain to put out a fire and
should be angry at his vain efforts, and should say, " I
have done my best for you ; burn then ! "
This man, so keen and shrewd in matters of public
concern, could not see the absurdity of such behavior to
his wife. He did not understand it because it was too
terrible to understand his actual position. He preferred
to bury the affection which he felt for his wife and child
deep in his heart, as in a box locked and sealed. He,
a watchful father, had begun toward the end of that
winter to be singularly cold toward the child, speaking
to him in the same bantering tone that he used toward
his wife. When he addressed him he would say, " Ah,
young man ! "
Alekseif Aleksandrovitch thought and declared that
he had never had so many important affairs as this year ;
but he did not confess that he had himself under-
taken them in order to keep from opening his secret
coffer which contained his sentiments toward his wife
and his family, and his thoughts concerning them, —
thoughts which grew more and more terrible to him
the longer he kept them out of sight.
If any one had assumed the right to ask him what he
thought about his wife's conduct, this calm and pacific
Aleksel Aleksandrovitch would have made no reply, but
would have been very indignant with the man who
should dare to ask him such a question. And so his
ANNA KARENINA 263
face always looked stern and haughty whenever any one
asked how his wife was. Aleksef Aleksandrovitch did
not wish to think about his wife's conduct and feelings,
and therefore he did not think about them.
The Karenins' summer datcha was at Peterhof ; and the
Countess Lidya Ivanovna generally spent her summers
in the same neighborhood, keeping up friendly relations
with Anna. This year the countess had not cared to go to
Peterhof, nor had she once called on Anna Arkadyevna ;
and as she was talking with Karenin one day, she made
some allusion to the impropriety of Anna's intimacy
with Betsy and Vronsky. Aleksef Aleksandrovitch
stopped her harshly, and declared that for him his wife
was above suspicion, and from that day he avoided the
countess. He did not wish to see and he did not see
that many people in society were beginning to give
his wife the cold shoulder ; he did not wish to com-
prehend and he did not comprehend why his wife es-
pecially insisted on going to Tsarskoye, where Betsy
lived and from which it was not far to Vronsky's
camp.
He did not allow himself to think about this, and he
did not think ; but at the same time, without any proof
to support him, without actually acknowledging it to
himself, in the depths of his soul he felt that he was a
deceived husband ; he had no doubt about it, and he
suffered deeply.
How many times in the course of his eight years of
happy married life, as he had seen other men's wives
playing them false and other husbands deceived, had he
not asked himself, "How did it come to this.-* Why
don't they free themselves at any cost from such an
absurd situation .-* " But now, when the evil had fallen
on his own head, he not only did not dream of extricat-
ing himself from his own trouble, but he would not
even admit it, would not admit it for the very reason
that it was too horrible and too unnatural.
Since his return from abroad, Alekseif Aleksandrovitch
had gone twice to his wife's datcha, — once to dine
with her, the other time to pass the evening with some
264 ANNA KARENINA
guests, but not once had he spent the night, as had
been his custom in previous years.
The day of the races was extremely engrossing for
Aleksel Aleksandrovitch ; but when in the morning he
made out the program of the day, he decided to go to
his wife's datcha after an early dinner, and thence to
the hippodrome, where he expected to find the court,
and where it was proper that he should be seen. He
went to see his wife because he had resolved, for the
sake of propriety also, to visit his wife every week.
Moreover, it was the fifteenth of the month, and it was
his custom at this time to place in her hands the money
for the household expenses.
With his ordinary power over his thoughts he gave
this much consideration to his wife's affairs, but beyond
this point he would not permit them to pass.
His morning had been extremely full of business.
The evening before he had received a pamphlet, written
by a famous traveler, who had recently returned from
China and was now in Petersburg ; a note from the
Countess Lidya, accompanying it, begged him to receive
this traveler, who seemed likely to be, on many ac-
counts, a useful and interesting man. Aleksel Alek-
sandrovitch had not been able to get through the
pamphlet in the evening, and he finished it after break-
fast. Then came petitions, reports, visits, nominations,
removals, the distribution of rewards, pensions, salaries,
correspondence, all that " workaday labor," as Aleksef
Aleksandrovitch called it, which consumes so much
time.
Then came his private business, a visit from his phy-
sician and a call from his steward. The steward did not
stay very long. He only brought the money which
Aleksel Aleksandrovitch needed, and a brief report on
the condition of his affairs, which this year were not
very satisfactory, since it happened that in consequence
of various outlays there had been a heavy drain upon
him and there was a deficit.
But the doctor, who was a famous physician of
Petersburg, and had come into very friendly relations
ANNA KARENINA 265
with AlekseY Aleksandrovitch, took considerable time.
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch had not expected him that day
and was astonished at his visit, and still more so at the
scrupulous care with which he plied him with questions,
and sounded his lungs and punched and thumped his
liver ; Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch was not aware that his
friend, the Countess Lidya, troubled by his abnormal
condition, had begged the doctor to visit him and give
him a thorough examination.
" Do it for my sake," said the Countess Lidya Iva-
novna.
" I will do it for the sake of Russia, countess," replied
the doctor.
" Admirable man ! " cried the countess.
The doctor was very much disturbed at Aleksei
Aleksandrovitch's state. His liver was congested, his
digestion was bad ; the waters had done him no good.
He ordered more physical exercise, as little mental
strain as possible, and, above all, freedom from vexation
of spirit ; in other words, he ordered Aleksei' Aleksan-
drovitch to do what was as impossible for him as not to
breathe.
The doctor departed, leaving Alekse'f Aleksandrovitch
with the disagreeable impression that something was
very wrong with him, and that there was no help for it.
On the way out, the doctor met on Karenin's steps
his old acquaintance Sliudin, who was Alekse'f Alek-
sandrovitch's chief secretary. They had been in t'he
university together ; but, though they rarely met, they
were still excellent friends, and therefore to no one else
than Sliudin would the doctor have expressed his opinion
concerning the sick man so frankly.
" How glad I am that you have been to see him ! "
said Sliudin. " He is not well, and it seems to me .....
Well, what is it ? "
" I will tell you," said the doctor, nodding to his
coachman to drive up to the door. "This is what I
say;" and, taking with his white hand the fingers of
his dogskin glove, he stretched it out ; " try to break
a tough cord which is not stretched and it 's hard work ;
266 ANNA KARENINA
but keep it stretched out to its utmost tension, and
put the weight of your finger on it, it breaks. Now,
with his too sedentary life, and his too conscientious
labor, he is strained to the utmost limit ; and besides,
there is a violent pressure in another direction," con-
cluded the doctor, raising his eyebrows significantly.
" Shall you be at the races ? " he added, as he got into
his carriage.
" Yes, yes, certainly ; it takes a good deal of time,"
he said in reply to something that Sliudin said, and
which he did not catch.
Immediately after the departure of the doctor, who
had taken so much time, the celebrated traveler ap-
peared ; and Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, aided by the
pamphlet which he had just read, and by some pre-
vious information which he had on the subject, aston-
ished his visitor by the extent of his knowledge and
the breadth of his views.
At the same time the marshal ^ of nobility of his
government was announced, who had come to Peters-
burg and wanted to talk with him. After his departure
he was obliged to settle the routine business with his
chief secretary, and finally to go out and make a serious
and necessary call on an important personage.
Alekself Aleksandrovitch had only time to get back
to his five o'clock dinner with Sliudin, whom he in-
vited to join him on his visit to the country and to the
races.
Without exactly accounting for it, Aleksef Aleksan-
drovitch always endeavored lately to have a third per-
son present when he had an interview with his wife.
CHAPTER XXVII
Anna was in her room standing before a mirror and
fastening a final bow to her dress, with Annushka's aid,
when the noise of wheels on the gravel driveway was
heard.
^ Gubernsky Predvodityel.
ANNA KARENINA 267
" It is too early for Betsy," she thought ; and, looking
out of the window, she saw a carriage and in the car-
riage AlekseY Aleksandrovitch's black hat and well-
known ears.
"How provoking! Can he have come for the night ?"
she thought ; and all the consequences of his visit
seemed to her so terrible, so horrible, that without
taking time for a moment of reflection, she went down-
stairs, radiant with gayety, to receive her husband; and,
feeling in her the presence of the spirit of falsehood and
deception which now ruled her, she gave herself up to it
and spoke with her husband, not knowing what she said.
" Ah ! how good of you ! " said she, extending her
hand to Karenin, while she smiled on Sliudin as a
household friend.
" You 've come for the night, I hope .-' " were her first
words, inspired by the demon of untruth ; "and now we
will go to the races together. But how sorry I am that
I engaged to go with Betsy. She is coming for me."
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch frowned slightly at the name
of Betsy.
"Oh! I will not separate the inseparables," said he,
in his light jesting tone. "I will walk with Mikhad
Vasilyevitch. The doctor advised me to take exercise ;
I will join the pedestrians, and imagine I am still at
the Spa."
"There is no hurry," said Anna. "Will you have
some tea ? "
She rang.
" Serve the tea, and tell Serozha that Aleksei" Alek-
sandrovitch has come. — Well ! how is your health } —
Mikhail Vasilyevitch, you have not been out to see us
before ; look ! how pleasant it is on the balcony ! " said
she, looking now at her husband, now at her guest.
She spoke very simply and naturally, but too fast and
too fluently. She herself felt that it was so, especially
when she caught Mikhail Vasilyevitch looking at her with
curiosity and perceived that he was studying her.
Mikhail Vasilyevitch got up and went out on the
terrace, and she sat down beside her husband.
268 ANNA KARENINA
"You do not look at all well," said she.
" Oh, yes ! The doctor came this morning, and wasted
an hour of my time. I am convinced that some one of
my friends sent him. . My health is so precious ...."
'♦ No, what did he say ? "
And she questioned him about his health and his
labors, advising him to take rest, and to come out into
the country, where she was.
It was all said with gayety and animation, and with
brilliant light in her eyes, but Aleksef Aleksandrovitch
attached no special importance to her manner ; he heard
only her words, and took them in their literal significa-
tion. And he replied simply, though jestingly. The
conversation had no special weight, yet Anna never after-
ward could remember the whole short scene without the
keen agony of shame.
Serozha came in, accompanied by his governess. If
Alekself Aleksandrovitch had allowed himself to notice,
he would have been struck by the timid manner in
which the lad looked at his parents, — at his father
first, and then at his mother. But he was unwilling to
see anything, and he saw nothing.
"Ah, young man! He has grown. Indeed, he is
getting to be a great fellow ! Good-morning, young
man!"
And he stretched out his hand to the puzzled child.
Serozha had always been a little afraid of his father ;
but now, since Aleksef Aleksandrovitch had begun to
call him "young man," and since he had begun to rack
his brains to discover whether Vronsky were a friend or
an enemy, he was becoming more timid than ever. He
turned to his mother, as if for protection ; he felt at
ease only when with her. Meantime AlekseK Aleksan-
drovitch laid his hand on the boy's shoulder, and asked
his governess about him ; but the child was so painfully
shy of him that Anna saw he was going to cry.
Anna, who had flushed at the moment her son came
in, now noticing that it was awkward for him, quickly
jumped up, raised Aleksef Aleksandrovitch's hand to
let the boy go, kissed the little fellow, and took hira
ANNA KARENINA 269
out on the terrace. Then she came back to her husband
again.
" It is getting late," she said, consulting her watch.
" Why does n't Betsy come ? " ....
"Oh, yes," said Aleksel Aleksandrovitch, and as he
got up he joined his fingers and made them crack. " I
came also to bring you some money, for nightingales
don't live on songs," said he. " You need it, I sup-
pose .-' "
" No, I don't need it .... yes .... I do," said she, not look-
ing at him and blushing to the roots of her hair. " Well,
I suppose you will come back after the races ? "
"Oh, yes!" replied Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch. "But
here is the glory of Peterhof, the Princess Tverskaya,"
he added, looking out of the window at a magnificent
carriage with a short body set very high and with horses
harnessed in the English fashion, drawing up to the
entrance; "what elegance! splendid I well, let us go
too ! "
The Princess Tverskaya did not leave her carriage;
her lackey, in top-boots and pelerinka, or short cloak,
and wearing a tall hat, leaped to the steps.
" I am going, good-by," said Anna, and after she had
kissed her son, she went to Aleksei Aleksandrovitch
and gave him her hand. " It was very kind of you to
come."
AlekseY Aleksandrovitch kissed her hand.
" Well then, da svidanya I You will come back to
tea .'' Excellent ! " she said, as she went down the steps,
seeming radiant and happy.
But hardly had she passed from his sight before she
felt on her hand the place where his lips had kissed it,
and she shivered with repugnance.
270 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XXVIII
When Alekseif Aleksandrovitch reached the race-
course, Anna was already in her place beside Betsy, in
the grand pavilion, where all the highest society was
gathered in a brilliant throng. She saw her husband
from a distance. Two men, her husband and her lover,
were for her the two centers of life, and without the help
of her external senses she felt their presence. Even
when her husband was at a distance she was conscious
of his presence, and she involuntarily followed him in
that billowing throng in the midst of which he was
coming along. She saw him approach the pavilion, now
replying with condescension to ingratiating salutations,
then cordially or carelessly exchanging greetings with his
equals ; then again assiduously watching to catch the
glances of the great ones of the earth, and taking off
his large, round hat, which came down to the top of his
ears. Anna knew all these mannerisms of salutation,
and they were all equally distasteful to her.
" Nothing but ambition ; craze for success ; it is all
that his heart contains," she thought ; " but his lofty
views, his love for civilization, his religion, they are
only means whereby to win success."
From the glances that Karenin cast on the pavilion,
he was looking straight at his wife, but could not see
her in the sea of muslin, ribbons, feathers, flowers, and
sunshades — Anna knew he was looking for her, but
she pretended not to see him.
" Aleksef Aleksandrovitch," cried the Princess Betsy,
** don't you see your wife ? here she is ! "
He looked up with his icy smile.
" Everything is so brilliant here, that it blinds the
eyes," he replied, as he came up the pavilion.
He smiled at Anna, as it is a husband's duty to do
when he has only just left his wife, greeted Betsy and
his other acquaintances, conducting himself in due form,
in other words, jesting with the ladies, and exchanging
compliments with the men.
ANNA KARENINA 271
A general-adjutant, well known for his wit and culture,
and highly esteemed by AlekseY Aleksandrovitch, was
standing below near the pavilion. Aleksel Aleksan-
drovitch joined him, and engaged in conversation. It
was the interval between two of the races ; the general-
adjutant condemned racing. Aleksei" Aleksandrovitch
replied and defended them.
Anna heard his shrill, monotonous voice, and lost not
a single word ; and every word that he spoke seemed to
her hypocritical and rang unpleasantly in her ear.
When the four-verst handicap-race began, she leaned
forward, not letting Vronsky out of her sight for an
instant. She saw him approach his horse, then mount
it ; and at the same time she heard her husband's odious,
incessant voice. She was tormented with fear for Vron-
sky ; but she was tormented still more by the sound of
her husband's sharp voice, every intonation of which
she knew ; it seemed to her that he would never cease
speaking,
" I am a wicked woman, a lost woman," she thought ;
" but I hate falsehood, I cannot endure lies ; but to
him " — meaning her husband — *' lies are his daily food !
He knows all, he sees everything ; how much feeling
has he, if he can go on speaking with such calmness .-'
I should have some respect for him if he killed me, if
he killed Vronsky. But no ! what he prefers above
everything is falsehood and conventionality," said Anna
to herself, not exactly knowing what she wanted of her
husband, whatever she might want him to see. She
did not understand that the very volubility of Alekse'f
Aleksandrovitch, which irritated her so, was only the
expression of his interior agitation and anxiety.
As a child, hurt when jumping, puts its muscles into
motion to assuage the pain, so Aleksei Aleksandrovitch
absolutely required some intellectual movement, so as to
become oblivious to the thoughts about his wife that
arose in his mind at the sight of Anna and at the sight
of Vronsky, whose name he heard on all sides. And
as it is natural for a child to jump, so for him was it
natural to talk tersely and well.
272 ANNA KARENINA
" Danger," he was saying, " is an indispensable con
clition in these military and cavalry races. If England
can show in her history the most glorious deeds of arms
performed by her cavalry, she owes it solely to the his-
toric development of vigor in her people and her horses.
Sport, in my opinion, has a deep significance ; and, as
usual, we take it only in its superficial aspect."
" Not superficial," said the Princess Tverskaya ; " they
say that one of the officers has broken two ribs."
Alekself Aleksandrovitch smiled with his smile which
only uncovered his teeth and was perfectly expression-
less.
" Let us admit, princess," said he, "that in this case it
is not superficial, but serious.^ But that is not the
point ; " and he turned again to the general, and resumed
his dignified discourse : —
" You must not forget that those who take part are
military men who have chosen this career, and you must
agree that every vocation has its reverse side of the
medal. This belongs to the calling of war. Such
brutal sport as boxing-matches and Spanish bull-fights
are indications of barbarism, but specialized sport is a
sign of development."
" No, I won't come another time," the Princess
Betsy was saying ; " it is too exciting for me ; don't
you think so, Anna } "
" It is exciting, but it is fascinating," said another
lady ; " if I had been a Roman, I should never have
missed a single gladiatorial show."
Anna did not speak, but, with her opera-glass, was
gazing intently at a single spot.
At this moment a tall general came across the
pavilion. Aleksel Aleksandrovitch, breaking off his
discourse abruptly, arose with dignity, and made a
low bow.
" Are n't you racing .-' " asked the general, jestingly.
" My race is a far more difficult one," replied Aleksel
Aleksandrovitch, respectfully ; and though this answer
was not remarkable for its sense, the military man
1 Vnutrenneye, internal.
ANNA KARENINA 273
seemed to think that he had received a witty repartee
from a witty man, and appreciated la pointe de la
sauce.
"There are two sides to the question," AlekseY Alek-
sandrovitch said, resuming, — "that of the participants,
and that of the spectators ; and I confess that a love
for such spectacles is a genuine sign of inferiority in
those that look on, but .... "
"Princess, a wager," cried the voice of Stepan Ar-
kadyevitch from below, addressing Betsy. "Which
side will you take .'* "
" Anna and I bet on Prince Kuzovlef," replied Betsy.
" I am for Vronsky. A pair of gloves."
"Good!"
"How jolly! isn't it?"
Alekseif Aleksandrovitch stopped speaking while this
conversation was going on around him, and then he
began anew : —
" I confess, unmanly games .... "
But at this instant the signal of departure was heard,
and all conversation ceased. Aleksef Aleksandrovitch
also ceased speaking ; and every one stood up so as
to look at the "river." But Aleksef Aleksandrovitch
was not interested in the race, and so, instead of
watching the riders, looked around the assembly with
weary eyes. His gaze fell on his wife.
Her face was pale and stern. She evidently saw
nothing and no one — except one person. Her hands
convulsively clutched her fan ; she held her breath.
Karenin looked at her, then hastily turned away, gaz-
ing at the faces of other women.
" There is another lady very much moved, and still
another just the same ; it is very natural," said Aleksel
Aleksandrovitch to himself. He did not wish to look
at her ; but his gaze was irresistibly drawn to her face.
He once more gazed into her face, trying not to read
in it what was so plainly pictured on it, and against
his will he read, with feelings of horror, all that he
had tried to ignore.
When Kuzovlef fell at the " river," the excitement
VOL. I. — 18
274 ANNA KARENINA
was general ; but Alekseif Aleksandrovitch saw clearly
by Anna's pale, triumphant face that he that fell was
not the one on whom her gaze was riveted.
When, after Makhotin and Vronsky crossed the great
hurdle, another officer was thrown head first, and was
picked up for dead, a shudder of horror ran through
the assembly ; but Aleksef Aleksandrovitch perceived
that Anna did not even notice it, and scarcely knew
what the people around her were talking about.
But he kept studying her face, with deeper and
deeper attention. Anna, all absorbed as she was in
the spectacle of Vronsky's course, was conscious that
her husband's cold eyes were on her. She turned
around for an instant and looked at him questioningly.
Then with a slight frown she turned away.
" Akh ! it is all the same to me," she seemed to say,
as she turned her glass to the race. She did not look
at him again.
The race was disastrous ; out of the seventeen riders,
more than half were thrown and hurt. Toward the end
the excitement became intense, the more because the
emperor was displeased.
CHAPTER XXIX
All were loudly expressing their dissatisfaction, and
the phrase was going the rounds, " Now only the lions
are left in the arena ; " and when Vronsky fell, horror
was felt by all, and Anna groaned in dismay. In this
there was nothing extraordinary. But, from thence on,
a change which was positively improper had come over
her face, and she entirely lost her presence of mind.
She tried to escape, like a bird caught in a snare.
Thus she struggled to arise, and to get away ; and
then she cried to Betsy: —
" Come, let us go, let us go ! "
But Betsy did not hear her. She was leaning over,
engaged in lively conversation with a general who had
just entered the pavilion.
ANNA KARENINA 275
AlekseT Aleksandrovitch hastened to his wife, and
courteously offered her his arm.
" Come, if it is your wish to go," said he, in French ;
but Anna was listening eagerly to what the general
said, and paid no attention to her husband.
** He has broken his leg, they say ; but this is not
at all likely," said the general.
Anna did not look at her husband ; but, taking her
glass, she gazed at the place where Vronsky had
fallen. It was so distant, and the crowd was so dense,
that she could not make anything out of it. She
dropped her binocle, and started to go ; but at that
instant an officer came galloping up to make some
report to the emperor. Anna leaned forward, and
listened.
" Stiva ! Stiva ! " she cried to her brother.
He did not hear her.
She again made an effort to leave the pavilion.
" I again offer you my arm, if you wish to go," re-
peated Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, touching her hand.
Anna drew back from him with aversion, and replied
without looking at him : —
** No, no ; leave me ; I am going to stay."
She now saw an officer riding at full speed across the
race-course from the place of the accident to the pavilion.
Betsy beckoned to him with her handkerchief ; the offi-
cer brought the news that the rider was uninjured but
the horse had broken her back.
When she heard this, Anna quickly sat down, and hid
her face behind her fan. Aleksef Aleksandrovitch
noticed, not only that she was weeping, but that she
could not keep back the tears or even control the sobs
that heaved her bosom. He stepped in front of her to
shield her from the public gaze and give her a chance
to regain her self-command.
" For the third time I offer you my arm," said he,
turning to her at the end of a few moments.
Anna looked at him, not knowing what to say. The
Princess Betsy came to her aid.
" No, Aleksei Aleksandrovitch. I brought Anna, and
276 ANNA KARENINA
I will be responsible for bringing her home," said Betsy,
interfering.
" Excuse me, princess," he replied, politely smiling,
and looking her full in the face ; " but I see that she is
not well, and I wish her to go with me."
Anna looked round in terror, and, rising hastily, took
her husband's arm.
"I will send to inquire for him, and let you know,"
whispered Betsy.
As Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch left the pavilion with his
wife, he spoke in his ordinary manner to all whom he
met, and Anna was forced to listen and to reply as
usual ; but she was not herself, and as in a dream she
passed along on her husband's arm.
" Is he killed, or not ? Can it be true .-* Will he
come .'' Shall I see him to-day .-* " she asked herself.
In silence she got into AlekseY Aleksandrovitch's
carriage, and she sat in silence as they left the throng
of vehicles. In spite of all he had seen, Alekseif Alek-
sandrovitch did not allow himself to think of his wife's
present attitude. He saw only the external signs. He
saw that her deportment had been improper, and he felt
obliged to speak to her about it. But it was very diffi-
cult not to say more, — to say only that. He opened
his mouth to tell her how improperly she had behaved ;
but, in spite of himself, he said something absolutely
different.
"How strange that we all like to see these cruel
spectacles! I notice...."
" What ? I did not understand you," said Anna,
scornfully.
He was wounded, and instantly began to say what
was on his mind. .
" I am obliged to tell you ...." he began.
"Now," thought Anna, "comes the explanation ;" and
a terrible feeling came over her.
" I am obliged to tell you that your conduct to-day
has been extremely improper," said he, in French.
"Wherein has my conduct been improper .!*" she
demanded angrily, raising her head quickly, and look-
ANNA KARENINA 277
ing him straight in the eyes, no longer hiding her feel-
ings under a mask of gayety, but putting on a bold
front, under which, with difficulty, she hid her fears.
" Be careful," said he, pointing to the open window
behind the coachman's back.
He leaned forward and raised the pane.
"What impropriety did you remark?" she asked
again.
" The despair which you took no pains to conceal
when one of the riders was thrown."
He awaited her answer ; but she said nothing, and
looked straight ahead.
** I have already requested you so to behave when in
society that evil tongues cannot find anything to say
against you. There was a time when I spoke of your
inner feelings ; I now say nothing about them. Now I
speak only of outward appearances. You have behaved
improperly, and I would ask you not to let this happen
again."
She did not hear half of his words ; she felt over-
whelmed with fear ; and she thought only of Vronsky,
and whether he was killed. Was it he who was meant
when they said the rider was safe but the horse had
broken her back .-'
When Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch ceased speaking, she
looked at him with an ironical smile, and answered not
a word, because she had not noticed what he said. At
first he had spoken boldly ; but as he saw clearly what
he was speaking about, the terror which possessed her
seized him also. He noticed that smile of hers, and it
led him into a strange mistake.
" She is amused at my suspicions ! She is going to
tell me now what she once before said, that there is no
foundation for them, that this is absurd."
Now when the discovery of the whole thing hung
over him, he desired nothing so much as that she should
answer derisively as she had done before, that his sus-
picions were ridiculous and had no foundation. What
he now knew was so terrible to him that he was ready
to believe anything that she might say. But the ex'
278 ANNA KARENINA
pression of her gloomy and frightened face now allowed
him no further chance of falsehood.
"Possibly I am mistaken," said he; "in that case, I
beg you to forgive me."
"No, you are not mistaken," she replied, with meas-
ured words, casting a look of despair on her husband's
icy face. " You are not mistaken ; I was in despair,
and I could not help being. I hear you, but I am think-
ing only of him. I love him, I am his mistress. I can-
not endure you, I fear you, I hate you!.... Do with me
what you please ! "
And, throwing herself into a corner of the carriage,
she covered her face with her hands, and burst into tears.
AlekseY Aleksandrovitch did not move, or change the
direction of his eyes ; but his whole face suddenly as-
sumed the solemn rigidity of a corpse, and this expres-
sion remained unchanged throughout the drive to the
datcha. As they reached the house, he turned his head
to her still with the same expression.
" So ! but I insist on the preservation of appearances
until" — and here his voice trembled — "I decide on
the measures which I shall take to save my honor and
communicate them to you."
He stepped out of the carriage, and assisted Anna
out. Then, in presence of the domestics, he shook
hands with her, reentered the carriage, and drove back
to Petersburg.
He had just gone, when a lackey from Betsy brought
a note to Anna : —
" I sent to Alekser Vronsky to learn how he was.
He writes me that he is safe and sound, but in despair."
"Then he will come," she thought. "How well I
did to tell him all ! "
She looked at her watch ; scarcely three hours had
passed since she saw him, but the memory of their
interview made her heart hot within her.
"Bozhe molf! how light it is! It is terrible! but I
love to see his face, and I love this fantastic light
My husband ! oh ! yes ! ....well! thank God it is all over
with him 1 "
ANNA KARENINA 279
CHAPTER XXX
As in all places where human beings congregate, so
in the little German village where the Shcherbatskys
went to take the waters, there is formed a sort of social
crystallization which puts every one in his exact and un-
changeable place. Just as a drop of water exposed to
the cold always and invariably takes a certain crystalline
form, so each new individual coming to the Spa immedi-
ately finds himself fixed in the place peculiar to him.
" Fiirst Schtscherbatzsky sammt Gemahlin und Toch-
ter," — Prince Shcherbatsky, wife, and daughter, — both
by the apartments that they occupied, and by their name
and the acquaintances that they found, immediately
crystallized into the exact place that was predestined to
receive them.
This year a genuine German Furstin, or princess, was
at the Spa, and in consequence the crystallization of
society took place even more energetically than usual.
The Russian princess felt called on to present her
daughter to the German princess, and the ceremony
took place two days after their arrival. Kitty, dressed
in a very simple toilet, that is to say, a very elegant
summer costume imported from Paris, made a low and
graceful courtesy. The Furstin said : —
" I hope that the roses will soon bloom again in this
pretty little face."
And immediately the Shcherbatsky family found them-
selves in the fixed and definite walk in life from which
it was impossible to descend. They made the acquain-
tance of the family of an English Lady, of a German
Grdfin, and her son who had been wounded in the late
war, of a scientific man from Sweden, and of a M. Canut
and his sister.
But, for the most part, the Shcherbatskys spontane-
ously formed social relations among the people from
Moscow, among them Marya Yevgenyevna Rtishchevaya
and her daughter, whom Kitty did not like because she
likewise was ill on account of a love-affair, and a Mos
28o ANNA KARENINA
cow colonel whom she had seen in society since child-
hood, and known by his uniform and his epaulets, and
who now, with his little eyes, and his bare neck and
flowery cravats, seemed to Kitty supremely ridiculous,
and the more unendurable because she could not get rid
of him. When they were all established, it became very
tiresome to Kitty, the more as her father had gone to
Carlsbad, and she and her mother were left alone. She
could not interest herself in her old acquaintances, be-
cause she knew that she should not find anything novel
in them ; and so her principal arnusement was in study-
ing the people whom she had never seen before. It was
in accordance with Kitty's nature to see the best side
of people, especially of strangers ; and now, in making
her surmises about the persons whom she saw, — who
they were and what they were like and what relation-
ship they bore to one another, — she amused herself in
imagining the most wonderful and beautiful characters,
and found justification for her observations.
Of all these people, there was one in whom she took
a most lively interest : this was a young Russian girl
who had come to the baths with a sick Russian lady
named Madame Stahl. Madame Stahl belonged to the
high nobility ; but she was so ill that she could not
walk, and only occasionally, on very fine days, appeared
at the baths in a wheeled-chair. But it was rather from
pride than illness, as the princess judged, that she
failed to make any acquaintances among the Russians.
The girl was her nurse ; and, as Kitty remarked, she
frequently went to those who were seriously ill, — and
there were many at the baths, — and with the most
natural, unaffected zeal, took care of them.
This young Russian girl, Kitty discovered to her sur-
prise, was no relation to Madame Stahl, nor even a hired
companion. Madame Stahl called her simply Varenka,
but her friends called her " Mademoiselle Varenka."
Kitty not only found it extremely interesting to study
the relations between this young girl and Madame
Stahl, and other persons whom she did not know, but,
as often happens, she also felt an unaccountable sym-
ANNA KARENINA 281
pathy drawing her toward Mademoiselle Varenka ; and,
when their eyes met, she imagined that it pleased her also.
This Mademoiselle Varenka was not only no longer in
her first youth, but she seemed like a creature without
any youth ; her age might be guessed as either nineteen
or thirty. If one analyzed her features, she was rather
good-looking in spite of the sickly pallor of her face.
If her head had not been rather large, and her figure
too slight, she would have been considered handsome ;
but she was not one to please men ; she made one think
of a beautiful flower, which, though still preserving its
petals, was faded and without perfume. There was one
other reason why she could not be attractive to men,
and that was the fact that she lacked exactly what Kitty
had in excess — the repressed fire of life and a con-
sciousness of her fascination.
Varenka seemed always absorbed in some important
work ; and therefore it seemed she could not take any
interest in anything irrelevant. It was this very con-
trast to herself that especially attracted Kitty to her.
Kitty felt that in her and in her mode of life she might
find what she was seeking with so much trouble, — an
interest in life, the dignity of life outside of the social
relationships of young women to young men, which
now seemed to Kitty like an ignominious exposure of
merchandise waiting for a purchaser. The more she
studied her unknown friend, the more convinced she
became that this girl was the most perfect creature
which she could imagine and the more she longed to
become acquainted with her.
The two girls passed each other many times every
day ; and every time they met Kitty's eyes seemed
always to ask : " Who are you ? What are you ? Are
you not, in truth, the charming person that I imagine
you to be ? But for Heaven's sake," the look seemed
to add, "don't think that I would permit myself to
demand your acquaintance ! I simply admire you, and
love you."
" I also love you, and you are very, very charming ;
and I would love you still better, if I had time," replied
282 ANNA KARENINA
the unknown maiden's look ; and indeed Kitty saw that
she was always busy. Either she was taking the chil-
dren of a Russian family home from the baths, or carry-
ing a plaid for an invalid and wrapping her up in it,
or she was trying to divert some irritable sick man, or
selecting and buying confections for some other sick
persons.
One morning, soon after the arrival of the Shcher-
batskys, two new persons appeared who immediately
became the object of rather unfriendly criticism. The
one was a very tall, stooping man, with enormous hands,
black eyes, at once innocent and terrifying, and wearing
an old, ill-fitting, short coat. The other was a pock-
marked woman, with a kindly face, and dressed very
badly and inartistically.
Kitty instantly recognized that they were Russians ;
and in her imagination set to work constructing a
beautiful and touching romance about them. But the
princess, learning by the kurliste, or list of arrivals,
that this was Nikolai Levin and Marya Nikolayevna,
explained to her what a bad man this Levin was, and
all her illusions about these two persons vanished.
The fact that he was Konstantin Levin's brother,
even more than her mother's words, suddenly made
these two people particularly repulsive to Kitty. This
Levin, with his habit of twitching his head, aroused in
her an unsurmountable feeling of repulsion. It seemed
to her that in his great, wild eyes, as they persistently
followed her, was expressed a sentiment of hatred and
irony, and she tried to avoid meeting hint
CHAPTER XXXI
It was a stormy day ; the rain fell all the morning,
and the invalids with umbrellas thronged the gallery.
Kitty and her mother, accompanied by the Muscovite
colonel playing the elegant in his European overcoat,
bought ready-made in Frankfort, were walking on one
side of the gallery, in order to avoid Nikolaif Levin, who
ANNA KARENINA 283
was on the other. Varenka, in her dark dress and a
black hat with the brim turned down, was walking up
and down the whole length of the gallery with a little
blind French woman ; each time that she and Kitty
met, they exchanged friendly glances.
" Mamma, may I speak with her .-' " asked Kitty, as
she happened to be following her unknown friend and
noticed that she was approaching the spring, where they
might meet.
" Yes, if you wish it so much. I will inquire about
her, and make her acquaintance first," said her mother.
" But what do you find especially interesting in her }
She is only a lady's companion. If you like, I can
speak to Madame Stahl. I knew her belle-sceur,'' added
the princess, proudly raising her head.
Kitty knew that her mother was vexed because
Madame Stahl seemed to avoid making her acquain-
tance, and she did not press the point.
" How wonderfully charming she is! " said she, as she
saw Varenka give the blind French lady a glass. " See
how lovely and gentle everything is that she does."
" You amuse me with your engouements," replied the
princess. " No, we had better go back," she added, as
she saw Levin approaching with Marya and a German
doctor, with whom he was speaking in a loud and angry
tone.
As they turned to go back, suddenly they heard, not loud
voices, but a cry. Levin had stopped, and was shriek-
ing. The doctor was also angry. A crowd was gather-
ing around them. The princess and Kitty hurried away,
but the colonel joined the throng to find out what the
trouble was. After a few moments the colonel came
back to them.
" What was it .-* " asked the princess.
" It is a shame and a disgrace," replied the colonel.
"There 's only one thing you need to fear, and that is to
meet with Russians abroad. This tall gentleman was
quarreling with his doctor, heaped indignities upon him
for not attending to him as he wished, and finally he
threatened him with his cane. It is simply disgraceful."
284 ANNA KARENINA
*' Akh ! how unpleasant ! " said the princess. " Well,
how did it end ? "
" Fortunately that .... that girl with a hat like a toad-
stool interfered. A Russian, it seems," said the colonel.
" Mademoiselle Varenka .'' " joyously exclaimed Kitty.
" Yes, yes ! She went quicker than any one else, and
took the gentleman by the arm, and led him off."
"There, mamma!" said Kitty, "and you wonder at
my enthusiasm for Varenka ! "
The next morning Kitty, watching her unknown
friend, noticed that Mademoiselle Varenka had the
same relations with Levin and Marya as with her other
proteges: she joined them and talked with them, and
acted as interpreter to the woman, who did not know
any language besides her own.
Kitty again begged her mother even more urgently
to let her become acquainted with Varenka ; and though
it was unpleasant to the princess to seem to be making
advances to the haughty and exclusive Madame Stahl,
she made some inquiries about Varenka, and learning
enough to satisfy herself that there was no possible
harm, though very little that was advantageous, in the
proposed acquaintance, she went first to Varenka and
introduced herself.
Choosing a time when Kitty was at the spring, and
Varenka was opposite the baker's, the princess went up
to her.
"Allow me to introduce myself," said she, with her
dignified smile. " My daughter has taken a great fancy
to you. But perhaps you do not know me. I...."
" It is more than reciprocal, princess," replied Varenka,
quickly,
"What a good thing you did yesterday toward our
wretched fellow-countryman," said the princess.
Varenka blushed.
" I do not remember," she replied. " I don't think I
did anything."
" Yes, indeed ! you saved this Levin from an unpleasant
aflfair."
" Ah, yes ! sa compagne called me, and I tried to calm
ANNA KARENINA 285
him ; he is very sick, and dissatisfied with his doctor.
I am quite used to this kind of invalids."
" Oh, yes. I have heard that you live at Mentone
with your aunt, Madame Stahl. I used to know her
belle-soeur.'^
" No, Madame Stahl is not my aunt. I call her
maman, but I am no relation to her. I was brought up
by her," replied Varenka, again blushing.
All this was said with perfect simplicity ; and the
expression of her pleasing face was so frank and sin-
cere, that the princess began to understand why Kitty
was so charmed by this Varenka.
" Well, what is this Levin going to do ? " she asked.
"He is going away."
At this moment, Kitty, radiant with pleasure because
her mother had made the acquaintance of her unknown
friend, came in from the spring.
" See here ! Kitty, your ardent desire to know Made-
moiselle.,.."
" Varenka," said the girl, smiling. " Every one calls
me so."
Kitty was flushed with delight, and without speaking
long pressed her new friend's hand, which gave no an-
swering pressure, but lay passive in hers. Her hand
gave no answering pressure, but Mademoiselle Varenka's
face shone with a quiet, joyous, though melancholy smile,
which showed her large but handsome teeth.
" I have been longing to know you," she said.
" But you are so busy...,"
•' Oh ! on the contrary, I have n't anything to do,"
replied Varenka; but at the same instant she had to
leave her new acquaintances because two little Russian
girls, the daughters of an invalid, ran to her.
"Varenka, mamma is calling," they cried.
And Varenka followed them.
286 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XXXII
The particulars which the princess learned about
Varenka's past life, and her relations with Madame
Stahl, and about Madame Stahl herself, were as fol-
lows : —
Madame Stahl had always been a sickly and excitable
woman, who was said by some to have tormented the
life out of her husband, and by others to have been tor-
mented by his unnatural behavior. After she was
divorced from her husband, she gave birth to her first
child, which did not live ; and Madame Stahl's parents,
knowing her sensitiveness, and fearing that the shock
would kill her, substituted for the dead child the
daughter of a court cook, born on the same night, and
in the same house at Petersburg. This was Varenka.
Madame Stahl afterwards learned that the child was
not her own, but continued to take charge of her, the
more willingly as the true parents shortly after died.
For more than ten years Madame Stahl lived abroad,
in the South, never leaving her bed. Some said that
she was a woman who had made a public show of her
piety and good works ; others said that she was at heart
the most highly moral of women, and that she lived only
for the good of her neighbor, that she was really what
she pretended to be.
No one knew whether she was Catholic, Protestant,
or orthodox ; one thing alone was certain, — that she had
friendly relations with the high dignitaries of all the
churches and of all communions.
Varenka always lived with Madame Stahl abroad ;
and all who knew Madame Stahl knew Mademoiselle
Varenka also, and loved her. When she had learned
all the particulars, the princess found nothing objection-
able in her daughter's acquaintance with Varenka ; the
more because Varenka had the most cultivated manners
and a fine education ; she spoke French and English
admirably, and chief of all she brought from Ma-
dame Stahl her regrets that, owing to her illness, she
ANNA KARENINA 287
was deprived of the pleasure of making the princess's
acquaintance.
After she had once made Varenka's acquaintance,
Kitty became more and more attached to her friend,
and each day discovered some new charm in her. The
princess, having discovered that Varenka sang well, in-
vited her to come and give them an evening of music.
" Kitty plays, and we have a piano ; not a very good in-
strument, to be sure, but you would give us a great pleas-
ure," said the princess, with her hypocritical smile which
was displeasing to Kitty, especially as she knew that
Varenka did not want to sing. But Varenka came, that
same evening, and brought her music. The princess
had invited Marya Yevgenyevna and her daughter, and
the colonel.
Varenka seemed perfectly indifferent to the presence
of these people, who were strangers to her, and she went
to the piano without being urged. She could not ac-
company herself, but in singing she read the notes per-
fectly. Kitty, who played very well, accompanied her.
"You have a remarkable talent," said the princess,
after the first song, which Varenka sang beautifully.
Marya Yevgenyevna and her daughter added their
compliments and their thanks.
" See," said the colonel, looking out of the window,
"what an audience you have attracted."
In fact, a large number of people had gathered in
front of the house.
" I am very glad to have given you pleasure," said
Varenka, without affectation.
Kitty looked at her friend proudly ; she admired her
art and her voice and her face, and, more than all, she
was enthusiastic over the way in which Varenka made
it evident that she took little account of her singing,
and was perfectly indifferent to compliments. She
simply seemed to say, " Shall I sing some more, or is
that enough ? "
" If I were in her place, how proud I should be ! How
happy I should be to see that crowd under the window !
But she seems perfectly unconscious of it. All that
188 ANNA KARENINA
she seemed to want was not to refuse, but to please
maman. What is there about her ? What is it that
gives her this power of indifference, this calmness and
independence ? How I should like to learn this of her! "
thought Kitty, as she looked into her peaceful face.
The princess asked Varenka to sing again ; and she
sang this time as well as the first, with the same care
and the same perfection, standing erect near the piano,
and beating time with her thin brown hand.
The next piece in her music-roll was an Italian aria.
Kitty played the introduction, and looked at Varenka.
" Let us not do that one," said she, blushing.
Kitty, in alarm and wonder, fixed her eyes on Varenka's
face.
"Well! another one," she said, hastily turning the
pages, and somehow feeling an intuition that the Italian
song brought back to her friend some painful association.
" No," replied Varenka, putting her hand on the notes
and smiling, "let us sing this." And she sang it as
calmly and coolly as the one before.
After the singing was over, they all thanked her
again, and went out into the dining-room to drink tea.
Kitty and Varenka went down into the little garden
next the house.
"You had some association with that song, did you
not.?" asked Kitty. "You need not tell me about it,"
she hastened to add ; "simply say, ' Yes, I have.' "
" Why should I not tell you about it } Yes, there is
an association," said Varenka, calmly, and not waiting
for Kitty to say anything, "and it is a painful one, I
once loved a man, and used to sing that piece to him."
Kitty with wide-open eyes looked at Varenka meekly,,
but did not speak.
"I loved him, and he loved me also; but his mother
was unwilling, and he married some one else. He does
not live very far from us now, and I sometimes see him.
You did n't think that I also had my romance, did you ? "
And her face lighted up with a rare beauty, and a
fire such as Kitty imagined might have been habitual
in other days.
ANNA KARENINA 289
" Why should n't I have thought so ? If I were a
man I could never have loved any one else after know-
ing you," said Kitty. " What I cannot conceive is, that
he was able to forget you, and make you unhappy for
the sake of obeying his mother. He could n't have had
any heart."
" Oh, no, he was an excellent man ; and I am not un-
happy ; on the contrary, I am very happy Well, shall
we sing anymore this evening?" she added, starting
to go toward the house.
" How good you are ! how good you are ! " cried
Kitty, and stopping her, she kissed her, " If I could
only be a bit like you ! "
" Why should you resemble any one else besides your-
self .'* You are a good girl as you are," said Varenka,
with her sweet and melancholy smile.
"No, I am not good at all. Now, tell me.... Stay,
stay ; let us sit down a little while," said Kitty, draw-
ing her down to a settee near by. " Tell me how it can
be other than a pain to think of a man who has scorned
your love, who has jilted you...."
*' But no, he did not scorn it at all ; I am sure that he
loved me. But he was a dutiful son, and...."
" Yes, but suppose it had not been for his mother's
sake, but simply of his own free will," said Kitty, feeling
that she was betraying her secret, and her face, glowing
red with mortification, convicted her.
" Then he would not have behaved honorably, and I
should not mourn for him," replied Varenka, perceiving
that the supposition concerned, not herself, but Kitty.
"But the insult ! " cried Kitty. "One cannot forget
the insult. It is impossible," said she, remembering her
own look when the music stopped at the last ball.
" Whose insult ? You did n't act badly.?"
" Worse than badly, — shamefully ! "
Varenka shook her head, and laid her hand on Kitty's.
" Well, but why shamefully .-* " she asked. " You
surely did not tell a man who showed indifference to
you that you loved him ? " ri
" Certainly not ; I never uttered a word. But he
VOL. I. — 19
290 ANNA KARENINA
knew it. There are looks, there are ways .... no, no!
not if I lived a hundred years should I ever forget it."
" Now, what is it ? I don't understand you. The
question is solely this : do you love him now or not .<' "
said Varenka, who liked to call things by their right
names.
" I hate him. I cannot forgive myself."
"But what for.?"
"The shame, the insult."
" Akh ! if every one were as sensitive as you ! There
is never a young girl who does not sometimes feel the
same way. It is all such a trifling thing ! "
"But what, then, is important.?" asked Kitty, look-
ing at Varenka with astonishment and curiosity.
" Oh ! many things are important," replied Varenka,
with a smile.
" Yes ; but what ? "
" Oh ! there are many things more important," re-
plied Varenka, not knowing what to say ; but at that
moment the voice of the princess was heard from the
window : —
" Kitty, it is getting cool ; put on your shawl, or
come in."
"It is time to go," said Varenka, getting up. "I
must go and see Madame Berthe ; she asked me to
come."
Kitty held her by the hand, and her eyes, full of
passionate, almost supplicating, curiosity, asked her: —
" What is it that is so important that can give such
calm } You know ; tell me."
But Varenka did not understand the meaning of
Kitty's look. She remembered only that she had still
to go to see Madame Berthe, and to get home at mid-
night for tea with manian. She went back to the
room, picked up her music, and, having said good-night
to all, started to go.
" Allow me ; I will escort you," said the colonel.
"Certainly," said the princess. "How could you go
home alone at night } I was going to send Parasha
with you."
ANNA KARENINA 1291
Kitty saw that Varenka could hardly keep from smil-
ing at the idea that she needed any one to go home
with her.
" No ; I always go home alone, and nothing ever
happens to me," said she, taking her hat, and after
kissing Kitty again, though she did not tell her " the
one important thing," she hurried away with firm steps,
her music-roll under her arm, and disappeared in the
semi-darkness of the summer night, carrying with her
her secret of " what is important " and what gave her
her enviable calmness and dignity.
CHAPTER XXXIII
Kitty also made Madame Stahl's acquaintance, and
her relations with this lady and her friendship with
Varenka had rrot only a powerful influence on her, but
also soothed her grief.
She found this consolation in the fact that, through
this friendship, there opened before her an entirely new
world, which had nothing in common with her past, —
a beautiful, supernal world, from the lofty heights of
which she could look down calmly on her past. She
discovered that this world, which was entirely apart
from the instinctive life which she had hitherto led,
was the spiritual life. This life was reached by re-
ligion, — a religion which had nothing in common with
the religion to which Kitty had been accustomed since
infancy, a religion which consisted of going to morn-
ing and evening service, and to the House of Widows,^
where she met her acquaintances, or of learning by
heart Slavonic texts with the parish priest. This was
a lofty, mystic religion, united with the purest thoughts
and feelings, and believed in not because one was com-
manded to do so, but through love.
Kitty learned all this, but not by words. Madame
Stahl talked to her as to a dear child whom she loved
as the type of her own youth, and only once did she
^ Vdovui Dom
292
ANNA KARENINA
make any allusion to the consolation brought by faith
and love for human sorrows, and to the compassion
of Christ, who looked on no sorrows as insignificant ;
and she immediately changed the subject.
But in all this lady's motions, in her words, in her
heavenly looks, as Kitty called them, and, above all,
in the story of her life, which she knew through Va-
renka, Kitty discovered "the important thing" which
till now had been but a sealed book to her.
But, lofty as Madame Stahl's character was, touch-
ing as was her history, high-minded and affectionate
her discourse, Kitty could not help noticing certain
peculiarities, which troubled her. One day, for ex-
ample, when her relatives were mentioned, Madame
Stahl smiled disdainfully ; it was contrary to Christian
charity. Another time Kitty noticed, when she met
a Roman Catholic dignitary calling on her, that Madame
Stahl kept her face carefully shaded by the curtain, and
smiled peculiarly. Insignificant as these two incidents
were, they gave her some pain, and caused her to doubt
Madame Stahl's sincerity.
Varenka, on the other hand, alone in the world, with-
out family connections, without friends, hoping for
naught, harboring no ill-will after her bitter disap-
pointment, seemed to her absolute perfection. Through
Varenka she learned how to forget herself, and to love
her neighbor, if she wanted to be happy, calm, and
good. And Kitty did wish this. And, when once
she learned what was the important thing, Kitty was
no longer willing simply to admire, but gave herself
up with her whole heart to the new life which opened
before her. After the stories which Varenka told her
of Madame Stahl and others whom she named, Kitty
drew up a plan for her coming life. She decided that,
following the example of Aline, Madame Stahl's niece,
whom Varenka often told her about, she would visit
the unhappy, no matter where she might be living,
and that she would aid them to the best of her ability ;
that she would distribute the Gospel, read the New
Testament to the sick, to the dying, to criminals : the
ANNA KARENINA 293
thought of reading the New Testament to criminals,
as this Aline 'had done, especially appealed to Kitty.
But she indulged in these dreams secretly, without
telling them to her mother or even to her friend.
However, while she was waiting to be able to carry
out her schemes on a wider scale, it was easy for Kitty
to put her new principles in practice at the waters,
even then and there at the Spa, where the sick and
unhappy are easily found, and she did as Varenka did.
The princess swiftly noticed that Kitty had fallen
under the powerful influence of her engoiiement with
Madame Stahl (as she called it), and particularly with
Varenka. She saw that Kitty imitated Varenka, not
only in her deeds of charity, but even in her gait, in her
speech, in her ways of shutting her eyes. Later she
discovered that her daughter was passing through a sort
of crisis of the soul quite independent of the influence
of her friends.
The princess saw that Kitty was reading the Gospels
evenings in a French Testament loaned her by Madame
Stahl, — a thing which she had never done before.
She also noticed that she avoided her society friends,
and gave her time to the sick under Varenka's care, and
particularly to the poor family of a sick painter named
Petrof.
Kitty seemed proud to fill, in this household, the
functions of a sister of charity. All this was very
good ; and the princess had no fault to find with it, and
opposed it all the less from the fact that Petrof's wife
was a woman of good family, and that one day the
Filvstin, noticing Kitty's charitable activity, had praised
her, and called her the " ministering angel." All would
have been very good if it had not been carried to ex-
cess. But the princess saw that her daughter was going
to extremes, so she spoke to her about it.
"// ne faut rien outrer — One must never go to ex-
tremes," she said to her.
But her daughter made no reply ; she only questioned
from the bottom of her heart whether one could ever
talk about going to extremes in the matter of religion.
294 ANNA KARENINA
How could there be any possibility of extremes in follow-
ing teachings which bid you offer your left cheek when
the right has been struck, and to give your shirt when
your cloak is taken from you ? But the princess was
displeased with this tendency to exaggeration, and she
was still more displeased to feel that Kitty was unwill-
ing to open her heart to her. In point of fact, Kitty
kept secret from her mother her new views and feelings.
She kept them secret, not because she lacked affection
or respect for her mother, but simply because she was
her mother. It would have been easier to confess them
to a stranger than to her mother.
" It is a long time since Anna Pavlovna has been to
see us," said the princess one day, speaking of Madame
Petrof. " I invited her to come, but she seems of-
fended."
"No, I don't think so, maman," reiplied Kitty, with a
guilty look.
" You have not been with her lately, have you .'' "
•' We planned a walk on the mountain for to-morrow,"
said Kitty.
"I see no objection," replied the princess, noticing
her daughter's confusion, and trying to fathom the
reason.
That same day Varenka came to dinner and an-
nounced that Anna Pavlovna had given up the proposed
expedition. The princess noticed that Kitty again
blushed.
" Kitty, has there been anything unpleasant between
you and the Petrofs } " she asked, as soon as they were
alone. " Why have they ceased to send their children,
or to come themselves .■* "
Kitty replied that nothing had happened, and that she
really did not understand why Anna Pavlovna seemed
to be angry with her ; and she told the truth. She did
not know the reasons for the change in Madame Petrof,
but she suspected them, and thus also she suspected a
thing which she dared not to confess, even to herself,
still less to her mother. This was one of those things
which you know, but which are impossible to speak even
ANNA KARENINA 295
to yourself, so humiliating and painful would it be if
you are mistaken.
Again and again she passed in review all the mem-
ories of her relations with this family. She remembered
the innocent joy which shone on Anna Pavlovna's
honest, round face when they first met ; she remembered
their secret discussions to find means to distract the
invalid, and keep him from the forbidden work, and to
get him out of doors ; the attachment of the youngest
child, who called her Moya Kiti, and would not go to
bed without her. How beautiful everything was at that
time ! Then she remembered Petrof's thin face, his
long neck, stretching out from his brown coat ; his thin,
curly hair ; his blue eyes, with their questioning look,
which she had feared at first ; his painful efforts to seem
lively and energetic when she was near ; she recalled
the effort that she had to make at first to overcome the
repugnance which he, as well as all consumptives, caused
her to feel ; and the trouble which she had in finding
something to talk with him about.
She remembered the sick man's humble and timid looks
when he saw her, and the strange feeling of compassion
and awkwardness which came over her at first, followed
by the pleasant consciousness of her charitable deeds.
How lovely it all had been ! but it lasted only for a
brief moment. Now and for several days there had
been a sudden change. Anna Pavlovna received Kitty
with pretended friendliness, and did not cease to watch
her and her husband.
Could it be that the invalid's pathetic joy at the sight
of her was the cause of Anna- Pavlovna's coolness .-'
"Yes," she said to herself, "there was something
unnatural and quite different from her ordinary sweet
temper when she said to me, day before yesterday,
sharply, 'There! he will not do anything without you;
he would not even take his coffee, though he was awfully
faint.'
" Yes ! perhaps it was not agreeable to her when I
gave him his plaid. It was such a simple little thing to
do ; but he seemed so strange, and thanked me so warmly,
296 ANNA KARENINA
that I felt ill at ease. And then that portrait of me
which he painted so well ; but, above all, his gentle and
melancholy look. Yes, yes, it must be so," Kitty re-
peated with horror. " No, it cannot be, it must not be !
He is to be pitied so ! " she added, in her secret heart.
This suspicion poisoned the pleasure of her new life.
CHAPTER XXXIV
Just before their season at the Spa was over. Prince
Shcherbatsky rejoined them. He had been to Carlsbad,
to Baden, and to Kissingen, with Russian friends, — " to
get a breath of Russian air," as he expressed it.
The prince and princess had conflicting ideas in re-
gard to living abroad. The princess thought that every-
thing was lovely ; and, notwithstanding her assured posi-
tion in Russian society, while she was abroad she put
on the airs of a European lady which she was not, for
she was in every way a genuine Russian baruinya. The
prince, on the other hand, considered everything abroad
detestable, and the European life unendurable ; and he
even exaggerated his Russian characteristics, and tried
to be less of a European than he really was.
He came back emaciated and with drooping sacks
under his eyes, but in the happiest spirits ; and his
happy frame of mind was still further enhanced when
he found that Kitty was on the road to health.
The accounts that he heard of Kitty's intimacy with
Madame Stahl and Varenka, and the princess's de-
scription of the moral transformation through which his
daughter was passing, rather vexed the prince, awaking
in him that feeling of jealousy which he always had in
regard to everything that might draw Kitty away from
under his influence. He was afraid that she might
ascend to regions unattainable to him. But these dis-
agreeable presentiments were swallowed up in the sea
of gayety and good humor which he always carried with
him, and which his sojourn at Carlsbad had increased.
The day after his arrival, the prince, in his long pale-
ANNA KARENINA 297
tot, and with his Russian wrinkles and his puffy cheeks
standing out above his stiffly starched collar, went in
the very best of spirits with Kitty to the spring.
The morning was beautiful. The neat, gay houses,
with their little gardens, the sight of the German ser-
vants, with their red faces and red arms, happily work-
ing, the brilliant sun, — everything filled the heart with
pleasure. But as they came nearer to the spring they
met more and more invalids, whose lamentable appear-
ance contrasted painfully with the trim and beneficent
German surroundings.
For Kitty the bright sunlight, the vivid green of the
trees, the sounds of the music, all formed a natural
framework for these well-known faces, whose changes
for better or worse she had been watching. But for
the prince there was something cruel in the contrast
between this bright June morning, the orchestra play-
ing the latest waltz, and especially the sight of these
healthy-looking servants, and the miserable invalids,
from all the corners of Europe, dragging themselves
painfully along.
In spite of the return of his youth which the prince
experienced, and the pride that he felt in having his
favorite daughter on his arm, he confessed to a sense
of shame and awkwardness in walking along with his
firm step and his vigorous limbs,
'* Introduce me, introduce me to your new friends,"
said he to his daughter, pressing her arm with his elbow.
" I am beginning to like your abominable Soden for the
good which it has done you. Only it is melancholy for
you. — Who is this ? "
Kitty told the names of the acquaintances and
strangers that they met on their way. At the very
entrance of the garden they met Madame Berthe and
her companion, and the prince was pleased to see the
expression of joy on the old Frenchwoman's face at
the sound of Kitty's voice. With true French exagger-
ation she immediately overwhelmed the prince with
compliments, congratulating him on having such a
charming daughter, whose merits she praised to the
298 ANNA KARENINA
skies, declaring to her face that she was a treasure, a
pearl, a ministering angel.
"Well! she must be angel number two," said the
prince, gallantly, "for she calls Mademoiselle Varenka
angel number one."
" Oh ! Mademoiselle Varenka is truly an angel.
Allez" said Madame Berthe, vivaciously.
They met Varenka herself in the gallery. She
hastened up to them, carrying an elegant red bag.
" Here is papa," said Kitty.
Varenka made the prince a simple and natural saluta-
tion, almost like a courtesy, and without any false
modesty immediately entered into conversation with
him as she conversed with every one, without restraint
or affectation.
"Of course I know you, — know you very well al-
ready," said the prince, with a pleasant expression that
made Kitty see that her friend pleased her father.
" Where were you going so fast ? "
" Maman is here," she replied, turning to Kitty.
"She did not sleep all night, and the doctor advised her
to take the air. I have brought her work,"
" So that is angel number one } " said the prince,
when Varenka had gone.
Kitty saw that he had intended to rally her about her
friend, but had refrained because her friend had pleased
him. "Well, let us go and see them all," said he, —
" all your friends, even Madame Stahl, if she will deign
to remember me."
"But did you ever know her, papa.-*" asked Kitty,
with fear, as she saw an ironical flash in her father's
eyes as he mentioned Madame Stahl.
" I knew her husband, and I knew her a little, before
she joined the Pietists."
" What are Pietists, papa 1 " asked Kitty, troubled
because such a nickname was given to what in Madame
Stahl she valued so highly.
" I myself do not know much about them. I only
know_ this, that she thanks God for everything, even
for her tribulations, and, above all, she thanks God
ANNA KARENINA 299
because her husband is dead. Now, that is comical,
because they did not live happily together. But who is
that .'' What a melancholy face ! " he added, seeing an
invalid sitting in a shop in cinnamon-colored paletot,
with white pantaloons making strange folds around his
emaciated legs. This gentleman had raised his straw
hat, and bared his sparse curly hair and high sickly
forehead, on which showed the red line made by the
brim.
"That is Petrof, a painter," replied Kitty, with a
blush ; " and there is his wife," she added, indicating
Anna Pavlovna, who, at their approach, had evidently
made the excuse of running after one of their children
playing in the street.
" Poor fellow ! and what a pleasant face he has ! "
said the prince. "But why did you not go to him .-^ He
seemed anxious to speak to you."
"Well, let us go back to him," said Kitty, resolutely
turning about. " PJow do you feel to-day ? " she asked
of Petrof.
Petrof arose, leaning on his cane, and looked timidly
at the prince.
"This is my daughter," said the prince; "allow me
to make your acquaintance."
The painter bowed and smiled, showing teeth of
strangely dazzling whiteness.
"We expected you yesterday, princess," said he to
Kitty.
He staggered as he spoke ; and to conceal the fact
that it was involuntary, he repeated the motion.
" I expected to come, but Varenka told me that Anna
Pavlovna sent word that you were not going."
" That we were n't going } " said Petrof, troubled, and
beginning to cough. Then, looking toward his wife, he
called hoarsely, " Annetta ! Annetta ! " while the great
veins on his thin white neck stood out like cords.
Anna Pavlovna drew near.
" How did you send word to the princess that we
were not going ? " he demanded angrily, in a whisper.
" Good-morning, princess," said Anna Pavlovna, with
300
ANNA KARENINA
a constrained smile, totally different from her former
effusiveness. "Very glad to make your acquaintance,"
she added, addressing the prince. " You have been
long expected, prince."
" How could you have sent word to the princess that
we were not going ? " again demanded the painter, in his
hoarse whisper, and still more irritated because he could
not express himself as he wished.
" Oh, good heavens ! I thought that we were not
going," said his wife, testily.
" How."*.... when .? " ....
He coughed, and made a gesture of despair with his
hand.
The prince raised his hat, and went away with his
daughter.
" Oh ! okh !" he said, with a deep sigh. " Oh, these
poor creatures ! "
"Yes, papa," said Kitty; "and you must know that
they have three children, and no servant, and almost no
means. He receives a pittance from the Academy,"
she continued eagerly, so as to conceal the emotion
caused by the strange change in Anna Pavlovna, in
her behavior to her. "Ah, there is Madame Stahl ! "
said Kitty, directing his attention to a wheeled-chair, in
which was lying a human form, wrapped in gray and
blue, propped up by pillows, and shaded by an umbrella.
It was Madame Stahl. A solemn and sturdy German
laborer was pushing her chair. Beside her walked a light-
complexioned Swedish count, whom Kitty knew by sight.
Several people had stopped near the wheeled-chair, and
were gazing at this lady as if she were some curiosity.
The prince approached her, and Kitty instantly noticed
in her father's eyes that ironical gleam which had
troubled her before. He went up to Madame Stahl,
and addressed her in that excellent French which so
few Russians nowadays are able to speak, and was ex-
tremely polite and friendly.
"I do not know whether you still recollect me, but
it is my duty to bring myself to your remembrance, in
order that I may thank you for your kindness to my
ANNA KARENINA joi
daughter," said he, taking off his hat, and holding it
in his hand.
"Prince Aleksandr Shcherbatsky ! " said Madame
Stahl, looking at him with her heavenly eyes, in which
Kitty detected a shade of dissatisfaction. " I am very
glad to see you ; I love your daughter so ! "
" Your health is not always good .'' "
" Oh ! I am pretty well used to it now," replied
Madame Stahl ; and she presented the prince to the
Swedish count.
" You have changed very little," said the prince to
her, "during the ten or twelve years since I had the
honor of seeing you."
" Yes. God gives the cross, and gives also the power
to carry it. I often ask myself why my life is so pro-
longed Not like that," she said crossly, to Varenka,
who had not succeeded in putting her plaid over her
shoulders to her satisfaction.
" For doing good, without doubt," said the prince,
with laughing eyes.
"It is not for us to judge," replied Madame Stahl,
observing the gleam of irony in the prince's face.
" I pray you send me that book, dear count. I will
thank you a thousand times," said she, turning to the
young Swede.
"Ah!" cried the prince, who had just caught sight
of the Muscovite colonel standing near ; and, bowing to
Madame Stahl, he went away with his daughter and the
Muscovite colonel, who had joined him.
" This is our aristocracy, prince ! " said the colonel,
with sarcastic intent, for he also was piqued because
Madame Stahl refused to be friendly.
" Always the same," replied the prince.
" Did you know her before her illness, prince, — that
is, before she became an invalid ? "
" Yes ; she became an invalid after I knew her."
" They say that she has not walked for ten years. " ....
" She does not walk because one leg is shorter than
the other. She is very badly put together. "....
" Papa, it is impossible," cried Kitty.
302
ANNA KARENINA
" Evil tongues say so, my dear ; and your friend
Varenka ought to see her as she is. Oh, these invalid
ladies ! "
" Oh, no, papa ! I assure you, Varenka adores her,"
cried Kitty, eagerly; "and besides, she does so much
good ! Ask any one you please. Every one knows her
and Aline Stahl."
" Maybe," replied her father, pressing her arm gently ;
" but it would be better when people do such things
that no one should know about it."
Kitty was silent, not because she had nothing to say,
but she was unwilling to reveal her inmost thoughts
even to her father.
There was one strange thing, however : decided though
she was not to unbosom herself to her father, not to
let him penetrate into the sanctuary of her reflections,
she nevertheless was conscious that her ideal of holiness,
as seen in Madame Stahl, which she had for a whole
month carried in her soul, had irrevocably disappeared,
as a face seen in a garment thrown down by chance
disappears when one really sees how the garment is
lying. She retained only the image of a lame woman
who, because she was deformed, stayed in bed, and who
tormented the paftient Varenka because she did not
arrange her plaid to suit her. And it became impossi-
ble for her imagination to bring back to her the remem-
brance of the former Madame Stahl.
CHAPTER XXXV
The prince's gayety and good humor were contagious ;
his household and acquaintances, and even their Ger-
man landlord, felt it.
When he came in with Kitty, from the springs, the
prince invited the colonel, Marya Yevgenyevna and her
daughter, and Varenka, to luncheon, and had the table
and chairs brought out under the chestnut trees in the
garden, and there the guests were served. The landlord
and his domestics were filled with zeal under the influ-
ANNA KARENINA 303
ence of his good spirits. They knew his generosity ;
and before half an hour was over a sick Hamburg doc-
tor, who had rooms on the upper floor, was looking down
with envy on the happy group of hearty Russians sitting
under the chestnut trees.
Under the flickering 'shade of the sun-flecked leaves sat
the princess, in a bonnet trimmed with lilac ribbons, pre-
siding over the table spread with a white cloth, whereon
were placed the coffee-service, the bread, butter, cheese,
and cold game ; she was distributing cups and tarts.
At the other end of the table sat the prince, eating
with good appetite, and talking with great animation.
He had spread out in front of him his purchases, —
carved boxes, jackstraws, paper-cutters of all kinds,
which he had brought back from all the places where
he had been ; and he was distributing them around to
all, including Lieschen the maid, and the landlord, with
whom he joked in his comically bad German, assuring
him that it was not the waters that had cured Kitty,
but his excellent cuisine, and particularly his prune soup.
The princess laughed at her husband for his Russian
peculiarities ; but never, since she had been at the Spa,
had she been so gay and lively. The colonel, as always,
was amused at the prince's jests ; but he agreed with
the princess on the European question, which he im-
agined that he understood thoroughly. The good
Marya Yevgenyevna laughed at every good thing that
the prince said ; and even Varenka, to Kitty's great
astonishment, laughed till she was tired, with unde-
monstrative but infectious hilarity awakened by the
prince's jests. This was something Kitty had never
known to happen before.
All this delighted Kitty, but she could not free her-
self from mental agitation ; she could not resolve the
problem which her father had unintentionally given her
by his jesting, humorous attitude toward her friends
and the life which offered her so many attractions.
Moreover, she could not help puzzling herself with the
reasons for the change in her relations with the Pe-
trofs, which had struck her that day so plainly and dis-
304 ANNA KARENINA
agreeably. All the rest were gay, but Kitty could not
be gay, and this still more annoyed her. She experi-
enced a feeling analogous to that which she had known
in her childhood, when, as a punishment for some offense,
she was shut up in her room and heard the gay merri-
ment of her sisters.
" Now, why did you purchase this heap of things .■' "
asked the princess, smiling and offering her husband a
cup of coffee.
"You go out for a walk, well! and you come to a
shop, and they address you, and say, ^ ErlaiicJit, Excel-
lenz, Diirchlaiicht!' Well, when they say Diirchlaucht}
I cannot resist any longer, and my ten thalers vanish."
" It was merely because you were bored," said the
princess.
" Certainly I was bored ! It was ennui which one
does not know how to escape from."
" But how can you be bored .'' There are so many
interesting things to see in Germany now," said Marya
Yevgenyevna.
" Yes ! I know all which is interesting just at the
present time : I know soup with prunes, I know pea-
pudding, I know everything."
" Just as you please, prince, but their institutions are
interesting," said the colonel.
" Yes ! but what is there interesting about them .-"
They are as contented as copper kopeks. They have
whipped the world ! Now, why should I find anything
to content me here } I never conquered anybody ; but
I have to take off my boots myself, and, what is worse,
put them out myself in the corridor. In the morning
I get up, and have to dress myself, and go down to the
dining-room and drink execrable tea. 'T is n't like that
at home. There you can get up when you please ; if
you are out of sorts, you can grumble ; you have all the
time you need for remembering things, and you can do
whatever you please without hurrying."
"But time is money; you forget that," said the
colonel.
^ Durcklauchty highness.
ANNA KARENINA 305
"That depends. There are whole months which you
would sell for fifty kopeks, and half-hours which you
would not take any amount of money for. Is n't that
so, Katenka .<* But why are you so solemn .'' "
" I am not, papa."
"Where are you going? Stay a little longer," said
the prince to Varenka.
" But I must go home," said Varenka, rising, and
laughing gayly again. After she had excused herself,
she took leave of her friends, and went into the house
to get her hat.
Kitty followed her. Even Varenka seemed to her
friend changed. She was not less good, but she was
different from what she had imagined her to be.
"Akh! it is a long time since I have laughed so
much," said Varenka, as she was getting her parasol
and her satchel, " How charming your papa is ! "
Kitty did not answer.
" When shall I see you again .? " asked Varenka,
^' Mamaii wanted to go to the Petrofs'. Are you
going to be there } " asked Kitty, trying to sound
Varenka.
" I am going to be there," she replied. " They are
expecting to leave, and I promised to help them pack,"
"Well, then I will go with you,"
" No ; why should you .■' "•
" Why not ? why not ? why not ? " asked Kitty, open-
ing her eyes very wide, and holding Varenka by her
sunshade. "Wait a moment, and tell me why not,"
" ' Why not ? ' Because your papa has come, and
because they are vexed at you."
" No ; tell me honestly why you don't like to have
me go to the Petrofs', You don't like it ; why is
it.?"
"I didn't say so," replied Varenka, calmly.
" I beg you to tell me."
" Must I tell you all ? "
"All, all," replied Kitty.
" Well ! There is really nothing very serious ; only
Mikhail Alekseyevitch — that was Petrofs name — a
VOL, I. — 20
3o6 ANNA KARENINA
short time ago wanted to leave even before this, and now
he does not want to go at all," replied Varenka, smiling.
"Well, well!" cried Kitty, looking at Varenka with
a gloomy expression.
" Now for some reason Anna Pavlovna imagines that
he does not want to go because you are here. Of
course this was unfortunate ; but you have been the
unwitting cause of a family quarrel, and you know how
irritable these invalids are."
Kitty grew still more melancholy, and kept silent ;
and Varenka went on speaking, trying to smooth it
over, and put things in a better light, though she fore-
saw that the result would be either tears or reproaches,
she knew not which.
"So it is better for you not to go there ....and you
will not be angry.... "
" But it was my fault, it was my fault," said Kitty,
speaking rapidly, and snatching Varenka's parasol away
from her, and not looking at her.
Varenka was amused at her friend's childish anger,
but she was afraid of offending her.
" How is it your fault ? I don't understand ! "
" My fault because it was all pretense, it was all
hypocrisy, and because it did not come from the heart.
What business had I to meddle in the affairs of a stran-
ger.^ And so I have been the cause of a quarrel, and
I have been doing what no one asked me to do, simply
because it was all hypocrisy, hypocrisy," said she.
" But why do you call it hypocrisy.'" asked Varenka,
gently.
" Akh ! How stupid, how wretched ! It was none of
my business Hypocrisy ! " mechanically opening and
shutting the sunshade.
" But it was your idea } "
" So as to seem better to others, to myself, to God, —
to deceive every one. No, I will not fall so low again.
I may be wicked, but at least I will not be a liar and
deceiver ! "
" But who is a liar ? " asked Varenka, in a reproachful
tone. " You speak as if .... "
ANNA KARENINA 307
But Kitty was thoroughly angry, and did not let her
finish.
" I am not speaking of you, not of you at all. You
are perfection. Yes, yes ; I know that you are all per-
fection. How can I help it.-*,... I am wicked; this
would not have occurred, if I had not been wicked. So
let me be what I am, but I will not be deceitful. What
have I to do with Anna Pavlovna ? Let them live as
they want to, and I will do the same. I can't be some-
body else Besides, everything is different.... "
" What is 'different * .-' " asked Varenka, in perplexity,
" Everything ! I can only live by my heart, but you
live by your principles. I like you all ; but you have
had in view only to save me, to convert me."
"You are not fair," said Varenka.
" I am not speaking for other people. I only speak
for myself."
" Kitty ! " cried her mother's voice, " come here and
show papa your corals."
Kitty, with a haughty face and not making it up with
her friend, took the box with the corals from the table
and carried it to her mother.
"What is the matter.? why are you so flushed?"
asked her father and mother with one voice.
" Nothing ; I am coming right back ; " and she hur-
ried back to the house.
"She is still there," she thought; "what shall I tell
her ? Bozhe mof ! what have I done ? what have I said.?
Why did I hurt her feelings ? What have I done ? what
shall I say to her .-' " she asked herself, as she hesitated
at the door.
Varenka, with her hat on and her parasol in her hand,
was sitting by the table, examining the spring, which
Kitty had broken. She raised her head.
"Varenka, forgive me," whispered Kitty, coming up
to her. " Forgive me, I don't know what I said. I .... "
" Truly, I did not mean to cause you pain," said
Varenka, smiling.
Peace was made.
But her father's coming had changed for Kitty the
3o8 ANNA KARENINA
whole world in which she lived. She did not give up
what she had learned, but she confessed that she had
been under an illusion by believing that she was what
she had dreamed of being. She awoke as it were from
a dream. She felt all the difficulty of staying without
hypocrisy and boastfulness on the heights to which she
had tried to raise herself ; moreover, she felt still more
vividly all the weight of that world of misfortunes, of
illnesses, of those who surrounded her, and she was tor-
mented by the efforts which she had made to interest
herself in them ; and she began to long to breathe the
purer, healthier atmosphere of Russia at Yergushovo,
where Dolly and the children had gone, as she learned
from a letter that had just come.
But her love for Varenka had not diminished. When
she went away, she begged her to come and visit them
in Russia.
" I will come when you are married," said she.
"I shall never marry."
' '"Well, then I shall never come."
"Well, in that case, I shall get married only for
your sake. Don't forget your promise," said Kitty.
The doctor's prophecies were realized. Kitty came
home to Russia perfectly well ; possibly she was not
as gay and careless as before, but her calmness was
restored. The pains of the past were only a memory.
END OF VOL. L
Levin and Kitty,
Original Drawing by E. Boyd Smith,
ANNA KARENINA
VOL. U
ANNA KARENINA
PART THIRD
CHAPTER I
SERGYEI IVANOVITCH KOZNUISHEF wanted
a rest after his intellectual labors ; and, instead of
going abroad as usual, he came, toward the end of May,
to visit his brother in the country. In his opinion, coun-
try life was best of all, and he came now to his brother's
to enjoy it. Konstantin Levin was very glad to welcome
him, the more because this sumrper he did not expect
his brother Nikolai'. But in spite of his love and respect
for Sergyef Ivanovitch, Konstantin was not at his ease
with him in the country. He was not at his ease, he
was even annoyed to see how his brother regarded the
country. For Konstantin Levin the country was the
place for life, — for pleasures, sorrows, labor. For Ser-
gyei Ivanovitch the country, on the one side, offered
rest from labor, on the other, a profitable antidote against
corruption, and he took it gladly, convinced of its utility.
For Konstantin Levin the country was beautiful because
it offered field for works of incontestable utility. For
Sergyef Ivanovitch the country was especially delightful
because there was nothing he could do, or needed to do
there, at all.
Moreover, Sergyeif Ivanovitch's behavior toward the
people somewhat piqued Konstantin. Sergyeif Ivano-
vitch said that he loved and knew the people ; and he
often chatted with the muzhiks as he was fully able to
do, without pretense and without affectation, and dis-
covered, in his interviews with them, traits of character
honorable to the people, so that he felt convinced that
VOL. II. — I i
2 ANNA KARENINA
he knew them thoroughly. Such relations with the
people displeased Konstantin Levin. For him the peas-
antry was only the chief factor in associated labor ; and
though he respected the muzhik, and, as he himself said,
drew in with the milk of the woman who nursed him a
genuine love for them, still he, as a factor associated
with them in the general labors, while sometimes ad-
miring their strength, their good nature, their sense of
justice, very often when in the general work of the
estate other qualities were needed, flew into a passion
with the peasantry for their carelessness, slovenliness,
drunkenness, untruthfulness. If he had been asked
whether he liked the people, he would really have not
known what reply to make. He liked and he did not
like the people as the majority of men did. Of course
as a good man he liked men more than he disliked
them ; and so it was with the peasantry. But to like or
not to like the peasantry, as something out of the com-
mon, was an impossibility to him, because he not only
lived with the peasantry, because not only were his in-
terests bound up with those of the peasantry, but also
he looked on himself as a part of the people, saw no
qualities or faults in the people that he did not himself
possess, and could not take his stand contrary to the
people. Moreover, although he had long lived in the
closest relationship with his muzhiks as their landlord,
their mediator, and, what was more, their adviser, — for
the muzhiks had faith in him, and came to him from
forty versts around to ask his advice, — he passed no
definite judgment on them ; and to the question, did
he know the people, he would have found it as hard
to find an answer as to the question, did he like the
people.
But to say that he knew the peasantry would have
meant in his opinion the same as to say that he knew
men. He was constantly admiring and studying all
kinds of men, and among them, men from among the
peasantry whom he considered to be fine and interest-
ing specimens of humanity, and he was all the time
discovering in them new characteristics, and chang-
ANNA KARENINA J
ing and revising his preconceived theories regarding
them.
Sergyef Ivanovitch was the opposite. Just exactly as
he liked and enjoyed the country life for its contrariety
to that which he did not like, so he liked the peasantry
for their contrariety to that class of men which he did
not like, and in exactly the same way he knew the
people as beings opposed to men in general. His
methodical mind clearly differentiated the definite forms
of life among the peasantry, deducing it partly from
the life of the peasantry itself, but principally from
its contrarieties. He never changed his opinions in
regard to the people and his sympathetic relationship
to them.
In the discussions which arose between the brothers
in consequence of their divergence of views, Sergyelf
Ivanovitch always won the victory because he had defi-
nite opinions concerning the people, their character,
peculiarities, and tastes ; while Konstantin Levin, cease-
lessly modifying his, was easily convicted of contradict-
ing himself.
Sergyelf Ivanovitch looked on his brother as a splen-
did fellow, whose heart was bicn placi, as he expressed
it in French, but whose mind, though quick and active,
was open to the impressions of the moment, and, there-
fore, full of contradictions. With the condescension of
an elder brother, he sometimes explained to him the real
meaning of things ; but he could not take genuine pleas-
ure in discussing with him, because his opponent was so
easy to vanquish.
Konstantin Levin looked on his brother as a man of
vast intelligence and learning, endowed with extraordi-
nary faculties, most advantageous to the community at
large ; but as he advanced in life, and learned to know
him better, he sometimes asked himself, in the secret
chambers of his heart, if this devotion to the general
interests, which he felt that he himself entirely lacked,
was really a good quality, or rather a lack of something
— not a lack of good-natured, upright, benevolent wishes
and tastes, but the lack of the motive power of life,
4 ANNA KARENINA
which is called " heart," of that impulse which con-
strains a man to choose one out of all multitudes of
paths which life offers to men, and to desire this alone.
The better he knew his brother, the more he remarked
that Sergyer Ivanovitch and many other workers for the
common good were not drawn by their affections to this
work, but that they used their reason to justify them-
selves in the interest they took in it.
Levin was still further confirmed in this hypothesis
by the observation that his brother did not really take
much more to heart the questions concerning the com-
mon good and the immortality of the soul than those
connected with a game of chess or the ingenious con-
struction of a new machine.
Again Levin felt, also, constraint with his brother
from the fact that while he was in the country, and es-
pecially in the summer-time, he was all the time busy
with his work on the estate. The days seemed to him
too short for him to accomplish all that he wanted to
do, while his brother was taking his ease. But, though
Sergyef Ivanovitch was enjoying his vacation, in other
words, was jiot working at his writing, he was so used to
intellectual activity, that he enjoyed expressing in beau-
tiful, concise form the thoughts that occurred to him,
and he liked to have some one listen to him. His most
habitual and most natural auditor was his brother, and
therefore, notwithstanding the friendly simplicity of
their relations, Konstantin felt awkward to be alone with
him. Sergyei' Ivanovitch liked to lie on the grass, in the
sun, stretched out at full length, and to talk lazily.
"You would n't believe," he would say to his brother,
"how I enjoy this tufted idleness. I have not an idea
in my head ; it is empty as a shell."
But Konstantin Levin quickly wearied of sitting down
and hearing him talk — especially because he knew that
in his absence they were spreading the manure on the
unplowed field, and would be up to God knows what
mischief, unless he should be on hand to superintend this
work ; he knew that they would not screw up the cutters
in his plows, but would be taking them off and then
ANNA KARENINA ■ ^
say that plows were foolish devices, and that Andreyef s
sokha ^ did the work, and the like.
" Don't you ever get weary going about so in this
heat?" asked Sergyei' Ivanovitch.
" No. Only I must run over to the office for a min-
ute," said Levin ; and he hurried across the field.
CHAPTER II
Early in June, Agafya Mikhadovna, the old nurse
and ckonomka, or housekeeper, in going down cellar with
a pot of salted mushrooms, slipped and fell, and dislo-
cated her wrist.
The district doctor, a loquacious young medical stu-
dent who had just taken his degree, came, and, after
examining the arm, declared that it was not out of joint.
During dinner, proud of finding himself in the society
of the distinguished Sergyei Ivanovitch Koznuishef, he
began to relate all the petty gossip of the district in
order to display his enlightened views of things ; and he
expressed his regrets at the bad condition of provincial
affairs.
Sergyei Ivanovitch listened attentively, asking various
questions ; and animated by the presence of a new hearer,
he made keen and shrewd observations, which were re-
ceived by the young doctor with respectful appreciation,
and his spirits rose high, which, as his brother knew,
was liable to be the case with him after a lively and brill-
iant conversation.
After the doctor's departure he expressed his desire
to go to the river and fish. He was fond of fishing,
and seemed to take pride in showing that he could
amuse himself with such a stupid occupation. Kon-
stantin had to go to certain fields and meadows, and
offered to take his brother in his cabriolet as far as the
river,
^ The picture by Repin represents Count Tolstoi plowing with the primi-
tive sokha. Levin's peasantry call the plow (^plug) vuidumka pustaya,
" empty invention."
6 ANNA KARENINA
It was the time of the year, the very top of the sum<
mer, when the prospects of harvest may be estimated,
when the labors of the next year's planting begin to be
thought of, and the mowing-time has come ; when the rye
is already eared and sea-green in color, but still not fully
formed ; when the ears of corn swing lightly in the breeze ;
when the green oats, with scattered clumps of yellow
grass, peep irregularly from the late-sown fields; when
the early buckwheat already is up and hides the soil;
when the fallow fields, beaten a^ hard as stone by the
cattle and with paths deserted, on which the sokha, or
primitive plow, has no effect, are half broken up ; when
the odor of the dry manure, heaped in little hillocks over
the fields, mingles at twilight with the perfume of the
" honey-grass," ^ and on the bottom lands, waiting for
the scythe, stand the protected meadows like a bound-
less sea with the darkening clumps of sorrel that has
done blooming.
It was the time when there is a brief breathing-spell
before the harvest, that great event which the muzhik
with eagerness expects each year. The crops promised
to be superb ; and there was a succession of bright, clear
summer days, followed by short, dewy nights.
The two brothers had to go through the woodland to
reach the fields. SergyeT Ivanovitch was all the time
admiring the beauty of the forest with its dense canopy
of leaves, and he pointed out to his brother, as they rode
along, now an old linden almost in flower, dark on its
shady side and variegated with yellow stipules ; now at
the emerald-shining young shoots of that same year;
but Konstantin did not himself like to speak or to hear
about the beauties of nature. Words, he thought, spoiled
the beauty of the thing that Ije saw. He assented to
what his brother said, but allowed his mind to concern
itself with other things. After they left the wood, his
whole attention was absorbed by a fallow field on a
hillock, where in some places the grass was growing
yellow, where in others whole squares of it had been
cut, and in others raked up into haycocks, and where in
1 IJokus mollis, soft-grass.
ANNA KARENINA 7
still other places the men were plowing. The carts
were thronging up toward the field. Levin counted
them, and was satisfied with the work which was going
on.
His thoughts were diverted, by the sight of. the
meadows, to the question of haymaking. He always
experienced something which went to his very heart at
the hay-harvesting. When they reached the meadow
Levin stopped his horse. The morning dew was still
damp on the thick grass, and Sergyei Ivanovitch begged
his brother, in order that he might not wet his feet, to
drive him in his cabriolet as far as a clump of laburnums
near which perch were to be caught. Though Levin
disliked to trample down his grass, he drove over through
the field. The tall grass clung round the wheels and
the horse's legs, and scattered its seed on the damp
spokes and naves.
Sergyei sat down under the laburnums, and cast his
line, but Levin drove the horse aside, fastened him, and
then went off through the vast green sea of the meadow
unstirred by a breath of wind. The silky grass with
its ripe seeds was almost waist-high in the places that
had been overflowed.
As Konstantin Levin crossed the meadow diagonally,
he met on the road an old man with one of his eyes
swollen, and carrying a swarming-basket full of bees.
" Well .-* Have you caught them, Fomitch } " he asked.
" Caught them indeed, Konstantin Mitritch ! If only
I could keep my own ! This is the second time this
swarm has gone off, .... but, thanks to the boys ! they
galloped after 'em ! .... They *re plowing your fields.
They unhitched the horse and dashed off after 'em!" ....
" Well, what do you say, Fomitch, should we begin
mowing or wait .-' "
" Just as you say ! According to our notions we should
wait till St. Peter's Day.^ But you always mow earlier.
Well, just as God will have it — the grass is in fine con-
dition. There '11 be plenty of room for the cattle."
"And what do you think of the weather.?"
1 The feast of St. Peter and St. Paul is June 29 (O.S.), or July II.
8 ANNA KARENINA
" Well, all is in- the hand of God. Maybe the weathei
will hold."
Levin returned to his brother.
Though he had caught nothing, Sergyeif Ivanovitch
was .undisturbed, and seemed in the best of spirits.
Levin saw that he was stimulated by his talk with the
doctor, and that he was eager to go on talking. Levin,
on the contrary, was anxious to get back to the house
as soon as possible to give some orders about hiring
mowers for the next day, and to decide the question
about the haymaking which occupied all his thoughts.
"Well," said he, " shall we go ? "
" What is your hurry ,'' Do let us sit down. But how
drenched you are ! .... No, I have had no luck, but I have
enjoyed it all the same. All outdoor sports are beautiful
because you have to do with nature. Now just notice
how charming that steely water is ! " he exclaimed.
"These meadow banks," he went on to say, "always
remind me of an enigma, do you know.? — 'The grass
says to the river, " We have strayed far enough, we have
strayed far enough," ' "
" I don't know that riddle," interrupted Konstantin,
in a melancholy tone.
CHAPTER III
" Do you know, I was thinking about you," said
Sergyeif Ivanovitch. " It is not well at all, what is
going on in your district, if that doctor tells the truth ;
he is not a stupid fellow. And I have told you all
along, and I say to-day, you are wrong in not going to
the assembly-meetings and in generally holding aloof
from the affairs of the commune. If men of standing
don't take an interest in affairs, God knows how things
will turn out. The taxes we pay will be spent in salaries,
and not for schools, or hospitals, or midwives, or pharma-
cies, or anything."
" But I have tried it," replied Levin, faintly and
ANNA KARENINA 9
unwillingly. " I can't do anything. What is to be
done about it ? "
" Now, why can't you do anything ? I confess I don't
understand it. I cannot admit that it is indifference or
lack of intelligence ; is n't it simply laziness ? "
" It is not that, or the first or the second. I have
tried it, and I see that I cannot do anything," said
Levin.
•He was not paying great heed to what his brother
said, but was looking intently across the fields on the
other side of the river. He saw something black, but
he could not make out whether it was only a horse, or
his overseer on horseback.
"Why can't you do anything.-* You have made an
experiment, and it does not turn out to your satisfaction,
and you give up. Why not have a little pride about
you ? "
" Pride ? " said Levin, touched to the quick by his
brother's reproach. *' I don't see what that has to do
with it. If at the university they had told me that
others understood the integral calculus, but I did not,
that would have touched my pride ; but here one must
be convinced in advance that one needs special apti-
tude for these things, and first of all that these things
are very important."
" What ! do you mean to say that they are not impor-
tant .'' " asked Sergyef Ivanovitch, in his turn touched to
the quick because his brother seemed to attach so little
importance to what so deeply interested him, and more
than all because he apparently gave him such poor
attention.
" What you wish does not seem to me important, and
I cannot feel interested in it," replied Levin, who now
saw that the black speck was the overseer, and that the
overseer was probably taking some muzhiks from their
work. They had canted over their plows. " Can they
have finished plowing .-'" he asked himself.
" Now, listen ! nevertheless," said his brother, his
handsome intellectual face growing a shade darker.
" There are limits to everything. It is very fine to be an
lo ANNA KARENINA
original and outspoken man, and to hate falsehood, —
all that I know ; but the fact is, what you say has no
sense at all, or has a very bad sense. How can you
think it unimportant that this people, which you love,
as you assert.... "
" I never asserted any such thing," said Konstantin
Levin to himself.
" That this people should perish without aid .-* Coarse
peasant women act as midwives, and the people remain
in ignorance, and are at the mercy of every letter-writer.
But the means is given into your hands to remedy all
this ; and you don't assist them, because, in your eyes,
it is not important."
And Sergyei' Ivanovitch offered him the following di-
lemma : —
" Either you are not developed sufficiently to see all
that you might do, or you do not care to give up your
own comfort, or your vanity, I don't know which, in
order to do this."
Konstantin Levin felt that he must make a defense,
or be convicted of indifference for the public weal, and
this was vexatious and offensive to him.
" Ah ! but there is still another thing," he said reso-
lutely. " I do not see how it is possible .... "
" What ! impossible to give medical aid if the funds
were watched more closely ? "
" Impossible it seems to me In the four thousand
square versts of our district, with our floods, snow-storms,
and busy seasons, I don't see the possibility of giving pub-
lic medical aid. Besides, I don't much believe in medi-
cine, anyway." ....
" Well now, what nonsense ! you are unjust I could
name you a thousand cases .... well, but how about
schools .'' "
" Why schools ? "
" What do you say ? Can you doubt the advantages
of education ? If it is good for you, then it is good for
every one !"
Konstantin Levin felt that he was morally pushed to
the wall ; and so he grew irritated, and involuntarily
ANNA KARENINA ii
revealed the chief reason for his indifference to the
communal affairs.
" Maybe all this is a good thing," said he ; "but why
should I put myself out to have medical dispensaries
located which I shall never make use of, or schools
where I shall never send my children, and where the
peasants won't want to send their children, and where I
am not sure that it is wise to send them, anyway ? "
Sergyei' Ivanovitch for a moment was disconcerted by
this unexpected way of looking at the matter ; but he
immediately developed a new plan of attack. He was
silent, pulled in one af his lines and wound it up ; then
with a smile he turned to his brother : —
'• Now, excuse me In the first place, the dispensary
has proved necessary. Here, we ourselves have just
sent for the communal doctor for Agafya Mikhailovna."
"Well, I still think her wrist was out of joint."
"That remains to be proved In the next place, the
muzhik who can read is a better workman, and more
useful to you."
" Oh, no ! " replied Konstantin Levin, resolutely.
" Ask any one you please, they will tell you that the
educated muzhik is far worse as a laborer. He will not
repair the roads ; and, when they build bridges, he will
only steal the planks."
" Now, that is not the point," said Sergyef, frowning
because he did not like contradictions, and especially
those that leaped from one subject to another, and kept
bringing up new arguments without any apparent con-
nection, so that it was impossible to know what to say
in reply. " That is not the point. Excuse me. Do
you admit that education is a benefit to the peasantry.-'"
"I do," said Levin, at haphazard, and instantly he
saw that he had not said what he thought. He realized
that, by making this admission, it would be easy to
convict him of speaking nonsense. How it would be
brought up against him he did not know ; but he knew
that he would surely be shown his logical inconsequence,
and he awaited the demonstration. It came much sooner
than he expected.
12 ANNA KARENINA
"If you admit its value," said Sergyef Ivanovitch,
"then, as an honest man, you cannot refuse to delight
in this work and sympathize with it, and give it your
cooperation."
" But I still do not admit that this activity is good,"
said Konstantin Levin, his face flushing,
" What ? But you just said ...."
" That is, I don't say that it is bad, but that it is not
possible."
" But you can't know this, since you have not made
any effort to try it."
" Well, let us admit that the education of the people
is advantageous," said Levin, although he did not in
the least admit it. " Let us admit that it is so ; still I
don't see why I should bother myself with it."
" Why not ? "
" Well, if we are going to discuss the question, then
explain it to me from your philosophical point of view."
" I don't see what philosophy has to do here," retorted
Sergyef Ivanovitch, in a tone which seemed to cast some
doubt on his brother's right to discuss philosophy; and
this nettled Levin.
" This is why," said he, warmly. " I think that the
motive power in all our actions is forever personal hap-
piness. Now, I see nothing in our provincial institu-
tions that contributes to my well-being as a nobleman.
The roads are not better, and cannot be made so. My
horses carry me, even on bad roads. The doctor and
the dispensary are no use to me. The justice of the
peace does me no good ; I never went to him, and never
shall go to him. The schools seem to me not only use-
less, but, as I have said, are even harmful ; and these
communal institutions oblige me to pay eighteen kopeks
a desyatin, to go to town, to sleep with bugs, and to
hear all sorts of vulgar and obscene talk, but my
personal interests are not helped."
"Excuse me," said Sergyei Ivanovitch, with a smile.
" Our personal interests did not compel us to work for
the emancipation of the serfs, and yet we worked for it."
" No," replied Konstantin, with still more animation ;
ANNA KARENINA 13
"the emancipation of the serfs was quite another affair.
It was for personal interest. We wanted to shake off
this yoke that hung on the necks of all of us decent
people. But to be a member of the council ; to discuss
how much the night workman should be paid, and how
to lay sewer-pipes in streets where one does not live ; to
be a juryman, and sit in judgment on a muzhik who has
stolen a ham ; to listen for six hours to all sorts of rub-
bish which the defendant and the prosecutor may utter,
and, as presiding officer, to ask my old friend, the half-
idiotic Aloshka, ' Do you plead guilty, Mr. Accused, of
having stolen this ham ?' " ....
And Konstantin, carried away by his subject, enacted
the scene between the president and the half-idiotic Al-
oshka. It seemed to him that this was in the line of
the argument.
But Sergyei Ivanovitch shrugged his shoulders.
" Nu ! what do you mean by this ? "
" I only mean that I will always defend with all my
powers those rights which touch me, — my interests ;
that when the policemen came to search us students, and
read our letters, I was ready to defend these rights with
all my might, to defend my rights to instruction, to lib-
erty. I am interested in the military obligation which
concerns the fate of my children, of my brothers, and of
myself. I am willing to discuss this because it touches
me ; but to deliberate on the employment of forty thou-
sand rubles of communal money, or to judge the crack-
brained Aloshka, I won't do it, and I can't."
Konstantin Levin discoursed as if the fountains of his
speech were unloosed. Sergyei Ivanovitch smiled.
" Supposing to-morrow you. were arrested ; would you
prefer to be tried by the old ' criminal court ' ? " 1
" But I am not going to be arrested. I am not going
to cut any one's throat, and this is no use to me. Now,
see here ! " he continued, again jumping to a matter en-
tirely foreign to their subject, " our provincial institu-
tions, and all that, remind me of the little twigs which
on Trinity day we stick into the ground, to imitate a
^ Ugolovnaya Palata,
J4 ANNA KARENINA
forest. The forest has grown of itself in Europe ; but
I cannot on my soul have any faith in our birch sprouts,
or water them."
Sergyei Ivanovitch only shrugged his shoulders again,
as a sign of astonishment that birch twigs should be
mingled in their discussion, although he understood per-
fectly what his brother meant.
" Excuse me," said he. "That is no way to reason."
But Konstantin Levin was eager to explain his self-
confessed lack of interest in matters of public concern,
and he went on to say : —
" I think that there can be no durable activity if it is
not founded in individual interest : this is a general, a
philosophical truth," said he, laying special emphasis on
the word " philosophical," as if he wished to show that he
also had the right, as well as any one else, to speak of
philosophy.
Again Sergyei Ivanovitch smiled. ** He also," thought
he, " has his own special philosophy for the benefit of
his inclinations."
"Well, have done with philosophy," he said. "Its
chief problem has been in all times to grasp the indis-
pensable bond which exists between the individual inter-
est and the public interest. This is not to the point,
however. But I can make your comparison fit the case.
The little birch twigs have not been merely stuck in,
but have been sowed, planted, and it is necessary to
watch them carefully. The only nations which can
have a future, the only nations which deserve the name
of historic, are those which feel the importance and
the value of their institutions, and prize them."
And Sergyef Ivanovitch transferred the question over
into the domain of the historico-philosophical, which
Konstantin was by no means able to appreciate, and
showed him all the erroneousness of his views.
" As to your distaste for affairs, excuse me if I refer
it to our Russian indolence and gentility ; ^ and I trust
that this temporary error of yours will pass away."
Konstantin was silent. He felt himself routed on
^ Barsivo, Russian rank. The stem appears in the word barin, master.
ANNA KARENINA 15
every side, but he felt also that his brother had not
understood what he wished to say. He did not know
exactly whether it was because he did not know how to
express himself clearly, or because his brother did not wish
to understand him, or whether he could not understand
him. He did not try to fathom this question ; but, with-
out replying to his brother, he became absorbed in en-
tirely different thoughts, connected with his own work.
Sergyeif Ivanovitch reeled in his last line, he unhitched
the horse, and they drove away.
CHAPTER IV
The thought that was absorbing Levin at the time of
his discussion with his brother was this : the year be-
fore, having come one day to the hay-field. Levin had
fallen into a passion with his overseer. He had em-
ployed his favorite means of calming himself — had
taken the scythe from a muzhik and begun to mow.
He enjoyed the work so much that he had tried it
again and again. He had mowed the whole of the
lawn in front of his house, and this year early in the
spring he had formulated a plan of spending whole
days mowing with the muzhiks.
Since his brother's arrival he had been in doubt:
Should he mow or not ? He had scruples about leaving
his brother alone for whole days at a time, and he was
afraid that his brother would make sport of him on ac-
count of this. But as they crossed the meadow, and he
recalled the impression that the mowing had made on
him, he had almost made up his mind that he would
mow. Now after his vexatious discussion with his
brother, he again remembered his project.
" I must have some physical exercise, or my charac-
ter will absolutely spoil," he thought, and made up his
mind to mow, no matter what his brother or his servants
should say.
That very evening Konstantin Levin went to the office,
gave some directions about the work to be done, and
i6 ANNA KARENINA
sent to the village to hire some mowers for the morrow,
so as to attack his field at Kalinovo, which was the
largest and best.
" And here, please send my scythe over to Sef, and
have him put it in order and bring it back to-morrow ;
perhaps I will come and mow too," said he, trying to
hide his confusion.
The overseer smiled, and said : —
" I will obey you — sluskayu-s."
Later, at the tea-table. Levin said to his brother : —
" It seems like settled weather. To-morrow I am
going to begin mowing."
" I like this work very much," said Sergyei Ivanovitch.
" I like it extremely," said Levin. " Last year I
myself mowed with the muzhiks, and to-morrow I am
going to spend all day at it."
Sergyei Ivanovitch raised his head, and gazed with
astonishment at his brother.
" What did you say } Like the muzhiks, all day
long .? "
" Certainly ; it is very enjoyable," said Levin.
•' It is excellent as physical exercise, but can you stand
such work 1 " asked Sergyei Ivanovitch, without mean-
ing to say anything ironical.
" I have tried it. At first it is hard work, but after-
wards you get used to it. I think I shall not leave
off." ....
" Really ! but tell me, how do the muzhiks look at it .>'
Naturally they make sport because the barin is queer,
don't they ? "
" No, I don't think so ; but this is such pleasant and
at the same time hard work, that they don't think about
it."
" But how do you and they do about dinner } You
could hardly have a bottle of Lafitte and a roast turkey
sent you out there."
" No ; I come home while the workmen have their
nooning."
The next morning Konstantin Levin got up earlier
than usual ; but his duties about the house detained
ANNA KARENINA 17
him, and when he came to the mowing-field he found
the men had already mowed the first time across.
From the top of the slope the part of the meadow
still in the shade, and already mowed, spread out before
him, with its long windrows and the little black heaps
of kaftans thrown down by the men when they went by
the first time.
As he drew nearer he saw also the band of muzhiks,
some in their kaftans, some in their shirt-sleeves, mov-
ing in a long line, and swinging their scythes in unison.
He counted forty-two men of them. They were advanc-
ing slowly over the uneven bottom-land of the meadow,
where there was an old dike. Many of them Levin
knew. There was the old round-shouldered Yermil, in
a very clean white shirt, wielding the scythe ; there was
the young small Vaska, who used to be Levin's coach-
man ; there was Sef, also, a little, thin old peasant,^ who
had taught him how to mow. He was cutting a wide
swath without stooping, and handling his scythe as if
he were playing with it.
Levin dismounted from his horse, tied her near the
road, and went across to Sef, who immediately got a
second scythe from a clump of bushes and handed it to
him.
" All ready, barin ; 't is like a razor, -— cuts of itself,"
said Sef, with a smile, taking off his cap and handing
him the scythe.
Levin took it and began to try it. The mowers, hav-
ing finished their line, were returning one after the other
on their track, covered with sweat, but gay and lively.
They laughed timidly, and saluted the barin. All of
them looked at him, but no one ventured to speak until
at last a tall old man, with a wrinkled, beardless face,
and dressed in a sheepskin jacket, thus addressed
him : —
" Look here, barin, if you put your hand to the rope,
you must not let go," said he ; and Levin heard the
sound of stifled laughter among the mowers.
^ MuzJiichok, diminutive of muzhik, as muzhik is diminutive of muzh, a
man.
VOL. II. — 2
i8 ANNA KARENINA
" I will try not to be left behind," he said, as he took
his place behind Sef, and waited for the signal to
begin.
" 'Tention ! " cried the old man.
Sef opened the way, and Levin followed in his track.
The grass was short and tough ; and Levin, who had
not mowed in a long time, and was confused by the
watchful eyes of the men, at first made very bad work
of it, though he swung the scythe energetically. Voices
were heard behind him : —
"He does not hold his scythe right: the sned is too
high. See how he stoops like," said one.
" Bears his hand on too much," said another.
" No inatter, it goes pretty well," said the head
man.
" Look, he goes at a great rate ! Cuts a wide swath !
.... He '11 get played out. The master is trying it for
himself as hard as he can, but look at his row ! For
such work my brother was beaten once."
The grass became less tough ; and Levin, listening
and making no reply, trying to mow as well as he could,
followed Sef. Thus they went a hundred steps. Sef
kept on without any intermission, and without showing
the least fatigue ; but Levin began by this time to feel
terribly and feared that he could not keep it up, he was
so tired.
He was just thinking that he was using his last
strength and had determined to ask Sef to rest ; but
at this time the muzhik of his own accord halted,
bent over, and, taking a handful of grass, began to
wipe his scythe, and to whet it. Levin straightened
himself up, and with a sigh of relief looked about him.
Just behind was a peasant, and he also was evidently
tired, because instantly without catching up to Levin he
also stopped and began to whet his scythe. Sef whetted
his own scythe and Levin's, and they started again.
At the second attempt it was just the same. Sef ad-
vanced a step at every swing of the scythe, without
stopping and without sign of weariness. Levin followed
him, striving not to fall behind; but each moment it
ANNA KARENINA 19
came harder and harder. But, as before, just as he
believed himself at the end of his forces, Sef stopped
and whetted his scythe.
Thus they went over the first swath. And this long
stretch seemed especially hard for Levin. When the
swath was finished and Sef, throwing the scythe over
his shoulder, slowly walked back in the tracks made by
his heels as he had mowed, and Levin also retraced his
steps in the same way, although the sweat stood on his
face and dropped from his nose, and all his back was as
wet as if he had been plunged in water ; still he felt
very comfortable. He was especially glad that he knew
now that he could keep up with the rest.
His pleasure was marred only by the fact that his
swath was not good.
" I will work less with my arms and more with my
whole body," he said to himself, carefully comparing
Sef's smooth straight swath with his own rough and
irregular line.
The first time, as Levin observed, Sef went very
rapidly, apparently wishing to test his barin's endur-
ance, and the swath seemed endless. But the succeed-
ing swaths grew easier and easier. Still Levin had to
exert all his energies .not to fall behind the muzhiks.
He had no other thought, no other desire, than to reach
the other end of the meadow as soon as the others did,
and to do his work as perfectly as possible. He heard
nothing but the swish of the scythes, saw nothing but
Sef's straight back, plodding on in front of him, and the
semicircle described in the grass which fell over, slowly
carrying with it the delicate heads of flowers, and then
far in front of him the end of the row, where he would
be able to get breath.
Not at first realizing what it was or whence it came,
suddenly in the midst of his labors he felt a pleasant
sensation of coolness on his shoulders. He looked up
at the sky while Sef was plying the whetstone, and he
saw an inky black cloud. A heavy shower had come
up and the raindrops were falling fast. Some of the
muzhiks were putting on their kaftans; others, like
20 ANNA KARENINA
Levin himself, were glad to feel the rain on their hot,
sweaty shoulders.
The work went on and on. Some of the swaths were
long, others were shorter ; here the grass was good,
there it was poor. Levin absolutely lost all idea of time
and knew not whether it was early or late. In his work
a change now began to be visible, and this afforded him
vast satisfaction. While he was engaged in this labor
there were moments during which he forgot what he
was doing and it seemed easy to him, and during these
moments his swath came out almost as even and per-
fect as that done by Sef. But as soon as he became
conscious of what he was doing and strove to do better,
he immediately began to feel all the difficulty of the
work and his swath became poor.
After they had gone over the field one more time, he
started to turn back again ; but Sef halted, and, going
to the old man, whispered something to him. Then the
two studied the sun.
" What are they talking about ? and why don't they
keep on .-* " thought Levin, without considering that the
muzhiks had been mowing for more than four hours, and
it was time for them to have their morning meal.
" Breakfast, barin," said the old man.
"Time, is it.? Well, breakfast, then."
Levin gave his scythe to Sef, and together with the
muzhiks, who were going to their kaftans for their bread,
he crossed the wide stretch of field, where the mown
grass lay lightly moistened by the shower, and went to
his horse. Then only he perceived that he had made a
false prediction about the weather, and that the rain had
wet his hay.
"The hay will be spoiled," he said.
" No harm done, barin ; mow in the rain, rake in the
sun," said the old man.
Levin unhitched his horse and went home to take
coffee.
SergyeY Ivanovitch had just got up ; before he was
dressed and down in the dining-room, Konstantin was
back to the field again.
ANNA KARENINA 2i
CHAPTER V
After breakfast, Levin took his place in the line not
where he had been before, but between the quizzical old
man, who asked him to be his neighbor, and a young
muzhik who had been married only since autumn and
was now mowing for the first time.
The old man, standing very erect, mowed straight
on, with long, regular strides ; and the swinging of the
scythe seemed no more like labor than the swinging
of his arms when walking. His well-whetted scythe
cut, as it were, of its own energy through the succulent
grass.
Behind Levin came the young Mishka. His pleasant,
youthful face, under a wreath of green grass which bound
his hair, worked with the energy that employed the rest
of his body. But when any one looked at him, he would
smile. He would rather die than confess that he found
the labor hard.
Levin went between the two.
The labor seemed lighter to him during the heat of
the day. The sweat in which he was bathed refreshed
him ; and the sun, burning his back, his head, and his
arms bared to the elbow, gave him force and tenacity
for his work. More and more frequently the moments
of oblivion, of unconsciousness of what he was doing,
came back to him ; the scythe went of itself. Those
were happy moments. Then, still more gladsome were
the moments when, coming to the river where the wind-
rows ended, the old man, wiping his scythe with the
moist, thick grass, rinsed the steel in the river, then,
dipping up a ladleful of the cool water, gave it to
Levin.
" This is my kvas ! It 's good, is n't it .!" " he exclaimed,
winking.
And, indeed, it seemed to Levin that he had never
tasted any liquor more refreshing than this lukewarm
water, in which grass floated, and tasting of the rusty
tin cup. Then came the glorious slow promenade,
22 ANNA KARENINA
when, with scythe on the arm, there was time to wipe
the heated brow, fill the lungs full, and glance round at
the long line of haymakers, and the busy work that had
been accomplished in field and forest.
The longer Levin mowed, the more frequently he
felt the moments of oblivion, when his hands did not
wield the scythe, but the scythe seemed to have a self-
conscious body, full of life, and carrying on, as it were
by enchantment, a regular and systematic work. These
were indeed joyful moments.
It was hard only when he was obliged to interrupt
this unconscious activity to think about something, when
he had to remove a clod or a clump of wild sorrel. The
old man did this easily. When he came to a clod, he
changed his motion and now with his heel, now with
the end of the scythe, pushed it aside with repeated
taps. And while doing this he noticed everything and
examined everything that was to be seen. Now he
picked a strawberry, and ate it himself or gave it to
Levin ; now snipped off a twig with the end of the
scythe ; now he discovered a nest of quail from which
the mother was scurrying away, or impaled a snake as
if with a spear, and, having shown it to Levin, flung it
out of the way.
But for Levin and the young fellow behind him these
changes of motion were difficult. When once they got
into the swing of work, they could not easily change
their movements and at the same time observe what
was before them.
Levin did not realize how the time was flying. If he
had been asked how long he had been mowing, he
would have answered, " Half an hour ; " and here it
was almost dinner-time.
After they finished one row, the old man drew his
attention to some little girls and boys, half concealed
by the tall grass, who were coming from all sides,
through the tall grass and down the roads, bringing to
the haymakers their parcels of bread and rag-stoppered
jugs of kvas, which seemed too heavy for their little
arms.
ANNA KARENINA aj
"See! here come the midgets,"^ said he, pointing to
them ; and, shading his eyes, he looked at the sun.
Twice more they went across the field, and then the
old man stopped.
" Well, barin, dinner," said he, in a decided tone.
Then the mowers, walking along the riverside, went
back through the windrows to their kaftans, where the
children were waiting with the dinners. The muzhiks
gathered together ; some clustered around the carts,
others sat in the shade of a laburnum bush, where the
mown grass was heaped up.
Levin sat down near them ; he had no wish to leave
them.
All constraint in the presence of the barin had disap-
peared. The muzhiks prepared to take their dinner.
Some washed themselves, the children went in swim-
ming in the river, others found places to nap in, or
undid their bags of bread and uncorked their jugs of
kvas.
The old man crumbed his bread into his cup, mashed
it with the shank of his spoon, poured water on from
his tin basin, and, cutting off still more bread, he salted
the whole plentifully ; and, turning to the east, he said
his prayer.
" Here now, barin, try my bread-crumbs ! "^ said he,
kneeling down before his cup.
Levin found the soaked bread so palatable that he
decided not to go home to dinner. He dined with the
old man, and talked with him about his domestic affairs,
in which he took a lively interest, and in his turn told
the old man about such of his plans and projects as
would interest him.
He felt far nearer to him than to his brother, and he
could not help smiling at the affection which he felt for
this simple-hearted man.
When the old man got up from his dinner, offered
1 Kozyavki, ladybugs.
2 Tiurka, diminutive of tiura, a bread-crumb soaked in kvas^ or beer.
The starik used water instead of kvas. Kvas is a drink made of fermented
rye meal or bread with malt.
24 ANNA KARENINA
another prayer, and arranged a pillow of fresh-mown
grass; and composed himself for a nap, Levin did the
same ; and, in spite of the stubborn, sticky flies and
insects tickling his heated face and body, he immedi-
ately went off to sleep, and did not wake until the
sun came out on the other side of the laburnum bush
and began to shine in his face. The starik had been
long awake, and was sitting up cutting the children's
hair.
Levin looked around him, and did not know where he
was. Everything seemed so changed. The vast level
of the mown meadow with its windrows of already
fragrant hay was lighted and glorified in a new fashion
by the oblique rays of the afternoon sun. The trimmed
bushes down by the river, and the river itself, before in-
visible but now shining like steel with its windings ;
and the busy peasantry ; and the high wall of grass,
where the meadow was not yet mowed ; and the young
vultures flying high above the bare field, — all this was
absolutely new to him.
Levin calculated how much had been mowed, and
how much could still be done that day. The work
accomplished by the forty-two men was considerable.
The whole great meadow, which in the time of serfdom
used to take thirty scythes two days, was now almost
mowed ; only a few corners with short rows were left.
But Levin wanted to do as much as possible that day,
and he was vexed at the sun which was sinking too
early. He felt no fatigue; he only wanted to do more
rapid work, and get as much done as was possible.
" Do you think we shall get Mashkin Verkh ^ mowed
to-day.!" " he asked of the old man.
" If God allows; the sun is getting low. Will there
be little sips of vodka for the boys? "
At the time of the mid-afternoon luncheon, when the
men rested again, and the smokers were lighting their
pipes, the elder announced to the "boys " : —
" Mow Mashkin Verkh — extra vodka ! "
" All right ! Come on, Sef ! Let 's tackle it lively,
1 Mashka's Hillside.
ANNA KARENINA 25
We '11 eat after dark. Come on ! " cried several voices ;
and, even while still munching their bread, they got to
work again.
" Well, boys, keep up good hearts ! " said Sef, setting
off almost on the run.
"Come, come!" cried the old man, hastening after
him and easily outstripping him. " I am first. Look
out!"
Old and young mowed as if they were racing ; and
yet, with all their haste, they did not spoil their work,
but the windrows lay in neat and regular swaths.
The triangle was finished in five minutes. The last
mowers had just finished their line, when the first, throw-
ing their kaftans over their shoulders, started down the
road to the Mashkin Verkh.
The sun was just hovering over the tree-tops, when,
with rattling cans, they came to the little wooded ravine
of Mashkin Verkh.
The grass here was as high as a man's waist, tender,
succulent, thick, and variegated with the flower called
Ivafi-da-Marya.
After a short parley, to decide whether to take it
across, or lengthwise, an experienced mower, Prokhor
Yermilin, a huge, black-bearded muzhik, went over it
first. He took it lengthwise, and came back in his
track; and then all followed him, going along the hill
above the hollow, and skirting the wood. The sun was
setting. The light was going behind the forest. The
dew was already falling. Only the mowers on the
ridge were in the sun ; but down in the hollow, where
the mist was beginning to rise, and behind the slope,
they went in fresh, dewy shade.
The work went on. The grass, cut off with a juicy
sound, and falling evenly, lay in high windrows. The
mowers came close together from all sides as the rows
converged, rattling their drinking-cups, sometimes hit-
ting their scythes together, working with joyful shouts,
rallying one another.
Levin still kept his place between the short young
man and the elder. The elder, with his sheepskin
26 ANNA KARENINA
jacket loosened, was as gay, jocose, free in his move>
ments as ever.
They kept finding birch-mushrooms in the woods,
lurking in the juicy grass and cut off by the scythes.
But the elder bent down whenever he saw one, and^
picking it, put it in his breast.
" Still another little present for my old woman," he
would say.
Easy as it was to mow the tender and soft grass, it
was hard to climb and descend the steep sides of the
ravine. But the elder did not let this appear. Always
lightly swinging his scythe, he climbed with short, firm
steps, and his feet shod in huge lapti, or bast shoes,
though he trembled with his whole body, and his drawers
were slipping down below his shirt, he let nothing escape
him, not an herb or a mushroom ; and he never ceased
to joke with Levin and the muzhiks.
Levin went behind him, and more than once felt that
he would surely drop, trying to climb, scythe in hand,
this steep hillside, where even unencumbered it would
be hard to go. But he persevered all the same, and did
what was required. He felt as if some interior force
sustained him.
CHAPTER VI
The men had mowed the Mashkin Verkh, they had
finished the last rows, and had taken their kaftans, and
were gayly going home. Levin mounted his horse and
regretfully took leave of his companions. On the hill-
top he turned round to take a last look ; but the even-
ing's mist, rising from the bottoms, hid them from
sight; but he could hear their loud, happy voices and
laughter and the sound of their clinging scythes.
SergyeY Ivanovitch had long finished dinner, and,
sitting in his room, was taking iced lemonade, and read-
ing the papers and reviews which had just come from
the post, when Levin, with his disordered hair matted
down on his brow with perspiration, and with his back
ANNA KARENINA ay
and chest black and wet, came into the room and joined
him, full of lively talk.
"Well! we mowed the whole meadow. Akh ! How
good, how delightful ! And how has the day passed
with you ? " he asked, completely forgetting the un-
pleasant conversation of the evening before.
"Ye saints! How you look!" exclaimed Sergyei
Tvanovitch, staring at first not over-pleasantly at his
brother. "There, shut the door, shut the door!" he
cried. " You 've certainly let in more than a dozen ! "
Sergyei" Ivanovitch could not endure flies ; and he
never opened his bedroom windows except at night, and
he made it a point to keep his doors always shut.
"Indeed, not a one! If I have, I '11 catch him!....
If you knew what fun I 've had ! And how has it gone
with you .'' "
" First-rate. But you don't mean to say that you
have been mowing all day ? You must be hungry as a
wolf. Kuzma has your dinner all ready for you."
" No ; I am not hungry. I ate yonder. But I 'm
going to polish myself up."
" All right, I '11 join you later," said SergyeT Ivano-
vitch, shaking his head and gazing at his brother. "Be
quick about it," he added, with a smile, arranging his
papers and getting ready to follow ; he also suddenly
felt enlivened, and was unwilling to be away from his
brother. "Well, but where were you during the
shower .-* "
" What shower ? Only a drop or two fell. I '11 soon
be back. And did the day go pleasantly with you .''
Well, that 's capital ! "
And Levin went to dress.
About five minutes afterwards the brothers met in the
dining-room. Although Levin imagined that he was not
hungry, and he sat down only so as not to hurt Kuzma's
feelings, yet when he once began eating, he found it ex-
cellent. Sergyei Ivanovitch looked at him with a smile.
" Oh, yes, there 's a letter for you," he said. " Kuzma,
go and get it. Be careful and see that you shut the
door."
28 ANNA KARENINA
The letter was from Oblonsky. Levin read it aloud.
It was dated from Petersburg : —
I have just heard from Dolly ; she is at Yergushovo ; every-
thing is going wrong with her. Please go and see her, and
give her your advice, — you who know everything. She will be
so glad to see you ! She is all alone, wretched. The mother-
in-law is still abroad with the family.
" This is admirable ! Certainly I will go to see her,"
said Levin. " Let us go together. She is a glorious
woman ; don't you think so ? "
" And they live near you .-• "
" About thirty versts, possibly forty. But there 's a
good road. We can cover it quickly."
" I shall be delighted," said SergyeY Ivanovitch,
smiling. The sight of his brother immediately filled
him with happiness. " Well there ! what an appetite you
have ! " he added, looking at his tanned, sunburned,
glowing face and neck, as he bent over his plate.
" Excellent ! You can't imagine how useful this
regime is against whims ! I am going to enrich medi-
cine with a new term, arbeitskur — labor-cure."
" Well , you don't seem to need it much, it seems to
me.
" Yes ; it is a sovereign specific against nervous
troubles."
" It must be looked into. I was coming to see you
mow, but the heat was so insupportable that I did not
go farther than the wood. I rested awhile, and then I
went to the village. I met your nurse there, and
sounded her as to what the muzhiks thought about you.
As I understand it, they don't approve of you. She
said, ' Not gentlemen's work.' I think that, as a gen-
eral thing, the peasantry form very definite ideas aboul;
what is becoming for the gentry to do, and they don't
like to have them go outside of certain fixed limits."
" Maybe ; but you see I have never enjoyed anything
more in all my life, and I do not do anybody any harm,
do I .'' " asked Levin. " And suppose it does n't please
them, what is to be done } Whose business is it .'' "
ANNA KARENINA 29
" Well, I see you are well satisfied with your day,"
replied Sergyef Ivanovitch.
" Very well satisfied. We mowed the whole meadow,
and I made such friends with an old man — the elder.
You can't imagine how he pleased me."
" Well, you are satisfied with your day ! So am I
with mine. In the first place, I solved two chess prob-
lems, and one was a beauty — it opened with a pawn.
I '11 show it to you. And then — I thought of our last
evening's discussion."
" What .-* Our last evening's discussion ? " said Levin,
half closing his eyes, and drawing a long breath with a
sensation of comfort after his dinner, and really unable
to recollect the subject of their discussion.
" I come to the conclusion that you are partly in the
right. The discrepancy in our views lies in the fact
that you assume personal interest as the motive power
of our actions, while I claim that every man who has
reached a certain stage of intellectual development must
have for his motive the public interest. But you are
probably right in saying that materially interested activity
would be more to be desired. Your nature is, as the
French say, prhnesautiere} You want strong, energetic
activity, or nothing."
Levin listened to his brother, but he did not under-
stand him at all, and did not try to understand. His
only fear was that his brother would ask him some
question, by which it would become evident that he was
not listening.
" How is this, my dear boy } " asked Sergyef Ivano-
vitch, touching him on the shoulder.
"Yes, of course. But, then, I don't set much store
on my own opinions," replied Levin, smiling like a
guilty child. His thought was, " What was our discus-
sion about .'' Of course ; I am right, and he is right, and
all is charming. But I must go the office and give my
orders." He arose, stretching himself and smiling.
SergyeY Ivanovitch also smiled.
" If you want to go out, let 's go together," he said,
1 Off-hand.
^o ANNA KARENINA
not wanting to be away from his brother, from whom
emanated such a spirit of freshness and good cheer.
" If you must go the office, I '11 go with you."
" O ye saints ! " exclaimed Levin, so loud that Ser-
geyif Ivanovitch was startled.
"What's the matter.?"
" Agafya Mikhai'lovna's hand," said Levin, striking
his forehead. " I had forgotten all about her."
" She is much better."
" Well, I must go to her, all the same. I '11 be back
before you get on your hat."
And he started down-stairs on the run, his heels
clattering on the steps.
CHAPTER VII
At the time Stepan Arkadyevitch was off to Peters-
burg to fulfil the most natural of obligations, without
which the service could not exist, unquestioned by all
functionaries, however unimportant for non-function-
aries — that of reporting to the ministry, and while
fulfilling this obligation, being well supplied with
money, was enjoying himself at the races and his
friends' datchas, Dolly, with the children, was on her
way to the country, in order to reduce the expenses as
much as possible. She was going to their country-
place at Yergushovo, an estate which had been a part
of her dowry. It was where the wood had been sold
in the spring, and was situated about fifty versts from
Levin's Pokrovsky.
The large old mansion at Yergushovo had long been
demolished, and the prince had contented himself with
enlarging and repairing one of the wings. Twenty
years before, when Dolly was a little girl, this wing
was spacious and comfortable, though, in the manner
of all wings, it stood sidewise as regarded the avenue
and the south. But now this wing was old and out of
repair. When Stepan Arkadyevitch went down in the
spring to sell the wood, Dolly asked him to look over
ANNA KARENINA 31
the house and have done to it whatever was necessary
Stepan Arkadyevitch, like all guilty husbands, being
deeply concerned for his wife's comfort, inspected the
house and made arrangements to have everything done
that, in his opinion, was necessary. In his opinion it
was necessary to have the furniture covered with cre-
tonne, to hang curtains, to clear up the garden, to plant
flowers, and to build a bridge across the pond ; but he
had overlooked many more essential matters, the lack
of which afterwards caused Darya Aleksandrovna great
annoyance.
Although Stepan strove to be a solicitous husband
and father, he never could realize that he had a wife
and children. His tastes remained those of a bachelor,
and to them he conformed. When he got back to Mos-
cow he proudly assured his wife that everything was
in prime order, that the house would be perfection, and
he advised her strongly to go there immediately. To
Stepan Arkadyevitch his wife's departure to the country
was delightful in many ways : it would be healthy for
the children, expenses would be lessened, and he would
be freer.
Darya Aleksandrovna, on her part, felt that a sum-
mer in the country was indispensable for the children,
and especially for the youngest little girl, who gained
very slowly after the scarlatina. Moreover, she would
be freed from petty humiliations, from little duns of the
butcher, the fish-dealer, and the baker, which troubled
her.
And above all the departure was very pleasant to her
for the especial reason that the happy thought had oc-
curred to her to invite her sister Kitty, who was coming
home from abroad about the middle of the summer and
had been advised to take some cold baths. ' Kitty wrote
her from the Spa that nothing would delight her so
much as to spend the rest of the summer with her at
Yergushovo, that place that was so full of happy child-
hood memories for both of them.
The first part of the time country life was very hard
for Dolly. She had lived there when she was a child,
ja ANNA KARENINA
and it had left the impression that it was a refuge from
all the trials of the city, and if it was not very elegant,
— and Dolly was willing to put up with that, — at least,
it would be comfortable and inexpensive, and the chil-
dren would be happy. But now, when she came there
as mistress of the house, she found that things were not
at all as she had expected.
* On the morning after their arrival, it began to rain
in torrents, and by night the water was leaking in the
corridor and the nursery, so that the little beds had to
be brought down into the parlor. It was impossible to
find a cook. Among the nine cows in the barn, accord-
ing to the dairywoman's report, some were going to
calve, some had their first calf, still others were too old,
and the rest had trouble with their udders, consequently
they could not have butter, or even milk for the chil-
dren. Not an egg was to be had. It was impossible
to find a hen. They had for roasting or broiling only
tough old purple roosters. No women were to be found
to do the washing — all were at work on the potatoes.
They could not go driving, because one of the horses
was restive and pulled at the pole. There was no
chance for bathing, because the bank of the river had
been trodden into a quagmire by the cattle, and was
visible from the road. They could not even go out
walking, because the cattle had got into the garden,
through the tumble-down fences, and there was a terri-
ble bull which bellowed, and therefore, of course, tossed
people with his horns. In the house, there was no
clothes-press. The closet doors either would not shut,
or flew open when any one passed. In the kitchen,
there were no pots or kettles. In the laundry, there
were no tubs, or even any scrubbing-boards for the
domestics.
At first, therefore, finding herself plunged into what
seemed to her such terrible straits, instead of the rest
and peace which she expected, Darya Aleksandrovna
was in despair. Though she exerted all her energies,
she felt the helplessness of her situation, and could not
keep back her tears.
ANNA KARENINA 33
The steward, who had been formerly a vakhmistr, or
quartermaster in the army, and on account of his good
looks and fine presence had been promoted by Stepan
Arkadyevitch from his place as Swiss, showed no sym-
pathy with Darya Aleksandrovna's tribulations, but sim-
ply said in his respectful way : —
" Nothing can be done, such a beastly peasantry ! "
and would not raise his hand to help.
The situation seemed hopeless ; but in the Oblonsky
household, as in all well-regulated homes, there was one
humble but still important and useful member, Matriona
Filimonovna. She calmed the baruinya, telling her that
" all would come out right," — that was her phrase, and
Matvei" had borrowed it from her, — and she went to
work without fuss and without bother.
She had made the acquaintance of the overseer's
wife, and on the very day of their arrival went to take
tea with her and the overseer under the acacias, and
discussed with them the state of affairs. A club was
quickly organized by Matriona Filimonovna under the
acacia ; and then through this club, which was com-
posed of the overseer's wife, the starosta, or village elder,
and the bookkeeper, the difficulties, one by one, disap-
peared, and within a week everything, as Matriona said.
" came out all right." The roof was patched up ; a
cook was found in a friend of the starosta's ; chickens
were bought ; the cows began to give milk ; the garden-
fence was repaired; the carpenter made a mangle, and
drove in hooks, and put latches on the closets, so that
they would not keep flying open ; the ironing-board, cov-
ered with a piece of soldiers' cloth, was stretched from
the dresser across the back of a chair, and the smell of
the ironing came up from below.
" There now," exclaimed Matriona Filimonovna, point-
ing to the ironing-board, "there is no need of worrying."
They even built a board bath-house. Lili began to
bathe, and Darya Aleksandrovna's hope of a comfortable,
if not a peaceful, country life became almost realized.
Peaceful life was impossible to Dar3^a Aleksandrovna
with six children. If one had an ill turn, another was
VOL. II. — 3
34 ANNA KARENINA
sure to follow suit, and something would happen to a
third, and the fourth would show signs of a bad dispo-
sition, and so it went on. Rarely, rarely came even
short periods of rest. But these very anxieties and
troubles were the only chances of happiness that Darya
Aleksandrovna had. If it had not been for this, she
would have been alone with her thoughts about a hus-
band who no longer loved her. But however cruel were
the anxieties caused by the fear of illness, by the ill-
nesses themselves, and by the grief a mother feels at
the sight of evil tendencies in her children, these same
children repaid her for her sorrows by their pleasures
and enjoyments. Her joys were so small that they
were almost invisible, like gold in sand ; and in trying
hours she saw only the sorrows, only the sand ; but
there were also happy moments, when she saw only the
joys, only the gold.
Now, in the quiet of the country, she became more
and more conscious of her joys. Often, as she looked
on them, she made unheard-of efforts to persuade her-
self that she was mistaken, that she had a mother's
partiality; but she could not help saying to herself that
she had beautiful children, all six, all of them charming
in their own ways, — such children as are rare to find.
And she rejoiced in them, and was proud of them.
CHAPTER Vni
Toward the beginning of June, when everything
was more or less satisfactorily arranged, she received
her husband's reply to her complaints about her do-
mestic tribulations. He wrote, asking pardon because
he had not remembered everything, and promised to
come just as soon as he could. This had not yet
come to pass ; and at the end of June Darya Alek-
sandrovna was still living alone in the country.
It was midsummer, Sunday, -the feast of St. Peter, and
Darya Aleksandrovna took all her children to the holy
communion. In her intimate philosophical discussions
ANNA KARENINA 3s
with her sister, her mother, or her friends, she often sur-
prised them by the breadth of her views on reHgious
subjects. A strange religious metempsychosis had
taken place in her, and she had come out into a faith
which had very little in common with ecclesiastical
dogmas. But in her family, — not merely for the sake
of example, but in answer to the requirements of her
own soul, — she conformed strictly to all the obligations
of the church, and now she was blaming herself because
her children had not been to communion since the be-
ginning of the year ; and, with the full approbation and
sympathy of Matriona Filimonovna, she resolved to ac-
complish this duty.
For several days beforehand she had been occupied
in arranging what the children should wear : and now
their dresses were arranged, all clean and in order ;
flutings and flounces were added, new buttons were put
on, and ribbons were gathered in knots. Only Tania's
frock, which had been intrusted to the English gover-
ness to alter, caused Dolly great vexation. The English
governess, in making the changes, put the seams in the
wrong place, cut the sleeves too short, and spoiled the
whole garment. It fitted so badly about the shoulders
that it was painful to look at her. But it occurred to
Matriona Filimonovna to piece out the waist and to
make a cape. The damage was repaired, but they
almost had a quarrel with the English governess.
By morning all was in readiness ; a'nd about ten
o'clock — the hour they had asked the father to give
them for the communion — the children, in their best
clothes and radiant with joy, were gathered on the steps
before the calash waiting for their mother.
Thanks to Matriona Filimonovna's watchful care, the
overseer's BuroY had been harnessed to the calash in
place of the restive Voron, and Darya Aleksandrovna,
who had taken considerable pains with her toilet, ap-
peared in a white muslin gown, and took her seat in the
vehicle.
Darya Aleksandrovna had arranged her hair and
dressed herself with care and with emotion. In former
^6 ANNA KARENINA
times she had liked to dress well so as to render herself
handsome and attractive ; but as she became older, she
lost her taste for adornment ; she saw how her beauty-
had faded. But now she once more found satisfaction
and a certain emotion in being attractively arrayed.
She did not now dress for her own sake, or to enhance
her beauty, but so that, as mother of these lovely chil-
dren, she might not spoil the general impression. And
as she cast a iinal glance at the mirror, she was satisfied
with herself. She was beautiful, — not beautiful in the
same way as at one time she liked to be at a ball, but
beautiful for the purpose which she had now in mind.
There was no one at church except the muzhiks
and the household servants ; but Darya Aleksandrovna
noticed, or thought she noticed, the attention that she
and her children attracted as they went along. The
children were handsome in their nicely trimmed dresses,
and still more charming in their behavior. Alosha, to
be sure, was not absolutely satisfactory ; he kept turn-
ing round, and trying to look at the tails of his little
coat, but nevertheless he was wonderfully pretty.
Tania behaved like a grown-up lady, and looked after
the younger ones. But Lili, the smallest, was fascinat-
ing in her nafve wonder at everything that she saw ;
and it was hard not to smile when, after she had re-
ceived the communion, she cried out in English,
^^ Please f some more!"
After they got home, the children felt the conscious-
ness that something solemn had taken place, and were
very quiet.
All went well in the house, till at lunch Grisha began
to whistle, and, what was worse than all, refused to
obey the English governess ; and he was sent away
without any tart. Darya Aleksandrovna would not
have allowed any punishment on such a day if she had
been there ; but she was obliged to uphold the gover-
ness, and confirm her in depriving Grisha of the tart.
This was a cloud on the general happiness.
Grisha began to cry, saying that Nikolinka also had
whistled but they did not punish him, and that he was
ANNA KARENINA 37
not crying about the tart, — that was no account, — but
because they had not been fair to him. This was very
disagreeable ; and Darya Aleksandrovna, after a con-
sultation with the English governess, decided to pardon
Grisha, and went to get him. But then, as she went
through the hall, she saw a scene which brought such
joy to her heart, that the tears came to her eyes, and
she herself forgave the culprit.
The little fellow was sitting in the drawing-room by
the bay-window ; near him stood Tania with a plate.
Under the pretext of wanting some dessert for her dolls,
she had asked the English governess to let her take her
portion of the pie to the nursery ; but, instead of this,
she had taken it to her brother. Grisha, still sobbing
over the unfairness of his punishment, was eating the
pie, and saying to his sister in the midst of his tears,
" Take some too .... we will eat to .... together."
Tania was full of sympathy for her brother, and had
the sentiment of having performed a generous action,
and the tears stood in her eyes, but she accepted the
portion and was eating it.
When they saw their mother, they were scared, but
they felt assured, by the expression of her face, that
they were doing right ; they both laughed, and, with
their mouths still full of pie, they began to wipe their
laughing lips with their hands, and their shining faces
were stained with tears and jam.
"Ye saints! my new white gown! Tania! Grisha!"
exclaimed the mother, endeavoring to save her gown,
but at the same time smiling at them with a happy,
beatific smile.
Afterwards the new frocks were taken off, and the
girls put on their old blouses and the boys their old
jackets; and the line'ika, or two-seated drozhky, was
brought out, and again, to the overseer's annoyance,
Buroi was at the pole, so that they might go out after
mushrooms, and to have a bath. It is needless to say
that enthusiastic shouts and squeals arose in the nurs-
ery, and did not cease until they actually got started for
their excursion.
38 ANNA KARENINA
They soon filled a basket with mushrooms ; even Lili
found some of the birch agarics. Always before Miss
Hull had found them and pointed them out to her ; but
now she herself found a huge birch shliupik, and there
was a universal cry of enthusiasm : —
" Lili has found a mushroom ! "
Afterwards they came to the river, left the horses
under the birch trees, and went to the bath-house. The
coachman, Terenti, leaving the animals to switch away
the flies with their tails, stretched himself out on the
grass in the shade of the birches, and smoked his pipe,
and listened to the shouts and laughter of the children
in the bath-house.
Though it was rather embarrassing to look after all
these children, and to keep them from mischief ; though
it was hard to remember, and not mix up all these
stockings, shoes, and trousers for so many different
legs, and to untie, unbutton, and then fasten again, so
many tapes and buttons, — still Darya Aleksandrovna
always took a lively interest in the bathing, looking on
it as advantageous for the children, and never feeling
happier than when engaged in this occupation. To fit
the stockings on those plump little legs ; to take the
younger ones by the hand, and dip their naked little
bodies into the water; to hear their cries, now joyful,
now terrified ; to see these breathless faces of those
splashing cherubimchiks of hers, with their scared or
sparkling eyes wide open with excitement, — all this
was a perfect delight to her.
When half of the children were dressed, some peas-
ant women, in Sunday attire, on their way to get herbs,
came along, and stopped timidly at the bath-house.
Matriona Filimonovna called to one of them, in order
to give her a sheet and a shirt to dry that had f^len
into the water ; and Darya Aleksandrovna talked with
the women. At first they laughed behind their hands,
not understanding her questions; but little by little
their courage returned and they began to chatter, and
they quite won Darya Aleksandrovna's heart by their
sincere admiration of the children.
ANNA KARENINA 39
" hit tui ! ain't she lovely, now ? White as sugar ! "
said one, pointing to Tania, and nodding her head.
"But thin...."
" Yes ; because she has been ill."
" Vish tui,'' said still another, pointing to the youngest
child.
" It seems you don't take him into the water, do
you .? "
" No," said Darya Aleksandrovna, proudly. " He is
only three months old."
" You don't say so ! " ^
"And have you any children.'' "
" I 've had four ; two are alive, a boy and a girl. I
weaned the youngest before Lent."
" How old is she .'' "
" Well, she is going into her second year."
" Why do you nurse her so long t "
" It 's our way : three springs." ....
And then the woman asked Darya Aleksandrovna
about the birth of her baby : did she have a hard time ?
where was her husband .<* would he come often ?
Darya Aleksandrovna was reluctant to part with the
peasant women, §0 delightful did she find the conversa-
tion with them, so perfectly identical were their interests
and hers. And it was more pleasant to her than any-
thing else to see how evidently all these women were
filled with admiration because she had so many and such
lovely children. The women made Darya Aleksandrovna
laugh, and offended Miss Hull for the very reason that
she was the cause of their unaccountable laughter. One
of the young women gazed with all her eyes at the Eng-
lish governess, who was dressing last ; and, when she
put on the third petticoat, she could not restrain her-
self any longer, but burst out laughing : —
" /s/t tui ! she put on one, and then she put on another,
and she has n't got them all on yet ! " and they all broke
into loud laughter.
40 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER IX
Darya Aleksandrovna, with a kerchief on her head,
and surrounded by all her flock of bathers with wet hair,
was just drawing near the house when the coachman called
out, "Here comes somebarin, — Pokrovsky, it looks like."
Darya Aleksandrovna looked out, and, to her great
joy, saw that it was indeed Levin's well-known form in
gray hat and gray overcoat. She was always glad to
see him, but now she was particularly delighted, because
he saw'her in all her glory. No one could appreciate
her splendor better than Levin.
When he caught sight of her, it seemed to him that he
saw one of his visions of family life.
"You are like a brooding hen, Darya Aleksandrovna."
" Oh, how glad I am ! " said she, offering him her hand.
" Glad ! But you did not let me know. My brother
is staying with me ; I had a little note from Stiva, tell-
ing me you were here."
" From Stiva .'' " repeated Dolly, astonished.
"Yes. He wrote me that you had come into the
country, and thought that you would ajlow me to be of
some use to you," said Levin ; and, even while speaking,
he became confused, and breaking off suddenly, walked
in silence by the lineika, pulling off and biting linden
twigs as he went. It had occurred to him that Darya
Aleksandrovna would doubtless find it painful to have
a neighbor offer her the assistance which her husband
should have given. In fact, Darya Aleksandrovna was
displeased at the way in which Stepan Arkadyevitch
had thrust his domestic difficulties upon a stranger. She
immediately perceived that Levin felt this, and she felt
grateful to him for his tact and delicacy.
"Of course, I understood," said Levin, "that this
only meant that you would be glad to see me ; and I
was glad. Of course, I imagine that you, a city house-
keeper, find it uncivilized here ; and, if I can be of the
least use to you, I am wholly at your service."
" Oh, no ! " said Dolly. " At first it was rather hard,
ANNA KARENINA 41
but now everything has been beautifully arranged. 1
owe it all to my old nurse," she added, indicating
Matriona Filimonovna, who, perceiving that they were
speaking of her, gave Levin a pleasant, friendly smile.
She knew him, and knew that he would make a splen-
did husband for the young lady, and she wished that it
might be so.
" Will you get in ? We will squeeze up a little," said
she.
" No, I will walk. — Children, which of you will run
with me to get ahead of the horses .'' "
The children were very slightly acquainted with Levin,
and did not remember where they had seen him ; but
they had none of that strange feeling of timidity and
aversion which children are so often blamed for show-
ing toward grown-up persons who are not sincere. Pre-
tense in any person may deceive the shrewdest and most
experienced of men, but a child of very limited intelli-
gence detects it and is repelled by it, though it be most
carefully hidden.
Whatever faults Levin had, he could not be accused
of lack of sincerity , and consequently the children
showed him the same good-will that they had seen on
their mother's face. The two eldest instantly accepted
his invitation, and ran with him as they would have
gone with their nurse, or Miss Hull, or their mother.
Lili also wanted to go with him, and her mother in-
trusted her to him ; so he set her on his shoulder and
began to run with her.
" Don't be frightened, don't be frightened, Darya
Aleksandrovna," he said, laughing gayly. " I won't
hurt her or let her fall."
And when she saw his strong, agile, and, at the same
time, prudent and careful movements, the mother felt
reassured, and smiled as she watched him, with pleasure
and approval.
There in the country, with the children and with
Darya Aleksandrovna, whom he liked, Levin entered
into that boylike, happy frame of mind which was not
unusual with him, and which Darya Aleksandrovna
42 ANNA KARENINA
especially admired in him. He played with the children,
and taught them gymnastic exercises ; he jested with
Miss Hull in his broken English; and he told Darya
Aleksandrovna of his undertakings in the country.
After dinner, Darya Aleksandrovna, sitting alone with
him on the balcony, began to speak of Kitty.
" Did you know ? Kitty is coming here to spend the
summer with me ! "
"Indeed!" replied Levin, confused; and instantly, in
order to change the subject, he added : —
" Then I shall send you two cows, shall I .-* And if
you insist on paying, and have no scruples, then you
may give me five rubles a month."
" No, thank you. We shall get along."
" Well, then I am going to look at your cows ; and,
with your permission, I will give directions about feed-
ing them. Everything depends on that."
And Levin, in order to turn the conversation, ex-
plained to Darya Aleksandrovna the whole theory of
the proper management of cows, which was based on
the idea that a cow is only a machine for the conversion
of fodder into milk, and so on.
He talked on this subject, and yet he was passion-
ately anxious to hear the news about Kitty, but he was
also afraid to hear it. It was terrible to him to think that
his peace of mind, so painfully won, might be destroyed.
"Yes; but, in order to do all this, there must be some
one to superintend it ; and who is there ? " asked Darya
Aleksandrovna, not quite convinced.
Now that she carried on her domestic affairs so satis-
factorily, through Matriona Filimonovna, she had no
desire to make any changes ; moreover, she had no
faith in Levin's knowledge about rustic management.
His reasonings about a cow being merely a machine to
produce milk were suspicious. It seemed to her that
such theories would throw housekeeping into discord ; it
even seemed to her that it was all far simpler, that it
was sufficient, to do as Matriona Filimonovna did, — to
give Pestrukha and Byelopakha^ more fodder and drink,
^ Dapple and White-foot.
ANNA KARENINA 43
and to prevent the cook from carrying dish-water from
the kitchen to the cow, — that was clear. But the
theories about meal and grass for fodder were not clear,
but dubious ; but the principal point was, that she
wanted to talk about Kitty.
CHAPTER X
" Kitty writes me that she is longing for solitude
and repose," began Dolly, after a moment's silence.
" Is her health better.-* " asked Levin, with emotion.
" Thank the Lord, she is entirely well ! I never be-
lieved that she had any lung trouble."
" Oh ! I am very glad," said Levin ; and Dolly
thought that, as he said it, and then looked at her in
silence, his face had a pathetic, helpless expression.
" Tell me, Konstantin Dmitritch," said Darya Alek-
sandrovna with a friendly, and at the same time a rather
mischievous, smile, "why are you angry with Kitty?"
" I .-* I am not angry with her," said Levin.
" Yes, you are. Why did n't you come to see any of
us the last time you were in Moscow ? "
" Darya Aleksandrovna," he exclaimed, blushing to
the roots of his hair, " I am astonished that, with your
kindness of heart, you can think of such a thing ! How
can you not pity me when you know .... "
" What do I know .? "
" You know that I offered myself, and was rejected."
And as he said this, all the tenderness that he had felt
for Kitty a moment before changed in his heart into a
sense of anger at the memory of this injury.
" How could you suppose that I knew ? "
" Because everybody knows it."
" That is where you are mistaken. I suspected it,
but I knew nothing positive."
" Ah, well, and so you know now ! "
" All that I know is that there was something which
keenly tortured her, and that she has besought me
never to mention it. If she has not told me, then she
44 ANNA KARENINA
has not told any one. Now, what have you against
her ? Tell me ! "
" I have told you all that there was."
" When was it ? "
"When I was at your house the last time."
" But do you know .'* I will tell you," said Darya
Aleksandrovna. " I am sorry for Kitty, awfully sorry.
You suffer only in your pride .... "
"Perhaps so," said Levin, "but...."
She interrupted him.
" But she, poor little girl, I am awfully sorry for her.
Now I understand all ! "
"Well, Darya Aleksandrovna, excuse me," said he,
rising. ^' Prashchaite — good-by, Darya Aleksandrovna,
da svidanya ! "
" No ! wait ! " she cried, holding him by the sleeve ;
" wait ! sit down ! "
" I beg of you, I beg of you, let us not speak of this
any more," said Levin, sitting down again, while a ray
of that hope which he believed forever vanished flashed
into his heart.
" If I did not like you," said Dolly, and the tears
came into her eyes, "if I did not know you as I do .... "
The hope which he thought was dead awoke more
and more, filled Levin's heart, and took masterful pos-
session of it.
"Yes, I understand all now," said Dolly: "you can-
not understand this, you men, who are free in your
choice ; it is perfectly clear whom you love ; but a young
girl, with that feminine, maidenly reserve which is im-
posed on her, and seeing you men only at a distance, is
constrained to wait, and she is, and must be, so agitated
that she will not know what answer to give."
" Yes, if her heart does not speak.... "
" No ; her heart speaks, but think for a moment :
you men decide on some girl, you visit her home,
you watch, observe, and you make up your minds
whether you are in love or not, and then, when you
have come to the conclusion that you love her, you offer
yourselves.... "
ANNA KARENINA 45
" Well, now ! we don't always do that."
" All the same, you don't propose until your love
is fully ripe, or when you have made up your mind
between two possible choices. But the young girl
cannot make a choice. They pretend that she can
choose, but she cannot ; she can only answer * yes ' or
'no.'"
" Well ! the choice was between me and Vronsky,"
thought Levin ; and the resuscitated dead love in his
soul seemed to die a second time, giving his heart an
additional pang.
" Darya Aleksandrovna," said he, " thus one chooses
a gown or any trifling merchandise, but not love. Be-
sides, the choice has been made, and so much the
better .... and it cannot be done again."
"Oh! pride, pride! " said Dolly, as if she would ex-
press her scorn for the degradation of his sentiments
compared with those which only women are able to
comprehend. " When you offered yourself to Kitty,
she was in just that situation where she could not give
an answer. She was in doubt ; the choice was you or
Vronsky. She saw him every day ; you she had not
seen for a long time. If she had been older, it would
have been different ; if I, for example, had been in her
place, I should not have hesitated. He was always
distasteful to me, and so that is the end of it."
Levin remembered Kitty's reply : " JVo, tJiis cannot
be....''
" Darya Aleksandrovna," said he, dryly, " I am touched
by your confidence in me, but I think you are mistaken.
But whether I am right or wrong, this pride which you
so despise makes it impossible for me ever to think about
Katerina Aleksandrovna ; you understand ? utterly im-
possible."
" I will say only one thing more. You must know
that I am speaking to you of my sister, whom I love
as my own children. I don't say that she loves you,
but I only wish to say that her reply at that moment
amounted to nothing at all."
" I don't know," said Levin, leaping suddenly to his
46 ANNA KARENINA
feet. " If you only realized the pain that you cause me !
It is just the same as if you had lost a child, and they
came to you and said, ' He would have been like this,
like this, and he might have lived, and you would
have had so much joy in him But he is dead, dead,
dead.' " ....
" How absurd you are ! " said Darya Aleksandrovna,
with a melancholy smile at the sight of Levin's emotion.
" Well ! I understand it all better and better," she con-
tinued pensively. "Then you won't come to see us
when Kitty is here .'' "
" No, I will not. Of course I will not avoid Katerina
Aleksandrovna ; but, when it is possible, I shall en-
deavor to spare her the affliction of my presence."
" You are very, very absurd," said Darya Aleksan-
drovna, looking at him affectionately. "Well, then, let
it be as if we had not said a word about it. — What do
you want, Tania.'' " said she in French to her little girl,
who came running in.
"Where is my little shovel, mamma .-""
" I speak French to you, and you must answer in
French."
The child tried to speak, but could not recall the
French word for lopatka, shovel. Her mother whis-
pered it to her, and then told her, still in French, where
she should go to find it. This made Levin feel un-
pleasant.
Everything now seemed changed in Darya Aleksan-
drovna's household; even the children were not nearly
so attractive as before.
" And why does she speak French with the children ? "
he thought. " How false and unnatural ! Even the
children feel it. Teach them French, and spoil their
sincerity," he said to himself, not knowing that Darya
Aleksandrovna had twenty times asked the same ques-
tion, and yet, in spite of the harm that it did their
simplicity, had come to the conclusion that this was the
right way to teach them.
" But why are you in a hurry } Sit a little while
longer."
ANNA KARENINA 47
Levin stayed to tea ; but all his gayety was gone, and
he felt uncomfortable.
After tea he went out into the anteroom to give
orders about harnessing the horses ; and when he came
in he found Darya Aleksandrovna in great disturbance,
with flushed face, and tears in her eyes. During his
short absence an occurrence had ruthlessly destroyed
all the pleasure and pride that she took in her children.
Grisha and Tania had quarreled about a ball. Darya
Aleksandrovna, hearing their cries, ran to them, and
found them in a frightful state. Tania was pulling her
brother's hair ; and he, with face distorted with rage,
was pounding his sister with all his might. When
Darya Aleksandrovna saw it, something seemed to
snap in her heart. A black cloud, as it were, came
down on her life. She saw that these children of hers,
of whom she was so proud, were not only ordinary and
ill-trained, but were even bad, and inclined to the most
evil and tempestuous passions.
This thought troubled her so that she could not speak
or think, or even explain her sorrow to Levin.
Levin saw that she was unhappy, and he did his best
to comfort her, saying that this was not so very terrible,
after all, and that all children quarreled ; but in his
heart he said, " No, I will not bother myself to speak
French with my children. I shall not have such chil-
dren. There is no need of spoiling them, and making
them unnatural ; and they will be charming. No ! my
children shall not be like these."
He took his leave, and rode away ; and she did not
try to keep him longer.
CHAPTER XI
Toward the end of July, Levin received a visit from
the starosta of his sister's estate, situated about twenty
versts from Pokrovskoye. He brought the report about
the progress of affairs, and about the haymaking.
48 ANNA KARENINA
The chief income from his sister's estate came from
the meadows inundated in the spring. In former years
the muzhiks rented these hayfields at the rate of twenty
rubles a desyatin.^ But when Levin undertook the
management of this estate, and examined the hay-
crops, he came to the conclusion that the rent was too
low, and he raised it to the rate of twenty-five rubles
a desyatin. The muzhiks refused to pay this, and, as
Levin suspected, drove away other lessees. Then Levin
himself went there, and arranged to have the meadows
mowed partly by day laborers, partly on shares. His
muzhiks were greatly discontented with this new plan,
and did their best to thwart it ; but it was attended with
success, and even the very first year the yield from the
meadows was nearly doubled. The opposition of the
peasantry continued through the second and third sum-
mers, and the haymaking was conducted on the same
conditions.
But this year they had mowed the meadows on thirds,
and now the starosta had come to announce that the
work was done, and that he, fearing it was going to
rain, had summoned the bookkeeper and made the divis-
ion in his presence, and turned over the eighteen hay-
ricks which were the proprietor's share.
By the unsatisfactory answer to his question, how
much hay had been secured from the largest meadow,
by the starosta's haste in making the division without
orders, by the man's whole manner, Levin was induced
to think there was something crooked in the division of
the hay, and he concluded that it would be wise to go
and look into it.
Levin reached the estate just at dinner-time; and,
leaving his horse at the house of his old friend, the
husband of his brother's former nurse, he went to find
the old man at the apiary, hoping to obtain from him
some light on the question of the hay-crop.
The loquacious, beautiful-looking old man, whose
name was Parmenuitch, was delighted to see Levin,
showed him all about his husbandry, and told him all
^ About six dollars an acre.
ANNA KARENINA 49
the particulars about his bees, and how they swarmed
this year; but when Levin asked him about the hay, he
gave vague and unsatisfactory answers. This still more
confirmed Levin in his suspicions.
He went to the meadows, and, on examination of the
hayricks, found that they could not contain fifty loads
each, as the muzhiks said. So in order to give the peas-
ants a lesson he had one of the carts which they had
used as a measure to be brought, and ordered all the
hay from one of the ricks to be carried into the shed.
The hayrick was found to contain only thirty-two
loads. Notwithstanding the starosta's protestations
that the hay was measured right, and that it must
have got pressed down in the cart ; notwithstanding
the fact that he called God to witness that it was all
done in the most godly manner, — Levin insisted on it
that, as the division had been made without his orders,
he would not accept the hayricks as equivalent to fifty
loads each.
After long parleys, it was decided that the muzhiks
should take eleven of these hayricks for their share,
but that the master's should be measured over again.
The colloquy and the division of the hayricks lasted
until the mid-afternoon luncheon hour. When the last
of the hay had been divided. Levin, confiding the care
of the work to the bookkeeper, sat down on one of the
hayricks which was marked by a laburnum stake, and
enjoyed the spectacle of the meadows alive with the
busy peasantry.
Before him, at the bend of the river beyond the marsh,
he saw the peasant women in a variegated line, and
heard their ringing voices as they gossiped together,
while raking into long brown ramparts the hay scattered
over the bright green aftermath. Behind the women
came the men with pitchforks turning the windrows
into wide, high-swelling hayricks.
Toward the left across the meadow, already cleared
of the hay, came the creaking telyegas, or peasant carts,
and one by one, as the hayricks were lifted on the point
of monstrous forks, disappeared, and their places were
VOL. II. — 4
50 ANNA KARENINA
taken by the horse-wagons filled to overflowing with
the fragrant hay which almost hid the rumps of the
horses.
" Splendid hay-weather ! It '11 soon be all in," said
Parmenuitch, as he sat down near Levin. "Tea, not
hay ! It scatters like seed for the ducks when they
pitch it up." Then, pointing to a hayrick which the
men were demoHshing, the old man went on : " Since
dinner, pitched up a good half of it. — Is that the last .'* "
he shouted to a young fellow who, standing on the pole
of a cart, and shaking the ends of his hempen reins, was
driving by.
" The last, batyushka," shouted back the young fellow,
pulling in his horse. Then he looked down with a smile
on a happy-looking, rosy-faced woman who was sitting
on the hay in the telyega, and whipped up his steed
again.
" Who is that ? your son ? " asked Levin.
" My youngest," said the elder, with an expression
of pride.
" What a fine fellow ! "
"Not bad."
" Married yet ? "
** Yes, three years come next Filippovok." *
" So .'' And are there children ? "
" How ? children .-* For a whole year I have n't heard
anything about it ! and it's a shame," said the old man,
"Well, this is hay! Just tea!" he repeated, wishing to
change the subject.
Levin looked with interest at Vanka Parmenof and
his wife. They were loading on a hayrick near by.
Ivan Parmenof was standing on the wagon, arranging,
storing, and pressing down the fragrant hay which the
handsome goodwife handed up to him in great loads,
first in armfuls, then with the fork. The young woman
worked gayly, industriously, and skilfully. P'irst she
armnged it with her fork; then, with elastic and agile
motions, she exerted all her strength upon it ; and, stoop-
ing over, she lifted up the great armful, and standing
^ St, Philip's Day, November 14,
ANNA KARENINA 51
straight, with full bosom under the white chemise
gathered with a red girdle, she piled it high upon the
load.
Ivan, working as rapidly as he could, so as to relieve
her of every moment of extra work, stretched out his
arms wide, and caught up the load which she extended,
and trampled it down into the wagon. Then, raking up
what was left, the woman shook off the hay that had got
into her neck, and, tying a red handkerchief around her
broad white brow, she crept under the cart to fasten
down the load. Vanka showed her how the ropes
should be tied, and at some remark that she made burst
into a roar of laughter. In the expression on the faces
of both of them could be seen strong young love recently
awakened.
CHAPTER XII
The load was complete, and Ivan, jumping down,
took his gentle fat horse by the bridle, and joined the
file of telyegas going to the village. The young woman
threw her rake on top of the load, and, swinging her
arms, joined the other women, who had collected in a
group to sing. These women, with rakes on their
shoulders and dressed in bright colors, suddenly burst
forth into song with loud happy voices as they followed
the carts. One wild untrained voice would sing a verse
of the Pyesna, or folk-song, and when she had reached
the refrain, fifty other young, fresh, and powerful voices
would take it up simultaneously and repeat it to the
end.
The peasant women, singing their folk-song, came
toward Levin ; and it seemed to him that a cloud,
freighted with the thunder of gayety, was moving down
upon him. The thunder-cloud drew nearer, it took
possession of him, — and the haycock on which he
was reclining and the other haycocks and the carts
and the whole meadow and the far-off field moved
and swayed to the rhythm of this wild song, with its
accompaniment of whistles and shrill cries and clapping
52 ANNA KARENINA
of hands. This wholesome gayety filled him with envy;
he would have liked to take part in this expression of
joyous life; but nothing of the sort could he do, and he
was obliged to lie still and look and listen. When the
throng with their song had passed out of sight and
hearing, an oppressive feeling of melancholy came over
him at the thought of his loneliness, of his physical
indolence, of the hostility which existed between him
and this alien world.
Some of these very muzhiks, even those who had
quarreled with him about the hay, or those whom he
had injured, or those who had intended to cheat him,
saluted him gayly as they passed, and evidently did not
and could not bear him any malice, or feel any remorse,
or even remembrance that they had tried to defraud
him. All was swallowed up and forgotten in this sea
of joyous, universal labor. God gave the day, God gave
the strength ; and the day and the strength consecrated
the labor, and yielded their own reward. For whom
was the work.-' What would be the fruits of the work ?
These were secondary, unimportant considerations.
Levin had often looked with interest at this life, had
often experienced a feeling of envy of the people that
lived this life; but to-day, for the first time, especially
under the impression of what he had seen in the bear-
ing of Ivan Parmenof toward his young wife, he had
clearly realized that it depended on himself whether he
would exchange the burdensome, idle, artificial, selfish
existence which he led, for the laborious, simple, pure,
and delightful life of the peasantry.
The elder who had been sitting with him had already
gone home; the people were scattered; the neighbor-
ing villagers had already . reached their houses, but
those who lived at a distance were preparing to spend
the night in the meadow, and were getting ready for
supper.
Levin, without being noticed by the people, still re-
clined on the haycock, looking, listening, and thinking.
The peasantry gathered in the meadow scarcely slept
throughout the short summer night. At first gay gos-
ANNA KARENINA S3
sip and laughter were heard while they were eating;
then followed songs and jests again.
No trace of all the long, laborious day was left upon
them, except of its happiness. Just before the dawn
there was silence everywhere. Nothing could be heard
but the nocturnal sounds of the frogs ceaselessly croak-
ing in the marsh, and the horses whinnying as they
waited in the mist that rose before the dawn. Coming
to himself. Levin got up from the haycock, and, looking
at the stars, saw that the night had gone.
"Well! what am I going to do ? How am I going to
do this ? " he asked himself, trying to give a shape to
the thoughts and feelings that had occupied him during
this short night. All that he had thought and felt had
taken three separate directions. First, it seemed to him
that he must renounce his former mode of life, which
was useful neither to himself nor to any one else. This
renunciation seemed to him very attractive and was easy
and simple.
The second direction that his thoughts and feelings
took referred especially to the new life which he longed
to lead. He clearly realized the simplicity, purity, and
regularity of this new life, and he was convinced that
he should find in it that satisfaction, that calmness and
mental freedom, which he now felt the lack of so pain-
fully. The third line of thought brought him to the
question how he should effect the transition from the
old life to the new, and in this regard nothing clear
presented itself to his mind.
" I must have a wife. I must engage in work, and
have the absolute necessity of work. Shall I abandon Po-
krovskoye ? buy land .■' join the commune ? marry a peas-
ant woman .-* How can I do all this .'' " he again asked
himself, and no answer came. " However," he went
on, in his self-communings, " I have not slept all night,
and my ideas are not very clear. I shall reduce them
to order by and by. One thing is certain; this night
has settled my fate. All my former dreams of family
existence were rubbish, but this — all this is vastl)/
simpler and better." ....
54 ANNA KARENINA
" How lovely ! " he thought, as he gazed at the delicate
white curly clouds, colored like mother-of-pearl, which
floated in the sky above him. " How charming every,
thing has been this lovely night ! And when did that
shell have time to form.-* I have been looking this long
time at the sky, and nothing was to be seen — only two
white streaks. Yes ! thus, without my knowing it, my
views about life have been changed."
He left the meadow, and walked along the highway
that led to the village. A cool breeze began to blow,
and it became gray and melancholy. The somber mo-
ment was at hand which generally precedes the dawn,
the perfect triumph of light over the darkness.
Shivering with the chill, Levin walked fast, looking
at the ground.
" What is that .-* Who is coming .-• " he asked himself,
hearing the sound of bells. He raised his head. About
forty paces from him he saw, coming toward him on
the highway, on the grassy edge where he himself was
walking, a traveling carriage, drawn by four horses.
The pole-horses, to avoid the ruts, pressed close against
the pole ; but the skilful postilion, seated on one side of
the box, kept the pole directly over the rut, so that the
wheels kept only on the smooth surface of the road.
Levin was so interested in this that, without thinking
who might be coming, he only glanced heedlessly at the
carriage.
In one corner of the carriage an elderly lady was
asleep ; and by the window sat a young girl, evidently
only just awake, holding with both hands the ribbons
of her white bonnet. Serene and thoughtful, filled with
a lofty, complex life which Levin could not understand,
she was gazing beyond him at the glow of the morning
sky.
At the very instant that this vision flashed by him he
caught a glimpse of her frank eyes. She recognized
him, and a gleam of joy, mingled with wonder, lighted
up her face.
He could not be mistaken. Only she in all the world
had such eyes. In all the world there was but one
ANNA KARENINA 55
being who could concentrate for him all the light and
meaning of life. It was she ; it was Kitty. He judged
that she was on her way from the railway station to
Yergushovo.
And all the thoughts that had occupied Levin through
his sleepless night, all the resolutions that he had made,
vanished in a twinkling. Horror seized him as he re-
membered his dream of marrying a krestyanka — a
peasant wife ! In that carriage which flashed by him
on the other side of the road, and disappeared, was the
only possible answer to his life's enigma which had
tormented and puzzled him so long.
She was now out of sight ; the rumble of the wheels
had ceased, and scarcely could he hear the bells. The
barking of the dogs told him that the carriage was
passing through the village. And now there remained
only the empty fields, the distant village, and himself,
an alien and a stranger to everything, walking solitary
on the deserted highway.
He looked at the sky, hoping to find there still the
sea-shell cloud which he had admired, and which per-
sonified for him the movement of his thoughts and
feelings during the night. But in the sky there was
nothing that resembled the shell. There, at immeasur-
able heights, that mysterious change had already taken
place. There was no trace of the shell, but in its place
there extended over a good half of the heavens a carpet
of cirrus clouds sweeping on and sweeping on. The
sky was growing blue and luminous, and with the same
tenderness and also with the same unsatisfactoriness it
answered his questioning look.
" No," he said to himself, " however good this simple
and laborious life may be, I cannot bring myself to it
I love her.''
S6 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XIII
No one except AlekseY Aleksandrovitch's most in-
timate friends suspected that this apparently cold and
sober-minded man had one weakness absolutely con-
tradictory to the general consistency of his character.
He could not look with indifference at a child or a
woman who was weeping. The sight of tears caused
him to lose his self-control, and destroyed for him his
reasoning faculties. The manager of his chancelry and
his secretary understood this, and warned women who
came to present petitions not to allow their feelings
to overcome them unless they wanted to injure their
prospects.
"He will fly into a passion, and will not listen to
you," they said. And it was a fact that the trouble
which the sight of weeping caused Aleksel Aleksandro-
vitch was expressed by hasty irritation. " I cannot, I
cannot do anything for you. Please leave me," he
would exclaim, as a general thing, in such cases.
When, on their way back from the races, Anna con-
fessed her relations with Vronsky, and, immediately
afterwards covering her face with her hands, burst into
tears, Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, in spite of his anger
against his wife, was conscious at the same time of that
deep, soul-felt emotion welling up which the sight of
tears always caused him. Knowing this, and knowing
that any expression of it would be incompatible with
the situation, he endeavored to restrain any sign of
agitation, and therefore he neither moved nor looked
at her; hence arose that strange appearance of death-
like rigidity in his face which so impressed Anna.
When they reached home, he helped her from the car-
riage ; and, having made a great effort, he left her with
ordinary politeness, saying only those words which would
not oblige him to follow any course. He simply said
that on the morrow he would let her know his decision.
His wife's words, confirming his worst suspicions,
caused a keen pain in his heart ; and this pain was
ANNA KARENINA 57
made still keener by the strange sensation of physical
pity for her, caused by the sight of her tears. Yet, as
he sat alone in his carriage, Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch, to
his surprise and pleasure, was conscious of an absolute
freedom, not only from that sense of pity, but also from
the doubts and the pangs of jealousy which had of late
been tormenting him.
He experienced the feelings of a man who has been
suffering for a long time from the toothache. After
one terrible moment of agony, and the sensation of
something enormous — greater than the head itself —
which is wrenched out of the jaw, the patient, hardly
able to believe in his good fortune, suddenly discovers
that the pain that has been poisoning his life so long
has ceased, and that he can live and think and interest
himself in something besides his aching tooth.
This feeling Aleksef Aleksandrovitch now experi-
enced. The pain had been strange and terrible. But
now it was over. He felt that he could live again, and
think of something besides his wife.
"Without honor, without heart, without religion, an
abandoned woman ! I have always known this and I
have always seen it, though out of pity for her I tried
to shut my eyes to it," he said to himself.
And it really seemed to him that he had always seen
this. He recalled many details of their past lives ; and
things which had once seemed innocent in his eyes, now
clearly came up as proofs that she had always been
corrupt.
" I made a mistake when I joined my life to hers ; but
my mistake was not my fault, and therefore I ought not
to be unhappy. I am not the guilty one," said he,
" but she is. But I have nothing more to do with her.
She does not exist for me."....
All that would befall her as well as his son, toward
whom also his feelings underwent a similar change, now
ceased to occupy him. The only thing that did occupy
him now was the question how to make his escape from
this wretched crisis in a manner at once wise, correct,
and honorable for himself, and having cleared himself
58 ANNA KARENINA
from the mud with which she had spattered him by her
fall, how he would henceforth pursue his own path of
honorable, active, and useful life.
" Must I make myself wretched because a wretched
woman has committed a crime ? All I want is to find
the best way out from this situation to which she has
brought me. And I will find it," he added, getting
more and more indignant. " I am not the first, nor the
last."
And not speaking of the historical examples, begin-
ning with La Belle Helene of Menelaus, which had
recently been brought to all their memories by Offen-
bach's opera, Alekseif Aleksandrovitch went over in his
mind a whole series of contemporary episodes, where
husbands of the highest position had been obliged to
mourn the faithlessness of their wives.
" Daryalof, Poltavsky, Prince Karibanof, Count Pa-
skudin, Dramm, .... yes, even Dramm, honorable, indus-
trious man as he is, .... Semenof, Chagin, Sigonin.
Admit that they cast unjust ridicule on these men ; as
for me, I never saw anything except their misfortune,
and I always pitied them," said Alekseif Aleksandro-
vitch to himself, although this was not so, and he had
never sympathized with misfortune of this sort, and had
only plumed himself the more as he had heard of wives
deceiving their husbands.
" This is a misfortune which is likely to strike any
one, and now it has struck me. The only thing is to
know how to find the best way of settling the difficulty."
And he began to recall the different ways in which
these men, finding themselves in such a position as he
was, had behaved.
" Daryalof fought a duel .... "
Dueling had often been a subject of consideration
to Alekset Aleksandrovitch when he was a young man,
and for the reason that physically he was a timid man
and he knew it. He could not think without a shudder
of having a pistol leveled at him, and never in his life
had he practised with firearms. This instinctive horror
had in early life caused him often to think about duel*
ANNA KARENINA 59
ing and to imagine himself obliged to expose his life to
this danger.
Afterward, when he had attained success and a high
social position, he had got out of the way of such
thoughts; but his habit of mind now reasserted itself,
and his timidity, owing to his cowardice, was so great
that Alekseif Aleksandrovitch long deliberated about
the matter, turning it over on all sides, and questioning
the expediency of a duel, although he knew perfectly
well that in any case he would never fight.
" Undoubtedly the state of our society is still so sav-
age," he said, — "though it is not so in England, —
that very many .... "
And in these many, to whom such a solution was sat-
isfactory, there were some for whose opinions Alekseif
Aleksandrovitch had the very highest regard. " Look-
ing at the duel from its good side, to what result does it
lead .'' Let us suppose that I send a challenge ! "
And Aleksef Aleksandrovitch went on to draw a
vivid picture of the night that he would spend after the
challenge ; and he imagined the pistol aimed at him,
and shuddered, and realized that he could never do
such a thing,
" Let us suppose that I challenge him to a duel ; let us
suppose that I learn how to shoot," he forced himself
to think, " that I am standing, that I pull the trigger,"
he said to himself, shutting his eyes, " and it happens
that I kill him ; " and he shook his head, to drive away
these absurd notions.
" What sense would there be in causing a man's death,
in order to settle my relations to a sinful woman and her
son } Even then I should have to decide what I ought
to do with her. But suppose — and this is vastly more
likely to happen — that I am the one killed or wounded.
I, an innocent man, the victim, killed or wounded .? Still
more absurd ! But, moreover, would not the challenge
to a duel on my part be a dishonorable action, certain as
I am beforehand that my friends would never allow me
to fight a duel .-' would never permit the life of a gov-
ernment official, who is so indispensable to Russia, to
6o ANNA KARENINA
be exposed to danger ? What would happen ? This
would happen, that I, knowing in advance that the
matter would never result in any danger, should seem
to people to be anxious to win notoriety by a challenge.
It would be dishonorable, it would be false, it would be
an act of deception to others and to myself. A duel is
not to be thought of, and no one expects it of me. My
sole aim should be to preserve my reputation, and not
to suffer any unnecessary interruption of my activity."
The service of the State, always important in the eyes
of Alekseit Aleksandrovitch, now appeared to him of
extraordinary importance.
Having decided against the duel, Aleksei Aleksandro-
vitch began to discuss the question of divorce — a second
expedient which had been employed by several of the
men whom he had in mind. Calling to mind all the
well-known examples of divorce — and there had been
many in the very highest circles of society, as he well
knew — he could not name a single case where the aim
of the divorce had been such as he proposed. The
husband in each case had sold or given up the faithless
wife ; and the guilty party, who had no right to a second
marriage, had entered into relations, imagined to be
sanctioned, with a new husband.
Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch saw that, in his case at least,
legal divorce, whereby the faithless wife would be re-
pudiated, was impossible. He saw that the complicated
conditions of his life precluded the possibility of those
coarse proofs which the law demanded for the establish-
ment of a wife's guilt; he saw that the distinguished
refinement of his life precluded the public use of such
proofs, even if they existed, and that the public use of
these proofs would cause him to fall lower in public
opinion than the guilty wife.
Divorce could only end in a scandalous lawsuit, which
would be a godsend to his enemies and to lovers of
gossip, and would degrade him from his high position
in society. His principal object, the determination of
his position with the least possible confusion, would not
be attained by a divorce.
ANNA KARENINA 6i
Divorce, moreover, broke off all intercourse between
wife and husband, and united her to her paramour.
Now in AlckseY Aleksandrovitch's heart, in spite of the
scornful indifference which he affected to feel toward
his wife, there still remained one very keen sentiment,
and that was his unwillingness for her, unhindered, to
unite her lot with Vronsky, so that her fault would turn
out to her advantage.
This possible contingency was so painful to Aleksel
Aleksandrovitch that, merely at the thought of it, he
bellowed with mental pain ; and he got up from his
seat, changed his place in the carriage, and for a long
time, darkly scowling, wrapped his woolly plaid around
his thin and chilly legs.
" Besides formal divorce," he said to himself, as,
growing a little calmer, he continued his deliberations,
" it would be possible to act as Karibanof, Paskudin,
and that gentle Dramm have done ; that is to say, I
could separate from my wife." But this measure had
almost the same disadvantages as the other : it was
practically to throw his wife into Vronsky's arms.
"No; it is impossible — impossible," he said aloud,
again trying to wrap himself up in his plaid. " I cannot
be unhappy, but neither she nor he ought to be happy."
The feeling of jealousy which had tormented him
while he was still ignorant had passed away when by
his wife's words the aching tooth had been pulled ; but
this feeling was replaced by a different one, — the desire
not only that she should not triumph, but that she should
receive the reward for her sin. He did not express it,
but in the depths of his soul he desired that she should
be punished for the way in which she had destroyed his
peace and honor.
After once more passing in review the conditions of
the duel, the divorce, and the separation, and once more
rejecting them, Aleksei Aleksandrovitch came to the
conclusion that there was only one way to escape from
his trouble, and that was to keep his wife under his pro-
tection, shielding his misfortune from the eyes of the
world, employing all possible means to break off the
62 ANNA KARENINA
illicit relationship, and, above all — though he did not
avow it to himself — punishing his wife's fault.
" I must let her know that, in the cruel situation into
which she has brought our family, I have come to the
conclusion that the status quo is the only way that seems
advisable for both sides, and that I will agree to pre-
serve it under the strenuous condition that she on her
part fulfil my will, and break off all relations with her
paramour."
For the bolstering of this resolution when once he
had finally adopted it, Alekself Aleksandrovitch brought
up one convincing argument : " Only by acting in this
manner do I conform absolutely with the law of reli-
gion," said he to himself ; " only by this reasoning do
I refuse to send away the adulterous woman ; and I
give her the chance of amending her ways, and likewise,
— painful as it will be to me, — I consecrate a part of
my powers to her regeneration and salvation."
Though Aleksef Aleksandrovitch knew that he could
have no moral influence over his wife, and that the
attempts which he should make to reform his wife would
have no other outcome than falsehood ; although during
the trying moments that he had been living, he had not
for an instant thought of finding his guidance in religion,
— yet now, when he felt that his determination was in
accordance with religion, this religious sanction of his
resolution gave him full comfort and a certain share of
satisfaction. He was consoled with the thought that in
such a trying period of his life no one would have the
right to say that he had not acted in conformity to the
religion whose banner he bore aloft in the midst of cool-
ness and indifference.
As he went over in his mind the remotest contingen-
cies, Alekseif Aleksandrovitch even saw no reason why
his relations with his wife should not remain pretty
much as they had always been. Of course, it would be
impossible for him to feel great confidence in her ; but
he saw no reason why he should ruin his whole life, and
suffer personally, because she was a bad and faithless
wife.
ANNA KARENINA ^3
"Yes, time will pass," he said to himself, "time which
solves all problems ; and our relations will be brought
into the old order, so that I shall not feel the disorder
that has broken up the current of my life. She must
be unhappy, but I am not to blame, and so I do not see
why I must be unhappy too."
CHAPTER XIV
Alekse'i Aleksandrovitch during his drive back to
Petersburg not only fully decided on the line of conduct
which he should adopt, but even composed in his head
a letter to be sent to his wife. When he reached his
Switzer's room, he glanced at the official papers and
letters which had been brought from the ministry, and
ordered them to be brought into the library.
" Shut the door, and let no one in," said he in reply to
a question of the Swiss, emphasizing the last words —
nye prinimaf — let no one in — with some satisfaction,
which was an evident sign that he was in a better state
of mind.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch walked up and down the
library once or twice, and then, coming to his huge
writing-table, on which his lackey, before going out,
had placed six lighted candles, he cracked his fingers
and sat down, and began to examine his writing-mate-
rials. Then, leaning his elbow on the table, he bent his
head to one side, and after a moment of reflection he
began to write without the slightest hesitancy. He
wrote in French without addressing her by name, em-
ploying the pronoun vous, which has less coldness than
the corresponding Russian word, vtii, has. He wrote : —
At our recent interview, I expressed the intention of com-
municating to you my resolution concerning the subject of our
conversation. Having carefully taken everything into considera-
tion, I am writing now with the view of fulfilling my promise.
This is my decision : whatever your conduct may have been,
I do not acknowledge that I have the right to break the bonds
which a Power Supreme has consecrated. The family cannot
64 ANNA KARENINA
be broken up through a caprice, an arbitrary act, even through
the crime of one of the parties ; and our Hves must remain
unchanged. This must be so for my sake, for your sake, for the
sake of our son. I am fully persuaded that you have been re-
pentant, that you still feel repentant for the deed that obliges
me to write you ; that you will cooperate with me in destroy-
ing root and branch the cause of our estrangement and in
forgetting the past.
In case this be not so, you yourself must understand what
awaits you and your son. In regard to all this I hope to have
a more specific conversation at a personal interview. As the
summer season is nearly over, I beg of you to come back to
Petersburg as soon as possible — certainly not later than Tues-
day. All the necessary measures for your return hither will be
taken. I beg you to take notice that I attach a very particu-
lar importance to your attention to my request.
A. Karenin.
P.S. I inclose in this letter money, which you may need
at this particular time.
He reread his letter, and was satisfied vi'ith it — espe-
cially with the fact that he had thought of sending the
money. There was not an angry word, not a reproach,
neither was there any condescension in it. The essen-
tial thing was the golden bridge for their reconciliation.
He folded his letter, smoothed it with a huge paper-
cutter of massive ivory, inclosed it in an envelop to-
gether with the money, and rang the bell, feeling that
sense of satisfaction which the use of his well-ordered,
perfect epistolary arrangements always gave him.
" Give this letter to the courier for delivery to Anna
Arkady evna at the datcha to-morrow," said he, and arose.
" I will obey your excellency.^ Will you have tea
here in the library .'' "
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch ordered tea brought to him
in the library ; and then, still playing with the paper-
cutter, he went toward his arm-chair, near which were a
shaded lamp and a French work on cuneiform inscrip-
tions which he had begun.
^ VasAe prevaskhodityelstvo.
ANNA KARENINA 65
Above the chair, in an oval gilt frame, hung a por-
trait of Anna, the excellent work of a distinguished
painter. Aleksei Aleksandrovitch looked at it. The
eyes, as inscrutable as they had been on the evening of
their attempted explanation, looked down at him ironi-
cally and insolently. Everything about this remarkable
portrait seemed to AlekseT Aleksandrovitch insupport-
ably insolent and provoking, from the black lace on her
head and her dark hair, to the white, beautiful hand
and the ring-finger covered with jeweled rings.
After gazing at this portrait for a moment, Aleksei
Aleksandrovitch shuddered, his lips trembled, and with
a " brr" he turned away. Hastily sitting down in his
arm-chair, he opened his book. He tried to read, but he
could not regain the keen interest which he had felt be-
fore in the cuneiform inscriptions. His eyes looked at
the book, but his thoughts were elsewhere. He was
thinking, not of his wife, but of a complication which
had recently arisen in important matters connected with
his official activity, and which at present formed the
chief interest of his service. He felt that he was more
deeply than ever plunged into this complicated affair,
and that he could without self-conceit claim that the
idea which had originated in his brain was bound to
disentangle the whole difficulty, to confirm him in his
official career, put down his enemies, and thus enable
him to do a signal service to the State. As soon as his
servant had brought his tea, and left the room, AlekseK
Aleksandrovitch got up and went to his writing-table.
Pushing to the center of it a portfolio which contained
papers relating to this affair, he seized a pencil from
the stand, and, with a faintly sarcastic smile of self-sat-
isfaction, buried himself in the perusal of the documents
relative to the complicated business under considera-
tion.
The complication was as follows: The distinguish-
ing trait of Alekser Aleksandrovitch as a government
official, — the one characteristic trait peculiar to him
alone, though it must mark every progressive chinov-
nik, — the trait which had contributed to his success
VOL. II. — 5
66 ANNA KARENINA
no less than his eager ambition, his moderation, his
uprightness, and his self-confidence, was his detesta-
tion of "red tape," and his sincere desire to avoid,
as far as he could, unnecessary writing, and to go
straight on in accomplishing needful business with all
expedition and economy. It happened that, in the
famous Commission of the 14th of June, a project was
mooted for the irrigation of the fields in the government
of Zarai, which formed a part of Aleksei" Aleksandro-
vitch's jurisdiction ; and this project offered a striking
example of the few results obtained by official corre-
spondence and expenditure.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch knew that it was a worthy
object. The matter of the irrigation of the fields in the
government of Zaraif had come to him by inheritance
from his predecessor in the ministry, and, in fact, had al-
ready cost much money and brought no results. When
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch entered the ministry, he had
perceived this, and had wanted immediately to put his
hand to this work ; but at first he did not feel himself
strong enough and perceived that it touched too many
interests and was imprudent, and afterward, having
become involved in other matters, he entirely forgot
about it.
The fertilization of the ZaraY fields, like all things,
went in its own way by force of inertia. Many people
got their living through it, and one family in particu-
lar, a very agreeable and musical family — all of the
daughters of which played on stringed instruments.
Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch knew this family, and had
been nuptial godfather ^ when one of the elder daugh-
ters was married.
The opposition to this affair, raised by his enemies in
another branch of the ministry, was unjust, in the opin-
ion of Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, because in every min-
istry there are similar cases which by a well-known rule
of official etiquette no one ever bothers himself about.
But now, since they had thrown down the gauntlet, he
1 Posazhonnui otyets, — a man who takes the father's place in the Rus-
sian wedding ceremuny.
ANNA KARENINA 67
had boldly accepted the challenge and asked for the
appointment of a special commission for examining and
verifying the labors of the commissioners on the fertili-
zation of the Zarai' fields ; and this did not prevent him
from also keeping these gentlemen busy in other ways.
He had also demanded a special commission for in-
vestigating the status and organization of the foreign
populations.
This last question had likewise been raised by the
Commission of June 14, and was energetically supported
by Aleksei Aleksandrovitch, on the ground that no de-
lay should be allowed in relieving the deplorable situa-
tion of these alien tribes.
In committee this matter gave rise to the most lively
discussions among the ministries. The ministry hostile
to Aleksef Aleksandrovitch proved that the position of
the foreign populations was perfectly flourishing; that
to meddle with them would be to injure their well-being;
and that, if any fault could be found in regard to the
matter, it was due to the neglect of Aleksei Aleksandro-
vitch and his ministry, in not carrying out the measures
prescribed by law.
Now Aleksef Aleksandrovitch had made up his mind
to demand : first, the appointment of a new committee,
whose duty should be to study on the spot the condi-
tion of the foreign populations ; secondly, in case their
condition should be found such as the official data in
the hands of the committee represented, that a new
scientific commission should be sent to study into the
causes of this sad state of things, with the aim of set-
tling it from the (a) political, (d) administrative, (c)
economical, (d) ethnographical, (e) physical, and (/')
religious point of view ; thirdly, that the hostile min-
istry should be required to furnish the particulars in
regard to the measures taken during the last ten years
to relieve the wretched situation in which these tribes
were placed ; and fourthly and finally, that this minis-
try should explain the fact that they had acted in
absolute contradiction to the fundamental and organic
law, Volume T, page 18, with reference to Article 36,
68 ANNA KARENINA
as was proved by an act of the committee under num-
bers 17,015 and 18,308 of the 17th of December, 1863,
and the 19th of June, 1864.
A flush of animation covered Aleksei Aleksandro-
vitch's face as he rapidly wrote down for his own use
a digest of these thoughts. After he had covered a
sheet of paper, he rang a bell, and sent a messenger
to the director of the chancelry, asking for a few data
which were missing. Then he got up, and began to
walk up and down the room, looking again at the
portrait with a frown and a scornful smile. Then he
resumed his book about the cuneiform inscriptions, and
found that his interest of the evening before had come
back to him. He went to bed about eleven o'clock ;
and as he lay, still awake, he passed in review the affair
with his wife, and it no longer appeared to him in the
same gloomy aspect.
CHAPTER XV
Though Anna had obstinately and angrily contra-
dicted Vronsky when he told her that her position was
impossible, yet in the bottom of her heart she felt that
it was false and dishonorable, and she longed with all
her soul to escape from it. When, in a moment of agi-
tation, she avowed all to her husband as they were re-
turning from the races, notwithstanding the pain which
it cost her, she felt glad. After Aleksei" Aleksandro-
vitch left her, she kept repeating to herself that she
was glad, that now all was explained, and that hence-
forth there would be at least no more need of falsehood
and deception. It seemed to her indubitable that now
her position would be henceforth determined. It might
be bad, but it would be definite, and there would be an
end to lying and equivocation. The pain which her
words had cost her husband and herself would have
its compensation, she thought, in the fact that now all
would be definite.
That very evening Vronsky came to see her, but she
ANNA KARENINA 69
did not tell him what had taken place between her hus-
band and herself, although it was needful to tell him, in
order that the affair might be definitely settled.
The next morning, when she awoke, her first memory
was of the words that she had spoken to her husband ;
and they seemed to her so odious, that she could not im-
agine now how she could have brought herself to say
such strange brutal words, and she could not conceive
what the result of them would be. But the words were
irrevocable, and Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch had departed
without replying.
" I have seen Vronsky since, and I did not tell him.
Even at the moment he went away, I wanted to hold
him back and to tell him ; but I postponed it because I
felt how strange it was that I did not tell him at the
first moment. Why did I have the desire, and yet not
speak .-* "
And, in reply to this question, the hot flush of shame
kindled in her face. She realized that it was shame that
kept her from speaking. Her position, which the even-
ing before had seemed to her so clear, suddenly pre-
sented itself as very far from clear, as inextricable. She
began to fear the dishonor about which she had not
thought before. When she considered what her hus-
band might do to her, the most terrible ideas came to
her mind. It occurred to her that at any instant the
steward ^ might appear to drive her out of house and
home, and that her shame might be proclaimed to all
the world. She asked herself where she could go if
they drove her from home, and she found no answer.
When she thought of Vronsky, she imagined that he
did not love her, and that he was already beginning to
tire of her, and that she could not impose herself on
him, and she felt angry with him. It seemed to her
that the words which she spoke to her husband, and
which she incessantly repeated to herself, were spoken
so that everybody could hear them, and had heard them.
She could not bring herself to look in the faces of those
with whom she lived. She could not bring herself to
^ Upravlyayushchy.
70 ANNA KARENINA
ring for her maid, and still less to go down and meet
her son and his governess.
The maid came, and stood long at the door, listening ;
finally she decided to go to her without a summons. Anna
looked at her questioningly, and in her terror she blushed.
The maid apologized for coming, saying that she thought
she heard the bell. She brought a gown and a note.
The note was from Betsy. Betsy reminded her that
Liza Merkalova and the Baroness Stolz with their
adorers, Kaluzhsky and the old man Stremof , were com-
ing to her house that morning for a game of croquet.
" Come and look on, please, as a study of manners. I
shall expect you," was the conclusion of the note.
Anna read the letter, and sighed profoundly.
" Nothing, nothing, I need nothing," said she to An-
nushka, who was arranging the brushes and toilet articles
on her dressing-table. " Go away. I will dress myself
immediately, and come down. I need nothing."
Annushka went out ; yet Anna did not begin to dress,
but sat in the same attitude, with bent head and folded
hands ; and occasionally she would shiver, and begin to
make some gesture, to say something, and then fall back
into Hstlessness again. She kept saying, '■'■ Bozhe moi !
Bozhe moi' /"^ hut the words had no meaning in her
mind. The thought of seeking a refuge from her situa-
tion in religion, although she never doubted the faith in
which she had been trained, seemed to her as strange as
to go and ask help of Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch him-
self. She knew beforehand that the refuge offered by
religion was possible only by the absolute renunciation
of all that constituted for her the meaning of life. She
suffered, and was frightened besides, by a sensation that
was new to her experience hitherto, and which seemed
to her to take possession of her inmost soul. She seemed
to feel double, just as sometimes eyes, when weary, see
double. She knew not what she feared, what she de-
sired. She knew not whether she feared and desired
what had passed or what was to come, and what she
desired she did not know.
1 Literally, « My God."
ANNA KARENINA 71
" Oh ! what am I doing ? " she cried, suddenly feel-
ing a pain in both temples ; and she discovered that
she had taken her hair in her two hands, and was pull-
ing it. She got up, and began to walk the floor.
'• The coffee is served, and Mavizel and Serozha are
waiting," said Annushka, coming in again, and finding
her mistress in the same condition as before.
" Serozha .'' what is Serozha doing," suddenly asked
Anna, remembering, for the first time that morning, the
existence of her son,
" He has been naughty, I think," said Annushka,
with a smile.
" How naughty .-' "
"You had some peaches in the corner cupboard; he
took one, and ate it on the sly, it seems."
The thought of her son suddenly called Anna from
the impassive state in which she had been sunk. She
remembered the partly sincere, though somewhat ex-
aggerated, role of devoted mother, which she had taken
on herself for a number of years, and she felt with joy
that in this relationship she had a standpoint indepen-
dent of her relation to her husband and Vronsky.
This standpoint was — her son. In whatever situation
she might be placed, she could not give him up. Her
husband might drive her from him, and put her to
shame ; Vronsky might turn his back on ' her, and
resume his former independent life, — and here again
she thought of him with a feeling of anger and reproach,
— but she could not leave her son. She had an aim
in life ; and she must act, act so as to safeguard this
relation toward her son, so that they could not take
him from her. She must act as speedily as possible
before they took him from her. She must take her
son and go off. That was the one thing which she
now had to do. She must calm herself, and get away
from this tormenting situation. The very thought of
an action having reference to her son, and of going
away with him anywhere, anywhere, already gave her
consolation.
She dressed in haste, went down-stairs, and with firm
72 ANNA KARENINA
steps entered the drawing-room, where, as usual, she
found lunch ready, and Serozha and the governess wait-
ing for her. Serozha, all in white, was standing near
a table under the mirror, with the expression of con-
centrated attention which she knew so well, and in
which he resembled his father. Bending over, he was
busy with some flowers which he had brought in.
The governess had a very stern expression. Serozha,
as soon as he saw his mother, uttered a sharp cry,
which was a frequent custom of his, — " Ah, mamma ! "
Then he stopped, undecided whether to throw down
the flowers and run to his mother, and let the flowers
go, or to finish his bouquet and take it to her.
The governess bowed, and began a long and circum-
stantial account of the naughtiness that Serozha had
committed ; but Anna did not hear her. She was
thinking whether she should take her with them.
" No, I will not," she decided; "I will go alone with
my son."
"Yes, that was very naughty," said Anna; and, tak-
ing the boy by the shoulder, she looked with a gentle,
not angry, face at the confused but happy boy, and
kissed him. " Leave him with me," said she to the
wondering governess ; and, not letting go his arm, she
sat down at the table where the coffee was waiting.
" Mamnia .... I .... I .... did n't ...." stammered Serozha,
trying to judge by his mother's expression what fate was
in store for him for having pilfered the peach.
"Serozha," she said, as soon as the governess had
left the room, " that was naughty. You will not do it
again, will you .-'.... Do you love me .-* "
She felt that the tears were standing in her eyes.
" Why can I not love him ? " she asked herself, study-
ing the boy's frightened and yet happy face. " And
can he join with his father to punish me ? Will he not
have pity on me .-• "
The tears began to course down her face ; and, in
order to hide them, she rose up quickly, and hastened,
almost ran, to the terrace.
Clear, cool weather had succeeded the stormy rains
ANNA KARENINA 73
of the last few days. In spite of the warm sun which
shone on the thick foliage of the trees, it was cool in
the shade.
She shivered both from the coolness and from the
sentiment of fear which in the cool air seized her with
new force.
"Go, go and find Mariette," said she to Serozha, who
had followed her ; and then she began to walk up and
down on the straw carpet which covered the terrace.
" Will they not forgive me .'* " she asked herself. "Will
they not understand that all this could not possibly have
been otherwise .-* "
As she stopped and looked at the top of the aspens
waving in the wind, with their freshly washed leaves
glittering brightly in the cool sunbeams, it seemed to
her that they would not forgive her, that all, that every-
thing, would be as pitiless toward her as that sky and
that foliage. And again she felt that mysterious sense
in her inmost soul that she was in a dual state.
" I must not, must not think," she said to herself.
" I must have courage. Where shall .1 go } When ?
Whom shall I take .-' Yes ! to Moscow by the evening
train, with Annushka and Serozha and only the most
necessary things. But first I must write to them both."
She hurried back into the house to her boudoir, sat
down at the table, and wrote her husband : —
After what has passed, I cannot longer remain in your house.
I am going away, and I shall take my son. I do not know the
laws, and so I do not know with which of his parents the child
should remain ; but I take him with me, because I cannot live
without him. Be magnanimous ; let me have him.
Up to this point she wrote rapidly and naturally ;
but this appeal to a magnanimity which she had never
seen in him, and the need of ending her letter with
something affecting, brought her to a halt.
" I cannot speak of my fault and my repentance,
because .... " Again she stopped, unable to find the
right words to express her thoughts. " No," she said,
" nothing more is necessary ; " and, tearing up this
74 ANNA KARENINA
letter, she began another, from which she left out any
appeal to his generosity, and sealed it.
She had to write a second letter, to Vronsky.
" I have confessed to my husband," she began ; and
she sat long wrapped in thought, without being able to
write more. That was so coarse, so unfeminine ! " And
then, what can I write to him.-'" she asked herself.
Again the crimson of shame mantled her face as she
remembered how calm he was, and she felt so vexed
with him that she tore the sheet of paper with its one
phrase into little bits. " I cannot write," she said to
herself ; and, closing her desk, she went up-stairs, told
the governess and the domestics that she was going to
Moscow that evening, and instantly began to make her
preparations.
CHAPTER XVI
In all the rooms of the villa, the men-servants, the
gardeners, the lackeys, were hurrying about laden with
various things. Cupboards and commodes were cleared
of their contents. Twice they had gone to the shop for
packing-cord ; on the floor lay piles of newspapers.
Two trunks, traveling-bags, and a bundle of plaids
had been carried into the anteroom. A carriage and
two cabs were waiting at the front door. Anna, who in
the haste of packing had somewhat forgotten her in-
ward anguish, was standing by her table in her boudoir
and packing her bag, when Annushka called her atten-
tion to the rumble of a carriage approaching the house.
Anna looked out of the window, and saw on the
steps Aleksef Aleksandrovitch's messenger-boy ringing
the front-door bell.
" Go and see what it is," said she, and then sat down
in her chair and, folding her hands on her knees,
waited with calm resignation. A lackey brought her
a fat packet directed in Aleksef Aleksandrovitch's
handwriting.
"The messenger was ordered to wait an answer,"
said he.
ANNA KARENINA ^5
"Very well," she replied; and as soon as he left the
room she opened the packet with trembling fingers. A
roll of fresh, new bank-notes, in a wrapper, fell out first.
She unfolded the letter and began to read it at the end.
" All the necessary measures for your return hither
will be taken I attach a very particular importance
to your attention to my request," she read.
She ran it through hastily backwards, a second time,
read it all through, and then she read it again from
beginning to end. When she had finished it, she felt
chilled, and had the consciousness that some terrible
and unexpected misfortune was crushing her.
That very morning she had regretted her confession
to her husband, and desired nothing so much as that she
had not spoken those words. And this letter treated
her words as if they had not been spoken, gave her
what she desired. And yet it seemed to her more
cruel than anything that she could have imagined.
" Right, he is right ! " she murmured. " Of course
he is always right ; he is a Christian, he is magnani-
mous ! Yes, the low, vile man ! No one understands,
no one knows him but me ; and I cannot explain it.
People say, ' He is a religious, moral, honorable, intel-
lectual man.' But they have not seen what I have
seen ; they do not know how for eight years he has
crushed my life, crushed everything that was vital in
me ; how he has never once thought of me as a living
woman who needed love. They don't know how at
every step he has insulted me, and yet remained self-
satisfied. Have I not striven, striven with all my
powers, to find a justification of my life .-' Have I not
done my best to love him, to love his son when I could
not love my husband .-" But the time came when I
found I could no longer deceive myself, that I am a
living being, that I am not to blame, that God has
made me so, that I must love and live. And now what ?
He might kill me, he might kill /nm, and I could endure
it, I could forgive it. But no, he....
" Why should I not have foreseen what he would do ?
He does exactly in accordance with his despicable char-
76 ANNA KARENINA
acter ; he stands on his rights. But I, poor unfortunate,
am sunk lower and more irreclaimably than ever toward
ruin. ' Yo?i may stinnise tvJiat awaits you and your son,' "
she repeated to herself, remembering a sentence in his
letter. " It is a threat that he means to rob me of my
son, and doubtless their wretched laws allow it. But,
do I not see why he said that ? He has no belief in my
love for my son ; or else he is deriding, — as he always
does, in his sarcastic manner, — is deriding this feeling
of mine, for he knows that I will not abandon my son —
I cannot abandon him; that without my son, life would
be unsupportable, even with him whom I love ; and that
to abandon my son, and leave him, I should fall like the
worst of women. This he knows, and knows that I
should never have the power to do so.
" * Our lives must remain tinchanged,' " she continued,
remembering another sentence in the letter. "This
life was a torture before ; but of late it has grown worse
than ever. What will it be now .-' And he knows all
this, — knows that I cannot repent because I breathe,
because I love; he knows that nothing except falsehood
and deceit can result from this : but he must needs pro-
long my torture. I know him, and I know that he
swims in perjury like a fish in water. But no; I will
not give him this pleasure. I will break this network of
lies in which he wants to enwrap me. Come what may,
anything is better than lies and deception.
" But how .'' Bozhe mof ! Bozhe moif ! Was there
ever woman so unhappy as I ? ....
" No, I will break it ! I will break it ! " she cried,
springing to her feet and striving to keep back the tears.
And she went to her writing-table to begin another
letter to him. But in the lowest depths of her soul she
felt that she had not the power to break the network of
circumstances, — that she had not the power to escape
from the situation in which she was placed, false and
dishonorable though it was.
She sat down at the table ; but, instead of writing,
she folded her arms on the table, and bowed her head
on them, and began to weep like a child, with heaving
ANNA KARENINA 77
breast and convulsive sobs. She wept because her
visions about an explanation, about a settlement of her
position, had vanished forever. She knew that now all
things would go on as before, and even worse than be-
fore. She felt that her position in society, which she
had slighted, and even that morning counted as dross,
was dear to her ; that she should never have the
strength to abandon it for the shameful position of a
woman who has deserted her husband and son and
joined her lover ; she felt that in spite of all her efforts
she should never be stronger than herself. She never
would know what freedom to love meant, but would be
always a guilty woman, constantly under the threat of
detection, deceiving her husband for the disgraceful so-
ciety of an independent stranger, with whose life she
could never join hers. She knew that this would be so,
and yet at the same time it was so terrible that she could
not acknowledge, even to herself, how it would end.
And she wept, unrestrainedly as a child who has been
punished sobs.
The steps of a lackey approaching brought her to
herself; and, hiding from him her face, she pretended
to be writing.
" The courier would like his answer," said the
lackey.
" His answer ? Oh, yes ! " said Anna. " Let him
wait. I will ring."
"What can I write.'"' she asked herself "How
decide by myself alone ? What do I know ? What do
I want ? Whom do I love ? "
Again it seemed to her that in her soul she felt the
dual nature. She was alarmed at this feeling, and
seized on the first pretext for activity that presented
itself so that she might be freed from thoughts about
herself.
" I must see AlekseY " (thus in thought she called
Vronsky) ; " he alone can tell me what I must do. I
will go to Betsy's. Perhaps I shall find him there."
She completely forgot that on the evening before,
when she told him that she was not going to the Prin-
f9. ANNA KARENINA
cess Tverskaya's, he said that in that case he should
not go there either.
She went to the table again, and wrote her husband: —
I have received your letter.
A.
She rang, and gave it to the lackey.
" We are not going," said she to Annushka, who was
just coming in.
" Not going at all ? "
"No; but don't unpack before to-morrow, and have
the carriage wait. I am going to the princess's."
" What gown shall you wear ? "
CHAPTER XVII
The croquet party to which the Princess Tverskaya
invited Anna was to consist of two ladies and their
adorers. These two ladies were the leading represen-
tatives of a new and exclusive Petersburg clique, called,
in imitation of an imitation, /es sept mei'veilles dii monde,
the seven wonders of the world. Both of them be-
longed to the highest society, but to a circle absolutely
hostile to that in which Anna moved. Moreover, old
Stremof, one of the influential men of the city, and
Liza Merkalof's lover, was in the service of Aleksei
Alcksandrovitch's enemies. From all these considera-
tions Anna did not care to go to Betsy's, and her refusal
called forth the hints in the Princess Tverskaya's note ;
but now she decided to go, hoping to find Vronsky
there.
She reached the Princess Tverskaya's before the other
guests.
Just as she arrived Vronsky's lackey, with his well-
combed side-whiskers, like a kammer-junker, was at
the door. Raising his cap, he stepped aside to let her
pass. Anna recognized him and only then remembered
that Vronsky had told her that he was not coming.
Undoubtedly he had sent him with his excuses.
ANNA KARENINA 79
As she was taking off her wraps in the anteroom
she heard the lackey, who rolled his R's like a kam>ner-
jtinker, say, " From the count to the princess," at the
same time he delivered his note.
She wanted to ask him where his barin was. She
wanted to go back and write him a note, asking him to
come to her, or to go and find him herself. But she
could not follow out any of these plans, for the bell
had already announced her presence, and one of the
princess's lackeys was waiting at the door to usher her
into the rooms beyond.
" The princess is in the garden. Word has been sent
to her. Would you not like to step out into the gar-
den ? " said a second lackey in the second room.
Her position of uncertainty, of darkness, was just the
same as at home. It was even worse, because she
could not make any decision, she could not see Vronsky,
and she was obliged to remain in the midst of a com-
pany of strangers diametrically opposed to her present
mood. But she wore a toilet which she knew was very
becoming. She was not alone, she was surrounded by that
solemn atmosphere of indolence so familiar; and on the
whole it was better to be there than at home. She was
not obliged to think what she would do. Things would
arrange themselves.
Betsy came to meet her in a white toilet absolutely
stunning in its elegance ; and Anna greeted her, as
usual, with a smile. The Princess Tverskaya was ac-
companied by Tushkievitch and a young relative who,
to the great delight of the provincial family to which
she belonged, was spending the summer with the famous
princess.
Apparently there was something unnatural in Anna's
appearance, for Betsy immediately remarked it.
" I did not sleep well," replied Anna, looking furtively
at the lackey, who was coming, as she supposed, to
bring Vronsky's note to the princess.
" How glad I am that you came ! " said Betsy. " I
am just up, and I should like to have a cup of tea before
the others come. And you," she said, addressing Tush-
8o ANNA KARENINA
kievitch, " had better go with Maska and try the kroket-
gro-und, which has just been cHpped. You and I will
have time to have a little confidential talk while taking our
tea. We '11 have a cozy chat, won't we ? " she added in
English, addressing Anna with a smile, and taking her
hand, in which she held a sunshade.
" All the more willingly because I cannot stay long.
I must call on old Vrede ; I have been promising for
a hundred years to come and see her," said Anna, to
whom the lie, though contrary to her nature, seemed
not only simple and easy, but even pleasurable. Why
she said a thing which she forgot the second after, she
herself could not have told ; she said it at haphazard,
so that, in case Vronsky were not coming, she might
have a way of escape, and try to find him elsewhere ;
and why she happened to select the name of old
Freilina Vrede rather than any other of her acquain-
tances was likewise inexplicable. But, as events proved,
out of all the possible schemes for meeting Vronsky,
she could not have chosen a better.
" No, I shall not let you go," replied Betsy, scruti-
nizing Anna's face. " Indeed, if I were not so fond of
you, I should be tempted to be vexed with you ; any-
body would think that you were afraid of my company
compromising you. — Tea in the little parlor, if you
please," said she to the lackey, blinking her eyes as
was habitual with her ; and, taking the letter from
him, she began to read it.
"Aleksei" disappoints us,"^ said she in French. "He
writes that he cannot come," she added, in a tone as
simple and unaffected as if it had never entered her
mind that Vronsky was of any more interest to Anna
than as a possible partner in a game of croquet. Anna
knew that Betsy knew all ; but, as she heard Betsy
speak of Vronsky now, she almost brought herself to
believe for a moment that she knew nothing.
" Ah ! " she said indifferently, as if it was a detail
which did not interest her. " How," she continued,
still smiling, "could your society compromise any one.-*"
* Alexis nous fait faux bond.
ANNA KARENINA 8i
This manner of playing with words, this hiding a
secret, had a great charm for Anna, as it has for all
women. And it was not the necessity of secrecy, or
the reason for secrecy, but the process itself, that gave
the pleasure.
"I cannot be more Catholic than the Pope," she said.
" Stremof and Liza Merkalof, they are the cream of the
cream of society. They are received everywhere. But
/" — she laid special stress on the/ — "/have never
been severe and intolerant. I simply have not had
time."
" No. But perhaps you prefer not to meet Stremof ?
Let him break lances with Aleksei Aleksandrovitch in
committee-meetings ; that does not concern us. But in
society he is as lovely a man as I know, and a passion-
ate lover of croquet. But you shall see him. And you
must see how admirably he conducts himself in his
ridiculous position as Liza's aged lover. He is very
charming. Don't you know Safo Stoltz } She is the
latest, absolutely the latest style."
While Betsy was saying all this, Anna perceived, by
her joyous, intelligent eyes, that she saw her embarrass-
ment and was trying to put her at her ease. They had
gone into the little boudoir.
" By the way, I must write a word to AlekseY."
And Betsy sat down at her writing-table, hastily
penned a few lines, and inclosed them in an envelop.
" I wrote him to come to dinner. One of the ladies
who is going to be here has no gentleman. See if I
am imperative enough. Excuse me if I leave you a
moment. Please seal it and direct it," said she at the
door, " I have some arrangements to make."
Without a moment's hesitation, Anna took Betsy's
seat at the table, and, without reading her note, added
these words : —
I must see you without fail. Come to the Vrede's Garden.
I will be there at six o'clock.
She sealed the letter ; and Betsy, coming a moment
later, despatched it at once.
82 ANNA KARENINA
The two ladies took their tea at a Httle table in the
cool boudoir, and had indeed a cozy chat as the princess
had promised, until the arrival of her guests. They
expressed their judgments on them, beginning with
Liza Merkalof.
" She is very charming, and she has always been
congenial to me," said Anna.
" You ought to like her. She adores you. Yesterday
evening, after the races, she came to see me, and was
in despair not to find you. She says that you are a
genuine heroine of a romance, and that if she were
a man, she would commit a thousand follies for your
sake. Stremof told her she did that, even as she was."
" But please tell me one thing I never could under-
stand," said Anna, after a moment of silence, and in a
tone which clearly showed that she did not ask an idle
question but that what she wanted explained was more
important to her than would appear. " Please tell me,
what are the relations between her and Prince Kaluzh-
sky, the man they call Mishka .-' I have rarely seen
them together. What are their relations .-' "
A smile came into Betsy's eyes, and she looked keenly
at Anna.
"It's a new kind," she replied. "All these ladies
have adopted it. They 've thrown their caps behind the
mill. But there are ways and ways of throwing them."
" Yes, but what are her relations with Kaluzhsky } "
Betsy, to Anna's surprise, broke into a gale of irresisti-
ble laughter, which was an unusual thing with her.
" But you are trespassing on the Princess Miagkaya's
province ; it is the question of an enfant terrible,'' said
Betsy, trying in vain to restrain her gayety, but again
breaking out into that contagious laughter which is the
peculiarity of people who rarely laugh. " But you must
ask them," she at length managed to say, with the tears
running down her cheeks.
" Well ! you laugh," said Anna, in spite of herself
joining in her friend's amusement; "but I never could
understand it at all, and I don't understand what part
the husband plays."
ANNA KARENINA 83
" The husband ? Liza Merkalof's husband carries
her plaid for her, and is always at her beck and call.
But the real meaning of the affair no one cares to know.
You know that in good society people don't speak and
don't even think of certain details of the toilet; well, it
is the same here."
" Are you going to Rolandaki's fite ? " asked Anna,
to change the conversation.
" I don't think so," replied Betsy ; and, not looking at
her companion, she carefully poured the fragrant tea
into little transparent cups. Then, having handed one
to Anna, she rolled a cigarette, and, putting it into a
silver holder, she began to smoke.
"You see, I am in a fortunate position," she began
seriously, holding her cup in her hand. " I understand
you, and I understand Liza. Liza is one of these nai've,
childlike natures, who cannot distinguish between ill and
good, — at least, she was so when she was young, and
now she knows that this simplicity is becoming to her.
Now perhaps she purposely fails to understand the dis-
tinction," said Betsy, with a sly smile. " But all the
same, it becomes her. You see, it is quite possible to
look on things from a tragic standpoint, and to get tor-
ment out of them; and it is possible to look on it sim-
ply, and even gayly. Possibly you are inclined to look
on things too tragically."
" How I should like to know others as well as I know
myself! " said Anna, with a serious and pensive look.
"Am I worse than others, or better.? Worse, I think."
"You are an enfant terrible, an enfant tertible^" was
Betsy's comment. " But here they are ! "
CHAPTER XVIII
Steps were heard, and a man's voice, then a woman's
voice and laughter, and immediately after the expected
guests came in : Safo Stoltz, and a young man called
Vaska, whose face shone with exuberant health. It was
evident that rich blood-making beef, burgundy, and truffles
84 ANNA KARENINA
had accomplished their work. Vaska bowed to the two
ladies and glanced at them, but only for a second. He
followed Safo into the drawing-room, and he followed
her through the drawing-room, as if he had been tied to
her, and he kept his brilliant eyes fastened on her as if
he wished to devour her. Safo Stoltz was a blond with
black eyes. She wore shoes with enormously high heels,
and she came in with slow, vigorous steps, and shook
hands with the ladies energetically, like a man.
Anna had never before met with this new celebrity,
and was struck, not only by her beauty, but by the ex-
travagance of her toilet and the boldness of her man-
ners. On her head was a veritable scaffolding of false
and natural hair of a lovely golden hue, and of a height
corresponding to the mighty proportions of her protu-
berant and very visible bosom. Her dress was so tightly
pulled back, that at every movement it outlined the
shape of her knees and thighs ; and involuntarily the
question arose : Where, under this enormous, tottering
mountain, did her neat little body, so exposed above,
and so tightly laced below, really end .''
Betsy made haste to introduce her to Anna.
" Can you imagine it ? We almost ran over two
soldiers," she instantly began to relate, winking, smiling,
and kicking back her train, which she in turn threw too
far over to the other side. " I was coming with Vaska
.... oh, yes ! You are not acquainted." And she intro-
duced the young man by his family name, laughing
heartily at her mistake in calling him Vaska before
strangers. Vaska bowed a second time to Anna, but
said nothing to her. He turned to Safo.
"The wager is lost. We came first," said he, smiling.
"You must pay."
Safo laughed still more gayly.
" Not now, though," said she.
" All right ; I '11 take it by and by."
" Very well, very well ! Oh, by the way ! " she sud-
denly cried out to the hostess. " I .... forgot ....stupid
that I was ! I bring you a guest ; here he is."
The young guest whom Safo presented, after having
ANNA KARENINA 85
forgotten him, was a guest of such importance that, not-
withstanding his youth, all the ladies rose to receive him.
This was Safo's new adorer; and, just as Vaska did,
he followed her every step.
Immediately after came Prince Kaluzhsky and Liza
Merkalof with Stremof. Liza was a rather thin brunette,
with an Oriental, indolent type of countenance, and with
ravishing, and as everybody said, inscrutable eyes. The
style of her dark dress was absolutely in keeping with
her beauty. Anna noticed it, and approved. Liza
was as quiet and unpretentious as Safo was loud and
obstreperous.
But Liza, for Anna's taste, was vastly more attractive.
Betsy, in speaking of her to Anna, had ridiculed her
affectation of the manner of an innocent child ; but
when Anna saw her, she " felt that this was not fair.
Liza was really an innocent, gentle, and irresponsible
woman, a little spoiled. To be sure, her morals were
the same as Safo's. She also had in her train, as if
sewed to her, two adorers, one young, the other old,
who devoured her with their eyes. But there was some-
thing about her better than her surroundings; she was
like a diamond of the purest water surrounded by glass.
The brilliancy shone out of her lovely, enigmatical eyes.
The wearied and yet passionate look of her eyes, sur-
rounded by dark circles, struck one by its absolute sin-
cerity. Any one looking into their depths would think
that he knew her completely ; and to know her was to
love her. At the sight of Anna, her whole face sud-
denly lighted up with a happy smile.
" Oh ! How glad I am to see you ! " she said, as she
went up to her. " Yesterday afternoon at the races I
wanted to get to you, but you had just gone. I was so
anxious to see you yesterday especially ! Too bad,
was n't it .-' " S3,id she, gazing at Anna with a look which
seemed to disclose her whole soul.
" Yes ! I never would have believed that anything
could be so exciting," replied Anna, with some color.
The company now began to get ready to go to the
lawn.
86 ANNA KARENINA
" I am not going," said Liza, sitting down near Anna
" You are n't going, are you ? What pleasure can any
one find in croquet?"
" But I am very fond of it," said Anna.
" There ! how is it that you don't get ennuy^e ? To
look at you is a joy. You live, but I vegetate."
" How vegetate .-' Why ! they say you have the gay-
est society in Petersburg," said Anna.
" Perhaps those who are not of our circle are still
more ennuyee. But we, it seems to me, are not happy,
but are bored, terribly bored."
Safo lighted a cigarette, and went to the lawn with
the two young men. Betsy and Stremof stayed at
the tea-table.
" How bored } " asked Betsy. " Safo says she had a
delightful evening with you yesterday."
"Oh ! how unendurable it was ! " said Liza. "They
all came to my house with me after the races, and it
was all so utterly monotonous. It is forever one and the
same thing. They sat on the divans the whole evening.
How could that be delightful.? No; but what do you
do to keep from being bored .-*" she asked again of
Anna. " It is enough to look at you ! You are evi-
dently a woman who can be happy or unhappy, but
never emiuy/e. Now explain what you do."
" I don't do anything," said Anna, confused by such
a stream of questions.
"That is the best way," said Stremof, joining the
conversation.
Stremof was a man fifty years old, rather gray, but
well preserved, very ugly, but with a face full of char-
acter and intelligence. Liza Merkalof was his wife's
niece, and he spent with her all his leisure time. Though
he was an employee in the service of Alekser Aleksandro-
vitch's political enemies, he endeavored, now that he met
Anna in society, to act the man of the world, and be
exceedingly amiable to his enemy's wife.
"The very best way is to do nothing," he continued,
with his wise smile. " I have been telling you this long
time," turning to Liza Merkalof, "that, if you don't want
ANNA KARENINA 87
to be bored, you must not think that it is possible to be
bored ; just as one must not be afraid of not sleeping if
he is troubled with insomnia. This is just what Anna
Arkadyevna told you."
" I should be very glad if I had said so," said Anna,
"because it is not only clever, it is true."
" But will you tell me why it is not hard to go to
sleep, and not hard to be free from ennui V
"To sleep, you must work; and to be happy, you
must also work."
" But how can I work when my labor is useful to no
one ? But to make believe, — I neither can nor will."
"You are incorrigible," sajd he, not looking at her,
but turning to Anna again. He rarely met her, and
could not well speak to her except in the way of small
talk ; but he understood how to say light things grace-
fully, and he asked her when she was going back to
Petersburg, and whether she liked the Countess Lidya
Ivanovna. And he asked these questions in a man-
ner which showed his desire to be her friend, and to
express his consideration and respect.
Tushkievitch came in just then and explained that
the whole company was waiting for the croquet players.
" No, don't go, I beg of you," said Liza, when she
found that Anna was not intending to stay. Stremof
added his persuasions.
"It is too great a contrast," said he, "between our
society and old Vrede's ; and then, you will be for her
only an object for slander, while here you will only
awaken very different sentiments, quite the opposite
of slander and ill-feeling."
Anna remained for a moment in uncertainty. This
witty man's flattering words, the childlike and naive
sympathy shown her by Liza Merkalof, and all this
agreeable social atmosphere, so opposed to what she
expected elsewhere, caused her a moment of hesitation.
Could she not postpone the terrible moment of expla-
nation } But remembering what she had to expect
alone at home if she should not come to some decision,
remembering the pain that she had felt when she
88 ANNA KARENINA
pulled her hair with both hands, not knowing what
she did, so great was her mental anguish, she took
leave, and went.
CHAPTER XIX
Vronsky, in spite of his worldly life and his apparent
frivolity, was a man who detested confusion. Once,
when still a lad in the School of Pages, he found him-
self short of money, and met with a humiliating refusal
when he tried to borrow. He vowed that henceforth
he would not expose himself to such a humiliation again,
and he kept his word. In order to keep his affairs in
order, he made, more or less often, according to circum-
stances, but at least five times a year, an examination of
his affairs. He called this "straightening his affairs,"
or, in French, faire sa lessive.
The morning after the races Vronsky woke late, and
without stopping to shave, or take his bath, put on his
kitel, or soldier's linen frock, and, placing his money and
bills and paper on the table, proceeded to the work of
settling his accounts. Petritsky, knowing that his com-
rade was likely to be irritable when engaged in such
occupation, quietly got up, and slipped out without dis-
turbing him.
Every man acquainted, even to the minutest details,
with all the complications of his surroundings, involun-
tarily supposes that the complications and tribulations of
his life are a personal and private grievance peculiar to
himself, and never thinks that others are subjected to
the same complications of their personal troubles he him-
self is. Thus it seemed to Vronsky. And not without
inward pride, and not without reason, he felt that, until
the present time, he had done well in avoiding the
embarrassments to which every one else would have suc-
cumbed. But he felt that now it was necessary for him
to examine into his affairs, so as not to be embarrassed.
First, because it was the easiest to settle, Vronsky
investigated his pecuniary status. He wrote in his
ANNA KARENINA 89
fluent, delicate hand a schedule of all his debts, and
adding them up found that the total amounted to seven-
teen thousand rubles, and some odd hundreds, which he
let go for the sake of clearness. Counting up his ready-
money and his bank-book, he had only eighteen hun-
dred rubles, with no hope of more until the new year.
Looking over the schedule of his debts, Vronsky classi-
fied them, putting them into three categories: first, the
urgent debts, or, in other words, those that required ready
money, so that, in case of requisition, there might not be
a moment of delay. These amounted to four thousand
rubles, — fifteen hundred for his horse, and twenty-five
hundred as a guaranty for his young comrade, Venevsky,
who had, in Vronsky's company, lost this amount in play-
ing with a sharper. Vronsky, at the time, had wanted
to hand over the money, since he had it with him ;
but Venevsky and Yashvin insisted on paying it, rather
than Vronsky, who had not been playing. This was all
very well ; but Vronsky knew that in this disgraceful
affair, in which his only participation was going as
Venevsky's guaranty, it was necessary to have these
twenty-five hundred rubles ready to throw at the rascal's
head, and not to have any words with him. Thus, he
had to reckon the category of urgent debts as four
thousand rubles.
In the second category were eight thousand rubles
of debts, and these were less imperative. These were
what he owed on his stable account, for oats and hay,
to his English trainer, and other incidentals. At a
pinch, two thousand would suffice to leave him perfectly
easy in mind. The remaining debts were to his tailor,
and other furnishers; and they could wait. In conclu-
sion, he found that he needed, for immediate use, six
thousand rubles, and he had only eighteen hundred.
For a man with an income of a hundred thousand
rubles, — as people supposed Vronsky to have, — it would
seem as if such debts as these could not be very em-
barrassing ; but the fact was that he had not an income
of a hundred thousand rubles. The large paternal
estate, producing two hundred thousand rubles a year,
90
ANNA KARENINA
had been divided between the two brothers. But when
the elder brother, laden with debts, married the Princess
Varia Tchirkof, the daughter of a Dekabrist,^ who
brought him no fortune, Aleksei yielded him his share
of the inheritance, reserving only an income of twenty-
five thousand rubles. He told his brother that this
would be sufficient for him until he married, which he
thought would never happen. His brother, who was in
command of one of the most expensive regiments in the
service and only just married, could not refuse this gift.
His mother, who possessed an independent fortune,
kept twenty-five thousand rubles for herself and gave
her younger son a yearly allowance of twenty thousand
rubles ; and Aleksef spent the whole of it. Recently
the countess, angry with him on account of his depar-
ture from Moscow and his disgraceful liaison, had ceased
to remit to him any money. So that Vronsky, who was
accustomed to living on a forty-five thousand ruble foot-
ing, and having this year only twenty-five thousand,
found himself in some extremity. He could not apply
to his mother to help him out of his difficulty, for her
letter which he had received the day before angered
him by the insinuations which it contained : she was
ready, it said, to help him along in society, or to advance
him in his career, but not in this present life which was
scandalizing all the best people.
His mother's attempt to bribe him wounded him in
the tenderest spot in his heart, and he felt more coldly
towards her than ever.
He could not retract his magnanimous promise given
to his brother ; although he felt now, in view of his
rather uncertain relationship with Madame Karenin,
that his magnanimous promise had been given too has-
tily, and that, even though he were not married, the
hundred thousand rubles might stand him in good stead.
But it was impossible to retract. The impossibility of
taking back what he had given was made clear to him,
especially when he remembered his brother's wife, when
^The Dekabrists were the revolutionists of December, 1825, who were
banished at the time of the accession of the Emperor Nicholas.
ANNA KARENINA 91
he remembered how this gentle, excellent Varia had
always made him understand that she should not forget
his generosity, and never cease to appreciate it. It
would be as impossible as to strike a woman, to steal,
or to lie.
There was only one possible and practicable thing,
and Vronsky adopted it without a moment's hesitation :
to borrow ten thousand rubles of a usurer, — there
was no difficulty about this, — to reduce his expenses as
much as he could, and to sell his race-horses. Having
decided to do this, he immediately wrote a letter to Ro-
landaki, who had many times offered to buy his stud.
Then he sent for his English trainer and the usurer, and
devoted the money which he had on hand to various
accounts. Having finished this business, he wrote a
cold and sharp reply to his mother ; and then, taking
from his portfolio Anna's last three letters, he re-read
them, burned them, and, remembering his last conversa-
tion with her, fell into deep meditation.
CHAPTER XX
Vronsky's life had been especially happy, because he
had a special code of rules, which infallibly determined
all he ought to do and ought not to do.
This code embraced a very small circle of duties, but
the rules allowed no manner of question, and as Vronsky
never had occasion to go outside of this circle, he had
never been obliged to hesitate about what he had to do.
These rules prescribed unfailingly that it was necessary
to pay gambling debts, but not his tailor's bills ; that it
was not permissible to tell lies, except to women ; that
it was not right to deceive any one except a husband ;
that insults could be committed, but never pardoned.
All these precepts might be wrong and illogical, but
they were indubitable ; and, in fulfilling them, Vronsky
felt that he was calm, and had the right to hold his head
high. Only very recently, however, and during the
progress of his intimacy with Anna, Vronsky began to
92
ANNA KARENINA
perceive that his code did not fully determine all condi-
tions, and the future promised to present difficulties and
doubts through the labyrinth of which he could not find
the guiding thread.
Hitherto his relations with Anna and her husband
had been, on his part, simple and clear ; they were in
harmony with the code that guided him.
She was a perfect lady, and she had given him her
love ; he loved her, and therefore she had a right to his
respect, even more than if she had been his legal wife.
He would have cut off his hand sooner than permit him-
self a word or an allusion that might wound her, or that
would seem to fail in that respect on which, as a woman,
she ought to count.
His relations with society were also clear. All might
know or suspect his relations with her, but no one
should dare to speak of it. At the first hint, he was
prepared to cause the speaker to hold his peace, and to
respect the non-existent honor of the woman whom he
loved.
Still more clear were his relations to the husband :
from the first moment when Anna gave him her love
he considered his right and his only imprescriptible.
The husband was merely a superfluous and meddlesome
person. Without doubt, he was in a pitiable position ;
but what could be done about it ? The only right that
was left him was to demand satisfaction with arms in
their hands, and for this Vronsky was wholly willing.
In the last few days, however, new complications had
arisen in their relationship, and Vronsky was alarmed
at his uncertainty. Only the evening before, Anna had
confessed that she was pregnant ; and he felt that this
news and what she expected from him demanded some-
thing that was not defined by the code of rules by which
he ruled his life. Indeed, he was taken unawares, and
at the first moment, when she told him her situation,
his heart bade him take her from her husband. H^
said this, but now on reflection he saw clearly that it
would be better not to do so ; but at the same time he
was alarmed and perplexed.
ANNA KARENINA 93
" If I urge her to leave her husband, it would mean
— unite her life with mine. Am I ready for that ? How
can I elope with her when I have no money ? Let us
admit that I could manage that But how can I take
her away while I am connected with the service ? If I
should decide upon this, I should have to get money,
and throw up my commission."
And he fell into thought. The question of resigning,
or not, brought him face to face with another interest of
his life known only to himself, though it formed the
principal spur to his action.
Ambition had been the dream of his childhood and
youth, a dream which he did not confess even to himself,
but which was nevertheless a passion so strong that now
it fought with his love. His first advances in society,
and in his military career, had been brilliant, but two
years before he had made a serious blunder. Wishing
to show his independence, and to cause a sensation, he
refused a promotion offered him, with the hope that his
refusal would put a still higher value upon him. But it
seemed that he was too confident, and since then he had
been neglected. Finding himself reduced nolens volens
to the position of an independent man, he accepted it,
behaving with perfect propriety and wisdom, as if he
had nothing to complain of, and counted himself
slighted by no one, but asked only to be left in peace
to amuse himself as he pleased.
In reality, as the year went on, and even before he
went to Moscow, this pleasure had begun to pall on him.
He felt that this independent position of a man capable
of doing anything, but caring to do nothing, was begin-
ning to grow tame, that many people were beginning to
think that he was incapable of doing anything, instead
of being a good, honorable young fellow.
His relations with Madame Karenin, by making such
a sensation and attracting attention to him, for a
time calmed the gnawings of the worm of ambition;
but lately this worm had begun to gnaw with renewed
energy. Serpukhovskoi — the friend of his childhood,
belonging to his own circle, a chum of his in the School
94 ANNA KARENINA
of Pages, who had graduated with him, who had been
his rival in the class-room and in gymnasium, in his
pranks and in his dreams of ambition — had just returned
from Central Asia, where he had been promoted two
tchins and won honors rarely given to such a young
general.
He had only just come to Petersburg, and people were
talking about him as a new rising star of the first magni-
tude.
Just Vronsky's age, and his intimate friend, he was a
general, and was expecting an appointment which would
give him great influence in the affairs of the country ;
while Vronsky, though he was independent and brilliant,
and loved by a lovely woman, was only a rotniistr, or
cavalry captain, whom they allowed to remain as inde-
pendent as he pleased.
" Of course," he said to himself, " I am not envious
of Serpukhovskoif and could not be ; but his promotion
proves that a man like me needs only to bide his time
in order to make a rapid rise in his profession. Three
years ago he was in the same position as I am now. If
I left the service, I should burn my ships. If I stay in
the service, I lose nothing ; she herself told me that she
did not want to change her position. And I, who am
sure of her love, cannot be envious of Serpukhovskol."
And, slowly twisting his mustache, he arose from the
table, and began to walk up and down the room. His
eyes shone with extraordinary brilliancy ; and he was
conscious of that calm, even, and joyous state of mind
which he always felt after he had cleared up any situa-
tion. All was now clear and orderly as ever. He shaved,
took a cold-water bath, dressed, and prepared to go out.
CHAPTER XXI
>; T
- •■"il WAS coming for you," said Petritsky, entering the
room. " Your cleaning up took a long time to-day,
didn't it ? Are you through } "
"All through," said Vronsky, smiling only with his
ANNA KARENINA 95
eyes, and continuing to twist the ends of his mustache
deliberately, as if, after this work of regulation were
accomplished, any rash and quick, motion might de-
stroy it.
" You always come out of this operation as from a
bath," said Petritsky, "I come from Gritska's," — so
they called their regimental commander, — "they are
waiting for you."
Vronsky looked at his comrade without replying; his
thoughts were elsewhere.
" Ah ! then that music is at his house .-' " he remarked,
hearing the well-known sounds of waltzes and polkas,
played by a military band. " What is the celebration .-' "
"Serpukhovskoi has come."
" Ah ] " said Vronsky, " I did not know it."
The smile in his eyes was brighter than ever.
Having once decided for himself that he was happy
in his love, he had elected to sacrifice his ambition to
his love. Having at least taken on himself to play this
part, he could feel neither envy at Serpukhovskoi, nor
vexation because he, returning to the regiment, had not
come first to see him. Serpukhovskoi was a good friend
of his, and Vronsky was glad for him.
" Ah ! I am very glad."
The regimental commander, Demin, lived in a large
seignorial mansion. All the company had assembled on
the lower front balcony. What first struck Vronsky's
eyes as he reached the door were the singers of the
regiment, in summer uniform, grouped around a keg of
xTodka, and the healthy, jovial face of the regimental
commander as he stood surrounded by his officers. He
had come out on the front step of the balcony, and was
screaming louder than the band, which was playing one
of Offenbach's quadrilles. He was giving some orders
and gesticulating to a group of soldiers on one side.
A group of soldiers, the vakhniistr, or sergeant, and a
few non-commissioned officers, reached the balcony at
the same instant with Vronsky. The regimental com-
mander, who had been to the table, returned with a glass
96 ANNA KARENINA
of champagne to the front steps, and proposed the
toast, —
" To the health of our old comrade, the brave general,
Prince Serpukhovskot. Hurrah ! "
Behind the regimental commander came Serpukhov-
skoY, smiling, with a glass in his hand.
" You are always young, Bondarenko," said he to the
sergeant, a ruddy-cheeked soldier, who stood directly in
front of him.
Vronsky had not seen Serpukhovskoi for three years.
He had grown older, and wore whiskers, but he was the
same well-built man, striking not so much for his good
looks as for the nobility and gentleness of his face and
his whole bearing. The only change that Vronsky
noted in him was the slight but constant radiance
which can generally be seen in the faces of people who
have succeeded and made everybody else believe in
their success. Vronsky had seen it in other people,
and now he detected it in SerpukhovskoL
As he descended the steps he caught sight of Vronsky,
and a smile of joy irradiated his face. He nodded to
him, lifting his wine-cup as a greeting, and at the same
time to signify that first he must drink with the sergeant,
who, standing perfectly straight, had puckered his lips
for the kiss.
" Well, here he is ! " cried the regimental commander ;
" but Yashvin was telling me that you were in one of
your bad humors."
Serpukhovskoif, having kissed the young sergeant's
moist, fresh lips, wiped his mouth with his handker-
chief, and came to Vronsky.
" Well, how glad I am ! " he said, shaking hands, and
drawing him on one side.
" Bring him along," cried the regimental commander
to Yashvin, pointing to Vronsky, and descending to join
the soldiers.
" Why were n't you at the races yesterday .-* I ex-
pected to see you," said Vronsky to Serpukhovskoif,
studying his face.
" I did come, but too late. Excuse me," he said ;
ANNA KARENINA 97
and, turning to his aide, " Please have this distributed
with my thanks; only have it get to the men."
And he hurriedly took out of his pocket-book three
hundred-ruble notes, and the color came into his face.
" Vronsky, will you have something to eat or drink .-' "
asked Yashvin. "Hey! bring something to the count
here. There, now, drink this."
The feasting at the regimental commander's lasted a
long time. They drank a great deal. They toasted
Serpukhovskoi, and carried him on their shoulders.
They cheered also the regimental commander. Then
the regimental commander and Petritsky danced a Rus-
sian dance, while the regimental singers made the music ;
and when he was tired, he sat down on a bench in the
court, and tried to prove to Yashvin Russia's superiority
over Prussia, especially in cavalry charges ; and the gay-
ety calmed down for a moment. Serpukhovskoi went
into the house to wash his hands, and found Vronsky in
the toilet-room. Vronsky was splashing the water. He
had taken off his kitel, and was sousing his head and
his handsome neck under the tap of the basin, and rub-
bing them with his hands. When he had finished his
ablutions, he sat down by Serpukhovskoif. They sat
together, on a divanchik, and a conversation very inter-
esting to both parties arose between them.
"ii have- learned all about you through my wife,"
said Serpukhovskoi'. " I am glad that you see her so
of Jen."
*ISne is a friend of Varia's, and they are the only
women in Petersburg that I care to see," said Vronsky,
with a smile. He smiled because he foresaw on what
subject the conversation would turn, and it was pleasing
to him.
" The only ones .■* " repeated Serpukhovskoif, also smil-
ing.
" Yes ; and I, too, know all about you, but not
through your wife only," said Vronsky, cutting the
allusion short by the suddenly stern expression of his
face ; " and I am very glad at your success, but not the
least surprised. I expected even more."
VOL, 11. — 7
98 ANNA KARENINA
SerpukhovskoY smiled again. This flattering opinion
of him pleased him, and he saw no reason to hide it.
"I, on the contrary, I confess frankly, expected less.
But I am glad, very glad. I am ambitious ; it is my
weakness, and I confess it."
" Perhaps you would n't confess it if you were n't suc-
cessful," suggested Vronsky.
" I don't think so," replied SerpukhovskoV, smiling
again. " I will not say that life would not be worth
living without it, but it would be tiresome. Of course
I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that I have some
of the qualifications necessary to the sphere of activity
which I have chosen, and that in my hands power of
any sort soever would be better placed than in the
hands of many whom I know," said Serpukhovskol,
with the radiant expression of success; "and there-
fore, the nearer I am to this, the more contented I
feel."
" Perhaps this is true for you, but not for everybody.
I used to think so, and yet I live, and no longer find
that ambition is the only aim of existence."
" Here we have it ! Here we have it ! " cried Serpu-
khovskoT, laughing. " I began by saying that I heard
about you, about your refusal .... of course I approved
of you. There is a way for everything ; and I think
that your action itself was well, but you did' noj: do it
in the right way." "J ; ' • ;, . i
"What is done, is done; and you know I never'^o
back on what I have done. Besides, I am very-'Well
fixed."
" Very well — for a time. But you will not be con-
tented so forever. I do not refer to your brother. He
is a very good fellow — just like this host of ours.
Hark! hear that.?" he added, hearing the shouts and
hurrahs. "He may be happy, but this will not satisfy
you."
" I don't say that I am satisfied."
" Well, this is not the only thing. Such men as you
are necessary ! "
" To whom ? "
ANNA KARENINA 99
" To whom ? to society ; to Russia. Russia needs
men, she needs a party ; otherwise all is going, and will
go, to the dogs."
" What do you mean ? — Bertenef s party against the
Russian communists ? "
" No," said SerpukhovskoT, with a grimace of vexa-
tion that he should be accused of any such nonsense.
" Tout ^a est une blague! — All that is fudge! This al'
ways has been, and always will be. There aren't any
communists. But intriguing people must needs invent
some malignant dangerous party. It 's an old joke.
No, a powerful party is needed, of independent men,
like you and me."
" But why," — Vronsky named several influential men,
— " but why are n't they among the independents } "
" Simply because they had not, through birth, an in^
dependent position, or a name, and have not lived near
the sun, as we have. They can be bought by money
or flattery. And to maintain themselves, they must
fix on a certain course, and follow it, though they do
not attach any importance to it, and even though it
may be bad. They have only one object in view —
the means of securing a home at the expense of the
crown and certain salaries. Cela nest pas plus fin que
qa} when you look at their cards. Maybe I am worse
or more foolish than they, though I don't see why I
should be. But I have, and you have, the one inesti-
mable advantage, that it is harder to buy us. And such
men are more than ever necessary now."
Vronsky listened attentively, not only because of the
meaning of his words, but because of their connection
with the case of Serpukhovskoi himself, who was about
to engage in the struggle with power, and was entering
into that official world, with its sympathies and antip-
athies, while he was occupied only with the interests
of his squadron. Vronsky perceived how strong Ser-
pukhovskoT might be, with his unfailing aptitude for
invention, his quickness of comprehension, his intellect,
and fluent speech, so rarely met with in the circle in
1 That is all that it amounts to.
loo ANNA KARENINA
which he lived. And, though his conscience reproached
him, he felt a twinge of envy.
" All that I need for this is the one essential thing,"
said he, — " the desire for power. I had it, but it is
gone."
" Excuse me ; I don't believe you," said Serpukhov-
skof, smiling.
" No, it is true, true — now — to be frank with you,"
persisted Vronsky.
" Yes, true now, — that is another affair ; this now
will not last forever."
" Maybe."
"You say maybe ; and I tell you certainly not," con-
tinued Serpukhovskoif, as if he divined his thought
" And this is why I wanted to see you. You acted as
you felt was necessary. I understand that ; but it is
not necessary for you to stick to it.^ All I ask of you
is carte blanche for the future. I am not your patron ....
and yet why should I not take you under my protection .''
Have you not often done as much for me ? I hope that
our friendship stands above that. There ! " said he,
smiling at him tenderly, like a woman. " Give me carte
blanche. Come out of your regiment, and I will help
you along so that it won't be known."
" But understand that I want nothing," said Vronsky,
"except that all should be as it has been."
Serpukhovskoif arose, and stood facing him.
" You say that all must be as it has been. I under-
stand what you mean ; but listen to me. We are of the
same age ; maybe you have known more women than
I." His smile and his gesture told Vronsky to have no
fear that he would not touch gently and delicately on
the tender spot. " But I am married ; and, believe me,
as some one or other wrote, he who knows only his wife,
and loves her, understands all women better than if he
had known a thousand."
"We 're coming directly," cried Vronsky to an officer
who looked into the room and said he was sent by the
regimental commander.
^ Per sever irovat.
ANNA KARENINA loi
Vronsky now felt curious to hear and to know what
Serpukhovskoi' would say to him.
" And this is my idea : Women are the principal
stumbling-block in the way of a man's activity. It is
hard to love a woman, and to do anything else. There
is only one way to love with comfort, and without
hindrance ; and that is, to marry. And how can I ex-
plain to you what I mean," continued Serpukhovskoi',
who was fond of metaphors, — "wait, wait !.... yes !
how can you carry a burden and do anything with your
hands until the burden is tied on your back ? And so
it is with marriage. And I found this out when I mar-
ried. My hands suddenly became free. But to carry
this fm'dcau without marriage, your hands will be so full
that you can't do anything. Look at Mazankof, Krupof.
They ruined their careers through women."
" But what women ! " said Vronsky, remembering the
Frenchwoman and the actress for whom these two men
had formed attachments.
"The higher the woman is in the social scale, the
greater the difficulty. It is just the same as — not to
carry your fardeaii in your hands, but to tear it from
some other man."
" You have never loved," murmured Vronsky, looking
straight ahead, and thinking of Anna.
" Perhaps ; but you think of what I have told you.
And one thing more : women are all more material than
men. We make something immense out of love, but
they are all terre-d-terre — of the earth, earthy."
" Will be there immediately ! " he said, addressing the
lackey who was coming into the room. But the lackey
was not a messenger for him, as he supposed. The
lackey brought Vronsky a note.
" A man brought this from the Princess Tverskaya."
Vronsky hastily read the note, and grew red in the face.
" I have a headache. I am going home," said he to
Serpukhovskoi.
"Well, then, proshchai ! farewell; will you give me
carte blanclic ? "
" We will talk about it by and by, I will call on you
in Petersburg."
lom ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XXII
It was already six o'clock; and in order not to miss
his appointment, or to go with his own horses, which
everybody knew, Vronsky engaged Yashvin's hired car-
riage, and told the izvoshchik to drive with all speed.
It was a spacious old carriage, with room for four. He
sat in one corner, stretched his legs out on the empty
seat, and began to think.
The confused consciousness of the order in which he
had regulated his affairs ; the confused recollection of
the friendship and flattery of SerpukhovskoY, who
assured him that he was an indispensable man ; and
most of all, the expectation of the coming interview, —
conspired to give him a keen sense of the joy of living.
This impression was so powerful that he could not keep
from smiling. He stretched his legs, threw one knee
over the other, felt for the contusion that his fall had
given him the evening before, and drew several long
breaths with full lungs.
" Good, very good," said he to himself. Oftentimes
before he had felt a pleasure in the possession of his
body, but never had he so loved it, or loved himself, as
now. It was even pleasurable to feel the slight sore-
ness in his leg, pleasurable was the mouse-like sensation
of motion on his breast when he breathed.
This same bright, fresh, August day, which so im-
pressed Anna with its hopelessness, stimulated, vitalized
him, and cooled his face and neck, which still burned
from the reaction after his bath. The odor of brillian-
tine from his mustaches seemed pleasant to him in this
fresh atmosphere. Everything that he saw from the
carriage-window seemed to him in this cool, pure air, in
this pale light of the dying day, fresh, joyous, and health-
ful, like himself. And the housetops shining in the rays
of the setting sun, the outlines of the fences and the
edifices along the way, and the shapes of occasional
pedestrians and carriages hurrying hither and thither,
and the motionless green of the trees, and the lawns,
ANNA KARENINA 103
and the fields with their straight-cut rows of potato-
hills, and the oblique shadows cast by the houses and
the trees, and even by the potato-hills, — all was as
beautiful as an exquisite landscape just from the mas-
ter's hand, and freshly varnished.
" Make haste, make haste ! " he shouted, pushing up
through the window a three-ruble note to the driver,
who turned round and looked down at him.
The izvoshchik's hand arranged something about the
lantern, then the crack of the knout was heard, and the
carriage whirled rapidly over the even pavement.
" I need nothing, nothing, but this pleasure," he
thought, as his eyes rested on the knob of the bell,
fastened between the windows, and he imagined Anna
as she seemed when last he saw her. " The farther I
go, the more I love her. — Ah ! here is the garden of
the Vrede datcha. Where shall I find her,'' How.?
Why did she make this appointment ? and why did she
write on Betsy's note .-* "
This struck him for the first time, but he had no time
to think about it. He stopped the driver before they
reached the driveway, and, getting out of the carriage,
he went up the walk which led to the house. There was
no one on the avenue; but looking toward the right he
saw her. Her face was covered with a veil ; but with a
joyful glance, he recognized her immediately, by her
graceful motion as she walked, by the slope of her
shoulders, and the pose of her head, and he felt as if an
electric shock had passed through him. With new
strength he felt the joy of life and of action, even from
the movements of his limbs to the involuntary motion of
respiration, and something made his lips twitch.
When he came near her, she eagerly seized his hand.
"You are not angry because I asked you to come .-' I
absolutely needed to see you," she said ; and the serious
and stern closing of the lips, which he saw under the
veil, quickly put an end to his jubilant spirits.
" I angry .'' but how did you come .'' when ? "
" No matter about that," said she, taking Vronsky's
arm. "Come ; I must have a talk with you."
I04 ANNA KARENINA
He perceived that something had happened, and that
their interview would not be joyful. While with her, he
could not control his will. Though he did not know
what her agitation portended, yet he felt that it had
taken possession of him also.
" What is it ? What is the matter .-• " he asked, press-
ing her arm, and trying to read her thoughts by her
face.
She went a few steps in silence, so as to get her
breath ; then she suddenly halted.
" I did not tell you last evening," she began, breath-
ing fast and painfully, " that, on the way home with
AlekseY Aleksandrovitch, I confessed to him everything
....I said that I could not be his wife .... that .... and I
told him all."
He listened, involuntarily leaning toward her, as if he
wished to lighten for her the difficulty of this confi-
dence ; but as soon as she finished speaking, he sud-
denly drew himself up, and his face assumed a haughty
and stern expression.
" Yes ! yes ! that was better, a thousand times better,
I understand how hard it must have been," he said.
But she did not heed his words, she read his thoughts
by the expression of his face. She could not know that
the expression of his face arose from the first thought
that came into his mind — the thought that a duel could
not now be avoided. Never had a thought of a duel
entered her head, and therefore she interpreted the
momentary expression of sternness in a quite different
way.
Since the arrival of her husband's letter, she felt in
the bottom of her heart that all would remain as before ;
that she should not have the strength to sacrifice her
position in the world, to abandon her son and join her
lover. The morning spent with the Princess Tverskaya
confirmed her in this. But this interview with Vronsky
seemed to her to be of vital importance. She hoped that
it might change their relations and save her. If, on
hearing this news, he had said decidedly, passionately,
without a moment's hesitation, " Leave all, and come
ANNA KARENINA 105
with me," she would even have abandoned her son, and
gone with him. But what she told him did not produce
on him at all the impression which she had expected;
he seemed, if anything, vexed and angry.
" It was not hard for me at all. It came of its own
accord," she said, with a touch of irritation ; " and here"
— she drew her husband's letter from her glove.
" I understand, I understand," interrupted Vronsky,
taking the letter, but not reading it, and trying to calm
Anna. "The one thing I wanted, the one thing I
prayed for ....to put an end to this situation, so that I
could devote my whole life to your happiness."
" Why do you say that to me .'' " she asked. " Can I
doubt it.? If I doubted...."
" Who are those coming } " asked Vronsky, abruptly,
seeing two ladies coming in their direction. " Perhaps
they know us." And he hastily drew Anna with him
down a side alley.
" Akh ! it is all the same to me," she said.
Her lips trembled, and it seemed to Vronsky that her
eyes looked at him from under her veil with strange
hatred.
" As I said, in all this affair, I cannot doubt you.
But here is what he wrote me. Read it."
And again she halted. Again, as when he first
learned of Anna's rupture with her husband, Vronsky,
beginning to read this letter, involuntarily abandoned
himself to the impression awakened in him by the
thought of his relations to the deceived husband.
Now that he had the letter in his hand, he imagined
the challenge, which he would receive that day or the
next, and the duel itself, at the moment when, with the
same cool and haughty expression which now set his
face, he woul5 stand in front of his adversary, and,
having discharged his weapon in the air, would wait
the outraged husband's shot. And at this very instant
SerpukhovskoY's words and what he himself had felt
that day flashed through his mind, " Better not tie
yourself down ; " and she knew that he could not ex-
press his thought before her.
io6 ANNA KARENINA
After he read the note, he raised his eyes to her, and
there was indecision in his look. She instantly per-
ceived that he had thought this matter over before.
She knew that whatever he said to her, he would not
say all that he thought. And she realized that her last
hope had vanished. This was not what she had desired.
"You see what sort of a man he is," said she, with
faltering voice. " He .... "
" Excuse me, but I am glad of this," said Vronsky, in-
terrupting. " For God's sake, let me speak," he quickly
added, beseeching her with his look to give him time to
explain his words. " I am glad, because this cannot,
and never could go on as he imagines."
"Why can't it.'"' demanded Anna, holding back her
tears, and evidently attaching no importance to what
he said. She felt that her fate was already settled.
Vronsky meant that after the duel, which he felt was
inevitable, this situation must be changed ; but he said
something quite different.
" It cannot go on so. I hope that now you will leave
him, I hope" — he stumbled and grew red — "that
you will allow me to take charge of our lives, and regu-
late them. To-morrow ,... " he began to say.
She did not allow him to finish.
"And my son!" she cried. "Do you see what he
writes ? I must leave him ; but I cannot and I will
not do that."
" But, for God's sake, which is better, — to leave your
son, or to continue this humiliating situation ? "
" For whom is it a humiliating situation } "
" For all of us, and especially for you,"
"You say humiliating! .... Don't say that. Forme
that word has no meaning," said she, with trembhng
voice. She could not bear now to have' him tell her a
falsehood. Her love for him was trembling in the bal-
ance, and she wished to love him. "You must know
that for me, on that day when I first loved you, every-
thing was transformed. For me there was one thing,
and only one thing, — your love. If it is mine, then I
feel myself so high, so firm, that nothing can be humili-
ANNA KARENINA io;
ating to me. I am proud of my position, because ....
proud that .... proud .... " She did not say why she was
proud. Tears of shame and despair choked her utter-
ance. She stopped, and began to sob.
He also felt that something rose in his throat. For
the first time in his life he felt ready to cry. He could
not have said what affected him so. He was sorry for
her, and he felt that he could not help her ; and, more
than all, he knew that he was the cause of her unhap-
piness, that he had done something abominable.
" Then a divorce is impossible ?" he asked gently.
She shook her head without replying. " Then, could
you not take your son, and leave him .'' "
" Yes ; but all this depends on him. Now I must go
to him," she said dryly. Her presentiment that all
would be as before was verified.
" I shall be in Petersburg Tuesday, and everything
will be decided."
" Yes," she repeated. " But we shall not speak any
more about that."
Anna's carriage, which she sent away with the order
to come back for her at the railing of the Vrede Garden,
was approaching. Anna took leave of Vronsky, and
went home.
CHAPTER XXni
The Commission of the 2d of June usually held its
sittings on Monday.
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch entered the committee-room,
bowed to the members and the president as usual, and
took his place, laying his hand on the papers made ready
for him. Among the number were the data which he
needed, and the outline of the proposition that he in-
tended to make. These notes, however, were not neces-
sary. His grasp of the subject was complete, and he
did not need to refresh his memory as to what he was
going to say. He knew that when the time came, and
he should see his adversary vainly endeavoring to put
io8 ANNA KARENINA
on an expression of indifference, his speech would come
of itself in better shape than he could now determine.
He felt that the meaning of his speech was so great that
every word would have its importance. Meantime, as
he listened to the reading of the report, he had a most
innocent and inoffensive expression. No one, seeing
his white hands, with their swollen veins, his delicate,
long fingers doubling up the two ends of the sheet of
white paper lying before him, and his expression of
weariness, as he sat with head on one side, would have
believed it possible that, in a few moments, from his
lips would proceed a speech which would raise a terrible
tempest, cause the members of the Commission to outdo
one another in screaming, and oblige the president to
call them to order.
When the report was finished, Alekseif Aleksandro-
vitch, in his weak, shrill voice, said that he had a few
observations to make in regard to the situation of the
foreign tribes. Attention was concentrated on him.
Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch cleared his throat, and, not
looking at his adversary, but, as he always did at the
beginning of his speeches, addressing the person who
sat nearest in front of him, who happened to be a little,
meek old man, without the slightest importance in the
Commission, began to deliver his views.
When he reached the matter of the fundamental and
organic law, his adversary leaped to his feet, and began
to reply. Stremof, who was also a member of the Com-
mission, and also touched to the quick, arose to defend
himself ; and the session proved to be excessively stormy.
But Alekseif Aleksandrovitch triumphed, and his propo-
sition was accepted. The three new commissions were
appointed, and the next day in a certain Petersburg cir-
cle this session formed the staple topic of conversation.
Alekseif Aleksandrovitch's success far outstripped his
anticipations.
The next morning, which was Tuesday, Alekseif Alek-
sandrovitch, on awaking, recalled with pleasure his vic-
tory of the day before ; and he could not repress a smile,
although he wanted to appear indifferent, when the di-
ANNA KARENINA 109
rector of the chancelry, wishing to flatter him, told him
of the rumors which had reached his ears in regard to
the proceedings of the Commission.
Occupied as he was with the director of the chancelry,
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch absolutely forgot that the day
was Tuesday, the day set by him for Anna Arkadyevna's
return ; and he was surprised and disagreeably impressed
when a domestic came to announce that she had
come.
Anna reached Petersburg early in the morning. A
carriage had been sent for her in response to her tele-
gram, and so Aleksei" Aleksandrovitch might have known
of her coming. But when she came, he did not go to
receive her. She was told that he had not yet gone out,
but was busy with the director of the chancelry. She
bade the servant announce her arrival, and then went to
her boudoir, and began to unpack her things, expecting
that he would come to her. But an hour passed, and he
did not appear. She went to the dining-room, under
the pretext of giving some orders, and spoke unusually
loud, thinking that he would join her there. But still
he did not come, though she heard him come to the door
of his library, accompanying the director of the chan-
celry. She knew that it was his habit about this time
to go to his office ; and she wanted to see him before
that, so that their plan of action might be decided.
She passed through the " hall," and, finally making up
her mind, went to him. She stepped into the library.
Dressed in his uniform, apparently ready to take his
departure, he was sitting at a little table, leaning his
elbows on it, and wrapped in melancholy thought. She
saw him before he noticed her, and she knew that he
was thinking of her.
When he caught sight of her, he started to get up,
hesitated, and then, for the first time since Anna had
known him, he blushed. Then, quickly rising, he ad-
vanced toward her, not looking at her eyes, but at her
forehead and hair. He came to her, took her by the
hand, and invited her to sit down.
" I am very glad that you have come," he stammered,
no ANNA KARENINA
sitting down near her, and evidently desiring to talk with
her. Several times he began to speak, but hesitated.
Although she was prepared for this interview, and had
made up her mind to defend herself, and accuse him, she
did not know what to say to him, and she felt sorry for
him. And so the silence lasted some little time.
" Is Serozha well ? " at length he asked ; and, without
waiting for an answer, he added, " I shall not dine at
home to-day; I have to leave immediately."
" I intended to start for Moscow," said Anna.
" No ; you did very, very well to come home," he
replied, and again was silent.
Seeing that it was beyond his strength to begin the
conversation, she herself began : —
*' Aleksel Aleksandrovitch," said she, looking at him,
and not dropping her eyes under his gaze, which was
still concentrated on her head-dress, " I am a guilty
woman ; I am a wicked woman ; but I am what I have
been, — what I told you I was, — • and I have come to
tell you that I cannot change."
" I did not ask you about this," he replied instantly,
with sudden resolution, and, with an expression of hate,
looking straight into her eyes. " I presuppose that,"
Under the influence of anger, he apparently regained
control of all his faculties. " But as I told you then,
and wrote you," — he spoke in a sharp, shrill voice, —
" I now repeat, that I am not obliged to know this. I
ignore it. Not all women are so good as you are, to
hasten to give their husbands such ^oxy pleasant news."
He laid a special stress on the word priyattioye, " pleas-
ant." " I will ignore it for the present, as long as the
wdrld does not know, — as long as my name is not dis-
honored. I, therefore, only warn you that our relations
must remain as they always have been, and that only in
case of your compro^nising yourself, shall I be forced to
take measures to protect my honor."
" But our relations cannot remain as they have been,"
she said with timid accents, looking at him in terror.
As she once more saw his undemonstrative gestures,
heard his mocking voice with its. sharp, childish tones,
ANNA KARENINA iii
all the pity that she had begun to feel for him was driven
away by the aversion that he inspired, and she had only
a feeling of fear, which arose from the fact that she did
not see any light in regard to their relations.
" I cannot be your wife, when I .... " she began.
He laughed with a cold and wicked laugh.
" It must needs be that the manner of life which you
have chosen is reflected in your ideas. I have too much
esteem or contempt.... or rather I esteem your past, and
despise your present.... too much for me to accept the
interpretation which you put on my words."
Anna sighed, and bowed her head.
" Besides, I do not understand how you, having so
much independence," he continued, growing excited,
" and telling your husband up and down of your in-
fidelity, and not finding anything blameworthy in it, as
it seems, how you can find anything blameworthy either
in the fulfilment of a wife's duties to her husband."
" Alekseif Aleksandrovitch ! What do you require of
me .? "
" I require that I may never meet this man here, and
that you comport yourself so that neither the world nor
our seri'ants can accuse you .... that you do not see him.
It seems to me that this is little. And in doing this,
you will enjoy the rights of an honorable wife, though
you do not fulfil the obligations. This is all that I have
to say to you. Now it is time for me to go. I shall not
dine at home."
He got up, and went to the door. Anna also arose.
He silently bowed, and allowed her to pass.
CHAPTER XXIV
The night spent by Levin on the hayrick was not
without its lesson. His way of farming became repug-
nant to him, and entirely lost its interest. Notwith-
standing the excellent crops, never, or at least it seemed
to him that never, had there been such failure, and such
unfriendly relations between him and the muzhiks, as
112 ANNA KARENINA
this year ; and now the reasons for this failure, and this
animosity, were perfectly clear to him. The pleasure
which he found in work itself, the resulting acquaintance
with the muzhiks, the envy which seized him when he
saw them and their lives, the desire to lead such a life
himself, which on that night had been not visionary but
real, now that he had thought over all the details neces-
sary to carry out his desire, — all this taken together had
so changed his views in regard to the management of his
estate, that he could not take the same interest in it as
before, and he could not help seeing how these un-
pleasant relations with the laborers met him at every
new undertaking.
The herd of improved cows, like Pava ; all the fertil-
ized lands plowed with European plows ; nine equal
fields set round with young trees ; the ninety desyatins,
covered with dressing well plowed in ; the deep drills
and other improvements, — all was excellent as far as
it concerned only himself or himself and the people who
were in sympathy with him.
But now he clearly saw — and his work, his treatise
on rural economy, in which the principal element was
found to be the laborer, helped him to this conclusion
— that his present way of carrying on his estate was
only a cruel and wicked struggle between him and the
laborers, in which on one side, on his side, was a con-
stant effort to change everything to what he thought a
better model, while on the other side was the natural
order of things.
In this struggle, he saw that on his side there were
effort and lofty purpose, and on the other no effort or
purpose, and that the result was that the estate went
from bad to worse ; beautiful tools were destroyed,
beautiful cattle and lands ruined. The principal ob-
jection was the energy absolutely wasted in this mat-
ter ; but he could not help thinking now, when his
thought was laid bare, that the aim of his energies
was itself unworthy. In reality, where lay this quar-
rel .'' He insisted on having every penny of his own,
— and he could not help insisting on it, because he was
ANNA KARENINA 113
obliged to use his energies to the utmost, otherwise he
would not have wherewithal to pay his laborers, — and
they insisted on working lazily and comfortably, in other
words, as they had always done.
It was for his interests that every laborer should do
his very best ; above all, should strive not to break the
winnowing-machines, the horse-rakes, the threshing-
machines, so that he might accomplish what he was
doing.
But the laborer wanted to do his work as easily
as possible, with long breathing-spaces, with plenty
of time for resting, and — what was more — without
being bothered to think.
This year Levin had this experience at every step.
He sent men to mow the clover-fields, selecting the
poorer portions to be done first, where the intermix-
ture of grass and wormwood made the crop unfit for
seed ; and they mowed his best fields, — those reserved
for seed, — justifying themselves by saying that they
had done what the overseer ordered, and trying to con-
sole him with the assurance that it would make splen-
did fodder. But he knew that they did this because
these fields were the easiest ones to mow.
He sent out the hay-making machine, but the muzhiks
broke it on the first few rows because the driver, sitting
on the box-seat, disliked having the arms of the machine
waving over his head ; and they tried to console him
by saying : —
" Oh, it 's all right ; the women will do the work
easy enough."
The new plows were condemned as good for nothing,
because the muzhik did not think to raise the blade
on turning a corner, but wrenched it round through
the soil, thus tearing up the land and straining the
horses. And here again they urged Levin to have
patience with them.
The horses strayed into the wheat, for the reason
that no one would act regularly as night watchman,
the muzhiks, in spite of strict orders to the contrary,
insisting on taking the duty in turns ; and Vanka, who
114 ANNA KARENINA
had been at work all day, fell asleep during his watch.
When accused, he acknowledged his fault and only
said : " Do what you please with me."
Three of the best calves were poisoned. They were
allowed to get into the clover aftermath without giving
them water ; the result was that they were blown out
and died. But the muzhiks would not believe that it
was the clover that did the harm; and they tried to
console Levin by informing him that one of his neigh-
bors had lost one hundred and twelve head within three
days in the same way.
All these mishaps took place, not because any one
wished ill either to Levin or to his estate ; on the con-
trary, he knew that the muzhiks loved him, and called him
" a simple-minded gentleman," — prostoi barin, — which
was the highest praise. But these mishaps happened
simply because the muzhiks liked to work merrily and
carelessly ; and his interests were not only strange and
incomprehensible to them, but even fatally clashed with
what they thought their own true interests.
For a long time Levin had felt that there was some-
thing unsatisfactory in his methods. He saw that his
canoe was leaking, but he could not find the leaks ;
and he did not search for them, perhaps on purpose
to deceive himself. Nothing would be left him if he
should allow his illusions to perish. But now he could
no longer deceive himself. Not only had his system
of management become uninteresting, but had begun
actually to disgust him, and he felt he could no longer
continue it.
Besides all this, Kitty Shcherbatsky was within thirty
versts of hira, and he wanted to see her, and could
not. .Miij.r: :■'
Darya Alek^androvna Oblonskaya, when he called on
her, invited him to come: — to come with the express
purpose of renewing his offer to her sister, who, as she
pretended to think, now cared for him. Levin himself,
after he caught the ghmpse of Kitty Shcherbatsky, felt
that he had not ceased to love her ; but he could not
go to the Oblonskys', because he knew that she was
ANNA KARENINA U5
there. The fact that he had offered himself, and she
had refused him, put an unsurmountable barrier between
them.
" I cannot ask her to be my wife simply because she
cannot be the wife of the man she wanted," he said to
himself.
The thought of this made him cold and hostile toward
her.
" I have not the strength to go and talk with her with-
out a sense of reproach, to look at her without angry
feelings ; and she would feel even more incensed against
me, and justly so. And besides, how can I go there
now, after what Dar)'^a Aleksandrovna told me ? How
can I help showing that I know what she told me ?
That I go with magnanimity, — to pardon her, to be
reconciled to her ! I, in her presence, play the ro/e of a
pardoning and honor-conferring lover to her! — Why
did Darya Aleksandrovna tell me that ? If I had met
her accidentally, then perhaps everything might have
been arranged of itself ; but now it is impossible, impos-
sible!"
Darya Aleksandrovna sent him a note, asking the
loan of a side-saddle for Kitty. "They tell me you
have a saddle," she wrote : " I hope that you will bring
it yourself."
This was too much for him. How could a sensible
woman of any delicacy so lower her sister ? He wrote
ten notes, and tore them all up, and then sent the saddle
without any reply. To write that he would come was
impossible, because he could not come : to write that he
could not come because he was busy, or was going away
somewhere, w-as still worse. So he sent the saddle with-
out any reply ; and, with the consciousness that he was
doing something disgraceful, on the next day, leaving
the now disagreeable charge of the estate to the overseer,
he set off to a distant district where there were magnificent
snipe-marshes to see his friend Sviazhsky, who had
lately invited him to fulfil an old project of making him
a visit. The snipe-marshes in the district of Surof had
long been an attraction to Levin, but on account of his
ii6 ANNA KARENINA
farm-work he had kept postponing his visit there. Now
he was glad to escape from the neighborhood of the
Shcherbatskys, and especially from his estate, and to go
on a hunting-expedition, which for all his tribulations was
a sovereign remedy.
CHAPTER XXV
In the district of Surof there were neither railways
nor post-roads ; and Levin took his own horses, and
went in a tarantas or traveling-carriage.
When he was halfway, he stopped to get a meal at
the house of a rich muzhik. The host, who was a bald,
robust old man, with a great red beard, growing gray on
the cheeks, opened the gate, crowding up against the
post to let the troika enter. Pointing the coachman to
a place under the shed in his large, neat, and orderly
new courtyard, with charred sokJias or wooden-plows,
the old man invited Levin to enter the room. A neatly
clad young girl, with galoshes on her bare feet, stooping
down, was washing up the floor in the new entry. When
she saw Levin's dog, she was startled, and screamed,
but immediately laughed at her own terror when she
found that the dog would not bite. With her bare arm
she pointed Levin to the living-room, then stooping
down again, she hid her handsome face, and continued
her scrubbing.
" Will you have the samovar .-• " she asked.
" Yes, please."
The living-room was large, with a Dutch stove and
a partition. Under the sacred images stood a table
ornamented with colored designs, a bench, and two
chairs. Near the doorway was a cupboard with dishes.
The window-shutters were closed ; there were few flies ;
and it was so neat that Levin took care that Laska, who
had been flying over the road, and was covered with
splashes of mud, should not soil the floor, and bade her
lie down in the corner near the door. After glancing
into the living-room. Levin went to the back of the house.
ANNA KARENINA E17
A good-looking girl in galoshes, swinging her empty
pails on the yoke, ran to get him water from the
well.
" Lively there," gayly shouted the old man to her ; and
then he turned to Levin. " So, sir, you are going to see
Nikolai Ivanovitch Sviazhsky.^* He often stops with
us," he began to say in his garrulous style, as he leaned
on the balustrade of the steps. But just as he was in
the midst of telling about his acquaintance with Sviazh-
sky, again the gate creaked on its hin^s, and the work-
men came in from the fields with their harrows and
wooden-plows. The horses attached to them were fat and
in good condition. The laborers evidently belonged to
the family : two were young fellows, and wore colored
cotton shirts, and caps. The other two were hired men,
and wore shabby shirts : one was an old man, the other
middle-aged.
The old peasant, starting down from the porch, went
to the horses and began to unharness them.
" Where have you been plowing .'' "
" In the potato-fields. We 've finished with one
You, Fyodot, don't bring the gelding, but leave him
at the trough; we'll harness another."
" Say, batyushka, shall I tell 'em to take out the plow-
shares, or to bring 'em? " asked a big-framed, healthy-
looking lad, evidently the old peasant's son.
" Put 'em in the drags," replied the old man, coiling
up the reins and throwing them on the ground. " Put
things in order ; then we '11 have dinner."
The handsome girl in galoshes came back to the house
with her brimming pails swinging from her shoulders.
Other women appeared from different quarters, — some
young and comely, others old and ugly, with children
and without children.
The samovar began to sing on the stove. The work-
men and the men of the household, having taken out
their horses, came in to dinner. Levin, sending for his
provisions from the tarantas, begged the old peasant
to take tea with him.
"Well, I have already drunk my tea," said the old
n8 ANNA KARENINA
peasant, evidently flattered by the invitation. " How-
ever, for company's sake...."
At tea Levin learned the whole history of the old
man's domestic economy. Ten years before, he had
rented of a lady one hundred and twenty desyatins, and
the year before had bought them ; and he had rented
three hundred more of a neighboring landowner. A
small portion of this land, and that the poorest, he
sublet ; but forty desyatins he himself worked, with the
help of his sons ftnd two hired men. The old peasant
complained that all was going bad ; but Levin saw that
he complained only for form's sake, and that his affairs
were flourishing. If they had been bad he would not
have bought land for five hundred rubles, or married
off his three sons and his nephew, or built twice after
his izba was burned, and each time better. Notwith-
standing the old peasant's complaints, it was evident
that he felt pride in his prosperity, pride in his sons,
in his nephew, his daughters, his horses, his cows, and
especially in the fact that he owned all this domain.
From his conversation with the old man. Levin learned
that he believed in modern improvements. He planted
many potatoes ; and his potatoes, which Levin saw in
the storehouse, he had already dug and brought in,
while on Levin's estate they had only begun to dig
them. He used the " ploog " on the potato-fields, as he
called the plow which he got from the proprietor. He
sowed wheat. The little detail that the old peasant
sowed rye, and fed his horses with it, especially struck
Levin. How many times Levin, seeing this beautiful
fodder going to waste on his own estate, had wished
to harvest it ; but he found it impossible to accomplish
it. The muzhik used it, and could not find sufficient
praise for it.
" How do the women do it ? "
** Oh I they pile it up on one side, and then the cart
comes for it."
" But with us proprietors everything goes wrong with
the hired men," said Levin, filUng his teacup and offer-
ing it to him.
ANNA KARENINA D19
"Thank you," replied the old man, taking the cup,
but refusing the sugar, pointing to the lumps which
lay in front of him.
" How can you get along with hired men ? " said he.
" It is ruinous. Here 's Sviazhsky, for example. We
know what splendid land.... but they don't get decent
crops, all from lack of care."
" Yes ; but how do you do with your workmen .-' "
" It 's all among ourselves. We watch everything.
Lazybones, off they go ! We work with our own
hands."
" Batyushka, Finogen wants you to give him the tar-
water," said the woman in galoshes, looking in through
the door.
" So it is, sir," said the old man, rising ; and, having
crossed himself many times before the ikons or sacred
pictures, he once more thanked Levin, and left the
room.
When Levin went into the dark izba to give orders
to his coachman, he found all the " men-folks " sitting
down to dinner. The peasant women were on their
feet helping. The healthy-looking young son, with his
mouth full of kas/ia-gruel, got off some joke, and all
broke into loud guffaws ; and more hilariously than
the others laughed the woman in galoshes, who was
pouring s/ic/ii, or cabbage soup, into a cup.
It well might be that the jolly face of the woman
in the galoshes cooperated powerfully with the whole
impression of orderliness which this peasant home pro-
duced on Levin ; but the impression was so strong that
Levin could never get rid of it ; and all the way from
the old man's to Sviazhsky's, again and again he
thought of what he had seen at the farm-house as
something deserving special attention.
I20 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XXVI
SviAZHSKY was predvodityel or marshal of the nobilit))
in his district. He was five years older than Levin, and
had been married some time. His sister-in-law was an
inmate of his family, and to Levin she was a very attrac-
tive young lady ; and Levin knew that Sviazhsky and
his wife would be very glad for him to marry her. He
knew this infallibly, as marriageable young men usually
know such things, and he knew also that though he
dreamed of marriage, and was sure that this fascinat-
ing young lady would make a charming wife, he would
sooner have been able to fly to heaven than to marry
her, even if he had not been in love with Kitty Shcher-
batsky. And this knowledge poisoned his pleasure in
his prospective visit.
On receiving Sviazhsky's letter, with its invitation to
go hunting, Levin had immediately thought about this ;
but in spite of it, decided that such views in regard to
him on the part of Sviazhsky were entirely gratuitous,
and he decided to accept the invitation. Moreover he
had in the depths of his soul a strong curiosity to see
this girl once more, and experiment on the effect that
she would produce on him.
Sviazhsky's domestic life was in the highest degree
pleasant, and Sviazhsky himself was the very best type
of the proprietor devoted to the affairs of the province,
and this fact always interested Levin.
He was one of those men that always excited Levin's
amazement, whose opinions, very logical, although never
self -formed, take one direction, while their lives, perfectly
defined and confident in their course, take another, abso-
lutely independent of each other and almost always in op-
position. Sviazhsky was a thorough-going liberal. He
despised the nobility, charged the majority of the nobles
with secretly, and from motives of cowardice, opposing
emancipation ; and he regarded Russia as a rotten coun-
try like Turkey, and its government so wretched that he
did not permit himself seriously to criticize its acts ; and
ANNA KARENINA 121
yet he had accepted public office, and attended faithfully
to his duties. He never even went out without donning
his official cap, with its red border and cockade. He
declared that human existence was endurable only
abroad, where he was going to Hve at the first oppor-
tunity ; but at the same time he carried on in Russia a
very complicated estate ^ in the most perfect style, and
was interested in all that was going on in Russia, and
was fully up with the times. The Russian muzhik, in
his eyes, stood between man and monkey ; but, when
the elections came, he gave his hand to the peasants by
preference, and listened to them with the utmost atten-
tion. He believed neither in God nor in the devil ; but
he showed great concern in the questions concerning
ameliorating the condition of the clergy, and the dimi-
nution of the revenues, and moreover he labored with
especial zeal to have his village church kept in repair.
In regard to the complete emancipation of woman and
especially her right to work, he sided with the most ex-
treme supporters of this doctrine, but he lived with his
wife in such perfect harmony that though they had no
children every one admired them, and he took entire
direction of the family affairs, so that his wife did noth-
ing, and could do nothing, except in cooperation with
him, in order to pass the time as agreeably as possible.
If Levin had not been naturally disposed to see the
best side of people the analysis of Sviazhsky's character
would have caused him no trouble or question; he would
have said to himself : " Fool or Good-for-nothing," and
that would have been the end of it. But he could not
say fool — dnrak — because Sviazhsky was undoubtedly
not only very clever, but also a very cultivated and an ex-
traordinarily simple-hearted man, entirely free from con-
ceit ; there was no subject which he did not know ; but
he displayed his knowledge only when it was needed.
Still less could he say that he was a good-for-nothing, be-
^ Khozyaistvo includes household economy, the outside interests, farm-
ing, mills, — everything connected with an estate. The master of an
estate is called khozyatn, the mistress khozyaika, — terms often used foi
host and hostess. '
latrr ANNA KARENINA
cause Sviazhsky was unquestionably an honorable, excel-
lent, sensible man, who was always doing his work
cheerfully and alertly, and had apparently never inten-
tionally done anything wrong or could do anything
wrong.
Levin tried to comprehend and could not understand
him and always looked at him and his life as a living
enigma.
He and Levin had been friends and therefore Levin
allowed himself to study Sviazhsky, and tried to trace
his view of life to the very source. But this was always
an idle task. Every time Levin made the effort to pene-
trate a little farther into the hidden chambers of Svia-
zhsky's mind he discovered that the man was somewhat
confused ; a sort of terror showed itself in his eyes, as
if he feared that Levin was going to entrap him ; and he
would give him a good-natured and jolly rebuff.
Now, after his disenchantment on the subject of
farm management. Levin was especially glad to be at
Sviazhsky's. To say nothing of the fact that he was
always pleasantly impressed by the sight of these doves
so contented with themselves and all they possessed,
and their comfortable nest, he had a great longing, now
that he was so dissatisfied with his own life, to discover
the secret of his having such clear, decided, and cheer-
ful views of life. Moreover, Levin knew that he should
meet at Sviazhsky's the proprietors of the neighborhood,
and he was especially desirous to talk with them, to
hear about their experiences in farm management, about
their crops, their ways of hiring service, and the like,
which, as Levin knew well, it was the fashion to regard
as very trifling topics of conversation, but which seemed
to him more important than anything else.
" Perhaps these things were not important during the
days of serfdom or in England. In both those cases
conditions are definitely fixed ; but with us at the pres-
ent time when everything has been overturned and the
new order is only just begun, the question how to regu-
late these conditions is the only important one in Rus-
sia." Such was Levin's conviction.
ANNA KARENINA 123
The hunting which Sviazhsky gave him was poorer
than Levin had expected : the marshes were dry, and the
woodcock scarce. Levin walked all day, and bagged
only three birds ; but in compensation he brought back
with him as always from hunting a ravenous appetite,
capital spirits, and that intellectual excitement which
violent physical exercise always gave him. Even while
he was out hunting, while, as it would seem, his thoughts
were not busy about anything, he kept remembering the
old man and his family, and the impression remained
with him that there was some peculiar tie between him-
self and that family.
In the evening, at the tea-table in the company of
two proprietors, who had come on some business with
the marshal, the interesting conversation that he had
looked forward to soon began. At the tea-table Levin
sat next the hostess and had to keep up a conversa-
tion with her and her sister who sat opposite him. His
hostess was a moon-faced lady of medium stature and
light complexion, all radiant with smiles and dimples.
Levin endeavored, through her, to unravel the enigma
which her husband's character offered him ; but he
could not get full control of his thoughts, because oppo-
site him sat the pretty sister-in-law in a gown worn,
as it seemed to him, for his especial benefit, with a
square corsage cut rather low in front, and giving a
glimpse of a very white bosom. This decollete gown, in
spite of the fact that the bosom was very white or per-
haps from the very reason that it was very white, stopped
the free flow of his thought. He could not help imagin-
ing, though of course erroneously, that this display was
made for his benefit, and yet he felt that he had no
right to look at it, and he tried not to look at it ; but he
was conscious of being to blame for her wearing such
a gown. It seemed to Levin that he was deceiving some
one, that he ought to make some kind of an explanation,
but that it was an utter impossibility to do it, and so he
kept blushing and felt ill at ease, and his constraint com-
municated itself to the pretty young lady. But the hostess
seemed not to notice it, and kept up a lively conversation.
114 ANNA KARENINA
" You say that my husband does not take an interest
in Russian affairs ? " she asked. " On the contrary, he
was happy when he was abroad, but not so happy as he
is here. Here he feels that he is in his sphere. He
has so much to do, and he has the faculty of interesting
himself in everything. Oh ! you have not been to see
our school, have you .-' "
" Yes, I have, — that little house covered with ivy.-*"
" Yes ; that is Nastia's work," said she, glancing at
her sister.
" Do you yourself teach ? " asked Levin, trying to
look at Nastia's face, but feeling that, in spite of him-
self, he would see the low corsage.
" Yes, I teach, and intend to keep on teaching ; but we
have an excellent schoolmistress. And we have gym-
nastics."
" No, thank you, I will not take any more tea," said
Levin. He felt that he was committing a solecism; but
he could not keep up the conversation, and he rose in
confusion. "I am very much interested in what they
are saying," he added, and went to the other end of
the table, where the host was talking with the two
landed proprietors. Sviazhsky was sitting with his side
toward the table, twirling his cup around with one hand,
and with the other stroking his long beard, lifting it up
to his nose and dropping it again as if he were smell-
ing of it. His bright black eyes were fixed with keen
amusement on one of the proprietors, a man with a
white mustache, who was complaining bitterly about
the peasantry. Levin saw that Sviazhsky had an an-
swer ready for the worthy gentleman's comical com-
plaints, and could reduce his arguments to powder if
his official position did not compel him to respect the
proprietor's.
The proprietor with the white mustache was evidently
a narrow-minded country gentleman, an inveterate op-
ponent of the emancipation, and an old-style farmer.
Levin could see the signs of it in his old-fashioned,
shiny coat, in his keen, angry eyes, in his well-balanced
Russian speech, in his authoritative, slow, and studied
ANNA KARENINA 125
manner, and his imperious gestures with his large,
handsome, sunburnt hands, on one of which for sole
ornament was an old-fashioned wedding-ring.
CHAPTER XXVII
" If it only were n't a pity to abandon what has been
done, — cost so much labor, — it would be better to give
up, sell out, go abroad, and hear * La Belle H^l^ne,' like
Nikolai' Ivanovitch," the old proprietor was saying, while
his intelligent face lighted up with a pleasant smile.
" There now ! but still you don't sell out," said Niko-
lai Ivanovitch Sviazhsky ; " so you must be well off, on
the whole."
" I am well off in one way, because I have a home of
my own, with board and lodging. Besides, one always
hopes that the peasantry will improve. But would you
believe it, — this drunkenness, this laziness ! Everything
goes to destruction. No horses, no cows. They starve
to death. But try to help them, — take them for farm-
hands : they manage to ruin you ; yes, even before a
justice of the peace ! " ^
" But you, too, can complain to the justice of the
peace," said Sviazhsky.
" What ! I complain ? Not for the world ! All such
talk shows that complaints are idle. Here, at the mill,
they took their handsel, and went off. What did the
justice of the peace do ? Acquitted them. Your only
chance is to go to the communal court, — to the starshina.
The starshina will have the man thrashed for you. He
settles things in the old-fashioned way. If it were not
for him you had better sell out, fly to the ends of the
world ! "
^ In the Russian w/r, or commune, the starshina, or elder, is the chief
elected every three years. Before the emancipation of the serfs, in l86i,
each commune had its volostndi sud, or district court, the decisions of
which were often very ridiculous. Among the reforms instituted by the
Emperor Alexander II. was the so-called mirovoismiya, justice or arbiter
of the peace, — more properly, judge of the peace, — an innovation which
at first caused much opposition among the peasantry. See Wallace's " Rus-
sia " and Leroy Beaulieu's " L'Empire dcs Tsars." — Ed.
126 ANNA KARENINA
The proprietor was evidently trying to tease Sviazhsky;
but Sviazhsky tiot only did not lose his temper, but was
much amused.
" Well, we carry on our estates without these meas-
ures," said he, smiling. " I and Levin and he."
He pointed to the other proprietor.
" Yes ; but ask Mikhail Petrovitch how his affairs are
getting along. Is that a rational way ? " ^ demanded the
proprietor, especially accenting the word " rational."
" My way is very simple," said Mikhafl Petrovitch,
" thank the Lord ! My whole business lies in seeing
that the money is ready for the autumn taxes. The
muzhiks come, and say, ' Batyushka, help us, father.'
Well, all these muzhiks are neighbors ; I pity 'em.
Well, I advance 'em the first third. Only I say, ' Re-
member, children, I help you ; and you must help me
when I need you, — sowing the oats, getting in the hay,
harvesting,' Now, I get along with them as with my
own family. To be sure, there are some among them
who have n't any conscience."
Levin, who knew of old about these patriarchal tra-
ditions, exchanged glances with Sviazhsky ; and, inter-
rupting Mikhail Petrovitch, he said, " How would you
advise .'' " addressing the old proprietor with the gray
mustache. " How do you think one's estate ought to be
managed .-' "
" Well, manage it just as Mikhafl Petrovitch does, —
either give half the land to the muzhiks, or go shares
with them. That is possible ; but, all the same, the
wealth of the country is growing less and less. Places
on my lands which in the time of serfage, under good
management, produced ninefold, now produce only three-
fold. Emancipation has ruined Russia,"
Sviazhsky looked at Levin with smiling eyes, and
even made a. scarcely noticeable gesture to express his
disdain, but Levin did not find the old proprietor's words
ridiculous ; he understood them better than he under-
stood Sviazhsky. Much that the old man said in his
complaint, that Russia was ruined by the emancipation,
' Ratsionalnoye khozydistvo.
ANNA KARENINA 127
seemed to him true ; for him it was novel and unanswer-
able. The proprietor evidently expressed his honest
thought, — a thought which arose, not from any desire
to show an idle wit, but from the conditions of his life,
which had been spent in the country, where he could
see the question practically from every side.
" The fact is, please to acknowledge," continued the
old proprietor, who evidently wished to show that he
was not an enemy of civilization, " all progress is accom-
plished by force alone. Take the reforms of Peter, of
Catherine, of Alexander ; take European history itself ;
still more so for progress in agriculture. The potato,
for instance, — to introduce potatoes into Russia required
force. We have not always plowed with iron plows ;
perhaps they have been introduced into our domains,
but it required force. Now, until recently, when we
had control over our serfs, we proprietors could conduct
our affairs with all sorts of improvements: drying-rooms
and winnowing-machines and dung-carts — all sorts of
tools — we could introduce, because we had the power ;
and the muzhiks at first would oppose, and then would
imitate us. But now, by the abrogation of serfage, they
have taken away our authority ; and so our estates,^
now that everything is reduced to the same level, must
necessarily sink back to the condition of primitive bar-
barism. This is my view of it."
"Yes, but why? If that were rational, then you
could keep on with your improvements by aid of hired
labor," said Sviazhsky.
" We have no power. How could I ? allow me to
ask."
" This — this is the working-force, the chief element
in the problem before us," thought Levin.
" With hired men."
" Hired men will not work well, or work with good
tools. Our laborers know how to do only one thing, —
to drink like pigs, and, when they are drunk, to ruin
everything you intrust them with. They water your
horses to death, destroy your best harnesses, take the
* Khozyatstvo.
128 ANNA KARENINA
tires off your wheels and sell them to get drink, and
stick bolts into your vvinnowing-machines so as to render
them useless. Everything that is not done in their
way is nauseous to them. And thus the affairs of our
estates go from bad to worse. The lands are neglected,
and go to weeds, or else are abandoned to the muzhiks.
Instead of producing millions of tchetverts ^ of wheat,
you can raise only a few hundred thousand. The pub-
lic wealth is diminishing. If they were going to free
the serfs, they should have done it gradually." ....
And he developed his own scheme of emancipation
whereby all these difficulties would have been avoided.
This plan did not interest Levin, but when the gen-
tleman had finished he returned to his first proposition,
with the hope of inducing Sviazhsky to tell what he
seriously thought about it. He said, addressing Svia-
zhsky : —
" It is very true that the level of our agriculture -is
growing lower and lower, and that in our present rela-
tions with the peasantry, it is impossible to carry on our
estates rationally," he said.
" I am not of that opinion," said Sviazhsky, seriously.
" I only see that we are not up to the point of manag-
ing our estates, and that on the contrary, since serfage
was abolished, agriculture has decayed ; I argue that
in those days it was very wretched, and very low. We
never had any machines, or good oxen or decent super-
vision. We did not even know how to make up our
accounts. Ask a proprietor : he could not tell you what
a thing cost, or what it would bring him."
" Italian book-keeping ! " said the old proprietor ironi-
cally. " Reckon all you please, and get things mixed as
much as you please, there will be no profit in it."
"Why get things mixed up.'* Your miserable flail,
your Russian topchachek, will break all to pieces ; my
steam-thresher will not break to pieces. Then your
wretched nags ; how are they .-" A puny breed that
you can pull by the tails, comes to nothing ; but our Per-
cherons are vigorous horses, they are worth something.
1 A tchetvert is 5. 775 English bushels.
ANNA KARENINA 129
And so with everything. Our agriculture always
needed to be helped forward."
" Yes ! but it would need some power, NikolaY Iva-
nuitch. Very well for you ; but when one has one son at
the university, and several others at school, as I have,
he can't afford to buy Percherons."
" There are banks on purpose."
" To have my last goods and chattels sold under the
hammer. No, thank you ! "
"I don't agree that it is necessary or possible to lift
the level of agriculture much higher," said Levin. " I
am much interested in this question ; and I have the
means, but I cannot do anything. And as for banks, I
don't know whom they profit. Up to the present time,
whatever I have spent on my estate, has resulted only
in loss. Cattle — loss; machines — loss."
" That is true," said the old proprietor with the gray
mustache, laughing with hearty satisfaction.
" And I am not the only man," continued Levin. " I
call to mind all those who have made experiments in the
'rational manner.' All, with few exceptions, have come
out of it with losses. Will you admit that your farming
is profitable.'' " he asked, and at that instant he detected
in Sviazhsky's face that transient expression of embar-
rassment which he noticed when he wanted to penetrate
farther into the inner chambers of Sviazhsky's mind.
However, the question was not entirely fair play on
Levin's part. His hostess had told him at tea that they
had just had a German expert up from Moscow, who,
for five hundred rubles' fee, agreed to put the book-
keeping of the estate in order ; and he found that there
had been a net loss of more than three thousand rubles.
She could not remember exactly how much, but the
German accountant had calculated it to within forty
kopeks.
The old proprietor smiled when he heard Levin's
question about the profits of Sviazhsky's management.
It was evident that he knew about the state of his
neighbors' finances.
" Maybe it is unprofitable," replied Sviazhsky. " This
VOL. II. — 9
l^o ANNA KARENINA
only proves that either I am a poor manager, or I sink
my capital to increase the revenue."
" Oh ! revenue ! " cried Levin, with horror. " Maybe
there is such a thing as revenue in Europe, where the
land is better for the labor spent on it ; but with us, the
more labor spent on it, the worse it is — that is because
it exhausts it — so there is no revenue."
" How, no revenue ? It is a law."
" Then we are no exceptions to the law. The word
renfa, revenue, has no clearness for us, and explains
nothing, but rather confuses. No ; tell me how the
doctrine of revenue can be ....
** Won't you have some curds ? — Masha, send us some
curds or some raspberries," said Sviazhsky to his wife.
'* Raspberries have lasted unusually late this year."
And, with his usual jovial disposition of soul, Svia-
zhsky got up and went out, evidently assuming that the
discussion was ended, while for Levin it seemed that it
had only just begun.
Levin was now left with the old proprietor, and con-
tinued to talk with him, endeavoring to prove to him
that all the trouble arose from the fact that we did not
try to understand our laborers' habits and peculiarities.
But 'the old proprietor, like all people accustomed to
think alone and for himself, found it difficult to enter
into the thought of another, and clung firmly to his own
opinions. He declared that the Russian muzhik was a
pig, and loved swinishness, and that it needed force or
else a stick to drive him out of his swinishness ; but we
are such liberals that we have suddenly swapped off the
thousand-year-old stick for these lawyers and jails, where
the good-for-nothing, stinking muzhik gets fed on good
soup, and has his pure air by the cubic foot.
'•Why," asked Levin, wishing to get back to the
question, " do you think that it is impossible to reach
an equilibrium which will utilize the forces of the laborer,
and render them productive .-' "
" That will never come about with the Russian peo-
ple ; there is no force," replied the proprietor.
'' Why could not new conditions be found ? " asked
ANNA KARENINA iji
Sviazhsky, who had been eating his curds, and smoking
a cigarette, and now approached the two disputants.
" All the needful forms are ready for use, and well
learned. That relic of barbarism, the primitive com-
mune where each member is responsible for all, is fall-
ing to pieces of its own weight ; the right of holding
serfs has been abolished ; now there remains only free
labor, and its forms are at hand, — the day-laborer, the
journeyman, the ordinary farmer, — and you can't get
rid of this."
" But Europe is discontented with these forms."
"Yes, and perhaps discontent will find new ones, and
will progress probably."
"This is all I say about that," said Levin. "Why
should we not seek for them on our side ? "
" Because it would be much the same as our pretend-
ing to invent new methods of constructing railways.
Our methods are all ready; all we have to do is to
apply them."
" But if they do not suit us ? if they are hurtful ? "
Levin insisted.
And again he saw the frightened look in Sviazhsky's
eyes.
" Well ! this : we throw up our caps, we follow wher-
ever Europe leads ! All this I know ; but tell me, are
you acquainted with all that is going on in Europe
about the organization of labor ? "
" No ; I know very little."
" This question is now occupying the best minds in
Europe. Schulze-Delitzsch ^ and his school .... then all
this prodigious literature on the labor question .... the
tendencies of Lassalle, the most radical of all of them ....
the Miilhausen organization .... this all is a fact, you
surely must know."
^ Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch, who founded the first People's Bank, and
in the German Parliament labored for constitutional reform, was born in
Prussian Saxony, August 29, 1808, died at Potsdam, April 29, 1883. At
the time of his death the United Bank Organization of which he was man-
ager had thirty-five hundred branches, with fifty million dollars' capital,
and about a hundred millions of deposits. He was an opponent of Las-
salle's socialism. — Ed.
132 ANNA KARENINA
" I have an idea of it, but it 's very vague."
" No, you only say so ; you know all this as well as I
do. I don't set up to be a professor of social science,
but these things interest me ; and I assure you, if they
interest you, you should go into them."
"But where do they lead you ? " ....
" Beg pardon." ....
The two proprietors got up ; and Sviazhsky, again
arresting Levin in his disagreeable habit of looking into
the inner chambers of his mind, went out to bid his
guests good-by.
CHAPTER XXVIII
Levin spent the evening with the ladies, and found it
unendurably stupid. His mind was stirred, as never
before, at the thought that the dissatisfaction he felt in
the administration of his estate was not peculiar to him-
self, but was a general condition into which affairs in
Russia had evolved, and that an organization of labor,
whereby the work would be carried on in such a manner
as he saw at the muzhik's on the highway, was not an
illusion, but a problem to be solved. And it seemed to
him that he could settle this problem, and that he must
attempt to do it.
Levin bade the ladies good-night, promising to go
with them the following morning for a ride to visit some
interesting spots in the Crown woods. Before going to
bed he went to the library, to get some of the books on
the labor question which Sviazhsky had recommended.
Sviazhsky's library was an enormous room, lined with
book-shelves, and having two tables, one a massive
writing-table, standing in the center of the room, and
the other a round one, laden with recent numbers of
journals and reviews, in different languages, arranged
about a lamp. Near the writing-table was a cabinet,
sto'ika, containing drawers inscribed with gilt lettering
for the reception of various documents.
ANNA KARENINA 133
Sviazhsky got the volumes, and sat down in a rocking-
chair.
" What is that you are looking at ? " he asked of
Levin, who was standing by the round table, and turn-
ing the leaves of a review.
Levin held up the review.
" Oh, yes ! that is a very interesting article indeed.
It argues," he continued with gay animation, "that the
principal culprit in the partition of Poland was not
Frederic after all. It appears .... " and he gave with
the clearness characteristic of him a digest of these
new and important discoveries. Although Levin was
now more interested in the question of farm manage-
ment than in anything, he asked himself, as he listened
to his friend : —
" What is he in reality .-' and why, why does the par-
tition of Poland interest him .-' "
When Sviazhsky had. finished, Levin could not help
saying : —
" Well, and what of it ? "
But he had nothing to say. It was interesting simply
from the fact that it "argued."
But Sviazhsky did not explain, and did not think it
necessary to explain, why it was interesting to him.
" Well, but the irascible old proprietor interested me
very much," said Levin, sighing. " He 's sensible, and
a good deal of what he says is true."
" Ah ! don't speak of it ! he is a confirmed slave'
holder at heart, like the rest of them,"
" With you at their head " ....
" Yes, only I am trying to lead them in the other
direction," replied Sviazhsky, laughing.
" His argument struck me very forcibly," said Levin.
" He is right when he says that our affairs, that is, the
' rational management,' ^ cannot succeed ; that the only
kind that can succeed is the money-lending system like
that of the other proprietor, or, in other words, the one
that is simplest Who is to blame for this ? "
" We ourselves, of course. But then it is not true
^ Ratsionalnoe khozyatstvo.
134 ANNA KARENINA
that it does not succeed. It succeeds with Vasiltchi*
kof."
"The mill.... "
" But still I don't know what surprises you about it.
The peasantry stand on such a low plane of develop-
ment, both materially and morally, that it is evident
they '11 oppose everything that is strange to them. In
Europe the ' rational management ' succeeds because
the people are civilized. In the first place, we must
civilize our peasantry, — that 's the point."
" But how will you civilize them .-' "
" To civilize the people, three things are necessary, —
schools, schools, and schools."
" But you yourself say that the peasantry stand on a
low plane of material development. What good will
schools do in that respect .'' "
" Do you know, you remind me of a story of the
advice given to a sick man : ' You had better try a
purgative.' He tried it ; he grew worse. ' Apply leeches.'
He applied them; he grew worse. 'Well, then, pray
to God.' He tried it ; he grew worse. So it is with
you. I say political economy ; you say you 're worse
for it. I suggest socialism ; worse still. Education ;
still worse."
" Yes. But how can schools help } "
" They will create other needs."
" But this is just the very thing I could never under-
stand," replied Levin, vehemently. " In what way will
schools help the peasantry to better their material con-
dition .'' You say that schools — education — will create
new needs. So much the worse, because they will not
have the ability to satisfy them ; and I could never see
how a knowledge of addition and subtraction and the
catechism could help them to better themselves materi-
ally. Day before yesterday I met a peasant woman
with a baby at the breast, and I asked her where she
was going. She said she had been 'to the babka's;^
the child had a crying fit, and I took him to be cured.'
^ Babka, a peasant grandmother, a popular name for the midwife. It
is the diminutive of baba, a peasant woman, especially a muzhik's wife.
ANNA KARENINA 135
I asked, ' How did the babka cure the crying fit ? ' ' She
set him on the hen-roost, and muttered something.' "
" Well there ! " cried Sviazhsky, laughing heartily.
"You yourself confess it. In order to teach them that
they can't cure children by setting them on hen-roosts,
you must .... "
" Ah no ! " interrupted Levin, with some vexation.
" Your remedy of schools for the people I only com-
pared to the babka's method of curing. The peasantry
are poor and uncivilized ; this we see as plainly as the
woman saw her child's distress because he was crying.
But that schools can raise them from their wretched-
ness is as inconceivable as the hen-roost cure for sick
children. You must first remedy the cause of the
poverty."
" Well ! In this at least you agree with Spencer,
whom you do not like. He says that civilization can
result from increased happiness and comfort in life,
from frequent ablutions, but not by learning to read
and cipher." ....
" There now ! I am very glad, or rather very sorry,
if I am in accord with Spencer. But this I have felt
for a long time : schools cannot help ; the only help can
come from some economical organization, whereby the
peasantry will be richer, will have more leisure. Then
schools also will come."
" Nevertheless, schools are obligatory now all over
Europe."
" But how would you harmonize this with Spencer's
ideas } " asked Levin.
But into Sviazhsky's eyes again came the troubled ex-
pression ; and he said with a smile : —
" No, this story of the crying fit was capital ! Is it
possible that you heard it yourself } "
Levin saw that there was no connection between this
man's life and his thoughts. Evidently it was perfectly
indifferent to him where his conclusions led him. Only
the process of reasoning was what appealed to him ;
and it was disagreeable to him When this process of
reasoning led him into some stupid, blind alley. This
136 ANNA KARENINA
was what he did not like, and he avoided it by leading
the conversation to some bright and agreeable topic.
All the impressions of this day, including those which
arose from his visit to the old muzhik, and which seemed
somehow to give a new basis to his thoughts, troubled
Levin profoundly. This genial Sviazhsky who kept his
thoughts for general use and evidently had entirely
different principles for the conduct of his life, keeping
them hidden from Levin, while at the same time he and
the majority of men — the throng whose name is legion
— seemed to be ruled by the general consensus of
opinions by means of ideas strange to him ; the testy
old proprietor, perfectly right in his judicious views of
life, but wrong in despising one entire class in Russia,
and that perhaps the best ; his own discontent with his
activity, and the confused hope of setting things right
at last, — all this excited and disturbed him.
Levin retired to his room, and lay down on his
springy mattress, which unexpectedly exposed his arms
and legs every time he moved ; but it was long before he
could get to sleep. His conversation with Sviazhsky,
though many good things were said, did not interest
him ; but the old proprietor's arguments haunted him.
He involuntarily remembered every word that he said,
and his imagination supplied the answer.
" Yes, I ought to have replied to him, ' You say that
our management is not succeeding because the muzhik
despises all improvements, and that force must be ap-
plied to them. But if our estates were not retrograding,
even where these improvements are not found, you
would be right ; but advance is made only where the
laborer works in conformity with his own customs, as at
the old man's by the roadside. Our general dissatisfac-
tion with our management proves that either we or the
laborers are at fault. We have long been losing, both
by our own methods and by European methods, by
neglecting the qualities of the laboring force. Let us
be willing to acknowledge that the laboring force is not
ideal as a force, but is the Russian muzhik with his in-
stincts, and we shall then be able to manage our estates
ANNA KARENINA 137
in conformity with this.' I should have said to him .
'Imagine that you were carrying on an estate like that
of my old man by the roadside, that you had found a
way of interesting your laborers in the success of their
work, and had found that by means of improvements
such as they would acknowledge to be improvements,
you had succeeded in doubling or trebling your returns
without exhausting the soil ; then suppose you make a
division and give a half to your working force. The
residue which you would have would be larger, and that
which would come to the working force would be larger.'
But to do this, there must be a coming down from any-
thing like ideal management and the laborers must be
interested in the success of the management. How can
it be done ? This is a question of details, but there is
no doubt that it is possible."
This idea kept Levin in a state of agitation. Half
the night he did not sleep, thinking of the details con-
nected with carrying out his new plans and schemes.
He had not intended to leave so soon, but now he
decided to go home on the morrow. Moreover, the
memory of the young lady with the open dress came
over him with a strange sense of shame and disgust.
But the main thing that decided him was his desire to
lay before his muzhiks his new project before the autumn
harvests, so that they might reap under the new condi
tions. He decided to reform his whole method of ad
ministration.
CHAPTER XXIX
The carrying out of Levin's plan offered many diffi-
culties ; but he persevered, and finally succeeded in
persuading himself without self-deception that the en-
terprise was worth the labor even though he should not
succeed in doing all that he wanted to do. One of the
principal obstacles which met him was the fact that his
estate was already in running order, and that it was im-
possible to come to a sudden stop and begin anew, but
that he had to remodel his machine while it was going.
138 ANNA KARENINA
When he reached home in the evening, he summoned
his overseer, and explained to him his plans. The over-
seer received with undisguised satisfaction all the details
of this scheme as far as they showed that all that had
been done hitherto was absurd and unproductive. The
overseer declared that he had long ago told him so, but
that no one would Hsten to him. But when it came to
Levin's proposition to share the profits of the estate
with the laborers, on the basis of an association, the
overseer put on an expression of the deepest melan-
choly, and immediately began to speak of the necessity
of bringing in the last sheaves of wheat, and commenc-
ing the second plowing ; and Levin felt that now was
not a propitious time.
On conversing with the muzhiks about his project of
dividing with them the products of the earth, he found
that here his chief difficulty lay in the fact that they
were too much occupied with their daily tasks to com-
prehend the advantages and disadvantages of his enter-
prise.
A simple-minded muzhik, Ivan the herdsman, seemed
to comprehend and to approve Levin's proposal to share
with him in the profits of the cattle ; but whenever Levin
went on to speak of the advantages that would result,
Ivan's face grew troubled, and, without waiting to hear
Levin out, he would hurry off to attend to some work
that could not be postponed, — either to pitch the hay
from the pens, or to draw water, or to clear away the
manure.
Another obstacle consisted in the inveterate distrust
of the peasants, who would not believe that a proprietor
could have any other aim than to get all he could out
of them. They were firmly convinced, in spite of all
he could say, that his real purpose was hidden. They,
on their side, in expressing their opinions had much
to say ; but they carefully guarded against telling what
their actual object was.
Levin came to the conclusion that the irate proprietor
was right in saying that the peasants demanded, as the
first and indispensable condition for any arrangement,
ANNA KARENINA 139
that they should never be bound to any of the new agri-
cultural methods, or to use the improved tools. They
agreed that the new-fashioned plow worked better, that
the weed-extirpator was more successful ; but they in-
vented a thousand reasons why they should not use
them ; and, although he had made up his mind that
there must be a coming down from anything like ideal
management, he felt deep regret to give up improve-
ments the advantages of which were so evident. But
in spite of all these difficulties, he persevered ; and by
autumn the new arrangement was in working order, or
at least seemed to be.
At first Levin intended to give up his whole domain ^
just as it was to the muzhiks — the laborers — and over-
seer on the new conditions of association. But very
soon he found that this was impracticable ; and he
made up his mind to divide the management of the
estate. The cattle, the garden, the kitchen-garden,
the hay-fields, and some lands fenced off into several
lots were to be reckoned as special and separate divis-
ions.
Ivan, the simple-minded herdsman, who seemed to
Levin better fitted than any one else, formed an artel,
or association, composed of members of his family, and
took charge of the cattle-yard. A distant field, which
for eight years had been lying fallow, was taken by the
shrewd carpenter Feodor Rezunof, who joined with him
seven families of muzhiks ; and the muzhik Shuraef en-
tered into the same arrangements for superintending the
gardens. All the rest was left as it had been ; but these
three divisions constituted the beginning of the new ar-
rangement, and they kept Levin very busy.
It was true that matters were not carried on in the
cattle-yard any better than before, and that Ivan was
obstinate in his opposition to giving the cows a warm
shelter, and to butter made of sweet cream, asserting
that cows kept in a cold place required less feed, and
that butter made of sour cream was made quicker ; and
he demanded his wages as before, and he was not at
^ Kkozyaistvo,
i4b ANNA KARENINA
all interested in the fact that the money that he re-
ceived was not his wages but his share of the profits
of the association.
It was true that Rezunof and his associates did not
give the field a second plowing, as they had been ad-
vised to do, and excused themselves on the ground that
they had no time. It was true that the muzhiks of this
company, although they had agreed to take this work
under the new conditions, called this land, not common
land, but shared land, and the muzhiks and Rezunof
himself said to Levin : " If you would take money for
the land it would be less bother to you and that would
let us out."
Moreover, these muzhiks kept putting off under vari-
ous pretexts the building of the cattle-yard and barn, and
did not get it done till winter, though they had agreed
to build it immediately.
It was true that Shuraef tried to exchange for a trifle
with the muzhiks the products of the gardens which he
had undertaken to manage. He evidently had a wrong
notion and a purposely wrong notion of the conditions
under which he had taken the land.
It was true that often in talking with the muzhiks
and explaining to them all the advantages of the under-
taking. Levin was conscious that all they heard was the
sound of his voice, that they were firmly convinced that
they were too shrewd to let him deceive them. He
was especially conscious of this when talking with the
cleverest of the muzhiks, Rezunof. He noticed in the
man's eye a gleam which betrayed evident scorn for
Levin and a firm conviction that if any one was to be
cheated it was not he — Rezunof.
But, in spite of all these drawbacks, Levin felt that
he was making progress, and that if he rigorously kept
his accounts and persevered he should be able to show
his associates at the end of the year that the new order
of things could bring excellent results.
All this -business, together with his work in connec-
tion with the rest of his estate, which still remained in
his own hands, and together with his work in the library
ANNA KARENINA 141
on his new book, so filled his time during the summer
that he scarcely ever went out, even to hunt.
Toward the end of August he learned through the
man that brought back the saddle that the Oblonskys
had returned to Moscow. By not having replied to
Darya Aleksandrovna's letter, by his rudeness which he
could not remember without a flush of shame, he felt
that he had burnt his ships and he never again could
go to them. In exactly the same way he owed apolo-
gies to Sviazhsky for having left his house without bid-
ding him good-by. Neither would he again dare to
go to Sviazhsky's. But now all this was a matter of
indifference to him. He was more interested and ab-
sorbed in his new scheme of managing his estate than
in anything that he had ever attempted.
He finished the books which Sviazhsky had lent him,
and others on political economy and socialism, which
he had sent for. In the books on political economy,
in Mill, for example, which he studied first with eager-
ness, hoping every minute to find a solution of the ques-
tions which occupied him, he found laws deduced from
the position of European husbandry ; but he could not
see how these laws could be profitably applied to Rus-
sian conditions. He found a similar lack in the books
of the socialist writers. Either they were beautiful but
impracticable fancies, such as he dreamed when he was
a student, or modifications of that situation of things
applicable to Europe, but offering no solution for the
agrarian question in Russia.
Political economy said that the laws by which the
wealth of Europe was developed and would develop
were universal and fixed ; socialistic teachings said that
progress according to these laws would lead to destruc-
tion ; but neither school gave him any answer or as
much as a hint on the means of leading him and all the
Russian muzhiks and agriculturists, with their millions
of hands and of desyatins, to more successful methods
of reaching prosperity.
As he was already involved in this enterprise, he con-
scientiously read through everything that bore on the
142 ANNA KARENINA
subject and decided in the autumn to go abroad and
study the matter on the spot, so that he might not
have with this question the experience that had so often
met him with various questions in the past. How
many times in a discussion he had just begun to under-
stand his opponent's thought and to expound his own,
when suddenly the question would be asked : " But
Kaufmann, Jones, Du Bois, Mitchell ? You have not
read them ? Read them, they have worked out this
question."
He saw clearly now that Kaufmann and Mitchell
could not tell him anything. He knew what he wanted.
He saw that Russia possessed an admirable soil and
admirable workmen, and that in certain cases, as with
the muzhik by the roadside, the land and the laborers
could produce abundantly, but that in the majority of
cases when capital was spent upon them in the Eu-
ropean manner, they produced little, and that this re-
sulted entirely from the fact that the laborers like to
work, and work well only in their own way, and that
this contrast was not the result of chance, but was per-
manent and based on the very nature of the people.
He thought that the Russian people, which was des-
tined to colonize and cultivate immense unoccupied
spaces, would consciously, until all these lands were
occupied, hold to these methods as necessary to them,
and that these methods were not so bad as they were
generally considered. And he wanted to demonstrate
this theoretically in his book, and practically on his
estate.
CHAPTER XXX
Toward the end of September the lumber was
brought for the construction of a barn on the artel
land, and the butter was sold, and showed a profit.
The new administration, on the whole, worked admi-
rably in practice, or at least it seemed so to Levin.
But in order to explain the whole subject into a clear
ANNA KARENINA 143
Jight theoretically, and to finish his treatise, which Levin
imagined was likely not only to revolutionize political
economy, but even to annihilate this science, and to
make the beginnings of a new one, treating of the
relations of the peasantry to the soil, he felt that it was
necessary to go abroad, and to learn, from observation
on the spot, all that was going on in that direction, and
to find conclusive proofs that all that was done there
was not the right thing.
He was only waiting for the delivery of the wheat to
get his money, and make the journey. But the autumn
rains set in, and portions of the wheat and potatoes
were not as yet garnered. All work was at a stand-
still, and it was impossible to deliver the wheat. The
roads were impracticable, tAVO mills were washed away
by the freshet, and the weather kept growing worse and
worse.
But on the morning of October 12 the sun came out;
and Levin, hoping for a change in the weather, began
resolutely to prepare for his journey. He sent the
overseer to the merchant to negotiate for the sale of
the wheat, and he himself went out for a tour of inspec-
tion of the estate, in order to make the last remaining
arrangements for his journey.
Having accomplished all that he wished, he returned
at nightfall, wet from the rivulets that trickled from his
waterproof down his neck and inside his high boots,
but in a happy and animated frame of mind. Toward
evening the storm increased ; the hail pelted so vio-
lently the drenched horse, that she shook her ears and
her head, and went sidewise ; but Levin, protected by
his bashluik, felt comfortable enough, and he cheer-
fully gazed around him, — now at the muddy streams
running down the wheel-tracks ; now at the raindrops
trickling down every bare twig ; now at the white spots
where the hail had not yet melted on the planks of the
bridge ; now at the dry but still pulpy leaf, clinging
with its stout stem to the denuded elm. In spite of
the gloomy aspect of nature, he felt in particularly
good spirits. His talks with the peasants in a distant
144 ANNA KARENINA
village convinced him that they were beginning to get
used to his new arrangements ; and an old dvornik,
at whose house he stopped to dry himself, evidently
approved of his plan, and wanted to join the association
for the purchase of cattle.
" What is required is to go straight to my goal, and
I shall succeed," thought Levin ; " but the labor and
the pains have an object. I am not working for my-
self alone, but the question concerns the good of all.
The whole way of managing our estates, the condition of
all the people, must be absolutely changed. Instead
of poverty, universal well-being, contentment ; instead
of enmity, agreement and union of interests ; in a word,
a bloodless revolution, but a mighty revolution^ begin-
ning in the little circuit of our district, then reaching the
province, Russia, the whole world ! The conception is
so just that it cannot help being fruitful. Yes, indeed,
this goal is worth working for. And there is abso-
lutely no significance in the fact that I, Kostia Levin,
my own self, a man who went to a ball in a black neck-
tie, and was rejected by a Shcherbatsky, am a stupid
and a good-for-nothing ; that is neither here nor there.
I believe that Franklin felt that he was just such
a good-for-nothing, and had just as little faith in him-
self, when he took everything into account. And, prob-
ably, he had his Agafya Mikhadovna also, to whom he
confided his secrets."
With such thoughts. Levin reached home in the dark.
The overseer, who had been to the merchant, came and
handed him a part of the money from the wheat. The
agreement with the dvornik was drawn up ; and then
the overseer told how he had seen wheat still standing
in the field by the road, while his one hundred and sixty
stacks, not yet brought in, were nothing in comparison
to what others had.
After supper Levin sat down in his chair, as usual,
with a book ; and as he read he began to think of his
projected journey, especially in connection with his
book. That evening the whole significance of his un-
dertaking presented itself to him with remarkable clear-
ANNA KARENINA 145
ness, and his ideas fell naturally into flowing periods,
which expressed the essence of his thought.
" I must write this down," he said to himself, " It
must go into a short introduction, though before I
thought that was unnecessary."
He got up to go to his writing-table ; and Laska, who
had been lying at his feet, also got up, and, stretching
herself, looked at him, as if asking where he was going.
But he had no time for writing ; for the various super-
intendents came for their orders, and he had to go to
meet them in the anteroom.
After giving them their orders, or rather, having
made arrangements for their morrow's work, and hav-
ing received all the muzhiks who came to consult with
him. Levin went back to his library, and sat down to
his work. Laska lay under the table ; Agafya Mikhaif-
lovna, with her knitting, took her usual place.
After writing some time. Levin suddenly arose, and
began to walk up and down the room. The memory
of Kitty and her refusal, and the recent glimpse of her,
came before his imagination with extraordinary vividness.
"Now, there's no need of your getting blue," said
Agafya Mikhailovna. " Now why do you stay at home ?
You had better go to the warm springs if your mind is
made up."
" I am going day after to-morrow, Agafya Mikhalf-
lovna ; but I had to finish up my business."
" Your business, indeed ! Have n't you given these
muzhiks enough already .-' And they say, ' Our barin
is trying to buy some favor from the Tsar ; ' and strange
it is : why do you bother yourself so about the muzhiks .■• "
" I am not bothering myself about them ; I am doing
it for my own good."
Agafya Mikhailovna knew all the details of Levin's
plans, for he had explained them to her, and he had
often had discussions with her and had not agreed with
her comments ; but now she entirely misapprehended
what he said to her.
" For your own soul it is certainly important ; to think
of that is above everything," said she, with a sigh.
VOL. II. — 10
i46 ANNA KARENINA
" Here is Parfen Denisuitch : although he could not
read, yet may God give us all to die as he did ! " said
she, referring to a household servant who had recently
died. "They confessed him and gave him extreme
unction."
" I did not mean that," said he ; "I mean that I am
working for my own profit. It will be more profitable
to me if the muzhiks will work better."
" There ! you will only have your labor for your pains.
The lazy will be lazy and always do things over his left
shoulder. Where he has a conscience, he '11 work ; if
not, nothing will be done."
"Well, well! But don't you yourself say that Ivan
is beginning to look out for the cows better .'' "
" I say this one thing," replied Agafya Mikhail ovna,
evidently not at random but with a keen logical connec-
tion of thought : " You must get married, that 's what."
Agafya MikhaVlovna's observation about the very
matter that preoccupied him angered him and insulted
him. He frowned, and, without replying, sat down to
his work again, repeating to himself all that he had
thought about the importance of his work. Occasion-
ally amid the silence he noticed the clicking of Agafya
MikhaTlovna's needles; and, remembering what he did
not wish to remember, he would frown.
At nine o'clock the sound of bells was heard, and the
heavy rumbling of a carriage on the muddy road.
" There ! here 's some visitors coming to see you :
you won't be bored any more," said Agafya Mikhai'-
lovna, rising, and going to the door. But Levin stepped
ahead of her. His work did not progress now, and he
was glad to see any guest.
CHAPTER XXXI
Before Levin got halfway down-stairs he heard in
the vestibule the sound of a familiar cough ; but the
sound was covered by the noise of his own footsteps,
and he hoped that he was mistaken. Then he saw the
ANNA KARENINA 147
tall bony figure which he knew so well. But even now,
when there seemed to be no possibility of deception, he
still hoped that he was mistaken, and that this tall man
who was divesting himself of his shuba, and coughing,
was not his brother Nikolai'.
Levin loved his brother, but it was always extremely
disagreeable to live with him. Now especially, when
Levin was under the influence of the thoughts and
suggestions awakened by Agafya MikhaYlovna, and
was in a dull and melancholy humor, the presence of
his brother was indeed an affliction. Instead of a gay,
healthy visitor, — some stranger, who, he hoped, would
drive away his perplexities, — he was obliged to receive
his brother, who knew him through and through, who
could read his most secret thoughts, and who would
oblige him to share them with him. And this he did
not like to do.
Angry with himself for his unworthy sentiments,
Levin ran down into the vestibule ; and, as soon as he
saw his brother close at hand, the feeling of personal
discomfort instantly disappeared, and was succeeded by
a feeling of pity. Terrible as his brother Nikolaif had
been when he saw him before by reason of his emacia-
tion and illness, he was now still more emaciated, still
more feeble. He was like a skeleton covered with skin.
He was standing in the vestibule stretching out his
long, thin neck and unwinding a scarf from it ; and he
smiled with a strange melancholy smile. When Levin
saw his brother's humble and pitiful smile, he felt a
choking sensation.
"Well! I have come to you," said Nikolai', in a thick
voice, and not for a second taking his eyes from his
brother's face, " I have been wanting to come for a long
time ; yes, I have, but I have been so ill. Now I am
very much better," he added, rubbing his beard with his
great bony hand.
" Yes, yes," replied Levin ; and it was still more ter-
rible to him when, as he touched his brother's shriveled
cheeks with his lips, he felt his fever flush, and saw the
gleam of his great, strangely brilliant eyes.
148 ANNA KARENINA
Some time before this, Konstantin Levin had written
his brother that, having disposed of the small portion
of their common inheritance, consisting of personal
property, a sum of two thousand rubles was due as his
share.
Nikolaf said that he had come to get this money, and
especially to see the old nest ; to put his foot on the
natal soil, so as to get renewed strength, like the heroes
of ancient times. Notwithstanding his tall stooping
form, notwithstanding his frightful emaciation, his move-
ments were, as they had always been, quick and impetu-
ous. Levin took him to his room.
Nikolaif changed his dress, and took great pains with
his toilet, which in former times he neglected. He
brushed his thin shaven hair, and went up-stairs smiling.
He was in the gayest and happiest humor, just as
Konstantin had seen him when he was a child. He
even spoke of Sergyei' Ivanovitch without bitterness.
When he saw Agafya Mikhailovna, he jested with her,
and questioned her about the old servants. The news
of the death of Parfen Denisuitch made a deep impres-
sion on him. A look of fear crossed his face, but he
instantly recovered himself.
" He was very old, was he not ? " he asked, and
quickly changed the conversation. " Yes, I am going
to stay a month or two with you, and then go back to
Moscow. You see, Miagkof has promised me a place,
and I shall enter the service. Now I have turned over
a new leaf entirely," he added. " You see, I have sent
away that woman."
" Marya Nikolayevna ? How ? What for ? "
" Ah ! she was a wretched woman ! She caused a
heap of tribulations."
But he did not tell what the tribulations were. He
could not confess that he had sent Marya Nikolayevna
away because she made his tea too weak, still less be-
cause she insisted on treating him as an invalid.
" Then, besides, I wanted to begin an entirely new
kind of life. Of course, I, like everybody else, have
committed follies ; but the present, — I mean the last
ANNA KARENINA 149
one, — I don't regret it, provided only I get better ; and
better, thank the Lord ! I feel already."
Levin listened, and tried, but tried in vain, to find
something to say. Apparently Nikolai' had somewhat
the same feeling ; he began to ask him about his affairs ;
and Konstantin was glad to speak about himself because
he could speak without any pretense. He frankly re-
lated his plans and his experiments.
Nikolaf listened, but did not show the least interest.
These two men were so related to each other, and
there was such a bond between them, that the slightest
motion, the sound of their voices, spoke more clearly
than all the words that they could say to each other.
At this moment both were thinking the same thought,
— Nikolai's illness and approaching death — dwarfiog
everything else into insignificance. Neither of them
dared make the least allusion to it, and therefore all that
either of them said failed to express what really occu-
pied their minds — and was therefore false. Never
before had Levin been so glad for an evening to end,
for bedtime to come. Never, even when obliged to pay
casual or official visits, had he felt so false and unnatu-
ral as that evening. And the consciousness of this un-
naturalness, and his regret, made him more unnatural
still. His heart was breaking to see his beloved dying
brother ; but he was obliged to dissemble, and to talk
about various things as if his brother was going to
live.
As at this time the house was damp and only his own
room was warm, Levin offered to share it, with a parti-
rion between them, with his brother.
Nikolai' went to bed, and slept the uneasy sleep of an
invalid, turning restlessly from side to side, and con-
stantly coughing. Sometimes when he could not raise
the phlegm, he would cry out, " Akh ! Bozhe mo'f ! "
Sometimes, when the dampness choked him, he would
grow angry, and cry out, " Ah, the devil ! "
Levin could not sleep as he listened to him. His
thoughts were varied, but they always returned to one
theme, — death.
150 ANNA KARENINA
Death, the inevitable end of all, for the first time
appeared to him with irresistible force. And death was
here, with this beloved brother, who groaned in his
sleep, and called now upon God, now upon the devil.
It was with him also : this he felt. If not to-day, then
to-morrow ; if not to-morrow, then in thirty years ; was
it not all the same ? And what this inevitable death
was, — not only did he not know, not only had he never
before thought about it, but he had not wished, had not
dared, to think about it.
" Here I am working, wanting to accomplish some-
thing, but I forgot that all must come to an end, —
death."
He was lying in bed in the darkness, curled up,
holding his knees, scarcely able to breathe, so great was
the tension of his mind. The more he thought, the
more clearly he saw that from his conception of life he
had omitted nothing except this one Httle factor, death,
which would come and end all, and that there was no
help against it — not the least. Yes, this is terrible,
but so it is !
" Yes, but I am still alive. Now, what can be done
about it .'* what can be done ? " he asked in despair.
He lighted a candle, and softly arose, and went to the
mirror, and began to look at his face and his hair.
Yes ! on the temples a few gray hairs were to be
seen. He opened his mouth. His back teeth showed
signs of decay. He doubled up his muscular arms.
" Yes, there 's much strength. But this poor Niko-
lenka, who is breathing so painfully with the little that
is left of his lungs, also had at one time a healthy body."
And suddenly he remembered how when they were
children, and were put to bed, they would wait until
Feodor Bogdanuitch got out of the door, and then begin
a pillow fight, and laugh, laugh so unrestrainedly, that
not even the fear of Feodor Bogdanuitch could quench
this exuberant and intoxicating sense of the gayety of
life. " But now there he lies in bed with his poor
hollow chest — and I — ignorant why, and what will
become of me." ....
ANNA KARENINA 151
" Kah ! kah ! ah ! what the devil are you doing ?
Why don't you go to sleep ? " demanded his brother's
voice.
" I don't know ; insomnia, I guess."
*' But I have been sleeping beautifully. I have not
had any sweat at all. Just feel — no sweat."
Levin felt of him, then he got into bed again, put out
the candle, but it was long before he went to sleep.
Still in his mind arose this new question, how to live
so as to be ready for the inevitable death .-"
" There ! he is dying ! Yes ! he will die in the
spring. How can I aid him .'' What can I say to him ?
What do I know about it.'' I had even forgotten that
there was such a thing."
Levin had long before made the observation that
often people who surprise you by an abrupt transition
grow unendurable by reason of their gentleness and
excessive humility, unreasonableness, and peremptory
ways. He foresaw that this would be the case with
his brother ; and, in fact, Nikolai's sweet temper was
not of long duration. On the very next morning he
awoke in an extremely irritable temper, and immediately
began to pick a quarrel with his brother by touching
him on the most tender points.
Levin felt himself to blame, but he could not be
frank. He felt that if they had not both dissimulated
their thoughts, but had spoken from their very hearts,
they would have looked into each other's eyes, and he
would have said only this : *' You are going to die, you
are going to die ; " and Nikolai' would have answered
only this : " I know that I am dying, and I am afraid,
afraid, afraid."
And they would have said nothing more if they had
spoken honestly from their hearts. But as this sincerity
was not possible, Konstantin tried to do what all his
life long he had never succeeded in doing, though he
had observed that many persons could do it and that
without doing it life was almost impossible, — he tried
to talk about something that was not in his mind, and
he felt that his brother divined his insincerity, and was
152 ANNA KARENINA
therefore irritated and angry, and found fault with all
that he said.
On the third day NikolaT began to discuss the ques-
tion of his brother's reforms, and to criticize them, and
in a spirit of contrariety to confound his scheme with
communism.
" You have only taken your idea from some one else ;
and you distort it, and want to apply it to what is not
suited to receive it."
" Yes, but I tell you that the two have nothing in
common. I have no thought of copying communism,
which denies the right of property, of capital, of inheri-
tance ; but I do not disregard these stim7ili." It went
against Levin's grain to use these terms, but since he
had begun his treatise he found himself, in spite of him,
compelled to use non- Russian words. " All I want is
to regulate labor."
" In other words, you borrow a foreign idea ; you
take away from it all that gives it force, and you pre-
tend to make it pass as new," said Nikolaf, angrily
craning his neck in his cravat.
"Yes, but my idea has not the slightest resem-
blance*.... "
" This idea," interrupted NikolaY, smiling ironically,
and with an angry light in his eyes, — " communism, —
has at least one attractive feature, — and you might
call it a geometrical one — it has clearness and logical
certainty. Maybe it is Utopia. But let us agree that
it can make a tabula rasa of the past, so that there
shall be no property of family, but only freedom of
labor. But you don't accept this .... "
" But why do you confound them ? I never was a
communist."
" But I have been ; and I believe that if communism
is premature, it is, at least, reasonable ; and it is as sure
to succeed as Christianity was in the early centuries."
" And I believe that labor must be regarded from the
scientific standpoint ; in other words, it must be studied.
Its constitution must be known and ...."
" Now, that is absolutely idle. This force goes of it-
ANNA KARENINA 153
self, and takes different forms, according to the degrees
of its development. Everywhere this order has been
followed, — slaves, then metayers, free labor, and, here
in Russia, we have the farm, the arend or leasehold, our
system of apprenticeship. What more do you want .-^ "
Levin took fire at these last words, the more because
he feared in his secret soul that his brother was right in
blaming him for wanting to discover a balance between
communism and the existing forms, — a thing which was
scarcely possible.
" I am trying to find a form of labor which will be
profitable for all, — for me and the laborer," he replied
warmly.
" That is not what you wish to do ; it is simply this :
you have, all your Hfe long, sought to be original ; and
you want to prove that you are not exploiting the muzhik,
but are working for a principle."
"Well, since you think so let's end it," replied Kon-
stantin, feeling the muscles of his right cheek twitch in-
voluntarily.
" You never had, and you never will have, any convic-
tions, and you only wanted to flatter your conceit."
"That is very well to say .... but let's end the mat-
ter."
" Certainly I will. It was time long ago. You go to
the devil ! and I am very sorry that I came."
Levin tried in vain to calm him. Nikolaf would not
listen to a word, and persisted in saying that they had
better separate ; and Konstantin saw that it was not pos-
sible to live with him.
Nikolai had already made his preparations to depart,
when Konstantin came to him, and begged him, in a way
that was not entirely natural, for forgiveness, if he had
offended him.
" Ah, now ! here 's magnanimity," said Nikolaif, smil-
ing. " If you are very anxious to be in the right, then
let us agree that this is sensible. You are right, but I
am going all the same."
At the last moment, however, as Nikolai kissed his
brother, a strange look of seriousness came on him.
154 ANNA KARENINA
" Kostia," he said, " don't harbor any animosity against
me." And his voice trembled.
These were the only words which were spoken sin-
cerely. Levin understood that they meant : " You see
and know that I am miserable, and we may not meet
again."
Levin understood this, and the tears came into his
eyes. Once more he kissed his brother, but he could
not find anything to say.
On the third day after his brother's departure. Levin
went abroad. At the railway station he met Shcher-
batsky, Kitty's cousin, and astonished him greatly by
his melancholy.
"What is the matter .•*" asked Shcherbatsky.
"Well, nothing, except that there is little happiness
in this world."
" Little happiness ? Just come with me to Paris in-
stead of going to some place like Mulhouse. I '11 show
you how gay it is."
" No, I am done for. I am ready to die."
** What a joke ! " said Shcherbatsky, laughing. " I
am just learning how to begin."
" I felt the same a little while ago, but now I know
that my life will be short."
Levin said what he honestly felt at this time. All
that he saw before him was death or its approach. But
still he was just as much interested as ever in his proj-
ects of reform. It was necessary to keep his life occu-.
pied till death should come. Darkness seemed to cover
everything ; but by reason of this darkness he felt that
the only guiding thread through its labyrinth was to oc-
cupy himself with his labors of reform, and he clung
:o them with all the force of his character.
PART FOURTH
CHAPTER I
KAREN IN and his wife continued to live in the
same house, and to meet every day, and yet they
remained entire strangers to each other. AlekseY Alek-
sandrovitch made a point every day to be seen with his
wife so that the servants might not have the right to
gossip, but he avoided dining at home. Vronsky was
never seen there ; Anna met him outside, and her hus-
band knew it.
All three suffered from a situation which would haVe
been intolerable for a single day had not each believed
it to be transitory. Aleksel Aleksandrovitch expected
to see this passion, like everything else in the world,
come to an end and thus his name would not be dis-
honored. Anna, the cause of all the trouble, and the
one on whom the consequences weighed the most cruelly,
accepted her position simply and solely because she ex-
pected— nay, was firmly convinced — that the matter
would soon be explained and settled. She had not the
least idea how it would come about, but she was certain
that it would now come about very speedily.
Vronsky in spite of himself, submitting to her views,
was also awaiting something to happen independent of
himself, which should resolve all their difficulty.
Toward the middle of the winter Vronsky had to
spend a very tiresome week. He was delegated to show
a foreign prince about Petersburg. Vronsky himself
was a representative Russian. Not only was he irre-
proachable in his bearing but he was accustomed to the
society of such exalted personages ; therefore he was
given the charge of the prince. But this responsibility
was very distasteful to him. The prince did not want to
155
156 ANNA KARENINA
let anything pass concerning which he might be asked
on his return, "Did you see that in Russia?" And
moreover he wanted to enjoy as far as possible all the
pleasures peculiar to the covmtry. Vronsky was obliged
to be his guide in the one and in the other. In the morn-
ing they went out to see the sights ; in the evening they
took part in the national amusements.
This prince enjoyed exceptionally good health, even
for a prince ; and, owing to his gymnastic exercises and
the scrupulous care he took of himself, notwithstanding
the excesses to which he let his love for pleasure carry
him, he remained as fresh as a great, green, shiny
Dutch cucumber.
He had been a great traveler, and had found that
one of the great advantages of easy modern communi-
cation consisted in the fact that it brought national
amusements into easy reach. In Spain he had given
serenades, and fallen in love with a Spanish girl who
played the mandolin; in Switzerland he had killed a
chamois ; in England leaped ditches in a red shooting-
jacket, and shot two hundred pheasants on a wager; in
Turkey he had penetrated a harem ; in India he had
ridden the elephant ; and now he wanted to taste the
special pleasures that Russia afforded.
Vronsky, as master of ceremonies, arranged, with no
little difficulty, a program of amusements truly Russian
in character. There were races and blinui, or carnival
cakes, and bear-hunts and troika parties and gipsies,
and feasts set forth with Russian dishes, and the prince
with extraordinary aptitude entered into the spirit of
these Russian sports, broke his waiter of glasses with
the rest, took a gipsy girl on his knee, and apparently
asked himself if the whole Russian spirit consisted only
in this, without going further.
In reality, the prince took more delight in French
actresses, ballet-dancers, and white-seal champagne, than
in all the other pleasures which the Russians could offer
him.
Vronsky was accustomed to princes, but either be-
cause he had changed of late, or else because he had
ANNA KARENINA 157
too close a view of this particular prince, this week
seemed terribly burdensome to him. During the whole
week, without cessation, he experienced a feeling like
that of a man placed in charge of a dangerous lunatic,
who dreaded his patient, and, at the same timej from
very force of proximity, feared for his own reason.
Vronsky was constantly under the necessity of keeping
up the strictest barriers of official reserve in order not to
feel insulted. The prince's behavior toward the very per-
sons who, to Vronsky's amazement, were ready to crawl
out of their skin to give him experiences of Russian
amusements, was scornful. His criticism on the Russian
women whom he wanted to study more than once made
Vronsky grow red with indignation. What irritated
Vronsky most violently about this prince was that he
could not help seeing himself in him. And what he
saw in this mirror was not flattering to his vanity. What
he saw there was a very stupid, and a very self-confi-
dent, and very healthy, and very fastidious man, and
that was all. He was a getitlemati} and Vronsky could
not deny the fact. He was smooth and frank with his
superiors, free and easy with his equals, coolly kind
toward his inferiors. Vronsky himself was exactly the
same, and was proud of it ; but in his relations to the
prince he was the inferior, and this scornfully good-
natured treatment of himself nettled him.
" Stupid ox ! Is it possible that I am like him } " he
thought.
However this may have been, at the end of the week,
when he took leave of the prince, who was on his way
to Moscow, he was delighted to be delivered from this
inconvenient situation and this disagreeable mirror.
They went directly to the station from a bear-hunt,
which had occupied all the night with brilliant exhibi-
tions of Russian daring.
* Buil dzheniPmen,
158 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER II
On his return home, Vronsky found a note from
Anna. She wrote : —
I am ill and unhappy ; I cannot go out, and I cannot live
longer without seeing you. Come this evening. Aleksei Alek-
sandrovitch will be at the council from seven o'clock till ten.
This invitation, given in spite of her husband's formal
prohibition, seemed strange to him ; but he finally de-
cided to go to Anna's.
Since the beginning of the winter, Vronsky had been
promoted as colonel ; he had left the regiment and was
living alone. After having finished his breakfast, he
stretched himself out on the divan, and in five minutes
the recollection of the wild scenes of the preceding days
became curiously mingled in his mind with Anna and a
peasant whipper-in, who had performed an important
part in the bear-hunt; finally he fell asleep. He awoke;
night had come. Shivering with apprehension, he has-
tily lighted a candle. " What has happened to me .-'
What terrible dream have I had ? " he asked himself.
" Yes, yes, the peasant, a dirty little man, with a dis-
heveled beard, bent something or other up double, and
pronounced some strange words in French. I did n't
dream anything else ; why am I so terrified ? "
But, in recalHng the peasant and his incomprehensi-
ble French words, a sense of something horrible sent
a cold shiver down his back.
"What notisense ! " he thought as he looked at his
watch. It was already half-past eight ; he called his
man, dlressed quickly, went out, and, entirely forgetting
his dream, thought only of being late.
As he approached the Karenins' house, he again
looked at his watch, and saw that it lacked ten minutes
of nine. A high, narrow carriage, drawn by two gray
horses, stood in front of the door ; he recognized Anna's
carriage.
"She was coming to my house," he said to himself;
ANNA KARENINA 159
" and it would be better. It is disagreeable for me to go
into this hovise, but it makes no difference to me, I can-
not conceal myself;" and, with the manner of a man
accustomed from childhood to act above board, he left
his sleigh, and mounted the steps. The door opened,
and the Swiss, carrying a plaid, motioned to the carriage
to draw near. Vronsky, who was not accustomed to
observe details, was struck by the look of astonishment
which the Swiss gave him. At the door Vronsky came
near running into AlekseV Aleksandrovitch. A gaslight
placed at the entrance of the vestibule threw full light
on his pale, worn face. He wore a black hat, and a
white cravat showing under a fur collar. Karenin's
gloomy, dull eyes fixed themselves on Vronsky, who
bowed. Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch, drawing his lips to-
gether, raised his hand to his hat, and passed. Vronsky
saw him get into his carriage without turning round,
take his plaid and opera-glass, which the Swiss servant
handed through the door, and disappear.
Vronsky went into the anteroom. His brows were
contracted, and his eyes flashed with anger and out-
raged pride.
" What a situation ! " thought Vronsky. " If he would
fight to defend his honor, I should know what to do to
express my sentiments ; but this weakness or cowar-
dice.... He places me in the position of a deceiver,
which I never was and never will be."
Since the explanation that he had had with Anna in
the Vrede garden, Vronsky's idea had greatly changed.
Involuntarily overcome by Anna's weakness, — for she
had given herself to him without reserve and expected
from him only the decision as to her future fate, —
Vronsky had long ceased to think that this liaison
might end as he had supposed it would. His ambitious
plans had again been relegated to the background,
and he, feeling that he had definitely left that circle
of activity where everything was determined, gave him-
self up entirely to his feeling, and this feehng drew
him more and more vigorously toward her.
Even in the reception-room, he heard her footsteps
i6o ANNA KARENINA
drawing near. He knew that she was waiting for him
and had just entered the drawing-room near by, to watch
for him.
" No," she cried, seeing him enter, " things cannot
go on in this way ! " And at the sound of her own
voice, her eyes filled with tears. " If this is going on this
way, it would be far better if it had ended long ago ! "
" What is the matter, my friend .-' "
" The matter ! I have been waiting in torture for
two hours ; but no, I do not want to quarrel with you
Of course you could not come. No, I will not scold
you any more."
She put her two hands on his shoulders, and looked
at him long, with her eyes deep and tender, although
searching. She studied his face for all the time that
she had not seen him. As always happened every time
they met, she tried to compare her imaginary present-
ment of him — it was incomparably better because it
was impossible in reality — with him as he really was.
CHAPTER HI
" Did you meet him ? " she asked, when they were
seated under the lamp by the drawing-room table.
" That is your punishment for coming so late."
" Yes ; how did it happen .-' Should he not have
been at the council ? "
"He went there, but he came back again, and now
he has gone off somewhere again. But that is no mat-
ter ; let us talk no more about it ; where have you
been ? All this time with the prince ? "
She knew the most minute details of his life.
He wanted to reply that as he had no rest the night
before, he allowed himself to oversleep ; but the sight
of her happy, excited face, made this acknowledgment
difficult, and he excused himself on the plea of hav-
ing been obliged to go and present his report about the
prince's departure.
" It is over now, is it? Has he gone ? "
ANNA KARENINA i6i
" Yes, thank the Lord, it is all done with ! You have
no idea how intolerable this week has seemed to me."
" Why so ? Here you have not been leading the life
customary to young men," she said, frowning, and, with-
out looking at Vronsky, she took up some crocheting
that was lying on the table and pulled out the needle.
" I renounced that Hfe long ago," he repUed, wonder-
ing at the sudden change in her beautiful face, and try-
ing to discover what it portended. " I assure you," he
added, smiling, and showing his white teeth, " that it was
overpoweringly unpleasant to me to look at that old life
again, as it were, in a mirror."
She kept her crocheting in her hand, though she did
not work, but looked at him with strange, brilliant, not
quite friendly eyes.
" Liza came to see me this morning — they are not
yet afraid to come to my house, in spite of the Coun-
tess Lidya Ivanovna " — and here she stood up — " and
told me about your Athenian nights. What an abomi-
nation ! "
" I only wanted to tell you that.... "
She interrupted him : —
" That it was Ther^se whom you used to know ? "
" I was going to say .... "
" How odious you men are ! How can you suppose
that a woman forgets .■* " said she, growing more and
more animated, and then disclosing the cause of her
irritation, — " and above all a woman who can know
nothing of your life .-* What do I know ? What can
I know .'* " she kept repeating. " What can I know
except what you wish to tell me ? And how can I
know whether it is the truth ? " ....
" Anna, you insult me ! have you no longer any faith
in me } Have I not told you that I have no thoughts
which I would conceal from you ? "
" Yes, yes," she said, trying to drive away her jealous
fears ; " but if you only knew how I suffer ! I believe
in you, I do believe in you But what did you want to
say to me ? "
But he could not instantly remember what he wanted
VOL. II. — II
i62 ANNA KARENINA
to say. Anna's fits of jealousy were becoming more
and more frequent, and, however much he tried to con-
ceal it, these scenes made him grow cool toward her,
although he knew that the cause of the jealousy was
her very love for him. How many times had he not
said to himself that happiness existed for him only in
this love ; and now that she loved him as only a woman
can love for whom love outweighs all other treasures in
life, happiness seemed farther off than when he had fol-
lowed her from Moscow. Then he considered himself
unhappy, but happiness was in sight ; now he felt that
their highest happiness was in the past. She was en-
tirely different from what she had been when he first
saw her. Both morally and physically she had changed
for the worse. The beauty of her form was gone, and
when she spoke about the French actress a wicked ex-
pression came over her face which spoiled it. He
looked at her as a man looks at a flower which he has
plucked and which has faded, and he finds it hard to
recognize the beauty for the sake of which he has
plucked it and despoiled it. And yet he felt that at
the time when his passion was more violent, he might,
if he had earnestly desired it, have torn his love out of
his heart ; but now, at the very time when it seemed to
him that he felt no love for her, he knew that the tie
that bound him to her was indissoluble.
" Well, well, tell me what you have to say about the
prince," replied Anna. " I have driven away the demon,
I have driven him away," she added. Between them-
selves they called her jealousy the demon. " You began
to tell me something about the prince. Why was it so
disagreeable to you ? "
fi^^'Oh, it was unbearable," replied Vronsky, trying to
pick up the thread of his thought again. " The prince
does n't improve on close acquaintance. I can only
compare him to one of those highly fed animals which
take first prizes at exhibitions," he added, with an air of
vexation, which seemed to interest Anna.
" No, but how ? Is he not a cultivated man, who has
seen much of the world ? "
ANNA KARENINA 163
" It is an entirely different kind of cultivation — their
cultivation ! One would say that he was cultivated only
for the sake of scorning cultivation, as he scorns every-
thing else, except animal pleasures."
"■ But are you not also fond of all these animal pleas-
ures yourself?" said Anna, and once more he noticed
the gloomy look in her eyes which avoided his.
'* Why do you defend him .'' " he asked, smiling.
" I am not defending him ; it is all absolutely indiffer-
ent to me. But it seems to me if you did not like these
pleasures, you might dispense with them. But you
enjoyed going to see that Th^r^se in the costume of
Eve." ....
" There is the demon again," said Vronsky, taking her
hand which lay on the table and kissing it.
" Yes ; but I can't help it. You can't imagine what
I suffered while I was waiting for you. I do not think
I am jealous ; I am not jealous : when you are here with
me I believe in you ; but when you are away, leading a
life so incomprehensible to me...."
She drew away from him, drew the crochet-needle out
of her work, and speedily, with the help of her index
finger, the stitches of white wool gleaming in the lamp-
light began one after the other to take form, and
swiftly, nervously, the delicate wrist* moved back and
forth in the embroidered cuff.
" Tell me, how was it .'' where did you meet AlekseT
Aleksandrovitch," she asked suddenly, in a voice still
sounding unnatural.
"We ran against each other at the door."
" And did he greet you like this } "
She drew down her face and, half closing her eyes,
instantly changed her whole expression, and Vronsky
suddenly saw the same look in her pretty features which
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch had worn when he bowed to
him. He smiled, and Anna began to laugh, with that
fresh, ringing laugh which was one of her greatest
charms.
" I really do not understand him," said Vronsky. " I
should have supposed that after your explanation at the
i64 ANNA KARENINA
datcha, he would have broken off with you, and pro-
voked a duel with me ; but how can he endure such a
situation ? He suffers, that is evident."
" He ? " said she, with a sneer. " Oh ! he is perfectly
content."
" Why should we all torture ourselves in this way,
when everything might be so easily arranged .-* "
" Only that does n't suit him. Oh, don't I know him,
and the falsity on which he subsists. How could he
live as he lives with me if he had any feelings.'' He has
no susceptibilities, no feelings ! Could a man of any
susceptibilities live in the same house with his guilty
wife.-* How can he talk with her? How can he address
her famiharly ?"^
And again she imitated the way her husband would
say, " T?a, ma cJihe, tui, Anna."
" He is not a man, I tell you ; he is a puppet. No
one knows it, but I know it. Oh, if I had been in his
place, I would long ago have killed, have torn in pieces,
a wife like myself, instead of saying, ' Tiii, ma chhre
Anjta,' to her ; but he is not a man ; he is a ministerial
machine. He does not understand that I am your wife,
that he is nothing to. me, that he is in the way No, no,
let us not talk about him."
" You are unjust, my dear," said Vronsky, trying
to calm her ; " but all the same, let us not talk any
more about him. Tell me how you do. How are
you .'' You wrote me you were ill ; what did the doc-
tor say .'' "
She looked at him with gay raillery. Evidently she
still saw ridiculous and abominable traits in her hus-
band, and would willingly have continued to speak
about them.
But he added : —
" I suspect you were not really ill, but that it comes
from your condition .... when will it be .'' "
The sarcastic gleam disappeared from Anna's eyes,
^ Literally, "say tui, thou, to her." In Russian, as in French and
German, the second person singular is used in familiar intercourse among
relatives and friends. — Ed.
ANNA KARENINA 16$
but suddenly a different kind of smile — the token of a
gentle melancholy, of some feeling he could not com-
prehend — took its place.
" Soon, very soon. You said our position is painful,
and that it must be changed. If you knew how
hard it is for me, what I would give to be able to
love you freely and openly! I should not torment my-
self and I should not torment you with my jealousy
And t/iis will be soon, but not in the way we think."
And at the thought of how this would take place she
felt such pity for herself that the tears filled her eyes
and she could not go on. She put her white hand, with
the rings sparkling in the lamplight, on Vronsky's arm.
" This will not be as we think. I did not intend to
speak to you about this, but you compel me to. Soon,
soon, every knot will be disentangled, and all of us, all,
will be at peace, and we shall not be tormented any more."
" I don't know what you mean," he said ; yet he
understood her.
"You ask, 'When will it be.'" Soon. And I shall
not survive it Don't interrupt me ! "
And she went on speaking rapidly : —
" I know it, I am perfectly certain I am going to die ;
and I am glad to die, and to free myself and you."
Her tears continued to fall. Vronsky bent over her
hand and began to kiss it, and tried to conceal his own
emotion, which he knew he had no ground for feeling,
but which he could not overcome.
" It is better that it should be so," she said, pressing
his hand fervently. " It is the only thing, the only thing
left for us."
" What a foolish idea ! " said Vronsky, lifting up his
head and regaining his self-possession. " What utter
nonsense you are talking ! "
"No; it is the truth."
" What do you mean by the truth ? "
" That I am going to die. I have seen it in a
dream."
" In a dream ? " repeated Vronsky, involuntarily re-
calling the muzhik of his nightmare.
i66 ANNA KARENINA
*^ Yes, in a dream," she continued. " I had this dream
a long time ago. I dreamed that I ran into my room to
get something or other. I was searching about, you know,
as one does in dreams," said she, opening her eye^ wide
with horror, "and I noticed something standing in the
corner of my room,"
"What nonsense ! How do you suppose .... "
But she would not let him interrupt her ; what she
was telling was too important to her.
'* And this something turned around, and I saw a
little dirty muzhik, with an unkempt beard. I wanted to
run away, but he bent toward a bag, in which he moved
some object."
She made the motion of a person rummaging in a
bag ; terror was depicted on her face ; and Vronsky,
recalling his own dream, felt the same terror seize his
soul.
" And all the while he was searching, he talked fast,
very fast, in French, lisping, you know, ' II f ant le battre^
le fer, le broyer, le p^trir .... ' I tried to wake up, but I
only woke up in my dream, asking what it could mean.
And Karnei said to me, ' You are going to die, you
are going to die in child-bed, matushka.' And at last I
woke up." ....
" What an absurd dream ! " said Vronsky, but he
himself felt that there was no conviction in his voice.
" But let us say no more about it. Ring ; I am going
to give you some tea, so stay a little longer. It is a
long time since I .... "
She suddenly ceased speaking. The expression of
her face instantly changed. Horror and emotion disap-
peared from her face, which assumed an expression of
gentle, serious, and affectionate solicitude. He could
not understand the significance of that change.
She had felt within her the motion of a new life.
ANNA KARENINA 167
CHAPTER IV
After meeting Vronsky on the porch, AlekseY Alek-
sandrovitch went, as he had planned, to the Italian
opera. He sat through two acts, and saw every one
whom he needed to see. Returning home, he looked
carefully at the hat-rack, and, having assured himself
that there was no uniform overcoat in the vestibule,
went straight to his chamber.
Contrary to his usual habit, instead of going to bed,
he walked up and down his room till three o'clock in
the morning. Anger kept him awake, for he could not
forgive his wife for not being willing to observe the pro-
prieties, and for not fulfilling the one condition that he
had imposed on her, — that she should not receive her
lover in his house. She had not complied with his
requirement, and he felt bound to punish her, carry
out his threat, demand a divorce, and take away his son
from her. He knew all the difficulties that would attend
this action, but he had said that he should do it, and
now he was bound to carry out his threat. The Coun-
tess Lidia had often said that this was the easiest way
out of his position ; and recently the practice of divorce
had reached such a pitch of perfection that AlekseY
Aleksandrovitch saw in it a means of escaping , its
formal difficulties.
Moreover, misfortunes never come single ; and the
trouble arising from the organization of the foreign
population, and the irrigation of the fields in the gov-
ernment of ZaraT, had caused Aleksef Aleksandrovitch
so much unpleasantness in his office that for some time
he had been in a perpetual state of irritation.
He passed the night without sleeping, and his anger
increasing all the while in a sort of colossal system of
progression, by morning was directed even to the most
trivial object. He dressed hastily, and went to Anna
as soon as he knew she was up. He was afraid of los-
ing the energy which he needed for his explanation with
i68 ANNA KARENINA
his wife ; it was as if he carried a full cup of wrath
and was afraid of spilling it.
Anna believ^ed that she thoroughly knew her hus-
band ; but she was amazed at his appearance as he came
in. His brows were contracted, and his eyes looked
gloomily straight ahead, avoiding hers. His lips were
firm and scornfully compressed. Never had his wife
seen so much decision as she saw now in his gait, in
every motion, in the sound of his voice. He entered
without wishing her good morning, and went directly
to her writing-desk, and, taking the key, opened the
drawer.
" What do you want .-' " cried Anna.
"Your lover's letters."
"They are not there," she said, closing the drawer.
But he knew by her action that he had guessed aright,
and, roughly pushing away her hand, he quickly seized
the portfolio in which he knew Anna kept her important
papers. She attempted to regain it, but he held it at a
distance.
" Sit down ; I want to speak to you," he said, placing
the portfolio under his arm, and holding it so firmly
with his elbow that his shoulder was raised by it.
Anna looked at him, astonished and frightened, but
said nothing.
" I told you that I would not permit you to receive
your lover in this house."
" I needed to see him to .... "
She stopped, unable to find a plausible explanation.
" I will not enter into details, and have no desire to
know why a woman needs to see her lover."
" I wished, I only .... " she said, flashing up, and feel-
ing that her husband's rudeness made her bold — " is it
possible that you are not aware how easy it is for you
to insult me.-* "
" One can insult only an honest man or an honest
woman ; but to tell a thief that he is a thief, is only la
constatation dun fait — the statement of a fact."
" That is a degree of cruelty that I never recognized
in you."
ANNA KARENINA 169
" Ah ! you find a husband cruel because he gives his
wife perfect freedom, gives her the protection of an
honest, noble name on the sole condition that she re-
spect the laws of propriety ? You call that cruelty ? "
" It is worse than cruelty ; it is cowardice, if you
insist on knowing," cried Anna, with an outburst of
anger, and rising, she started to go.
" No," cried he, in his piping voice, which was now
a tone higher than usual ; and seizing her by the arm
with his great, bony fingers so roughly that one of
Anna's bracelets left a red print on her flesh, he forced
her back into her place.
" Cowardice, indeed ! If you wish to employ that
word, apply it to her who abandons her son and hus-
band for a lover, and nevertheless eats her husband's
bread."
Anna bowed her head ; she not only did not say what
she had said the evening before to her lover, that /le
was her husband while her husband was in the way —
she did not even think it. She appreciated all the
justice of his words, and she replied in a low voice : —
"You cannot judge my position more severely than
I do myself ; but why do you say all this ? "
" Why do I say this .•' " continued he as angrily as
ever ; " so that you may know that, since you have paid
no attention to my wishes, and have broken the rules
of propriety, I shall take measures to put an end to
this state of affairs."
" Soon, very soon, it will terminate itself," said Anna,
and again at the thought of that death which she felt
near at hand, and now so desirable, her eyes filled with
tears.
" Sooner even than you and your lover have dreamed
of ! You need to make atonement by keen suffer-
in ^ »'
mg....
" AlekseY Aleksandrovitch ! I do not say that this
is not magnanimous ; but it is not gentlemanly to strike
one who is down."
" You only think of yourself : the suffering of one
who has been your husband is of little interest to you ;
lyo ANNA KARENINA
it is a matter of indifference to you that his life has been
overthrown, that he su....su.... suffers ...."
Alekseif Aleksandrovitch spoke so rapidly that he
stammered, and could not speak the word.^
This seemed ridiculous to Anna, but she immediately
was ashamed of herself because anything could seem
to her ridiculous at such a moment. For the first
time, and for a moment, she felt for him, and entered
into his feelings and pitied him. But what could she
say or do ? She bowed her head and was silent.
He also was silent for a little, then began again in
a less piercing and colder voice, emphasizing words of
no special importance: —
" I came to tell you .... "
She glanced at him. " No, that proves it to me," she
said to herself, as she remembered the expression of his
face as he stammered over the word suffered. " No, how
can a man, with his dull eyes, so full of calm self-satis-
faction, feel anything."
" I cannot change," she murmured.
" I have come to tell you that to-morrow I am going
to Moscow, and that I shall not enter this house again.
You will learn of my determination from the lawyer
who will have charge of the preliminaries of the divorce.
My son will go to my sister," he added, recalling with
difficulty what he wanted to say about the child.
" You want to take Serozha away so as to cause me
pain," she cried, glaring at him ; " you do not love him ....
leave Serozha ! "
" Yes, I have even lost my love for my son because
the repulsion you inspire in me includes him ; but I
shall keep him, nevertheless. Good morning."
He was about to go, but she detained him.
" Alekseif Aleksandrovitch, leave Serozha with me,"
she whispered again; "that is all I ask of you; leave
him with me tillmy*.<. I shall soon be confined. Leave
him with me I "
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch flushed with indignation,
pushed away the arm that held him back, and left her
without replying.
^ PeU ....pele ....pelestradal.
ANNA KARENINA 171
CHAPTER V
The reception-room of the celebrated Petersburg
lawyer was full of people when Aleksef Aleksandro-
vitch entered it. Three ladies, one old, another young,
and a merchant's wife ; three men, a German banker
with a ring on his hand, a merchant with a beard, and
a sullen-looking official in undress-uniform with a deco-
ration around his neck, had apparently been waiting a
long time.
Two clerks were writing with scratching pens. Their
writing utensils — and Aleksef Aleksandrovitch was a
connoisseur of such things — were of unusual excellence.
Aleksei' could not fail to take note of that fact. One
of the clerks turned his head, with an air of annoyance,
toward the newcomer, and, without rising, asked him,
with half-closed eyes : —
" What do you want .'' "
" I have business with the lawyer."
" He is busy," replied the clerk severely, pointing with
his pen toward those who were already waiting ; and
he went back to his writing.
" Will he not find a moment to receive me ? " asked
Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch.
" He is not at liberty a single moment ; he is always
busy : have the goodness to wait."
" Be so good as to give him my card," said Aleksei
Aleksandrovitch, with dignity, seeing that it was im-
possible to preserve his incognito.
The secretary took his card, and, evidently not approv-
ing of it, left the room.
Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch, on principle, approved of
public courts, but he did not fully sympathize with cer-
tain details of its application in Russia, because of his
acquaintance with its working in the best official rela-
tions, and he criticized them as far as he could criticize
anything that received the sanction of the supreme
power. His whole life was spent in administrative
activity, and consequently when he did not sympathize
172 ANNA KARENINA
with anything, his lack of sympathy was modified by
his recognition of the fact that errors were unavoidable,-
but that some things might be remedied. In the new
judicial arrangement he did not approve of the condi-
tions in which the lawyers were placed. Hitherto he
had not had occasion to deal with lawyers, and so he had
disapproved of the system only theoretically. But now
his disapprobation was greatly increased by the dis-
agreeable impression made on him in the lawyer's re-
ception-room.
" The lawyer will be out immediately," said the clerk;
and in reality in about two minutes the door opened,
and the lawyer appeared, together with a tall justice of
the peace.
The lawyer was a short, thick-set man, with a bald
head, a dark reddish beard, a prominent forehead, and
long, shiny eyebrows. His dress, from his necktie and
double watch-chain down to his poUshed boots, was that
of a dandy. His face was intelligent, but vulgar ; his
manner pretentious and in bad taste.
" Be so good as to walk in," said he, addressing
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch ; and gloomily ushering him
into the next room, he closed the door.
" Will you not sit ? "
He pointed to an arm-chair near his desk covered
with papers, and rubbing his short, hairy hands together,
he settled himself in front of the desk, and bent his head
to one side. But he was hardly seated when a moth-
miller flew on the table, and the little man, with unex-
pected liveliness, caught it on the wing ; then he quickly
resumed his former attitude.
" Before beginning to explain my business," said
Aleksel Aleksandrovitch, following the movements of
the lawyer with astonishment, " I must inform you that
the subject which brings me here is to be kept secret."
An imperceptible smile slightly moved the lawyer's
projecting reddish mustache.
" If I were not capable of keeping the secrets in-
trusted to me, I should not be a lawyer," said he ; " but
if you wish to be assured ...."
ANNA KARENINA 173
AlekseT Aleksandrovitch glanced at him and noticed
that his gray eyes, full of intelligence, had apparently
read all that he had to tell.
" Do you know my name ? " asked AlekseY Aleksan-
drovitch.
" I know you and how valuable " — here again he caught
a miller — " your services are, as every Russian does,"
replied the lawyer, bowing.
AlekseY Aleksandrovitch sighed ; with difficulty he
brought himself to speak ; but when he had once begun,
he continued unhesitatingly, in a clear, sharp voice, em-
phasizing certain words.
" I have the misfortune to be a deceived husband. I
wish to obtain legal separation from my wife, — that is,
a divorce, — and, above all, to separate my son from his
mother."
The lawyer's gray eyes did their best to remain seri-
ous, but they danced with unrestrained delight, and
Aleksel Aleksandrovitch saw that they were full of an
amusement not caused solely by the prospect of a good
suit ; they shone with enthusiasm, with triumph, — some-
thing like the brilliancy he had noticed in his wife's
eyes.
" You wish my assistance to obtain the divorce ? "
" Yes, exactly ; but I must warn you that I run the
risk of wasting your time, I have only come to ask pre-
liminary advice. I wish a divorce, but for me certain
forms are essential in which it is possible. Very possi-
bly I shall give up the idea of any legal attempt if
these forms do not coincide with my requirements."
" Oh, that is always the way," said the lawyer ; " you
will always remain perfectly free."
The little man, that he might not offend his client by
the delight which his face ill concealed, fixed his eyes
on AlekseY Aleksandrovitch's feet. He saw a moth fly-
ing in front of his nose and he put out his hand, but he
restrained himself, out of respect to Aleksel Aleksandro-
vitch's situation.
" The general features of the laws of divorce are well
known to me," continued Aleksei Aleksandrovitch; "but
174 ANNA KARENINA
I should like to have a general knowledge of the for-
malities which are employed in the practical settlement
of affairs of this kind."
" You wish," replied the lawyer, not raising his eyes
and entering with no little satisfaction into the spirit of
his client's words, "you wish me to expound for you the
way whereby your wishes may be fulfilled."
And, as Aleksei Aleksandrovitch assented with an
inclination of his head, he continued, casting a furtive
glance now and then at his face, which was flushed with
red spots.
" Divorce, according to our laws," said he, with a slight
shade of disdain for our laws, " is possible, as you know,
in the following cases.... Let them wait!" he cried,
seeing his clerk open the door. However, he rose, went
to say a few words to him, came back, and sat down
again : " .... in the following cases : physical defect of
one of the parties ; next, the unexplained absence of
one of them for five years," — in making this enumera-
tion he bent down his short, hairy fingers, one after
another, — " and finally, adultery." This word he pro-
nounced with evident satisfaction. " The categories are
as follows : " — he kept on doubling over his fat fingers,
although the case before him and the categories, it
was plain enough, could not be classified together, —
" physical incapacity of husband or wife, then adultery
of husband or wife." Then as all his fingers were closed
he raised them all again and proceeded : " This is the
theoretical view, but I think that, in doing me the honor
to consult me, you desire to know the practical side, do
you not .'' And therefore, guiding myself by antecedents,
it is my duty to inform you that as this case is neither
one of physical defect, nor absence of one of the parties,
as I understand .'' " ....
Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch bowed his head in confirma-
tion of this.
"The reason last named remains, — adultery, — and
the conviction of the guilty party by mutual consent, and
without mutual consent, compulsory conviction. I must
say that the last case is rarely met with in practice,"
ANNA KARENINA 175
said the lawyer ; and he glanced at his client and waited
like a gunsmith who explains to a purchaser the use of
two pistols of different caliber, leaving him free to choose
between them.
But Alekser Aleksandrovitch remaining silent, he
continued : —
" The commonest, simplest, and most reasonable way,
in my opinion, is to recognize the guilt by mutual agree-
ment. I should not allow myself to say this if I were
talking to a man of less experience than yourself," said
the lawyer, " but I suppose that this is comprehensible
to you."
Alekself Aleksandrovitch, however, was so troubled
that he did not at the first moment realize the reason-
ableness of " adultery, by mutual agreement," and this
uncertainty was to be read in his eyes ; but the lawyer
came at once to his aid.
" Suppose that a man and wife can no longer live
together ; if both consent to a divorce, the details and
formalities amount to nothing. This is the simplest
and surest way."
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch understood now, but he had
religious convictions which stood in the way of his em-
ploying this measure. ■
" In the present case this means is out of the ques-
tion," said he. " Here only one case is possible : com-
pulsory conviction, supported by letters which are in
my possession."
At the mention of letters, the lawyer, pressing his
lips together, uttered an exclamation both of pity and
disdain.
" Please take notice," he began, " affairs of this sort
are, as you well know, decided by the upper clergy," he
said. " Our Fathers the protopopes are great connois-
seurs in affairs of this kind and attend to the minutest
details," said he, with a smile which showed his sympa-
thy for the protopopes. " Letters undoubtedly might
serve as partial evidence. But proofs must be furnished
in the right way — by witnesses. However, if you do
me the honor to grant me your confidence, you must
176 ANNA KARENINA
give me the choice of measures to be pursued. Where
there is a will, there is a way."
"If that is so...." began AlekseY Aleksandrovitch,
suddenly growing very pale. But at that instant the
lawyer again ran to the door, to reply to a fresh interrup-
tion from his clerk.
" Tell her, then, that this is not a cheap shop," said
he and returned to Aleksef Aleksandrovitch. As he
returned to his place he caught another moth.
" My reps will be in a fine condition by summer ! "
he said to himself, scowling.
" You were kind enough to say .... "
" I will communicate to you my decision by letter,"
replied Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, standing up and lean-
ing his hand on the table. After standing for a moment
in thought, he said : —
" From your words I conclude that a divorce is possi-
ble. I shall be obliged to you if you will make your
conditions known to me."
" Everything is possible if you will give me entire
freedom of action," said the lawyer, eluding the last
question. " When may I expect a communication from
you ? " asked he, moving to the door with eyes as shiny
as his boots.
" Within a week. You will then have the goodness
to let me know whether you accept the case, and on
what terms } "
" Very good."
The lawyer bowed respectfully, conducted his client
to the door, and when he was left alone, he gave vent
to his feelings of joy ; he felt so gay that, contrary to
his principles, he made a deduction to a lady skilled in
the art of making a bargain, and neglected to catch a
moth, resolving definitely that he would have his furni-
ture upholstered the next winter with velvet, as Sigonin
had.
ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER VI
Alekse'i' Aleksandrovitch had won a brilliant vic-
tory at the session of the Commission of August 29, but
the consequences of his victory were injurious to him.
The new committee appointed to study the situation of
the foreign population had been constituted and had
gone to its field of action with a promptness and energy
surprising to Aleksei Aleksandrovitch ; at the end of
three months it presented its report.
The condition of this population had been studied
from a political, administrative, economical, ethnographi-
cal, material, and religious point of view. Each ques-
tion was followed by an admirably concise reply, leaving
no room to doubt that these answers were the work, not
of a human mind, always liable to mistake, but of an
experienced bureaucracy. These answers were based
on official data, such as the reports of governors and
archbishops, based again on the reports of heads of
districts and ecclesiastical superintendents, in their turn
based on the reports from communal administrations
and country priests. And therefore their correctness
could not be doubted. Questions such as these, " Why
are the harvests poor .'' " and, " Why do the inhabitants
of certain localities persist in their behefs .■* " and the like
— questions which without the help of the official ma-
chine could never be solved, and to which ages would not
have found a reply — were clearly solved, in conformity
with the opinions of Aleksef Aleksandrovitch.
But Stremof, feeling that he had been touched to
the quick at the last session, had employed for the recep-
tion of the committee's report a stratagem unexpected
by Aleksei Aleksandrovitch. Taking with him several
other members, he suddenly went over to Karenin's
side, and, not satisfied with warmly supporting the
measures proposed by Aleksei Aleksandrovitch, he pro-
posed others, of the same nature. These measures,
which were of such a radical nature as to be entirely
opposed to Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch's intention, were
178 ANNA KARENINA
adopted and then Stremof 's tactics were revealed. Car-
ried to extremes, these measures seemed so ridiculous
that the government officials, and public opinion, and
ladies of influence, and the daily papers, all attacked
them and expressed the greatest indignation both at
the measures themselves and at their avowed promoter,
Alekseif Aleksandrovitch.
Stremof slipped out of sight, pretending that he only
blindly followed Karenin's plan, and that he himself
was amazed and dumfounded at what had happened.
This greatly weakened Alekse'i Aleksandrovitch. But
notwithstanding his enfeebled health, notwithstanding
his family annoyances, he did not give up. The com-
mittee was split into two factions : some of them, with
Stremof at their head, explained their mistake by the
fact that they had placed full confidence in the Revi-
sionary Committee which, under the lead of Alekseif
Aleksandrovitch, had brought in its report, and they
declared the report of this committee of inspection was
rubbish and so much wasted paper. AlekseT Alek-
sandrovitch, with a party of men who saw the peril of
such a revolutionary reference to documents, continued
to support the data worked out by the Revisionary
Committee.
As a result of this, the highest circles and even so-
ciety was thrown into confusion, and although this
was a question of the greatest interest to every one,
no one could make out whether the foreign popula-
tions were in reality suffering and dying out or flourish-
ing.
Karenin's position in consequence of this and partly
in consequence of the contempt which people felt
for him by reason of his wife's unfaithfulness became
very precarious. In this state of affairs he made
an important resolution : to the great astonishment
of the commission, he announced that he demanded
the right to go and study these questions himself
on the spot ; and, permission having been granted him,
Aleksel Aleksandrovitch set out for the distant prov-
inces.
ANNA KARENINA 179
His departure made a great sensation, especially from
the fact that, at his very departure, he officially refused
the traveling expenses required for twelve post-horses,
to take him to the places of inspection.
" I think that was very noble of him," said Betsy to
the Princess Miagkaya. "Why should they pay for
post-horses, when every one knows that you can go
everywhere nowadays by rail ? "
But the Princess Miagkaya did not agree with her,
and she was greatly wrought up by the Princess Tver-
skaya's remark.
" This is very well for you to say," she replied, " when
you have I don't know how many millions, but I like
it very much when my husband goes off on a tour of
inspection in the summer. It is very healthy and
agreeable for him to go driving about, but I have made
it a rule to keep that money for my own horse-hire and
izvoshchiks ! "
On his way to the distant provinces, AlekseY Alek-
sandrovitch stopped at Moscow three days.
The next day after his arrival, he was coming from a
call on the governor-general. At the crossing of the
GazetnoT Street, where carriages of every description
are always thronging, he heard his name called in such
a gay, sonorous voice, that he could not help stopping.
There stood Stepan Arkadyevitch on the sidewalk, in a
short, stylish paletot, with a stylish hat set on one
side, with a radiant smile which showed his white teeth
between his red lips, gay, youthful-looking, brilliant.
He kept calling to him and beckoning to him to
stop. He was holding by one hand to the window of
a carriage which had drawn up to the sidewalk, and in
the carriage was a woman in a velvet hat, with two
little ones ; she also beckoned to him and smiled.
It was Dolly and her children.
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch had not counted on seeing
in Moscow any one whom he knew, and least of all his
wife's brother. He took off his hat and would have
proceeded, but Stepan Arkadyevitch motioned to the
i8o ANNA KARENINA
coachman to stop, and ran through the snow to the
carriage.
" How long have you been here ? What a sin not to
let us know you were coming ! I was at Dusseaux's last
evening, and I saw the name of Karenin on the list of
arrivals, but it never occurred to me that it was you,
else I should have looked you up," said he, passing his
head through the door. " How glad I am to see you,"
he went on to say, striking his feet together to shake
off the snow. "What a sin not to let us know."
"I hadn't time. I am very busy," replied Alekseif
Aleksandrovitch, curtly.
" Come and speak to my wife ; she wants to see you
very much."
Alekseif Aleksandrovitch threw off the plaid which
covered his chilly limbs, and, leaving his carriage, made
a way through the snow to Darya Aleksandrovna.
" Why, what has happened, Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch,
that you avoid us in this way ? " said she, smiling.
" I was very busy. I am delighted to see you," re-
plied Karenin, in a tone which clearly proved that he
was annoyed. " How is your health ? "
" How is my dear Anna ? "
Alekseif Aleksandrovitch muttered a few words, and
was about to leave her, but Stepan Arkadyevitch de-
tained him.
" Do you know what we are going to do to-morrow ?
Dolly, invite him to dine. Have Koznuishef and Pestsof,
so as to regale him with the representative intellects of
Moscow."
"Oh, please come! " said Dolly; "we will name any
hour that is convenient — five or six, as you please.
But how is my dear Anna .<* It is so long ...."
" She is well," muttered Aleksei" Aleksandrovitch
again, frowning. " Very happy to have met you."
And he went back to his carriage.
" Will you come ? " cried Dolly again.
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch said something in reply
which Dolly could not hear in the rumble of car-
riages.
ANNA KARENINA i8i
" I am coming to see you to-morrow ! " cried Stepan
Arkadyevitch.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch shut himself up in his car-
riage, and crouched down in one corner so as not to see
and not to be seen.
"What a strange fellow ! " said Stepan Arkadyevitch
to his wife ; and looking at his watch he made an affec-
tionate sign of farewell to his wife and children, and
started off down the sidewalk at a brisk pace.
" Stiva, Stiva ! " cried Dolly, blushing. He came
back.
" I must have some money for the children's cloaks.
Give me some."
" No matter about that. Tell them that I will settle
the bill."
And he disappeared, gayly nodding to some acquain-
tance as he went.
CHAPTER VII
The next day was Sunday, and Stepan Arkadyevitch
went to the Bolsho'i or Great Theater, to attend the
rehearsal of the ballet, and gave the coral necklace to
Masha Chibisovaya, the pretty dancing-girl who was
making her d^but under his protection, as he had prom-
ised the day before, and behind the scenes in the dim
twilight of the theater he seized his opportunity and
kissed her pretty little face glowing with pleasure at his
gift. Besides fulfilling his promise as to the coral neck-
lace, he wanted to arrange with her for an assignation
after the ballet. Having explained to her that he could
not possibly manage to be present at the beginning of
the ballet, he promised to come for the next act and
take her out for supper.
From the theater Stepan Arkadyevitch went to the
Okhotnui Ryad, himself selected a fish and asparagus
for the dinner ; and at noon he went to Dusseaux's,
where three travelers, friends of his, by happy chance
were stopping, — Levin, just returned from his journey
i8a ANNA KARENINA
abroad ; his new nachalnik or chief, who had just been
appointed, and had come to Moscow to look into affairs ;
and lastly, his brother-in-law, Karenin, whom he was
bound to invite to dinner.
Stepan Arkadyevitch liked to go out to dinner, but
what he liked better still was to give a choice little
dinner-party with a few select friends. The program
that he made out for this day pleased him, — fresh
perch, with asparagus, and a simple but superb roast of
beef, as pike de resistance, and the right kinds of wine.
Among the guests he expected Kitty and Levin, and,
to offset them, a cousin and the young Shcherbatsky ;
the pikes de resistance among the guests were to be
Sergyel Koznuishef, a Muscovite and philosopher, and
Karenin, a Petersburger and man of affairs. More-
over he would invite the well-known Pestsof, a comical
fellow, a youth of fifty years, an enthusiast, a musician,
a ready talker, a historian and a liberal, who would be
the sauce or garnish for Koznuishef and Aleksei Alek-
sandrovitch. He would put every one in good spirits
and stir them up.
The second instalment of money from the sale of the
wood had been recently received and was not all gone ;
Dolly for some time had been lovely and charming ;
and the thought of this dinner in every respect delighted
Stepan Arkadyevitch. He was in the happiest frame
of mind. There were two things which were rather dis-
agreeable. But these two circumstances were drowned
in the sea of joviality which rolled its billows in Stepan
Arkadyevitch's soul. These two circumstances were :
in the first place, when the evening before he had met
AlekseT Aleksandrovitch on the street, he had perceived
that he was stern and cold; and uniting the fact that
AlekseY Aleksandrovitch had not called or sent word of
his presence with certain rumors that had reached his
ears about his sister's relations with Vronsky, Stepan
Arkadyevitch suspected serious trouble between the
husband and wife. This was one unpleasant thing.
The second slight shadow was the fact that the new
nachalnik, like all new chiefs, had the reputation of be-
ANNA KARENINA 183
ing a terribly exacting man, who got up at six o'clock,
worked like a horse, and demanded similar zeal from his
subordinates. Moreover, this new nachalnik had the
reputation of being a regular bear in his manners and
was, according to rumor, a man of the opposite party
from that to which his predecessor had belonged, and to
which Stepan Arkadyevitch himself had up to that time
also belonged.
The afternoon before, Stepan Arkadyevitch had ap-
peared at the office in full uniform and the new nachal-
nik had been very cordial and had talked with Oblonsky
as with an old friend. Consequently he thought it his
duty to pay him an unofficial visit. The thought that
the new nachalnik might not receive him cordially was
the second disturbing element. But Stepan Arkadye-
vitch felt instinctively that all would be arranged to per-
fection.
" All people, all men, are transgressors as well as we.
Why get angry and quarrel .•' " he said to himself as he
went to the hotel.
"How are you, Vasili .-• " said he, as he went through
the corridor with his hat cocked on one side, and met a
lackey of his acquaintance ; " have you sacrificed your
whiskers .'' Levin .-' in number seven ? Please show me.
Thanks ! Do you know, is Count Anitchkin at home ? "
This was the new nachalnik.
"At your service," said Vasili, with a smile. "We
have not seen you for a long time."
" I was here yesterday, but came up another stair-
way. Is this number seven .'' "
When Stepan Arkadyevitch entered, Levin was stand-
ing in the middle of his room with a muzhik from Tver,
measuring a bear-skin.
" Ah ! did you kill him ? " cried Stepan Arkadyevitch.
" Splendid skin ! A bear ! How are you, Arkhip }"
He held out his hand to the peasant, and then sat
down in his paletot and hat.
" Take off your coat, and stay awhile," said Levin,
taking his hat.
" I have n't time. I only came in for a little second,"
1^4 ANNA KARENINA
replied Oblonsky. He unbuttoned his paletot, then
took it off, and stayed a whole hour to talk with Levin
about the hunt and other subjects.
" Well now ! Tell me, please, what you did while you
were abroad ; where have you been ? " he asked after
the peasant had gone.
" I went to Germany, to France, and England, but
only to the manufacturing centers, and not to the capi-
tals. I saw a great deal that was new. I am glad I
went."
"Yes, yes, I know your ideas about organized labor."
" Oh, no ! in Russia there can be no labor question.
The question of the workingman does n't concern us ;
the only important question for Russia is the relation of
the workman to the soil ; the question exists there, but
it is impossible to remedy it there, while here .... "
Oblonsky listened attentively.
" Yes, yes," said he, " it is possible that you are right,
but I am glad that you are in better spirits ; you hunt
the bear, you work, you are enthusiastic. Shcherbatsky
told me that he had found you blue and melancholy,
talking of nothing but death." ....
" What of that .-* I am continually thinking of death,"
repHed Levin. " It 's true that there is a time to die,
and that all is vanity. But I will tell you honestly I
set great value on my thought and work ; but think of
this world — just take notice! — this world of ours, a
little mold making the smallest of the planets ! and
we imagine that our ideas, our works, are something
grand. It 's all grains of dust ! " ....
" All that is as old as the hills, brother ! "
" It is old ; but you see when this idea becomes clear
to us, how miserable life seems ! When we know that
death will surely come, and that there will be nothing
left of us, the most important things seem as insignifi-
cant as the turning over of this bear-skin. And so in
order to keep away thoughts of death, we hunt and work
and try to divert ourselves."
Stepan Arkadyevitch smiled, and gave Levin one of
his affectionate looks.
ANNA KARENINA 185
" Well, of course ! Here you come to me and you
pounce on me because I seek pleasure in life ! Be not
so severe, O moralist ! "
" All the same, there is some good in life," replied
Levin, becoming confused. ** Well, I don't know, I
only know that we must soon die."
" Why soon .? "
" And you know there is less charm in life when we
think of death, but more restfulness."
" On the contrary, we must enjoy what there is of it,
anyway But," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, rising for
the tenth time, " I must go."
"Oh, no! stay a little longer," said Levin, holding
him back ; '' when shall we see each other again ? I
leave to-morrow."
"I am a queer fellow. This is what I came for! ....
Don't fail to come and dine with us to-day. Your
brother will be with us ; my brother-in-law, Karenin, will
be there."
" Is he here ? " asked Levin, and he wanted to ask
about Kitty ; he had heard that she had been in Peters-
burg at the beginning of the winter, visiting her sister,
the wife of a diplomatist, and he did not know whether
she had returned or not, but he hesitated about asking.
** Whether she has come back or not, it 's all the
same. I will accept," he thought.
" Will you come ? "
" Well ! Of course I will."
" At five o'clock, in ordinary dress."
And Stepan Arkadyevitch rose, and went down to
see the new nachalnik. Instinct had not deceived him :
this dreadful man proved to be a good fellow ; Stepan
Arkadyevitch lunched with him, and stayed so long to
talk that it was nearly four o'clock when he got to
Aleksel Aleksandrovitch's room.
i^ ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER VIII
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch, after he returned from
mass, spent the morning in his room. He had two
things to accomplish on this day : first, to receive a
deputation of the foreign population which was on its
way to Petersburg, and happened just at that time to
be at Moscow, and he wanted to instruct them as to
what they should say ; and then to write to his lawyer,
as he had promised.
The deputation, although it had been appointed at
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch's invitation, was likely to cause
great embarrassment and even to be a source of peril,
and Aleksei Aleksandrovitch was very glad to meet it
in Moscow. The members of the deputation had not
the slightest comprehension of their duties and obliga-
tions. They were perfectly persuaded that their work
consisted in exposing their needs and explaining the ac-
tual state of affairs and asking governmental assistance ;
and they really could not comprehend that some of their
statements and demands gave color to the arguments of
the hostile party, and therefore spoiled the whole business.
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch had a long discussion with
them, made out a program, from which they were not
to deviate on any account in their dealings with the
government, and, when they left him, gave them letters
of introduction to various persons in Petersburg, so that
they might be properly treated. The Countess Lidya
Ivanovna would be his principal auxiliary in this mat-
ter; she had a specialty for deputations, and knew
better than anybody else how to manage them.
When he had finished this business, Aleksef Aleksan-
drovitch wrote to his lawyer. Without the slightest mis-
giving, he gave him full power to do as he thought best,
and sent three notes from Vronsky to Anna, which he had
found in the portfolio. Since Aleksei Aleksandrovitch
had left home with the intention of never returning to
his family, and since his interview with the lawyer, when
he had confided to one person at least his intentions,
ANNA KARENINA 187
and especially since he had transferred this episode of
his life to a documentary basis, he had become more
and more settled in his convictions, and was now per-
fectly clear in his mind that what he wished could be
accomplished.
Just as he was seaUng his letter, he heard Stepan
Arkady evitch's loud voice asking the servant if his
brother-in-law was at home, and insisting on being
announced.
" It 's all the same," thought Aleksel Aleksandrovitch,
" or rather, so much the better. I will explain to him
my position in regard to his sister, and he will under-
stand that it is impossible for me to dine at his house."
" Come in," he cried, gathering up his papers and
pushing them into a writing-case.
" There now, you see yovi lied, and he is at home,"
said Stepan Arkadyevitch to the servant, who would not
let him in ; then, taking off his overcoat as he walked
along, he came into AlekseT Aleksandrovitch's room.
"I am delighted to find you.,.," he began gayly,
"I hope,..,"
" I cannot go," said AlekseT Aleksandrovitch, coldly,
receiving his brother-in-law standing, and not asking
him to sit down, Aleksel" Aleksandrovitch resolved to
adopt with his wife's brother the cool relations which
seemed proper since he had decided to get a divorce.
But he did not reckon on that sea of kind-heartedness
which was always overflowing its banks in Stepan Arka-
dyevitch's heart.
Stepan Arkadyevitch opened wide his bright, clear
eyes.
" Why can't you come ? What do you mean ? " he
asked in French with some hesitation. " But you prom-
ised to come, and we all are counting on you."
" I wish to tell you that I cannot come because our
family relations must be broken."
"How is that ? Why ? " said Oblonsky, with a smile.
*' Because I have commenced an action for getting a
divorce from my wife, your sister. I must.... "
But AlekseT Aleksandrovitch did not finish his sen-
i88 ANNA KARENINA
tence — for Stepan Arkadyevitch acted in a manner
quite contrary to his expectations. Stepan Arkadye-
vitch sank into an arm-chair, with a deep sigh.
" Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch, it can't be possible," he
cried, with pain expressed in his face.
" It is true."
" Pardon me. I cannot, I cannot believe it."
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch sat down ; he felt that his
words had not produced the effect that he had looked
for, and that whatever explanation he might make his
relations with Oblonsky would remain the same.
"Yes, it is a cruel necessity, but I am forced to de-
mand the divorce," he replied.
" I will say only one thing to you, AlekseY Aleksan-
drovitch. I know that you are a man of principle, and
I know Anna is one of the best of women, — excuse me
if I cannot change my opinion of her, — I cannot
believe it ; there must be some misunderstanding ! "
" Yes ; if it were only a misunderstanding ! " ....
" Excuse me ; I understand ; but I beg of you, I beg
of you, do not be in haste," interrupted Stepan Arka-
dyevitch.
" I have done nothing hastily," said Aleksef Aleksan-
drovitch, coldly ; " but in such a case, one cannot ask
advice of anybody; I am decided."
"This is terrible," exclaimed Stepan Arkadyevitch,
with a deep sigh. " I would do one thing, Alekseif
Aleksandrovitch. I beseech you to do this ! " said he.
" Proceedings, as I understand, have not yet begun.
Before you do anything talk with my wife. She loves
Anna like a sister, she loves you, and she is a woman
of good sense. For God's sake, talk with her. Do me
this favor, I beg of you."
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch deliberated, and Stepan Ar-
kadyevitch looked at him sympathetically, not breaking
in on his silence.
" Will you come to her ? "
"Well, I don't know. That is the reason I did not
call at your house. I suppose our relations ought to be
broken off."
ANNA KARENINA 189
" Why should they be ? I don't see that. Allow me
to believe that apart from our family connection, you
have toward me, to a certain extent at least, the same
friendly sentiments which I have always felt toward
you Andgenuine regard.... "said Stepan Arkadyevitch,
pressing his hand. " Even if your worst surmises were
justified, I should never take it on myself to criticize
either side, and I see no reason why our relations should
be changed. But now do this, — come and see my wife."
" Well, you and I look on this matter differently," said
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch, coldly. " However, we will
not discuss it."
" No, but why should you not come and dine with us>
at least to-day .■* My wife expects you. Please come !
and above all talk with her ; she is, I assure you, a
superior woman. For God's sake come, I beg you on
my knees."
" If you wish it so much, I will go," said Alekself
Aleksandrovitch, sighing. And to change the conver-
sation, he asked Stepan Arkadyevitch about a matter
which interested them both : about the new nachalnik, a
man still young, who had suddenly received such an
important appointment.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch had never liked Count
Anitchkin, and had always differed with him about many
questions ; and now he could not help a feeling of envy
natural to an official who had suffered defeat in his work
and saw a younger man receiving advancement.
"Well, have you met him yet.-*" asked Aleksef Alek-
sandrovitch, with a venomous smile.
" Oh, yes ; he was with us yesterday at the session.
He seems like a man very well informed and very active."
" Active ? but how does he employ his activity ? " ex-
claimed Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch. " Is it in doing his
work, or in destroying what others have done before
him ? The plague of our government is this scribbling
bureaucracy, of which Anitchkin is a worthy representa-
tive."
" Truly I don't know how this criticism applies to him.
I don't even know his tendencies ; at any rate, he is a
190
ANNA KARENINA
very good fellow," replied Stepan Arkadyevitch. " I
have just been with him,... a very good fellow; we
lunched together, and I taught him how to make a drink,
you know — wine and oranges. He liked it very much.
No, he is a fine young man."
Stepan Arkadyevitch looked at his watch.
" Akh batiushki ! it is after four o'clock ! and I have
still to see Dolgovushin. It is decided, then, that you
will dine with us, is n't it .'' Both my wife and myself
will feel really hurt if you refuse to come."
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch took leave of his brother-in-
law very differently from the way in which he had
greeted him.
" I have promised, and I will come," he repUed in a
melancholy tone.
" Believe me, I appreciate it; and I hope you will not
regret it," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, with a smile.
And putting on his overcoat in the hall, he shook his
fist at the servant's head, laughed, and went out.
"At five o'clock, remember, and in ordinary dress," he
called back once more, returning to the door.
CHAPTER IX
It was already six o'clock and several guests had
come when the master of the house entered, meeting
SergyeY Ivanovitch Koznuishef and Pestsof at the door.
These were the two chief representatives of Moscow in-
tellect, as Oblonsky had called them, and were men of
distinction both by wit and character. They valued each
other, but on almost every topic were absolutely and
hopelessly at odds, not because they belonged to oppos-
ing parties but precisely because they were of the same
camp, — their enemies confounded them in one, — but
in this camp they each had their shades of opinion. Now
there is nothing more conducive to disagreement than
dissent in small particulars, and so they not only never
agreed in their opinions, but never failed to laugh at each
Qther good-naturedly for their incorrigible inistakes.
ANNA KARENINA S9I
They reached the door, talking about the weather, just
as Stepan Arkadyevitch overtook them.
The old Prince Aleksandr Dmitrievitch Shcherbatsky,
young Shcherbatsky, Turovtsuin, Kitty, and Karenin
were already in the drawing-room.
Stepan Arkadyevitch instantly perceived that matters
in the drawing-room were going badly without him.
Darya Aleksandrovna, in her best gray silk gown, es-
pecially preoccupied with the children, who should have
been eating their supper in the nursery by themselves,
and anxious because her husband was late, did not
succeed very well in entertaining her guests. All were
sitting "like a pope's daughters making a call," as the
old prince expressed it, evidently perplexed to know
why they had come and with difficulty finding a few
words so that the silence might not be absolute. The
good-natured Turovtsuin apparently felt out of his
sphere and the smile on his thick lips when he greeted
Stepan Arkadyevitch spoke louder than words: "Well,
my dear fellow, you have got me here with clever
people ! We are making merry here. It is a regular
chdteau des fleitrs ! .... I am doing my part."
The old prince was sitting in silence looking out of
the corner of his bright eyes at Stepan Arkadyevitch,
and Stepan Arkadyevitch perceived that he was trying
to think up something worth saying to make an impres-
sion on this great statesman who was being served up
like a sterlet for the benefit of the guests. Kitty kept
glancing at the door, trying with all her might not to be
caught blushing when Konstantin Levin should appear.
Young Shcherbatsky, who had not been presented to
Karenin, was trying to show that this did not cause
him any constraint.
Karenin himself was in black coat and white necktie,
according to the Petersburg custom, and Stepan Arkadye-
vitch perceived by his face that he had come only to
keep his promise and by mingling in this society was per-
forming a burdensome task. He more than any one else
was the cause of the chill which froze all the guests into
silence until Stepan Arkadyevitch made his appearance.
192 ANNA KARENINA
As soon as Stepan Arkadyevitch entered the drawing-
room, he made his excuses and explained that he had
been detained by a certain prince who was always his
scapegoat for all his delays and absences. In a twin-
kling he presented his guests to one another, furnished
Koznuishef and Karenin a subject of conversation, —
the Russification of Poland, which they instantly grap-
pled with, also enlisting Pestsof in the discussion.
Then, tapping Turovtsuin on the shoulder, he whispered
some jest into his ear and sat him down between his
wife and Prince Shcherbatsky, Then he complimented
Kitty on her beauty and introduced young Shcherbatsky
to Karenin. In a twinkling he had so worked on all
this mass of social dough that it began to seem like a
salon and the voices intermingled in gay confusion.
Konstantin Levin was the only guest not on hand.
But even this was a fortunate circumstance, because
when Stepan Arkadyevitch went into the dining-room
he discovered to his dismay that the port and sherry
had come from Des Pres and not from Levy, and he
seized the opportunity to send the coachman in all
haste to Levy's, and then he returned to the drawing-
room.
Levin met him at the door of the dining-room.
" I am not late, am I ? "
" How could you be ? " replied Stepan Arkadyevitch,
taking him by the arm.
" Are there many people here .-' Who are they ? "
asked Levin, blushing involuntarily, and with his glove
brushing away the snow from his hat.
" No one but relatives. Kitty is here. Come and let
me present you to Karenin."
Stepan Arkadyevitch, notwithstanding his liberal views,
knew that a presentation to Karenin could not fail to be
flattering, and therefore he regaled his best friends with
this pleasure. But at this moment Konstantin Levin
was not in a condition to appreciate all the satisfaction
which this acquaintance would afford.
He had not seen Kitty since that well-remembered
evening when he met Vronsky, except for that glimpse
ANNA KARENINA 193
of her which he had as she sat in her carriage. In the
depth of his heart he knew that he was to see her this
evening. But in his attempt to preserve all the freedom
of his thoughts, he had tried to persuade himself that he
did not know it. And now as he learned that she was
there, he suddenly felt such timidity and at the same
time such terror that he could hardly breathe, and he
found it impossible to say what he wanted to say.
" How will she seem .-* Just as she used to .-* Suppose
Darya Aleksandrovna was right ! Why was n't she
right .'' " he thought.
" Oh ! present me to Karenin, I beg of you," he suc-
ceeded in stammering, as he entered the drawing-room
with the courage of despair and saw her.
She was neither as she had been in old time nor as
she had been in the carriage : she was altogether differ-
ent ; she was nervous, timid, modest, and therefore even
more charming than ever.
She saw him the moment he entered the drawing-
room. She had been watching for him, and she felt so
glad and so confused by reason of her gladness that at
one moment especially when, after greeting Dolly, he
looked at her, she was afraid of bursting into tears.
Levin and Dolly both noticed it. She blushed and
turned pale and blushed again ; she was so agitated
that her lips trembled.
Levin approached her, and bowed and silently offered
his hand. Had it not been for the slight trembling of
her lips and the moisture that suffused her eyes and
increased their brilliancy, her smile would have been
almost serene as she said : —
" How long it is since we have met ! " And at the
same time with a sort of desperate resolution put her
cold hand into his.
" You have not seen me ; but I saw you one day,"
said Levin, with a smile of radiant happiness. " I saw
you when you were going from the railway station to
Yergushovo."
" When was it .'* " asked she, in surprise.
" You were on your way to Yergushovo," said Levin,
VOL. II. — 13
194 ANNA KARENINA
feeling that the joy which flooded his soul was suffocat-
ing him. "How," thought he, "could I have dared to
associate anything but innocence with this fascinating
creature? Yes, Darya Aleksandrovna was right."
Stepan Arkadyevitch came to conduct him to Karenin,
" Allow me to make you acquainted," said he, calling
each by name.
" It is very pleasant to meet you again," said Aleksef
Aleksandrovitch, coolly, as he took Levin's hand.
"What! do you already know each other .-'" asked
Oblonsky, with surprise.
" We traveled together for three hours," said Levin,
smihng, "but we parted as from a masked ball, very
much mystified ; at least, it was the case with me."
" Really ? .... Will you pass into the dining-room } "
said Stepan Arkadyevitch pointing toward the door.
The gentlemen walked into the dining-room, and went
to a table laden with the zakuska, which was composed of
six kinds of vodka, as manyvarieties of cheese with silver
shovels and without, caviare, herring, preserves of differ-
ent kinds, and platefuls of French bread sHced thin.
The men stood around the table ; and, while waiting for
the dinner, the conversation between Sergye'f Ivanovitch
Koznuishef, Karenin, and Pestsof, about the Russifica-
tion of Poland, began to languish. Sergyei Ivanovitch,
who had a faculty peculiar to himself for ending even
the most absorbing and serious dispute, by an unex-
pected infusion of Attic salt and so putting the dis-
putants into a better frame of mind, did this now.
A-lekseif Aleksandrovitch was trying to prove that the
Russification of Poland could be accomplished only by
means of the highest principles, and that these ought to
oe introduced by the Russian administration. Pestsof
maintained that one nation could only assimilate another
by surpassing it in density of population.
Koznuishef, with certain restrictions, shared the opin-
ions of both ; and to close this serious conversation with
a joke, he added as they left the drawing-room, smiling: —
" The most logical way, then, for us to assimilate for-
eigners, it seems to me, is to have as many children as
ANNA KARENINA 195
possible. It is there where my brother and I are in
fault ; while you married gentlemen and especially you,
Stepan Arkadyevitch, are acting the part of good patri-
ots. How many have you .-' " he asked of the host,
handing him a very diminutive glass.
Everybody laughed, and Oblonsky most of all. "Yes,
that is certainly the best means !" said he, taking a bite
of cheese and pouring some special kind of vodka into
the glass that Koznuishef offered him. But the jest
really served to bring the discussion to a close.
" This cheese is not bad ; what do you say .■' " remarked
the host.
"Do you still practise gymnastics.-'" said Oblonsky,
addressing Levin, and with his left hand feeling his
friend's muscles.
Levin smiled and doubled up his arm, and Stepan Ar-
kadyevitch felt how under his fingers the biceps swelled
up like a round cheese beneath the smooth cloth of his
coat.
" What biceps ! a Samson," said he.
" I suppose it is necessary to be endowed with re-
markable strength, to hunt bears, is n't it .■* " said Aleksel
Aleksandrovitch, smearing some cheese on a piece of
bread as thin as a cobweb. His ideas about hunting
were of the vaguest.
Levin smiled.
" No ; on the contrary, a child could kill a bear ; " —
and he drew back, with a slight bow, to make room for
the ladies, who with the hostess were coming to the
zakuska table.
" I hear that you have just killed a bear," said Kitty,
vainly trying to put her fork into a recalcitrant mush-
room which kept flying about on the plate, and as she
threw back the lace in her sleeve there was a ghmpse
of a white arm. " Are there really bears where you
live .'' " she added, half turning her pretty face toward
him and smiling. What she said had no especial im-
portance, but what significance inexpressible in words
there was for him in the sound of her voice, in every
motion of her lips, of her eyes, hands, when she said it I
196 ANNA KARENINA
It implied an entreaty for forgiveness and expression
of faith in him, a sweet and timid caress, and a promise,
and a hope, and love for him, and he could not help
believing in it and his heart was filled with happi-
ness.
" Oh, no ! we were hunting in the government of
Tver ; and on my way from there, I met your brother-
in-law — Stiva's brother-in-law — in the train," said he,
smiling. "The meeting was very funny."
And he gave a lively and amusing description of how,
after having been awake all night, he forced his way
into Karenin's car in his sheepskin jacket.^
"The conductor, contrary to the proverb, judging by
first impressions wanted to put me out, and there I was
beginning to express myself in sublime style and....
well, sir, you also — " said he, addressing Karenin and
not recollecting his name, "you got your first impres-
sion from my polushubok and were for expelUng me, but
afterward you took my part, for which I felt very
grateful to you."
"Travelers' rights to their choice of place are gen-
erally too little considered," said Aleksei' Aleksandro-
vitch, wiping the ends of his fingers with his napkin.
" Oh ! I noticed that you were dubious about me,"
replied Levin, smiling good-naturedly ; " that was why
I hastened to open a serious subject of conversation, to
make you forget my sheepskin."
Koznuishef, who was talking with the mistress of the
house, and at the same time listening with one ear to
what his brother said, glanced at him.
"What is the matter with him to-night.'' What makes
him look so triumphant ? " he asked himself.
He did not know Levin felt as if he had wings.
Levin knew that she was listening to him, she was tak-
ing pleasure in what he said ; and this was the only
thing that interested him. He was alone with her, not
only in this room, but in the whole world. He felt that
he was on a dizzy height, and there far below him were
^ Polushubok, half shuba; a short coat or cloak made of sheepskin or
lined with fur. •
ANNA KARENINA 197
all those excellent people, — Oblonsky, Karenin, and the
rest of humanity.
Stepan Arkadyevitch seemed entirely to forget Levin
and Kitty in placing his guests at table until all but two
of the seats were assigned ; then he put them side by
side.
" Well, you can sit there," said he to Levin.
The dinner was as elegant as the appointments ;
for Stepan Arkadyevitch was a great connoisseur in
such matters. The Marie-Louise soup was perfect, the
little pirogi or pasties which melted in the mouth were
irreproachable ; and Matve, with two waiters in white
cravats, skilfully and noiselessly served the roast and
the wine.
On the material side the dinner was a success ; it was
not less so on the non-material side. The conversation
was sometimes general, sometimes special, but it never
lagged ; and toward the end of the dinner it had grown
so animated that when they left the table the men could
not drop their interesting topics, and even Aleksel
Aleksandrovitch was thawed out.
CHAPTER X
Pestsof, who liked to discuss a question thoroughly,
was not satisfied with what Koznuishef had said ; he
felt that he had not been allowed to express his thought
sufficiently.
" In speaking of the density of the population," said
he, after the soup, addressing Alekseif Aleksandrovitch,
" I did n't intend to make it the principle of an assimila-
tion, but only a means."
" It seems to me that that amounts to the same thing,"
replied Karenin, slowly and indolently. " In my judg-
ment, a people can have no influence over another people
unless it has the highest development which...."
"That is precisely the question," interrupted Pestsof,
who always spoke with so much ardor that he seemed
to put his whole soul into defending his own opinions
198 ANNA KARENINA
" How is one to decide on what is the highest develop-
ment ? Which stands on the highest plane of civiliza-
tion, the English, the French, or the Germans ? Which
nation is to naturalize the others? We have seen the
Rhine made French; but are the Germans inferior?
No ; there is some other law," he cried in his bass
voice.
" I believe that the balance will always turn in favor of
true civilization," said Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch, slightly
raising his brows.
" But what are the signs of this true civilization ? "
demanded Pestsof.
" I suppose these signs are known," replied Aleksei
Aleksandrovitch.
" But are they really known ? " suggested Sergyef
Ivanovitch, with a subtle smile. " It is now admitted
that our present civilization can't be anything else than
classical, but we have furious debates on this point,
and it cannot be denied that each side brings forward
strong proofs in its favor."
" Are you in favor of the classics, Sergyel Ivanovitch ? "
said Oblonsky " Shall I give you some claret ? "
" I am not expressing my personal opinions regarding
either form of civilization," replied Koznuishef, with a
smile of condescension such as he would have shown a
child, as he reached out his glass. " I only say that both
sides have strong arguments," continued he, addressing
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch. " My education was classical ;
but in this controversy I personally cannot find any
room to stand. I do not see any clear proofs that the
classics must take precedence over the sciences."
" The natural sciences tend just as much to the
pedagogical development of the human mind," replied
Pestsof. " Take astronomy, take botany, and zoology,
each with its system of general laws 1 "
" It seems to me impossible to deny that the very
process of learning the forms of languages has a
specially beneficial influence on mental development.
Moreover, it must be admitted that the influence of the
classic writers is eminently moral ; while, unfortunately
ANNA KARENINA 199
for us, the study of the natural sciences has been com-
pHcated with false and fatal doctrines, which are the
bane of our time."
Sergyei Ivanovitch was going to reply, but Pestsof
interrupted him in his deep voice. He began heatedly
to demonstrate the incorrectness of this statement. Koz-
nuishef calmly waited his chance to speak, evidently
feeling that it would be a victorious rejoinder.
" But," said he, smiling shrewdly, and addressing
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch, "it cannot be denied that it is
a difficult matter completely to balance all the advan-
tages and disadvantages of the two systems of science, and
that the question which is preferable could not be decided
so quickly and definitely if there were not on the side
of the classical civilization that advantage which you
just called the moral — disons le mot — the anti-nihilistic
influence."
" Undoubtedly."
'* If it were not for this advantage of the anti-nihilistic
influence wielded by classic education, we should rather
hesitate, we should weigh the arguments of both sides,"
said Sergyef Ivanovitch, with his shrewd smile. "We
should give scope to both tendencies. But now we
know that in classical education lies the medical power
of anti-nihihsm and we boldly administer it like a pill
to our patients But are we perfectly sure of the
heahng properties of these pills ? " he said in conclusion,
pouring out his Attic salt.
Sergei Ivanovitch's "pills" made every one laugh,
Turovtsuin more boisterously and heartily than the rest ;
for he had been on the lookout for something amusing
to laugh at ever since the conversation began.
Stepan Arkadyevitch had made no mistake in count-
ing on Pestsof. Pestsof never allowed an intellectual con-
versation to flag for a moment. Koznuishef had hardly
finished with his jest when Pestsof began again : —
"One cannot even agree with this idea," said he,
" that morality has this aim. Morality is evidently con-
trolled by general considerations and remains indiffer-
ent to the influences of the measures which may be
200 ANNA KARENINA
taken. For example, the question of higher education
for women should be regarded as dangerous, yet the
government opens the public lectures and the univer-
sities to women."
And the conversation immediately leaped to the new
theme of the education of women.
Alekse'i Aleksandrovitch expressed the thought that
the education of women was too much confused with
the question of the emancipation of women, and could
be considered dangerous only from that point of view.
" I believe, on the contrary, that these two questions
are intimately connected," said Pestsof. " It is a vicious
circle ! Woman is deprived of rights because she is de-
prived of education, and her lack of education comes
from the absence of rights. Let us not forget that the
bondage of woman is so ancient, so interwoven with
our customs, that we are very often incapable of under-
standing the legal abyss that separates her from us."
"You speak of rights," said SergyeY Ivanovitch, as
soon as he had a chance to put in a word ; " is it a
right to fulfil the functions of juror, of municipal coun-
selor, of president of the tribunal, of public function-
ary, of member of parliament ? " ....
"Without doubt."
" But if women can exceptionally fill these functions,
then it seems to me we make a mistake in using the
word rights. It would be fairer to say duties. Every
one agrees that in fulfilling the functions of a juror, of
town counselor, of telegraph employer, we are fulfilling
a duty. Let us say, then, that women are seeking for
duties, and legitimately enough ; in this case we may
sympathize with their desire to take part in man's work."
"That is perfectly fair," affirmed AlekseT Aleksan-
drovitch ; " the question, I suspect, consists in deciding
whether they are capable of fulfilling these duties."
" They will be, certainly, as soon as they have been
generally educated," said Stepan Arkadyevitch. "We
see it .... "
" And the proverb ? " asked the old prince, whose lit-
tle, scornful eyes shone as he listened to this conver-
ANNA KARENINA 201
sation. " I may repeat it before my daughters : * Long
hair...."'i
" That is the way we judged the negroes before their
emancipation ! " said Pestsof, with dissatisfaction.
"What astonishes me," said Sergyef Ivanuitch, "is
that women are seeking new duties, when we see, un-
fortunately, that men generally shirk theirs."
" Duties are accompanied by rights ; honor, influence,
money, these are what women are after," said Pestsof.
" Exactly as if I sohcited the right to become a wet
nurse, and found it hard to be refused, while women are
paid for it," said the old prince.
Turovtsuin burst out laughing, and Sergyelf Ivanovitch
regretted that he had not said that. Even Alekseif
Aleksandrovitch smiled.
" Yes, but a man can't be a wet nurse," said Sergyel
Ivanuitch, " But a woman .... "
" But what is a young girl without any family going
to do .'' " asked Stepan Arkadyevitch, who found reason
to sympathize with Pestsof, as he thought of his little
ballet girl, Chibisovaya.
" If you look closely into the lives of these young
girls," said Darya Aleksandrovna, unexpectedly taking
part in the conversation and showing some irritation,
for it was evident that she suspected what sort of women
Stepan Arkadyevitch meant, "you will doubtless find
that they have left a family or a sister, and that women's
work was within their reach."
" But we are defending a principle, an ideal," an-
swered Pestsof, in his ringing bass. " Woman claims
the right to be independent and educated ; she suffers
from hqr consciousness of being unable to accomplish
this."
" And I suffer from not being admitted as nurse to
the foundling asylum," repeated the old prince, to the
great amusement of Turovtsuin, letting the large end
of a piece of asparagus fall into his sauce.
1 Vo/os dolog, da um korotok : where the hair is long, the intellect is
short; said of women.
202 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XI
lb)! :
All took part in the general conversation except
Kitty and Levin.
At first, when they were talking about the influence
of one people over another, Levin recalled what he
had to say on this subject ; but his thoughts, which at
one time had seemed to him very important, simply
flashed through his mind like notions in a dream, and
now had not the least interest for him ; he even thought
it strange that people could trouble themselves about
such useless questions.
Kitty, for her part, ought to have been interested in
what was said about women's rights and education.
How many times had she pondered over these subjects
as she remembered her friend Varenka, whose depend-
ence was so hard to bear ! How many times had she
thought what she herself would do in case she should not
marry ! How often had she disputed with her sister on
the subject ! But now it did not interest her in the least.
She and Levin had their own talk, and yet it was not
a conversation so much as it was a mysterious affinity,
which brought them nearer and nearer to each other,
and filled them with a joyful timidity before the unknown
which they were about to enter.
At first Kitty asked how he happened to see her in
the summer, and Levin told her that he was returning
from the hay-fields by the highway after the mowing : —
" It was very early in the morning. You had proba-
bly just waked. Your maman was asleep in her corner.
It was a marvelous morning. I was walking along,
saying to myself, 'A carriage with four horses! Whose
can it be.-* ' They were four fine horses with bells. And
quick as a flash you passed by. I saw you through
the door ; you were sitting like this, holding the ribbons
of your bonnet in your hands, and you seemed awfully
deep in thought. How I wished I could know," he
added with a smile, " what you were thinking about J
Was it something very important .-' "
ANNA KARENINA aoj
" Was n't my hair in disorder ? " thought Kitty, but
seeing the enthusiastic smile that lighted up Levin's
face, she felt that on the contrary the impression she
had produced was good, and she replied, blushing and
laughing merrily : —
" Truly, I don't remember."
" How heartily Turovtsuin laughs ! " said Levin,
looking at his moist eyes and his sides shaking with
laughter.
** Have you known him long? " asked Kitty.
" Who does n't know him } "
" And I see that you think that he is a bad man."
" Not bad ; but he does n't amount to much."
"That is unjust. I beg you not to think so any
more," said Kitty. " I, too, once had a very poor
opinion of him; but he is a sweet-tempered and wonder-
fxiWy good man. His heart is gold."
" How can you know what kind of a heart he has .-' "
" We are great friends. I know him very well. Last
winter, a short time after — after you were at our
house," said she, rather guiltily, but with a confiding
smile, ** Dolly's children had the scarlatina, and one day
Turovtsuin happened to call on my sister. Would you
believe it .'' " she said, lowering her voice : " he was so
sorry for her that he stayed to take care of the little
invalids. For three weeks he played nurse to the chil-
dren I am telling Konstantin Dmitritch of Turovt-
suin's kindness at the time of the scarlatina," said she,
turning to her sister.
** Yes, it was remarkable ; it was lovely ! " replied
Dolly, looking with a grateful smile at Turovtsuin, who
was conscious that they were talking about him. Levin
also looked at him, and was surprised that he had never
understood him till then.
" I plead guilty, and I will never again think ill of
people," said he, gayly, speaking honestly, exactly as he
thought at the time.
i04 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XII
The discussion about the emancipation of women led
to talk about the inequality of rights in marriage, and
this was a ticklish subject to speak about in the presence
of the ladies. Pestsof during the dinner several times
touched on this question, but Sergyeif Ivanovitch and
Stepan Arkadyevitch warily diverted him from it. But
as soon as dinner was over and the ladies had retired,
Pestsof addressed Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch and at-
tempted to explain the chief cause of this inequality.
The inequality of rights between husband and wife in
marriage depended, in his opinion, on the fact that the
infidelity of a wife and that of a husband was unequally
punished, both by law and by public opinion.
Stepan Arkadyevitch hastened over to Aleksef Alek-
sandrovitch and offered him a cigar.
" No, I do not smoke," replied Karenin, calmly; and as
if to prove that he was not afraid of this conversation,
he turned toward Pestsof with his icy smile : —
" I imagine that such a view is based on the very
nature of things," said he, and he started to go to the
drawing-room ; but here Turovtsuin suddenly spoke up,
addressing AlekseY Aleksandrovitch.
"Have you heard the story about Priatchnikof .■* " he
asked. He was animated by the champagne, and had
been impatiently waiting for a chance to break a silence
which weighed heavily on him. "Vasia Priatchnikof .''"
he repeated, with a good-natured smile on his thick lips,
red and moist, and he addressed AlekseY Aleksandro-
vitch, as the most important guest. " I was told this
morning that he fought a duel at Tver, with Kvitsky,
and killed him."
As it always seems as if a sore spot were peculiarly
liable to be hit, so now Stepan Arkadyevitch thought
the conversation was fated every moment to touch Alek-
seY Aleksandrovitch on the sore spot. He was on the
point of going to his brother-in-law's assistance ; but
AlekseY Aleksandrovitch asked, with curiosity : —
ANNA KARENINA 205
"Why did Priatchnikof fight a duel?"
" On account of his wife ; he behaved bravely about
it, — he challenged the other man, and killed him."
" Ah ! " said Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, with uncon-
cern ; and, raising his eyebrows, he went to the drawing-
room.
Dolly met him in a little parlor leading into the draw-
ing-room, and said, smiling timidly : —
" How glad I am that you came ! I want to talk with
you. Let us sit down here."
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, preserving the air of indif-
ference caused by his elevated eyebrows, sat down near
her, pretending to smile.
" All the more willingly," said he, " as I wish to ask
you to excuse me for leaving you as soon as possible.
I have to go away to-morrow morning."
Darya Aleksandrovna was firmly convinced of Anna's
innocence, and she was conscious of growing pale and
trembling with anger before this heartless, unfeel-
ing man, who coolly proposed to ruin her innocent
friend.
" AlekseT Aleksandrovitch," she said with desperate
firmness, looking him full in the face, " I asked you
about Anna, and you did not reply ; how is she .■' "
" I think that she is well, Darya Aleksandrovna,"
replied Karenin, without looking at her.
" Pardon me, if I have no right to insist on it .... but I
love Anna like a sister ; tell me, I beseech you, what
has happened between you and her, and what do you
accuse her of."
AlekseY Aleksandrovitch frowned, and bent his head,
almost closing his eyes : —
" Your husband must have told you, I think, the rea-
sons which oblige me to break my relations with Anna
Arkady evna," said he, avoiding her eyes but casting a
glance of annoyance at Shcherbatsky, who was passing
through the room.
" I do not believe it, I do not believe it ! and I can-
not believe it ! " murmured Dolly, pressing her thin hands
together energetically. She rose quickly, and, touching
^o6 ANNA KARENINA
AlekseT Aleksandrovitch's arm, said, "We shall be dis-
turbed here; let us go in there, please."
Dolly's emotion communicated itself to Aleksei' Alek-
sandrovitch ; he arose, and submissively followed her
into the children's schoolroom. They seated themselves
at a table covered with an oil-cloth, hacked with pen-
knives.
" I don't believe it, I don't believe it ! " repeated
Dolly, trying to catch his eye, which avoided hers.
" One cannot d^ny facts, Darya Aleksandrovna," said
he, dwelling on the word facfs.
** But what has she done .■* " insisted Darya Aleksan-
drovna, " precisely what has she done .'' "
" She has failed to do her duty, and been false to her
husband. That is what'she has done," said he.
" No, no ! it is impossible ! no, thank the Lord, you
are mistaken ! " cried Dolly, putting her hands to her
temples, and closing her eyes.
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch smiled coldly with his lips
only ; he wished to prove to Dolly, and to prove to him-
self, the firmness of his conviction. But this heated de-
fense of his wife, though it did not shake him, irritated
his wound. He spoke with more animation : —
" It is difficult to make a mistake when a woman her-
self declares to her husband that eight years of married
life and a son count for nothing, and that she wishes to
begin life over again," he replied angrily, dilating his
nostrils.
" Anna and vice ! I cannot associate the two ideas ; I
cannot believe it."
*♦ Darya Aleksandrovna ! " — said he, angrily, now
looking straight at Dolly's distressed face, and feeling
his tongue involuntarily unloosed, — " I would give a
great deal to be able stfll to have any doubts ! When I
was in doubt about it, it was hard for me, but easier
than it is now. When I doubted, there was still hope.
Now there is no hope, and I have doubted everything.
I am so full of doubt that I detest my son, and some-
times I do not believe that he is my son. I am very
unhappy ! "
ANNA KARENINA 207
He had no need to say that. Darya Aleksandrovna
understood it as soon as she looked into his face. She
pitied him, and her faith in her friend's innocence was
shaken.
" Oh ! it is terrible, terrible ! but is it true that you are
really decided about the divorce .-' "
" I have decided to take this last measure. There
was nothing else for me to do."
" Don't do it ! Don't do it ! " cried Dolly, with tears
in her eyes. " No, don't do it ! "
" The most dreadful thing about a misfortune of this
kind is that one cannot bear his cross as in any other,
— a loss or a death, — and here one must do something,"
said he, apparently divining Dolly's thought. " One must
escape from the humiliating position in which one is
placed ; 071 ne petit vivre a trois ! "
" I understand, I understand perfectly," replied Dolly,
bowing her head. She was silent, thinking of herself,
of her own domestic troubles ; but suddenly with an en-
ergetic movement she raised her head, and with a suppli-
cating gesture she folded her hands.
"But wait," she said ; "you are a Christian, think of
her ! What will become of her if you abandon her ? "
" I have thought of it, Darya Aleksandrovna. I have
thought a great deal about it," said Aleksei Aleksan-
drovitch. His face was covered with red blotches and
his troubled eyes looked straight at her. Darya Alek-
sandrovna pitied him now from the bottom of her heart.
" I did this very thing after she herself had told me of
her disgrace. I put everything on the old footing. I
gave her the chance of reformation. I tried to save her.
What did she do then .-' She paid no attention to the
easiest of demands, — observance of propriety ! " he
added, choking. " One can save a man who does not
want to perish ; but if his whole nature is so corrupt, so
rotten, that ruin itself seems salvation, what can be
done }"
" Everything, except divorce," replied Darya Alek-
sandrovna.
" What do you mean by everything ? "
2o8 ANNA KARENINA
" No, that is horrible ! She will no longer be any
one's wife. She will be lost ! "
" What can I do ? " replied Karenin, raising his shoul-
ders and his eyebrows ; and the memory of his wife's
last offense so angered him that he became as cool as
at the beginning of the conversation. " I am very grate-
ful to you for your sympathy, but I must go," he added,
rising.
" No, wait a moment ! you must not give her up :.
listen to me ; I speak from experience. I, too, was
married, and my husband deceived me : in my jealousy
and indignation, I wished to abandon everything ; but I
considered the matter, and who saved me? Anna!
Now I am living again. Now my children are growing
up, my husband has returned to his family, regrets his
wrong-doing, is growing better, nobler. I live, I have
forgiven him ; and you ought to forgive her ! "
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch listened ; but Dolly's words
had no effect on him. Again in his soul arose the anger
of that day when he decided on a divorce. He shook
himself and spoke in a loud, penetrating voice : —
" I cannot, nor do I wish to forgive her. It would be
unjust. I have done what was next to impossible for
this woman, and she has trampled everything into the
mire, which seems to be her element. I am not a bad
man, and I have never hated anybody before ; but her I
hate with all the strength of my soul, and I cannot for-
give her, for I hate her too much for all the wrong she
has done me ! " and tears of anger trembled in his voice.
" Love them that hate you," murmured Dolly, almost
ashamed.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch smiled scornfully. He was
familiar with these words, but they did not apply to his
case.
" We can love those who hate us, but to love those
whom we hate is impossible. I beg your pardon for
having troubled you : sufficient unto every man is his
own burden." And having recovered his self-possession,
Alekself Aleksandrovitch calmly took leave of Dolly,
and went away.
ANNA KARENINA 209
CHAPTER XIII
When the company arose from dinner Levin wanted
'to follow Kitty into the drawing-room, but he was afraid,
not that it would be disagreeable to her, but that it would
be too obvious a wooing of her. So he remained with
the men, and took part in the general conversation.
And without looking at Kitty, he was conscious of her
motions, of her glances, and of the place where she was
in the drawing-room. Without the least effort he im-
mediately began to fulfil the promise that he had made
her to love all men, and to think nothing but good of
them.
The conversation turned on the commune in Russia,
which Pestsof considered as the beginning of what he
called a new order of things. Levin agreed as little
with him as he did with Sergyei' Ivanovitch, who it
seemed to him recognized, and at the same time denied,
the value of this institution ; but he talked with them,
trying only to reconcile them and tone down their ex-
citabiHty. He was not in the least interested in what
he himself said and was still less interested in what
they said, but his one desire was, to see all of them
happy and contented. He now realized what one thing
was important. And that one was at first yonder in the
drawing-room and afterward moved about and was now
near the door. Without turning around he was con-
scious of a look and a smile fixed on him, and he could
not help looking. She was standing there with Shcher-
batsky, and looking at him.
" I thought you were going to the piano," said he,
approaching her. " Music is what I have to do without
in the country."
" No, we merely came to find you ; and I thank you
for coming to us," she replied, recompensing him with
a smile. " What pleasure can there be in discussing ?
Really, no one ever convinced another."
" Yes ; that is true ! " said Levin. " It generally hap«
pens that you get excited in a discussion simply from
VOL. II. — 14
2IO ANNA KARENINA
the fact that you can never tell exactly what your oppo*
nent is trying to show."
Levin had many times noticed that in discussions
among clever people, after an immense output of energy,
an immense array of logical terms and subtleties, the*
disputants came at last to an acknowledgment that
what they had been so interminably striving to prove
to each other, was a matter of common knowledge from
the very beginning, but that they liked something dif-
ferent and therefore were not willing to acknowledge
what they liked, so as not to be controverted. He had
often met with the experience that in the midst of a
dispute you find what your opponent likes, and sud-
denly you find that you yourself like the same thing,
and you immediately agree, and then all your argu-
ments fall to the ground as useless. But sometimes
he had had the opposite experience : you at last say
what you like and evolve your arguments and if per-
chance you speak well and sincerely, suddenly your
opponent assents and ceases to uphold the other side.
This is exactly what he meant.
She wrinkled her brows, trying to comprehend. But
as soon as he began to explain, her mind grasped his
meaning. " I understand : one must make sure why
he is disputing, what he likes .... if possible .... "
She had fully grasped and expressed his badly
phrased idea.
Levin smiled with rapture ; so striking was the tran-
sition from the complicated prolix discussion between
Pestsof and his brother to this clear, laconic, almost
wordless communication of the most abstruse thoughts !
Shcherbatsky stepped away ; and Kitty, going to a
card-table, sat down, and taking a piece of chalk in
her hand began to draw circles on the green cloth.
They took up the topic which was under discussion at
dinner : as to the emancipation and occupation of women.
Levin was inclined to agree with Darya Aleksandrovna,
that a girl who was not going to marry would find femi-
nine occupations in some family. He urged that not a
single family can get along without some female help;
ANNA KARENINA 211
that every family, however poor or rich, has and must
have some one to look after the children.
" No," said Kitty, blushing but looking at him frankly
with her honest eyes ; " a girl may be so situated that
she cannot without humiliation go into a family, but she
herself .... "
He understood what she hinted at.
" Oh, yes," he said ; " yes, yes, yes, you are right."
And he realized all that Pestsof was trying to prove
at dinner about the freedom of women merely by the
fact that he saw in Kitty's heart a maiden's dread of
humiliation, and, loving her, he experienced this dread
and this humiliation, and immediately renounced his
former arguments.
A silence ensued. She went on making designs with
the chalk on the table. Her eyes shone with a gentle
gleam. Submitting to her mood, he felt in his being
all the increasing tension of happiness.
" Akh ! I have covered the table with my scrawls,"
said she, laying down the chalk, with a movement as if
she were going to rise.
" How can I stay alone without her.?" thought Levin,
terrified, and picking up the chalk.
** Wait," said he, sitting down at the table. " I have
wanted for a long time to ask you something."
He looked straight into her affectionate but never-
theless startled eyes.
" Please, what \s it } "
"This is it," said he, taking the chalk, and writing
the letters w, y, s, i, i, i, w, i, i, t, o, a ? These letters
were the initials of the words, " When you said, ' It is
impossible,' was it impossible then, or always ? "
It was not at all likely that Kitty would be able to
make out this complicated question. Levin looked at
her, nevertheless, as if his life depended on whether
she could guess these words or not.
She looked at him gravely, then rested her forehead
on her hand and tried to decipher it. Occasionally she
would look up at him, asking him with her eyes : " Isr
what I think right ? "
212 ANNA KARENINA
" I know what it is," said she, blushing.
"What is this word?" he asked, pointing to the i of
the word impossible.
" That letter stands for impossible. The word is not
right," she replied.
He quickly rubbed out what he had written, gave the
chalk to her, and stood up.
She wrote : t, /, c, n, a, d.
Dolly, seeing her sister with the chalk in her hand, a
timid and happy smile on her lips, raising her eyes to
Levin, who was leaning over the table, beaming now
at her, now at the cloth, felt consoled for the grief
caused by her conversation with Aleksef Aleksan-
drovitch. His face suddenly grew radiant; he had
understood the reply : "Then I could not answer differ-
ently T
He looked at Kitty timidly and inquiringly.
" Only then ? "
"Yes," replied the young girl's smile.
" B, n — but now } " he asked.
" Read this. I will tell you what I wish, what I wish
very much ; " and she quickly traced the initials, t,y, in,
f, a,f, zv, t,p.
This meant : " That you might forgive and forget
what took place!'
He seized the chalk in turn, with his excited, trem-
bling fingers, and crushing it wrote down the initials of
these words : " / have nothing to forgive and forget. I
have never ceased to love yon!'
Kitty looked at him, and her smile died away.
"I understand," she murmured.
He sat down and wrote a long phrase. She compre-
hended it and without even asking is it thus and so,
took the chalk and instantly replied.
It was some time before he made out what she wrote
and had to keep looking into her eyes. His wits were
dulled by his happiness. He could not supply the
words which she intended ; but in her lovely eyes, radiant
with joy, he understood all that he needed to know.
And he wrote three letters. But he had not finished
ANNA KARENINA 213
writing them ere she read them under his hand and her-
self finished the sentence and answered it!
"Yes."
"You are playing secretaire, are you," said the old
prince, coming up to them. "Well, if you are going
to the theater it is time to start."
Levin rose and accompanied Kitty to the door.
This conversation decided everything ; Kitty had
acknowledged her love for him, and had given him per-
mission to come the next morning to speak to her
parents.
CHAPTER XIV
After Kitty had gone and Levin was left alone, he
felt such a restlessness and such an unendurable long-
ing for the morning to come when he might see her
again and settle his destiny forever, that he dreaded, as
he dreaded death, the fourteen hours which he should
have to endure without her. He felt it absolutely neces-
sary to be with and to talk with some one so as not to
remain alone, so as to cheat the time. Stepan Arka-
dy evitch, whom he would have liked to keep with him,
was going, so he said, to a reception, but in reality to
the ballet. Levin could only tell him that he was
happy, and should never, never forget what he owed
to him. Stepan Arkadyevitch's eyes and smile showed
Levin that he suitably appreciated his feelings.
" What ! Then you have nothing more to say about
dying .' " said Oblonsky, pressing his friend's hand affec-
tionately.
" N-n-n-no," replied the latter.
Darya Aleksandrovna, too, almost congratulated him
when she bade him good night. She said, " How glad
I am that you have made up with Kitty ; we ought
to prize old friends ! " and her words displeased Levin,
She could not comprehend how lofty and inaccessible
to her all this was for him, and she should not have
dared to refer to it. Levin took his departure, but, to
avoid being alone, he joined his brother.
214 ANNA KARENINA
" Where are you going ? "
"To a meeting."
" Well ! I '11 go with you. May I ? "
" Why not .-' " said Sergyef Ivanovitch, smiling. "What
has happened to you to-day .-* "
" What has happened } Good fortune," said Levin,
letting down the carriage-window. " Have you any
objection ? I am suffocating. Good fortune has hap-
pened to me ! Why have you never been married ? "
Sergyef Ivanovitch smiled.
" I am delighted; she seems like a splendid gi...." he
began.
" No, don't say anything about it, don't say anything
about it ! " cried Levin, clutching the collar of his shuba
with both hands, and covering his face with the fur, A
splendid g'ir/ ; what commonplace words ! and how
feebly they corresponded to his feelings !
Sergyef Ivanovitch laughed a gay laugh ; this was a
rare occurrence with him.
" I should think I might say that I am very glad of
this ! "
" To-morrow, to-morrow you may speak ; but not an-
other word now, not another word, not another word !
Be silent," said Levin, and pulling his shuba still higher
round his face, he added : " I love you very much.
But tell me, may I go to your meeting?"
" Of course you may."
" What is your subject for discussion to-night.?" asked
Levin, still smiling.
They reached their destination. Levin heard the
secretary stammer through the report, which evidently
he did not understand; but he could see, from this
secretary's face, that he was a good, amiable, sympa-
thetic fellow ; it was evident from the way that he hesi-
tated and became confused while reading.
Then came the debates. They discussed about the
disposal of certain sums of money, and the laying of
certain sewer-pipes. Sergyel Ivanovitch attacked two
members of the commission, and made a long, trium-
phant speech against them ; after which another mem-
ANNA KARENINA 215
ber, reading from a paper, after some timid hesitation,
replied briefly in a charming though bitter fashion ; and
then Sviazhsky, — he too was there, — in his turn, ex-
pressed his opinions nobly and eloquently.
Levin listened and clearly saw that neither the money
to be expended nor the sewer-pipes were of serious im-
portance ; and that they were not really quarreling but
were all such pleasant, congenial people, and conse-
quently all was serene among them. They interfered
with no one and all seemed happy. Levin noticed with
surprise that they all seemed to him to-day transparent,
that — from some trifling incidents which once would
have entirely escaped his notice — he could read their
souls, and see how good they all were. Especially did they
seem to like him, Levin. This was shown by the way
they talked with him, and even those who did not know
him looked at him pleasantly and in a friendly manner.
" Well, how do you like it.-* " asked Sergyei" Ivanovitch.
" Very much ; I never should have believed that it
would be so interesting. It is splendid."
Sviazhsky approached Levin and invited him to come
and take a cup of tea at his house. Levin could not
for the life of him comprehend or remember why he
had been prejudiced against Sviazhsky, or what he had
seemed to him to lack. He was a clever and wonder-
fully good fellow,
" I should be delighted," rephed Levin, and he imme-
diately inquired after Madame Sviazhsky and her sister.
By a strange association of ideas, as Sviazhsky's sister-
in-law suggested marriage, he concluded that nobody
would be more interested than she and her sister to hear
of his happiness. So he was very much pleased with
the idea of going to see them.
Sviazhsky questioned him about his affairs, always
refusing to admit that anything could be discovered
which had not already been discovered in Europe ; but
now his theory did not arouse Levin's opposition. On
the contrary, he felt that Sviazhsky was right, and
Levin admired the gentleness and delicacy with which
he avoided the expression of his arguments.
2i6 ANNA KARENINA
The ladies were especially charming. It seemed to
Levin that they knew all, and that they shared his joy,
but that they avoided speaking of it from discretion.
He remained for three hours, talking on various sub-
jects, and continually alluding to what filled his soul,
without noticing that he was mortally tiring his friends,
and that they were falling asleep.
At last, Sviazhsky, yawning, accompanied him to the
vestibule, very much surprised at the strange state of
mind in which his friend seemed to be. It was two
o'clock ! Levin reached his hotel and was aghast at
the thought of passing the next ten hours alone, a prey
to his impatience. The watchman who was on duty in
the corridor lighted his candles, and was about to with-
draw when Levin stopped him. This fellow, who was
called Yegor and whom Levin had never before noticed,
seemed like a good, intelligent man, and, above all, kind-
hearted.
" Tell me, Yegor, don't you find it hard to go without
your sleep .'' "
" What can I do about it .'' It is our calling. We
have an easier time in gentlemen's houses, but here we
get larger wages."
It seemed that Yegor was the father of a family of
four children, — three boys, and a girl trained as a seam-
stress, whom he hoped to marry to a harness-maker's
clerk.
Levin seized this opportunity to communicate his ideas
about love in marriage to Yegor, remarking that people
are always happy where there is love, because their hap-
piness is in themselves.
Yegor listened attentively, and evidently understood
Levin's meaning ; but he confirmed it by an unexpected
reflection, — that when he, Yegor, had served good mas-
ters, he had always been satisfied with them, and that he
was contented with his master now, although he was a
Frenchman.
" What a wonderfully good fellow ! " thought Levin.
" Well, and did you love your wife, Yegor, when you
married her ? "
ANNA KARENINA 217
"Why should n't I have loved her? " replied Yegor,
And Levin noticed Yegor also grew very enthusiastic
and was eager to confide to him his inmost thoughts.
" My life, too, has been extraordinary," he began, his
eyes shining, overcome by Levin's enthusiasm as one
catches a yawning fit. " From my childhood .... "
But the bell rang ; Yegor departed, and Levin was
left alone.
He had eaten scarcely anything at dinner. He had
refused to take any tea or supper at Sviazhsky's, yet even
now he could not think of eating. He had not slept the
preceding night, yet he did not think of sleeping now. His
room was cold, but it seemed so stifling that he could
not breathe. He opened both casements, and sat down
on a table in front of one. Above the roofs covered
with snow rose the carved cross of a church, and higher
still were the triangular constellation of the Charioteer
and the bright yellow Capella. He breathed in the
cold air which filled his room, and looked now at the
cross, now at the stars, rising as in a dream among
the figures and memories called up by his imagination.
Toward four o'clock in the morning he heard footsteps
in the corridor ; he opened his door, and saw a gambler
named Miaskin, whom he knew, returning from his club.
He walked along, coughing, gloomy, and scowling.
" Poor, unfortunate fellow ! " thought Levin, and his
eyes filled with tears of pity and love for that man. He
wanted to stop him, to speak to him, and console him ;
but, remembering that he was undressed, he thought
better of it, went back, and sat down to bathe himself in
the icy air, and to look at the silent, foreign-looking
cross, so full of meaning to him, and at the brilliant,
yellow star poised above it.
Toward seven o'clock the men polishing the floors
began to make a noise, the bells rang for early morning
service, and Levin began to feel that he was taking cold.
He closed the window, made his toilet, and went out.
»ia ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XV
The streets were still deserted. Levin walked to the
Shcherbatskys' house. The principal entrance was still
closed, and every one was asleep.
He returned to the hotel, went to his room, and asked
for coffee. The day watchman, and not Yegor, brought
it to him. Levin wished to enter into conversation
with him ; but some one rang for him, and he went out.
Then Levin tried to take his coffee, and put a piece
of kalatch into his mouth, but his mouth did not know
what to do with the bread ! He eschewed it and put
on his overcoat, and went out to walk again. It was just
ten o'clock when he reached the Shcherbatskys' steps
for the second time. They were beginning to get up ;
the cook was going to market. He would have to wait
at least two hours longer.
Levin had passed the whole night and the morning
completely oblivious of the material conditions of exist-
ence: he had neither eaten nor slept; had been exposed,
with almost no clothing, to the cold for several hours ;
and he not only was fresh and hearty, but he was uncon-
scious of his body; he moved without using his muscles,
and felt capable of doing anything. He was persuaded
that he could fly through the air or jump over the top
of a house if it were necessary. He roamed about the
streets to pass away the time, consulting his watch every
moment or two, and looking about him.
What he saw that day he never saw again. He was
particularly struck by the children on their way to school ;
the dark blue pigeons flying from the roof to the side-
walk ; the sa'ikas or little cakes powdered with flour
that an invisible hand was arranging in a window.
These cakes, these pigeons, and two little lads were
celestial objects. All this happened at once ; one
of the little lads ran toward a pigeon, and looked at
Levin, smiling ; the pigeon flapped its wings, and flew
off glittering in the sunlight through a cloud of fine
snow; and the smell of hot bread came through the
ANNA KARENINA 219
window where the safkas were displayed. All these
things, taken as a whole, produced so lively an impres-
sion on Levin that he laughed aloud until the tears
came. After going around by the Gazetnaya and Kis-
lovka streets, he went back to the hotel, sat down,
placed his watch before him, and waited till the hands
pointed to the hour of noon.
In the next room some one was talking about ma-
chines and hoaxes, and some one coughed a morning
cough. The person did not know that the hour hand/
was approaching twelve.
The hour pointed to twelve. Levin went to the steps
of the hotel. The izvoshchiks evidently knew all about
it. With happy faces they surrounded him, with eager
emulation offering their services; striving not to offend
the others and promising to take them some other time,
he made his choice and ordered the man to drive to
the Shcherbatskys'. The izvoshchik was charming,
with his white shirt-collar above his kaftan surrounding
his strong, red neck. He had a comfortable sleigh,
more comfortable than ordinary sleighs, — such a sleigh
as Levin had never seen before, and the horse was
good, and did his best to run, but did not stir from the
spot ! The izvoshchik knew the Shcherbatsky house ;
he stopped before the door flourishing his arms, and
turned respectfully toward Levin, saying " tprru " to
his horse.
The Shcherbatskys' Swiss knew all about it, surely ;
that was plain from the look in his eyes and the way he
said : —
" Well ! it is a long time since you have been here,
Konstantin Dmitritch."
Not only did he know what had happened, but he
was full of delight, and tried to conceal his joy. Levin
felt a shade happier when he caught the old man's good-
natured eyes.
" Are they up .? "
" Please come in. Leave that here," added the Swiss
as Levin was turning back to get his cap. That surely
had some significance.
aao ANNA KARENINA
" To whom shall I announce you, sir ? " asked a
jackey.
This lackey, though young, new in the house, and
with some pretension to elegance, was very obliging,
very attentive, and he, too, seemed to understand the
situation.
" To the princess .... I mean the prince .... no, the
young princess," ^ replied Levin.
The first person whom he met was Mademoiselle
-Linon. She was passing through the "hall," radiant
in her little curls and her shining face. He had hardly
spoken to her when the rustling of a dress was heard
at the door. Mademoiselle Linon disappeared from
before his eyes, and a joyous trepidation at the thought
of the happiness so near took possession of him. Made-
moiselle Linon hastened away and vanished through
another door. She had hardly gone when swift light
steps were heard pattering on the inlaid floor, and
his happiness, his life, the better part of himself, that
which he had yearned for so long, drew near. She did
not walk ; some invisible power seemed to bring her
toward him.
He saw only her bright, truthful eyes, filled with the
same timid joy of love that filled his own heart. These
eyes, shining nearer and nearer to him, almost blinded
him with their light of |ove.
She stood before him, almost touching him ; then she
placed her two hands gently on his shoulders.
She did all that she could : she went to him ; she
gave herself to him, trembling and happy. He folded
her in his arms, and pressed his lips to hers, expectant
of his kiss.
She, too, had not slept at all that night, and she had
been waiting for him all the morning.
Her parents were perfectly agreed, and happy in her
happiness. She had been on the watch for his coming.
* Knyaginya, knyaz\ knyazhna. Knyaginya is the Russian title of a
married princess ; it also means in popular usage a bride, as knya^
means prince and bridegroom ; knyazhna is applied to an unmarried
princess.
ANNA KARENINA 221
She wanted to be the first to tell him of their happiness.
She was prepared to meet him alone, and she was full
of joy at the thought, and yet she was shy and con-
fused, and hardly knew what she was going to do. She
had heard his steps and voice, and hid herself behind the
door to wait till Mademoiselle Linon had gone. Made-
moiselle Linon went. Then without any delay, without
questioning further, she came to him and did as she did.
" Now, let us find mamma," said she, taking his hand.
For a long time he could not utter a word, not so
much because he was afraid of lessening the intensity
of his joy by words, but because every time he tried to
say anything he felt that instead of words, tears of joy
burst forth ; his tears choked him. He took her hand,
and kissed it.
" Is it really true ? " he said at last in a husky voice.
" I cannot believe that you love me."
She smiled at the way he used the second person
singular, and at the timidity with which he looked at
her.
"Yes," she replied, slowly lingering on this word.
" I am so happy ! "
Without letting go his hand, she went with him into
the drawing-room. As soon as the princess saw them,
she began to breathe fast and then she burst into tears,
and then she laughed, and with an energetic movement
which Levin was not prepared for she ran to him, seized
his head, and kissed him, bedewing his face with her
tears.
" So all is settled ? I am delighted. Love her. I
am so glad .... for you .... Kitty ! "
" It did n't take you long to arrange matters," said the
old prince, trying to appear calm ; but Levin saw his
eyes were full with tears, as he looked at him.
" It is something I have long been anxious for,"
said the prince, taking Levin's hand and drawing him
toward him. " And even when this little giddy-pate
thought .... "
" Papa ! " cried Kitty, putting her hand over his
mouth.
122 ANNA KARENINA
"Well, I won't say anything," said he. "I am very
.... very .... hap .... Akh ! how stupid I am ! "
And he took Kitty in his arms, kissed her face, her
hands, and then her face again, blessing her with the
sign of the cross.
And Levin was filled by a new feeling of affection
for the old prince when he saw how tenderly and fer-
vently Kitty kissed his great, strong hand.
CHAPTER XVI
The princess was sitting in her easy-chair, silent and
beaming ; the prince was sitting beside her ; Kitty was
standing near her father, holding his hand. AH of
them were silent.
The princess was the first to bring their thoughts and
feelings back to the affairs of real life ; and the transi-
tion gave each of them, for a moment, a strange and
painful impression.
" When shall the wedding be .-* We must announce
the marriage, and have them betrothed. But when
shall the wedding be .-' What do you think about it,
Aleksandr } "
" There is the person most interested," said the prince,
pointing to Levin.
" When ? " replied the latter, reddening. " To-mor-
row ! If you wish my opinion ; to-day, the betrothal ;
to-morrow, the wedding."
"There, there, that'll do, mo7i cher ; no nonsense! "
" Well, in a week, then."
" One would really suppose that you had lost your
senses."
" But why not .? "
" Mercy on us ! " said the mother, smiling gayly at his
impatience. "And the trousseau f
"Is it possible that a troiissean and all the rest are in-
dispensable.''" thought Levin, with alarm. "However,
neither the trousseau, nor the betrothal, nor anything
else, can spoil my happiness ! Nothing can do that ! "
ANNA KARENINA 223
He looked at Kitty, and noticed that the idea of the
trousseau did not offend her at all. " It must be very
necessary," he said to himself. " I admit that I know
nothing about it. I have merely expressed my desire,"
said he, excusing himself.
" We will consider the matter ; now we will have the
betrothal, and announce the marriage. That is what
we will do."
The princess stepped up to her husband, kissed him,
and was about to move away again ; but he held her,
and kissed her again and again, like a young lover.
The two old people seemed agitated, and ready to be-
lieve that it was not their daughter who was to be mar-
ried, but them.selves.
When the prince and princess had gone out. Levin
approached his fiancee, and took her hand ; he had re-
gained his self-possession, and could speak ; he had
many other things on his mind to tell her, but he did
not say at all what he intended to say.
" I knew that it would be like this ; at the bottom of
my heart I was sure of it, without ever daring to hope.
I believe that it was predestined."
" And I," replied Kitty, " even when," — she hesi-
tated, then continued, looking at him resolutely out of
her sincere eyes, — " even when I rejected my happi-
ness. I never loved anybody but you ; I was led away.
I ought to tell you .... I must ask you, can you for-
get it .? "
" Perhaps it was best that it should be so. You, too,
will have to pardon me, for I must confess to you." ....
This was one of the things he had on his mind to tell
her. He had decided to confess everything to her, from
his earliest life, — first, that he was not so pure as she,
and then that he was not a believer. This was cruel,
but he thought it his duty to make these confessions to
her.
" No, not now ; later," said he.
" Very well, later, but be sure to tell me. I am not
afraid of anything. I want to know all, everything,
now it is decided 1 "
224 ANNA KARENINA
" Is it decided," he interrupted, " that you take me
just as I am ? you do not take back your word ! "
"No, oh, no! "
Their conversation was interrupted by Mademoiselle
Linon, who, trying to look properly serious, came to
congratulate her favorite pupil. She had not left the
drawing-room before the servants came to offer their
congratulations. Next came the relatives and friends ;
and this was the beginning of that absurdly happy
period, from which Levin did not emerge till the day
after his marriage.
Although he felt constrained and ill at ease all the
time, yet the force of his happiness kept increasing.
He felt all the time that much which he knew nothing
about would be required of him, and he did everything
that he was told to do, and all this served to increase
his joy. He imagined that his engagement would not
be in the least like others ; that the ordinary conditions
of an engagement would destroy his especial happiness.
But it came about that he did exactly as everybody
else did in such cases, and his happiness for this very
reason kept increasing and grew more and more peculiar
and did not change, and was in no respect like that of
other men.
" Now," said Mademoiselle Linon, " we shall have all
the candy we wish for ; " and Levin ran to buy candy.
"Well, very glad!" said Sviazhsky. "I advise you
to get your bouquets at Fomin's."
" Do you .-* " said Levin ; and he went to Fomin's.
His brother told him he would have to borrow money,
because there would be many expenses for presents and
other things.
" For presents .-' Really .-"" and he started off on the
run to buy jewelry at Fulda's.
At the confectioner's, at Fomin's, at Fulda's, he
found that every one expected him, and every one
seemed glad and rejoiced in his happiness, as did every
one with whom he had to do those days. It was an
extraordinary thing that not only did they all love him,
but, strange as it may seem, even those who before had
ANNA KARENINA 225
seemed cold, unsympathetic, and indifferent approved
of him in every way, treated his feeUngs with delicacy
and gentleness, and shared his convictions that he was
the happiest man in the world, because his " bride " was
the pink of perfection.
Kitty also had the same feeling.
When the Countess Nordstone alluded to the more
briUiant hopes that she had conceived for her friend,
Kitty became angry, and declared so vehemently that
no one in the world could be better than Levin, that the
countess had to confess it, and when Kitty was present
she never met Levin without smiling enthusiastically.
The confession which he had promised was a very
trying incident of this period. He consulted the old
prince, and, acting on his advice. Levin gave Kitty his
journal in which were written out all the matters
that troubled him. He had written this diary pur-
posely to show to the one whom he should marry.
Two things tormented him : his sins against virtue and
his unbelief.
The confession of his unbelief passed almost un-
noticed. She was religious and had never doubted the
truths of her religion, but her lover's superficial skepti-
cism did not trouble her very much. She knew through
love his whole soul and in his soul she found all that
she wanted. It was of little importance to her that
he termed the state of his soul incredulity. But the
second acknowledgment caused her to shed bitter tears.
Levin had a great struggle with himself before he
decided to let her read his diary. He knew that be-
tween him and her there could be and should be no
secrets, and therefore he resolved that he must do it;
but he did not realize what an effect it would have on a
young girl.
Only when, as he entered Kitty's room one evening
before going to the theater, and saw her lovely face
bathed in tears and unhappy with the irreparable woe
that he had caused, did he perceive the abyss that sepa-
rated his shameful past from her dovelike purity, and
he was horror-stricken at what he had done.
VOL. II. — 15
226 ANNA KARENINA
" Take back these terrible papers, take them back ! "
she said, pushing away the sheets lying on the table.
" Why did you give them to me ? However, perhaps
it was for the best," she added, seized with pity at the
sight of Levin's despairing face. " But it is terrible,
terrible!"
He hung his head, and had nothing to say.
I'f'iYou will not forgive me ! " he murmured.
js.ff Yes, I have forgiven you ; but it is terrible ! "
However, his happiness was so immense that this con-
fession did not diminish it, but only served to add a
shade more to it. She forgave him. From that time
he counted himself still more unworthy of her; morally,
he bowed down still lower before her and treasured the
happiness that he had gained still higher. He under-
stood the worth of it still better after this pardon.
CHAPTER XVn
When he returned to his lonely room, Alekseif Alek-
sandrovitch involuntarily recalled, little by little, the con-
versations that had taken place at the dinner and in the
evening. Darya Aleksandrovna's words about pardon
merely aroused his vexation. Whether he should apply
the Christian rule to his case or not, was a question too
difficult to be lightly decided ; besides, he had already
considered this question, and decided it in the negative.
Of all that had been said that day, the remark of that
good stupid Turovtsuin had made the liveliest impression
on his mind : —
He did bravely, for he challenged the other man and
killed him.
Evidently all approved this conduct ; although out of
pohteness they had not said so openly.
" However, this matter is ended ; it is useless to think
about it," said Aleksei" Aleksandrovitch to himself ; and
giving no more thought to anything except the prepara-
tions for his departure and his tour of inspection, he
went to his room and asked of the Swiss who showed
ANNA KARENINA 227
him the way if he had seen his valet. The Swiss said
his valet had only just gone out. Aleksef Aleksandro-
vitch ordered tea to be brought, and sitting down at the
table opened a railway guide and began to study the
departure of trains for his journey.
" Two telegrams," said his valet, returning and coming
into the room. "Will your Excellency please excuse
me, I have only just stepped out.-*"
Aleksel Aleksandrovitch took the telegrams and
opened them; the first announced the nomination of
Stremof to the place for which he had been ambitious.
AlekseT Aleksandrovitch threw down the despatch,
and with a flushed face began to walk back and forth
through the room.
" Qiios vult perdcTe dementat,'' said he, applying quos
to all those who had taken part in this nomination. He
was not disturbed by the fact that he himself had not
been nominated, that he had evidently been outwitted ;
but it was incomprehensible to him — amazing — that they
could not see that Stremof, that babbler, that speechifier,
was the least fitted of all men for the place. Could they
not understand that they were ruining themselves, that
they were destroying their prestige, by such a choice }
" Some more news of the same sort," he thought with
bitterness as he opened the second telegram. It was
from his wife ; her name, " Anna," in blue pencil, was
the first thing that struck his eyes.
I am dying. I beg you to come ; I shall die easier if I
have your forgiveness.
He read these words with scorn, and threw the paper
on the floor.
That there was some piece of trickery, some decep-
tion, in this, admitted of no doubt in his mind at first
thought.
" There is no deceitfulness of which she is not capable.
She must be on the eve of her confinement, and it is
her sickness. But what can be her object .'' To legalize
the child t to compromise me .-' to prevent the divorce .''
But what does it mean, ' I am dying ' .<* "
228 ANNA KARENINA
He re-read the telegram, and suddenly realized its full
meaning.
" If it is true, — if the suffering, the approach of death,
have caused her to repent sincerely, and if I should call
this pretense, and refuse to go to her, that would not
only be cruel, but foolish, and all would blame me."
" Piotr, order a carriage ; I am going to Petersburg ! '
said he to the valet.
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch decided to go to Petersburg
and to see his wife. If her illness was a pretense, he
would say nothing and go away again; on the other
hand, if she were really ill unto death, and wanted to
see him before she died, he would forgive her ; and, if
he reached her too late, he could at least pay his last
respects to her.
During the journey he gave no more thought of what
he should do.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, tired and dusty with his
night in the coach, reached Petersburg in the mist of
the early morning. He rode along the still deserted
Nevsky Prospekt,- looking straight before him, without
thinking of what was awaiting him at home. He could
not think about it, because as soon as he tried to imagine
what might be, he could not drive away the suggestion
that his wife's death would put a sudden end to all diffi-
culties of his situation.
The bakers, the closed shops, the night izvoshchiks,
the dvorniks sweeping the sidewalks, — all passed like
a flash before his eyes ; he noticed everything, in his
endeavors to stifle the thought of what was before him
— of what he dared not hope for and yet hoped for.
He reached his house ; an izvoshchik and a carriage
with a coachman asleep were standing before the door.
As he entered the vestibule Alekse'f Aleksandrovitch,
as it were, snatched at a decision from the most hidden
recess of his brain, and succeeded in mastering it. It
was to this effect : " If she has deceived me, I will be
,. calm and go away again ; but if she has told the truth,
^ I will do what is proper."
The Swiss opened the door even before Alekself Alek-
ANNA KARENINA 229
sandrovitch rang the bell ; the Swiss Petrof, known as
Kapitonuitch, presented a strange appearance, dressed
in an old coat and slippers without any cravat.
" How is the baruinya ? "
" In the night there was a change for the better."
Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch stopped short and turned
very pale; he now realized how deeply he had hoped
for her death.
" And how is she ? "
Karnei, the servant in morning dress, came quickly
down the stairs.
" Very low," he said. " There was a consultation
yesterday, and the doctor is here now."
"Take my things," said Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, a
little comforted to learn that there was still hope of
death ; and he went into the reception-room.
A uniform overcoat hung in the hall. Aleksef Alek-
sandrovitch noticed it, and asked : —
" Who is here ? "
"The doctor, the nurse, and Count Vronsky."
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch went through the inner
rooms. There was no one in the drawing-room ; but
the sound of his steps brought the nurse, in a cap with
lilac ribbons, out of the boudoir.
She came to Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch, and, taking
him by the hand,, with the familiarity that the approach
of death permits, led him into the sleeping-room.
" Thank the Lord that you have come ! She talks of
nothing but you ; always of you," she said.
" Bring some ice quick ! " said the imperative voice
of the doctor from the chamber.
Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch went into her boudoir. On
a little low chair by her table, sat Vronsky weeping, his
face covered with his hands. He started at the sound
of the doctor's voice, uncovered his face, and saw Alekse'f
Aleksandrovitch. The sight of the husband disturbed
him so much that he sat back in his chair, crouching
his head down between his shoulders as if he wanted to
disappear out of sight ; then, making a great effort, he
rose and said : —
230 ANNA KARENINA
" She is dying ; the doctors say that there is no hope
I am in your power. Only allow me to remain here.
.... I will conform to your wishes in every other re-
spect. I .... "
When he saw Vronsky in tears, Aleksel Aleksandro-
vitch felt the involuntary tenderness that the sufferings
of others always caused him ; he turned away his head
without replying, and went to the door.
Anna's voice could be heard from the sleeping-room,
lively, gay, and with clear intonations.
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch went in and approached her
bed. She was lying with her face turned toward him.
Her cheeks were bright red, her eyes brilliant ; her lit-
tle white hands, coming out of the sleeves of her night-
dress, were playing with the corner of the coverlet.
Not only did she seem fresh and well, but in the hap-
piest frame of mind ; she talked fast and loud, accenting
her words with precision and nicety.
** Because Aleksei" — I am speaking of AlekseT Alek-
sandrovitch— strange, is n't it, and cruel, that both should
be named Aleksef .'' — Aleksei would not have refused
me ; I should have forgotten ; he would have forgiven.
....Yes! why does he not come.-* He is good; he
himself does not know how good he is Akh ! Bozhe
moY ! what agony ! Give me some water, quick ! Akh !
but that is not good for her, .... my little daughter.
Well ! then, very good ; give her to the nurse. I am
willing ; that will be even better. Now when he comes,
she will be hateful in his sight ; take her away."
" Anna Arkady evna, he has come ; here he is," said
the nurse, trying to draw her attention to Aleksef Alek-
sandrovitch.
" Oh, what nonsense ! " continued Anna, without see-
ing her husband. " There ! give the little one to me,
give her to me ! He has n't come yet. You pretend
that he will not forgive me because you do not know
him. No one knows him, I alone.... His eyes, one
must know them. Serozha's are very like them; that
is why I can no longer look at them. Has Serozha had
his dinner ? I know he will be forgotten. Oh, do not
ANNA KARENINA 431
forget him ! Let Serozha be brought into the corner-
chamber, and let Mariette sleep near him."
Suddenly she shrank back and was silent ; and, with
a look of terror, raised her arms above her head as
if to ward off a blow. She had recognized her hus-
band.
" No, no," she said quickly, "I am not afraid of him ;
I am afraid of dying. Aleksef, come here. I am in a
hurry, because there is no time to be lost. I have only
a few minutes to live ; the fever will be upon me again,
and I shall know nothing more. Now I am conscious ;
I understand everything and I see everything."
AlekseY Aleksandrovitch's wrinkled face expressed
acute suffering ; he took her hand, and he wanted to
speak, but his lower lip trembled so that he could not
utter a word, and his emotion hardly allowed him to
glance at the dying woman. Every time that he turned
his head toward her, he saw her eyes fixed on him with
a humility and enthusiastic affection which he had never
seen there before.
" Wait ! you do not know Wait, wait ! " .... She
stopped to collect her thoughts. "Yes," she began
again, "yes, yes, yes, this is what I want to say. Do
not be astonished. I am always the same .... but there
is another I within me, her I fear : it is she who loved
him, him, and hated you ; and I could not forget what
I had once been. That was not I ! Now I am myself,
entirely, really myself, and not another. I am dying, I
know that I am dying ; ask him if I am hot. I feel it
now ; there are those terrible weights on my hand and
my feet and on my fingers My fingers ! they are
enormous, but all that will soon be over One thing
only is indispensable to me : forgive me, forgive me
wholly ! I am a sinner ; but Serozha's nurse told me
that there was a holy martyr — what was her name .^ —
who was worse than I. I will go to Rome ; there is a
desert there. I shall not trouble anybody there. I will.
only take Serozha and my little daughter No, you
cannot forgive me; I know very well that it is impossi-
ble. Go away, go away ! you are too perfect! "
231 ANNA KARENINA
She held him with one of her burning hands, and
pushed him away with the other.
AlekseT Aleksandrovitch's emotion ^ had been all the
time increasing, and now it reached such a degree that
he could no longer control himself. He suddenly felt
that what he had considered his spiritual discord was,
on the contrary, a blessed state of the soul which im-
parted to him what seemed like a new and hitherto
unknown happiness. He had not believed that the
Christian law, which he had taken for a guide in life,
ordered him to forgive and love his enemies ; but now
his soul was filled with joyous love and forgiveness to
his enemies. He knelt beside the bed, he laid his fore-
head on her arm, the fever of which burned through
the sleeve, and sobbed like a child. She bent toward
him, placed her arm around her husband's bald head,
and raised her eyes defiantly and proudly.
" There, I knew that it would be so. Now farewell,
farewell all!.... They are coming back again. Why
don't they go away .>'.... There! take off all these furs
from me ! "
The doctor disengaged her arms, laid her back gently
on her pillows, and drew the covering over her. Anna
made no resistance, looking all the while straight before
her, with shining eyes.
" Remember that I have only asked your pardon ; I
ask nothing more Why does n't /^^ come .-^ " she said,
suddenly looking toward the door, toward Vronsky.
"Come! come here, and give him your hand."
Vronsky came to the side of the bed, and, when he
saw Anna, he hid his face in his hands again.
" Uncover your face ; look at him, he is a saint," said
she. "Yes, uncover your face ! look at him! " she re-
peated in an irritated manner. "Alekseif Aleksandro-
vitch, uncover his face; I want to see him."
Aleksel Aleksandrovitch took Vronsky's hands and
uncovered his face, disfigured by the expression of suf-
fering and humiliation which it wore.
" Give him your hand ; forgive him."
^ Dushevnoye razstroyetstvo, spiritual derangement or discord.
ANNA KARENINA 233
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch held out his hand to him,
without trying to keep back the tears.
"Thank the Lord! thank the Lord! " said she; "now
everything is right. I will stretch out my feet a little,
like that ; that is better. How ugly those flowers are !
they do not look like violets," she said, pointing to the
hangings in her room. " Bozhe moif ! Bozhe mpi ! when
will this be over.^ Give me some morphine, doctor;
some morphine. Bozhe mof ! Bozhe mol ! "
And she tossed about on the bed.
The doctors said that this was puerperal fever and
that there was not one chance in a hundred of her liv-
ing. All that day there was fever, with alleviations of
delirium and unconsciousness. Toward midnight she
lay unconscious and her heart had almost ceased to
beat.
The end was expected every moment.
Vronsky went home, but he came back the next
morning to learn how she was. Aleksef Aleksandro-
vitch came to meet him in the reception-room, and said
to him, "Stay; perhaps she will ask for you." Then
he himself took him to his wife's boudoir. In the morn-
ing the restlessness, the rapidity of thought and speech,
returned ; but soon unconsciousness intervened again.
The third day was much the same, and the doctors be-
gan .to hope. On this day Aleksef Aleksandrovitch
went into the boudoir where Vronsky was, closed the
door, and sat down in front of him.
" Aleksei Aleksandrovitch," said Vronsky, feeling
that an explanation was at hand, " I cannot speak, I
cannot think. Have pity on me ! Hard as it may be
for you, believe me, it is still more terrible for me."
He was going to rise ; but AlekseY Aleksandrovitch
prevented him, and said : —
" Pray listen to me ; it is unavoidable. I am forced
to explain to you the feelings that guide me, and will
continue to guide me, that you may avoid making any
mistake in regard to me. You know that I had decided
on a divorce, and that I had taken the preliminary steps
234 ANNA KARENINA
to obtain one ? I will not deny that at first I was un-
decided, I was in torment. I confess that the desire to
avenge myself on you and on her pursued me. When
I received the telegram, and came home, I felt the
same desire. I will say more; I wished for her death.
But...." He was silent for a moment, considering
whether he would wholly reveal his thoughts — "but I
have seen her and I have forgiven her. The happiness
I feel at being able to forgive clearly shows me my duty.
I have absolutely forgiven her. I desire to offer the
other cheek to the smiter ; I wish to give my cloak to
him who has robbed me of my coat. I only ask one
thing of God, — that He will not take away from me
this joy of forgiving."
Tears filled his eyes. Vronsky was amazed at the
calm, luminous face.
" This is my position. You may drag me in the mire,
and make me the laughing-stock of creation ; but I will
not give up Anna for that, nor will I utter a word of
reproach to you," continued Aleksei Aleksandrovitch.
" My duty seems clear and plain to me : I must remain
with her ; I shall remain with her. If she wishes to
see you, I shall inform you of it ; but now I think it
will be better for you to go away."
He rose ; sobs choked his voice. Vronsky rose too,
and, standing with bowed head and humble attitude,
looked up at Karenin, without a word to say. He was
incapable of understanding Alekself Aleksandrovitch's
feelings ; but he felt that this was something too high
for him, something even unapproachable for a person
who looked on the world as he did.
CHAPTER XVIII
After this conversation with Aleksef Aleksandrovitch
Vronsky went out on the steps of the Karenin house
and stopped, hardly knowing where he was and what
he had to do. He felt humiliated, perplexed, and de-
prived of all means of washing away his shame ; he
ANNA KARENINA 135
felt thrown out of the path where till now he had
walked proudly and easily. All the rules which had
been the guides of his life, and which he had believed
irreproachable, proved false and untrue. The deceived
husband, whom he had considered a melancholy char-
acter, an accidental obstacle, at times absurd, happily
for him had suddenly been raised by her to a height
inspiring respect ; and this husband on this height
appeared not ugly, not false, not ridiculous, but good,
grand, and generous. Vronsky could not understand
it ; their roles had suddenly been interchanged. He
felt Karenin's grandeur and straightforwardness, and
his own baseness and falsity. He felt that this husband
was magnanimous in his grief, while he himself seemed
little and miserable in his deception. But this con-
vSciousness of inferiority, in comparison to a man whom
he had unjustly scorned, constituted only a small part
of his grief.
He felt profoundly unhappy from the fact that his
passion for Anna, which of late had as it seemed to him
grown cool, was more violent than ever now that he
knew he was to lose her. During her illness he had
seen her as she was, had learned to know her very soul,
and it seemed to him that he had never really loved her
till now. He must lose her just as he had come to
know her and love her truly, — lose her, and be left
with the most humiUating recollections. More horrible
than anything else was his ridiculous and odious posi-
tion when Aleksef Aleksandrovitch had uncovered his
face while he was hiding it in his hands. Standing
motionless on the steps of the Karenin house, he seemed
to be entirely unconscious of what he was doing.
" Shall I call an izvoshchik } " asked the Swiss.
"Yes, an izvoshchik."
When he reached home, after three sleepless nights,
Vronsky, without undressing, threw himself down on a
divan, folded his arms, and laid his head on them. His
head was heavy. The strangest reminiscences, thoughts,
and impressions succeeded one another in his mind with
extraordinary rapidity and clearness. Now it was a
236 ANNA KARENINA
drink which he poured out and gave the invalid from
a spoon ; now he saw the nurse's white hands, then
Aleksel Aleksandrovitch's singular attitude as he knelt
on the floor by the bed.
" Sleep, and forget," he said to himself, with the
calm resolution of a man in good health who knows
that when he feels tired he can sleep if he will. His
ideas became confused ; he felt himself falling into the
abyss of forgetfulness. The billows of the sea of uncon-
scious life were already beginning to swell over his
head, when suddenly something like a violent electric
shock passed through him. He started up so abruptly
that his body bounded upon the springs of the divan ;
and he found himself in his terror on his knees. His
eyes were as wide open as if he had not slept at all.
The heaviness of his head and the lassitude which he
felt in all his members but a moment before had sud-
denly vanished.
" You may drag me in the mire."
These words of Aleksei" Aleksandrovitch rang in his
ears. He saw him standing before him ; he saw, too,
Anna's feverish face, and her brilliant eyes looking
tenderly, not at Jiini, but at Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch ;
he saw the stupid, ridiculous figure he must have pre-
sented when Aleksei Aleksandrovitch drew away his
hands from his face. Again he threw himself back on
the divan, and closed his eyes.
" Sleep, and forget," he repeated to himself.
But though his eyes were closed he saw clearer than
ever Anna's face, just as it looked on that memorable
evening of the races.
" It's impossible, and will not be ; how can she efface
this from her memory .<* I cannot live without this !
But how can we be reconciled .'* how can we be recon-
ciled .? "
He unconsciously pronounced these words aloud, and
their mechanical repetition for some minutes prevented
the recollections and forms which besieged his brain
from returning. But the repetition of the words did
not long deceive his imagination. Again, one after the
ANNA KARENINA 237
other with extraordinary swiftness, the sweet moments of
the past and his recent humiliation began to arise in his
mind. " Uncover his face," said Anna's voice. He
took away his hands, and reaHzed how humiliated and
ridiculous he must have appeared.
He still lay there trying to sleep, though he felt that
there was not the slightest hope of it, and repeating in
a whisper some formula with the design of driving away
the new and distressing hallucinations that kept arising.
He listened to his own voice repeating, with a strange
persistence : " You did not know hoiv to appreciate her,
you did not know how to value her ; you did not know how
to appreciate her, you did not know hozv to value her."
" What is going to happen to me .'' Am I going
mad.''" he asked himself. " Perhaps so. Why do peo-
ple go mad } and why do they commit suicide .-* "
And, while he was answering himself, he opened his
eyes and was surprised to see at his head a cushion em-
broidered by Varia, his brother's wife. He lightly
touched the tassel of the cushion and tried to fix the
thought of Varia in his mind and how she looked the
last time he saw her ; but any idea foreign to what tor-
mented him was still more intolerable.
" No, I must sleep." He placed the cushion under
his head, but it required an effort to keep his eyes
closed. He leaped to his feet and sat down. "All is
over with me ; what else can I do .-"' And his imagina-
tion vividly pictured what life without Anna would be.
" Ambition } Serpukhovskoif .<• the world .-* the court } "
No more these had power to stop him. All this once
had some meaning, but now it had none. He rose from
the divan, took off his coat, loosened his necktie and
bared his shaggy chest that he might breathe more
freely, and began to stride up and down the room.
"This makes people insane," he repeated; "this
causes suicide, .... to avoid disgrace," he added slowly.
He went to the door and closed it ; then, with a look
of determination, and with his teeth set, he went to the
table, took his revolver, examined it, turned the loaded
chamber round, and stopped to consider. He stood
238 ANNA KARENINA
motionless for two minutes, with the revolver in his
hand, his head bowed in the attitude of intense thought.
" Of course," he said to himself, as if a logical sequence
of clear and exact ideas led him to this unquestionable
decision ; but in reality this to him conclusive Of Course
was only the consequence of a continued circle of recol-
lections and impressions which he had gone over for the
tenth time in the last hour. There were the same recol-
lections of a happiness lost forever, the conception of
the meaninglessness of all that was now before him in
life, the same consciousness of his shame. There was
the same repetition of these impressions and thoughts.
" Of course," he repeated, when for the third time
his mind directed itself to the same enchanted circle
of thoughts and recollections ; and holding the revol-
ver to the left side of his breast, with an unflinching
grip he pulled the trigger. He did not hear the sound
of the report, but the violent blow that he received
in the chest knocked him over. He tried to save him-
self by catching hold of the table ; he dropped his revol-
ver, staggered, and fell on the floor, looking about him
with astonishment. He could not recognize his room ;
the twisted legs of the table, the waste-paper basket,
the tiger-skin on the floor, — all seemed strange to
him.
The quick steps of his servant running to the draw-
ing-room obliged him to get control of himself ; he col-
lected his thoughts with an effort, and seeing that he
was on the floor, and that blood was on his hands and
on the tiger-skin, he realized what he had done.
"What stupidity! I missed my aim," he muttered,
feeling round for his pistol. It was quite near him, but
he could not find it. As he continued to grope for it,
he lost his balance, and fell again, bathed in his own
blood.
His valet, an elegant person with side-whiskers, who
complained freely to his friends about his delicate nerves,
was so frightened at the sight of his master lying on the
floor that he let him lie bleeding, and ran for help.
In an hour Varia, Vronsky's sister-in-law, arrived, and
ANNA KARENINA
^39
with the assistance of the three doctors whom she sent
for in all directions, and who all came at once, she suc-
ceeded in putting the wounded man to bed, and estab-
lished herself as his nurse.
CHAPTER XIX
Aleksei" Aleksandrovitch, when he prepared to see
his wife again, had not foreseen the contingency of her
repentance being genuine, and then of her recovery after
she had obtained his pardon. This mistake appeared to
him in all its seriousness two months after his return
from Moscow ; but the mistake which he had made pro-
ceeded not only from the fact that he had not foreseen
this eventuality, but also from the fact that not until the
day when he looked on his dying wife had he understood
his own heart. Beside the bed of his dying wife, he had
given way, for the first time in his life, to that feeling of
sympathy for the griefs of others, against which he had
always fought as one fights against a dangerous weak-
ness. His pity for her and remorse at having wished
for her death, but above all the joy of forgiving, had
made him suddenly feel, not only a complete alleviation
of his sufferings, but also a spiritual calmness such as he
had never before experienced. He suddenly felt that
the very thing that had been a source of anguish was
now the source of his spiritual joy ; what had seemed
insoluble when he was filled with hatred and anger,
became clear and simple now that he loved and for-
gave.
He had pardoned his wife, and he pitied her because
of her suffering and repentance. He had forgiven Vron-
sky, and pitied him too, especially after he heard of his
desperate act. He also pitied his son more than before,
because he felt that he had neglected him. But what he
felt for the new-born child was more than pity, it was
almost tenderness. At first, solely from a feeling of pity,
he looked after this little new-born girl, who was not his
daughter, and who was so neglected during her mother's
240 ANNA KARENINA
illness that she would have surely died if he had not
taken her in charge ; and, before he was aware of it, he
became attached to her. He would go several times a
day into the nursery, and sit there, so that the wet-nurse
and the bonne, though they were a little intimidated at
first, gradually became accustomed to his presence. He
stayed sometimes for half an hour, silently gazing at the
saffron-red, wrinkled, downy face of the sleeping child,
following her motions as she scowled, and puckered her
lips, watching her rub her eyes with the back of her little
hands, curling up her round fingers. And at these mo-
ments especially, Aleksef Aleksandrovitch felt calm and
at peace with himself, seeing nothing abnormal in his
situation, nothing that he felt the need of changing.
However, as time went on, he felt more and more that
he would not be permitted to remain in this situation,
however natural it seemed to him, and that nobody would
allow it.
He felt that, besides the holy and spiritual force
that guided his soul, there was another force, brutal,
equally if not more poweriul, which directed his life,
and that this power would not give him the peace that
he desired. He felt that every one was looking at him,
and questioning his attitude, not understanding it, and
expecting him to do something. Especially he felt the
unnaturalness and constraint of his relations with his
wife.
When the tenderness which she felt at the expecta-
tion of death had passed away, Aleksei" Aleksandrovitch
began to notice how Anna feared him, how she dreaded
his presence, and did not dare to look him in the face ;
she seemed to be always pursued by a thought she dared
not express, — and as if she had a presentiment that
their present relations could not last ; she, too, expected
some move from her husband.
Toward the end of February, the little girl, who had
been named Anna for her mother, was taken ill. In the
morning Aleksei Aleksandrovitch had seen her in the
nursery, and, after he had left orders about calling
the doctor he went to the ministry meeting. Having
ANNA KARENINA 241
transacted his business he returned at four o'clock; as
he entered the anteroom, he noticed an Adonis of a
lackey, in livery and bearskin cloak, holding a white
rotonda, or mantle, lined with American fox.
" Who is here ? " he asked.
"The Princess Yehzavyeta Feodorovna Tverskaya,"
replied the lackey, with a smile, as it seemed to AlekseT
Aleksandrovitch.
All through this painful period Aleksef Aleksandro-
vitch noticed that his society friends, especially the
women, showed a very marked interest in him and in
his wife. He noticed in them all that veiled look of
amusement which he saw in the lawyer's eyes, and which
he now saw in the lackey's. They all seemed delighted,
as if they were going to a wedding. When people met
him, and inquired after his health, they did so with this
same half-concealed hilarity.
The presence of the Princess Tverskaya was not agree-
able to Aleksel Aleksandrovitch, both because he had
never liked her, and because she called up unpleasant
memories, and so he went directly to the nursery.
In the first room, Serozha, leaning on a table, with
his feet in a chair, was drawing, and chattering merrily.
The English governess, who had replaced the French
woman soon after Anna's illness, was sitting near the
child, with her fancy work in her hand ; she rose, made
a courtesy, and put Serozha's feet down,
Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch smoothed his son's hair, an-
swered the governess's questions about his wife's health,
and asked what the doctor said about baby.
"The doctor said that it was nothing serious. He
ordered baths, sir."
" She is still in pain, nevertheless," said Aleksef Alek-
sandrovitch, hearing the child cry in the next room.
" I believe, sir, that the wet-nurse does not suit her,"
replied the Englishwoman, decidedly.
" What makes you think so .-^ " he asked, as he paused
on his way.
" It was the same at the Countess Pahl's, sir. They
dosed the child with medicine, while it was merely suf-
VOL. II. — 16
242 ANNA KARENINA
fering from hunger, sir. The wet-nurse had not enough
milk for it."
Alekse'i Aleksandrovitch considered for a few mo-
ments, and then went into the adjoining room. The
child was crying as she lay in her nurse's arms, with her
head thrown back, refusing the full breast that was of-
fered her, and screamed, without yielding to the blandish-
ments of the two women bending over her.
"Isn't she any better .>' " asked AlekseY Aleksandro-
vitch.
" She is very worrisome," replied the old nurse, in a
whisper.
" Miss Edwards says that perhaps the nurse has n't
enough milk for her," said he.
" I think so too, AlekseT Aleksandrovitch."
" Why have n't you said so .-* "
" Whom should I say it to .'' Anna Arkadyevna is
still ill," replied the old nurse, discontentedly.
The old nurse had been in the family a long time, and
these simple words struck Aleksei Aleksandrovitch as
an allusion to his position.
The child cried harder and harder, losing its breath,
and becoming hoarse. The old nurse threw up her hands
in despair, took the little one from the wet-nurse, and
rocked her as she walked back and forth.
*' You must ask the doctor to examine the wet-nurse,"
said AlekseT Aleksandrovitch.
The wet-nurse, a healthy-looking woman of fine ap-
pearance, sprucely dressed, who was afraid of losing her
position, muttered to herself, as she fastened her dress
over her great bosom, smiling scornfully at the doubt
of her not having enough nourishment. In her smile
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch also detected ridicule of his
position.
" Poor little thing ! " said the old nurse, trying to hush
the child and still walking back and forth.
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch sat down in a chair, sad and
crestfallen, and followed the old nurse with his eyes as
she walked up and down with the child. When at last
she had pacified it and placed it in the cradle, and, hav-
ANNA KARENINA ,a43
ing arranged the little pillow, had moved away, Aleksef
Aleksandrovitch rose, and went up to it on tiptoe. For
a moment he was silent, and looked with melancholy face
at the little thing. But suddenly a smile which moved
his hair and the skin on his forehead spread over his face,
and he quietly left the room.
He went into the dining-room, rang the bell, and or-
dered the servant that answered it to send for the doc-
tor again. He was displeased because his wife seemed
to take so little interest in this charming baby, and in
this state of annoyance he wished neither to go to her
room, nor to meet the Princess Betsy ; but his wife might
wonder why he did not come as usual ; he crushed down
his feelings and went to her chamber. As he walked
along toward the door on a thick carpet, he unintention-
ally overheard a conversation which he would not have
cared to hear.
"If he were not going away, I should understand
your rfefusal, and his also. But your husband ought to
be above that," said Betsy.
" It is not for my husband's sake, but my own, that I
don't wish it. So say nothing more about it," rephed
Anna's agitated voice.
" Yes, but you can't help wanting to say good-by to
the man who shot himself on your account." ....
"That is the very reason I do not wish to see him
again."
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, with an expression of fear
and guilt, stopped, and started to go away without being
heard ; but, considering that this would lack dignity, he
turned round again, and, coughing, went toward the
chamber. The voices were hushed, and he went into
the room.
Anna, in a gray khalat, with her thick dark hair cut
short on her round head, was sitting in a reclining-chair.
All her animation disappeared, as usual, at the sight of
her husband ; she bowed her head, and glanced uneasily
at Betsy. Betsy, dressed in the latest fashion, with a
little hat perched on the top of her head, Hke a cap over
a lamp, in a dove-colored gown, trimmed with bright-col-
244 ANNA KARENINA
ored bands on the waist on one side, and on the skirt
on the other, was sitting beside Anna. She sat up as
straight as possible, and welcomed Aleksei Aleksandro-
vitch with a nod and a sarcastic smile.
"Ah!" she began, affecting surprise, "I am delighted
to meet you at home. You never show yourself any-
where, and I haven't seen you since Anna was taken
ill. I learned of your anxiety from others. Indeed ! you
are a wonderful husband ! " said she, with a significant
and flattering look, as much as to say that she conferred
on him the "order" of magnanimity on account of his
behavior toward his wife.
Alekseif Aleksandrovitch bowed coldly, and, kissing
his wife's hand, inquired how she was.
" Better, I think," she replied, avoiding his look.
" However, your face has a feverish look," he said,
emphasizing the word " feverish."
" We have talked too much," said Betsy. " It was
selfish on my part, and I am going now."
She rose ; but Anna, suddenly flushing, seized her
quickly by the arm.
" No, stay, I beg of you. I must tell you, .... x\o,you^'
she addressed Aleksei Aleksandrovitch, while the color
increased on her neck and brow. " I cannot, nor do I
wish to, hide anything from you," said she.
AlekseT Aleksandrovitch cracked his knuckles and
bent his head.
" Betsy has told me that Count Vronsky wishes to
come to our house to say good-by before he goes to
Tashkend."
She did not look at her husband, and she evidently
was in haste to get through with it, however hard it
might be. " I have said that I could not receive
him."
" You said, my dear, that it would depend on Alekseif
Aleksandrovitch," corrected Betsy.
" Yes ! No, I cannot see him, and it would not do
any...." she stopped suddenly, and looked inquiringly
at her husband's face ; he was not looking at her. " In
short, I do not wish .... "
ANNA KARENINA 245
Alekself Aleksandrovitch approached, and wanted to
take her hand.
Anna's first impulse was to withdraw her hand from
her husband's clammy hand with its big, swollen veins ;
but she evidently controlled herself, and pressed it.
" I am very grateful to you for your confidence, but
.... " he began, then stopped, awkward and annoyed,
feeling that what he could easily and clearly decide
when by himself, he could not settle in the presence of
the Princess Tverskaya, who was the incarnation of that
brutal force which he had to take as the guide of his
Ufe in the eyes of the world, and obliged him to re-
nounce his feelings of love and forgiveness. He stopped
as he looked at the Princess Tverskaya.
"Well, good-by, my treasure," said Betsy, rising.
She kissed Anna, and went out. Karenin accompanied
her.
" Alekseif Aleksandrovitch, I know that you are an
extraordinarily magnanimous man," said Betsy, stopping
in the middle of the boudoir to press his hand again with
unusual fervor; "I am a stranger, and I love her so
much, and esteem you so highly, that I take the liberty
of giving you a bit of advice. Let him come. Aleksei'
Vronsky is the personification of honor, and he is going
to Tashkend."
" I thank you for your sympathy and your advice,
princess ; but the question whether my wife can or can-
not receive anybody is for her to decide."
He spoke these words with dignity, raising his eye-
brows as usual; but he felt at once that, whatever his
words had been, dignity was inconsistent with the situ-
ation. The sarcastic and wicked smile with which
Betsy greeted his remark proved it beyond a doubt.
CHAPTER XX
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch took leave of Betsy in
the " hall " and returned to his wife ; she was lying
down, but, hearing her husband's steps, she sat up
246 ANNA KARENINA
quickly in her former position, and looked at him in a
frightened way. He saw that she had been crying.
" I am very grateful to you for your confidence in
me," said he, gently, repeating in Russian the remark
that he had just made in French before Betsy.
When he spoke to her in Russian, and used the
familiar second person singular Uii, this tui irritated
Anna in spite of herself. " I am very grateful for your
decision ; for I agree with you that, since Count Vronsky
is going away, there is no necessity of his coming here ;
besides.... "
" Yes ! but as I have said that, why repeat it } " in-
terrupted Anna, with an annoyance which she could not
control. "No necessity," she thought, "for a man to
say farewell to the woman he loves, for whom he has
wished to commit suicide, and who cannot live without
him ! "
She pressed her lips together, and fixed her flashing
eyes on her husband's hands with their swollen veins,
as he stood slowly rubbing them together.
"We will not say any more about that," she added,
more calmly.
" I have given you perfect freedom to decide this
question, and I am happy to see .... " Aleksef Aleksan-
drovitch began again.
"That my desires are in conformity with yours,"
finished Anna, quickly, exasperated to hear him speak
so slowly, when she knew beforehand what he was
going to say.
"Yes," he affirmed; "and the Princess Tverskaya
shows very poor taste to meddle in family affairs, she
of all others." ....
" I don't believe what they say about her," said Anna.
" I only know that she loves me sincerely."
Aleksel Aleksandrovitch sighed, and was silent. Anna
played nervously with the tassels of her khalat, and
looked at him now and then, with that feeling of physi-
cal repulsion which she reproached herself for, without
being able to overcome. All that she wished for at this
moment was to be rid of his distasteful presence.
ANNA KARENINA 847
"Ah! I have just sent for the doctor," said Aleksel
Aleksandrovitch.
"What for? I am well."
'* For the baby, the little one cries so much ; they think
that the nurse has n't enough nourishment for her."
" Why did n't you let me nurse her, when I urged it so ?
All the same " (Aleksei Aleksandrovitch understood
what she meant by all the samc\ " she is a baby, and
they will kill her." She rang, and sent for the little one.
" I wanted to nurse her, and you would n't let me, and
now you blame me."
" I do not blame you for anything." ....
"Yes, you do blame me! Bozhe moi! why didn't I
die ! " She began to sob. " Forgive me : I am nervous
and unjust," she said, trying to control herself. " But
go away."
" No, this state of things cannot go on," said Aleksel
Aleksandrovitch to himself, as he left his wife's room.
Never before had he been so convinced of the im-
possibility of prolonging such a situation before the
world: never had his wife's disHke of him, and the
strength of that mysterious brutal force which had taken
possession of his life, to rule it contrary to the needs of
his soul and to make him change his relations to his wife,
appeared to him with such clearness.
He saw clearly that the world and his wife exacted
something from him which he did not fully understand.
He felt that it aroused within him feelings of hatred,
which disturbed his peace, and destroyed the worth of
his victory over himself. Anna, in his opinion, ought
to have nothing more to do with Vronsky ; but if every-
body considered this impossible, he was ready to tolerate
their meeting, on condition that the children should not
be disgraced, or his own life disturbed.
Wretched as this was — it was, nevertheless, better
than a rupture whereby she would be placed in a shame-
ful and hopeless position, and he himself would be de-
prived of all that he loved. But he felt his powerlessness
in this struggle, and knew beforehand that all were
against him and that he would be prevented from doing
24» ANNA KARENINA
what seemed to him wise and good, and that he would
be obliged to do what was bad, but necessary to be
done.
CHAPTER XXI
Betsy had not left the " hall " when Stepan Arkadye-
vitch appeared on the threshold. He had come from
Eliseyef's, where they had just received fresh oysters.
" Ah, princess ! . you here ? What a fortunate meeting !
I have just been at your house."
"The meeting is but for a moment; I am going,"
replied Betsy, smiling, as she buttoned her gloves.
" Wait just a moment, princess ; allow me to kiss your
little hand before you put on your glove. Nothing
pleases me so much, in returning to ancient ways, as
the custom of kissing a lady's hand."
He kissed Betsy's hand.
" When shall we meet again.?"
" You don't deserve to see me," replied Betsy, laughing.
" Oh, yes, I do ! for I have become a very serious man.
I regulate not only my own family affairs, but also other
people's," said he, with a significant expression in his
face.
"Ah! r am delighted to hear it," replied Betsy,
instantly knowing that he referred to Anna.
Going back into the " hall," they stood in a corner.
" He is killing her," she whispered, with conviction.
" It is impossible, impossible...."
" I am very glad that you think so," replied Stepan
Arkadyevitch, shaking his head with sympathetic com-
miseration. "That is why I am in Petersburg."
" The whole town are talking about it," said she ; "this
situation is intolerable. She is fading away before our
very eyes. He does n't understand that she is one of
those women whose feelings cannot be treated lightly.
One of two things, — either he ought to take her away,
and act decidedly, or else be divorced. But this is kill-
ing her."
"Yes, yes.... exactly ...." said Oblonsky, with a sigh.
ANNA KARENINA 249
■' I have come for that ; that is to say, not entirely for
that .... I have just been made chamberlain, so I had to
show my gratitude ; but the main thing was to arrange
this matter."
"Well! may the Lord help you! " said Betsy.
Stepan Arkadyevitch accompanied the Princess Betsy
to the door, once more kissed her wrist just above her
glove, where the pulse beats, and after paying her such an
impudent compliment that she did not know whether
to laugh or take offense, he left her to go to his sister.
He found her in tears.
In spite of the exuberance of his lively spirits, Stepan
Arkadyevitch fell instantly and with perfect genuineness
into the tone of sympathetic and poetical tenderness
which suited his sister's frame of mind. He asked how
she felt, and how she had passed the day.
" Wretchedly, very wretchedly ! Night and day, the
future and the past, all .... wretched," she replied.
" It seems to me, you have yielded to the blues. You
must have courage ; look life in the face. It is hard, I
know, but...."
" I have heard that some women love men for their
very vices," began Anna, suddenly; "but I hate him
for his virtue. I cannot live with him. Understand
me, the sight of him has a physical effect on me which
drives me out of my mind. I cannot, cannot live with
him ! What shall I do .-" I have been unhappy before,
and I thought it impossible to be more so, but this horrible
state of things surpasses all that I could have imagined.
Can you believe that, though I know how good and per-
fect he is, and how unworthy of him I am, still I hate
him ! I hate him for his magnanimity. There is abso-
lutely nothing left for me but to ...."
She was going to add " die," but Stepan Arkadyevitch
did not let her finish.
" You are ill and nervous, believe me ; you exagger-
ate everything. There is really nothing so very ter-
rible."
And Stepan Arkadyevitch smiled. No one except
Stepan Arkadyevitch, meeting such despair, would have!
250 ANNA KARENINA
ventured to smile, — for it would have seemed rude, — but
his smile was so full of kindness, and an almost effemi-
nate sweetness, that, instead of irritating, it was calm-
ing and soothing ; his gentle soothing words and smile
acted like oil of sweet almonds. Anna at once felt the
effect.
"No, Stiva," said she, "I am lost, lost! worse than
lost. And yet, I am not yet lost : I cannot still say
that all is over ; on the contrary, I feel that all is not yet
over. I seem like a cord too tightly stretched, which
must break. But the end has not yet come, and it will
be terrible."
" No, no ; the cord can be carefully unstrung. There
is no difficulty without some way out of it."
" I have thought it over, and thought it over, and I
see only one...."
Again he saw by her look of dismay that the one way
that she meant was death, and again he did not allow
her to finish.
" No, listen to me ; you cannot judge of your position
so well as I. Let me tell you frankly my opinion." He
smiled again cautiously, with his almond-oily smile. " I
will begin at the beginning : you married a man twenty
years older than yourself, and you married without love,
— or, at least, without knowing what love was. It was
a mistake — as well admit it."
" A terrible mistake ! " said Anna,
" But, I repeat it, it was an accomplished fact. You
then had, let us say, the misfortune to fall in love — not
with your husband ; that was a misfortune, but that, too,
was an accomplished fact. Your husband knew it, and
forgave it." After each sentence he stopped, as if to
give her time to reply, but she said nothing. " Now,
the question is, can you continue to live with your hus-
band .-* do you wish it .'' does he wish it ? "
i*i;I know nothing about it, nothing."
'" But you yourself have just said that you could no
longer endure him."
" No, I did not say so. I deny it. I know nothing,
I understand nothing."
ANNA KARENINA 251
■ ^' Yes ! but allow me ...."
"You cannot understand it. I feel that I am precipi-
tated, head first, into an abyss, and I may not save my.
self. I cannot.''
" You will see that we can prevent you from falling,
and from being crushed. I understand you. I feel that
you are not able to express your feelings, your desires."
"I desire nothing, nothing' — only to end all this."
" He sees this, and knows it. Do you suppose that
he does n't feel the strain as much as you do ? You
suffer, he suffers ; and what way of escape is there
from all this torture ? Then, when a divorce would
settle everything...."
Stepan Arkadyevitch with difficulty expressed his
principal idea, and looked to Anna to see what effect it
would have.
She said nothing and shook her head disapprovingly.
But by the expression of her face, which suddenly lighted
up with something of her former beauty, he saw that, if
she did not wish this, it was because the thought of its
being realized was too enticing.
" I am awfully sorry for you ! how happy I should be
if I could arrange it for you ! " said Stepan Arkadye-
vitch. " Don't say a word ! If God will only permit
me to express all that I feel ! I am going to find Aleksel
Aleksandrovitch."
Anna looked at him out of her brilliant, thoughtful
eyes, and did not reply.
CHAPTER XXII
Stepan Arkadyevitch went into his brother-in-law's
cabinet, with the solemn face which he tried to assume
when he sat in his official chair at a council-meeting.
Alekself Aleksandrovitch, with his arms behind his back,
was walking up and down the room, considering the
same thing that Stepan Arkadyevitch had been discuss-
ing with his wife.
" Shall I disturb you .? " asked Stepan Arkadyevitch,
a^ ANNA KARENINA
suddenly feeling an unwonted embarrassment. In order
to conceal his embarrassment, he took a new cigar-case
out of his pocket, smelt of the leather, and took out a
cigarette.
" No. Do you wish to see me .■* " asked Aleksei
Aleksandrovitch, reluctantly.
"Yes ....I would like ....I must.... yes, I must have a
talk with you," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, surprised at
his confusion.
This feeling was so strange and unexpected to him,
that he did not recognize in it the voice of conscience,
warning him that what he hoped to do was evil. He
recovered himself with an effort, and conquered the
weakness which took possession of him.
" I hope that you believe in my love for my sister,
and in my sincere sympathy and regard for you," said
he, and his face grew red.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch listened, and made no reply ;
but his face struck Stepan Arkadyevitch by its expres-
sion of humility and pain.
** I intended, I came on purpose, to speak with you
about my ^ster, and the situation in which you and she
are placed," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, still struggling
with his unusual embarrassment.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch smiled sadly, looked at his
brother-in-law, and, without replying, went to the table,
took up a half-written letter, and handed it to him.
" I can think of nothing else. This is what I began
to write, thinking that I could express myself better in
a letter, for my presence irritates her," said he, giving
him the letter.
Stepan Arkadyevitch took the paper, and looked with
perplexity and surprise at his brother-in-law's dull eyes,
which were fixed on him ; then he read : —
I see that my presence is disagreeable to you ; painful as
it is for me to recognize it, I know that it is so, and it cannot
be otherwise. I do not blame you. God knows that, during
your illness, I resolved to forget the past, and to begin a new
life. I am not sorry, I never shall be sorry, for what I did then.
I desired only one thing, — your salvation, the salvation of your
ANNA KARENINA 253
soul, and now I see that I have not succeeded. Tell me
yourself, what will give you true peace and happiness, and I
will submit to whatever you may deem just and right.
Stepan Arkadyevitch gave the letter back to his
brother-in-law ; and with the same perplexity, he simply
stared at his brother-in-law, not knowing what to say.
This silence was so uncomfortable to both that Stepan
Arkadyevitch's lips trembled convulsively, while he did
not take his eyes from Karenin's face.
" That is what I wanted to say to her," said Aleksel
Aleksandrovitch, turning away.
"Yes, yes," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, but he could
not go on, the tears so choked his utterance. " Yes,
yes, I understand you."
" I should like to know what she wishes," said he, at
last.
"I am afraid that she herself does not realize her
own situation. She is not a judge of the matter," said
Stepan Arkadyevitch, trying to recover himself. " She
is crushed, literally crushed, by your magnanimity ; if
she should read your letter, she would be unable to say
a word, and could only bow her head still lower."
" Yes ! But what is to be done in such a case ? How
can it be settled .-* How can I know what she wishes .■' "
"If you will allow me to express my opinion, I think
it is for you to state clearly what measure you believe
necessary to put an end to this situation at once."
"Consequently, you think it ought to be ended at
once .-* " interrupted Alekse'f Aleksandrovitch. " But
how } " he added, passing the back of his hand over his
eyes in an unusual way. " I see no possible way out
of it ! "
" There is a way out of every difficulty, however
serious it may be," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, rising, and
growing more animated. " There was a time when you
wished for a divorce .... if you are convinced now that
you can never be happy together again .... "
" Happiness may be understood in different ways.
Let us grant that I agree to everything, that I have no
?54 ANNA KARENINA
wishes in the matter, what escape is there from oui
situation ? "
" If you wish for my advice," said Stepan Arkadye-
vitch-, with the same smooth, almond-oily, affectionate
smile with which he had spoken to his sister ; and this
smile was so persuasive that Alekseif Aleksandrovitch,
giving himself up to the weakness which overpowered
him, was involuntarily inclined to believe what his
brother-in-law said. " She will never say what her
wishes are. But there is one thing possible, one thing
that she may hope for," continued Stepan Arkadye-
vitch, " and that is to break the bonds which are only
the cause of cruel recollections. In my opinion, it is
indispensable to put your relations on an entirely new
footing, and that can only be done by both of you re-
suming your freedom."
" Divorce ! " interrupted Alekseif Aleksandrovitch,
^itfh disgust.
"Yes, I suppose that divorce .... yes, divorce," repeated
Stepan Arkadyevitch, blushing. " Taking everything
into consideration, that is the most sensible course when
two married people find themselves in such a situation
as yours. What is to be done, when husband and wife
find that living together is impossible ,■' This can always
be brought about."
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch drew a deep sigh, and cov-
ered his eyes.
" There is only one consideration, — whether one of
the parties wishes to marry again. If not, it is very
simple," continued Stepan Arkadyevitch, recovering
more and more from his feeling of constraint.
Alekseif Aleksandrovitch, with his face distorted by
emotion, muttered something to himself, but made no
reply. What seemed so simple to Oblonsky, he had
turned over a thousand thousand times in his mind, and,
instead of finding it very easy, found it utterly impossible.
Now that the conditions for divorce were known to him,
it seemed to him impossible, because the sense of his
personal dignity, as well as his respect for religion, pre-
vented him from confessing to a fictitious accusation of
ANNA KARENINA ^$
adultery and still less permitting his wife, whom he had
once pardoned and still loved, to be disgraced and put
to shame. Divorce seemed impossible from still other
and even more important reasons.
What would become of their son ^ To leave him
with his mother was impossible. The divorced mother
would have her own illegitimate family, in which the
child's position and training would be wretched. Should
he keep the child for himself ? But he knew that would
be an act of vengeance, and vengeance he did not want
But, above all, what made divorce impossible in his
eyes was the thought that, in consenting to it, he him-
self would contribute to Anna's destruction. The words
spoken by Darya Aleksandrovna, when he was in Mos-
cow, remained graven in his heart, that in getting a
divorce, he was thinking only of himself, and forgetting
that it would be her irretrievable ruin. These words,
now that he had forgiven her and had become attached to
the children, had a very significant meaning to him.
To consent to a divorce, to give Anna her liberty, was
to cut away the last tie that bound himself to life, to
her children whom he loved, and was to take away her
last help in the way of salvation, and to push her over
the precipice.
If she became a divorced woman, he knew very well
that she would be united to Vronsky, and such a bond
would be criminal and illegal ; because a woman, ac-
cording to the laws of the Church, cannot enter into a
second marriage during the lifetime of her husband.
" And who knows but, after a year or two, either he
might abandon her, or she might form a new liaison .'' "
thought Aleksel Aleksandrovitch ; ** and I, having
allowed an illegal divorce, should be responsible for her
fall."
He had gone over all this a hundred times, and was
convinced that divorce was not by any means so simple
as his brother-in-law would make it out ; that it was
wholly impossible.
He did not admit a word of what Stepan Arkadye-
vitch said ; he had a thousand arguments to refute such
256 ANNA KARENINA
reasoning ; and, notwithstanding this, he listened, feel-
ing that his words were the manifestation of that irre-
sistible force which ruled his life, and to which he would
finally submit.
" The only question is, how, on what conditions, you
will consent to a divorce ; for she will never dare to ask
anything of you, and will give herself up entirely to your
magnanimity."
" My God ! my God ! why has this come upon me ? "
thought Alekse'i Aleksandrovitch ; and, as he remem-
bered the condition of divorce in which the husband
assumed the blame, from shame he buried his face in
his hands, as Vronsky had done.
" You are distressed ; I understand it ; but if you will
consider ...."
" * Whosoever smiteth thee on the right cheek, turn
to him the other also ; and if any man would take away
thy coat, let him have thy cloak also,' " thought Aleksef
Aleksandrovitch. — " Yes, yes ! " he cried, in his piping
voice. " I will take all the shame upon myself ; I will
even give up my son But will it not be better to leave
all that ? However, do as you please." ....
And turning away from his brother-in-law, that he
might not see his face, he sat down near the window.
He was grieved ; he was ashamed ; but with this grief
and shame he felt a sense of happiness and emotion in
the consciousness of his own humility.
Stepan Arkadyevitch was touched.
"Aleksei Aleksandrovitch, be assured that she will
appreciate your generosity," said he, after a pause. " It
is, without doubt, the will of God," he added ; but he
felt,- as soon as the words were out of his mouth, what a
foolish remark it was, and he could hardly restrain a
smile at his own foolishness.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch would have replied, but
tears prevented him.
" This trial comes by fate, and it must be accepted.
I accept it as an accomplished fact, and I will try to
help you and her," said Stepan Arkadyevitch.
When Stepan Arkadyevitch left his brother-in-law's
ANNA KARENINA 257
cabinet, he was touched, but this fact did not prevent
him from being delighted at having settled this matter ;
for he was certain that Alekseif Aleksandrovitch would
not go back on his word. His satisfaction suggested a
conundrum which he could ask his wife and intimate
friends : —
"What is .the difference between me and a field-mar-
shal ? The field-marshal makes divorces, and nobody is
the better for it ; while I make divorces, and three peo-
ple are better off Or, rather, what resemblance is
there between me and a iield-marshal ? Where ....but
by and by I '11 improve on it," he said to himself with a
smile.
CHAPTER XXni
Vronsky's wound was dangerous, although it did not
reach the heart. He hung for several days between life
and death. When for the first time he was in a condi-
tion to talk, only Varia, his brother's wife, was in his
room.
" Varia ! " said he, looking at her gravely, " I shot
myself accidentally. Now please never speak to me
about this, but tell every one so ; otherwise it will seem
too stupid ! "
Varia bent over him without replying, examining his
face with a happy smile. His eyes were bright, but no
longer feverish, but their expression was stern.
" Well ! Thank the Lord ! " she replied. " Are you
suffering .'' "
"A little on this side," said he, pointing to his chest.
" Let me change the dressing, then."
Squinting, he silently watched her change it, and
when she had finished, he said : —
" I am not delirious now. See to it, I beg of you,
that nobody says that I shot myself intentionally."
" Nobody says so. I hope, however, that after this
you will not shoot yourself accidentally again," she said
with a questioning smile.
VOL. II. — 17
158 ANNA KARENINA
" Probably I shall not ; but it would have been
better...."
And he smiled gloomily.
In spite of these words and this smile which so
alarmed Varia, when the inflammation had subsided
and he began to recover, he felt that he was free from
a part of his misfortunes. By his action he had washed
away, as it were, his shame and humiliation, which had
weighed on him before. Henceforth he could think
calmly of Aleksef Aleksandrovitch. He recognized all
his magnanimity without being crushed by it. Besides,
he was able to be himself again, to look people in the
face, and could live, governing himself by his customary
habits. What he could not tear from his heart, in spite
of all his efforts, was the regret, bordering on despair,
at having lost Anna forever; since he was firmly re-
solved, now that he had redeemed his fault toward
Karenin, not to place himself between the repentant
wife and her husband. But he could not put out of his
heart the regret at the loss of her love ; he could not
blot out the memory of happy moments which he had
spent with her, and not half appreciated till now, and
which pursued him continually in all their fascina-
tion.
SerpukhovskoT thought of sending him to Tashkend,
and Vronsky accepted the proposition without the least
hesitation. But the nearer the time for his leaving
came, the more cruel seemed the sacrifice to what he
considered his duty.
His wound was healed, and he had already gone out
and was engaged in making his preparations for his
journey to Tashkend.
" To see her once more, and then bury myself and
die," he thought ; and while paying his farewell visit
to Betsy, he expressed his wish to her.
The latter set out at once as an ambassador to Anna,
but brought back her refusal.
"So much the better," thought Vronsky, on receiving
her reply ; " this is a weakness which would have cost
me my last strength."
ANNA KARENINA 259
The next morning Betsy herself went to Vronsky,
announcing that she had had, through Oblonsky, posi-
tive information that Aleksei Aleksandrovitch consented
to a divorce, and that consequently Vfonsky might see
Anna.
Without even pausing to show Betsy from his room,
forgetting his resolutions, without finding out when he
could see her, or where her husband would be, Vronsky
immediately went to the Karenins'. He flew up the
steps, not seeing anything or any one, and with hasty
steps, almost running, entered Anna's room, and, with-
out even noticing whether there might not be some one
else in the room, he took her in his arms, and began
covering her hands, her face, and her neck with kisses.
Anna was prepared to see him again, and had made
up her mind what to say to him ; but she had no time
to speak. Vronsky's passion overpowered her. She
wanted to calm him, to calm herself, but it was already
too late. Her lips trembled so that for a long time she
was unable to speak a word.
" Yes, you have conquered me ; I am yours ! " she
succeeded in saying at last, pressing his hand to her
breast.
" So it had to be ! " said he, " and as long as we live,
it must be so ; I know it now."
" It is true," she replied, growing paler and paler as
she put her arms around Vronsky's neck. " However,
there is something terrible in this after what has hap-
pened." ""''
" All that will be forgotten, forgotten ; we shall be '^6'
happy ! If there were any need of our love increasing,
it would increase, because there is something terrible
about it," said he, raising his head, and displaying his
strong teeth as he smiled.
She could only reply with a smile, — not with words,
— with her eyes which expressed such love for him.
" I do know you with your short hair. You are lovely
so ! Just like a httle boy ! But how pale you are ! "
"Yes; I am still very weak," she replied, smiling;
and her lips began to tremble again.
26o ANNA KARENINA
"We will go to Italy; you will grow strong there,"
said he.
" Is it possible that we could be like husband and
wife, alone, by ourselves ? " said she, looking him in the
eye.
" I am only surprised at one thing, — that it has not
always been so."
" Stiva says that lie will consent to everything, but I
will not accept his generosity," said she, looking thought-
fully above Vronsky's head. " I do not wish for a di-
vorce. It is all the same to me now. I only wonder
what he will decide with regard to Serozha."
Vronsky could not understand how, in these first
moments of their reunion, she could think of her son
and of divorce. How could it be all the same to her.?
" Don't speak of that, don't think of it," said he, turn-
ing Anna's hand over and over in his, to draw her atten-
tion to him ; but she did not look at him.
" Oh ! why did I not die ? it would have been so
much better ! " said she ; and though she did not sob,
the tears rolled down her pale cheeks ; she tried, never-
theless, to smile, that she might not give him pain.
Once Vronsky would have thought it impossible and
disgraceful to give up the flattering and perilous mission
to Tashkend, but now he refused it without any hesita-
tion ; then, noticing that his refusal was misinterpreted
by the authorities, he gave in his resignation.
A month later, Aleksei Aleksandrovitch was left alone
with his son, and Anna went abroad with Vronsky, with-
out a divorce, and resolutely refusing to accept one.
PART FIFTH
CHAPTER I
THE Princess Shcherbatskaya found it would not
be possible to have the wedding before Lent,
which would come in five weeks, because the trous-
seau would not be half done ; but she could not help
agreeing with Levin that after Lent it might be too late,
as an old aunt of the prince's was very ill and liable to
die, and then mourning would still further postpone it.
So having decided to divide the trousseau into two parts,
— one large, the other small, — the princess agreed to
have the wedding before Lent. She decided that she
would prepare the smaller part of the trousseau at once,
and send the larger part afterward, and she was very
indignant with Levin because he would not answer her
seriously whether this would suit him or not. This
arrangement was all the more convenient because the
young couple intended to set out for the country im-
mediately after the ceremony, and would not need the
larger part of the things.
Levin continued in the same condition of lunacy, in
which it seemed to him that he and his happiness con-
stituted the chief and only aim of creation, and that it
was wholly unnecessary for him to think or to bother
himself about anythirtg but that his friends would
arrange everything for him. He did not even make
any plans or arrangements for his coming life, but left
others to decide for him, knowing all would be admi-
rable. His brother, Sergyef Ivanovitch, Stepan Arka-
dyevitch, and the princess ruled him absolutely ; he was
satisfied to accept whatever they proposed.
His brother borrowed the money that he needed ; the
princess advised him to leave Moscow after the wed-
261
262 ANNA KARENINA
ding ; Stepan Arkadyevitch advised him to go abroad.
He consented to everything.
" Make whatever plans you please," he thought, " I
am happy; and whatever you may decide on, my joy
will be neither greater nor less."
But when he told Kitty of Stepan Arkadyevitch's
suggestion about going abroad, he was surprised to see
that she did not approve of it, and that she had her
own very decided plans for the future. She knew that
Levin's heart was at home in his work, and although
she neither understood his affairs, nor tried to under-
stand them, still they seemed to her very important ; as
their home would be in the country, she did not wish to
go abroad where they were not going to live, but in-
sisted on settling down in the country where their home
was to be. This very firm determination surprised
Levin ; but as it seemed to him all right, he begged
Stepan Arkadyevitch, who had excellent taste, to go to
Pokrovsky and take charge of the improvements in his
house. It seemed to him that that belonged to his
friend's province.
"By the way," said Stepan Arkadyevitch one day,
after his return from the country, where he had ar-
ranged everything for the young couple's reception,
" have you your certificate of confession ? "
" No ; why ? "
"You can't be married without it."
" Ai', ai', af ! " cried Levin ; "but it is nine years since
I have been to confession I I had n't even thought
of it!"
** That is good ! " said Stepan Arkadyevitch, laugh-
ing, " and you call me a nihilist ! But that can't be
allowed to go on ; you must prepare for the sacrament ! "
"When .'' there are only four days more ! "
Stepan Arkadyevitch arranged this matter also, and
Levin prepared for his devotions. For Levin as for
any man who is an unbeliever, yet respects the faith of
others, it was very hard to attend and participate in all
religious ceremonies. Now in his tender and sentimental
franje of mind, the necessity of dissimulating was not
ANNA KARENINA 263
only odious to him, it was well-nigh impossible. Now,
he would be obliged either to lie or to mock at sacred
things, at a time when his heart was bursting, when he
felt at the height of bliss. He felt that he could do
neither. But in spite of all his efforts to persuade
Stepan Arkadyevitch that there must be some other
way of obtaining a certificate without being forced to
confess, Stepan Arkadyevitch declared that it was im-
possible.
" Yes, but what harm will it do you .'' only two days !
and the priest is a capital, bright little old man. He
will pull this tooth for you without your knowing it."
During- the first mass that he attended Levin did his
best to recall the strong religious impressions of his
youth, when he was between sixteen and seventeen
years old ; but he found that this was perfectly impos-
sible. He then tried to look on religious forms as an
ancient custom, without any real meaning, something
like the habit of making calls ; this also he felt that he
could never do. Like most of his contemporaries.
Levin was completely undecided in regard to his reli-
gious views. He could not believe ; at the same time
he was not firmly convinced that all these things were
unreasonable. And therefore not being in a condition
to believe in the efficacy of what he was doing, or to
look on it with utter indifference as on an empty for-
mality, he experienced a sense of pain and annoyance
during the time allotted to his devotions ; his conscience
cried out that to do what he himself did not understand
was false and wicked.
During the time of the service, he listened to the
prayers, striving to attribute to them some significance
which should not be in too open contradiction with his
convictions ; but finding that he could not understand
them, but was compelled to criticize them, he tried not to
listen, but occupied himself with his thoughts — with the
observations and recollections that arose in his mind with
extraordinary vividness during the solemn night-office
in the church. He stayed through mass, vespers, and
evening prayers and on the next morning he rose earlier
264 ANNA KARENINA
than usual, and came at eight o'clock, without having
eaten anything, to morning prayers and confession.
There was no one in the church except a mendicant
soldier, two old women, and the officiating priests. A
young deacon with a long, thin back clearly defined in
two halves beneath his short cassock came to meet him,
and going to a little table near the wall, began to read
prayers. Levin, hearing him repeat in a hurried, mo-
notonous voice, clipping his words, the words, " Lord,
have mercy upon us," ^ felt that his thought was locked
up and sealed, and that to touch it and stir it now was
out of the question, since, if he did, confusion would
ensue ; and therefore he stood behind the deacon, not
listening and not trying to fathom what he said, but
thinking his own thoughts.
" What a wonderful amount of expression there is
about her hands," he thought, recalling the evening
before, which he had spent with Kitty at the table in
one corner of the drawing-room. There had not been
much to talk about, as was usually the case at this time ;
she had rested her hand on the table, opening and
shutting it, and laughing as she made this motion. He
remembered how he had kissed this hand and then ex-
amined the lines that crossed the pink palm.
"■Have mere' on us again," thought Levin, making the
sign of the cross, and bowing, while he noticed the
deacon's supple movements, as he prostrated himself
in front of him. " Then she took my hand, and in turn
examined it. 'You have a famous hand,' she said to
me." He looked at his own hand, and then at the
deacon's, with its stubbed fingers. " Yes ! Now it will
soon be over. No ; he is beginning another prayer.
Yes ; he is bowing to the ground ; that always comes
just before the end."
The deacon took the three-ruble note, discreetly
slipped into his hand, under his rough shaggy cuff, and
promised to register Levin's name ; then quickly clack-
ing in his new boots across the flagstones of the empty
church, he went to the altar. In a moment he looked
^ Gospodi pomilut, shortened by his rapid speech mto pomilos, pomilos.
ANNA KARENINA 265
out and beckoned to Levin. The thought till that mo-
ment locked up in Levin's brain began to stir, but he
made haste to bring it to order. " It will be arranged
somehow," he said to himself and went toward the
ambo. He mounted several steps, turned to the right,
and saw the priest, a little old man, whose thin beard
was almost white, with kindly but rather weary eyes,
standing near the reading-desk, turning over the leaves
of a missal. After a slight bow to Levin, he began to
read the prayers ; having iinished them, he kneeled and
faced Levin : —
*' Christ is here, invisible though, to hear your confes-
sion," said he, pointing to the crucifix. " Do you be-
lieve all that the Holy Apostolic Church teaches us ? "
he continued, turning his eyes from Levin's face and
crossing his hand under his stole.
" I have doubted, I still doubt everything .... " said
Levin, in a voice which sounded disagreeable to his
own ears, and he was silent.
The priest waited a few moments to see if he would
say anything more, then closing his eyes and speaking
rapidly with a Vladimirsky accent, he said : —
" To doubt is characteristic of human weakness ; we
must pray the Lord Almighty to strengthen you. What
are your principal sins ? "
The priest spoke without the least interruption, and
as if he were afraid of losing time.
" My principal sin is doubt. I doubt everything, and
I am generally doubting."
" To doubt is characteristic of human weakness,"
said the priest, using the same words ; " what do you
doubt principally ? "
" Everything. I sometimes even doubt the existence
of God," said Levin, in spite of himself, horrified at the
impropriety of what he was saying. But his words
seemed to make no impression on the priest.
" How can you doubt the existence of God .'' " he
asked, with an almost imperceptible smile.
Levin was silent.
" What doubts can you have about the Creator when
^66 ANNA KARENINA
you contemplate His works ? " pursued the priest, in his
quick habitual utterance, " Who ornamented the celes-
tial vault with its stars ? who decked the earth with all
its .beauty ? How can these things exist without a Crea-
tor?'.' And he cast a questioning glance at Levin.
Levin felt that it would be out of place to enter into
a philosophical discussion with the priest, and, therefore,
in his reply said only what referred directly to the
question : —
ttn'jil do not know."
" You do not know ? Then how can you doubt that
God has created everything ? " asked the priest, with a
light'hearted perplexity.
" I cannot understand it," replied Levin, blushing,
and feeling that his words were stupid, and that in such
a position they could not be other than stupid.
" Pray to God, have recourse to Him ; the Fathers of
the Church themselves doubted, and asked God to
strengthen their faith. The devil has mighty power,
and we should resist him. Pray to God, pray to God,"
repeated the priest, rapidly.
Then he kept silent for a moment, as if he were buried
in thought.
" They tell me that you intend to marry the daughter
of my parishioner and spiritual son, the Prince Shcher-
batsky," he added with a smile. " She is a beautiful
girl."
" Yes," replied Levin, blushing for the priest. " Why
does he need to ask such questions at confession .■* " he
said to himself.
And, as if replying to his thought, the priest con-
tinued : —
** You are preparing for marriage, and perhaps God
may grant you offspring. Isn't that so.'' Now, what
education will you give to your little children if you do
not conquer the temptations of the devil, who causes
you to doubt ? " he asked with gentle reproach. " If
you love your children as a good father, you will not
only wish for them riches, luxury, and honor, but still
more, their salvation and their spiritual enlightenment
ANNA KARENINA 267
by the light of truth ; is this not so ? How will you
reply to the innocent child who asks you, ' Papasha,
who made all that delights me on the earth, — the water,
the sunshine, the flowers, the plants ? ' Will you an-
swer, ' I know nothing about it ' ? Can you ignore
what the Lord God in His infinite goodness has revealed
to you ? And if the child asks you, ' What awaits me
beyond the tomb ? ' what will you say to him if you
know nothing ? How will you answer him ? Will you
give him up to the seductions of the world and the
devil ? That is not right ! " said he, stopping, and
turning his head on one side, looked at Levin out of
his kindly, gentle eyes.
Levin was silent, not because he was afraid this time
to enter into a discussion with the priest, but because
nobody had ever put such questions to him before, and
because he thought there was plenty of time to consider
them before his children should be in a state to ques-
tion him.
*' You are about to enter upon a phase of life," con-
tinued the priest, " where one must choose his path
and keep to it. Pray God in His mercy to keep and
sustain you ; and in conclusion : May our Lord God,
Jesus Christ, pardon you, my son, in His goodness and
loving-kindness to all mankind." And the priest, end-
ing the formulas of absolution, took leave of him, after
giving him his blessing.
Levin, returning home that day, felt happy enough
at the thought of being free from a false situation with-
out having been obliged to lie. Besides, there remained
with him a vague idea that what that good and gentle
little old man said to him was not altogether so stupid
as he at first had thought it was going to be, and that
he really had something worth clearing up sometime.
" Not now, of course," he thought, " but later on."
Levin felt more than ever at this time that there
were troubled and obscure places in his soul, and that,
concerning his religion, he was in exactly the same
position which he so clearly saw others occupying, and
disliked, and which he blamed his friend Sviazhsky for.
268 ANNA KARENINA
Levin spent that evening with his betrothed at Dolly's,
and in trying to explain to Stepan Arkadyevitch the
excitable condition in which he found himself, was very
gay ; he said that he was like a dog being trained to
jump through a hoop, which, delighted at having learned
his lesson, wags his tail, and is eager to leap over the
table and through the window.
CHAPTER II
The princess and Darya Aleksandrovna insisted on
strictly observing the established customs ; so Levin was
not to see his " bride " on the day of the wedding, and he
dined at his hotel with three bachelors, who met in his
room by chance : they were Sergyei" Ivanovitch ; Kata-
vasof, an old university friend, now professor of natural
sciences, whom Levin had met on the street and brought
home to dinner ; Chirikof, his shafer or best man, justice
of the peace at Moscow, and Levin's companion in bear-
hunting.
The dinner was very lively. Sergyef Ivanovitch was
in the best of spirits, and greatly enjoyed Katavasof's
originality. Katavasof, feeling that his originality was
appreciated and understood, made a great display of it
and Chirikof added his share of gayety to the conversa-
tion.
" So, here is our friend Konstantin Dmitrievitch,"
said Katavasof, with the slow speech of a professor
accustomed to talk ex cathedra ; " what a talented fellow
he was ! I speak of him in the past, for he no longer
exists. He loved science when he left the university ;
he took an interest in humanity ; now he employs half
his faculties in deceiving himself, and the other half in
apologizing for the deception."
" I never met a more confirmed enemy of marriage
than you," said Sergyef Ivanovitch.
" No, I am not its enemy ; I am a friend of the dis-
tribution of labor. People who cannot do anything
ought to be the ones to propagate the race. All the
ANNA KARENINA 269
rest should devote themselves to their intellectual devel-
opment and welfare. That is my opinion. I know a
great many people are inclined to confound these two,
but I am not of the number."
"How delighted I should be to hear that you were in
love ! " exclaimed Levin. " Pray invite me to your wed-
ding."
" But I am already in love."
" Yes, with some cuttlefish. You know," said Levin,
turning to his brother, " Mikhail Semyonuitch has writ-
ten a work on the nutrition, and .... "
" Now, I beg of you not to confuse matters ! It is
of no consequence what I have written ; but it is a fact
that I love a cuttlefish."
" That need not prevent your loving a wife."
" No ; but my wife would object to my loving the
cuttlefish."
" Why so .? "
" You will see how it will be. Now, you love your
farming, hunting Well ! just wait awhile ! "
" I met Arkhip to-day," said Chirikof ; " he says that
there are quantities of elk at Prudnoye, and two
bears."
" Well ! you may hunt them without me."
"You see how it is," said Sergyef Ivanovitch, "You
may as well say good-by to bear-hunting ; your wife
won't allow it."
Levin smiled. The idea that his wife would object
to his hunting seemed so delightful that he was ready
to renounce the pleasure of ever meeting a bear again.
" However, I am sorry to hunt those two bears with-
out you," said Chirikof. " Do you remember the last
time at Khapilovo ? The hunting was marvelous."
Levin did not care to spoil his friend's illusion that
life would be worth nothing without hunting, and so he
made no reply.
"The custom of saying good-by to one's bachelor
life is not without meaning," said Sergyel Ivanovitch.
" However happy one may be, a man regrets his
liberty."
Vfo ANNA KARENINA
"Confess that, like Gogolevsky, when he was en-
gaged, you feel like jumping out of the window."
" Certainly ; but he won't confess it," said Katavasof,
with a loud laugh.
"The window is open Come now, let us go to
Tver! We might find one bear in her lair. Indeed,
we have still time to catch the five o'clock train," said
Chirikof, smiling. " Hear them laugh ! "
" Well, upon my honor," replied Levin, smiling, too,
" I cannot discover the least trace of regret in my soul
for my lost hberty."
"Yes! your soul is in such a chaos now that you
cannot find anything in it," said Katavasof. "Wait till
it becomes calmer; then you will see."
" No, if I felt in the least degree that there was noth-
ing beyond my feeling of " — he did not like to speak
of love before Katavasof — "of happiness, I should
regret my lost freedom. But it is not so at all ; I am
even delighted at my loss of freedom."
"You are a hopeless case," exclaimed Katavasof.
" However, let us drink to his recovery, or let us at
least hope for him that one per cent of his illusions may
be accomplished. And even that would be such happi-
ness as was never known on this earth ! "
Shortly after dinner the guests separated, to dress for
the wedding.
When he was left alone, and had a chance to think
over the conversation of these bachelors. Levin again
asked himself whether he really regretted the liberty of
which his friends had just been talking, and he smiled
at the idea.
" Liberty } why liberty } Happiness for me consists in
loving, in thinking her thoughts, in wishing her wishes,
without any liberty. That is happiness ! "
" But can I know her thoughts, her wishes, her feel-
ings ? " whispered some voice. The smile disappeared
from his face and he fell into a deep study. And sud-
denly a strange feeling came over him : fear and doubt
came over him — doubt about everything.
" Suppose she does not love me ? What if she is
ANNA KARENINA 271
marrying me merely for the sake of being married ?
What if she does not herself know what she is doing ? "
he asked himself, " Will she, perhaps, see her mistake,
and discover, after we are married, that she does not
love me, and that she never can love me ? "
And strange, even painful, thoughts about Kitty
came to his mind ; he began to be violently jealous of
Vronsky, just as he had been the year before ; there
came up before him, like the memory of yesterday, that
evening when he had seen them together, and he sus-
pected her of not having confessed everything to him.
He quickly sprang up.
" No," said he, in despair, " I cannot let this remain
so ! I will go and find her, — I will talk with her, and
say to her again, for the last time : ' We are free ; is it
not better to stop just where we are ? Anything is
better than lifelong unhappiness, shame, distrust ! ' "
And with despair in his heart, full of hatred toward
all mankind, toward himself and Kitty, he left the hotel
and hastened to her house.
He found her in one of the rear rooms sitting on a
large chest, busy with her maid, looking over dresses of
all colors, spread out over the backs of the chairs and
on the floor.
"Akh!" she exclaimed, beaming with joy at seeing
him. " What brings thee .-' What brings you .-' " Even
up to this last day she sometimes said tui, sometimes
viii. " I was not expecting you ! I am just disposing
of my maiden wardrobe."
"Ah! that is good!" he replied, frowning at the
maid.
"Run away, Duniasha ; I will call you," said Kitty;
and as soon as she had gone she asked, using the sec-
ond person of the pronoun, " What is the matter with
thee ?" this time resolutely. She remarked her lover's
strange, excited, and gloomy face, and was seized with
fear.
" Kitty, I am in torture, and I cannot suffer alone 1 "
he said to her with despair in his voice, stopping in
front of her and looking into her eyes in a beseeching
272 ANNA KARENINA
way. He at once saw by her face, so sincere and lov-
ing, that nothing whatever would result from his deter-
mination ; yet he felt an urgent need of being reassured
from her own lips.
" I came to tell you that it is not yet too late ; that
everything can even now be taken back."
" What .'' I do not understand. What is the matter
with thee.'' "
" I am — as I have said and thought a thousand times
before — I am not worthy of you. You once could not.
consent to marry me. Think of it ! Perhaps you are
mistaken now. Think of it well. You cannot love me
....if.... it is better to acknowledge it," he continued,
without looking at her. " I shall be miserable, but no
matter ; let people say what they please ; anything is
better than unhappiness ! .... But anything is better now,
while there is yet time .... "
" I do not understand you," she replied, frightened.
"You mean you want to take back your word .... break
off our.... "
" Yes, if you do not love me."
"You must be insane ! " she exclaimed, red with vexa-
tion. But the sight of Levin's piteous face arrested
her anger ; and pushing the frocks from one of the
chairs, she sat down near him.
" What are you thinking of .'' Tell me all."
" I think that you cannot love me. Why should you
love me ? "
" Bozhe mof ! what can I do } " .... said she ; and she
burst into tears.
" Akh ! what have I done ? " he cried instantly, and
throwing himself on his knees, he covered her hands
with kisses.
When the princess came into the room five minutes
later, she found them completely reconciled. Kitty had
not only convinced him of her love, but in answer to his
question she had explained to him why she loved him.
She said that she loved him because she understood him
perfectly ; because she knew that he could love, and that
all he loved was good and beautiful.
I
ANNA KARENINA 273
Levin found the explanation perfectly satisfactory.
When the princess came in, they were sitting side by
side on the big chest, looking over the frocks, and dis-
cussing their fate. Kitty wanted to give Duniasha the
brown frock that she wore the day Levin proposed to
her ; and he insisted that it should not be given to any
one, and that Duniasha should have the blue frock.
" But don't you see that she is a brunette, and the
blue frock will not be becoming to her ? .... I have
thought it all over." ....
When she learned why Levin was there, the princess
was half vexed at him, and sent him home to make his
own toilet and leave Kitty in peace, as Charles was
going to dress Kitty's hair.
" She is quite excited enough," said she ; " she has
eaten nothing for days, and is losing all her beauty ;
and here you come to trouble her with your foolishness.
Come, go away now, my dear."
Levin went back to the hotel, guilty and ashamed, but
reassured. His brother, Darya Aleksandrovna, and
Stepan Arkadyevitch, in full dress, were already wait-
ing with holy images to bless him. There was no time
to be lost. Darya Aleksandrovna had to go home again
to get her son perfumed and curled for the occasion ;
the child was to carry the sacred image before the
bride. Then one carriage must be sent for the shafer
or best man, while another was to come to the hotel for
Sergyei' Ivanovitch This day was full of complications.
One thing was certain, that no delay was permissible,
for it was already half-past six.
The ceremony of the benediction was anything but
solemn. Stepan Arkadyevitch assumed a comically
grave attitude beside his wife, raised the sacred image,
and obliged Levin to kneel before it, while he blessed
him with an affectionate and wicked smile ; at last he
kissed him three times ; and Darya Aleksandrovna did
the same very hastily, for she was in a great hurry to
get away, and in great perplexity about the carriage
arrangements.
" Well ! This is what we will do : you go for him in
VOL. II. — 18
274 ANNA KARENINA
our carriage, and perhaps Sergyeif Ivanovitch will be so
good as to come immediately, and to send back his." ....
" Certainly, with pleasure."
" We will come back together. Has the luggage been
sent.''" asked Stepan Arkady evitch.
"Yes," replied Levin; and he called Kuzma to help
him dress.
CHAPTER III
A THRONG of people, principally women, surrounded
the church, brilliantly lighted for the wedding ; those
who could not get inside were pushing up around the
windows and elbowing one another as they strove to
look through the gratings.
Already more than twenty carriages stood in a line
in the street, under the supervision of policemen. A
police officer stood at the entrance in brilliant uniform,
unmindful of the cold. Carriages kept driving up
and departing; now ladies in full dress, holding up
their trains ; now men taking off their hats, or kipis.
In the church itself both chandeliers and all the can-
dles before the images were already burning. The
golden gleam on the red background of the ikonostas,
and the gilded chasing of the ikons, and the silver of the
candelabra and of the censers, and the flaggings of the
floor, and the tapestries and the banners suspended in
the choir and the steps of the pulpit, and the old dingy
missals, and the priestly robes, were all flooded with
light.
On the right-hand side of the warm church, amid the
brave array of dress-coats, uniforms, and white neck-
ties, and satin, silk, and velvet robes ; of coiffures,
flowers, and bare necks and arms, and long gloves,
there was a constant flow of restrained but lively con-
versation, which echoed strangely beneath the high,
vaulted roof.
Whenever the door opened with a plaintive creak the
murmur ceased, and every one turned around, hoping
ANNA KARENINA 275
at last to see the bridal pair. But the door had already
opened more than ten times, and each time it proved
to be some belated guest, or guests, admitted among the
number of the friends on the right, or some spectator
who had been clever enough to deceive or elude the
police officer, and sat down among the strangers on the
left.
The friends and strangers had passed through every
phase of waiting ; at first they supposed that the bride
and bridegroom would be there any minute, and did not
attach any importance to the delay ; then they began
to look around at the door more and more frequently,
wondering what could have happened ; at last the delay
began to be awkward, and the relatives and invited
guests tried to assume an air of indifference, as if they
were absorbed in their conversation.
The archdeacon, as ii. to let people know that his
time was precious, every now and then gave an impa-
tient cough, which made the windows rattle ; in the
choir the singers, tired of waiting, could be heard, now
trying their voices, and now blowing their noses ; the
priest kept sending, now a sacristan, now a deacon, to
find out if the bridegroom was coming, and appeared
himself more and more frequently at the side doors in
his lilac cassock with its embroidered sash.
Finally a lady looked at her watch, and said to the
one sitting next her, " This is very strange ! " And im-
mediately all the invited guests began to express their
surprise and discontent aloud. One of the shafers, or
best men, went to see what had happened.
During ail this time Kitty, in her white dress, long
veil, and wreath of orange blossoms, was standing in the
" hall " of the Shcherbatsky mansion with her sister,
Madame Lvova, and her nuptial godmother,^ looking
out of the window, and had been waiting for half an
hour for the shafer to announce the bridegroom's arrival
at the church.
Levin, meanwhile, in black trousers, but without
either coat or waistcoat, was walking up and down his
1 Posazhonaya maf.
276 ANNA KARENINA
room at the hotel, opening the door every minute to
look out into the corridor. But in the corridor nothing
like what he wanted was to be seen, and, wringing his
hands in despair, he would pour forth his complaints to
Stepan Arkadyevitch, who was calmly smoking.
" Did you ever see a man in such a horribly absurd
situation ? "
" Yes, abominable ! " said Stepan Arkadyevitch, with
his tranquil smile. " But be calm ; they will have it
here very soon."
" No, hang it ! " said Levin, with restrained fury,
"And these idiotic open waistcoats. Absolutely use-
less!" he added, looking at his tumbled shirt-bosom.
"And what if my trunks have already gone to the
railway station .'' " he exclaimed in despair.
" Then you can wear mine."
" I might have done that in the first place."
" Don't be ridiculous .... wait ; it is sure to come all right."
The fact was that when Levin began to dress, Kuzma,
his old servant, was supposed to have taken out his
dress-coat, his waistcoat, and all that was necessary.
" But the shirt ! " cried Levin.
" You have your shirt on," replied Kuzma, with an
innocent smile.
Kuzma had not thought to provide a clean shirt, and,
having received his orders to pack everything up and
take them to the Shcherbatskys' house, from which the
young couple was to start away that same evening, he
had done so, leaving out only his dress-suit. The one
that Levin had worn all day was tumbled, and unfit to
wear with his open waistcoat ; it would take too long
to send to the Shcherbatskys'. They sent out to buy
one ; the lackey returned empty-handed — everything
was shut up : it was Sunday. A shirt was brought from
Stepan Arkadyevitch' s house — it was ridiculously broad
and short ; at last, in despair, he had to send to the
Shcherbatskys' to have his trunks opened. So, while
the people were waiting in the church, the unfortunate
groom, like a wild beast in a cage, was ramping with
despair up and down his room, looking out into the
ANNA KARENINA 277
corridor, and in his horror and despair imagining what
Kitty might be thinking all this time.
Finally the guilty Kuzma rushed into the room all out
of breath, with the shirt in his hand.
" I got there just in time, as they were carrying off
the trunks ! " he exclaimed.
In three minutes Levin rushed through the corridor,
without daring to look at his watch, for fear of increas-
ing his agony of mind.
" You can't change anything," said Stepan Arkadye-
vitch, with a smile, following leisurely. " I told you it
would come out all right."
CHAPTER IV
** Here they come ! — There he is ! — Which one ? Is
it the youngest .-* Just look at her ! Poor little matushka,
more dead than alive ! " was murmured through the
crowd, as Levin, having met the bride at the entrance,
came into the church with her.
Stepan Arkadyevitch told his wife the reason of the
delay, and a smile passed over the congregation as it
was whispered about. Levin neither saw any one nor
anything, but kept his eyes fixed on his bride.
Every one said that she had grown very homely dur-
ing these last days, and certainly she did not look so
pretty under her bridal wreath as usual ; but such was
not Levin's opinion. He looked at her high coiffure,
with the long white veil attached, and white flowers, at
her high plaited collar encircling her slender neck in a
peculiarly maidenly fashion, and just showing it a little
in front, — her remarkably graceful figure ; and she
seemed more beautiful to him than ever. But it was
not because the flowers or her veil or her Paris gown
added anything to her beauty, but because of the expres-
sion of her lovely face, her eyes, her lips, with their in-
nocent sincerity, preserved in spite of all this adornment.
" I was beginning to think that you had made up your
mind to run away," she said to him with a smile.
278 ANNA KARENINA
"What happened to me was so absurd that I am
ashamed to tell you about it," he replied, reddening, and
he was compelled to turn to Sergyef Ivanovitch, who
came up at that moment.
"The tale of the shirt is a good one," said Sergyef
Ivanovitch, throwing back his head with a laugh.
"Yes, yes," replied Levin, without understanding a
word which had been said.
" Well, Kostia, now is the time to make a serious de-
cision," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, pretending to look
greatly scared. " The question is a grave one, and you
must appreciate its full importance. I have been asked
whether the candles shall be new ones, or those that
have been partly burned; the difference is ten rubles,"
he added, pursing his lips in a smile. " I have decided
about it, but I am afraid that you will not approve of it."
Levin knew that there was some joke about it, but
he could not smile.
" What will you decide on } new ones, or old ones ? —
that is the question."
"Yes, yes; new ones."
" Well, I am very glad. The question is settled,"
said Stepan Arkadyevitch. " Of how little importance
a man is at such a time as this ! " he murmured to
Chirikof, while Levin drew near to his bride, after
looking at her in a bewildered way.
" Notice, Kitty, who first sets foot on the carpet ! "
said the Countess Nordstone, stepping up to her. —
"You look your best," she added, addressing Levin.
" Are you frightened ? " asked Marya Dmitrievna, an
old aunt.
" You are n't cold, are you ? You look pale. Bend
forward a moment," said Madame Lvova, raising her
beautiful round arms to repair some disarrangement of
her sister's flowers.
Dolly came up, and tried to say something ; but she
could not speak, and burst into tears and laughed un-
naturally.
Kitty looked at those around her as absent-mindedly
as Levin.
ANNA KARENINA 279
During this time the officiating clergymen had put on
their sacerdotal robes, and the priest, accompanied by
the deacon, came to the lectern placed at the entrance
of the sacred doors. The priest addressed a few words
to Levin ; but Levin failed to understand what he said.
" Take the bride's hand and go forward," whispered
his best man to him.
For a long time he was unable to make out what was
expected of him. For a long time they tried to coach
him and were ready to give it up, because he did the
opposite of what he was told. Finally, he compre-
hended that he was to take Kitty's right hand with his
right hand, without changing his position. When at
last he took his bride by her hand in the proper way, the
priest advanced a few steps, and stopped in front of the
lectern. The relatives and invited guests followed the
young couple with a murmur of voices and a rustling of
trains. Some one stooped down to arrange the bride's
train ; in the church, a silence so profound reigned that
the drops of wax could be heard falling from the candles.
The old priest, in a calotte, his white hair shining like
silver, drawn back behind his ears, drew forth his little
wrinkled hands from beneath his heavy silver chasuble,
ornamented with a cross of gold, approached the lectern,
and turned over the leaves of the missal.
Stepan Arkadyevitch came softly and spoke in his
ear, made a sign to Levin, and then stepped back.
The priest hghted two candles decorated with flowers,
and, holding them slanting in his left hand, so that the
wax slowly fell from them, turned toward the young
couple. It was the same old man who had heard Lev-
in's confession. He looked at the bride and bridegroom
out of his sad, weary eyes, and then, with a sigh, blessed
Levin with his right hand ; then, with especial tender-
ness, placed his fingers on Kitty's bended head, gave
them the candles, and taking the censer moved quietly
away.
" Is this all real ? " thought Levin, and he glanced at
his bride. He looked down somewhat from above on
her profile, and by the motion of her lips and her eye-
28o ANNA KARENINA
brows he knew that she felt his look. She did not raise
her head ; but the high-plaited collar which reached to
her little pink ear trembled a little. He saw that she
was stifling a sigh, and her hand, imprisoned in its long
glove, trembled as it held the candle.
The whole affair of the shirt, his late arrival, his con-
versation with his relatives and friends, their displeas-
ure, his ridiculous position, — everything at once vanished
from his memory, and he was conscious of a mixed feel-
ing of terror and joy.
The archdeacon, a tall, handsome man, his hair curl-
ing all around his head and wearing a stikhar, or sur-
plice, of silver cloth, came briskly forward, and with the
customary gesture raised his stole with two fingers, and
stopped before the priest.
" Bless us, O Lord ! " ^ slowly, one after the other,
rocking the atmosphere into billows of sound, echoed
the solemn syllables.
" May the Lord bless you now and through all ages,"
replied the old priest in a sweet and musical voice, still
turning over the leaves.
And the response, chanted by the invisible choir, filled
the church to the very roof of the vault with a deep, full
sound, which increased, then ceased for a moment, and
softly died away.
They prayed as usual for the eternal repose and wel-
fare of their souls, for the synod, and the emperor, and
then for the servants of God, Konstantin and Yekate-
rina, that day about to wed.
" Let us pray the Lord to send them His love. His
peace, and His aid," the whole church seemed to say in
the voice of the archdeacon.
Levin listened to these words, and was impressed by
them.
" How did they know that aid was exactly what I
need .-' Yes, aid. What can I know, what can I do,
without aid }" he thought, recalling his recent doubts
and fears.
When the deacon had ended the liturgy, the priest,
1 Bla-go-slo-vi vla-duika I
ANNA KARENINA 281
with a book in his hand, turned toward the brida)
couple : —
" O God Eternal, who unitest by an indissoluble
bond those who are separate," he read, in a strong
melodious voice, " Thou who didst bless Isaac and Re-
becca, and showest Thy mercy to their descendants,
bless also these Thy servants, Konstantin and Yeka-
terina, and pour forth Thy benefits upon them. Because
Thou art a merciful and beneficent God, we offer Thee
the glory ! To the Father, and to the Son, and to the
Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be .... "
" Amen," again chanted the invisible choir.
" ' Who unitest by an indissoluble bond those who are
separate ! ' How those profound words respond to what
one feels at such a time ! Does she understand it as I
do ? " thought Levin.
And looking down he gazed into her eyes.
From the expression of Kitty's face he concluded
that she did feel it as he did ; but he was mistaken :
she scarcely comprehended the words of the service, and
during the time of the espousal did not even hear them.
She could not hear them or comprehend them, so power-
ful was the single feeling which filled her heart and
kept increasing all the time. This feeling was one of
delight at the perfect fulfilment of what had been tak-
ing place in her heart during the past month and a half,
and during those six weeks had made her happy and
restless by turns.
From that day when, in her cinnamon-colored gown,
in the "hall" of their house on the Arbatsky, she had
silently approached Levin to give herself wholly to him,
from that day, from that moment, she felt a complete
rupture had been made with all her past life, and another
existence, new and unknown, without, however, changing
her outward life, had begun. These six weeks had been
at once a very happy and very trying time. Her
whole life, her hopes and desires, were all concentrated
on this man, whom she did not even yet fully under-
stand, to whom she was united by a sentiment which
a82 ANNA KARENINA
she understood still less, and which attracted her and
repelled her by turns, and at the same time she had
gone on living in the conditions of her former life. Liv-
ing this old life, she was horrified at herself, at her com-
plete and invincible indifference toward her whole past :
to things, to habits, even to her relatives, whom she
loved, and who loved her, her mother, who was pained
by her indifference, and her gentle father, whom she
had loved more than any one else in the world. At one
moment she was horrified at this indifference, at the
next she was filled with joy at that which had brought
her to such a feeling. She could not imagine or desire
anything except life with this man ; but this new life
had not yet begun, and she could form no definite idea
of it. It was only an expectation, a fear and joy of
something new and unknown. And now this expecta-
tion, as well as her remorse for not regretting the past,
were at an end, and the new life was beginning. This
new and unknown future could not fail to be alarming,
but whether it was alarming or not, it was only the ful-
filment of what had taken place in her soul six weeks
before, only the sanctification of what had been taking
place in her soul for a long time.
The priest, turning to the lectern again, with difficulty
took off Kitty's little ring, and passed it as far as the first
joint of Levin's finger.
" I unite thee, Konstantin, servant of God, to Yekate-
rina, servant of God ; " and he repeated the same formula
in placing a large ring on Kitty's delicate little rosy
finger, pathetic in its weakness.
The bridal pair tried to understand what was expected
of them, but each time made a mistake, and the priest
corrected them in a low voice. At last the priest, bless-
ing them with his fingers, again gave Kitty the large
ring, and Levin the small one, and again they got con-
fused, and twice passed the rings from hand to hand,
failing to interchange them as they should have done.
Dolly Chirikof and Stepan Arkadyevitch stepped out
to assist them in their difficulty. The people around
them smiled and whispered; but the tenderly solemn
1
ANNA KARENINA 283
expression on the faces of the young couple did not
change. On the contrary, even when they were blun-
dering with the rings, they looked more serious and
solemn than before ; and the smile on Stepan Arkadye-
vitch's face died away, as he whispered to them that
they were to put on their own rings. It seemed to him
that a smile might be offensive to them.
" O Thou who, from the beginning of the world, hast
created man, male and female," continued the priest,
after the ceremony of the rings, " and hast given to man
the woman to be his aid and delight, therefore, O Thou,
our Lord God, who hast given Thy blessing to Thy chosen,
to Thy servants, our fathers, to Thine inheritance, do
Thou bless Thy servants Konstantin and Yekaterina, and
confirm their nuptials in faith and concord and truth
and love ! "
Levin's breast heaved; disobedient tears filled his
eyes. He kept feeling more and more that all his
thoughts on marriage, his visions of how he should
dispose his life, had hitherto been infantile, and that
there was something that had never been comprehen-
sible to him ; and now he understood its meaning less
than ever, although he was now wholly in its power.
CHAPTER V
All Moscow, all the relatives and acquaintances,
were at the church. And during the time of the mar-
riage service, in the brilliant light that flooded the church,
in that throng of handsomely dressed women and girls,
and of men in white neckties, in swallow-tails, or in uni-
form, there was a decorously subdued conversation, es-
pecially among the men, for the women were absorbed in
observing all the details of a ceremony which is always
so full of interest for them.
A little group of friends surrounded the bride, and
among them were her two sisters, Dolly, and the beauti-
ful Madame Lvova just returned from abroad. l
284 ANNA KARENINA
" Why is Mary in lilac at a wedding ? It is almost
mourning," said Madame Korsunsky.
*' With her complexion it 's her only salvation," re-
plied Madame Drubetsky. " But I wonder why they
had the ceremony in the evening ? That savors of the
merchant."
" It is pleasanter. I, too, was married in the evening,"
said Madame Korsunsky, sighing, and recalling how
beautiful she had been on that day, and how ridiculously
in love with her her husband had been, and how it was
all so different now !
" They say that those who have been best men more
than ten times never marry. I tried to make myself
proof against marriage, in this way, but the place was
taken," said Count Siniavin to the handsome young
Princess Charskaya, who had designs on him.
A smile was her only reply. She was looking at
Kitty, and thinking how and when she would stand
with Count Siniavin in Kitty's place ; and how she
would then remind him of the joke that he had
made.
Shcherbatsky confided to the old Freflina Nikolayeva
his intention to place the crown on Kitty's head-dress to
bring her good luck.
" There is no need of wearing a head-dress," replied
Freflina Nikolayeva, who had long ago decided that
if the old widower whom she was setting her cap for
should offer himself, she would be married very simply.
" I don't like this display."
Sergyeif Ivanovitch was talking with Darya Dmi-
trievna, jestingly declaring that the fashion of wedding
tours was becoming widespread because young couples
were always rather bashful.
" Your brother may well be proud of his choice. She
is charming. You must envy him."
" The time has gone by for that, Darya Dmitrievna,"
he replied, and an unexpected expression of sadness
overspread his face.
Stepan Arkadyevitch was telling his sister-in-law his
pun on divorce.
ANNA KARENINA 285
" Somebody ought to arrange her wreath," replied the
latter, without Hstening.
" What a pity that she has grown so ugly ! " said the
Countess Nordstone to Madame Lvova. "After all, he
isn't worth her little finger, is he ? "
" I don't agree with you ; I am very much pleased
with him, and not only because he is going to be my
beaii-frkre,'' repHed Madame Lvova. " How well he
appears ! It is so difficult to appear well at such a time
and not to be absurd. He is neither ridiculous nor stiff ;
one feels that he is touched."
" Did you expect this marriage ? "
" Almost. He has always been in love with her."
" Well, we shall see which will be the first to step on
the carpet. I have advised Kitty to look out for that."
"That makes no difference," replied Madame Lvova;
" in our family we are all submissive wives."
" But I have taken pains to keep mine under the
thumb. — How is it with you, Dolly .'' "
Dolly was standing near them, and heard them, but
she did not reply. She was affected; tears filled her
eyes, and she could not have uttered a word without
crying. She was glad for Kitty and Levin ; she was
thinking of her own wedding ; and as she glanced at
the brilliant Stepan Arkadyevitch, she forgot the real
state of things, and only remembered his first, innocent
love. She was thinking, too, of other women, — her
relatives and acquaintances, — whom she remembered
at this important and solemn hour of their lives ; how
they, like Kitty, stood under the crown ; how they re-
nounced the past with joy, and began a mysterious
future, with hope and fear in their hearts. Among the
number she recalled her dear Anna, the details of whose
approaching divorce she had just heard ; she had seen
her enveloped in a white veil, as pure as Kitty, with her
wreath of orange-blossoms. And now } " It is terribly
strange ! " she whispered.
The sisters and friends were not the only ones to
follow with interest the minutest details of the cere-
mony ; there were women among the strangers looking
286 ANNA KARENINA
on, who held their breath, for fear of losing a single
movement of bride or bridegroom, and who replied
absent-mindedly to the jokes or idle remarks of the
men, often not even hearing them,
" Why is she so troubled ? Are they marrying her
against her will ? "
" Against her will ? to such a handsome man ? Is he
a prince ? "
" Is that her sister in white satin ? There ! Just
hear the deacon howl, ' Let her fear her husband ' ! "
** Are the singers from Chudof ? " ^
" No ; from the synod."
"I have asked the servant about it. He says that
her husband is going to take her away to his estate.
Awfully rich, they say. That is why she is marrying
him."
"They make a handsome pair."
"And you pretend to say, Marya Vasilievna, that
they don't wear crinolines^ any longer. Just look at
that one in a puce-colored dress ! You would say she
was an ambassador's wife by the way she is dressed.
Do you see now ?"
" What a sweet little creature the bride is ! — like a
lamb for the slaughter. You may say what you please,
I can't help pitying her."
Such were the remarks of the spectators who had
succeeded in getting past the door of the church.
CHAPTER VI
As the service of espousal was coming to an end, one
of the officiating priests spread a piece of rose-colored
silk in front of the lectern, in the center of the church,
the choir chanted an artistic and complicated psalm, in
which the tenor and bass sang responsively, and the
priest, turning to the young couple, attracted their atten-
tion to the piece of rose-colored fabric.
* A monastery, famous for its singers.
* The speaker calls it karnalin instead of krinolin.
ANNA KARENINA 287
They were both familiar with the superstition that
whichever one of a, bridal couple first sets foot on the
carpet becomes the real head of the family, but neither
Kitty nor Levin remembered anything about it after
they had gone a few steps, And they did not hear the
remarks exchanged about them, or the discussions be-
tween those who thought that he was the first and those
who were sure that they touched it simultaneously.
After the customary questions as to their willingness
to enter into the bonds of matrimony, and would they
plight their mutual troth, and their answers, which
sounded strangely loud to their own ears, a new office
began. Kitty listened to the words of the prayers and
tried to understand them, but she could not. The far-
ther the ceremony proceeded, the more her heart over-
flowed with triumphant joy, which prevented her from
fixing her attention.
They prayed to God that " the pair might have the
gift of chastity, and might rejoice in the sight of many
sons and daughters ; " they recalled how God had made
"the first woman from Adam's side," that "the woman
must leave father and mother and cling to her husband,
and they twain shall be one flesh," and that this is a
great miracle ; they prayed God " to give them fecun-
dity and prosperity, as he had blessed Isaac and Re-
becca, Joseph, Moses, and Sephora, and to let them see
their children to the third and fourth generation."
" All this is lovely," thought Kitty, as she heard these
words ; " all this is just as it should be." And a smile
of happiness, which was reflected on the faces of all
who saw her, shone on her fair, lovely face.
" Put it entirely on," were the words heard in every
part of the church, as the priest brought forward the
crowns, and Shcherbatsky, in his three-button gloves,
tremblingly held the wreath high above Kitty's head.
" Put it on," whispered the latter, smiling.
Levin turned round, and was struck by the radiant
joy wliich filled her face, and the same feeling, in spite
of himself, took possession of him; he felt, like her,
happy and serene.
288 ANNA KARENINA
They listened with joy in their hearts to the reading
of the Epistle, and the archdeacon's voice echoing the
jast verse, fully appreciated by the strangers, who were
impatiently waiting for it. Joyfully they drank the
warm red wine and water from the flat cup, and they
felt still more joyful when the priest, throwing back his
chasuble, led them around the lectern, holding both
their hands in his, while the bass sang, at the top of his
voice, Isa'iye likiii. Shcherbatsky and Chirikof, carry-
ing the crowns, smiling and constantly treading on the
bride's train, now straggled behind, now bumped into
the crowned couple, as the priest paused in front of the
relics. The gleam of joy on Kitty's face seemed to be
communicated to all present. Levin was sure that the
deacon and the priest fell under its influence as well as
himself.
When the crowns had been taken from their heads,
the priest read the last prayers and congratulated the
young couple. Levin looked at Kitty and thought he
had never seen her so beautiful ; it was the beauty of
that new radiance of happiness which transformed her ;
he wanted to say something to her, but did not know
whether the ceremony was yet over or not. The priest
relieved him from his uncertainty, and said gently to
him, with a kindly smile : —
" Kiss your wife, and you, kiss your husband," and
he took their candles.
Levin, with circumspection, kissed his wife's smiling
lips, gave her his arm, and went out of the church with
a new and strange feeling of being suddenly very near
to her. He had not believed, he could not believe, that
all this was reality. Nor until their astonished and timid
eyes met did he believe it, because he felt that they were
indeed one.
That same evening, after the supper, the young couple
started for the country.
ANNA KARENINA 289
CHAPTER VII
Vronsky and Anna had been traveling together in
Europe for three months. They had visited Venice,
Rome, Naples ; and now they were just arrived at a
small Italian city, where they intended to make a con-
siderable stay.
At the hotel the head butler, a regular Adonis of a
man, who wore his thick pomaded hair parted behind
from the neck, and a dress-coat with a wide expanse of
white shirt-front and watch-charms over his rotund
belly, was standing with his hands thrust into his
pockets, scornfully blinking his eyes, and giving curt
answers to a gentleman who had entered the hotel.
Hearing steps on the other side of the entrance, the
head butler turned around, and, seeing the Russian
count, who rented his most expensive apartments, he
respectfully drew his hands out of his pockets, and, with
a low bow, informed the count that a messenger had
come to say that the palazzo was at his service. The
agent was ready to sign the agreement.
"Ah! I am very glad," said Vronsky. "Is madame
at home .■* "
" She has been out, but she has returned," replied the
butler.
Vronsky took off his wide-brimmed soft hat, and
wiped his heated forehead with his handkerchief, and
smoothed his hair, which was so arranged as to hide his
bald spot. Then, casting a hasty glance at the stranger,
who had stopped, and was looking at him earnestly, he
started to go.
" This gentleman is a Russian, and was inquiring for
you," said the head butler.
With a mingled feeling of vexation because he never
could get away from acquaintances, and of pleasure at
the idea of any distraction from his monotonous exis-
tence, Vronsky once more looked at the gentleman, who
had started to go and then stopped, and at one and the
same time their eyes met.
VOL. II. — 19
290 ANNA KARENINA
" Golenishchef ! "
" Vronsky ! "
It was indeed Golenishchef, one of Vronsky's school-
mates in the Corps of Pages. He had belonged to the
liberal party in the Corps, and, after his graduation, he
had taken a civil rank, and had not served. The com-
rades had entirely drifted apart since their graduation, and
had met only once. At that meeting Vronsky had per-
ceived that Golenishchef looked down from the lofty
heights of his chosen liberal profession on Vronsky's
profession and career. Consequently, Vronsky at that
meeting with Golenishchef had given him that cold
and haughty reception with which it was his fashion
to treat people, as much as to say : " You may like or
dislike my manner of life, but it is absolutely of no con-
sequence to me ; you must respect me if you want to
know me." Golenishchef had been scornfully indiffer-
ent to Vronsky's manner. That meeting, it would seem,
should have driven them still farther apart; yet now,
at the sight of each other, they each uttered a cry of
delight. Vronsky had never realized how glad he would
be to see Golenishchef ; but the fact was that he did not
know how bored he was. He forgot the unpleasant
impression of their previous meeting, and with mani-
fest pleasure extended his hand to his old comrade.
And likewise a look of satisfaction succeeded the
troubled expression on Golenishchef's face.
" How glad I am to see you ! " said Vronsky, with a
friendly smile which showed his handsome white teeth.
" I heard the name Vronsky, but which .... I did not
know .... I am very, very glad."
" But come in. Well, what are you doing .-' "
" Oh, I have been living here for more than a year,
working."
" Ah ! " said Vronsky, with interest. " But come in."
, And, according to the habit of Russians, instead of
saying in Russian what he did not wish to be under-
stood by servants, he said in French : - —
" Do you know Madame Karenin .'' We have been
traveling together. I was just going to her room."
ANNA KARENINA 291
And while he was speaking he studied Golenishchef s
face.
"Ah! I did not know," remarked Golenishchef, care-
lessly; but he did know, " Have you been here long ? "
" I ? Oh, this is the fourth day," replied Vronsky,
continuing to study his companion.
" Yes ! He is a gentleman, and looks upon things in
the right light," he said to himself, giving a favorable
interpretation to Golenishchef's way of turning the con-
versation ; " he can be presented to Anna; his views are
all right"
Vronsky, during this three months which he had been
spending with Anna abroad, had felt every time that he
met with new acquaintances a hesitation as to the man-
ner in which they would look on his relations with Anna,
and for the most part the men had looked on them " in
the right light." If he or they had been asked what
they meant by the expression " in the right light," they
would have found it hard to tell. In reality, those that
according to Vronsky looked on it " in the right light "
had never looked on it at all, but as a general thing con-
tented themselves with a wise discretion, not asking
questions or making allusions, and behaved altogether
as well-bred people behave when presented with delicate
and complex questions such as surround life on all sides.
They pretended that they fully appreciated the meaning
and significance of the situation, recognized and even
approved of it, but considered it ill-judged and super-
fluous to explain it.
Vronsky instantly saw that Golenishchef was one of
these discreet people, and was therefore glad to meet
him.
In fact Golenishchef behaved toward Madame Karenin
when he was introduced to her in exactly the manner
that Vronsky demanded ; it evidently cost him no effort
to avoid all words that would lead to any awkwardness.
He had never seen Anna before, and was dehghted
with her beauty, and still more with the perfect sim-
plicity with which she accepted the situation. She
flushed when she saw Vronsky come in with Goleni-
292 ANNA KARENINA
shchef , and this infantile color which spread over her
frank and lovely face pleased him immensely. But he
was delighted because from the very first, as if purposely,
even in the presence of a stranger, which might have
caused restraint, she called Vronsky Aleksef, and told
how they had just rented a house which the people
called a palazso, and how she was going to occupy it with
him. The simple and straightforward facing of their
situation was delightful to Golenishchef. Perceiving
Anna's happy and vivacious manner, knowing Aleksef
Aleksandrovitch and Vronsky, it seemed to him that he
thoroughly understood her. It seemed to him that he
understood what she herself did not understand : how
she could desert her unhappy husband and her son, and
lose her good repute, and still feel animated, gay, and
happy.
" It is in the guide-book," said Golenishchef, speak-
ing of the Palazzo which Vronsky called by name.
" There is a superb Tintoretto there. In his latest
manner."
" Do you know that } It is splendid weather ; let 's
go over and look at it again," said Vronsky, addressing
Anna.
" I should like to very much. I will go and put on
my hat. Did you say it was hot .-* " said she, pausing at
the door and looking back to Vronsky. And again the
bright color came into her face.
Vronsky saw by her look that she was uncertain how
he wished to treat Golenishchef, and that she was afraid
that her behavior might not be what he desired.
He looked at her long and tenderly. Then he re-
plied : —
" No, not very."
And it seemed to her that she comprehended him
perfectly, and especially that he was satisfied with her,
and, replying with a smile, she went out with a quick
and graceful motion.
The friends looked at each other, and there came
into the faces of both an expression of embarrassment,
as if Golenishchef, admiring her, wished to make some
ANNA KARENINA 295
complimentary remark, and had not the courage, while
Vronsky both wished and feared to hear it.
" Well, then," Vronsky began, so that some conversa-
tion might be started, " so you are settled here ? Are
you still interested in the same pursuits?" he asked,
remembering that he had been told that Golenishchef
was writing something.
" Yes ; I have been writing the second part of the
'Two Origins,' " replied Golenishchef, kindling with de-
light at this question ; " that is, to be more exact, I am
not writing yet, but have been collecting and preparing
my materials. It will be far more extended, and will touch
on almost all questions. At home, in Russia, they can't
understand that we are successors of Byzantium," and
he began a long and vehement explanation.
Vronsky at first felt awkward because he did not
know about the first part of the "Two Origins," about
which the author spoke as if it were something well
known. But afterward, as Golenishchef began to de-
velop his thought, and Vronsky saw what he meant, then,
even though he did not know about the " Two Origins,"
he listened not without interest, for Golenishchef spoke
well.
But Vronsky was surprised and annoyed at the irrita-
ble excitement under which Golenishchef labored while
talking about the object that absorbed him. The longer
he spoke, the brighter grew his eyes, the more animated
were his arguments in refutation of imaginary oppo-
nents, and the more angry and excited the expression of
his face.
Vronsky remembered Golenishchef at the School of
Pages, — a lad of small stature, thin, nervous, agile, a
good-hearted and gentlemanly lad, always at the head
of his class, and he could not understand the reasons
for such irascibility and he did not approve of it. And it
especially displeased him that Golenishchef, a man of good
social standing, should put himself down on the level
of these common scribblers, and get angry with them
because they criticized him. Was it worth while .-' It dis-
pleased him ; but, nevertheless, he felt that Golenishchef
294 ANNA KARENINA
was making himself miserable and he was sorry foi
him.
This imhappiness, almost amounting to insanity, was
particularly noticeable on his mobile and rather hand-
some face, while he went on so hurriedly and heatedly
expressing his thoughts that he did not notice Anna's
return.
As Anna came in, wearing her hat and with a mantle
thrown over her shoulders, and stood near them, twirl-
ing her sunshade in her lovely, slender hand, Vronsky
felt a sense of relief in turning away from Golenishchef's
feverish eyes fixed keenly on him, and looked with an
ever new love at his charming companion, radiant with
life and gayety.
It was hard for Golenishchef to come to himself, and
at first he was surly and cross ; but Anna, who was flat-
teringly amiable toward every one, for such at this
time was her disposition, quickly brought him into
sympathy with her gay and natural manner. After es-
saying various topics of conversation, she brought him
round to painting, about which he spoke very well, and
she listened to him attentively. They walked over to
\}s\Q. palazzo and made a thorough inspection of it.
"I am very glad of one thing," said Anna to Goleni-
shchef; "Aleksef will have a nice atelier. Of course
you '11 take this room .'' " she added, turning to Vronsky
and speaking to him in Russian, using the familiar tni
(thou) as if she already looked on Golenishchef as an inti-
mate, before whom it was not necessary to be reserved.
" Do you paint .'' " asked Golenishchef, turning viva-
ciously to Vronsky.
" Yes, I used to paint long ago, and now I am going
to take it up again," replied Vronsky, with color.
•* He has great talent," cried Anna, with a radiant
smile. " Of course I am not a judge. But good judges
say so."
ANNA KARENINA 295
CHAPTER VIII
Anna, during this first period of freedom and rapid
convalescence, felt herself inexcusably happy and full
of joyous life. The memory of her husband's unhappi-
ness did not poison her pleasure. This memory in one
way was too horrible to think of. In another, her hus-
band's unhappiness was the cause of a happiness for
her too great to allow regret. The memory of every-
thing that had followed since her sickness, the reconcili-
ation with her husband, the quarrel, Vronsky's wound,
his sudden appearance, the preparations for the divorce,
the flight from her husband's home, the separation from
her son, — all this seemed like a delirious dream, from
which she awoke and found herself abroad alone with
Vronsky. The recollection of the injury which she had
done her husband aroused in her a feeling akin to dis-
gust, and like that which a drowning man might experi-
ence after having pushed away a person clinging to
him. The other person was drowned. Of course, what
had been done was evil, but it was the only possible
salvation, and it was better not to return to those horri-
ble memories.
One consoling argument in regard to her conduct
occurred to her at the first moment of the rupture, and
now, whenever she thought of all that had passed, she
went over this argument.
" I have done my husband an irrevocable injury," she
said to herself, " but at least I get no advantage from
his misfortune. I also suffer and shall suffer. I give
up all that was dearest to me ; I give up my good name
and my son. I have sinned, and therefore I do not
desire happiness, do not desire a divorce, and I accept
my shame and the separation from my son."
But, however sincere Anna was when she reasoned
thus, she had not suffered. She had felt no shame.
With that tact which both she and Vronsky possessed
to perfection, they had avoided, while abroad, any meet-
ing with Russian ladies, and they had never put them<
296 ANNA KARENINA
selves into any false position, but had associated onl}!
with those who pretended to understand their situation
much better than they themselves did. Nor even the
separation from her son, whom she loved, caused her
any pain at this time. Her baby, her daughter, was so
lovely and had so filled her heart since only the daughter
was left to her, that she rarely thought of the son.
The joy of living caused by her convalescence was so
keen, the conditions of her existence were so new and
delightful, that Anna felt inexcusably happy. The
more she came to know Vronsky, the more she loved
him. She loved him for his own sake and for his love
for her. The complete surrender to him was a delight.
His presence was always a joy to her. All the traits of
his character as she came to know them better and bet-
ter became to her inexpressibly dear. His appearance,
now that he dressed in civil attire instead of uniform,
was as entrancing to her as for a young girl desperately
in love. In all he said, thought, or did, she saw some-
thing noble and elevated. She herself often felt fright-
ened at this excessive worship of him. She tried in
vain to find any imperfection in him. She did not dare
to confess to him her own inferiority, lest he, knowing
it, should love her less. And now there was nothing
that she feared so much, although there was not the
slightest occasion for it, as to lose his love. But she
could not fail to be grateful to him for the way he
treated her or to show him how much she prized it.
Although in her opinion he had shown such a decided
vocation for statesmanship, in which he would certainly
have played an important part, and had sacrificed his am-
bition for her, still he had never expressed the slightest
regret. He was more than ever affectionately re-
spectful, and careful that she should never feel in the
slightest degree the compromising character of her
position. This man, so masculine, not only never
opposed her, but moreover it might be said that he had
no will besides hers, and his only aim seemed to be to
anticipate her desires. And she could not but appreci-
ate this, though this very assiduity in his attentions, this
ANNA KARENINA 297
atmosphere of solicitude which he threw around her,
was sometimes oppressive to her.
Vronsky, meantime, notwithstanding the complete
realization of all that he had desired so long, was not
entirely happy. He soon began to feel that the accom-
plishment of his desires was only a small portion of the
mountain of pleasure which he had anticipated. This
realization now proved to him the eternal error made by
men who imagine their happiness lies in the accomplish-
ment of their desires. During the first of the time after
he had begun to live with her, and had put on his
citizen's clothes, he experienced all the charm of a free-
dom such as he had never known before and the free-
dom of love, and he was satisfied with that ; but not for
long. He soon began to feel rising in his soul the desire
of desires — toska, melancholy, homesickness, etmui.
Involuntarily, he began to follow every light caprice as
if they were serious aspirations and ends.
It was necessary to fill sixteen hours each day with
some occupation, living, as they did, abroad, in perfect
freedom, away from the social and military duties that
took Vronsky 's time at Petersburg. He could not think
of indulging in the pleasures such as he had enjoyed as
a bachelor during his previous trips abroad, for one ex-
periment of that kind — a scheme of a late supper with
some acquaintances — reduced Anna to a most unex-
pected and uncomfortable state of dejection. The enjoy-
ment with foreign or Russian society was impossible on
account of the peculiarity of their relation. And to
amuse himself with the curiosities of the country was
not to be spoken of, not only because he had already
seen them, but because as a Russian and a man of sense,
he could not find in them that immense importance that
the English are pleased to attach to them.
And as a hungry animal throws itself on everything
that presents itself, hoping to find in it something to eat,
so Vronsky, with perfect spontaneity, attacked, now
politics, now new books, now painting.
As, when he was young, he had shown some inclination
toward art, and, not knowing what to do with his money,
^98 ANNA KARENINA
had begun to collect engravings, he had tried his hand
at painting. And now he took it up again, and employed
in it that unexpended superfluity of energy which de-
manded employment. He had the capacity for appre-
ciating art, and he thought that this was all that an artist
needed. After having for some time hung doubtful
which he would choose, — the religious, the historical,
genre, or the realistic, — he actually began to paint. He
understood all kinds, and could get inspiration from each ;
but he could not imagine that it was possible to be entirely
ignorant of the various styles of art and to draw inspira-
tion directly from what is in the soul itself, not caring
what may be the result or to what famous school it may
belong. As he did not know this, and drew his inspira-
tion, not directly from life, but from life as expressed
in art, so he became easily and speedily inspired, and
with equal ease and rapidity succeeded in making what
he undertook to paint a very good resemblance to that
style which he was trying to imitate.
More than all others, the graceful and effective
French school appealed to him, and in this style he
began a portrait of Anna in an Italian costume ; and
this portrait seemed to him and to all that saw it very
successful.
CHAPTER IX
The old, dilapidated palazzo into which they movec^
supplied Vronsky with the agreeable illusion that he
was not so much a Russian proprietor, a shtalmefster in
retirement, as he was an enlightened amateur and pro-
tector of art, in his own modest way an artist, who had
sacrificed society, his ties, his ambition, for a woman's
love. This ancient palace, with its lofty stuccoed ceil-
ings, its frescoed walls, its mosaic floors, its yellow tapes-
tries, its thick, yellow curtains at the high windows, its
vases on mantelpiece and consoles, its carved doors, and
its melancholy halls hung with paintings, lent itself readily
to his illusion.
This new rdle which Vronsky had chosen, together
with their removal to the palazzo and acquaintance with
ANNA KARENINA 299
several interesting persons, which came about through
Golenishchef, made the first part of this period very
enjoyable. Under the instruction of an ItaHan pro-
fessor of painting, he made some studies from nature,
and he took up the study of Italian life during the
Middle Ages. Medieval Italian life became so fasci-
nating to him that he began to wear his hat and throw
his plaid over his shoulders in the medieval style, which
was very becoming to him.
" Here we are alive, and yet we know nothing," said
Vronsky one morning to Golenishchef, who came in to
see him. " Have you seen Mikhailof's ^ painting ?" he
asked, and at the same time handed him a Russian
paper just received, and indicated an article on this
artist, who was living in that very city, and had just
completed a picture about which many reports had long
been in circulation, and which had been sold on the
easel. The article severely criticized the government
and the academy that an artist of such genius was left
without any encouragement and aid.
" I have seen it," replied Golenishchef. " Of course
he is not without talent, but his tendencies are abso-
lutely false. He always shows the Ivanof-Strauss-
Renan conception of Christ and religious art."
" What is the subject of his painting ? " asked Anna.
" * Christ before Pilate.' The Christ is a Jew with all
the realism of the new school."
And as this subject was a favorite one with him, he
began to develop his ideas.
" I cannot understand how they can fall into such a
gross mistake. The type of the Christ in art was clearly
represented by the old masters. Accordingly, if they
want to paint, not God, but a sage or a revolutionist, let
them take Franklin or Socrates, or Charlotte Corday, —
but not Christ. They take the very person whom art
should not attempt to portray, and then ...."
"Is it true that this Mikhailof is in such poverty?"
asked Vronsky, who felt that in his quality of Russian
^ Count Tolstoi may possibly refer to the great artist Gay, one of whose
pictures was exhibited in this country a number of years ago.' — Ed.
L
300 ANNA KARENINA
Maecenas he ought to find some way of aiding the artist,
whether his painting was good or not.
" It is doubtful. He is a famous portrait painter.
Have you not seen his portrait of Madame Vasilchikof ?
But it seems he does n't care to paint portraits any longer,
and perhaps that is the reason he is in need. I say
that...."
" Could n't we ask him to paint Anna Arkadyevna's
portrait .■* "
" Why mine .■• " she demanded. " After your portrait
of me, I want no other. It would be better to let him
paint Ani [so she called her daughter], or her," she
added, looking out of the window at the pretty Italian
nurse, who was just taking the baby into the garden.
And at the same time she gave Vronsky a furtive
glance. This pretty Italian woman, whose face Vronsky
had taken as a model for a picture, was the only secret
woe in Anna's life. Vronsky painted her picture, ad-
mired her beauty and her medieval quaintness, and
Anna did not dare to confess to herself that she feared
she was going to be jealous, and was accordingly all the
more kind to her and her little boy.
Vronsky also looked out of the window, and at Anna's
eyes, and, instantly turning to Golenishchef, said : —
" And so you know this Mikhailof ? "
" I have met him. But he is an original — a cJmdak
— without any education, you know, one of these new-
fashioned savages such as you meet with nowadays —
you know them — these free-thinkers, who rush headlong
into atheism, materialism, universal negation. Once,"
Golenishchef went on to say, either not noticing or not
wishing to notice that both Vronsky and Anna were
ready to speak, " once the free-thinker was a man edu-
cated in the conceptions of religion, law, and morality,
who did not ignore the laws by which society is regu-
lated, and who reached freedom of thought only after
long struggles. But now we have a new type of them,
— free-thinkers who grow up without even knowing
tJhat there are such things as laws in morality and
religion, who will not admit that sure authorities exist,
ANNA KARENINA 301
and who possess only the sentiment of negation ; in a
word, savages. Mikhaflof is one of these. He is the
son of a major-domo, or ober-lakei'?^ Moscow, and never
had any education. When he entered the academy, and
had made a reputation, he was wiUing to be taught, for
he is not a fool ; and, with this end in view, he turned to
that source of all learning, — the magazines and reviews.
Now you know in the good old times, if a man — let us
say a Frenchman — wanted to get an education, he
would study the classics, — the preachers, the tragic
poets, the historians, the philosophers ; and you can see
all the intellectual labor that involved. But nowadays
he turns to negative literature, and succeeds very speed-
ily in getting a smattering of such a science. And,
again, twenty years ago, he would have found in this
same literature traces of the struggle against the
authorities and secular traditions of the past ; he would
have understood from this dispute that there was some
thing else. But now he turns directly to a literature
where the old traditions are of no avail at all, but men
say up and down there is nothing — natural selection,
Evolution, struggle for existence, negation, and all. In
my article.... "
" Do you know," said Anna, after exchanging several
glances with Vronsky, and noticing that he was not in-
terested in the artist's education, but was occupied only
with the thought of helping him and getting him to
paint the portrait. "What do you say ? " said she, reso-
lutely cutting short Golenishchef's verbiage, " let us go
and see him."
Golenishchef , after deliberating, readily consented ;
and, as the artist lived in a remote quarter, they had a
carriage called. An hour later, Anna, occupying the
same seat in the calash with Golenishchef and Vronsky,
drove up to an ugly new house in a distant part of the
city. When they learned from the concierge's wife, who
came to receive them, that Mikhaflof permitted visitors
to his studio, but that he was now at his lodgings a few
steps distant, they sent her to him with their cards, and
begged to be admitted to see his paintings.
304 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER X
The painter Mikhaflof was at work as usual, when
the cards of Count Vronsky and Golenishchef were
brought him. He had been painting all the morning
in his studio on his great picture, but, when he reached
his house, he became enraged with his wife because of
her failure to make terms with their landlady, who de-
manded money.
" I have told you twenty times not to go into explana-
tions with her. You are a fool anyway ; but when you
try to argue in Italian, you are three times as much of
a fool," said he, at the end of a long dispute.
" Why do you get behindhand so .'' It is not my fault
If I had any money.... "
" For heaven's sake, give me some peace ! " cried
Mikhailof, his voice thick with tears ; and, putting his
hands over his ears, he hastily rushed to the workroom,
separated from the sitting-room by a partition, and
bolted the door. ** She has n't any common sense," he
said to himself, as he sat down at his table, and, opening
a portfolio, addressed himself with feverish ardor to a
sketch which he had already begun.
He never worked with such zeal and success as when
his life went hard, and especially when he had been
quarreling with his wife. " Akh ! it must be some-
where ! " he said to himself, as he went on with his work.
He had begun a study of a man seized with a fit of
anger. He had made the sketch some time before ;
but he was dissatisfied with it. "No," said he, "that
one was better .... but where is it .-'".. ..He went back
to his wife with an air of vexation, and, without looking
at her, asked his eldest daughter for the piece of paper
which he had given her. The paper with the sketch on
it was found, but it was soiled and covered with drops
of tallow. Nevertheless, he took it as it was, laid it on
the table, examined it from a distance, squinting his
eyes ; then suddenly he smiled, with a satisfied gesture.
" So ! so ! " he cried, taking a pencil, and drawing
ANNA KARENINA 303
some rapid lines. One of the tallow spots gave his
sketch a new aspect.
He sketched in this new pose,* and suddenly remem-
bered the prominent chin and energetic face of the man
of whom he bought his cigars, and instantly he gave
his design the same kind of a face and prominent chin.
He laughed with delight. The figure ceased to be
something vague and dead, but became animated, and
took a form which could not be bettered. This figure
was alive, and was clearly and indubitably delineated.
It was possible to correct the sketch in conformity with
the demands of this figure ; it was possible and even
requisite to set the legs in a different way, to make an
absolute change in the position of the left arm, to re-
arrange the hair ; but after he had finished these cor-
rections he made no changes in the figure but only
cleared away what concealed it. He, as it were, took
from it the veils behind which it was not wholly visible.
Each new stroke only the more exposed the entire fig-
ure in all its energetic power, just as it had suddenly
appeared to him in the spot made by the wax. He
laughed with delight. He was carefully finishing his
design when the two cards were brought him.
" I will come instantly," he replied.
He went to his wife.
" There, come, Sasha, don't be vexed," he said, with
a smile tender and timid. " You were wrong ; so was
I. I will settle matters."
And, having made his peace with her, he put on an
olive-green overcoat with velvet collar, took his hat, and
went to his studio. His successfully completed sketch
was already quite forgotten, now he was delighted and
surprised by the visit of these stylish Russians who had
come to see him in a carriage.
In the depth of his soul his opinion on the painting
which was on his easel at that time was as follows : —
" No one has ever painted another like it." He did
not believe that his painting was better than all the
Raphaels ; but he knew that no one had ever put into
a picture what he had tried to put into this one. This
304 ANNA KARENINA
he knew assuredly, and had known it ever since he had
begun to paint it. Nevertheless, the criticisms of others,
whatever they were, possessed for him an enormous
weight and stirred him to the depths of his soul. Any
remark, however insignificant, which showed that the
critic saw even the smallest part of what he himself saw
in this picture, stirred him to the depths of his soul. He
felt that his critics had a depth of insight superior even
to his own, and he expected to have them discover in
his picture new features that had escaped his own
observation.
And often in the judgments of visitors who came to
look at it, it seemed to him, he discovered this. He
hurried to the door of his studio, and, in spite of his
emotion, was struck by the soft radiance of Anna, who
was standing in the shadow of the portico and listening
to something which Golenishchef was saying to her, and
at the same time eagerly watching the artist's approach.
The artist, without definite consciousness of it, instantly
stowed away in the pigeonholes of his brain the impres-
sion she made on him, to make use of it some day, just
as he had used the tobacconist's chin.
The visitors, whose ideas of Mikhailof had been
greatly modified by Golenishchef's description of him,
were still more disenchanted when they saw him. Mi-
khaflof was a thick-set man, of medium height, and with
a nimble gait, and in his cinnamon-colored hat, his olive-
green coat, and his trousers worn tight when the style
was to wear them loose, produced an unfavorable im-
pression, increased by the vulgarity of his broad face
and the mixture of timidity and pretentious dignity
which it expressed.
" Do me the honor to enter," he said, trying to as-
sume an air of indifference, and, going to the vestibule,
he took a key out of his pocket and opened the door.
ANNA KARENINA 305
CHAPTER XI
As they entered the studio, Mikhailof again glanced
at his guests, and stored away in his memory the expres-
sion of Vronsky's face, especially its cheek-bones. Not-
withstanding the fact that this man's artistic sense was
always at work storing up new materials, notwithstand-
ing the fact that his emotion grew greater and greater
as the crucial moment for their criticism of his work
approached, still he quickly and shrewdly gathered from
almost imperceptible indications his conclusions regard-
ing his three visitors.
" That one [meaning Golenishchef] must be a Rus-
sian resident in Italy." Mikhailof did not remember
either his name or the place where he had met him,
or whether he had ever spoken to him ; he remembered
only his face, as he remembered all the faces that he
had ever seen, but he also remembered that he had once
before classed him in the immense category of preten-
tiously important but really expressionless faces. An
abundance of hair and a very high forehead would make
the casual observer take him to be a man of importance,
but his face had an insignificant expression of puerile agi-
tation concentrated in the narrow space between his eyes.
Vronsky and Anna were, according to Mikhaflof's
intuition, rich and distinguished Russians, ignorant of
art, like all rich Russians who play the amateur and the
connoisseur.
" They have undoubtedly seen all the old galleries,"
he thought, " and now are visiting the studios of the Ger-
man charlatans and the imbecile English pre-Raphael-
ites, and have come to me in order to complete their
survey."
He knew very well the fashion in which the dilettanti
— the more intellectual they were, the worse they were
— visited the studios of modern painters, with the single
aim of having the right to say that art was declining,
and that, the more you study the moderns, the better
you see how inimitable the great masters of old were.
VOL. II. — 20
3o6 ANNA KARENINA
He expected all this, he saw it in their faces, and he
read it in the indifference with which his visitors con-
versed together as they walked up and down the studio,
leisurely examining the manikins and busts, while wait-
ing for him to take the covering off his painting.
But, in spite of this, all the time that he was turning
over his studies, raising his window-blinds, and uncover-
ing his paintings, he experienced a powerful emotion,
and all the more so because, though he considered that
all distinguished and wealthy Russians must necessarily
be " cattle " and fools, yet Vronsky, and particularly
Anna, pleased him.
" Here," he said, stepping back from the easel and
pointing to the painting, "is the 'Christ before Pilate.'
Matthew, chapter xxvii."
He felt his lips tremble with emotion, and he took his
place behind his guests. During the few seconds, dur-
ing which the visitors looked silently at the painting,
MikhaYlof also looked at it and looked at it with the in-
difference of a stranger. In those few seconds he an-
ticipated a superior and infallible criticism from these
three persons, whom but a moment before he had des-
pised. He forgot all that he had thought about his
painting during the three years while he had been paint-
ing it ; he forgot all those merits which had been so
indubitable to him ; he looked at it now with the cold and
critical look of a stranger, and found nothing good in it.
He saw in the foreground the irate face of Pilate and the
Christ's serene countenance, and in the middle distance
the figures of Pilate's servants, and among them John,
looking on at the proceedings. Each face, with its at-
tempted expression, with its faults, with its rectifications,
each face which, with its own peculiar character, had, as
it were, been a growth from himself, and had cost him so
much travail and delight, — and all these faces, which he
had changed so many times so as to unify them, — all the
shades of color, all the nuances, obtained with such ex-
traordinary pains, — all this, taken together and looked
at in such a way, now seemed to him commonplace, a
thousand fold commonplace ! The face which he had
1
ANNA KARENINA 307
regarded with the most complacency — the face of the
Christ in the very center of the picture, which had roused
his enthusiasm as he had developed it — was wholly spoilt
for him when he looked at his painting with their eyes.
He saw a well-painted picture, — nay, not even well-
painted, — for now he clearly detected hosts of faults in
it — a repetition of all those interminable Christs of
Titian, Raphael, Rubens — and the same soldiers and
Pilate ! All about it was trivial, poor, and antiquated,
and even badly painted, — spotty and feeble! They
would be justified in repeating politely hypocritical re-
marks in his presence, pitying him and ridiculing hiro
after they were gone !
The silence, which in reality did not last more than a
minute, seemed to him intolerably long, and to abridge
it and show that he was not agitated, he made an effort,
and addressed Golenishchef : —
" I think that I have had the honor of meeting you
before," said he, glancing anxiously first at Anna, then
at Vronsky, so that he might not lose for an instant the
changing expression of their faces.
" Certainly; we met at Rossi's the evening when that
Italian girl, the new Rachel, made a recitation ; don't
you remember ? " replied Golenishchef, turning away
his face from the picture without the least show of
regret, and addressing the artist.
Seeing, however, that Mikhallof was expecting him
to say something about the picture, he added : —
" Your work has made great progress since the last
time I saw it; and I am now, just as I was then, greatly
impressed with your Pilate. You have represented a
good but feeble man, — a chinovnik to the bottom of
his soul, — who is absolutely blind to what he is doing.
But it seems to me .... "
Mikhallof's mobile face suddenly lighted up, his eyes
gleamed, he wanted to reply ; but his emotion prevented
him, and he pretended to have a fit of coughing. In
spite of his low estimation of Golenishchef's artistic in-
stinct, in spite of the insignificance of the remark, true
though it was, about the expression of Pilate's face
3o8 ANNA KARENINA
represented as the face of a functionary, in spite of the
humiliation which such a remark spontaneously elicited
at the first sight of the painting implicitly subjected
him to, — since the more important features of the paint-
ing were left unnoticed, Mikhailof was in raptures over
this criticism. Golenishchef had expressed his own
conception of Pilate ! The fact that this observation was
one out of a million possible observations, all of which,
as Mikhadof knew perfectly well, would be true, did
not diminish for him the significance of Golenishchef's
remark. He suddenly conceived a liking for his guest,
and suddenly flew from dejection to enthusiasm. In-
stantly his whole painting became vital once more with
a life inexpressibly complex and profound. He again
tried to say that he himself had that conception of
Pilate, but his lips trembled so that he had no control
over them, and he could not say a word.
Vronsky and Anna were talking in that low tone of
voice peculiar to picture exhibitions, and caused by the
desire not to say anything that might give offense to
the artist, and, more than all, not to let any one hear
those absurd remarks which are so easily made in
regard to art. Mikhailof thought that his picture was
making an impression on them also, and he approached
them.
" What an admirable expression the Christ has,"
said Anna. This expression pleased her more than
anything else in the painting, and she felt that the
Christ was the principal figure in it, and therefore that
this eulogy would be agreeable to the artist. She added,
" One can see that he pities Pilate."
This, again, was one of those million accurate but
idle observations which his picture, and especially the
figure of the Christ, might have elicited. She said that
Christ pitied Pilate. In the expression of the Christ
there was bound to be an expression of pity, because
there was in it the expression of love, a supernal color,
a readiness for death, and a realization of the idleness
of words. Of course, Pilate should stand for the func-
tionary, the chinovnik, and the Christ should show pit3f
ANNA KARENINA 309
for him, — since one is the incarnation of the fleshly life,
the other of the spiritual life. All this and much be-
sides flashed through Mikhai'lof's mind. And once
more his face was radiant with joy.
" Yes ! And how that figure is painted ! how much
atmosphere ! One could go round it," said Golenishchef,
evidently showing by this observation that he did not
approve of the design and scope ^ of the figure.
" Yes ; it is a wonderful masterpiece," said Vronsky.
" How alive those figures in the background are ! There
is technique for you ! " he added, turning to Goleni-
shchef, and alluding to a discussion in which he had
avowed his discouragement in the technique of the art.
"Yes, yes; very remarkable," said Golenishchef and
Anna, simultaneously. Notwithstanding the condition
of enthusiasm to which he had risen, the remark about
technique nettled Mikhadof ; he scowled and looked at
Vronsky with an angry expression. He had often heard
this word technique, and he really did not know what
was meant by it. He knew that this word signified the
mechanical ability to paint and sketch, and had nothing
to do with the thing painted. He had often noticed, as
in the present case, that technical skill was opposed to
the intrinsic merit of a work, as if it were possible to
paint a bad picture with talent. He knew that it re-
quired great attention and care in removing the cloth
not to injure the work, and in removing all the covers;
but the technique of painting was not in that. If in
the same way to a little child or to his cook were re-
vealed what he saw, then the cook or the child would
not hesitate to express what they saw. But the most
experienced and skilful of technicians could not paint
anything by mechanical ability only ; it requires that
the realm of inspiration ^ should be opened before him.
Moreover, he saw that the very fact of talking about
technique made it impossible to praise him for it. In
everything that he had painted and was painting he
* Soderzhaniye i muisl, literally, " tenor and thought."
2 Granitsui soderzhaniya, literally " the limits or boundaries of the sub-
ject, contents, or tenor."
3IO ANNA KARENINA
saw the glaring faults resulting from the carelessness
with which he had removed the covers — faults impos-
sible now to rectify without ruining the whole produc-
tion. And in almost all the figures and faces he saw the
remains of veils that had not been perfectly removed,
and spoiled the painting.
"The only criticism that I should dare to make, if
you will allow me...." said Golenishchef.
" Oh ! I should be very glad .... beg you to favor me,"
replied MikhaYlof, pretending to smile.
" It is that you have painted a man made God, and
not God made man. However, I know that that was
your intention."
" I cannot paint any Christ that is not in my heart,"
replied Mikhallof, gloomily.
" Yes, but in that case, excuse me, if you will allow
me to express my thought.... Your painting is so beau-
tiful, that this observation can do it no harm ; and, be-
sides, it is my own individual opinion. You look on
this in one way. Your very motive is peculiar. Take
Ivanof, for example, — I imagine that if the Christ is
to be reduced to the proportions of an historical figure,
then it would be better for him to choose a new histori-
cal theme, — one less hackneyed."
" But suppose this theme is the grandest of all for
art .? "
" By searching, others may be found just as grand.
But the fact is, art, in my estimation, cannot suffer dis-
cussion ; now this question is raised in the minds of
believers or non-believers by Ivanof's painting : Is
that God, or not God.-* and thus the unity of the im-
pression is destroyed."
"Why so.'' It seems to me that this question can no
longer exist for enlightened men," replied Mikhailof.
Golenishchef was not of this opinion ; and, dwelling
on his first thought about the unity of the impression
required by art, he made an onslaught on Mikhaflof.
Mikhaflof grew excited, but could not say anything
in defense of his ideas.
ANNA KARENINA 311
CHAPTER XII
Anna and Vronsk)'^, wearying of their friend's learned
loquacity, exchanged glances. Finally Vronsky, with-
out saying anything to his host, went over to a small
painting.
" Oh ! How charming ! What a gem — wonderful !
How fascinating ! " said both of them at once.
"What pleases them so.?" thought Mikhadof. He
had completely forgotten this picture, painted three
years before. He had forgotten all the anguish and
joy which that painting had caused him while he had
been working at it day and night for days at a time —
he had forgotten about it as he always forgot about his
pictures when once they were finished. He did not
even like to look at it, and he had brought it out only
because he was expecting an Englishman who had
thought of purchasing it.
" That is nothing," he said — " only an old study."
" But it is capital," replied Golenishchef, very hon-
estly, falling under the charm of the painting.
Two children were fishing under the shade of a
laburnum. The elder, all absorbed in his work, was
cautiously disentangling his float from a bush. The
younger one was lying in the grass, leaning his blond,
frowzy head on his hand, and gazing at the water with
great, pensive blue eyes. What was he thinking about .-'
The enthusiasm caused by this study brought back
somewhat of Mikhailof 's first emotion ; but he did not
love the vain memories of the past, and, therefore,
pleasant as such praise was to him, he preferred to
take his guests to a third painting.
But Vronsky asked him if the painting was for sale ;
but to Mikhadof, who was excited by the presence of
visitors, the question of money was very distasteful.
" It was put up for sale," said he, darkly frowning.
After his visitors had gone, Mikhailof sat down
before his painting of Christ and Pilate, and mentally
reviewed all that had been said, and if not said had
312 ANNA KARENINA
been understood by them. And how strange ! the
observations which seemed so weighty when they were
present, and when he put himself on their plane of
observation, now lost all significance. He began to
examine his work with his artist's eye, and soon re-
gained his full conviction of its perfection and signifi-
cance, so that he could shut out all other interests and
make the effort necessary for his best work.
The foreshortening in the leg of the Christ was not
quite correct. He seized his palette and set himself to
work, and, while he was correcting it, looked long at the
figure of John, which seemed to him to show the highest
degree of perfection — and yet his visitors had not even
noticed it ! Having corrected the leg of the Christ, he
tried to give this also a few touches, but he felt too
excited to do it. However, he could not work when he
was cool any better than he could when he was too near
the melting point or when he was too clairvoyant. It
was only one step of transition from indifference to
inspiration, and only when he reached this was work
possible. But to-day he was too excited. He started
to cover the canvas. Then he stopped, and, lifting the
drapery with one hand, he smiled ecstatically, and
looked for a long time at his St. John. At last, tear-
ing himself from his contemplation, he let the curtain
fall, and went home, weary but happy.
Vronsky, Anna, and Golenishchef, returning to the
palazzo, were very lively and gay. They talked about
Mikhai'lof and his paintings. The word talent was
often heard as they talked ; they meant by it an innate
gift, almost physical, independent of intellect and heart,
and they tried to express by it all that had been experi-
enced by the artist. It seemed as if they needed to
have a term which should express something of which
they had not the slightest comprehension, but yet
wanted to talk about.
"There is no denying his talent," they said, "but his
talent is not sufficiently developed, because he lacks
intellectual culture, a fault common to all Russian
artists."
ANNA KARENINA 313
But the painting of the two boys appealed to their
tastes, and again and again they recurred to it. " How
charming ! How natural and how simple ! And he
did not realize how good it was. Certainly, I must not
fail to buy it," said Vronsky.
CHAPTER XIII
MiKHAiLOF sold Vronsky the little picture, and also
agreed to paint Anna's portrait. He came on the ap-
pointed day and began his work.
Even on the fifth sitting the portrait struck every one,
and especially Vronsky, by its resemblance, and by its
peculiar beauty. It was remarkable how Mikhallof was
able to hit upon her peculiar beauty.
" One must know her and love her as I love her to
get her gentle and spiritual expression," thought Vron-
sky ; and yet he found in Mikhailof's portrait exactly
that very expression. But this expression was so faith-
ful that it seemed to him and to others that they had
always known it.
" I have spent so much time, and never get ahead,"
said Vronsky, referring to his own portrait of Anna,
" and he has only to look at her to paint her. That is
what I call technique."
"That will come," said Golenishchef, to console him;
for in his eyes Vronsky had talent, and, moreover, had
a training which ought to give him a lofty view of art.
But Golenishchef's belief in Vronsky's talent was sus-
tained by the fact that he needed Vronsky's praise and
sympathy with him in his own work, and he felt that
the praise and support ought to be reciprocal ; it was a
fair exchange.
In a stranger's house, and especially in Vronsky's
palazzOy Mikhailof was an entirely different man from
what he was in his own studio. He showed himself
almost venomously respectful, as if he were anxious
to avoid all intimacy with people whom at heart he did
not respect. He always called Vronsky "your excel-
314 ANNA KARENINA
lency " ; ^ and, in spite of Vronsky's and Anna's repeated
invitations, he never would stay to dinner, or come except
at the hours for the sitting. Anna was even more gen-
ial to him than to the others, and grateful for her
portrait ; Vronsky was more than polite to him, and was
anxious for his criticism on his paintings ; Golenishchef
never lost an opportunity of inculcating sound theories
of art : still Mikhaflof remained just as cool as ever to
them all. But Anna felt that he liked to look at her,
even though he avoided all conversation with her.
When Vronsky wanted to talk about his own work he
remained obstinately silent, and he was just as obsti-
nately silent when he was shown Vronsky's painting
and pictures, and he took no pains to conceal the weari-
ness which Golenishchef's sermons caused him.
On the whole Mikhallof, by his distant and disagree-
able, as it were hostile, behavior, was very unpopular
with them, even after they came to see him closer; and
they were glad when the sittings were over, and the
painter, having completed an admirable portrait, ceased
to come. Golenishchef was the first to express a thought
which all had been thinking : that Mikhatlof was envious
of Vronsky.
" We will agree that he is not envious because he has
talent ; but he is vexed to see a wealthy man, of high
position, a count, — and apparently they are all vexed
at that, — reaching without especial trouble the skill
to paint as well, if not better, than he, though he has
devoted his life to painting ; but, above all, at your
mental culture, which he has not."
Vronsky took MikhaYlof's part, but he felt at heart
that his friend was right ; for it seemed to him ex-
tremely natural that a man in an inferior position should
envy him.
The two portraits of Anna, painted from the life by
him and Mikhaflof, might have shown Vronsky the
difference between him and Mikhailof, but he did not
see it. Only after Mikhaiflof had finished his portrait
he ceased to work at his, having decided that it was a
* FasAe siyatelstvo.
ANNA KARENINA
315
superfluity ; but he still devoted himself to his painting
of medieval life. He himself, and Golenishchef, and
Anna especially, felt that it was very good, because it
resembled the works of the old masters far more than
Mikhailof's painting did.
Mikhailof, meantime, in spite of the pleasure which
he took in doing Anna's portrait, was even more glad
than the others were when the sittings came to an end,
and he no longer had to hear Golenishchef's discourses
about art, and was allowed to forget Vronsky's paint-
ings. He knew that it was impossible to prevent
Vronsky from amusing himself with painting ; he knew
that he, and all other dilettanti, had the right to paint
as much as they pleased ; but it was disagreeable to him.
No one can prevent a man from making for himself a
big wax doll, and kissing it ; but if this man takes his
doll and sits in the presence of a lover, and begins to
caress his doll as the lover caresses the woman he loves,
then it becomes unpleasant to the lover. Vronsky's
painting produced on him a similar feeling ; it was ridic-
ulous and vexatious, pitiable and disgusting.
Vronsky's enthusiasm for painting and the Middle
Ages was, however, of short duration ; his art instinct
was strong enough to prevent him from finishing his
painting. His work came to a standstill. He had a
dim consciousness that his faults, at first apparently
trifling, would grow more and more grievous if he went
on. The same thing happened to him that happened
to Golenishchef, who was conscious that he had nothing
to say, and kept deceiving himself with the notion that
his thought was not yet ripe, that he was training it, and
collecting materials. But this made Golenishchef bitter
and irritable, while Vronsky could not deceive himself,
or torture himself, and, least of all, grow irritable. With
his habitual decision of character, without seeking to
justify himself or to offer explanations, he simply gave
up his painting.
But, without this occupation, his life in this little
Itahan city quickly became intolerable ; the falaazo sud-
denly appeared old and filthy ; the spots on the curtains
3i6 ANNA KARENINA
assumed a sordid aspect ; the cracks in the mosaics, the
broken stucco of the cornices, the eternal Golenishchef,
the Itahan professor, and the German tourist, all became
so unspeakably wearisome that it was necessary to make
a change. Accordingly he and Anna, who was surprised
by this abrupt disenchantment, decided to return to
Russia to live in the country. Vronsky wanted to pass
through Petersburg to make business arrangements with
his brother, and Anna was anxious to see her son. They
decided to spend the summer on Vronsky's large patri-
monial estate.
CHAPTER XIV
''■■Levin had been married three months. He was
happy, but in a different way from what he had antici-
pated. At every step he had found that his former
expectations were illusory, and that his joy lay in what
he had not anticipated. He was happy, but as he went
on in his married existence he discovered at each step
that it was utterly different from what he had imagined
it would be. At each step he experienced what a man
would experience who had been charmed with the grace-
ful and joyful motion of a boat on the sea, and after-
wards should find himself in the boat. He saw that it
was not enough to sit still and not rock ; it was neces-
sary to be on the lookout, never for a moment forgetful
of the course, to think of the water under his feet, to
row, — and rowing for unaccustomed arms is hard ; easy
enough it is to look on, but it is hard, very hard, to work,
even though it be very agreeable.
When still a bachelor, looking at the conjugal life of
others, at their little miseries, quarrels, jealousies, he had
often laughed scornfully in his heart of hearts. In his
future married life never should any such thing happen ;
even all the external forms of his private life should be
in every respect absolutely different from that of others.
And lo, and behold, instead of that, his life with his wife
not only refused to arrange itself peculiarly, but, on the
ANNA KARENINA 317
contrary, was wholly made up of those very same insig-
nificant trifles which he had formerly so despised, but
which now, in spite of him, assumed an extraordinary
and irrefutable importance. And Levin saw that the
regulation of all these trifles was not nearly so easy as
he had supposed it would be. Notwithstanding the
fact that Levin supposed he had the most delicate com-
prehension of family life, he, like all men, had imagined
that it was only meant as the gratification of his love, and
that nothing should prevent it and that no petty details
ought to interfere with it. According to his idea, he was
to do his work, and rest from it in the delights of love.
His wife was to be his love, and that was all.
But, like all men, he forgot that she, too, had to work.
His surprise was great to find how this charming and
poetic Kitty, in the first weeks, even in the first days, of
their married life, could be thinking, planning, taking
charge of the table-cloths, the furniture, the mattresses,
the table service, the kitchen. Even during their en-
gagement he was dumfounded at the decided way in
which she refused to travel abroad and at her determi-
nation to go immediately to their country home, as if
she knew what was needful, and could think of other
things besides her love. It vexed him then, and now
many times he still felt vexed, to find that she took
upon herself these petty cares and labors.
But he saw that it was unavoidable ; and, as he loved
her, although he could not see why she did such things,
and although he laughed at her for doing them, he could
not help admiring. He laughed to see how she disposed
the new furniture which came from Moscow, how she
rearranged everything in her room and his, how she
hung the curtains, provided for the guest-rooms and the
rooms that Dolly would have, directed her new cham-
bermaid, how she ordered the old cook to provide for
dinner, how she discussed with Agafya Mikhaflovna,
whom she removed from the charge of the provisions.
He saw how the old cook smiled gently as he received
fantastic orders, impossible to execute ; he saw how
Agafya Mikhaflovna shook her head pensively at the
31^ ANNA KARENINA
new measures introduced by her young mistress into
the larder, he saw how wonderfully charming she was
when she came to him, half laughing, half crying, to
complain because her maid, Masha, insisted on treating
her like a child, and no one would heed her orders. It
all seemed to him charming, but strange, and he thought
it would be better if it were otherwise.
He could not comprehend the sense of metamorphosis
which she felt at finding herself the mistress, permitted
to see to the preparation of cauliflower and kvas, or
confections, to spend all the money she wanted, and to
command whatever pastry she pleased, after having
always had her parents to restrain her fancies.
She was now making joyful preparations for the ar-
rival of Dolly and the children, and was thinking of the
pies which she would have made for them, and how she
would surprise Dolly with all her new arrangements. She
herself could not have given any reasons for it, but it was
a fact that the details of housekeeping had an irresistible
attraction for her. She foresaw evil days to come, in-
stinctively f eehng the approach of spring ; and knowing
that unhappy days would also surely come, she prepared
her little nest as well as she could, and made haste both
to build it and to learn how to build it.
This zeal for trifles, so entirely opposed to Levin's
lofty ideal of happiness, seemed to him one thing that
disillusioned him ; while this same activity, the meaning
of which escaped him, but which he could not help lov-
ing, was one of the things that gave him new delight.
The quarrels were also a disenchantment and a charm !
Never had it entered into Levin's head that between
him and his wife there could be any relations other than
those of gentleness, respect, tenderness ; and here, even
in their honeymoon, they were disputing, so that Kitty
declared that he did not love her, that he was selfish,
and burst into tears and wrung her hands.
The first of these little differences arose in conse-
quence of a ride which Levin took to see a new farm ;
he stayed half an hour longer than he had said, having
missed his way in trying to come home by a shorter
ANNA KARENINA 319
road. He rode homeward, thinking only of her, of her
love, of her happiness ; and the nearer he came to the
house the more his heart glowed with affection for his
wife. He hurried to her room with the same feeling,
only much intensified, as he had experienced on the
day when he went to the Shcherbatskys' to offer himself.
An angry expression, such as he had never seen in her
face, received him. He was going to kiss her; she
pushed him away,
" What is the matter ? "
"You've been enjoying...." she began, wishing to
show herself cold and bitter.
But hardly had she opened her mouth when the ridic-
ulous jealousy, which had been tormenting her for half
an hour while she had been waiting for him, sitting on
the window-seat, broke out in a torrent of angry words.
He then began for the first time to understand clearly
what before he had seen only confusedly, when after the
crowning they went out of the church. He saw that
she was not only near to him, but that he did not know
at all where his own personality began or her person-
ality ended. He felt this by the painful sensation of
internal division which he experienced at that instant.
At first he was offended, but at the same moment he
realized that he had no right to be offended, because she
and he were one and the same ! At that first instant he
experienced a feeling such as a man might have when,
having suddenly received a sharp blow from behind, turns
around with an angry desire to revenge himself on the
culprit, and discovers that he has accidentally inflicted
the blow on himself, that there is no one to be angry with,
and that he must bear the pain and appease it.
Never again did he experience this feeling with such
force, but this first time it was long before he could give
an account of it. A natural impulse impelled him to
exonerate himself, and show Kitty how wrong she was ;
but that would have irritated her still more and increased
the rupture which was the cause of all their unhappiness.
A natural impulse tempted him to disavow the blame
and cast it at her; but a second and stronger impulse
320 ANNi^ KARENINA
came to close the breach as quickly as possible and not
let it grow wider. For him to remain under the shadow
of an injustice was cruel ; but, under the pretext of a
justification, to cause her pain was still worse. Like a
man half asleep, wearied with pain, he wished to free him-
self from it, to throw off the painful place ; but, on fully
waking, he found that the painful place was himself.
Patience only was necessary to give relief to the pain,
and he tried to apply this remedy'.
Reconciliation followed. Kitty felt herself in the
wrong, and, though she did not confess it, was more
than ever tender to him, and they felt a new and doubled
happiness of love. But this did not prevent these dif-
ferences from coming up, and coming up very frequently,
from the most unexpected and insignificant causes.
These collisions often arose from the fact that they were
still ignorant of what was indispensable for each, and
from the fact that during all this first period they both
were often in a bad frame of mind. When one was
happy and the other depressed, then peace was dis-
turbed, but when they both happened to be in low spirits,
then such childish things were sufficient to provoke mis-
understandings, that they could not even remember
afterward what they were quarreling about. It is true,
when they were both in good spirits, their joy of life was
doubled. But nevertheless this first period was a trying
time for them both. All those early days, they felt with
especial vividness the strain, just as if both of them
were pulling in contrary ways on the chain that bound
them. Especially the honeymoon, from which Levin ex-
pected so much, was far from honey-sweet, but remained
in the memories of them both the most trying and humili-
ating period of their lives. Both of them afterwards
tried to blot from their memories all the ugly, shameful
incidents of this unhealthy period, during which they so
rarely found themselves in a normal state of mind, were
so rarely themselves.
Life became better regulated only after their return
from Moscow, where they made a short visit in the
third month after the wedding.
ANNA KARENINA 321
CHAPTER XV
They were just back from Moscow, and enjoying their
solitude. Levin was sitting at his hbrary table, writing ;
Kitty, dressed in a dark violet dress, which she had worn
in the first days of their marriage, and which Levin had
always liked, was making broderie anglaise, as she sat
on the divan, — on the great leather divan which ever
since the days of Levin's father and grandfather had
stood in the library.
Levin enjoyed her presence while he was writing and
thinking. He had not abandoned his occupations, —
his farming, and the treatise in which the principles
of his new method of conducting his estate were to be
evolved. But, as before, these occupations and thoughts
seemed to him small and useless in comparison with the
gloom that overshadowed his Hfe ; so now they seemed
just as petty and unimportant in comparison with the
life before him, irradiated as it was with the full light
of joy. He kept up his occupations, but felt now that
the center of gravity of his interests had shifted, and
that consequently he looked otherwise and more clearly
than formerly at the matter.
In former days this occupation seemed like the salva-
tion of his life ; in former days he felt that without it
life would be altogether gloomy ; now these occupations
were necessary in order that his life might not be too
monotonously bright. As he took up his manuscript
again, reading over what he had written, he felt with sat-
isfaction that the work was worth his attention. Many
of his former thoughts seemed to him exaggerated and
extravagant, but many of the gaps became clearly evi-
dent to him as he reviewed the whole subject. He was
now writing a new chapter, in which he treated of the
causes for the unfavorable condition of Russian agri-
culture. He argued that the poverty of the country was
caused not entirely by the unequal distribution of the land
property and false economical tendencies, but that this
cooperated with the abnormal introduction of a veneer
VOL. II. — 21
J22 ANNA KARENINA
of civilization, especially the means of communication,
the railways, which produced an exaggerated centraliza-
tion in the cities, the development of luxury, and conse-
quently the creation of new industries at the expense of
agriculture, an extraordinary extension of the credit sys-
tem and its concomitant — stock speculation. It seemed
to him that with a normal development of riches in the
empire all these signs of exterior civilization would
appear only when the cultivation of the land should
have attained a proportional development, when it
should have at least been established on correct, deter-
mining conditions ; that the wealth of a country ought
to increase at a regular ratio, and in such a way that
agriculture should not be outstripped by other branches
of wealth ; that the means of intercommunication ought
to be developed in conformity with the natural develop-
ment of agriculture, and that in view of our improper
use of the land, the railways, constructed not by reason
of actual necessity, but from political motives, were pre-
mature, and instead of the cooperation which they were
expected to give to agriculture, they arrested it by encour-
aging the spread of manufacturing and the credit system ;
and that, therefore, just as a one-sided and premature
development of one organ in the body would prevent its
general development, so for the general development of
wealth in Russia, the credit system, the means of inter-
communication, the recrudescence of manufacturing in-
dustries, however indispensable they may have been in
Europe, where they are opportune, have in Russia done
nothing but harm by keeping from sight the most im-
portant question as to the organization of agriculture.
While Levin was writing, Kitty was thinking how her
husband, on the evening before they left Moscow, had
watched unnaturally the young Prince Charsky, who,
with remarkable lack of tact, had made love to her.
" He is jealous," she said to herself. " Bozhe mof ! how
good and stupid he is ! To be jealous of me ! If he
only knew that for me they are all like Piotr the cook ! "
And she glanced with a strange feeling of proprietorship
at the back of her husband's head and his sunburnt neck.
ANNA KARENINA 323
*' It is a shame to interrupt him, but he has plenty of
time. I must see his face ; will he feel how I am look-
ing at him ? I will wil/ for him to turn round. There,
I will make him."
And she opened her eyes as wide as she could, as if
to concentrate more strength into her gaze.
" Yes, they attract all the best sap and give a false
appearance of wealth," murmured Levin, ceasing to
write, and conscious that she was looking at him and
smiling. He turned around.
" What is it.'' " he asked, smiling, and getting up.
" He did turn round," she thought. ** Nothing ; I
only willed to make you turn around," and she looked
at him as if to fathom whether he was vexed or not
because she had disturbed him.
" Well, how good it is to be alone together ! For me,
at least," said he, radiant with joy, going to where she sat.
" I am so happy here ! I never, never, want to go
away again, especially not to Moscow."
" But what were you thinking about? "
"I.'' I was thinking. ...no, no; go on with your
writing ! don't let your mind be distracted," she replied,
pouting. " I must cut all these eyelet-holes now ; do you
see? "
And she took her scissors and began to snip.
" No ; tell me what you were thinking about ! " he
insisted, sitting down near her, and following all the
movements of her little scissors.
" Oh ! What was I thinking about ? About Moscow
and — the nape of your neck ! "
** What have I done to deserve this great happiness ?
It is supernatural. It is too good," said he, kissing her
hand.
" To me, on the contrary, the happier I am the more
natural I find it ! "
" You have a little stray curl," he said, turning her
head around carefully.
" A stray curl ? let it be. We must think about seri-
ous things."
But their conference was interrupted; and, when
324 ANNA KARENINA
Kuzma came to announce tea, they separated as if they
were guilty.
" Are they returned from town ? " asked Levin of
Kuzma.
"They're just back, — they're unpacking the things
now."
" Come as quickly as you can," said Kitty, going from
the library.
Levin, left alone, shut up his books and papers in a
new portfolio, bought by his wife, washed his hands in
a new wash-basin supplied with elegant new appurte-
nances, also bought by her, and, smiling at his thoughts,
nodded his head disapprovingly ; he was tormented by
a feeling which resembled remorse. His life had be-
come too indolent, too spoiled. It was a life of a Cap-
uan, and he felt ashamed of it. " To live so is not
good," he thought. " Here, for three months, I have
scarcely done a thing ! To-day, almost for the first
time, I have set about anything seriously, and what was
the result .-* I have hardly begun before I give it up.
I even neglect my ordinary occupations. I don't watch
the men. I don't go anywhere. Sometimes I am sorry
to leave her ; sometimes I see that she is out of spirits ;
I who believed that existence before marriage counted
for nothing, and that life only began after marriage !
And here, for three months, I have been spending my
time in absolute idleness. This must not go on. I
must do something. Of course, she is not to blame, and
one could not lay the least blame on her. But I ought
to have shown more firmness, and have preserved my
manly independence ; otherwise, I shall get into con-
firmed bad habits.... of course, she is not to blame.... "
A discontented man finds it hard not to blame some
one or other for his discontent, and generally the very
person who is nearest. And so Levin felt vaguely that
while the fault was not his wife's — and he could not
lay it to her charge — it was owing to her bringing up ;
it was too superficial and frivolous. "That fool of a
Charsky, for example I know she wanted to get rid
of him ; but she did not know how."
ANNA KARENINA 325
Then he went on again : —
" Yes ! Besides the petty interests of housekeeping ....
she looks out for those and enjoys them ; besides her
toilet and her broderie anglaise, she has no serious inter-
ests, no sympathy in my labors, in my schemes, or for
the muzhiks, no taste for reading or music ; and yet she
is a good musician. She does absolutely nothing, and
yet she is perfectly content."
Levin in his heart judged her thus, and did not com-
prehend that his wife was making ready for the time of
activity which was ere long to come to her, when she
would be at once wife, mistress of the house,^ mother,
nurse, teacher. He did not understand that she knew
this by intuition, and in preparing for this terrible task
could not blame herself for these indolent moments,
and the enjoyment of love, which made her so happy,
while she was cheerily building her nest for the future.
CHAPTER XVI
When Levin came up-stairs again his wife was sitting
in front of the new silver samovar, behind the new tea-
set, reading a letter from Dolly, with whom she kept up
a brisk correspondence. Old Agafya Mikhailovna, with
a cup of tea, was cozily sitting at a small table beside
her.
"You see your lady has asked me to sit here," said
the old woman, looking affectionately at Kitty.
These last words showed Levin that the domestic
drama which had been going on between Kitty and
Agafya Mikhailovna was at an end. He saw that, not-
withstanding the chagrin which Agafya Mikhailovna
felt at resigning the reins of government to the new
mistress, Kitty was victorious, and had just made peace
with her.
" Here I have been looking over your letters," said
Kitty, handing her husband an illiterate-looking en-
velop. " I think it is from that woman .... you know ...
^ Kkozdika doma.
326 ANNA KARENINA
of your brother's I have not read it, but this is from
Dolly .... imagine it ; she has been to take Grisha and
Tania to a children's ball at the Sarmatskys'. Tania
was dressed like a little marchioness."
But Levin was not listening. With a flushed face he
took the letter from Marya Nikolayevna, his brother
Nikolai's discarded mistress, and began to read it. This
was already the second time that she had written him.
In her first letter she told him that Nikolai' had sent her
away without reason, and she added, with touching sim-
plicity, that she asked no assistance and wanted nothing,
though she was reduced to penury, but that the thought
of what Nikolai" Dmitritch would do without her in his
feeble condition was killing her. She begged his brother
to look out for him.
Her second letter was in a different tone. She said
that she had found Nikolai Dmitrievitch and was living
with him again in Moscow, that she had gone with him
to a provincial city, where he had received an appoint-
ment. There he had quarreled with the chief, and
immediately started for Moscow ; but on the way he
had been taken so violently ill that he would probably
never leave his bed again. " He constantly calls for
you, and, besides, we have no money," she wrote.
*' Read what Dolly writes about you," Kitty began ;
but, when she saw her husband's dejected face, she
suddenly stopped speaking. Then she said : —
"What is it — what has happened.? "
" She writes me that Nikolai, my brother, is dying.
I must go to him."
Kitty's face suddenly changed. The thought of
Tania as a little marchioness, of Dolly, and all, van-
ished.
" When shall you go .'' "
" To-morrow."
" May I go with you ? " she asked.
" Kitty ! what an idea ! " he replied, reproach-
fully.
" Why w/iai an idea ? " she exclaimed, vexed to see
her proposal received with such bad grace. "Why,
ANNA KARENINA 327
pray, should I not go with you ? I should not hinder
you in any way. I .... "
" I am going because my brother is dying," said
Levin. " Why should you go .■* "
•' For the same reason that you do." ....
"At a time so solemn for me, she thinks only of the
discomfort of being left alone," said Levin to himself,
and this excuse for taking part in such a solemn duty
angered him.
" It is impossible," he replied sternly.
Agafya Mikhailovna, seeing that a quarrel was immi-
nent, quietly put down her cup and went out. Kitty
did not even notice it. Her husband's tone wounded
her all the more deeply because he evidently did not
believe what she said.
" I tell you, if you go, I am going too. I shall certainly
go with you. I certainly am going," said she, with
angry determination. " Why is it impossible .'' Why
did you say that .-' "
" Because God knows when or in what place I shall
find him, or by what means I shall reach him. You
would only hinder me," said he, doing his best to retain
his self-control.
" Not at all. I don't need anything. Where you
can go, I can go too, and .... "
" Well ! If it were for nothing else, it would be be-
cause of that woman, with whom you cannot come in
contact." ....
" Why not ? I know nothing about all that, and
don't want to know. I know that my husband's brother
is dying; that my husband is going to see him; and I
am going too, because .... "
" Kitty ! don't be angry ! and remember that in such
a serious time it is painful for me to have you add to
my grief by showing such weakness, — the fear of
being alone. There, now, if it would bore you to be
alone, go to Moscow." ....
" You always ascribe to me such miserable senti-
ments," she cried, choking with tears of vexation and
anger. "I am not so weak.... I know that it is my
328 ANNA KARENINA
duty to be with my husband when he is in sorrow, and
you want to wound me on purpose. You don't want to
take me." ....
" No ! this is frightful ! to be such a slave ! " cried
Levin, rising from the table, no longer able to hide his
anger; at the same instant he perceived that he was
doing himself harm.
" Why, then, did you get married .-' You might have
been free. Why — if you repent already .-' " — and Kitty
fled into the drawing-room.
When he went to find her, she was sobbing.
He began to speak, striving to find words not to per-
suade her, but to calm her. She would not listen, and
did not allow one of his arguments. He bent over her,
took one of her recalcitrant hands, kissed it, kissed her
hair, and then her hands again ; but still she refused to
speak. But when, at length, he took her head between
his two hands and called her " Kitty," she softly wept,
and the reconciliation was complete.
It was decided that they should go together on the
next day. Levin told his wife he was satisfied that she
wished nothing but to be useful, and agreed that Marya
Nikolayevna's presence with his brother would not be
an impropriety ; but at the bottom of his heart he was
dissatisfied with himself and with her. He was dis-
satisfied with her because she would not let him go alone
when it was necessary. And how strange it was for him
to think that he who such a short time before had not
dared to believe in the possibility of such a joy as her
loving him, now felt unhappy because she loved him too
well. And he was dissatisfied with himself because he
had yielded in such a weak way. In the depths of his
heart he was even more dissatisfied to think of the in-
evitable acquaintance between his wife and his brother's
mistress. The thought of seeing his wife, his Kitty, in
the same room with this woman, filled him with horror
and repulsion.
ANNA KARENINA 329
CHAPTER XVII
The inn where NikolaY Levin was dying was one of
those establishments which are found in governmental
cities, built on a new and improved model, with the very
best regard for neatness, comfort, and even elegance,
but which the public frequenting them cause to degener-
ate with extraordinary rapidity into filthy grog-shops
with pretensions to modern improvements and by reason
of this very pretentiousness become far worse than old-
fashioned inns which are simply filthy. This inn had
already reached this condition. The soldier in dirty uni-
form, who served as Swiss, and was smoking a cigar-
ette in the vestibule ; the perforated cast-iron staircase,
gloomy and unpleasant ; the impertinent waiter in a dirty
black coat ; the common " hall " with its table decorated
with a dusty bouquet of wax flowers ; the dirt, dust, and
slovenliness everywhere and at the same time a certain
new restlessness and self-sufficiency characteristic of
these railway days — everything about this inn produced
a feeling of deep depression in the Levins after their
recent happiness and especially from the fact that the
wretched condition of the inn was wholly irreconcilable
with what was waiting for them.
As usual, after they had been asked what priced rooms
they wanted, it proved that the best rooms were taken,
— one by the supervisor of the railroad, another by a
lawyer from Moscow, the third by Princess Astavyeva
from the country. One disorderly bedroom was left
for them, with the promise that they should have the
one next to it, when evening came. Levin took his wife
to it, vexed to find his prognostications so speedily real-
ized, and impatient because when his heart was over-
whelmed with emotion at the thought of how he should
find his brother, he was obhged to get settled instead of
hurrying to his brother.
" Go, go ! " said Kitty, with a melancholy look of
contrition.
He left her without saying a word, and just outside
330 ANNA KARENINA
the door he ran against Mary a Nikolayevna, who had
just heard of his arrival but had not ventured to knock
at his room. She had not changed since he last saw her
in Moscow. She wore the same woolen dress, without
collar or cuffs, and her pock-marked face expressed the
same unfailing good nature.
" Well ! How is he .? tell me ! "
" Very bad. He does n't sit up, and he is all the
time asking for you. You.... she.... Is your wife with
you ? "
I^evin at first did not see why she seemed confused ;
but she immediately explained herself.
"I am going to the kitchen," she went on to say;
"he will be glad; he remembers seeing her abroad."
Levin perceived ^ that she meant his wife, and did not
know what to say.
" Come," said he, " let us go to him."
But they had not gone a step before the chamber
door opened and Kitty appeared. Levin grew red with
vexation and mortification to see his wife in such a pre-
dicament; but Marya Nikolayevna was still more con-
fused, and crouching back against the wall ready to cry,
she caught the ends of her apron and wound it around
her red hands, not knowing what to say or to do.
For an instant Levin saw an expression of lively
curiosity in the look with which Kitty regarded this
terrible creature, so incomprehensible to her; it lasted
but a moment.
" Tell me ! what is it ? how is he .-• " she asked, turning
to her husband, and then to the woman.
"We cannot talk in the corridor," replied Levin, look-
ing with an expression of annoyance at a gentleman
who, with leisurely steps, as if on his own business bent,
was coming along the corridor just at this time.
"Well, come into the room, then," said Kitty, address-
ing the apologetic Marya Nikolayevna; then seeing the
look of alarm on her husband's face, she added, " Or
^ Marya Nikolayevna in speaking of Nikola! Levin as well as of Kitty
uses the third person plural, a form of exaggerated obsequiousness common
with persons addressing their superiors.
ANNA KARENINA 331
rather go — go, and send for me," and she turned back
to the room.
Levin hastened to his brother.
He had never expected to see and experience what
now he saw and experienced. He expected to find him
in that state of illusion so common to consumptives, and
which had so struck him during his visit the preceding
autumn. He expected to find him with the physical indi-
cations of approaching death more distinct than before
— greater feebleness, greater emaciation, but practically
about the same state of things. He expected that he
should have the same feeling of pity for this well-beloved
brother, and of horror at the presence of death, — only
intensified. He was quite prepared for this. But what
he saw was absolutely different.
In a little, close, dirty, ill-smelling room, the paneled
walls of which were covered with red stains of expecto-
ration, separated by a thin partition from another room,
where conversation was going on, he saw lying on a
wretched bed moved out from the wall a body covered
with a counterpane. One hand huge as a rake, and hold-
ing in a strange way by the end a sort of long and slender
bobbin, was on the outside of the counterpane. The
head, resting on the pillow, showed the thin hair glued
to his temples, and a strained, almost transparent brow.
" Can it be that this horrible body is my brother
Nikolai ? " thought Levin ; but as he came near, he saw
his face and the doubt ceased. In spite of the terrible
change that had taken place, it was enough to glance
at the lively eyes turned toward him as he entered, or
the motions of his mouth under the long mustache,
to recognize the frightful truth that this dead body was
indeed his living brother.
Nikolaf's gleaming eyes gazed at his brother with a
stern and reproachful look. His look seemed to bring
living relations between living beings. Konstantin in-
stantly felt the reproach in the eyes fixed on him and
regret for his own happiness.
When Konstantin took his brother's hand, Nikolai
smiled ; but the smile was slight, almost imperceptible,
332 ANNA KARENINA
and in spite of it the stern expression of his eyes did
not change.
"You did not expect to find me so," said he, with
effort.
"Yes.... no," replied Levin, with confusion. "Why
did n't you let me know sooner, before my marriage .'' I
had inquiries made for you everywhere."
He wanted to keep on speaking, so as to avoid a pain-
ful silence ; but he did not know what to say, the more
as his brother looked at him without replying, and seemed
to be weighing each one of his words. Finally he told
him that his wife had come with him, and NikolaY ap-
peared delighted, adding, however, that he was afraid
he should frighten her by his condition. A silence
followed ; suddenly Nikola'f began to speak, and Levin
felt by the expression of his face that he had something
of importance to tell him, but he spoke only of his health.
He blamed his doctor, and regretted that he could not
have consulted a celebrity in Moscow, and Levin per-
ceived that he was still hopeful.
Taking advantage of the first moment of silence, Levin
got up, wishing to escape for a little while at least from
these cruel impressions, and said he would go and fetch
his wife.
" Good ! I will have things put in order here. It is
dirty here and smells bad, I imagine. Masha, you attend
to this," said the sick man, with effort. "Yes! and
when you have put things to rights, go away," he added,
looking at his brother questioningly.
Levin made no reply, but as soon as he had reached
the corridor he paused. He had promised to bring his
wife, but now as he recalled what he himself had suf-
fered, he made up his mind to persuade her that she
had best not make this visit. " Why torment her as I
am tormented .'' " he asked himself.
" Well, how is it ? " asked Kitty, with frightened face.
" Oh, it is horrible, horrible ! Why did you come .'' "
Kitty looked timidly, compassionately, at her husband
for a few seconds without speaking ; then going to him,
she put both hands on his arm.
ANNA KARENINA 333
" Kostia, take me to him ; it will be easier for both
of us. Take me and leave me with him, please. Can't
you see that it is far harder for me to see you and not
to see him .-' Perhaps I shall be useful to him, and to
you also. I beg of you, let me go."
She besought him as if the happiness of her life de-
pended on it.
Levin was obliged to let her go with him, but in his
haste he completely forgot all about Marya Nikolayevna.
Kitty, walking lightly and showing her husband a
courageous and sympathetic face, stepped quietly into
the sick man's room and shut the door noiselessly. She
went with light, quick steps up to the bed, and sat down
so that the sick man would not have to turn his head,
and with her cool, soft hand she took the dying man's
enorm6us bony hand, pressed it, and employing that
tact peculiar to women, of showing sympathy without
wounding, she began to speak to him with a gentle
cheerfulness.
" We saw each other at Soden without becoming
acquainted ; you did not think then that I should ever
become your sister."
" You would not have known me, would you ? " he
said ; his face was lighted up with a smile when he saw
her come in.
" Oh, yes, indeed. How good it was of you to send for
us ! Not a day has passed without Kostia speaking of
you. He has been very anxious about you."
But the sick man's animation lasted only a short time.
Kitty had not finished speaking before his face again
assumed that expression of stern, reproachful envy which
the dying feel for the living. "i
" I am afraid that you are not very comfortable here,^
said she, avoiding the look which he gave her, and ex-
amining the room.
"We must ask for another room, and be nearer to
him," she said to her husband.
334 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XVIII
Levin could not bear to look at his brother, could not
even be himself and feel at ease in his presence. When
he came into the sick man's room, his eyes and his mo-
tions entirely absorbed him, and he did not see and did
not realize the details of his frightful situation.
He perceived the horrid odor, he saw the uncleanli-
ness and disorder, he heard the sick man's groans, and
it seemed to him that there was no way of helping it.
It did not occur to him to investigate how the body lay
under the coverlid ; how the lean long legs, the thighs,
the back, were doubled up and accommodated ; nor did he
ask whether he might not help him to lie more easily
and do something to improve his condition, at least to
make a bad situation less trying.
The mere thought of these details made a cold chill
run down his back ; he was undoubtedly persuaded in
his own mind that it was impossible to do anything
either to prolong his life or to lighten his sufferings, and
the sick man, feeling instinctively that his brother was
powerless to help him, was irritated. And this made it
all the harder for Levin. To be in the sick-room was
painful to him ; to be away from it was still worse.
And he kept leaving the room under various pretexts,
and coming back again, for he was unable to stay alone
by himself.
Kitty thought, felt, and acted in an entirely different
way : as soon as she saw the sick man, she was filled
with pity for him, and this pity in her womanly heart,
instead of arousing a sense of fear or repulsion as it did
in her husband's case, moved her to act, moved her to
find out all the details of his condition and to amehorate
them. And as she had not the slightest doubt that it
was her duty to help him, neither did she doubt the
possibility of it, and she set herself to work without
delay.
The details the mere thought of which repelled her
husband were the very ones that attracted her attention.
ANNA KARENINA 33s
She sent for a doctor ; she sent to the drug-store ; she
set her own maid and Marya Nikolayevna to sweeping,
washing, and dusting, and she even helped them her-
self. She had all needless articles carried away, and
she had them replaced by things that were needed.
She went several times to her room, paying no heed to
those whom she met on the way, and she unpacked and
carried with her sheets, pillow-cases, towels, shirts.
The waiter who served the tad/e d'hote dinner to the
engineers several times came with surly face when she
rang ; but she gave her orders with such gentle author-
ity that he never failed to execute them. Levin did
not approve of all this. He did not believe that any
advantage would result from it for the sick man. More
than all, he was afraid that it would worry his brother.
But Nikolai", although he seemed to be indifferent, did
not lose his temper and only felt a little ashamed and
watched with a certain interest everything she did for
him.
When Levin came back from the doctor's, whither
Kitty had sent him, he saw, on opening the door, that,
under Kitty's directions, they were changing the sick
man's linen. His long white back and his stooping
shoulders, his prominent ribs and vertebrae, were all
uncovered, while Marya Nikolayevna and the lackey
were in great perplexity over the sleeves of Nikolai's
night-shirt, into which they were vainly striving to get
his long, thin arms. Kitty, quickly closing the door be-
hind Levin, did not look at him; but the sick man
groaned and she hastened to him. ; i
" Be quick," she said. '•-«/
" There ! don't come near me," muttered the sick
man, angrily. " I myself .... "
"What do you say .■* " asked Marya.
But Kitty had heard and understood that he was
ashamed of being stripped in her presence.
" I am not looking, I am not looking," said she, trying
to get his arm into the night-shirt. "Marya Nikolayevna,
you go to the other side of the bed and help us. — Please
go and get a little flask out of my bag, and bring it to
336 ANNA KARENINA
me," she said to her husband. " You know, in the side
pocket; please bring it, and in the meantime we will
finish arranging him."
When Levin came back with the flask, he found the
invalid lying down in bed, and everything about him
had assumed a different appearance. The oppressive
odor had been exchanged for that of aromatic vinegar
which Kitty, pursing up her lips and puffing out her
rosy cheeks, was scattering about from a glass tube.
The dust was all gone ; a rug was spread under the
bed ; on the table were arranged the medicine vials, a
carafe, the necessary linen, and Kitty's English embroid-
ery. On another table, near the bed, stood a candle,
his medicine, and powders. The sick man, bathed,
with smoothly brushed hair, was lying between clean
sheets, and propped up by several pillows, was dressed
in a clean night-shirt, the white collar of which came
around his unnaturally thin neck. A new expression
of hope shone in his eyes as he looked at Kitty.
The doctor whom Levin went for and found at the
club was not the one who had been treating Nikolaf and
had aroused his indignation. The new doctor brought
his stethoscope and carefully sounded the sick man's
lungs, shook his head, wrote a prescription, and gave
exphcit directions first about the application of his rem-
edies and then about the diet which he wished him to
observe. He ordered fresh eggs, raw, or at least scarcely
cooked, and Seltzer water with milk heated to a certain
temperature. After he was gone, the sick man said a
few words to his brother, but Levin heard only the last
words: "....your Katya." But by the way he looked
at Kitty, Levin knew that he said something in her
praise. Then he called Katya, as he had named her : —
*' I feel much better already," he said to her. " With
you I should have got well long ago ! how good every-
thing is."
He took her hand and lifted it to his Hps ; but as if
he feared that it might be unpleasant to her, he hesitated,
put it down again and only caressed it. Kitty pressed
his hand affectionately between her own.
ANNA KARENINA 337
" Now turn me over on the left side, and all of you go
to bed."
No one heard what he said ; Kitty alone understood.
She understood because she was ceaselessly on the watch
for what he needed.
" Turn him on the other side," said she to her hus-
band. " He always sleeps on that side. It is not pleas-
ant to call the man. I cannot do it. Can you ? " she
asked of Marya Nikolayevna.
" I am afraid not," she replied.
Levin, terrible as it was to him to put his arms around
this frightful body, to feel what he did not wish to feel
under the coverlid, submitted to his wife's influence, and
assuming that resolute air which she knew so well, and
putting in his arms, took hold of him ; but in spite of all
his strength he was amazed at the strange weight of
these emaciated limbs. While he was, with difficulty,
changing his brother's position, Nikolaf threw his arms
around his neck, and Kitty quickly turned the pillows so
as to m^ke the bed more comfortable, and carefully
arranged his head and his thin hair, which was again
sticking to his temples.
Nikolai' kept one of his brother's hands in his. Levin
felt that the sick man was going to do something with
his hand and was drawing it toward him. His heart
sank within him ! Yes, Nikolaf put it to his lips and
kissed it ! Then, shaken with sobs. Levin hurried from
the room, without being able to utter a word.
CHAPTER XIX
" He has hidden it from the wise, and revealed it unto
children and fools ; " thus thought Levin about his wife
as he was talking with her a little while later.
He did not mean to compare himself to a wise man in
thus quoting the Gospel. He did not call himself wise ;
but he could not help feeling that he was more intellec-
tual than his wife and Agafya Mikhailovna, that he em-
ployed all the powers of his soul, when he thought about
338 ANNA KARENINA
death. He knew also that many great and manly minds
whose thoughts on this subject he had read had tried to
fathom this mystery, but they had not seemed to know
one hundredth part as much as his wife and his old
nurse. Agafya Mikhaiflovna and Katya — as his brother
called her, and he also now began to take pleasure in
doing — had, in this respect, a perfect sympathy, though
otherwise they were entirely opposite.
Both unquestionably knew what life meant and what
death meant, and though they were of course incapa-
ble of answering or understanding the questions that
presented themselves to Levin's mind, they not only had
their own way of explaining these great facts of human
existence, but they also shared their belief in this regard
with millions of human beings. As a proof of their well-
grounded knowledge of what death was, they without a
second of doubt knew what to do for those who were
dying, and felt no fear of them. While Levin and others,
who could talk much about death, evidently knew noth-
ing about it because they were afraid of it and actually
had no notion what to do when men were dying. If
Konstantin Levin had been alone now with his brother
Nikolai', he would have gazed with terror into his face,
and with growing terror awaited his end with fear, and
been able to think of nothing to do for him.
What was more, he did not know what to say, how to
look, how to walk. To speak of indifferent things
seemed unworthy, impossible; to speak of melancholy
things, of death, was likewise impossible; to be silent
was even worse.
" If I look at him, he will think that I am studying
him, I fear ; if I do not look at him, he will believe that
my thoughts are elsewhere. To walk on tiptoe irritates
him ; to walk as usual seems brutal."
Kitty apparently did not think about herself, and she
had not the time. Occupied only with the invalid, she
seemed to have a clear idea of what to do ; and she suc-
ceeded in her endeavor.
She related the circumstances of their marriage ; she
told about herself ; she smiled on him ; she caressed
ANNA KARENINA 339
him ; she cited cases of extraordinary cures ; and it was
all delightful : she understood how to do it. The proof
that her activity — and Agafya Mikhaflovna's — was not
instinctive, was animal, was above reason, lay in the
fact that neither of them was satisfied with offering phys-
ical solace or performing purely material acts ; both of
them demanded for the dying man something more im-
portant than physical care, and something above and
beyond merely physical conditions.
Agafya Mikhaflovna, speaking of the old servant who
had lately passed away, said, " Thank God, he had con-
fession and extreme unction ; God grant us all to die
likewise."
Katya, though she was busy with her care of the
linen, the medicines, and the bed-sores, even on the
first day succeeded in persuading her brother-in-law to
receive the sacrament.
When Levin at the end of the day returned from the
sick-room to their own two rooms, he sat down with
bowed head, confused, not knowing what to do, unable
to think of eating his supper, of arranging for the night,
of doing anything at all ; he could not even talk with his
wife : he felt ashamed of himself.
But Kitty showed extraordinary activity. She had
supper brought ; she herself unpacked the trunks, helped
arrange the beds, and even remembered to scatter Per-
sian powder upon them. She felt the same excitement
and quickness of thought which men of genius show on
the eve of battle, or at those serious and critical moments
in their lives, those moments when, if ever, a man
shows his value, and all the preceding days of his life
are only the preparation for these moments.
The whole work made such rapid progress that before
twelve o'clock all their things were neatly and carefully
arranged : their two hotel rooms presented a thor-
oughly homelike appearance ; the beds were remade ;
the brushes, the combs, the hand-mirrors, were taken
out ; the towels were in order.
Levin found it unpardonable in himself to eat, to
sleep, even to speak ; and he felt that every motion he
340 ANNA KARENINA
made was inappropriate. But she took out her toilet
articles and did everything in such a way that there
was nothing in the least disturbing or unsuitable in it.
Neither of them could eat, however, and they sat long
before they could make up their minds to go to bed.
" I am very glad that I persuaded him to receive ex-
treme unction to-morrow," said Kitty, as she combed
her soft perfumed hair, before her mirror, sitting in her
dressing-sack. " I never saw it given ; but mamma told
me that they repeat prayers for restoration to health."
" Do you believe that he can get well ? " asked Levin,
as he watched the narrow parting at the back of her
little' round head disappear as she moved the comb for-
ward.
" I asked the doctor ; he says that he cannot live more
than three days. But what does he know about it .-' I
am glad that I persuaded him," she said, looking at her
husband from behind her hair. *' All things are possi-
ble," she added, with that peculiar, almost crafty, expres-
sion which came over her face when she spoke about
religion.
Never, since the conversation that they had while
they were engaged, had they spoken about religion ;
but Kitty still continued to go to church and to say her
prayers with the calm conviction that she was fulfilling
a duty. Notwithstanding the confession, which her
husband had felt impelled to make, she firmly believed
that he was a good Christian, perhaps better even than
herself, and that all he had said about it was only one
of his absurd masculine freaks such as he liked to in-
dulge in, just as he did when he jested about her
broderie anglaise — as if good people mended holes, but
she purposely created them.
" There ! This woman, Marya Nikolayevna, would
never have been able to persuade him," said Levin ;
"and.... I must confess that I am very, very glad that
you came. You made everything look so neat and com-
fortable ! " ....
He took her hand, but did not kiss it ; it seemed to
him a profanation even to kiss her hand in the presence
ANNA KARENINA 341
ot death, but he pressed it, as he looked with contrition
into her shining eyes.
" You would have suffered too terribly all alone," she
said, as she raised her arms, which covered the glow of
satisfaction that made her cheeks red, and began to
coil up her hair and fasten it to the top of her head.
" No, she would not have known how .... but fortunately
I learned many things at Soden."
"Were there people there as ill as he is? "
"Yes, more so."
*' It is terrible to me not to see him as he used to be
when he was young You can't imagine what a hand-
some fellow he was ; but I did not understand him
then."
" Indeed, indeed, I believe you. I feel that we should
have been friends," said she, and she turned toward
her husband, frightened at what she had said, and the
tears shone in her eyes.
"Yes, would have been,^' he said mournfully. "He
is one of those men of whom one can say with reason
that he was not meant for this world."
" Meanwhile, we must not forget that we have many
days ahead of us ; it is time to go to bed," said Kitty,
consulting her tiny watch.
CHAPTER XX
DEATH
On the next morning communion was administered
to the sick man. Nikolaf prayed fervently during the
ceremony. There was such an expression of passionate
entreaty and prayer in his great eyes gazing at the
sacred image placed on a card-table covered with a
colored towel that it was terrible for Levin to look at
him so ; for he knew that this passionate entreaty and
hope made it all the harder for him to part from life,
to which he clung so desperately. He knew his brother
and the trend of his thoughts ; he knew that his skepti-
34a ANNA KARENINA
cism did not arise from the fact that it was easier foi
him to live without a religion, but from the fact that
gradually his religious behefs had been supplanted by
the theories of modern science ; and therefore he knew
that his return to faith was not logical or normal, but
was ephemeral and due simply to his unreasonable hope
for recovery. He knew likewise that Kitty had strength-
ened this hope by her stories of extraordinary cures.
Levin knew all this and was tormented by these
thoughts as he looked at his brother's beseeching, hope-
ful eyes, as he saw his difficulty in lifting his emaciated
hand to touch his yellow forehead to make the sign of
the cross, and saw his flesh less shoulders, and his hollow,
rattling chest, unable longer to contain the life which
he was begging to have restored. During the sacra-
ment Levin did what he had done a thousand times,
skeptic that he was : —
" Heal this man if Thou dost exist," he said, address-
ing God, " and Thou wilt save me also."
The invahd felt suddenly much better after the anoint-
ing with the holy oil ; for more than an hour he did not
cough once. He assured Kitty, as he kissed her hand
with smiles and tears of thanksgiving, that he felt well,
that he was not suffering, and that he felt a return of
strength and appetite. When his broth was brought,
he got up by "himself and asked for a cutlet. Hopeless
as his case was, impossible as his recovery was, as any
one might see by a glance. Levin and Kitty spent this
hour in a kind of timid joy.
" Is he not better ? "
i'r.^Much better."
** It is astonishing."
" Why should it be astonishing ? "
" He is certainly better," they whispered, smiling at
each other.
The illusion did not last. The sick man went serenely
to sleep, but after half an hour his cough wakened him
and instantly those who were with him and the sick man
himself lost all hope. The actuahty of suffering un-
questioned made them forget their late hopes. NikolaX,
ANNA KARENINA 343
giving no thought to what he had believed a half-hour
previously, and apparently ashamed even to remember
it, asked for a bottle of iodin to inhale.
Levin gave him the bottle, which was covered with
a piece of perforated paper, and his brother looked at
him with the same imploring, passionate look which he
had given the image, as if asking him to confirm the
words of the doctor, who attributed miraculous virtues
to the inhaling of iodin.
" Kitty is n't here ? " he asked in his hoarse whisper,
when Levin had unwilhngly repeated the doctor's words,
"No? then I may speak!.,.. I played the comedy
for her sake She is so sweet ! But you and I cannot
deceive ourselves ! This is what I put my faith in,"
said he, pressing the bottle in his bony hands as he
smelt the iodin.
About eight o'clock in the evening Levin and his
wife were taking tea in their room, when Marya Niko-
layevna came running toward them all out of breath.
She was pale, and her lips trembled.
" He is dying ! " she whispered, " I am afraid that he
is dying ! "
Both of them hurried to NikolaT. He had lifted
himself, and was sitting up in bed leaning on his elbow,
his head bowed, his long back bent.
" How do you feel ? " asked Levin, tenderly, after a
moment of silence.
" I feel that I am going," whispered NikolaT, strug-
gling painfully to speak, but as yet pronouncing the
words distinctly. He did not raise his head, but only
turned his eyes up, without seeing his brother's face.
" Katya, go away ! " he whispered once again.
Levin sprang up and in an imperative whisper bade
her leave the room.
" I am going," the dying man whispered once again.
" Why do you think so ? " asked Levin, for the sake
of saying something.
" Because I am going," he repeated, as if he had an
affection for the phrase. " It is the end."
Marya Nikolayevna came to hira.
344 ANNA KARENINA
" If you would lie down, it would be easier for you,"
said she.
" Soon I shall be lying down," he remarked softly, —
"dead," he added, with angry irony. "Well, lay me
back, if you will."
Levin laid his brother down on his back, took a seat
near him, and, hardly able to breathe, gazed into his
face. The dying man lay with his eyes shut, but the
muscles of his forehead twitched from time to time as
if he were in deep thought. Levin involuntarily tried
to comprehend what was taking place in him, but in
spite of all the efforts of his mind to accompany his
brother's thoughts, he saw by the expression of his calm
stern face, and the play of the muscles above his eye-
brows, that his brother perceived mysteries hidden from
him.
" Yes .... yes .... so," the dying man murmured slowly,
with long pauses ; " lay me down ! " Then long silence
followed. " So ! " said he suddenly, with an expression
of content as if all had been explained for him. " O
Lord ! " he exclaimed, and he sighed heavily.
Marya Nikolayevna felt of his feet. " They are grow-
ing cold," she said in a low voice.
Long, very long, as it seemed to Levin, the sick man
remained motionless ; but he was still alive, and sighed
from time to time.
Weary from the mental strain. Levin felt that in
spite of all his efforts he could not understand what his
brother meant to express by the exclamation "So,"
He seemed to be far away from the dying man ; he
could no longer think of the mystery of death ; the
most incongruous ideas came into his mind. He asked
himself what he was going to do ; — to close his eyes,
dress him, order the coffin ? Strange ! he felt perfectly
cold and indifferent ; he did not experience any sense of
grief or loss, or even the least pity for his brother ; the
principal feeling that he had was one almost of envy
for the knowledge which the dying man would soon
have and which he himself could not have.
Long he waited by his bedside, expecting the end;
ANNA KARENINA 345
it did not come. The door opened, and Kitty came in.
He got up to stop her, but instantly heard the dying
man move.
" Don't go away ! " said Nikolai, stretching out his
hand. Levin took it, and angrily motioned his wife
away.
Still holding the dying man's hand, he waited a half-
hour — an hour — and still another hour. He ceased
to think of death ; he thought what Kitty was doing.
Who was occupying the next room .'' Had the doctor
a house of his own ? Then he became hungry and
sleepy. He gently let go the dying man's hand and felt
of his feet. His feet and legs were cold ; but still
Nikolaf was breathing. Levin started to go away on
his tiptoes ; but again the invalid stirred, and said,
" Don't go away ! "
It began to grow light ; the situation was unchanged.
Levin gently rose, and without looking at his brother
went to his room, and fell asleep. When he awoke, in-
stead of hearing of his brother's death as he expected,
he was told that he had come to his senses again. He
was sitting up in bed, was coughing, and wanted some-
thing to eat. He became talkative, but ceased to talk
about death, and once more began to express the hope
of getting well again, and was more irritable and restless
than before. No one, not even his brother or Kitty,
could calm him. He was angry with them all, and said
disagreeable things, and blamed every one for his suffer-
ings, demanding that the famous doctor from Moscow
should be sent for ; and whenever they asked him how
he was, he replied with expressions of anger and re-
proach, " I am suffering terrible, unendurable agony."
He suffered more and more, especially from his bed-
sores, which they were wholly unable to heal, and his
irritability kept increasing, and he reproached them all
bitterly, especially because they did not fetch the doctor
from Moscow. Kitty tried every means in her power
to help him, to calm him ; but it was all in vain, and
346 ANNA KARENINA
Levin saw that she was suffering physically as well as
morally, although she would not confess it.
The sentiment of death which had been aroused in
all by his farewell to life that night when he had sum-
moned his brother was mightily weakened. All knew
that he would inevitably and speedily reach the end,
that he was already half dead. They all felt that the
sooner he died the better it would be ; yet, concealing
this, they still gave him medicines from vials, sent for
new medicines and doctors, and they deceived him and
themselves and one another ; all this was falsehood,
vile, humiliating, blasphemous falsehood. And this
falsehood was more painful to Konstantin than to the
others, because he loved his brother more deeply, and
because nothing was more contrary to his nature than
lack of sincerity.
Levin, who had long felt the desire to reconcile his
two brothers before Nikolai' should die, wrote to SergyeJ
Ivanovitch. He replied, and Konstantin read the letter
to the sick man : Sergye'i Ivanovitch could not come
but he asked his brother's pardon in touching terms.
Nikolai said nothing.
" What shall I write him ? " asked Konstantin. " I
hope you are not angry with him."
" No, not at all," replied Nikolaf, in a tone of vexa-
tion. "Write him to send me the doctor."
Three cruel days passed in this manner, the invalid
remaining in the same condition. All those who saw
him — the hotel waiter and the landlord and all the
lodgers and the doctor and Marya Nikolayevna and
Levin and Kitty — now wished only one thing, and that
was his death. The invalid only did not express any
such wish, but, on the contrary, continually grumbled
because they did not send for the doctor ; and he took
his remedies and he spoke of life. Only at rare mo-
ments, when opium caused him for a little to be oblivious
of his incessant agony, he would in a sort of doze con-
fess what weighed on his mind even more heavily than
on the others' : " Akh 1 If this could only end ! " or
"When this is over."
ANNA KARENINA 347
His sufferings, growing ever more and more severe,
did their work and prepared him to die. There was no
position in which he could find relief ; there was not a
moment in which he could forget himself; there was
not a place or a single member of his body that did not
cause him paih, agony. Even the memories, the impres-
sions, and the thoughts about his body now awakened
in him the same feeling of repulsion as his body itself ;
the sight of other people and their talk, their individual
recollections, were a torment to him. Those who sur-
rounded him felt it and instinctively refrained in his
presence from using any freedom of motion, from con-
versation or from expressing their wishes. All his life
was concentrated in one feeling, suffering, and in an
ardent desire to be freed from it.
Evidently there was accomplishing in him that revolu-
tion whereby he would be induced to look on death as
a consummation of his desires, even as a joy. Hitherto,
every individual desire called forth by suffering or
privation, as by hunger, weariness, thirst, was satisfied
by some bodily exercise producing pleasure ; but now
privation and suffering got no relief and any attempt
at relieving them caused new suffering. And so all his
desires were concentrated on one thing, — the wish to
be delivered from all his woes and the very source of
his woes, from his body. But he had no words to ex-
press this thought, and he continued out of habit to ask
for what once gave him comfort, but could no longer
satisfy him. "Turn me on the other side," he would
say, and then immediately wish to return to his former
position. " Give me bouillon ! Take it away ! Speak,
and don't stay so still! " and as soon as any one began
to speak, he would shut his eyes and show fatigue, in-
difference, and disgust.
On the tenth day after their arrival Kitty was taken
ill ; she had a headache and nausea and all the morn-
ing felt unable to get up.
The doctor declared that it was caused by her emo-
tions and weariness. He advised quiet and rest.
Yet, after dinner, she got up and went as usual with
348 ANNA KARENINA
her work to Nikolaf's room. He looked at her sternly
and smiled scornfully when she told him that she had
been ill. All day long he never ceased to cough and to
groan piteously.
" How do you feel ? " she asked.
"Worse," he replied with difficulty. "I am in pain,"
" Where do you feel the pain .-' "
"All over."
" You will see the end will come to-day," said Marya
Nikolayevna, in an undertone.
Levin hushed her, thinking that his brother, whose
ear was very acute, might hear ; he turned and looked
at him. Nikolai had heard, but the words made no im-
pression ; his look remained as before, reproachful and
intense.
" What makes you think so .-' " asked Levin, when
she followed him into the corridor.
" He has begun to pick with his fingers."
" What do you mean ? "
" This way," she said, plucking at the folds of her
woolen dress. Levin himself noticed that all that day
the invalid had been plucking at his bed-clothes as if to
pick off something.
Marya Nikolayevna's prediction came true. Toward
evening Nikolai had not strength enough left to lift his
arms, and his motionless eyes assumed an expression of
concentrated attention. Even when his brother and
Kitty bent over him in order that he might see them,
this look remained unchanged. Kitty had the priest
summoned to say the prayers for the dying.
While the priest was reading the prayer, the dying man
gave no sign of life. His eyes were closed. Levin,
Kitty, and Marya Nikolayevna were standing by his bed-
side. Before the prayers were ended, Nikolalf stretched
himself a Httle, sighed, and opened his eyes. The priest,
having finished the prayer, placed the crucifix on his
icy brow, then put it under his stole, and after he had
stood for a moment or two longer, silently he touched
the huge bloodless hand.
"It is all over," he said at last, and started to go away ;
ANNA KARENINA 349
but suddenly Nikolai's lips trembled slightly, and from
the depths of his breast came these words, which sounded
distinctly in the silent room : —
" Not yet.... soon."
A moment later his face brightened, a smile came to
his lips, and the women who had been summoned has-
tened to lay out the body.
The sight of his brother and the propinquity of death
awakened in Levin's mind that feeling of horror at the
inexplicability and the unavoidableness of death, just as
he had felt on that autumn night when his brother came
to see him. This feeling was now more intense than ever.
More than ever he felt his inabihty to fathom this mys-
tery, and even more terrible seemed to him its proximity.
But now, thanks to his wife's presence, this feeling did not
lead him to despair; for in spite of his terrors l.j felt
the need of living, and loving. He felt that love saved
him from despair, and that this love became all the
stronger and purer because it was threatened.
And scarcely had this mystery of death taken place
before his eyes ere he found himself face to face with
another miracle of love and of life equally unfathomable.
The doctor confirmed his surmise in regard to Kitty
Her discomfort was the beginning of pregnancy.
END OF VOL. n.
The Scene in the Freight-house.
Original Drawing by £. Boyd Smith.
ANNA KARENINA
VOL. m
ANNA KARENINA
PART FIFTH — Continued
CHAPTER XXI
AS soon as Aleksef Aleksandrovitch had learned
from Betsy and Stepan Arkadyevitch that all that
was expected of him was that he should leave his wife in
peace and not trouble her with his presence, and that his
wife herself wished this, he had felt himself in too great
perplexity to be able to decide anything for himself, and
he did not know what he wanted ; but, having placed
his fate in the hands of others, who were willing enough
to occupy themselves with his affairs, he was ready to
accept whatever might be proposed to him.
Only when Anna had taken her departure and when
the English governess sent to inquire if she should dine
with him or by herself, did he for the first time clearly
realize his position and its full horror.
The hardest element in this state of affairs was that
he could not coordinate and reconcile his past with the
present. Nor was it the past when he lived happily
with his wife that disturbed him. The transition from
that past to the knowledge of his wife's infidelity he had
borne like a martyr ; that state of things was trying, but
it was comprehensible to him. If at the time when his
wife had confessed her wrong to him she had left him,
he would have been mortified and unhappy ; but he
would not have been in that inextricable, incomprehen-
sible position in which he now felt that he was. He
could never now reconcile his recent position, his recon-
ciliation, his love for his sick wife and the alien child,
2 ANNA KARENINA
with the present state of things ; in other words, with
the fact that as a reward for all his sacrifices he was now
deserted, disgraced, useful to no one, and a ridiculous
laughing-stock to all.
The first two days after his wife's departure Aleksef
Aleksandrovitch received petitioners and his chief sec-
retary, attended committee-meetings, and ate his meals
in the dining-room as usual. Without trying to explain
to himself why he did this, he directed all t^^e powers of
his mind to one single aim — to seem calm and indif-
ferent. As he answered the questions of the servants
in regard to what should be done about Anna's rooms
and her things, he made superhuman efforts to assume
the manner of a man for whom the event that had
occurred was not unexpected, and had nothing in it
outside the range of ordinary, every-day events, and he
accomplished his purpose ; no one would have detected
in him any signs of despair. But on the second day
after her departure KorneY handed him a miUiner's bill
which Anna had neglected to pay, and told him that the
manager of the business himself was waiting. Alekseif
Aleksandrovitch had the man shown in.
" Excuse me, your excellency," said the manager,
"for venturing to disturb you, but if you order us to
apply to her ladyship personally, will you kindly give
us her address } "
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch seemed to the manager to be
cogitating ; then suddenly turning round, he sat down at
the table. Dropping his head into his hands, he sat
there a long time in that position ; he tried several times
to speak, but still hesitated. KomeY, understanding his
barin's feelings, asked the manager to come another
time.
^., When he was left alone again, AlekseY Aleksandro-
yitch realized that he no longer had the power to keep
up the ro/e of firmness and serenity. He gave orders
to send away the carriage which was waiting for him,
and he declined to see callers and would accept no in-
vitations out to dine. He felt that he could not endure
the disdain and derision which he clearly read on the
ANNA KARENINA ^
face of this manager and of Kornei, and of all without
exception whom he had met during those two days. He
felt that he could not defend himself from the detesta-
tion of people, because this detestation did not arise
from the fact that he had himself committed any wrong
action, for in that case he might have hoped to regain
the esteem of the world by improvement in conduct, but
from the fact that he was unhappy, and with an unhap-
piness that was odious and shameful. He knew that it
was precisely for the reason that his heart was torn that
they would be pitiless to him. It seemed to him that his
fellow-men persecuted him as dogs torture to death some
poor cur maimed and howling with pain. He knew that
the only safety from men was to conceal his wounds from
them, and he had instinctively tried for two days to do
so ; but now he felt that he had no longer the strength
to continue the unequal struggle.
His despair was made deeper by the knowledge that
he was absolutely alone with his suffering. In all
Petersburg there was not a man to whom he could
confide all his wretchedness, not one who would have
any pity for him now, not as a lofty functionary, or
even as a member of society, but simply as a human
being in despair : he had no such friend.
Aleksei" Aleksandrovitch had lost his mother when he
was ten years old ; he had no remembrance of his
father ; he and his one brother were left orphans with
a very small inheritance ; their uncle Karenin, a man
of influence, held in high esteem by the late emperor,
took charge of their bringing up.
After a successful course at the gymnasium and the
university, Aleksei Aleksandrovitch, through his uncle's
aid, made a brilliant start in official life, and, full of
ambition, devoted himself exclusively to his career. He
formed no ties of intimacy either in the gymnasium or in
the university, or afterward in society ; his brother alone
was dear to him, but he entered the department of foreign
affairs, went abroad to live, and died soon after Aleksef
Aleksandrovitch's marriage.
While Karenin was governor of one of the provinces,
4 ANNA KARENTNA
Anna's aunt, a wealthy lady of the governmental capi
tal, introduced her niece to this governor, who was
young for such a position, if not in years, and she
forced him to the alternative of proposing marriage or
leaving the city. Alekseif Aleksandrovitch long hesi-
tated. There seemed as many reasons in favor of this
step as there were opposed to it ; there was no definite
reason which should impel him to break his rule, "When
in doubt, dotit ! " but Anna's aunt sent word to him
through a friend that he had compromised the young
lady, and that as a man of honor he must offer her his
hand. He offered himself, and gave her, first as his
betrothed and afterward as his wife, all the affection
which it was in his power to show.
This attachment prevented him from feeling the need
of any other intimacy. And now out of all the number
of his acquaintances he had not one confidential friend.
He had many so-called " friends," but no intimates.
There were many persons whom Aleksel Aleksandro-
vitch could invite to dinner, or ask favors of, in the
interests of his public capacity or protection for some
petitioner ; with whom he could freely criticize the actions
of other people and of the highest officers of govern-
ment. But his relations to these people were exclu-
sively confined to this official domain, from which it
was impossible to escape. There was one university
comrade with whom he had kept up an intimacy in after
years, and to whom he would have confided his private
sorrows, but this friend was a trustee ^ of the classical
educational institutes in a distant province. Of all the
people in Petersburg, the nearest and most practicable
acquaintances were his Director of the Chancelry and
his doctor.
Mikhail Vasilyevitch Sliudin, "manager of affairs,"
was a simple, good, intelligent, and well-bred man, and
he seemed full of sympathy for Karenin ; but five years'
association in official service put a barrier between them
which silenced confidences.
1 PopechiteV uchebnava okruga ; an office attached to the department of
Public Instruction. — Ed.
ANNA KARENINA s
AlekseY Aleksandrovitch, having signed the papers
which he brought, sat in silence for some time looking
at Sliudin, and kept trying, but found it impossible, to
open his heart to him. The question, " Have you heard
of my misfortune ? " was on his lips ; but it ended in his
saying as usual, when he dismissed him : —
" You will have the goodness to prepare me this
work."
The doctor was another man who was well disposed
to him, but between them there had long been a tacit
understanding that they were both full of business and
in a hurry.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch did not think at all about
his women friends, or even of the chiefest among them,
the Countess Lidia Ivanovna. Women simply as women
were strange and repulsive to him.
CHAPTER XXII
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch forgot the Countess
Lidia Ivanovna, but she did not forget him. She
reached his house at his darkest moment of solitary
despair, and made her way to his library without wait-
ing to be announced. She found him still sitting in the
same position with his head between his hands.
"y'ai ford la consigned' she said, as she came in
with rapid steps, breathless with emotion and agitation.
" I know all, Alekseif Aleksandrovitch, my friend ! "
and she pressed his hand between both of hers and
looked at him with her beautiful melancholy eyes.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, with a frown, arose, and,
having withdrawn his hand, offered her a chair.
" I beg you to sit down. I am not receiving be-
cause I am suffering, countess," he said, and his lips
quivered.
" My friend ! " repeated the countess, without taking
her eyes from him ; and suddenly she lifted her eye-
brows so that they formed a triangle on her forehead, and
this grimace made her ugly yellow face still uglier than
^ ANNA KARENINA
before. Aleksel Aleksandrovitch felt that she pitied
him and was on the point of crying. A wave of feel'
ing overwhelmed him. He seized her fat hand and
kissed it.
" My friend," she said again, in a voice breaking
with emotion, " you must not give yourself up to grief.
Your grief is great, but you must find consolation,"
" I am wounded, I am killed, I am no longer a man,"
said Aleksei Aleksandrovitch, letting go the countess's
hand, but still looking into her eyes swimming with tears.
" My situation is all the more unbearable because I can
find neither in myself nor outside of myself any help
toward endurance of it."
" You will find this help, not in me, though I beg you
to believe in my friendship," said she, with a sigh.
" Our help is love, the love which He has given for an
inheritance. His yoke is easy," she continued, with the
exalted look that Aleksef Aleksandrovitch knew so well.
" He will sustain you and will aid you."
Although these words were the expression of an
emotion aroused by their lofty feelings, as well as the
symbolical language characteristic of a new mystical
exaltation just introduced into Petersburg, and which
seemed extravagant to Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch, never-
theless he found it pleasant at the present time to hear
them.
" I am weak, I am humiliated. I foresaw nothing of
this, and now I cannot understand it."
" My friend ! " repeated Lidia Ivanovna.
"I do not mourn so much my loss," said Aleksei"
Aleksandrovitch ; "but I cannot help a feeling of shame
for the situation in which I am placed before the world.
It is bad, and I cannot, I cannot bear it."
*' It is not you who have performed this noble act of
forgiveness which has filled me — and all — with admira-
tion. It is He dwelling in your heart. So, too, you
have no cause for shame," said the countess, ecstati-
cally raising her eyes.
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch frowned, and, pressing his
hands tQg;ethQr, be began to make his knuckles crack.
ANNA KARENINA 7
"You must know all the details," he said, in his shrill
voice. " Man's powers are limited, countess ; and I have
reached the limit of mine. All this day I have wasted
in details, domestic details, arising [he accented the
word] from my new, lonely situation. The servants, the
governess, the accounts, .... this is a slow fire devouring
me, and I have not strength to endure it. Yesterday
I scarcely was able to get through dinner .... I cannot en-
dure to have my son look at me ....he did not ask me
any questions, but I know he wanted to ask me, and I
could not endure his look. He was afraid to look at
me ....but that is a mere trifle ...."
Karenin wanted to speak of the bill that had been
brought him, but his voice trembled, and he stopped.
This bill on blue paper, for a hat and ribbons, was a
recollection that made him pity himself.
" I understand, my friend," said the Countess Lidia
Ivanovna, " I understand it all. Aid and consolation
you will not find in me, but I have come to help you if
I can. If I could free you from these petty annoying
tasks .... I think that a woman's word, a woman's hand,
are needed ; will you let me help you .-' "
Alekseif Aleksandrovitch was silent, and pressed her
hand gratefully.
"We will look 3.fter Serozha together. I am not
strong in practical affairs, but I can get used to them,
and I will be your ekonomka. Do not thank me ; I do
not do it of myself." ....
" I cannot help being grateful"
" But, my friend, do not yield to the sentiment of
which you spoke a moment ago How can you be
ashamed of what is the highest degree of Christian per-
fection .'' He who humbles Jmnself shall be exalted.
And you cannot thank me. Thank Him, pray to Him
for help. In Him alone we can find peace, consolation,
salvation, and love."
She raised her eyes to heaven, and began to pray, as
AlekseT Aleksandrovitch could see by her silence.
AlekseY Aleksandrovitch listened to her, and this
phraseology, which before seemed, not unpleasant to him,
8 ANNA KARENINA
but extravagant, now seemed natural and soothing. He
did not approve of this new ecstatic mysticism. He was
a sincere believer, and religion interested him principally
in its relation to politics ; and the new doctrine which
arrogated to itself certain new terms, for the very rea-
son that it opened the door to controversy and analysis,
had aroused his antipathy from principle. Hitherto, he
had taken a cold, and even hostile, attitude to this new
doctrine, and had never discussed it with the countess,
who was carried away by it, but had resolutely met her
challenge with silence. But now, for the first time, he
let her speak without hindrance, and even found a
secret pleasure in her words.
" I am very, very grateful to you, both for your words
and for your sympathy," he said, when she had ended
her prayer.
Again the countess pressed her friend's hand with
both of hers.
"Now I am going to set to work," said she, with a
smile, wiping away the traces of tears on her face. " I
am going to Serozha, and I shall not trouble you except
in serious difficulties." And she got up and went out.
The Countess Lidia Ivanovna went to Serozha's room,
and, while she bathed the scared little fellow's cheeks
with her tears, she told him that his father was a saint
and his mother was dead.
The countess fulfilled her promise. She actually
took charge of the details of Aleksef Aleksandrovitch's
house, but she exaggerated in no respect when she de-
clared that she was not strong in practical affairs. It
was necessary to modify all of her arrangements, since
it was impossible to carry them out, and they were modi-
fied by KorneT, Aleksei" Aleksandrovitch's valet, who,
without any one noticing it, gradually took it on him-
self to manage the whole establishment, and calmly and
discreetly reported to his barin (while the latter was
dressing) such things as seemed best.
But, nevertheless, the countess's help was to the
highest degree useful to him. Her affection and es-
teem were a moral support to him, and, as it gave her
ANNA KARENINA 9
great consolation to think, she almost succeeded in
converting him to " Christianity " ; in other words, she
changed him from an indifferent and lukewarm be-
liever into a fervent and genuine partizan of that
new method of explaining the Christian doctrine which
shortly after came into vogue in Petersburg. It was
easy for AlekseY Aleksandrovitch to put his faith in
this exegesis. Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, as well as the
countess and all those who shared their views, was not
gifted with great imagination, or at least that faculty
of the mind by which the illusions of the imagination
have sufficient conformity with reality to cause their
acceptation. Thus he saw no impossibility or unlike-
lihood in death existing for unbelievers and not for him,
that because he held a complete and unquestioning faith,
judged in his own way, his soul was already free from
sin, and that even in this world he might look upon his
safety as assured.
It is true, AlekseY Aleksandrovitch dimly felt the
frivolity, the fallacy, of this presentation of his faith.
He knew that when, without a thought that his forgive-
ness of his wife was the act of a higher power, he gave
himself up to this immediate feeling, he experienced a
greater happiness than when, as now, he constantly
thought that Christ dwelt in his soul, and that by sign-
ing certain papers he was following His will. But it
was indispensable for Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch to think
so ; it was so indispensable to have, in his present hu-
miliation, this elevation, imaginary though it was, from
which he, whom every one despised, could look down
on others, that he clung to it as if his salvation de-
pended on it.
CHAPTER XXIII
The Countess Lidia Ivanovna had been married when
she was a very young and enthusiastic girl to a very
wealthy, aristocratic, good-natured, and dissolute young
fellow. Two months after the wedding her husband
lo ANNA KARENINA
deserted her. He had replied to her effusive expres-
sions of love with scorn and even hatred, which no
one who knew the count's kindliness, and were not
acquainted with the faults of Lidia's romantic nature,
could comprehend. Since then, without any formal
divorce, they had lived apart ; and when the husband
met his wife, he always treated her with a venomous
scorn, the reason for which it puzzled people to under-
stand.
The Countess Lidia Ivanovna long ago ceased to
worship her husband, but at no time had she ceased
to be in love with some one. Not seldom she was in
love with several at once — men and women indiscrimi-
nately. She had been in love with almost every one
of any prominence. Thus she had lost her heart to
each of the new princes and princesses who married
into the imperial family. Then she had been in love
with a metropolitan, a vicar, and a priest. Then she
had been in love with a journalist, three Slavophiles,
and Komisarof ; then with a foreign minister, a doc-
tor, an English missionary, and finally Karenin. These
multifarious love-affairs and their different phases of
warmth or coldness in no wise hindered her from keep-
ing up the most complicated relations both with the
court and society.
But from the day wheh Karenin was touched by
misfortune and she took him under her special pro-
tection, from the time when she began to busy herself
with his domestic affairs and work for his well-being,
she felt that all her former passions were of no account,
but that she now loved Karenin alone with perfect sin-
cerity. The feeling which she now cherished toward
him seemed to her stronger than all the previous feel-
ings. As she analyzed her sentiment and compared
it with the former ones, she clearly saw that she would
never have been in love with Komisarof if he had not
saved the emperor's life, or with Ristitch-Kudzhitsky
had there been no Slav question. But Karenin she
loved for himself, for his great, unappreciated spirit,
for his character, for the delightful sound of his voice,
ANNA KARENINA ti
his deliberate intonations, his weary eyes, and his soft
white hands with their swollen veins. Not only did the
thought of seeing him fill her with joy, but it seemed
to her that she saw on her friend's face the signs of
the impression which she made on him. She did her
best to please him, no less by her person than by her
conversation. Never before had she spent so much
time and attention on her toilet. More than once she
found herself wondering what would happen if she
were not married and he were only free ! When he
came into the room, she colored with emotion, and
she could not restrain a smile of ecstasy if he said
something pleasant to her. '",' , ^
For several days the countess had been in a state ot
great excitement. She knew that Anna and Vronsky
were back in Petersburg. It was necessary to save
Aleksel Aleksandrovitch from seeing her ; it was neces-
sary to save him even from the tormenting knowledge
that this wretched woman was living in the same town
with him and he might meet her at any instant.
Lidia Ivanovna made inquiries through acquaintances
so as to discover the plans of these repulsive people^ aS
she called Anna and Vronsky ; and she tried to direct
all of Karenin's movements so that he might not meet
them. The young aide to the emperor, a friend of
Vronsky's, from whom she learned about them, and
who was hoping through the Countess Lidia Iva-
novna's influence to get a concession, told her that
they were completing their arrangements and expected
to depart on the following day.
Lidia Ivanovna was beginning to breathe freely once
more, when on the next morning she received a note,
the handwriting of which she recognized with terror.
it was Anna Karenina's handwriting. The envelop was
of paper thick as bark ; the oblong sheet of yellow paper
was adorned with an immense monogram. The note
exhaled a delicious perfume.
" Who brought it ? "
•'A messenger from the hoteL'^ -• - / ,, y i ; >;->
The countess waited long before she had tlie cour-
12 ANNA KARENINA
age to sit down and read it. Her emotion almost
brought on an attack of asthma, to which she was
subject. At last, when she felt calmer, she opened
the following note written in French : —
"1 ■' bUj Ofi
Madame la Comtesse : — The Christian sentiments filling
your heart prompt me, with unpardonable boldness, I fear,
to address you. I am unhappy at being separated from my
son, and I ask you to do me the favor of letting me see
him once more before I depart. If I do not make direct
application to Aleksei Aleksandrovitch, it is because T do not
wish to give this generous-hearted man the pain of thinking of
me. Knowing your friendship for him, I felt that you would
understand me ; will you have Serozha sent to me here ? or
do you prefer that I should come at an appointed hour? or
would you let me know how and at what place I could see
him ? You cannot imagine my desire to see my child again,
and consequently you cannot comprehend the extent of my
gratefulness for the assistance that you can render me in these
circumstances. Anna.
Everything about this note exasperated the Countess
Lidia Ivanovna, its tenor, the allusions to Karenin's
magnanimity, and the especially free and easy tone
which pervaded it.
" Say that there is no reply," said the Countess Lidia
Ivanovna, and, hurriedly opening her buvard, she wrote
to Aleksef Aleksandrovitch that she hoped to meet him
about one o'clock at the birthday reception at the
Palace/'J l-Tfr. <^;eiamf>^.'jimfi if:>dj ;.■
"I must consult with- you in regard to a sad and
serious affair ; we will decide at the Palace when I can
see you. The best plan would be at my house, where
I will have your tea ready. It is absolutely necessary.
He imposes the cross, but He gives also the strength,"
she added, that she might somewhat prepare him.
9l' The Countess Lidia Ivanovna wrote Aleksei" Aleksan-
drovitch two or three times a day ; she liked this way of
communication with him, as it had the elegance and
mystery which were lacking in ordinary personal inter-
course. ' I ' :
ANNA KARENINA ^,3
CHAPTER XXIV
The congratulations were over. As the visitors who
had met at court went away, they talked about the
latest news of the day, the rewards that had been be-
stowed, and the changed positions of some high func-
tionaries.
" What should you say if the Countess Marya Bori-
sovna was made minister of war, and the Princess
Vatkovskaya, chief of staff.''" asked a little, gray-haired
old man, in a gold-embroidered uniform, who was talking
with a tall, handsome maid of honor about the recent
changes.
" In that case, I should be made one of the emperor's
aides," replied the freilina.
" Your place is already settled. You are to have
charge of the department of religions, and Karenin is
to be your assistant."
" How do you do, prince .-' " said the little old man,
shaking hands with some one who came along.
" Were you speaking of Karenin ? " asked the
prince.
" Yes ; he and Putyatof have been decorated with the
order of Alexander Nevsky."
" I thought he had it already."
" No ; look at him," said the little old man, pointing
with his gold-laced hat toward Karenin, who was stand-
ing in the doorway, talking with one of the influential
members of the Imperial Council ; he wore the court
uniform, with his new red ribbon across his shoulder.
" Happy and contented as a copper kopek ! " he added,
pausing to press the hand of a handsome, athletic cham-
berlain passing by.
" No ; he has grown old," said the chamberlain.
"With cares. He spends all his time writing proj-
ects. He, the unfortunate man, will not let go until he
has explained everything point by point."
"What, grown old.'* // /ait di^s passions. I think the
Countess Lidia is jealous now of his wife."
14 ANNA KARENINA
" There ! I beg of you not to speak ill of the Countess
Lidia." /. ^ ■ ■
" Is there any harm in her being in love with Kare-
nih?"
" Is it true that Madame Karenin is here ? '■ juki bati
" Not here at the Palace, but in Petersburg. I met
her yesterday with Aleksel Vronsky dras dessus, bras
dessous, on the Morskaya."
" C'est un homme qjii n'a pas^^ — -began the chamber-
lain ; but he broke short off to salute and make way for
a member of the imperial family who was passing.
Thus they were talking about Aleksei Aleksandro-
vitch, criticizing and ridiculing him, while he himself was
barring the way of the imperial counselor, and, without
pausing in his explanations lest he should lose him, was
giving a detailed exposition of a financial scheme.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, about the time his wife left
him, had reached a situation painful for an official, —
the culmination of his upward career. This culmination
had been reached, and all clearly saw it, but Aleksei
Aleksandrovitch himself was not yet aware that his
career was ended. Either his collision with Stremof, or
his trouble with his wife, or the simple fact that AlekseX
Aleksiandrovitch had reached the limit that he had been
destined to attain, the fact remained that every one saw
clearly that his official race was run. He still held an
important place ; he was a member of many important
committees and commissions : but he was one of those
men of whom nothing more is expected ; his day was
over. Whatever he said, whatever he proposed^ seemed
antiquated and useless. But Aleksef Aleksandrovitch
himself did not realize this ; on the contrary, now that he
had ceased to have an active participation in the busi-
ness of the administration, he saw more clearly than
before the faults and mistakes that others were making,
and considered it his duty to indicate certain reforms
which should be introduced.
Shortly after his separation from his wife, he began
to write his first pamphlet about the new tribunals, and
proposed to follow it up with an endless series of similaf
AT^TNA KARENINA -15
pamphlets, of no earthly use, on all the different branches
of the administration.
He not only did not realize his hopeless situation in
the of&cial world, and therefore did not lose heart, but
more than ever he took dehght in his activity.
" He that is unmarried is careful for the things of the
Lord, how he may please the Lord ; but he that is married
is careful for the things of the world, how he may please
his wife," said the Apostle Paul. And Aleksei Aleksan-
drovitch, who now directed his life in all respects
according to the Epistle, often quoted this text. It
seemed to him that, since he had been deprived of his
wife, he served the Lord more faithfully than ever by
devotion to these projects.
The imperial counselor's very manifest impatience
and desire to get away from him in no way abashed
Karenin, but he stopped a moment as a prince of the
imperial family was passing, and his victim seized his
opportunity to escape.
Left to himself, Aleksei Aleksandrovitch bowed his
head, tried to collect his thoughts, and, with an absent-
minded glance about him, stepped toward the door,
hoping to meet the countess there.
' ■ How strong and healthy they look physically ! " he
said to himself, as he looked at the vigorous neck of the
prince, who wore a close-fitting uniform, and the hand-
some chamberlain with his well-combed and perfumed
side-whiskers. " It is only too true that all is evil in
this world," he thought, as he looked at the chamber-
lain's sturdy legs. Moving slowly along, Aleksef Alek-
sandrovitch, with his customary appearance of weariness
and dignity, came up to the gentlemen who had been
talking about him, and, glancing through the door, he
looked for the Countess Lidia Ivanovna. '''olf "
"Ah! Aleksef Aleksandrovitch ! " cried the little Old
man, with a wicked light glowing in his eyes, as Karenin
passed him with a cold bow. " I have not yet con-
gratulated you," and he pointed to the newly received
ribbon.
" I thank you. This is 2LJine day ! "' replied Aleksei
i6 ANNA KARENINA
Aleksandrovitch, accentuating the adjective prekrasny^
as was his habit.
He knew that these gentlemen were making sport of
him ; but he exjjected nothing but hostile feelings, and
he was accustomed to it.
Catching sight of the countess's yellow shoulders ris-
ing from her corsage, as she appeared at the door, and
her beautiful pensive eyes, inviting him to join her,
Aleksei" Aleksandrovitch, with a smile which showed
his even white teeth, went to her.
Lidia Ivanovna's toilet had cost her much labor, like
all her recent efforts in this direction ; for the object of
her toilet was now entirely the reverse of that which she
had followed thirty years before. Formerly she had
thought only of adorning herself, and the more the
better ; now, on the contrary, she had to be adorned so
unsuitably for her figure and her years that she simply
endeavored to render the contrast between her person
and her toilet not too frightful, and in Alekseif Alek-
sandrovitch's eyes she succeeded ; he thought her fas-
cinating. For him she, with her friendliness and even
love for him, was the only island amid the sea of ani-
mosity and ridicule that surrounded him. As he was the
gantlet of scornful glances, he was naturally drawn to
her loving eyes like a plant toward the light.
" I congratulate you," she said, looking at his decora-
tion.
Repressing a smile of satisfaction, Karenin shrugged
his shoulders and half closed his eyes, as if to say that
this was nothing to him.
The Countess Lidia Ivanovna knew well that these
distinctions, even though he would not confess it, caused
him the keenest pleasure.
" How is our angel } " she asked, referring to Serozha.
"I cannot say that I very am well satisfied with him,"
replied Alekseif Aleksandrovitch, Hfting his eyebrows
and opening his eyes. "And Sitnikof " (a pedagogue
who had been intrusted with Serozha's childish educa-
tion) " does not please him. As I told you, I find in
him a certain apathy toward the chief questions which
ANNA KARENINA ir^
ought to move the soul of every man and of every
child."
And Aleksef Aleksandrovitch began to discourse on a
subject which, next to the questions of administration,
gave him the most concern — his son's education.
When Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, with Lidia Ivanovna's
aid, once more resumed his ordinary life and activity
again, he felt it his duty to occupy himself with the edu-
cation of the son who had been left on his hands. Hav-
ing never before taken any practical interest in the
question of education, Aleksei Aleksandrovitch conse-
crated some time to the practical study of the subject.
After having read various works on anthropology, peda-
gogy, and didactics, he conceived a plan of education
which the best tutor in Petersburg was then intrusted
to put into practice. And this work constantly occupied
him.
" Yes ; but his heart .'' I find in this child his father's
heart, and with such a heart he cannot be bad," said the
countess, with enthusiasm.
" Well, that may be. So far as in me lies, I perform
my duty ; it is all that I can do."
"Will you come to my house.? " asked the Countess
Lidia Ivanovna, after a moment's silence. " I have a
very painful matter to talk with you about. I would
have given the world to spare you certain memories ;
others do not think the same. I have had a letter from
/ler. She is here in Petersburg."
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch quivered at the recollection
of his wife ; but his face instantly assumed that expres-
sion of corpselike immobility that showed how absolutely
unable he was to treat of such a subject.
" I expected it," he said.
The Countess Lidia Ivanovna looked at him with ex-
altation, and in the presence of a soul so great, tears of
transport sprang to her eyes.
1% ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XXV
, n When Aleksef entered the Countess Lidia Ivanovna's
cozy little boudoir, decorated with portraits and old por^
celains, he failed to find his friend.
She was changing her gown.
On a round table covered with a cloth stood a Chinese
tea-service and a silver teapot with an alcohol lamp.
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch glanced perfunctorily at the
numberless paintings that adorned the room ; then he
sat down near a table and took up a copy of the New
Testament which lay on it. The rustling of the coun-
tess's silk dress put his thoughts to flight.
" Well now ! We can be a little more free from dis-
turbance," said the countess, with a smile, gliding between
the table and the divan. " We can talk while drinking
our tea."
After several words, meant to prepare his mind, sh^
sighed deeply, and, with a tinge of color in her cheeks,
she put Anna's letter into his hands.
He read it, and sat long in silence.
*' I do not feel that I have the right to refuse her," he
said timidly, raising his eyes.
" My friend, you never can see evil anywhere."
" On the contrary, I see everything is evil. But would
it be fair to...."
His face expressed indecision, desire for advice, for
support, for guidance, in a question so beyond his com-
prehension.
<* No," interrupted the Countess Lidia Ivanovna,
" there are limits to all things. I understand immoralr
ity," she said, not with absolute sincerity, since she did
not know what could induce women to be immoral,
** but what I do not understand is cruelty toward any one !
Toward you ! How can she remain in the same city
with you .-* One is never too old to learn, and I learn
every day your grandeur and her baseness ! "
" Who shall cast the first stone .-' " asked Aleksef
Aleksandrovitch, evidently satisfied with the part he
ANNA KARENINA 19
was playing. " I have forgiven her for everything, and
therefore I cannot deprive her of what is a need of her
heart, — her love for her son." ....
" But is it love — my friend ? Is it sincere ? Let us
agree that you have forgiven her, and that you still
pardon her. But have we the right to vex the soul
of this little angel ? He believes that she is dead ; he
prays for her and asks God to pardon her sins It is
better so. What would he think now ? "
" I had not thought of that," said Aleksef Aleksan-
drovitch, perceiving the justice of her words.
The countess covered her face with her hands and
was silent ; she was praying.
" If you ask my advice," she replied, after she had
uttered her prayer and taken her hands from her face,
" you will not do this. Do I not see how you suffer,
how this opens all your wounds .'' But let us admit that
you, as always, forget yourself, but where will it lead
you .'' new sufferings for yourself, to torture for the child !
If she were still capable of human feelings, she herself
could not desire this. No ! I have no hesitation about
it, I advise you not to, and, if you give me your authority,
I will reply to her."
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch consented, and the countess
wrote, in French, this letter : r^
C/iere Madame : — Recalling your existence to your son
would be likely to raise questions which it would be impossi-
ble to answer without obliging" the child to criticize that which
should remain sacred to him, and therefore I beg you to inter-
pret your husband's refusal in the spirit of Christian charity.
I pray the Omnipotent to be merciful to you.
COMTESSE LiDIA.
This letter accomplished the secret aim which the
countess would not confess even to herself j. it'WQUnded
Anna to the bottom of her soul. l ni II
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch, on returning home from
Lidia Ivanovna's, found himself unable to take up his
ordinary occupations, or recover the spiritual calm of a
believer who feels that he is among the elect.
ao ANNA KARENINA
The thought of his wife who had been so guilty
toward him, and toward whom he had acted so Hke
a saint, as the Counters Lidia Ivanovna had so well
expressed it, ought not to have disturbed him, and yet
he was ill at ease. He could not understand a word of
the book he was reading, he could not drive away from
his mind the cruel recollections of his relations to her,
of the mistakes which, as it now seemed to him, he
himself had made in his treatment of her. He remem-
bered with a feeling like remorse the way he had
received Anna's confession that day as they were re-
turning from the races. Why had he demanded merely
an outward observance of the proprieties .-* Why had
he not challenged Vronsky to a duel .-' He was likewise
tormented by his recollection of the letter which he
wrote her at that time ; especially his forgiveness of her,
which had proved useless to any one, and the pains
which he had wasted on the baby that was not his, all
came back to his memory and seared his heart with
shame and regret. And exactly the same feeling of
shame and regret she experienced now in reviewing all
his past with her, and remembering the awkward way
in which, after long vacillating, he had offered himself
to her. 'iij; .bt,,
" But how am I at fault .-' " he asked himself ; and
this question immediately gave rise to another: "Do
other men feel differently, fall in love differently,
and marry differently, — these Vronskys, Oblonskys ....
these chamberlains with their handsome calves .-* "
His imagination called up a whole line of these vigor-
ous men, self-confident and strong, who had always and
everywhere attracted his curiosity and his wonder.
He drove away these thoughts ; he strove to persuade
himself that the end and aim of his life was not this
world, but eternity, that peace and charity alone ought
to dwell in his soul. But the fact that in this temporal,
insignificant life he had, as it seemed to him, made
some humiliating blunders, tortured him as much as if
that eternal salvation in which he put his trust did not
exist.
ANNA KARENINA 21
But this temptation was not long, and soon Aleksel
Aleksandrovitch regained that serenity and elevation of
raind by which he succeeded in putting away all that
he wished to forget,
CHAPTER XXVI
" Well, Kapitonuitch ? " said Serozha, as he came
in, rosy and gay, after his walk, on the evening before
his birthday, while the old Swiss, smiling down from
his superior height, helped the young man off with his
coat, " did the bandaged chinovnik come to-day ? Did
papa see him ? "
"Yes; the manager had only just got here when I
announced him," replied the Swiss, winking one eye
gayly. " Permit me, I will take it."
" Serozha ! Serozha ! " called the Slavophile tutor,
who was standing by the door that led to the inner
rooms, "take off your coat yourself."
But Serozha, though he heard his tutor's weak voice,
paid no heed to him ; standing by the Swiss, he held
him by the belt, and looked him straight in the face.
" And did papa do what he wanted .'' "
The Swiss nodded.
This chinovnik, with his head in a bandage, who had
come seven times to ask some favor of Aleksef Aleksan-
drovitch, interested Serozha and the Swiss. Serozha
had met him one day in the vestibule, and overheard
how he begged the Swiss to let him be admitted, saying
that nothing was left for him and his children but to die.
Since that time the lad had felt great concern for the
poor man.
" Say, did he seem very glad } " asked Serozha.
" Glad as he could be ; he went off almost leap-
ing."
" Has anything come .'' " asked Serozha, after a mo-
ment's silence.
" Well, sir," whispered the Swiss, shaking his head
"there is something from the countess."
22 ANNA KARENINA
Serozha instantly understood that what the Swiss
meant was a birthday present from the Countess Lidia
Ivanovna.
" What did you say ? Where is it ? "
" Kornei took it to papa ; it must be some beautiful
toy ! "
" How big ? as big as this? '*
" Smaller, but beautiful."
-^rrf^ A little book?"
<* No ; a toy. Run away, run away. Vasili Lukitch
is calling you," said the Swiss, hearing the tutor's steps
approach, and gently removing the little gloved hand
which held his belt.
" In a little bit of a moment, Vasili Lukitch," said
Serozha, with the amiable and gracious smile to whose
influence even the stern tutor submitted.
Serozha was in radiant spirits, and wanted to tell his
friend, the Swiss, about a piece of good fortune which
the Countess Lidia Ivanovna's niece had told him, while
they were walking in the summer garden, had befallen
the family. His happiness seemed greater still since he
heard about the chinovnik's success and his present.
It seemed to Serozha that every one ought to be happy
this beautiful day.
" Do you know papa has received the Alexander Nev-
sky order .^"
" Why should n't I know .-• He has been receiving
congratulations."
*'■ Is he glad .? "
" How could he help being glad of the Tsar's favor .''
Of course he deserves it ! " said the old Swiss, gravely.
Serozha reflected as he looked into the Swiss's face,
which he knew even to the least detail, but especially
the chin, between his gray side-whiskers. No one had
seen his chin except Serozha, who looked up at it from
below.
** Well ! and your daughter } Is n't it a long time since
she has been to see us } "
Di;:The Swiss's daughter was a ballet-dancer.
"How could she find time to come on work-dftyg?''
ANNA KARENINA gj
he exclaimed. " They have their lessons as Well as you;
and you had better be off to yours, sir."
When Serozha reached his room, instead of attending
to his tasks, he poured out into the tutor's ears all his
surmises about the present which had been brought him.
" It must be a locomotive engine ; what do you think
about it .-* " he asked ; but Vasili Lukitch was thinking of
nothing except the grammar lesson, which had to be
ready for the professor, who came at two o'clock.
" No, butyou must justtell me one thing, Vasili Lukitch,"
asked the child, who was now sitting at his desk, with
his book in his hands : " what is there higher than the
Alexander Nevsky f You know that papa has just re-
ceived the Alexander Nevsky."
Vasili Lukitch replied that the order of Vladimir was
higher.
" And above that ? "
" St. Andrew ^ above them all"
" And above that ? "
" I don't know."
" Why don't you know ? " and Serozha, leaning his
head on his hand, began to think. 1 vkv
The child's thoughts were very varied and compli-
cated ; he imagined that his father perhaps was going to
have the orders of Vladimir and St. Andrew, and that
therefore he would be more indulgent for that day's
lessons ; and that he himself^ When he grew up, would
do his best to deserve all the decorations, even those
that would be given higher than that of St. Andrew. A
new order would scarcely have time to be founded before
he would make himself worthy of it.
These thoughts made the time pass so quickly that,
when the professor came, his lesson about the circum-
stances of time, and place, and mode of action was not
prepared at all ; and the professor seemed not only dis-
satisfied, but distressed. His professor'^ distress touched
Serozha. He felt that he was to blame for not having
learned his lesson. In spite of all his efforts, he really
had been unable to do it. When the professor was
lAtidtei Pervozbanny, Andrew the FirJt-called or frotokletoi.
^4 ANNA KARENINA
talking to him, he imagined that he understbod ; but
when he was alone, he really could not remember or
comprehend that such a short and easy word as vdrug,
"suddenly," is a circumstance of the mode of action ; but
still he was sorry that he had tried his teacher.
He seized on a moment when his teacher was silently
looking into a book, to ask him : —
" Mikhail Ivanovitch, when will your birthday be ? "
"You would do better to think about your work ; birth-
days have no importance for a reasonable being. It is
only a day just like any other, and must be spent in
work."
Serozha looked attentively at his teacher, studied his
sparse beard, his eye-glasses far down on his nose, and
got into such a deep brown study that he heard nothing
of what the teacher was explaining to him. He had a
dim comprehension that his teacher did not believe what
he said. By the tone in which he said it, he felt that it
was incredible.
"But why do they all try to say to me the most tire-
some things and the most useless things, and all in the
same way ? Why does this man keep me from him, and
not love me ? " he asked himself sadly, and he could not
discover any answer.
CHAPTER XXVII
After the professor, came the lesson with his father.
Serozha, while waiting for him, sat at the table, playing
with his pen-knife, and he fell into new thoughts.
One of his favorite occupations was to look for his
mother while he was out walking. He did not believe in
death as a general thing ; and especially he did not be-
lieve that his mother was dead, in spite of what the
Countess Lidia Ivanovna told him, and though his father
confirmed it. And therefore, after they told him that she
was dead, he used to watch for her while he was out for
his walk. Every tall, graceful woman with dark hair he
imagined to be his mother ; at the sight of such a woman,
ANNA KAREN INA 15
his heart would swell with love, the tears would come
into his eyes, and he would wait until the lady drew near
him, and raised her veil ; then he would see her face ;
she would kiss him, smile upon him ; he would feel the
sweet caress of her hand, smell the well-known perfume,
and weep with joy, as he did one evening when he lay
at her feet, and she tickled him, and he laughed so heart-
ily, and gently bit her white hand, covered with rings.
Later, when he learned accidentally from the old nurse
that his mother was alive, and that his father and the
countess had told him that she was dead because she
was a wicked woman, this seemed still more impossible
to Serozha, because he loved her ; and he looked for
her, and longed for her.
That very day, in the summer garden, there had been
a lady in a lilac veil, and, with his heart beating violently,
expecting that it was she, he saw her take the same foot-
path where he was walking ; but this lady did not come
up where he was, and she disappeared from sight.
Serozha felt a stronger love than ever for his mother ;
and now, while waiting for his father, he was cutting
his desk with his penknife ; with shining eyes, he was
looking straight ahead, and thinking of her.
" Here comes your papa," said Vasili Lukitch.
Serozha jumped up from the chair, ran to kiss his
father's hand, and looked for some sign of pleasure
because he had received the order of Alexander
Nevsky.
" Did you have a good walk } " asked Aleksef Alek-
sandrovitch, as he sat down in an armchair, taking up
the Old Testament and opening it.
Though he had often told Serozha that every Chris-
tian ought to know the sacred history by heart, he had
often to consult the Old Testament for his lessons ; and
Serozha noticed it.
"Yes, papa, I enjoyed it very much," said Serozha,
sitting across his chair, and tipping it, which was for-
bidden. " I saw Nadenka " (Nadenka was the countess's
niece, whom she adopted) " and she told me that they 've
given you a new star. Are you glad, papa ?"
26 ANNA KARENINA
" In the first place^ please don't tip your chair so,"
said Alekser Aleksandrovitch, " and in the second place,
know that what ought to be dear to us is work for itself
and not the reward. I want you to understand that. If
you work and study simply for the sake of receiving the
recompense, the work will seem painful ; but if you love
work, your recompense will come of itself."
And Aleksei Aleksandrovitch remembered that on
this very day he had signed one hundred and eighteen
different papers with no other support in a most unwel-
come task than the feeling of duty.
Serozha's eyes, shining with affection and merriment,
grew gloomy, and dropped as his father looked at him.
It was the same well-remembered way his father had
adopted in his treatment of him, and Serozha had already
schooled himself to be hypocritical toward it.
He felt that his father always spoke as if he were
addressing some imaginary boy, one of those children
found in books, and not in the least like Serozha. And
Serozha, when he was with his father, tried to make
believe that he was that bookish little boy.
"You understand this, I hope."
" Yes, papa," repUed the lad, playing the part of this
imaginary little boy.
The lesson consisted of the recitation of several verses
of the Gospel and the review of the first part of the Old
Testament. The verses from the Gospel Serozha knew
fairly well. But, as he was in the midst of so repeating
them, Serozha was struck by the appearance of his
father's forehead, which made almost a right angle near
the temples, and he stumbled and transferred the end of
one verse to the next verse which began with the same
word. Aleksef Aleksandrovitch concluded that he did
not understand the meaning of what he was reciting,
and he was vexed.
He frowned, and began to explain what Serozha had
heard so many times that he could not help remember-
ing because he understood it too well — just as it was
with the concept of the word vdnig, suddenly, being " a
circumstance of the mode of action." The child, with
ANNA KARENINA
scared eyes, looked at his father and thought about only
one thing : would his father obhge him to repeat the
explanation that he had given him, as he had done at
other times ? This fear kept him from understanding
anything. Fortunately his father passed on to the les-
son in Sacred History. Serozha narrated the facts them-
selves very well ; but when he was required to answer
the questions as to what the fact signified he did not
know it at all, though he had already been punished for
this same lesson. The place where he could not recite
and hesitated, and where he had whittled the table and
rocked the chair, was the critical moment when he had
to repeat the list of antediluvian patriarchs. Not one
could he remember, not even Enoch, who was snatched
up to heaven alive. On other occasions he could re-
member his name, but now he had entirely forgotten it,
for the very reason that Enoch was his favorite char-
acter in all Biblical history, and he connected with the
translation of this patriarch a long string of ideas which
completely absorbed him, while he was staring at his
father's watch-chain and a loose button on his waist-
coat.
Serozha absolutely disbelieved in death, though they
had told him about it many times. He could not be-
lieve that those whom he loved could die, and espe-
cially incredible was the thought of his own death. It
all seemed perfectly impossible and incomprehensible.
But he had been told that all must die ; he had asked
people in whom he had confidence, and they had assured
him that it was so. The nurse herself, though unwill-
ingly, said the same thing. But Enoch did not die, and
perhaps others might not have to die.
"Why should not others deserve justice before God,
and so be snatched up to heaven alive .-* " thought Se-
rozha. "The wicked — those whom he disliked — might
have to die, but the good might be like Enoch."
" Well ! how about these patriarchs? "
" Enoch .... Enos.... "
: " You have already mentioned him. This is bad, Se-
rozha, very bad. If you do not endeavor to learn the
2F ANNA KARENINA
things essential for every Christian to know, what will
become of you ? " asked his father, getting up. " I am
dissatisfied with you, and Piotr Ignatyevitch " — he was
the professor — "is dissatisfied with you .... so I am com-
pelled to punish you."
Father and pedagogue both found fault with him,
and Serozha was doubtless making bad work of it.
Yet it could not possibly be said that he was a stupid
boy ; on the contrary, he was far superior to those whom
his teacher held up to him as examples. From his
father's point of view, he did not want to learn what
was taught him. In reality, it was because he could
not l«arn it. He could not for the reason that his
mind had needs more essential to him than those that
his father and the pedagogue supposed. These needs
were wholly opposed to what they gave him, and he
revolted against his teachers.
He was only nine years old. He was only a child ;
but he knew his own soul. It was dear to him ; he
guarded it jealously, as the eyelid guards the eye ; and
no one should force a way in without the key of love.
His teachers blamed him for being unwilling to learn,
and yet he was all on fire with the yearning for knowl-
edge ; and he learned from Kapitonuitch, his old nurse,
Nadenka, and Vasili Lukitch, but not from his teachers.
The water which the father and the pedagogue poured
on the mill-wheel was wasted, but the work was done
in another place.
His father punished Serozha by not letting him go
to see Nadenka ; but his punishment turned out to be
an advantage. Vasili Lukitch was in good humor, and
taught him how to make wind-mills. The whole after-
noon was spent in working and thinking of the ways
and means to make the mill go. Should he fix wings
to it, or arrange it so he could turn it himself ? He
forgot about his mother all the evening ; but after he
had got into bed, he suddenly remembered her, and
he prayed in his own fashion that she might cease to
hide herself from him, and make him a visit the next
day, which was his birthday.
ANNA KARENINA 29
"Vasili Lukitch, do you know what I prayed God
for?"
" To study better ? "
"No."
" Toys ? "
" No. You must not guess. It is a secret ; when
it comes to pass, I will tell you. Can't you guess .'' "
" No, I can't guess ; you must tell me ! " said Vasili
Lukitch, smiling, which was rare with him. "Well,
get into bed; I am going to put out the light."
" I see that which I prayed for much better when
there is n't any light. There, I almost told my se-
cret ! " cried Serozha, laughing gayly.
Serozha believed that he heard his mother and felt
her presence when he was in the dark. She was stand-
ing near him, and looking at him tenderly with her lov-
ing eyes ; then he saw a mill, a knife ; then all melted
into darkness, and he was asleep.
CHAPTER XXVIII
When Vronsky and Anna reached Petersburg, they
stopped at one of the best hotels. Vronsky had a room
to himself on the ground floor ; Anna, up one flight of
stairs, with her baby, the nurse, and her maid, occupied
a suite of four rooms.
On the day of his return, Vronsky went to see his
brother; he there found his mother, who had come
down from Moscow on business. His mother and sis-
ter-in-law received him as usual, asked him about his
travels, spoke of common friends, but not by a word
did they make any allusion to Anna. His brother,
however, who returned his call the next morning, asked
him about her and Aleksei". Vronsky declared in no
equivocal terms that he considered the bond which
united him to Madame Karenin the same as marriage,
that he hoped a divorce would be obtained, and then
he should marry her, but till that time, he should re-
JO ANNA KARENINA
gard her the same as his wife ; and he asked him to
explain this to his mother and sister-in-law.
" The world may not approve of me ; that is all one
to me," he added; "but if my family wish to remain
on good terms with me, they must show proper respect
for my wife."
The elder brother, always very respectful of his
brother's opinions, was not very certain in his own
mind whether he was doing right or not, and resolved
to let society settle this question ; but, as far as he him-
self was concerned, he saw nothing objectionable in this,
and he went with Aleksei to call on Anna. -it ^yvjdl
Vronsky spoke to Anna with the formal vui', you,
as he always did before strangers, and treated her as
a mere acquaintance ; but it was perfectly understood
that the brother knew of their relations, and they spoke
freely of Anna's visit to Vronsky's estate.
Notwithstanding his experience in society, Vronsky,
in consequence of this new state of things, fell into a
strange error. It would seem as if he ought to have
understood that society would shut its doors on him
and Anna ; but now he persuaded himself by a strange
freak of imagination that, however it might have been
in former days, now, owing to the rapid progress made
by society, — and he had himself unconsciously become
a strong supporter of progress, — prejudices would have
melted away, and the question whether they would be
received by society would not trouble them.
. " Of course, she would not be received at court," he
thought ; " but our relatives, our friends, will understand
things as they are."
A man may sit for some time with his legs doubled
up in one position, provided he knows that he can
change it at pleasure ; but if he knows that he must sit
in such a constrained position, then he will feel cramped,
and his legs will twitch and stretch out toward the de-
sired freedom. Vronsky experienced this in regard to
society. Though he knew in the bottom of his soul that
society was closed to them, he made experiment whether
it had changed, and whether it would receive them
ANNA KARENINA 31
But he quickly found that, even if it were open to him
personally, it was closed to Anna. As in the game of
'* Cat-and-Mouse," ^ the hands raised for him immedi--
ately fell before Anna.
One of the first ladies of Petersburg society whom he
met was his cousin Betsy.
"At last?" she cried joyously, "and Anna.!" How
glad I am! Where are you stopping? I can easily
imagine the hideous effect our Petersburg must have on
you after such a charming journey ! I can imagine
your honeymoon in Rome ! And the divorce ? is it
arranged?" li.; lod '.a ■smdi
Vronsky saw that Betsy's enthusiasm^- cooled wh^
she learned that there was no divorce as yet.
"I know well that I shall be stoned," said she; "but
I am coming to see Anna. Yes, I will certainly come.
You won't stay here long, I imagine ? "
In fact she called on Anna that very day ; but her
manner was entirely different from what it used to be.
She evidently prided herself on her courage, and wanted
Anna to appreciate the genuineness of her friendship.
After talking for about ten minutes on the news of the
day, she got up, and said as she went away : —
" You have not told me yet when the divorce is to be.
Though I may disregard the proprieties,^ stiff-necked
people will give you the cold shoulder as long as you
are not married. And it is so easy nowadays. Ca se fait.
So you are going Friday ? I am sorry we shall not see
each other again,"
From Betsy's manner Vronsky might have got an idea
of what he might expect from society. But he made
still another experiment in his own family. He had
no hope of any assistance from his mother. He knew
well that, enthusiastic though she had been in Anna's
praise at their first meeting, she would be relentless
toward her now that she had spoiled her son's career ;
but Vronsky founded great hopes on Varia, his brother's
wife. It seemed to him that she would not be one to
1 Koshka-muiskka.
* Zabrosit chepets cheres mielnitsu, to throw one's cap oveJt the miU*
32 ANNA KARENINA
cast a stone at Anna, but would come simply and natu-
rally to see her.
On the next day he called on her, and, finding her
alone, he openly expressed his desire.
" You know, AlekseY, how fond I am of you," replied
Varia, after hearing what he had to say, "and how will-
ing I am to do anything for you ; but if I kept silent, it
is because I know that I cannot be of the least use to
you and Anna Arkadyevna." She took special pains
to use the two names. " Please don't think that I judge
her — not at all ; perhaps I should have done the same
thing in her place. I cannot enter into details," she
added, glancing timidly up at his clouded face ; " but
we must call things by their right name. You would
like me to go and see her, and then have her visit me,
in order to restore her to society. But you must know
/ cannot do it. My daughters are growing up ; I am
obliged, on my husband's account, to go into society.
Now, I will go and call on Anna Arkadyevna ; but
she knows that I cannot invite her here lest she should
meet in my drawing-room people who do not think
as I do, and that would wound her. I cannot receive
her." ....
" But I do not admit that she has fallen lower than
hundreds of women whom you receive," interrupted
Vronsky, rising, and seeing that his sister-in-law's de-
cision was irrevocable.
" Aleksef, don't be angry with me; please under-
stand, it is not my fault," said Varia, looking at him
with a timid smile.
" I am not angry with you, but I suffer doubly," said
he, growing more and more gloomy. " I suffer because
this breaks our friendship, or, at least, seriously impairs
it ; for you must know that for me this could not be
otherwise."
He left her with these words.
Vronsky understood that further experiments would
be idle, and that, during the few days he would still
have to spend in Petersburg, he must act as if he were
in a foreign city, avoiding all dealings with his former
ANNA KARENINA 33
society friends so as not to be subjected to vexations
and affronts which were so painful to him.
One of the most unpleasant features of his position
in Petersburg was the fact that Aleksef Aleksandro-
vitch and his name seemed to be everywhere. It was
impossible for a conversation to begin on any subject
without turning on Aleksef Aleksandrovitch ; it was
impossible to go anywhere without meeting him. So,
at least, it seemed to Vronsky ; just as it seems to a
man with a sore finger, that he is always hitting it
against everything.
Their stay in Petersburg seemed to Vronsky still more
trying because all the time he saw that Anna was in a
strange, incomprehensible moral frame of mind such as
he had never seen before. At one time she was more
than usually affectionate ; then again she would seem
cold, irritable, and enigmatical. Something was tor-
menting her, and she was concealing something from
him ; and she seemed not to notice the indignities which
poisoned his life, and which, in her delicacy of percep-
tion, should have been even more painful for her. i
CHAPTER XXIX 'f
Anna's chief desire on her return to Russia was to
see her son. From the day she left Italy the thought
of seeing him again kept her in a constant state of ex-
citement ; and in proportion as she drew near Peters-
burg the prospective delight and importance of this
meeting kept growing greater and greater. She did not
trouble herself with the question how she should man-
age it. It would be a simple and natural thing, she
thought, to see her son once more, when she would be
in the same town with him ; but since her arrival she
suddenly realized her present relation toward society,'
and found that the interview was not easy to obtain. -
She had been two days now in Petersburg, and nevef^
for an instant had the thought of her son left her, b\if-
she had not seen him. ^^
VOL. III. — 3
;34 ANNA >«A(RENINA
She felt that she had no right to go straight to hei
former home and risk coming face to face with Alek-
self Aleksandrovitch. She might not be admitted ; she
might be insulted. To write to her husband and ask
permission of him seemed to her painful even to think
of. She could be calm only when she did not think
of her husband. To see her son when he was out tak-
ing his walk, even if she could find where and when he
went, was too little for her. She had counted so much
on seeing him again ! she had so much to say to him ;
she had such a desire to hug him, to kiss him.
Serozha's old nurse might have been an assistance to
her, and shown her how to manage ; but she was no
longer living in Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch's house.
On the third day, having learned of Aleksei Alek-
sandrovitch's intimate relations with the Countess Lidia
Ivanovna, Anna decided to write her a letter, and this cost
her the greatest pains to write. She told her frankly
that permission to see her son depended on Aleksef
Aleksandrovitch's magnanimity. She knew that if the
letter were shown to her husband, he, in his part of
magnanimous man, would not refuse her.
The messenger that carried the letter brought back
the most cruel and unexpected reply, that there was no
answer. She had never felt so wounded as at the mo-
ment when, summoning the messenger, she heard from
him the circumstantial story of how he had waited, and
how, after a time, he had been told that there would be
no answer. Anna felt humiliated, insulted, but she saw
that, from her point of view, the countess was right.
Her grief was all the keener because she had to bear
it alone. She could not and did not wish to confide it
to Vronsky. She knew that though he was the chief
cause of her unhappiness, he would regard her meeting
with her son as of little account ; she knew that he
would never be able to sound ail the depths of her an-
guish ; she knew that she should hate him for the un-
sympathetic tone in which he would speak of it. And
she feared this more than anything else in the worldy'
and so hid from him her action in regard to her son. ■ ?•
ANNA KARENINA 35
She stayed at home all day long and racked her
brain to think of other ways of meeting her son, and
finally she decided to write directly to her husband.
She had already begun her letter, when Lidia Iva-
novna's reply was brought to her. The countess's pre-
vious silence had humbled and affronted her, but the
note and all that she read between the lines so exas-
perated her, — this bitterness against her seemed so
shocking when contrasted with her passionate, legiti-
mate affection for her son, that she grew indignant
against the others, and ceased to blame herself.
** What cruelty ! What hypocrisy ! " she said to her-
self. " All they want is to insult me and torment th6
child. I will not let them do so. She is worse than I
am ; at least, I do not lie."
She immediately decided to go on the morrow, which
was Serozha's birthday, directly to her husband's house ;
she would bribe the servants, and would make any kind
of an excuse, if only she might once see her son and put
an end to the ugly network of lies with which they were
surrounding the innocent child.
She went to a toy shop and purchased some toys, and
thus she formed her plan of action : she would start
early in the morning, at eight o'clock, before AlekseY
Aleicsandrovitch would probably be up ; she would have
the money in her hand all ready to bribe the Swiss and
the valet to let her go up-stairs without raising her veil,
under the pretext of laying on Serozha's bed some pres-
ents sent by his godfather. As to what she should say
to her son, she could not form the least idea ; she could
not make any preparation for that.
The next morning, at eight o'clock, Anna got out of
her hired carriage and rang the door-bell of her former
home.
" Go and see what is wanted ! It's some lady," said
Kapitonuitch, in loose coat and galoshes, as he looked
out of the window and saw a lady closely veiled stand-
ing on the porch. The Swiss's assistant, a young man
whom Anna did not know, had scarcely opened the
door before Anna pushed her way in, and, drawing a
j^ ANNA KARENINA
three-ruble note out of her muff, thrust it into his
hand.
" Serozha .... Sergyef Aleksievitch," she stammered,
and started down the vestibule.
The Swiss's assistant examined the note, and stopped
the visitor at the inner glass door.
" Whom do you wish to see .'' " he asked.
She did not hear his words, and made no reply.
Kapitonuitch, noticing the stranger's confusion, came
out, let her into the entry, and asked her what she
wanted.
" I come from Prince Skorodumof to see Sergyef
Aleksievitch."
" He is not up yet," replied the Swiss, looking sharply
at her.
Anna had never dreamed that the absolutely un-
changed appearance of the anteroom of the house which
for nine years had been her home could have such a
powerful effect on her. *
One after another, sweet and painful memories arose
in her mind, and for a moment she forgot why she was
there. '.<jf. bj-^.jiri'jt
"Will you Wait.? ^' -Risked the Swiss, helping her to
remove her shubka. When he saw her face, he recog-
nized her, and without a word bowed profoundly.
"Will your ladyship ^ be pleased to enter.?" he said
to her.
She tried to speak, but her voice refused to utter a
sound. Giving the old servant an entreating look, with
light, swift steps she went to the staircase. She flew up
the stairs. Kapitonuitch tried to overtake her, and fol-
lowed after her, catching his galoshes at every step.
" His tutor is there ; perhaps he is not dressed yet ; I
will speak to him." "i
Anna kept on up the stairs which she knew so well,
not heeding what the old man said.
" This way. To the left, if you please. Excuse it if
all is in disorder. He sleeps in the front room now,"
said the Swiss, out of breath. " Will your ladyship be
^ Vashe prevoskhodityelstvo, literally, your excellency.
ANNA KARENINA ^
good enough to wait a moment ? I will go and see."
And, opening the high door, he disappeared.
Anna stopped and waited.
" He has just waked up," said the Swiss, coming
back through the same door.
And, as he spoke, Anna heard the sound of a child
yawning, and merely by the sound of the yawn she
recognized her son and seemed to see him alive before her.
" Let me go in.... let me ! " she cried, and hurriedly
pushed through the door. )fi«
At the right of the door stood the bed, and on the
bed a child was sitting up in his little open night-
gown ; his little body was leaning forward, and he was
just finishing a yawn and stretching himself. His lips
were just closing into a sleepy smile, and, with this
smile, he slowly and gently fell back on his pillow.
"Serozha!" she whispered, as she went noiselessly
toward him.
At the time of their separation and during that access
of love which she had been recently experiencing for
him, Anna had imagined him as still a boy of four, the
age when he had been most charming. Now he no
longer bore any resemblance to him whom she had left ;
he was still further removed from the four-year-old
ideal ; he had grown taller and thinner. How long his
face seemed ! How short his hair ! What long arms !
How he had changed since she had seen him last ! But
it was still Serozha — the shape of his head, his lips,
his little slender neck, and his broad little shoulders.
" Serozha ! " she whispered in the child's ear.
He raised himself on his elbow, turned his disheveled
head first to this side, then to that, as if searching for
something, and opened his eyes. For several seconds
he looked with an inquiring face at his mother, who
stood motionless before him. Then he suddenly smiled
with joy, and again closing his sleepy eyes he threw
himself, not back upon his pillow, but into his mother's
arms.
" Serozha, my dear little boy ! " ^ she cried, choking
^ Serozha ! maPchik mot milui. ■ '
■^^ ANNA KARENINA
with tears, and throwing her arms around his plump
body.
" Mamma ! " he whispered, cuddling into his mother's
arms so as to feel their encircling pressure.
Smiling sleepily, still with his eyes closed, he took
his chubby little hands from the head of the bed and
put them on his mother's shoulder and climbed into her
lap, having that warm breath of sleep peculiar to chil-
dren, and pressed his face to his mother's neck and
shoulders. ''juoi-rij
" I knew," he said, opening his eyes ; " td^ay is my
birthday ; I knew that you would come. I am going to
get up now."
And as he spoke he fell asleep again.
Anna devoured him with her eyes. She saw how he
had grown and changed during her absence. She knew
and yet she did not know his bare legs, so much longer
now, coming below his nightgown ; she recognized his
cheeks grown thin ; his short hair curled in the neck
where she had so often kissed it. She could not keep
her hands from him, and not a word was she able to say,
and the tears choked her. J-^oifr r; xi br.ri o
"What are you crying for, maitjma ? " 'he asked, now
entirely awake. " What makes you cry ? " he repeated,
ready to weep himself.
" I will not cry any more .... I am crying for joy. It
is so long since I have seen you. But I will not, I will
not cry any more," said she, drying her tears and turn-
ing around. " Now go and get dressed," she added,
after she had grown a little calmer, but still holding
Serozha's hand. She sat down near the bed on a chair
which held the child's clothing. " How do you dress
without me } How .... " she wanted to speak simply
and gayly, but she could not, and again she turned her
head away.
" I don't wash in cold water any more, papa has for-
bidden it ; but you have not seen Vasili Lukitch } Here
he comes. But you are sitting on my things."
And Serozha laughed heartily. She looked at him
and smiled.
ANNA KARENINA ^
" Mamma ! dear heart, darling," ^ he cried, again
throwing himself into her arms, as if now for the first
time, having seen her smile, he clearly understood what
had happened.
" You don't need it on," said he, taking off her hati
And as if again recognizing her with her head bare, he
began to kiss her again.
" What did you think of me ? Did you believe that I
was dead ? "
" I never believed it."
" You believed me alive, my precious ? "
" I knew it ! I knew it ! " he replied, repeating his
favorite phrase ; and, seizing her hand which was smooth-
ing his hair, he pressed the palm of it to his little mouth
and began to kiss it.
CHAPTER XXX
Vasili Lukitch, meantime, not at first knowing who
this lady was, but learning from their conversation that
it was Serozha's mother, the woman who had deserted
her husband, and whom he did not know, as he had not
come into the house till after her departure, was in great
perplexity. Ought he to go to his pupil, or should he
tell Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch }
On mature reflection he came to the conclusion that
his duty consisted in going to dress Serozha at the usual
hour, without paying any attention to a third person —
his mother o^" any one else. So he dressed himself.
But as he reached the door and opened it, the sight of
the caresses between the mother and child, the sound of
their voices and their words, made him change his mind.
He shook his head, sighed, and quietly closed the door.
" I will wait ten minutes longer," he said to himself,
coughing slightly, and wiping his eyes.
There was great excitement among the servants ; they
all knew that the baruinya had come, and that Kapitonu-
1 Dushenka, galubushka.
^. ANNA KARENINA
itch had let her in, and that she was in the child's room;
they knew, too, that their master was in the habit of
going to Serozha every morning at nine o'clock : each
one felt that the husband and wife ought not to meet,
that it must be prevented.
Kornei, the valet, went down to the Swiss to ask why
Anna had been let in ; and, finding that Kapitonuitch
had taken her up-stairs, he reprimanded him severely.
The Swiss maintained an obstinate silence till the valet
declared that he deserved to lose his place, when the old
man jumped at him, and, shaking his fist in his face,
said: —
" What is that ? you would not let her in ? You 've
served here ten years, and had nothing but kindness
from her, but you would have said, ' Now, go away from
here ! ' You know what policy is, you sly dog. What
you don't forget is to rob your master, and to carry off
his racoon-skin shubas ! "
" Soldier ! " replied Kornei, scornfully, and he turned
toward the nurse, who was coming in just at this mo-
ment. "What do you think, Marya Yefimovna.-* He
has let in Anna Arkadyevna, without saying anything
to anybody, and just when Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, as
soon as he is up, will be going to the nursery."
"What a scrape! what a scrape!" said the nurse.
" But, Kornei Vasilyevitch, find some way to keep
your master, while I run to warn her, and get her out
of .the way. What a scrape ! "
'When the nurse went into the child's room, Serozha
was telling his mother how Nadenka and he had fallen
when sliding down a hill of ice, and turned three somer-
saults. Anna was listening to the sound of her son's
voice, looking at his face, watching the play of his fea-
tures, feeling his little arms, but not hearing a word
tTaat he said. She had to go away, she had to leave
hiin ; this alone she understood and felt. She had
heard Vasili Lukitch's steps, and his little discreet
cough, as he came to the door, and now she heard the
nurse coming in ; but, unable to move or to speak, she
remained as fixed as a statue.
ANNA KARENINA 41-
" Mistress, darling," ^ said the nurse, coming up to
Anna, and kissing her hands and her shoulders. " God
sent this joy for our birthday celebration ! You are not
changed at all."
" Akh ! nurse, my dear ; I did not know that you were
in the house," said Anna, coming to herself.
" I don't live here ; I live with my daughter. I came
to give my best wishes to Serozha, Anna Arkadyevna,
galubushka."
The nurse suddenly began to weep, and to kiss Anna's
hand.
Serozha, with bright, joyful eyes, and holding his
mother with one hand and his nurse with the other, was
dancing in his little bare feet on the carpet. His old
nurse's tenderness toward his mother was delightful to
him.
" Mamma, she often comes to see me ; and when she
comes ...." he began, but he stopped short when he per-
ceived that the nurse whispered something in his mother's
ear, and that his mother's face assumed an expression of
fear, and something like shame which did not go well
with his mother.
Anna went to him.
" My precious ! " she said.
She could not say the word prashchai, " farewell " ; but
the expression of her face said it, and he understood.
" My precious, precious Kutik! " she said, calling him
by a pet name which she used when he was a baby.
" You will not forget me ; you ...." but she could not say
another word.
Only then she began to think of the words which she
wanted to say to him, but now it was impossible to say
them. But Serozha understood all that she would have
said ; he understood that she was unhappy, and that she
loved him. He even understood what the nurse whis-
pered in her ear ; he heard the words " always at nine
o'clock," and he knew that they referred to his father,
and that his mother must not meet him. He understood
this, but one thing he could not understand : why did her
^ Baruinya, galubushka.
4^ ANNA KARENINA
face express fear and shame ? .... She was not to blame,
but she was afraid of him, and seemed ashamed of some-
thing. He wanted to ask a question which would have
explained this doubt, but he did not dare ; he saw that
she was in sorrow, and he pitied her. He silently clung
close to her, and then he whispered : —
" Don't go yet ! He will not come for some time."
His mother pushed him away from her a little, in or-
der to see if he understood the meaning of what he
had said, and in the frightened expression of his face
she perceived that he not only spoke of his father,
but seemed to ask her how he ought to think about
him.
" Serozha, my dear," she said, " love him ; he is better
and more upright than I am, and I have been wicked
to him. When you have grown up, you will under-
stand."
" Not better than you ! " cried the child, with sobs of
despair ; and, clinging to his mother's shoulders, he
squeezed her with all his might till his arms trembled
with the exertion.
" My darling, my little one ! " ^ exclaimed Anna ;■ and,
bursting into tears, she sobbed like a child, even as he
sobbed.
At this moment the door opened, and Vasili Lukitch
came in. Steps were heard at the other door ; and, in a
frightened whisper, he exclaimed, " He is coming," and
gave Anna her hat.
Serozha threw himself on the bed, sobbing, and cov-
ered his face with his hands. Anna took them away
to kiss yet once again his tear-stained cheeks, and then
with quick steps hurried from the room.
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch met her at the door. When
he saw her, he stopped and bowed his head.
Though she had declared a moment before that he
was better and more upright than she, the swift glance
that she gave him, taking in his whole person, with all
its peculiarities, awoke in her only a feeling of hatred
and scorn for him, and jealousy on account of her son
1 Dushekhk'a, malenki mn.
ANNA KARENINA ^
She hurriedly lowered her veil, and, quickening her
step, almost ran from the room.
She had entirely forgotten in her haste the play-
things which, on the evening before, she had bought
with so much love and sadness; and she took them
back with her to the hotel.
CHAPTER XXXI
Eagerly as Anna had desired to see her son again,
long as she had thought about it, prepared herself be-
forehand, she had no idea of what an effect the sight
of him would have on her ; when she got back to her
solitary room at the hotel again, she could not for a
long time understand why she was there.
"Yes, all is over; I am alone again," she said to
herself ; and, without taking off her hat, she threw
herself into an easy-chair which stood near the fireplace.
And, fixing her eyes on a bronze clock standing on a
table between two windows, she became absorbed w^
thought. jfri
The French maid whom she had brought from abroad
with her came and offered to help her dress ; Anna
looked at her with surprise, and replied, " By and by."
A servant came to announce coffee ; " By and by," sh$
said. ■ j:f!\oT
The Italian nurse came in, bringing the little daugh-
ter whom she had just dressed ; the plump, well-nurtured
little one, as always, when she saw her mother, hfted up
her bare little arms with the palms down, and, smiling
with her toothless little mouth, began to beat the air
with her plump little hands like a fish waving its fins,
and to pull at the starched tucks of her embroidered
skirt. No one could help smiling back, or kissing the
little girl, or letting her catch hold of one of her fingers,
screaming with delight, and jumping ; no one could help
pressing her lips for a kiss to the little sweet mouth.
All this Anna did, and she took her into her arms, trotted
her on her knee, and she kissed her fresh cheek and
44^ ANNA KARENINA
bare elbows ; but the sight of this child made her feel
clearly that the affection which she felt for it was not
the same kind of love that she had for Serozha. Every-
thing about this little girl was lovely ; but somehow she
did not fill the wants of her heart.
In her first-born, although he was the child of a man
whom she did not love, was concentrated all the strength
of a love which had not been satisfied. Her daugh-
ter, born in the most trying circumstances, had never
received the one-hundredth part of the care which she
had spent on Serozha. Moreover, the little girl, as yet,
only represented hopes, while Serozha was almost a
man, and a lovely man ! He had already begun to
struggle with his thoughts and feelings ; he loved his
mother, understood her, judged her perhaps, she thought,
recalling her son's words and looks ; and now she was
separated from him forever, morally as well as mate-
rially ; and she saw no way of remedying the situation.
She gave the little one back to her nurse, and sent
them away, and opened a locket containing Serozha's
picture about the same age as his sister ; then, remov-
ing her hat, she took an album in which were photo-
graphs of her son at different periods ; she wanted
to compare them, and she began to take them out of
the album. She took them all out. One was left, the
last, the best photograph of him. It represented Se-
rozha astride a chair, in a white frock, a smile on his
lips and a shadow in his eyes ; it was his most character-
istic, his best expression. Holding the album in her lit-
tle deft hands, which to-day moved with extraordinary
nervousness, she tried with her slender white fingers to
take it from its place ; but the photograph stuck, and she
could not get at it. There was no paper-cutter on the
table, and she took up another photograph at random
to push out the card from its place.
It was a picture of Vronsky, taken in Rome, with
long hair and a round felt hat.
" Ah ! there he is," she said to herself, and as she
looked at him she suddenly remembered that he was
the cause of all her present suffering.
ANNA KARENINA ^5
Not once had she thought of him all the morning;
but now suddenly the sight of this manly and noble
face, which she knew and loved so well, brought a flood
of affection to her heart.
" Yes ! Where is he ? Why does he leave me alone,
a prey to my grief ? " she asked with bitter reproach,
forgetting that she herself had carefully concealed from
him everything concerning her son. She sent a mes-
sage to him, asking him to come to her immediately,
and waited, with heavy heart, thinking over the words
with which she should tell him all, and the loving ex-
pressions with which he would try to console her. The
servant returned to say that Vronsky had a visitor, but
that he would come very soon ; and would like to know
if she could receive him with Prince Yashvin, who had
just arrived in Petersburg.
" He will not come alone, and he has not seen me
since yesterday at dinner," she thought ; " and he does
not come so that I can speak with him, but he comes
with Yashvin."
And suddenly a cruel thought crossed her mind :
what if he no longer loved her .-*
And as she went over in her mind all the incidents of
the past few days, she found her terrible thought con-
firmed by them. The day before he had not dined with
her ; they did not have the same room, now that they
were in Petersburg ; and now he was bringing some one
with him as if to avoid being alone with her.
" But he must tell me this. I must know it. If it is
true, I know what I must do," she said to herself, wholly
unable to imagine what would happen if Vronsky's in-
difference should prove to be true. She began to feel
that he did not love her any more ; she imagined herself
reduced to despair, and in consequence her feelings
made her overexcited ; she rang for her maid, went into
her dressing-room, and took extreme pains with her
dress as if the sight of her toilet and becoming way of
dressing her hair would bring back Vronsky's love, if he
had grown indifferent. /' ''nf(7, ■ .■
The bell rang before she was readyV"'
46 ANNA KARENINA
When she returned to the drawing-room, not Vronsky,
but Yashvin, looked at her. Vronsky was looking at
Serozha's picture, which she had left lying on the table,
and he did not hurry to greet her.
" We are old acquaintances," she said to him, going
toward him and placing her small hand in Yashvin's
enormous hand. He was all confusion, and this seemed
odd, in a man of his gigantic form and decided fea-
tures.
" We met last year at the races. — Give them to me,"
she said, snatching her son's photographs from Vronsky,
who was looking at them, while her eyes blazed at him
significantly. " Were the races successful this year .-'
We saw the races at Rome on the Corso. But I believe
you do not like life abroad," she added, with a fascinat-
ing smile. " I know you, and, although we seldom
meet, I know your tastes."
" I am very sorry for that, because my tastes are gen-
erally bad," said Yashvin, biting the left side of his
mustache.
After they had talked some little time, Yashvin, see-
ing Vronsky look at his watch, asked Anna if she ex-
pected to be in Petersburg long. Then, bending down
his huge back, he picked up his kepi.
" Probably not long," she replied, in some confusion,
and looked at Vronsky.
" Then we shall not meet again ? " said Yashvin, get-
ting up and addressing Vronsky. " Where are you go-
ing to dine .-' "
" Come and dine with me," said Anna, with decision ;
and, vexed because she could not conceal her confusion
whenever her false situation became evident before a
Stranger, she blushed. " The table here is not good, but
you will at least see each other. Of all Aleksel's mess-
mates, you are his favorite."
•i.,,Y I should be delighted," replied Yashvin, with a
smile which proved to Vronsky that he was very much
pleased with Anna. Yashvin took leave of them and
went away, while Vronsky lingered behind.
" Are you going^ tOQ i* " she asked him.
ANNA KARENINA 47
" I am already late. Go ahead, I will overtake you/f
he shouted to Yashvin. '*
She took his hand, and, without removing her eyes
from him, tried to find something to say to detain
him.
"Wait ; I want to ask you something," and she pressed
Vronsky's hand against her cheek. " Well ! did I do
wrong to invite him to dinner .-• "
"You did quite right," he replied, with a calm smile
which showed his solid teeth, and he kissed her hand.
" AlekseY, do you feel changed toward me .'' " she
asked, pressing his hand between her own. " Aleksel,
I am tired of staying here. When shall we go away ? "
"Soon, very soon. You can't imagine how life here
weighs upon me too," and he drew away his hand.
"Well! go, go away! " she said, in an injured tone,
and quickly left him.
CHAPTER XXXII
When Vronsky came back to the hotel, Anna was
not there. They told him that she had gone out with a
lady who came to call on her. The fact that she had
gone out without having left word where, a thing which
she had not done before, the fact that she had also
gone somewhere in the morning without telling him, —
all this coupled with the strange expression of excitement
on her face that morning, the manner and the harsh
tone with which she had snatched away her son's pho-
tographs from him before Yashvin, made Vronsky won-
der. He made up his mind to ask for an explanation,
and waited in the drawing-room for her return. Anna
did not come back alone ; she brought with her an old
maiden aunt, the Princess Oblonskaya. She was the
lady who had come in the morning, and with whom she
had been shopping.
Anna pretended not to notice the expression of
Vronsky's face and his uneasy, questioning manner, and
began to talk gayly about the purchases she had made
48 ANNA KARENINA
in the morning. He saw that something unusual was
the matter : in her shining eyes, as they flashed their
hghtning on him, there was evidence of mental strain ;
and in her speech and movements there was that ner-
vous alertness and grace which in the first epoch of
their relationship had so captivated him, but now they
troubled and alarmed him.
The table was laid for four, and, just as they were
going to sit down in the little dining-room, Tuskievitch
came from the Princess Betsy with a message for Anna.
The Princess Betsy sent her excuses for not coming
in person to say good-by to her. She was not well,
and asked Anna to come to see her between half-past
seven and nine o'clock.
Vronsky looked at Anna as if he would draw her
attention to the fact that in naming a time she had taken
precautions against her meeting any one ; but Anna did
not seem to pay any attention to it.
" I am very sorry, but just between half-past seven
and nine I shall not be at liberty," she said, with a
slight smile.
"The princess will be very much disappointed."
"So shall I."
" I suppose you are going to hear Patti," said Tush-
kievitch.
" Patti .'' You give me an idea. I would go certainly,
if I could get a loge.''
" I can get you one," suggested Tushkievitch.
"I should be very much obliged to you," said Anna;
" but won't you dine with us .-' "
Vronsky shrugged his shoulders slightly ; he did not
know what to make of Anna. Why had she brought
home the old princess, why was she keeping Tushkie-
vitch to dinner, and, above all, why did she let him get
her a box .'' Was it to be thought of for a moment that
she, in her position, could go to the opera on a Patti
subscription night, when she would meet all her ac-
quaintances there .<* He looked at her seriously, but
she responded with a half-despairing, half-mocking
look, the meaning of which he could not understand.
ANNA KARENINA 49
All through dinner Anna was aggressively lively, and
seemed to flirt both with Tushkievitch and with Yashvin.
When they rose from the table, Tushkievitch went to
secure a box, but Yashvin was going to smoke and
Vronsky took him down to his own room ; after some
time Vronsky came up-stairs again. Anna was already
dressed in a light silk gown bought in Paris. It was
trimmed with velvet and had an open front. On her
head she wore costly white lace, which set off to advan-
tage the striking beauty of her face.
"Are you really going to the theater ?',',, he asked,
trying to avoid looking at her. I.jh .^^j^;
" Why do you ask me in such a terrified way ? " she
replied, again hurt because he did not look at her.
" Why should n't I go ? "
She did not seem to understand the nieaning of his
words. /trro': w
" Of course, there is no reason for it," said he; frowning.
" That is exactly what I say," she replied, not wish-
ing to see the sarcasm of his remark, and calmly putting
on a long, perfumed glove.
" Anna, for heaven's sake, what is the matter with
you .-* " he said to her, trying to bring her to her senses,
as her husband had more than once done.
" I don't know what you mean."
" You know very well that you can't go there."
" Why not .'' I am not going alone ; the Princess
Varvara has gone to dress; she is going with me."
He shrugged his shoulders with a look of perplexity
and despair.
" But don't you know.? " .... he began.
" No, I don't want to know ! " she almost shrieked.
" I don't want to know. Am I sorry for anything I
have done.'' No, no, no, indeed; if it were to begin
over again, I would begin over again. There is only
one thing of any consequence to us — to you and me,
and that is do we love each other ? Everything else
is of no account. Why do we live separate here, and
not see each other ? Why can't I go where I please .-'
I love you, and everything is right, if your feelings have
i^<i ANNA KARENINA
not changed toward me," she said in Russian, looking
at him with a pecuHar gleam in her eyes which he
could not understand ; " why don't you look at me ? "
He looked at her, he saw all her beauty, of her face,
of the toilet, which was so becoming to her ; but now
this beauty and this elegance were precisely what irri-
tated him.
" You know very well that my feelings cannot change ;
but I beg you not to go out, I beseech you," he said
again in French, with a prayer in his voice, but with a
cold look in his eyes.
She did not hear his words, but noticed only the
coldness of his look, and replied with an injured air : —
*' And I for my part beg you to explain why I should
not go."
"Because it may cause you .... "
He grew confused.
"I don't understand at all : Yashvin n'est pas com-
promettant, and the Princess Varvara is no worse than
anybody else. Ah ! here she is ! "
... I >d r ; tHAPTteR' xxxni
For the first time in his life Vronsky felt toward
Anna a sensation of vexation bordering on anger, on
account of her intentional misunderstanding of her posi-
tion. This feeling was intensified by the fact that he
could not explain the reason of his vexation. If he had
frankly said what was in his mind, he would have
said : —
" To appear at the opera in such a toilet, with a noto-
rious person like the princess, is equivalent to throwing
down the gauntlet to public opinion ; to confessing your-
self a lost woman, and, consequently, renouncing all
hope of ever going into society again."
He could not say that to her.
" Why did she not understand it .-' What has hap-
pened to her.^" he asked himself.
He felt at one and the same time a lessened es-
ANNA KARENINA 51
teem for Anna's character, and a greater sense of her
beauty.
With a dark frown he went back to his room, and sat
down with Yashvin, who, with his long legs stretched
out on a chair, was drinking cognac and seltzer water.
Vronsky ordered the same for himself.
" You spoke of Lanskof 's Moguchi } He is a fine
horse, and I advise you to buy him," began Yashvin,
glancing at his comrade's solemn face. " His crupper is
tapering, but what legs ! and what a head ! You could n't
do better."
" I think I shall take him," replied Vronsky.
The talk about horses occupied him, but not for a
moment was the thought of Anna absent from his mind,
and he involuntarily listened for the sound of steps in
the corridor, and kept looking at the clock on the mantel.
" Anna Arkadyevna left word that she has gone to
the theater," a servant announced.
Yashvin poured out another little glass of cognac and
seltzer, drank it, and rose, buttoning up his coat.
" Well, shall we go ? " said he, half smiling beneath
his long mustaches, and showing that he understood
the cause of Vronsky's vexation, but did not attach much
importance to it.
" I am not going," replied Vronsky, gloomily.
" I promised, so I must go ; well — da svidanya ! If
you should change your mind, take Krasinsky's seat,
which will be unoccupied," he added, as he went out.
" No ; I have some work to do." -^
" A man has trials with a wife, but with a ?iot-wi/e it
is even worse," thought Yashvin as he left the hotel.
When Vronsky was alone, he rose, and began to walk
up and down the room.
"Yes! To-night.? The fourth subscription night....
My brother Yegor will be there with his wife, and with
my mother, probably ; in fact, all Petersburg will be
there ! Now she is going in, and is taking off her shuba,
and there she is in the light! Tushkievitch, Yashvin,
the Princess Varvara ! " he pictured the scene to himself.
" What am 1 to do ? am I afraid ."* or have I given Tush-
52 ANNA KARENINA
kievitch the right to protect her? However you may
look at it, it is stupid, it is stupid ! .... Why should she
place me in this position .-' " he said, with a gesture of
despair.
This movement jostled the stand on which stood the
seltzer water and the decanter with cognac, and nearly
knocked it over; in trying to rescue it, he upset it
entirely ; he rang, and gave a kick to the table.
" If you want to remain in my service," said he to his
valet who appeared, " then tend to your business. Don't
let this happen again ; why did n't you take these things
away .■' "
The valet, knowing his innocence, wished to justify
himself : but by one glance at his barin's face he realized
that it was best for him to be silent ; and, making a
hasty excuse, he got down on the floor to pick up the
broken glasses and water-bottles.
" That is not your business ; call a waiter, and get my
dress-coat."
Vronsky entered the theater at half-past nine. The
performance was in full swing. The Kapelldiener — a
little old man — took his fur-lined shuba, and, recogniz-
ing him, called him " your excellency," and assured
him that he needed not to take a number, but that all
he had to do was to call for Feodor.
There was no one in the lighted lobby except the Ka-
pelldiener and two valets with fur garments on their
arms, listening at the door. The sound of the orchestra
playing staccato could be heard, carefully accompanying
a woman's voice which was admirably rendering a musi-
cal phrase. The door opened and another Kapelldiener
came tiptoeing out, and the phrase, as it was ending,
came distinctly to Vronsky's ear. But instantly the
door closed again and he could not hear the ending of
the phrase or the cadenza ; but from the applause that
followed he knew that the aria was finished.
The plaudits still continued as he went into the audi-
torium, brilliantly lighted with chandeliers and bronze
gas-fixtures. On the stage, the prima donna, with
ANNA KARENINA 53
bare shoulders and glittering with diamonds, was bow-
ing and smiling, and, with the assistance of the tenor,
who gave her his hand, was bending forward to receive
the bouquets that were thrust awkwardly at her over the
footlights, and then she went toward a gentleman whose
hair, shining with pomade, was parted in the middle,
and who reached out his long arms to hand her some
article. The whole audience — those in the boxes and
those in the parquet — was wildly excited and leaning
forward, shouting and clapping. The Kapellmeister,
on his elevated stand, helped pass it along, and straight-
ened his white necktie.
Vronsky went down to the middle of the parquet, and,
pausing, looked through the audience. He paid less
attention than ever to the famihar stage-setting, to the
stage, to the noise, to all that well-known, variegated, and
uninteresting throng of spectators that was packed and
crowded into the theater.
There were the same ladies in the boxes, with the
same officers behind them, the same gayly dressed
women, the same uniforms, and the same dress-coats ;
in the gallery the same disorderly crowd ; and in all this
closely packed house, in the boxes and in the front seats,
were some forty genuine men and women ! And Vron-
sky immediately turned his attention to this oasis, and
occupied himself with it exclusively.
The act was just over as Vronsky went toward the
first row of seats, and stopped near the railing beside
Serpukhovskof, who, bending his knee and rapping
against the rail with his heel, had seen him at a distance,
and beckoned to him with a smile.
Vronsky had not yet seen Anna, and purposely re-
frained from looking for her ; but from the direction in
which people were gazing, he knew where she was.
He glanced round furtively but did not search for her.
Expecting something even worse, he looked to see if
Aleksei Aleksandrovitch were there ; to his joy the
latter was not at the theater that evening.
"How unmartial you look," said Serpukhovskol; "one
would take you for a diplomat — an artist."
^4 ANNA KARENINA
" Yes ; on my return home I put on citizen's dress, 'I
replied Vronsky, slowly taking out his opera-glasses. ';
" In this respect, I confess I envy you. When I re-
turn from abroad and put these on," said he, touching
his epaulets, " I mourn for my liberty."
Serpukhovskoi" had long since given up trying to push
Vronsky along in his military career, but he continued
to have a warm affection for him, and he now seemed
especially friendly toward him.
" It is too bad that you lost the first act."
Vronsky, while listening with one ear, examined the
boxes and the first tier of seats, with his opera-glass ;
suddenly Anna's head came into view, proud, and strik-
ingly beautiful, in its frame of laces, next a lady in a tur-
ban, and a bald-headed old man, who blinked as he gazed
through his opera-glass. Anna was in the fifth box, not
more than twenty steps from him ; she was seated in the
front of the box, turning slightly away, and was talking
with Yashvin. The pose of her head, her neck, her
beautiful, broad shoulders, the radiance of her eyes and
face, — all reminded him of her as she had looked that
evening at the ball in Moscow. i
But her beauty inspired him with entirely different
sentiment ; there was no longer anything mysterious in
his feeling for her. And so, although her beauty was
more extraordinary than ever, and fascinated him, at the
same time it was now offensive to him. She did not
look in his direction, but he felt that she had already
seen him. ■ m ,l.
When Vronsky again directed hife opera-glass toward
the box, he saw the Princess Varvara, very red in the
face, was laughing unnaturally, and kept looking at the
next box ; Anna, striking her closed fan on the red vel-
vet, was looking away, evidently not seeing and not in-
tending to see what was going on in the next box.
Yashvin's face wore the same expression as when he lost
at cards ; he drew his left mustache more and more into
his mouth, frowned, and was looking out of the corner
of his eye into the same box.
In this box were the Kartasofs. Vronsky knew them,
ANNA KARENINA ' 55
and he knew that Anna, too, had been on friendly terms
with them ; Madame Kartasof, a little, thin woman, was
standing with her back to Anna, and putting on an opera-
cloak, which her husband handed to her ; her face was
pale and angry ; and she was saying something with
great excitement. Kartasof, a stout, bald-headed man,
kept looking at Anna, and trying to calm his wife.
When Madame Kartasof left the box, her husband
lingered, trying to catch Anna's eye, and evidently de-
sirous of bowing to her ; but apparently she purposely
avoided noticing him, and leaned back to speak to Yash-
vin, whose shaven head was bent toward her. Kartasof
went out without having bowed, and the box was left
empty.
Vronsky did not understand what had just passed be-
tween the Kartasofs and Anna, but he felt perfectly sure
that something mortifying had happened to Anna ; by
the expression of her face he saw that she was summon-
ing all her strength to keep up her part to the end, and
to appear perfectly calm. And this semblance of ex-
ternal calm was put on to perfection. Those who knew
nothing of her history and her circle, who had not heard
her old friends' expressions of indignation at her appear-
ing in this way, in all the splendor of her beauty and of
her toilet, would have admired her serenity and beauty,
and never have suspected that this woman was enduring
the same feelings of shame as a criminal experiences at
the pillory.
Knowing that something had taken place, but not
knowing exactly what, Vronsky felt a sense of deep
anxiety, and, hoping to learn something about the
matter, went to his brother's box. He intentionally
crossed the parquet, on the side opposite to Anna's box,
and, as he went, ran across his former regimental com-
mander, who was talking with two of his acquaintances.
Vronsky heard the Karenins' name spoken, and noticed
that the regimental commander hastened to call to him
aloud, while he gave his friends a significant look.
" Ah ! Vronsky. When shall we see you again in
the regiment } We shan't let you off without a banquet.
56 ANNA KARENINA
You are ours, every inch of you," said the regimental
commander.
" I shan't have the time now. I am awfully sorry,
another time," replied Vronsky, going rapidly up the
steps which led to his brother's box.
The old countess, his mother, with her little steel-
colored curls, was in the box. Varia and the young
Princess Sorokin were walking together in the lobby
of the belle-etage. As soon as she saw her brother-in-
law, Varia went back to her mother with her companion,
and then, taking Vronsky's arm, immediately began to
speak with him about the subject which concerned him.
She showed more excitement than he had ever seen in
her.
" I think it is dastardly and vile ; Madame Kartasof
had no right to do so. Madame Karenin .... " she began.
•* But what is the matter .'' I don't know what you
mean."
" What ? you have n't heard anything about it .-* "
" You can well understand that I should be the last
person to hear anything about it."
"Is there a more wicked creature in the world than
this Madame Kartasof ! "
" But what did she do ? "
" My husband told me about it .... she insulted Madame
Karenin. Her husband began to speak across from his
box to Madame Karenin, and Madame Kartasof made a
scene about it. They say she said something very offen-
sive in a loud voice, and went out."
" Count, your maman is calling you," said the young
Princess Sorokin, opening the door of the box.
" I have been waiting for you all this time," said his
mother to him, with a sarcastic smile ; " we never see
anything of you now." '' >.■'\yv:'^ fuv
The son saw that she coiTlld tiol: conceal a smile of
satisfaction. ' ''f'X-i^
" Good evening, maman. I was coming to see you,"
he replied coolly.
" What, I hope you are not going faire la coiir a
Madame Kar^nine," she added, when the young Prin-
ANNA KARENINA 57
cess Sorokina was out of hearing ; " elle fait sensation.
On otiblie la Patti pow' elle."
'^ Maman, I have begged you not to speak to me
about her," he replied gloomily.
" I only say what everybody is saying."
Vronsky did not reply ; and, after exchanging a few
words with the young princess, he went out. He met
his brother at the door.
"Ah, Aleksei!" said his brother, "how abominable!
She is a fool, nothing more I was just wishing to go
to see Madame Karenin. Let us go together."
Vronsky did not heed him ; he ran hastily down the
steps, feeling that he ought to do something, but knew
not what.
He was stirred with anger, because Anna had placed
them both in such a false position, and at the same time
he felt deep pity for her suffering.
He went down into the parquet, and thence directly
to Anna's loge. Stremof was leaning on the box, talking
with her.
" There are no more tenors," he said ; " le moule en est
bris^ — the mould is broken — from which they came."
Vronsky bowed to her and stopped, exchanging greet-
ings with Stremof.
" You came late, it seems to me, and you lost the best
aria," said Anna to Vronsky, looking at him scornfully,
as it seemed to him.
" I am not a very good judge," he replied, looking at
her severely.
" Like Prince Yashvin," she said, smiling, "who thinks
Patti sings too loud.
" Thank you," she said, taking the program that Vron-
sky passed to her, in her little hand, incased in a long
glove ; and at the same moment her beautiful face
quivered ; she rose and went to the back of the box.
The last act had hardly begun, when Vronsky, seeing
Anna's box empty, left the parquet, though he was
hissed for disturbing the quiet of the theater while a
cavatina was going on, and went back to the hotel.
Anna was already in her room ; when Vronsky went to
^8 ANNA KARENINA
her she was sitting in the same toilet which she had worn
at the theater. She was sitting in the first chair she had
come to, near the wall, looking straight before her.
When she saw Vronsky enter, she glanced at him with-
out moving.
** Anna," he said.
" You, you are to blame for it all ! " she exclaimed,
rising, with tears of anger, and despair in her voice.
" I begged you, I implored you, not to go ; I knew
that it would be unpleasant to you." ....
"Unpleasant!" she exclaimed ; "it was horrible! I
shall not forget it as long as I live. She said that it
was a disgrace to sit near me."
"She was a stupid woman to say such a. thing; but
why did you run the risk of hearing it; why did you
expose yourself ?"....
" I hate your calm way. You should never have
driven me to this ; if you loved me .... "
" Anna ! what has my love to do with this .-* " ....
" Yes, if you loved me as I love you, if you suffered
as I ...." she said, .looking at hini witjb an expr^sijiqn of
terror. i-Md^// nuvii - nri^loicir- •? — VA-tA
He felt sorry for -her, and yet he' was vexed with her.
He protested his love, because he saw that it was the
only way to calm her ; and he refrained from reproach-
ing her, but in his heart he reproached her.
And his expressions of love, which seemed to him so
banal that he was ashamed of himself for repeating them,
she drank in, and gradually became herself again.
Two days later they left for the country, completely
reconciled.
od
PART SIXTH
CHAPTER I
DARYA ALEKSANDROVNA, with her children,
was spending the summer at Pokrovskoye, at the
house of her sister, Kitty Levin. The house on her own
estate, at Yergushovo, was all in ruins, and Levin and
his wife had urged her to come to them for the summer.
Stepan Arkadyevitch heartily approved of this arrange-
ment. He assured them that he very much regretted
that his duties would prevent him from spending the
summer with his family in the country, for that would
be the greatest possible delight for him, and if he stayed
in Moscow he could occasionally run down for a day or
two at a time.
Besides the Oblonskys and all their children, the
Levins had with them the old princess, who considered
her presence near her daughter at this particular time
indispensable; they had also Varenka, Kitty's Soden
friend, who was fulfilling her promise of making Kitty a
visit when she should have been married. All these
were Kitty's relatives and friends. Levin, though he
liked them all, still felt some regret for his own people
and his own ways, which were swallowed up as in a flood
by the " Shcherbatsky element," as he called it. Of his
own relatives that summer Sergyef Ivanovitch was the
only representative, and he was not a Levin but a Koz-
nuishef. So that the Levin spirit was at a great dis-
count. There were so many persons in the long-deserted
house that almost all the rooms were occupied, and
almost every day the old princess, as she sat down at
table, would count the guests and send off to the special
table the grandson or granddaughter who made the num-
ber thirteen. And Kitty, diligently occupied with her
59
6o ANNA KARENINA
housekeeping, found it no small burden to provide tur-
keys, chickens, and ducks for the satisfaction of the
various appetites of young and old, made keen by the
country air.
The whole family were at table. Dolly's children
were planning to go out and hunt for mushrooms with the
governess and Varenka, when, to the great astonishment
of all, Sergyeif Ivanovitch, who enjoyed among all the
guests a great reputation, amounting almost to rever-
ence, on account of his wit and learning, evinced a desire
to join the expedition.
"Allow me to go with you," said he, addressing
Varenka. " I am very fond of getting mushrooms ; I
think it is a very admirable occupation."
" Why, certainly, we shall be very glad .... " she
answered, blushing.
Kitty exchanged looks with Dolly. The proposition
of the learned and intellectual Sergyef Ivanovitch to go
with Varenka after mushrooms confirmed an idea which
had been engaging Kitty for some time.
She hastened to say something to her mother so that
their looks might not be observed.
After dinner Sergyeif Ivanovitch was sitting at the
drawing-room window with his cup of coffee, still talk-
ing with his brother on some topic which they were dis-
cussing, but he kept his eyes on the door through which
the children would have to pass when they should start
after the mushrooms. Levin was sitting at the window
near his brother. Kitty was standing near her husband,
evidently expecting the end of a conversation which did
not interest her, so that she might say something to him.
" You have changed a good deal since you were
married, and for the better.... " said Sergyei Ivanovitch,
smiUng at Kitty, and evidently not taking much interest
either in the conversation, but at the same time he re-
mained true to his passion for defending the most
paradoxical themes.
" Katya, it is not well for you to stand," said her
husband, moving up a chair for her and giving her a
significant look.
ANNA KARENINA 6\
"Well, we will finish this some other time," said
Sergyef Ivanovitch, as he saw the children come run-
ning out.
In advance of the rest, galloping sidewise in her
tightly fitting stockings, came Tania, waving a basket
and Sergyei Ivanovitch's hat.
Boldly darting up to him, and with sparkling eyes, —
they were just like her father's handsome eyes, — she
gave Sergyer Ivanovitch his hat, and made believe that
she was going to put it on him, tempering her audacity
with a timid and affectionate smile.
"Varenka is waiting," said Tania, carefully putting his
hat on his head, seeing by Sergyei Ivanovitch's smile
that she might do so.
Varenka was standing at the door. She had put on
a yellow muslin frock, and had tied a white hat over her
head.
" I am coming — I am coming, Varvara Andreyevna! "
cried Sergyei' Ivanovitch, finishing his cup of coffee
and putting his handkerchief and cigarette-case into his
pocket.
" Is n't Varenka charming .-* " asked Kitty of her hus-
band, as Sergyei Ivanovitch got up. She said this so
that he might hear, for this was what she especially
wanted. " And how pretty she is, royally pretty. —
Varenka," cried Kitty, " are you going to the woods by
the mill ? We will join you there."
" You really forget your condition, Kitty," said the
old princess, warningly, as she came hastily to the door.
"You ought not to shout so loud."
Varenka, on hearing Kitty's voice and the princess's
reproof, came up to them with quick, light steps. Her
quickness of motion, the bright color that flushed her
cheek, all proved that some metamorphosis was taking
place in her. Kitty knew that this was something un-
usual, and watched her attentively. She now called
Varenka only for the sake of bestowing on her a silent
benediction, in the interest of an important event which
she firmly believed would take place that day in the
woods.
62 ANNA KARENINA
"Varenka, I shall be very glad if a certain thing
comes to pass," she said to her in a whisper, and giving
her a kiss.
" Are you coming with us ? " asked Varenka of Levin,
confused, and pretending that she had not heard what
had been said.
" Yes, but only as far as the barns ; I shall have to
stop there."
" What do you propose to do there .'' " asked Kitty.
" I have some new carts to examine and test. — And
where shall I find you ? "
" On the terrace."
CHAPTER II
All the women were gathered on the terrace. They
generally liked to sit there after dinner, but to-day they
had a special matter of interest before them. Besides
the making of baby-shirts and the knitting of bands, in
which all of them were engaged at that time, they were
engaged in superintending the cooking of some pre-
serves after a recipe unknown to Agafya Mikhailovna.
Kitty had brought with her this new process, which had
been in use in her own home and required no water.
Agafya Mikhailovna, who had before been shown how
to do it in this way, considering that what had always
been done at the Levins' could not be improved on,
insisted on pouring water into the berries, declaring
it could not be made otherwise. She had been detected
doing this, and now the berries were cooking in the
presence of them all, and Agafya Mikhailovna was to
be brought to a realizing sense of the fact that the
preserves could be made without the use of water.
Agafya MikhaYlovna, with flushed and heated face
and disheveled hair and with her sleeves rolled up to
the elbow, was moving a porringer round and round
over a portable stove and looking gloomily at it, wishing
with all her soul that the berries would thicken and not
boil. -^ '
ANNA KARENINA 63
The old princess, conscious that Agafya Mikhaflovna's
indignation must be directed against her as the chief
adviser in the concoction of the sweetmeat, pretended
that she was busy with something else, and was not
interested in it ; but though she talked of extraneous
affairs she occasionally glanced at the cooking out of
the corner of her eyes.
" I always buy my girls' dresses at a cheap shop," the
princess was saying in regard to something they had
been talking about " Had n't you better take off
the scum, my dear ? " ^ she added, addressing Agafya
Mikhailovna. " It is not at all necessary for you to do
it, and it is hot," said she, stopping Kitty.
" I will do it," said Kitty, who had got up and was
carefully stirring the boiling sugar with a spoon, oc-
casionally pouring out a little on a plate which was
already covered with a variegated, yellowish red and
sanguine scum, mixed with syrup.
"How they will like to lick it!" she said to herself,
thinking of her children and remembering how she
herself, when she was a little girl, had wondered that
grown-up people did not feed upon that best of all
things — scum !
" Stiva says that it is far better to give money," Dolly
was saying in regard to the question of making presents,
which they had been discussing. *' But .... "
"How can one give money.''" exclaimed the mother
and Kitty, simultaneously. "They despise it."
" Well, for example, last year I bought our Matriona
Semyonovna, not a poplin, but some of that kind .... " said
the princess.
" I remember she wore it on your name-day."
" A lovely figure ! So simple and ladylike. I should
have liked one of it myself, if she had not one. Like
the kind Varenka wears. So pretty and cheap."
" Now I think it is done," said Dolly, dropping the
syrup from the spoon.
" When it crystallizes it is done. Cook it a little
more, Agafya Mikhaflovna."
* Galubushka, little dove.
64 ANNA KARENINA
" What an absurdity ! " exclaimed Agafya Mikliar-
lovna. " It would be the same anyway," she added.
" Oh ! what a beauty he is ! Don't scare him ! " sud-
denly exclaimed Kitty, looking at a sparrow which
perched on the rail, and, turning the heart of a berry
over, began to peck at it.
" Yes, but you ought to be farther away from the
charcoal," said her mother.
^' A propos de Varenka,'" said Kitty in French, in which
language indeed they had been speaking all the time so
that Agafya Mikhai'lovna might not understand them,
" do you know, maman, that I somehow expect some-
thing decided. You know what I mean. How nice it
would be."
"What a master-hand at matchmaking you are," ex-
claimed Dolly. " How adroitly she has brought them
together."
" No, but tell me, maman, what do you think of it .-* "
" What do I think of it ? He can at any time have
his choice of all the best in Russia ; " by he she meant
Sergyei' Ivanovitch. " He is not so young as he was,
but still I know many would set their caps for him.
She is very good, but he might...."
" No, indeed, you know perfectly well that nothing
better could be imagined for either of them. In the
first place, she is charming," said Kitty, bending down
one finger.
" She pleases him very much, that is true," said Dolly,
in confirmation.
" In the next place, he has such a position in the world
that it would make no difference to him what his wife's
property or social standing was. He needs only one
thing — a sweet, pretty, even-tempered wife."
"Yes, he might be very happy with her," said Dolly,
in confirmation of this also.
" In the third place, she must love him, and so it is
now.... and so it would be perfectly lovely.... I expect
when they come in from the woods it will be all decided.
I shall read it instantly in their eyes. I should be so
glad What do you think about it, Dolly .'' "
ANNA KARENINA 65
" Do not get so excited. You really must not get so
excited," said her mother.
" But I am not excited, mamma. I think that he will
surely propose to her to-day."
" Oh, how strange it is how and when a man pro-
poses. — Even if there is an obstacle, it is suddenly
swept away," said Dolly, smiling pensively and recall-
ing the old days with Stepan Arkadyevitch.
" Mamma, how did papa propose to you," asked Kitty,
suddenly.
"There was nothing extraordinary about it — very
simply," replied the princess ; but her face grew all
radiant at the remembrance.
" No, but how was it ? Did you love him before you
allowed him to speak .-* "
Kitty found a special charm in the fact that now she
could talk with her mother, as with an equal, on the
most important questions in the lives of women.
" Of course I loved him. He came to visit us in the
country."
" But how was it decided, mamma } "
" Do you really think that you young people have in-
vented something new .'' It is always one and the same
thing ; it is decided by looks and smiles."
" How well you describe it, mamma. That is just it,
'by looks and smiles,'" said Dolly, confirming what her
mother had said.
" But what words did he say ? "
" What words did Kostia say to you } "
" He wrote in chalk How long it seems since then,"
said Kitty.
And the three ladies sat occupied with the same thought.
Kitty was the first to break the silence. She had
been thinking about that long-past winter before her
marriage, and her infatuation for Vronsky.
"There is one thing — Varenka's first love," said she,
remembering this by a natural connection of thought.
" I wanted to give Sergyel Ivanovitch a hint of that to
warn him. All men," she added, "are awfully jealous
of our past."
VOL. III. — 5
(S6 ANNA KARENINA
" Not all," said Dolly. *' You judge by your husband.
I believe he is even now tormented by the remembrance
of Vronsky ; is n't that so ? "
" He is ! " replied Kitty, with a pensive smile in her eyes.
" Well, I don't know what there is in your past life to
disquiet him," exclaimed the princess, her mother, re-
senting the inference that her maternal vigilance was
called in question. " Is it because Vronsky paid you
some attention.'' That happens to every young girl."
" Yes, but we were not talking about that," said Kitty,
blushing.
" No, permit me to finish what I was saying," pursued
the princess ; " and besides, you yourself would not per-
mit me to have an explanation with Vronsky, do you
remember ? "
" Oh, mamma ! " exclaimed Kitty, with an exclamation
of pain. i,u]j3 n.
"There is no need of your being vexed Your be-
havior toward him could never have been anything but
perfectly proper. I myself should have challenged him !
However, my darling, don't allow yourself to get ex-
cited. Please remember this, and calm yourself."
" I am perfectly calm, majnan."
" How fortunate it turned out for Kitty that Anna
appeared on the scene," said Dolly, "and how unfortu-
nate for her. How their positions are reversed," she
added, overwhelmed by her own thought. " Anna was
so happy then and Kitty thought herself so miserable.
I often think of her. What a complete change ! "
" What is the use of thinking about her ? She is a
vile, disgusting, heartless woman," exclaimed the prin-
cess, who could not forget that Kitty had married Levin
instead of Vronsky.
" What is the good of speaking about her, anyway ! "
said Kitty, in disgust. " I do not think about her nor
do I wish to think of her at all I do not wish to think
about her," she repeated, hearing her husband's well-
known step on the steps leading to the terrace.
" Whom do you wish not to think about .-' " asked
Levin, appearing on the terrace.
ANNA KARENINA 67
No one answered, and he did not repeat his question.
" I am sorry that I am disturbing your feminine
realm," said he, looking angrily at them all, and perceiv-
ing that they were talking about something which they
would not talk about in his presence. For an instant he
felt that he shared Agafya Mikhaiflovna's sentiments —
her dissatisfaction at the Shcherbatsky way of making
preserves without water, and especially the alien regime
of his wife's family ! Nevertheless, he smiled and went
up to Kitty. "Well, how is it.?" he asked, looking at her
with the same expression every one used in addressing her.
",A11 right," said Kitty, with a smile; "and how is it
with you ? "
" The three-horse team will take a larger load than we
can put on the telyega. Shall we go to meet the chil-
dren } I have ordered the men to harness."
*' What, are you going to take Kitty in the linyeifka ^ ?"
exclaimed the princess, reproachfully.
"We shall walk the horses, princess."
Levin never called the princess " viaman,'' as his
brothers-in-law did, and the princess resented it. But
Levin, though he loved and respected her, could not
call her so without doing violence to his feelings toward
the memory of his own mother.
" Come with us, maman," said Kitty.
" I do not wish to countenance such imprudence ! "
" Well, then, I will walk ; that is good for me," said
Kitty, rising to take her husband's arm.
" Good for you ! But there 's reason in all things,"
said the princess.
" Well, Agafya Mikhailovna, are your preserves done }
Is the new method good .-' " asked Levin, smiling at the
housekeeper in his desire to cheer her.
" Perhaps they 're good ; but, in my opinion, much
overdone."
" There 's one thing about them that 's better, Agafya
MikhaTlovna, they won't spoil," said Kitty, divining her
husband's intention, and with the same feeling address-
ing the old servant. " And you know the ice in the ice-
^ Linyaka is a wide drozhsky with several seats.
68 ANNA KARENINA
house is all melted and we can't get any more. As for
your spiced meats, mamma assures me that she has never
eaten any better," she added, adjusting, with a smile, the
housekeeper's loosened neckerchief.
Agafya Mikhaiflovna looked angrily at Kitty. " Do
not try to console me, baruinya. To see you with him is
enough to content me."
This familiar way of speaking of her master touched
Kitty.
" Come and show us the best places to find mush-
rooms."
The old woman raised her head, smiHng, as if to say,
" One would gladly guard you from all hatred, if it were
possible."
" Follow my advice, please, and put over each pot of
jelly a round piece of paper soaked in rum, and you will
not need ice in order to preserve them," said the
princess.
CHAPTER III
Kitty was especially glad of the opportunity to be
alone with her husband, because she had noticed how a
shadow of dissatisfaction had crossed his telltale face
when he stepped on the terrace and asked what they
were talking about, and no one replied.
As they walked along in front of the others, and, los-
ing sight of the house, took to the well-trodden, dusty
road, bestrewn with rye and corn, she seized his hand
and pressed it against her side. He had already for-
gotten the momentary unpleasant impression, and now
that he was alone with her, and while the thought of
her approaching maternity did not for an instant escape
from his mind, he experienced a novel joy in the sense
of the presence of a beloved woman — a joy perfectly
free from anything sensual. There was nothing special
to talk about, but he liked to hear the sound of her
voice, which, like the expression of her eyes, had changed,
owing to her condition. In her voice, as well as in her
ANNA KARENINA 69-
eyes, there was a gentleness and gravity like that which
people show when their attention has been concentrated
on some one favorite task.
" You are not getting tired, are you ? Lean on me
more," said he.
" No, I am so glad to have a chance to be alone with
you, and I confess that I miss our winter evenings when
we two were alone together, much as I enjoy having
them here ! "
"That was good, but this is better. Both are better,"
said he, pressing her hand.
" Do you know what we were talking about when
you came .-' "
" About preserves } "
" Yes, about preserves ; but afterward about the way
men propose." [
"Ah!" said Levin, listening rather to the sound of
her voice than to the words which she spoke, and all
the time thinking of the road which they were following
down to the forest, and carefully avoiding the places
that might cause her to stumble.
" But how about Sergyeif Ivanovitch and Varenka }
Have you noticed it.-* .... I very much wish it might come
about," she went on to say. " What do you think about
it?"
And she glanced into his face.
"I don't know what to think," replied Levin, with a
smile. " Sergyei in this respect was always a mystery to
me. I think I told you about it." ....
" Yes, that he was in love with a young girl, but she
died."....
" That was when I was a child ; I knew it by tradi-
tion. I remember him as he was then. He was won-
derfully charming. But since then I have watched him
with women. He is polite ; he likes some of them ; but
you can't help feeling that for him they are merely peo-
ple, not women."
"Yes, but now in the case of Varenka .... it seems to
me there is some .... "
" Maybe there is .... but one must know him He is
7d ANNA KARENINA
a peculiar, a remarkable man. He lives only a spiritual
life. He is too pure and high-minded a man ...."
" What do you mean ? How could this bring him to
a lower level ? "
" I don't say it would, but he is so accustomed to live
a spiritual life only that he cannot reconcile himself to
what is matter of fact And Varenka is quite matter of
fact."
Levin had by this time become accustomed to speak
his thoughts with all freedom, not taking pains to couch
it in explicit words ; he knew that his wife in such mo-
ments of intimate communion as now would understand
what he expressed by a hint, and she did understand
him.
" Yes, but she has none of that practicality such as I
have. I can understand that he would never fall in love
with me. She is all soul."
" That is not so, he is so fond of you. And I am
always so glad that my friends like you."....
" Yes, he is kind to me ; but .... "
"But not as it was with our lamented Nikolenka....
you loved each other," said Levin, in conclusion. " But
why not speak it out ? " he added. " I often reproach
myself that one so quickly forgets. Oh, what a terrible,
what a fascinating man he was!.... But what were we
talking about .-* " said Levin, after a silence.
"You mean that he is incapable of falling in love,"
said she, expressing her husband's thought in her own
way.
" I do not say that, but he has none of that weakness
which is requisite .... and I always have envied him, and
envy him still, in spite of my happiness."
" You envy him because he is incapable of falling in
love ? "
" I envy him because he is better than I am," said
Levin, smiling. " He does not live for himself ; it is
duty which guides him, and so he has a right to be
serene and well satisfied."
"And you .-^ " asked Kitty, with a mischievous smile.
He could never follow the course of her thoughts
ANNA KARENINA 71
when they caused her to smile. But the last deduction
was that her husband, who had the greatest admiration
for his brother, and who humbled himself before him,
was insincere. Kitty knew that this insincerity of his
was caused by his love for him, from a sort of consci-
entious scruple at being too happy, and especially from
a never ceasing desire to be better — and she loved this
in him, and that was why she smiled,
"But why should you be dissatisfied?" she asked,
with the same smile. >1j.j
Her disbelief in his self-dissatisfaction pleased him,
and he unconsciously provoked her to explain the
reasons for her disbelief.
" I am happy, but I am dissatisfied with myself .... "
said he.
" How can you be dissatisfied, if you are happy ? "
" How can I express it ? .... In my heart of hearts I
wish nothing else except that you should not stumble.
Oh ! you must not jump so," he exclaimed, interrupting
his argument with a reproach, because she had made a
too vivacious motion in jumping over a branch which
lay in the path.
" But when I criticize myself and compare myself
with others, especially with my brother, I am conscious
of all my inferiority."
" But why ? " persisted Kitty, with the same smile.
" Are n't you always doing for others ? And your farm-
ing, your book.? " ....
"Yes, I feel this especially now; and you are to
blame," said he, pressing her hand. " I do this so, so
superficially. Ah, if I could love all this work as I love
you ! .... But of late I work on it as if it were a task im-
posed on me."
" But what do you say about papa } " asked Kitty.
" Is he unworthy because he does nothing for the com-
monwealth ? " I^ol
" He.-*.... oh, no! But one must have just such sim-
plicity, transparency, goodness, as he has ; but I have n't,
have I .'' If I do not work, I am tormented. 'T is you who
have made it so. If it were not for you, and if it were
71 ANNA KARENINA
not for what is coming," said he, with a significant
glance at her figure, " I should devote all my powers
to this work ; but now I can't, and my conscience pricks
me. I do it like a task, it is all pretense .... "
"Would you like to exchange with SergyeY Ivano-
vitch," asked Kitty ; " would you like to work for nothing
but your duty and the general welfare of mankind .-' "
" Of course not. The fact is, I am so happy that I
can't reason clearly So you think the proposal will
take place to-day, do you .'' " he asked, after a moment's
silence.
" I think so, and then I think not. But I wish with
all my heart it might. Here, wait ! " She stooped
down and plucked a daisy growing by the roadside.
" Now, count ; he 'II propose, he 'II not propose y' she said,
giving him the flower.
" He '11 propose, he '11 not propose," repeated Levin,
picking off the narrow, white, trembling petals.
" No, no ! " cried Kitty, stopping him and seizing his
arm, as she excitedly watched his fingers. " You pulled
off two ! "
"Well, that little one doesn't count," said Levin, tear-
ing off a short undeveloped petal. " But here comes the
linyeifka to meet us."
" Kitty, you have n't fatigued yourself ? " cried the
princess. .
" Not the least in the world, mamma."
"Well, get in, if the horses are quiet and will walk."
But there was no need of riding ; the place was so
near .they continued walking.
CHAPTER IV
Varenka, in her white kerchief setting off her dark
locks, and surrounded by children whom she was good-
naturedly and gayly entertaining, and evidently excited
by the possibility of a declaration from a man who was
agreeable to her, was very fascinating. Sergyef Ivano-
vitch walked by her side, and could not refrain from
ANNA KARENINA 73
admiring her. As he looked at her he recalled all the
pleasant remarks he had heard her make, all the good-
ness that he had found in her, and he confessed to him-
self more and more that the feeling which she aroused
in him was something peculiar, like what he had ex-
perienced once, only long, long before, in his early youth.
The feeling of pleasure at being near her kept grow-
ing stronger, and at last when, as he put into her basket
a monstrous birch mushroom with thin stem and edges,
he looked into her eyes, and, noticing the blush of pleas-
ure and timid emotion which spread over her face, he
himself grew confused, and smiled with a mute smile
which said too much.
" If this is the way it is going, I must deliberate and
come to a decision, and not give way like a child to the
impulse of a moment."
" I am going now to hunt for mushrooms indepen-
dently of the rest of you, otherwise my acquisitions will
not be noticed," said he; and he went off by himself from
the edge of the woods, where they had been walking
along the velvety turf among the old birch trees, scattered
here and there in the forest together with the gray trunks
of aspens and dark clumps of hazelnuts. Going off forty
steps or so, and coming to a clump of the bush called
beresklet, which was in full flower with its rosy catkins,
Sergyef Ivanovitch sheltered himself behind it, knowing
that he would not be seen.
Around him it was perfectly still. Only up in the
tree-tops above his head, ceaseless, like a swarm of bees,
buzzed the flies, and occasionally he heard the voices of
the children. Suddenly, not far from the edge of the
woods, rang out Varenka's contralto voice, calling Grisha,
and a happy smile spread over Sergyeif Ivanovitch's face.
When he realized what he was doing, he shook his head
disapprovingly at his state of mind, and, taking out a
cigar, he began to smoke.
It was some time before he could light a match against
the bole of a birch tree. The juicy scales of the white
bark dampened the phosphorus, and the match refused
to burn. At last one of the matches took fire, and the
74 ANNA KARENINA
fragrant cigar-smoke, like a wide wavering scarf, floated
up and away above the bush under the pendant twigs
of the birches. As he followed the whiff of smoke with
his eyes, Sergyei Ivanovitch slowly walked on, thinking
over the situation.
"And why should I not.?" he asked himself. "If
this was a caprice of passion, if I had experienced only
this attachment, this mutual attachment — for I may
call it mutual — and if I felt that it would run counter
to the whole scheme of my life — if I felt that in giving
way to this impression I should change my calling and
duty — then it would not do at all. The one thing that
I can bring against it is that when I lost Marie I vowed
that I would never marry, in remembrance of her. This
is the only thing that I can say against this feeling
This is serious," said SergyeY Ivanovitch to himself, but
at the same time he recognized that this consideration
had personally for him no great importance, but would
simply spoil in the eyes of others the poetic rdle which
he had been keeping up so long.
" But besides this, no matter how long I searched, I
should never find out what would be said against my
feeling. • If I used all my wits, I could never find any
one better."
Among all the women and girls whom he had ever
known he could not think of one who united to such a
high degree all, yes, verily, all the qualities which in a
cold calculation he should wish to see in his wife. She
had all the freshness and charm of youth, and yet she
was no longer a child and if she loved him she loved
him sensibly, as a woman ought to love : this was one
thing. Another was : she was not only far removed
from worldly-mindedness, but evidently found fashionable
society distasteful; but at the same time she knew society
well and had all those ways of a woman of good society,
lacking which married life for SergyeY Ivanovitch was
unthinkable. Thirdly, she was rehgious, but not like a
child, irresponsibly religious and good, as Kitty, for
example, was, but her life was founded on religious con-
victions. Even in trifles Sergyei Ivanovitch found in
ANNA KARENINA 75
her all that he desired in a wife. She was poor and
unencumbered, so that she would not bring a throng of
relatives and their influence into her husband's home,
as he saw was the case with Kitty ; but she would be
in everything pledged to her husband, which was one of
the conditions which he had demanded for himself
in case he ever had any family life.
And this young woman, having all these qualities,
loved him. He was modest, but he could not help see-
ing this. And he liked her. One obstacle stood in the
way — his age. But his family were long-lived, he had
not as yet a single gray hair, no one took him to be
more than forty, and he remembered that Varenka had
said that only in Russia men of fifty considered them-
selves old men, while in France a man of fifty reckoned
himself dans la force de Vdge and one of forty was nn
jeune homme. But what signified his years when he
felt himself as young in spirit as he had been twenty
years before } Was not youth the feeling which he
enjoyed when, coming out again from the forest into the
clearing, he saw in the clear sunlight Varenka's grace-
ful figure in her yellow frock and with her basket, mov-
ing along with light steps past the bole of an ancient
birch tree, and the impression produced by the sight
of Varenka blended with the surprising beauty of a
field of oats shining yellow under the oblique rays of
the sun, and beyond the field the old forest, variegated
with yellow and stretching away into the azure distance ,•*
His heart swelled with joy. A feeling of tenderness
seized him. He felt within him that his mind was made
up. Varenka, who had just stooped down to pick up a
mushroom, with an agile motion straightened herself up
again and glanced around.
Sergyei Ivanovitch, tossing away his cigar, went
toward her with resolute steps.
76 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER V
"Vavara Andreyevna, when I was very young, I
formed for myself an ideal of the woman whom I should
love and whom I should be happy to call my wife. I
have lived a long life, and now for the first time I find
in you all that I was seeking. I love you and I offer
you my hand."
Sergyei" Ivanovitch was saying these words to himself
when he was within ten steps of Varenka. She was
kneeling on the grass and defending with her hands a
mushroom from Grisha, and at the same time calling to
little Masha.
" Here, come here. Little ones.... lots of them," she
cried, in her deep, pleasant voice.
Though she saw Sergyef Ivanovitch approaching she
did not rise nor did she change her position ; but every-
thing told him that she was aware of his presence and
was glad.
" Did you find any ? " she asked, turning her sweet
face toward him with a smile.
" Not one," replied Sergyei Ivanovitch. " And you }"
She made no reply, her attention being just then
absorbed by the children who surrounded her.
" Here 's one for you near the twig," and she pointed
out a little agaricus pushing its elastic red cap through
the dry grass, from which it was extricating itself.
Varenka got up, after Masha had plucked the mush-
room, breaking it into two white halves. "That
reminds me of my childhood," she remarked, as she
joined SergyeY Ivanovitch and walked with him away
from the children.
They proceeded a few steps in silence. Varenka saw
that he wanted to speak ; she suspected what he had in
mind, and felt stifled with the emotions of joy and terror.
They had now gone so far from the rest that no one
could have heard them, yet he had not opened his mouth
to speak. Varenka would have done better not to say
a word. After a silence it would have been easier to
ANNA KARENINA 77
say what they wanted to say than after any casual
words. But against her own will, as it were unexpect-
edly, Varenka broke out : —
" And so you did not find any. But there are never
so many mushrooms in the woods as along the edge."
Sergyeif Ivanovitch sighed and made no answer. He
was annoyed because she spoke about mushrooms. He
wanted to bring her back to the first words which she
had spoken about her childhood ; but, as it were, con-
trary to his will, after a brief silence, he made an obser-
vation on what she had said last.
" I have heard that the white mushrooms are found pre-
eminently on the edge of the forest, but I can't tell them."
A few moments more passed ; they had gone still
farther away from the children, and were wholly alone.
Varenka's heart beat so violently that she heard its
throbs, and she was conscious that she was blushing,
turning pale, and then blushing again.
To be the wife of such a man as Koznuishef after her
position with Mme. Stahl seemed to her the height of
happiness. Moreover, she was almost convinced that
she was in love with him. And this was to be decided
immediately ! It was a terrible moment for her ; terrible,
both what he would say, and what he would not say.
Now, or never, it would have to be decided ; Sergyeif
Ivanovitch also felt this. Everything in Varenka's
looks, in her heightened color, in the way she dropped
her eyes, betrayed the most painful expectation.
Sergyeif Ivanovitch saw this and was sorry for her.
He even felt that he should wrong her if he kept silence.
He made an effort to recall his recent arguments in favor
of making the decision. He even repeated to himself
the words in which he was going to couch his declaration ;
but instead of these words, by some combination unex-
pected to himself, he asked : —
" What is the difference between a white mushroom
and a birch mushroom ? "
Varenka's lips trembled as she answered : —
" There is very little difference in the cap, but it lies
in the root."
7$ ANNA KARENINA
And as soon as these words were spoken both of
them felt that this was the end of it, that what should
have been said would never be said, and the emotion
which up to this moment had reached its highest pitch
gradually died away.
" The birch mushroom, or its root, reminds one of a
black beard which has not been shaved for two days,"
said Sergyei Ivanovitch, calmly.
" Quite true," answered Varenka, smiling, and invol-
untarily the direction of their walk changed. They were
going back toward the children. Varenka was puzzled
and hurt, but at the same time she experienced a sense
of relief. Sergyef Ivanovitch mentally reviewed his
arguments in favor of marriage, and found them mis-
taken. He could not be unfaithful to Marie's memory.
"Gently, children, gently," cried Levin, testily, as the
children sprang toward Kitty with shouts of glee.
Behind the children came Sergyei Ivanovitch and
Varenka. Kitty needed not to question them. She
knew by their calm and slightly mortified manner that
the hope which she had been nursing would not be
realized.
" Well, how is it ? " her husband asked, when they
returned to the house.
" It will not happen," said Kitty, with a smile and
manner which reminded him of her father, as Levin had
often remarked to his delight.
. iJ^Why won't it happen .-* "
■ -^^This is why," said she, taking his hand, raising it to
her mouth, and touching it with her closed lips. " As
people kiss a bishop's hand ! "
" Which one has failed of it ? " he asked, laughing.
./A'iBoth. It must be so when.... "
"Here come the muzhiks...."
tnt* No, not yet"
aoU
ANNA KARENINA 7^
CHAPTER VI
While the children took their supper, the older peo-
ple sat on the balcony and talked as if nothing had
happened ; but all, and especially Sergyei Ivanovitch and
Varenka, knew very well that an important event had
occurred, although it was a negative one. The two ex-
perienced a feeling such as a boy has when, having failed
in the examination, he is either kept in the same class or
is excluded forever from an institution. All present,
feeling likewise that something had taken place, talked
with a forced animation.
Levin and Kitty felt especially happy and in love with
each other that evening. And that they were happy in
their love seemed to make it impolite to comment on the
unskilfulness of those who did not know how to be
happy, and this made them feel guilty.
" Take my word for it, Alexandre will not come,"
said the princess.
That evening they were expecting Stepan Arkadye-
vitch from the train, and the old prince had written that
perhaps he, also, would come. " And if he does n't, I
know why," continued the princess; " he says that young
people ought to be left alone during the first part of
their married lives."
"Yes, papa is abandoning us for that very reason.
He has not been to see us at all. But how are we
young folks ? I am sure we are quite old."
" Only, if he does not come, and I have to take my
leave of you children ! " said the princess, with a mel-
ancholy sigh.
" What is the matter with you, mamma ? " cried both
daughters at once.
" You can think how it is with him. Here, now .... "
And suddenly and unexpectedly the old princess's
voice broke. The daughters exchanged glances in
silence.
" Maman is always finding some melancholy topic ! "
said their eyes. They did not know that, however
8o ANNA KARENINA
pleasant it was for the princess to visit her daughters,
and however necessary she felt that she was, neverthe-
less both she and her husband had been very sad ever
since they had given up their last beloved daughter
and the family nest had become empty.
"What is it, Agafya Mikhailovna ? " suddenly asked
Kitty of the old housekeeper, whom she saw standing
near with a mysterious and significant look in her eyes.
" It is about supper."
"Now, that is excellent," said Dolly. "You go and
make your arrangements, and I will hear Grisha recite
his lesson. He has not done anything all day."
" The lesson is my part ! No, Dolly, I will go," cried
Levin, springing up.
Grisha, who had already entered the gymnasium, was
obliged to keep up his lessons during the summer.
Darya Aleksandrovna, who had already begun, in Mos-
cow, to study Latin with her son, now that she had
come to the Levins', had made it a rule to go over with
him, at least once a day, his most difficult lessons in
Latin and arithmetic. Levin had taken it on himself
to substitute for her. But the mother, having once
listened while Levin was hearing the recitation, and
noticing that he did not teach as the instructor in Mos-
cow did, with an awkward attempt not to hurt his feel-
ings, told Levin decidedly that he must go according
to the book, as his tutor did, and that she had better
take charge of the lessons again.
Levin was annoyed with Stepan Arkadyevitch, owing
to whose carelessness the mother had charge of the
children's education, though she understood nothing
about it at all ; and he was annoyed with the teachers,
because they had such bad methods of teaching. But
he promised his sister-in-law that he would conduct the
recitations as she wished. And so he continued to take
charge of Grisha's studies, no longer, however, in his
own method, but according to the book, and therefore
perfunctorily, and frequently forgetting the lesson-hour.
And that is what had happened that day.
"No, I will go, Dolly, and you keep your seat," said
ANNA KARENINA 8i
lie. " We are going along in due order by the book.
Only, now that Stiva is coming, we shall be going hunt-
ing, so we shall have to neglect them."
And Levin went to find Grisha.
Varenka was saying almost the same thing to Kitty.
Varenka had found the way of being useful even in the
Levins' happy, well-ordered household.
" I will go and see about supper, and you keep your
seat," said she, and she joined Agafya Mikhai'lovna.
" Yes, yes ! but you won't find the chickens. Then .... '*
said Kitty.
" Agafya Mikha'flovna and I will settle the difficulty,"
said Varenka, and disappeared with her.
" What a pretty girl ! " exclaimed the princess.
" Not pretty, maman, but the charmingest girl in the
world."
'And so you are expecting Stepan Arkadyevitch, are
you } " said Sergyef Ivanovitch, evidently not liking to
have the conversation about Varenka prolonged. " It
would be hard to find two brothers-in-law less alike,"
said he, with a sly smile. " One versatile, living only
in society, like a fish in the water ; the other, our Kostia.
full of life and activity, quick at everything, but as soon
as he gets into society he either gives up the ghost or
flops about aimlessly, like a fish on dry land ! "
"Yes, he is very heedless," said the princess, address-
ing Sergyef Ivanovitch. " I wanted especially to ask
you to persuade him that it is impossible for her " —
she was referring to Kitty — '* to stay here ; she cer-
tainly ought to be taken to Moscow. He says write for
a doctor.... "
" Maman, he is doing everything ; he agrees to all
you want," said Kitty, vexed with her mother for draw-
ing Sergyei" Ivanovitch into this matter as a judge.
While they were talking, the whinnying of a horse
on the driveway was heard, and the sound of wheels on
the stones.
Before Dolly could jump up to go and meet her hus-
band. Levin jumped out of the window of the room down-
stairs where he was teaching Grisha, and put Grisha out
84 ANNA KARENINA
" It' s Stiva," cried Levin, from below the balcony.
" We had finished, Dolly; don't you worry ! " he added,
as the boy darted off to meet the carriage.
"Is, ea, id, ejus, ejus, ejiis," cried Grisha, as he ran
down the avenue.
" And there 's some one with him ! It must be papa ! "
cried Levin, standing at the entrance of the driveway.
" Kitty, don't come down by the steep stairs. Come
round ! "
But Levin was mistaken in thinking that the other
man in the carriage was the old prince. When he
came close he saw, sitting next Stepan Arkadyevitch,
not the prince, but a handsome, portly young man, in
a Scotch cap with long floating ribbons. This was
Vasenka Veslovsky, a third cousin of the Shcherbat-
skys, a brilliant young member of Moscow and Pe-
tersburg society — " one of the best fellows that ever
lived, and a devotee of hunting," as Stepan Arkadye-
vitch expressed it in introducing him.
Veslovsky was not in the least disconcerted by the
surprise which his appearance, in place of the old
prince, caused. He gayly greeted Levin, reminding
him of their former acquaintance, and took Grisha into
the carriage, lifting him up over the pointer which
Stepan Arkadyevitch had brought with him.
Levin did not get into the carriage, but followed on
foot. He was somewhat put out by the non-arrival of
the old prince, whom he liked better and better the
more he saw him ; he was still more put out at the
appearance of this Vasenka Veslovsky, a man who was
utterly unknown and superfluous. He seemed to him
still more unknown and superfluous when, as Levin
approached the front door, about which had collected
a lively throng of old and young, he kissed Kitty's hand
with a remarkably flattering and gallant look.
" Your wife and I are cousins, and old friends," said
Vasenka Veslovsky, heartily pressing Levin's hand a
second time.
" Well, how is it, any game .'* " asked Stepan Arka-
dyevitch, addressing Levin almost before he had greeted
ANNA KARENINA 83
the others. "Vasenka and I have the most ferocious
intentions How are you, mainan, since we saw each
other in Moscow ?.... Well, Tania, how goes it? Get
the things from the back of the calash, please," said he,
addressing every one at once. " How well you look,
Dollenka," said he to his wife, again kissing her hand,
holding it in his, and smoothing it.
Levin, who a few moments before had been in the
happiest frame of mind, now looked at them all with
indignant eyes, and everything disgusted him.
"Whom did he kiss yesterday with those same lips .'' "
he queried, as he saw how affectionate Stepan Arka-
dyevitch was to his wife. He looked at Dolly, and even
she was displeasing to him. "Of course she cannot
believe in his love for her. How, then, can she seem
so glad.-* Repulsive! " said Levin to himself.
He looked at the princess, who had seemed to him so
charming a moment before, and her manner of receiv-
ing this Veslovsky and his ribbons, as if she were at
home there, displeased him.
Even Sergyef Ivanovitch, who had come out on the
porch with the rest, seemed to him disagreeable by rea-
son of the hypocritical friendliness with which he met
Stepan Arkadyevitch ; for Levin knew that his brother
neither liked nor respected Oblonsky.
And Varenka disgusted him, because she, with her
sainte nitouche look, nevertheless met this stranger as
if she thought only what sort of a husband would he
make for her.
And most displeasing of all was Kitty, as she fell into
conformity with the tone of gayety with which that
gentleman regarded his visit, as if it were a festival for
himself and all the rest ; especially disagreeable was
the peculiar smile with which she responded to his smile.
Noisily talking, they all went into the house, but as
soon as they had sat down, Levin turned on his heel
and started off.
Kitty saw that something was amiss with her husband.
She wanted to take advantage of a favorable moment
and have a little talk with him alone, but he hastened
84 ANNA KARENINA
from her, declaring that he had business to attend to at
the office. Not for a long time had his affairs seemed
to him so important as they did at that day.
" It may be a holiday for them," he said to himself,
" but here are affairs of importance to be attended to,
and they can't be delayed, and without them life could
not be carried on."
CHAPTER VII
Only when they had sent to tell him supper was
ready did Levin go back to the house again. On the
stairway Kitty and Agafya Mikhailovna were standing
holding a consultation over the wines for supper.
" But why do you make such a fuss ? Give them what
you usually do."
" No, Stiva does n't drink Kostia, wait, what is
the matter with you ? " exclaimed Kitty, hastening after
him ; but he, without heeding her, went with long strides
into the dining-room, and immediately began to take part
in the lively conversation which Vasenka Veslovsky and
Stepan Arkadyevitch were enjoying.
" What do you say .'' Shall we go hunting to-morrow .■' "
asked Stepan Arkadyevitch.
"Please let us go," said Veslovsky, changing his seat
to another chair, and doubling his fat leg under him.
" I shall be very glad ; yes, we will go. Have you
had any hunting this year yet ? " asked Levin,' looking
at Veslovsky's leg, but his cordiality was put on, as
Kitty could easily see, and it did not become him. " I
doubt if we find any woodcock, but snipe are abundant.
We shall have to start early. You will not be too tired ?
Are you tired, Stiva ? "
" I tired ? I don't know what it is to be tired. I 'm
ready to stay up all night. We '11 go and take a
walk."
" Certainly, let us stay up all night. Capital," said
Veslovsky.
" Oh, yes, we are agreed on that point, that you can
ANNA KARENINA 85
stay up all night and also keep other people awake,"
said Dolly, in that tone of playful irony which she
almost habitually employed in addressing her husband.
" In my opinion, I had better be going to bed. I won't
eat any supper. I '11 go now."
" No, Dollenka, sit down," said Stepan Arkadye-
vitch, going to the other side of the great table and
taking a seat near his wife. " I 've so many things to
tell you about,"
" Probably mighty little ! "
"Do you know — Veslovsky has been at Anna's .-^
She lives only seventy versts ^ away from here ; he is
going there when he leaves us, and I intend to go too.
Veslovsky, come here."
Vasenka approached the ladies, and sat down next to
Kitty.
" Oh, please tell us about it. Have you really been
to Anna Arkadyevna's ? How is she .'' " asked Darya
Aleksandrovna.
Levin had remained at the other end of the table, and
while he kept on talking with the princess and Varenka,
he observed that Stepan Arkadyevitch, Dolly, Kitty, and
Veslovsky were having an animated and mysterious con-
versation. Not only were they talking confidentially,
but it seemed to him that his wife's face expressed a
deep tenderness, as, without dropping her eyes, she
looked into Vasenka's handsome face, while he was
talking vivaciously.
" Their establishment is superb," Vasenka Veslovsky
was saying in reference to Vronsky and Anna ; " of
course, I don't take it on myself to pass judgment on
them, but when you are there in their house, you feel
yourself at home."
" What are their plans .-* "
"They would like to pass the winter in Moscow, I
believe."
"How jolly it would be for us to go there together
When shall you be there .'' " Oblonsky asked Vasenka.
" I am going to spend July with them."
1 46.41 miles.
86 ANNA KARENINA
" And are you going ? " he asked his wife.
" I have long been wanting to go, and I certainly
shall," said Dolly. " I am sorry for her, and I know her.
She is a lovely woman. When you have gone away, I
shall go alone ; that will not disturb any one, and it
would be better for me to go without you."
"Just the thing," answered Stepan Arkadyevitch.
"And you, Kitty?"
" I ? Why should I go to see her .? " said Kitty ; and,
blushing with vexation, she glanced at her husband.
" Do you know Anna Arkadyevna ? " asked Veslovsky ;
" she is a very fascinating woman."
"Yes," answered Kitty, blushing still more, and she
rose and joined her husband. " So you are going hunt-
ing to-morrow, are you? " she asked him.
Levin's jealousy during those few moments, and
especially at the blush which covered her cheeks while
she was talking with Veslovsky, had already reached an
acute stage. Now, hearing her question, he interpreted
it in his own way. Strange as it was afterward for him
to remember this, now it seemed clear to him that the
reason for her asking him if he was going hunting and
for her interest in it was to know if he would give Va-
senka Veslovsky that pleasure, and that proved that she
was already in love with him !
"Yes, I am thinking of it," he answered, in a voice
so unnatural and constrained that he himself was horri-
fied at it.
" Well, you had better stay at home to-morrow ; Dolly
has hardly seen her husband yet. Go day after to-
morrow."
Levin now translated Kitty's words thus : —
" Do not separate me from /lim. You may go ; it is
all the same to me ; but let me enjoy the society of this
attractive young man."
" Oh, if you desire it, we will stay at home to-morrow,"
answered Levin, with especial pleasantness.
Meantime, Vasenka, not suspecting the effect his
presence had produced, rose from the table, and ap-
proached Kitty with an affectionate smile.
ANNA KARENINA 87
Levin noticed that smile. He grew pale and for a
moment could not get his breath.
" How does he dare to look at my wife in that way ? "
He was boiling !
" We are to go hunting to-morrow, are we not .'' "
asked Vasenka, and he sat down in a chair and again
doubled one leg under him, as his habit was.
Levin's jealousy grew still more intense. Already he
saw himself a deceived husband, whom his wife and her
lover were plotting to get rid of that they might enjoy
each other in peace.
Nevertheless, he asked Veslovsky, with all friendliness
and hospitality, about his hunting-gear, his guns and
boots, and agreed to go the next day.
To Levin's happiness the old princess put an end to
his torture by advising Kitty to go to bed. But even
this was accompanied by new suffering for Levin. On
bidding his hostess " good night," Vasenka tried to kiss
her hand again. But Kitty, blushing and drawing away
her hand, said, with a naive rudeness for which her mother
afterward chided her : —
" That is not the custom with us."
In Levin's eyes she was blameworthy for permitting
such liberties with her, and still more so for being so
awkward in showing her disapprobation.
" Why should you go to bed .-' " said Oblonsky, who
had taken several glasses of wine at dinner, and was. in
his most genial and poetic mood. " Look, Kitty," said he,
pointing to the moon just rising above the lindens,
" how lovely ! Veslovsky, it is just the time for sere-
nading. You know he has a splendid voice ; he and I
tried some on the way down. He has brought two new
ballads with him. He and Varvara might sing to us."
After they had all left, Stepan Arkadyevitch and
Veslovsky still for a long time walked up and down in
the avenue, and their voices could be heard as they
practised singing over the new ballads.
Hearing these voices, Levin sat scowling in an easy-
chair in his wife's room, and obstinately refused to an-
88 ANNA KARENINA
swer her questions as to what was the matter with him.
But at last Kitty, timidly smiling, asked him : " Is there
anything about Veslovsky that has displeased you?"
This question loosened his tongue, and he told her all.
What he said filled him with vexation, and so he grew
still more excited.
He stood up in front of his wife with his eyes flashing
terribly under his contracted brows and his hands pressed
against his chest as if exerting all his force to restrain
himself. His face would have been harsh and even
cruel, had it not expressed also such keen suffering.
His cheeks trembled and his voice shook. " Don't think
me jealous ; the word is disgusting. I could not be
jealous and at the same time believe that.... I cannot
tell you what I feel, but it is horrible to me .... I am not
jealous, but I am hurt, humiliated, that any one should
dare to look at you so."....
" Why, look at me how ? " asked Kitty, honestly try-
ing to recall all the remarks and incidents of the evening
and all their possible significance. In the depth of her
heart she had thought that there was something pecul-
iar at the time when Veslovsky followed her to the
other end of the table, but she dared not acknowledge
it even to herself, and still more she did not wish to
say this to him and thus increase his suffering.
" But what could he find attractive in me in my con-
dition ? " ....
" Akh ! " he cried, clutching his head " You should
not have said that That means, if you had been
attractive...."
" Now stop, Kostia, and listen to me ! " said Kitty,
looking at him with a passionately compassionate ex-
pression. " What can you be thinking about ? You
know you are the only person in the world for me
But you would not wish me to shut myself up away
from everybody .-' "
At first she had been wounded by this jealousy of his,
which spoiled even the slightest and most innocent
pleasures ; but she was ready now to renounce, not
merely the trifling things, but everything, for the sake
ANNA KARENINA 89
of calming him so as to cure him of the suffering which
he was enduring.
" Try to understand all the horrible absurdity of my
position," he went on to say, in a whisper of despair.
" He is my guest, and if it were not for his silly gallantry,
and his habit of sitting on his leg, he has certainly done
nothing unbecoming ; he certainly thinks himself irre-
proachable, and so I am obliged to seem polite."
"But, Kostia, you exaggerate things," said Kitty,
glad at heart to see the force of his love for her, which
now was expressed in his jealousy.
" But more terrible to me than all this is that, when
you are an object of worship to me, and we are so happy,
so peculiarly happy, this trashy fellow, .... but why should
I call him names .'' He has done nothing to me. But
why should our happiness.... "
" Listen, Kostia ; I believe I know what has offended
you."
" Why is it, why is it ? "
" I saw how you were looking when we were at
supper."
" Well, well ? " asked Levin, excitedly.
She told him what they were talking about. And as
she recounted it, she sighed with her emotion. Levin
was silent ; then, observing his wife's pale, excited face,
he clutched his head again.
" Katya," cried he, " I have tired you ! Galubchik,
forgive me ! This is sheer craziness. I am a burden
to you, Katya ! I am a fool ! How could I torture
myself over such a trifle ! "
" I am sorry for you."
" For me, for me .■* that I am insane ! .... but still it is
horrible to think that any stranger might destroy our
happiness ! "
" Of course, this is outrageous .... "
" No, to disprove this, I will keep him with us all
summer, and I '11 spread myself in heaping favors on
him," said Levin, kissing his wife's hands. " You '11 see.
And to-morrow — yes, certainly to-morrow, we will go ! '
90 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER VIII
The next morning the ladies were not yet up when
the hunting-traps ^ were waiting at the door, and Laska,
who since dawn had realized that hunting was in pros-
pect, and having frisked and barked till she was tired,
was sitting up on the katki next the coachman, looking
with excitement and disapprobation at the door at which
the huntsmen were so provokingly dilatory in making
their appearance.
The first to appear was Vasenka Veslovsky, in a
green blouse, with a cartridge-belt of fragrant Russia
leather, shod in high new boots, which reached half-
way up his thighs, his Scotch cap, with ribbons, on his
head, and having an English gun of rather recent style,
but without strap or bandoleer.
Laska sprang toward him and welcomed him, and asked
in her way if the others were coming ; but, receiving
no answer, she returned to her post, and waited with
bent head and one ear pricked up. At last the door
opened noisily, and let out Krak, the pointer, circling
round and leaping into the air, and after him came his
master, Stepan Arkadyevitch, with gun in hand and
cigar in mouth.
" Down, Krak, down! "^ exclaimed Oblonsky, caress-
ingly, to the dog, which leaped up to his breast and
caught his paws on his game-pouch. Stepan Arkadye-
vitch wore pigskin sandals, leggings, torn trousers, and a
short overcoat. On his head was the ruin of what had
once been a hat ; but his gun was of the most modern
pattern, and his game-bag as well as his cartridge-box,
though worn, were of the finest quality.
Vasenka Veslovsky had never before realized the fact
that the height of elegance for a huntsman is to be in rags,
but to have the equipment of the very finest quality.
He understood this now, as he gazed at Stepan Arka-
dyevitch, whose elegant, well-nurtured, and aristocratic
1 Katki and telyegas.
* Tubo is the Russian address to the dog.
ANNA KARENINA 91
figure was so gayly brilliant, though in rags, and he
made up his mind to profit by this example the next
time he should go hunting.
"Well, where is our host?" asked he.
" He has a young wife," said Stepan Arkadyevitch,
smiling.
" And how charming she is ! "
" He must have gone in to see her again, for I saw
him all ready to start."
Stepan Arkadyevitch was right. Levin had gone
back to Kitty to make her say over again that she
forgave him for his absurd behavior of the evening
before, and to ask her for Christ's sake to be more
careful. The most important thing was for her to keep
the children at a distance, for they were always likely
to run into her. Then he needed once more to receive
assurance from her that she would not be angry with
him because he was going away for two days, and to
reiterate his desire that she should infallibly send him a
note the next morning by a mounted courier, if it were
only two words, so that he might know that she was
comfortable.
Kitty, as always, had regretted the two days' separa-
tion from her husband ; but as she saw him full of
animation, and seeming especially big and strong in his
hunting-boots and white blouse, and recognized that, to
her incomprehensible, enthusiasm for hunting, she forgot
her own regret in her delight in his happiness, and cheer-
fully bade him good-by.
" Pardon, gentlemen ! " cried Levin, hurrying down
to the porch. " Has the breakfast been put up ? Why
is the chestnut horse on the off side .'' Well, then, it
makes no difference. Down, Laska ! charge !
" Put him among the geldings," said he, addressing the
cowherd who was waiting for him on the door-steps with
a question about the young ram. " It is my blunder
that he 's become ugly."
Levin jumped down from the katki in which he had
already taken his seat, and met a hired carpenter who
was just approaching the porch.
92 ANNA KARENINA
" Now, yesterday evening you did n't come to my
office and here you are delaying me : well, what is it ? "
" You bid me make a new stairway. Three steps will
have to be added. And we can get all the lumber at
once. It would be much more convenient."
"You should have listened to me," said Levin, in a
tone of annoyance. " I said, * Fix the string-boards, and
then cut in the steps.' Now, don't try to mend them.
Do as I ordered, make a new one."
The matter in question was this : in the wing which
was building, the carpenter had spoiled a staircase by
framing it separately, and not taking the slope into
account, so that the steps were all at an angle when it
was put into its place. But now the carpenter wanted
to add three steps and keep the same framework.
" It would be much better,..."
" But where would it go, even if you added three
steps .'' "
" Excuse me," said the carpenter, with a disdainful
smile. " It would go up to the same landing. Of course
you 'd pull it out below," said he, with a persuasive ges-
ture. *' It will fit, it will surely fit."
" But three steps add to the length of it — how
would that improve it .'' "
After an idle argument in which the carpenter kept
obstinately repeating the same words, Levin took his
ramrod and proceeded to outline the plan of the stair-
way in the dust.
" Now do you see .-• "
" As you command," said the carpenter, with a sud-
den light flashing into his eyes, and evidently at last
comprehending what Levin was driving at. " I see, we
shall have to make a new one."
" Well, then, do as you were ordered," cried Levin,
taking his place in the katki again. " Let us start !
Hold the dogs, Filipp ! "
Levin, now that he had left behind him all domestic
and business cares, felt such a powerful sense of the
joy of living and such expectation that he did not care
to talk. Moreover, he experienced that sense of con-
ANNA KARENINA 93
centrated emotion which every huntsman feels as he
approaches the field of his activity. If anything occu-
pied him now, it was the question whether they should
find anything in the Kolpensky marshes, and how would
Laska come out in comparison with Krak, and what sort
of luck he would that day enjoy. Should he do himself
credit as a huntsman before this stranger .'' How would
Oblonsky shoot .-" Better than he .-'
Oblonsky was occupied with similar thoughts and
was not talkative. Vasenka Veslovsky was the only
voluble one ; and now, as Levin listened to him, he re-
proached himself for his injustice of the previous eve-
ning. He was a capital fellow, simple, good-natured,
and very gay. If Levin had known him in his bachelor
days, he would have become intimate with him. But
Levin rather disliked his ' holiday view of life and a
certain free and easy elegance. He seemed to arrogate
to himself a marked and indubitable superiority because
of his long finger-nails and his little cap and everything
else corresponding ; but this could be condoned in view
of his good nature and irreproachable manners. He
pleased Levin because he was well educated, and spoke
French and English admirably, in fact, was a man of
his own walk in life.
Vasenka was completely carried away by the Step-
nay a Donskaya horse on the left of the three-span. He
kept going into raptures over her. " How splendid it
would be to gallop over the steppe on a steed of the
steppe ! Is n't that so .'' " he cried. He imagined that
galloping over the steppe on such a horse was some-
thing wild and poetic, with no possibility of disappoint-
ment ; but his innocence, especially in conjunction with
his good looks, his pleasant smile, and his graceful
motion, was very captivating. And because he was
naturally sympathetic to Levin, or else because Levin,
in consequence of his injustice to him the evening be-
fore, tried to find all his best qualities, they got on
famously.
They had gone scarcely three versts when Veslovsky
suddenly remembered his cigars and pocket-book, and
94 ANNA KARENINA
could not tell whether he had lost them or left them on
his table. There were three hundred and seventy rubles
in the pocket-book, and he could not leave them so.
" Do you know, Levin, I could take your Cossack
horse and gallop back to the house. It would be
elegant! "
"Oh, no," replied Levin, who calculated that Va-
senka's weight must be not less than two hundred and
forty pounds; "my coachman can easily do the errand."
The coachman was sent back on the Cossack horse,
and Levin drove on with the pair.
CHAPTER IX
" Well, what 's our line of march ,-' Give us a good
idea of it," said Stepan Arkadyevitch.
" This is my plan : we will go first to Gvozdevo.
Just this side of Gvozdevo is a snipe marsh, but on the
other side of Gvozdevo extend splendid woodcock
marshes, and there '11 be game there. It 's hot now,
but toward the cool of the day — it 's twenty versts from
here — we will try the field. We will spend the night
there, and then to-morrow we will strike into the great
marshes."
" But is n't there anything on the way ? "
** Yes, but it would delay us, and it is too hot. There
are two splendid little places, but it is hardly worth
while."
It was Levin's intention to attack these places, but
as they were near home, he could go there at any
time, and as they were small he thought that three
hunters were too many. Therefore, he prevaricated
when he said that it was hardly worth while.
When they came up to the little marsh. Levin was
proposing to drive by ; but Stepan Arkadyevitch, with
the experienced eye of a huntsman, immediately saw the
water-soaked ground which was visible from the road.
" Shan't we try that ? " he asked, pointing to the
marsh.
ANNA KARENINA 95
*' Levin, please stop, how splendid ! " Vasenka Ves-
lovsky began to beg, and Levin could not well refuse.
Before they had fairly stopped, the dogs, in eager
emulation, darted into the marsh.
"Krak!.... Laska! " ....
The dogs turned back.
*' There won't be room enough for three. I will wait
here," said Levin, hoping that they would not find any-
thing except lapwings, which flew up from in front of
the dogs, and, as they skimmed away over the marshy
ground, uttered the most mournful cries.
"No; come on, Levin, let us all go together," called
Veslovsky.
" It 's a fact, there is n't room. Back, Laska, back.
You don't need more than one dog, do you .-* "
Levin remained by the lineika and with jealousy in
his heart watched the huntsmen, who were tramping
through the whole bog. There was nothing in it, how-
ever, except moor-hens and lapwings, one of which Va-
senka killed.
" Now you see that I gave you good advice about the
marsh," said Levin. " It's only a waste of time."
" No, it 's good fun all the same ! Did you see .-* "
exclaimed Vasenka, awkwardly climbing into the wagon
with his gun and his lapwing in his hands. " Did n't I
make a stunning good shot ? Well, will it take long to
get to the other one ? "
Suddenly the horses plunged. Levin gave himself a
violent bump on the head against some one's gun, and a
shot went off. The gun really went off before, but it
seemed to Levin the other way. It happened that
Vasenka in uncocking his gun fired one barrel. The
shot buried itself in the ground and no damage was done
to any one. Stepan Arkadyevitch shook his head and
laughed reproachfully at Veslovsky. But Levin had
not the heart to rebuke him. In the first place, any
reproach would seem to be called forth by a danger past
and by the bump on his forehead ; and in the second
place, Veslovsky was so innocently filled with remorse
and afterward laughed so good-naturedly and so con-
$6 ANNA KARENINA
tagiously over their common alarm that no one could
help joining in.
When they reached the second marsh, which was of
considerable size and sure to occupy much time, Levin
advised not getting out. But Veslovsky again put in his
entreaties. Again, since the marsh was not big enough
for three, Levin, like a hospitable host, remained by the
teams. As soon as they stopped, Laska darted off to
the tussocks. Vasenka Veslovsky was the first to follow
the dog. And before Stepan Arkadyevitch reached the
wet ground a snipe flew up. Veslovsky missed it, and
the bird flew over into an unmown meadow. But this
snipe was predestined to be Veslovsky's. Krak again
pointed it, and Veslovsky killed it and returned to the
teams.
" Now you go, and I will stay by the horses," said he.
The huntsman's fever had by this time taken posses-
sion of Levin. He turned the reins over to Veslovsky
and went into the swamp. Laska, who had been for
some time pitifully whining and complaining at the in-
equality of fate, darted toward the tussock-filled bog
which Levin knew so well, and to which Krak had not
yet found his way.
" Why don't you hold her back ? " cried Stepan
Arkadyevitch.
" She won't scare them away," replied Levin, delight-
ing in his dog and following after her.
As Laska went forward, the nearer she came to the
tussocks the greater grew her gravity. A little marsh
bird only for a second distracted her attention. She
.Tiade one sweep around the tussocks, then began a
second, but suddenly trembled and stood stock still.
" Come, Stiva, come," cried Levin, feeling how his
heart was beginning to throb, and how, suddenly as if
some bolt had slipped in his ears, all sounds, losing their
sense of proportion, disconnectedly but distinctly began
to come to him. He heard Stepan Arkady evitch's steps,
distinguishing them from the distant stamping of horses,
he heard the crunching sound of a corner of a tussock
torn away by the roots, and he could distinguish above
ANNA KARENINA 97
it the whir of a woodcock's wings. He could also hear,
not far behind him, a strange splashing in the water,
but what it was he could not make out. Choosing a
place for his feet, he moved toward the dog.
"Goon."
Not a snipe, but a woodcock, flew up from under the
dog's nose. Levin raised his gun, but at the instant he
aimed the same noise of splashing in the water grew
louder and nearer, and together with it Veslovsky's
voice loudly shouting something. Levin saw that he was
aiming too far behind the woodcock, but still he fired.
Turning round to discover what made the noise. Levin
saw that the horses attached to the katki were no longer
in the road, but were in the swamp.
Veslovsky, desirous of watching the shooting, had
driven down to the swamp and had entangled the horses.
"The devil take him," said Levin to himself, turning
back to the entangled horses.
" Why did you drive in so far .-' " he asked dryly ; and,
summoning the coachman, he began to disengage the
horses.
Levin was vexed because they had caused him to
miss his shot, but still more so because neither Stepan
Arkadyevitch nor Veslovsky would help him to unhar-
ness and get out the team ; but the reason for this was
that they had not the slightest comprehension of the art
of harnessing.
Not vouchsafing Vasenka a single word in answer to
his assurance that where he stood it was perfectly dry,
Levin silently worked with the coachman to unhitch the
horses. But afterward, warming up to the work, and
noticing how zealously and assiduously Veslovsky dragged
at the katki by its side and even broke a part of it off,
Levin blamed himself because, under the influence of the
feeling which he had had the evening before, he had
been too cool toward Veslovsky, and he tried by especial
friendliness to atone for his curtness.
When everything was brought to order again and the
teams were on the highway, Levin gave orders to get
the luncheon ready.
9$ ANNA KARENINA
** Bon app^tit, botuie conscience. Ce poulet va tombef
jusqiian fond de mes bottes," exclaimed Vasenka, grow-
ing lively again, and employing a quaint French proverb,
as he devoured his second chicken. " Now our misfor-
tunes are ended ; now everything will go on famously.
Only as a punishment for my sin I must certainly sit
on the driver's box. Isn't that so? hey .-^ — No, no,
I am a born Automedon. Just see how I will tool you
along," he insisted, not letting go the reins when Levin
asked him to give up to the coachman. " No, I must
atone for my sin, and I like it immensely on the box."
And he drove.
Levin was somewhat afraid that he would tire out the
horses, especially the chestnut on the left, which he
could not control ; but reluctantly he gave in to his
gayety, listened to the love-songs which Veslovsky, sit-
ting on the box, sang all the way, or to his stories and
personation of an Englishman driving a four-in-hand,
and after they had enjoyed their luncheon they reached
the marshes of Gvozdevo in the gayest possible spirits.
CHAPTER X
Vasenka drove the horses so furiously that they
reached the marshes too early and it was still hot. On
reaching the important marsh, the real goal of their jour-
ney, Levin could not help wondering how he might rid
himself of Vasenka and so get along without impediment.
Stepan Arkadyevitch had evidently the same desire, and
Levin could read in his face that expression of anxiety
which a genuine huntsman always betrays before he
goes out on the chase — he also detected a certain good-
natured slyness characteristic of him.
" How shall we go in .-^ I can see the marsh is ex-
cellent, and there are the hawks," said Stepan Arkadye-
vitch, pointing to two big birds circling over the tall
grass. •' Where hawks are there is sure to be game ! "
♦' Well, do you see, gentlemen .? " said Levin, with a
rather gloomy expression, pulling up his boots and con
ANNA KARENINA 99
templating the caps on his fowHng-piece. " Do you see
that tall grass ? " He pointed to an islet shading into a
black green in the midst of the wet meadow which, al-
ready half mown, extended along the right bank of the
river, " The marsh begins here directly in front of you
— where it is so green. From there it extends to the
right where those horses are going; there are the tus-
socks and you will find snipe there, and so on around
this high grass clear up to the alders and the mill itself.
That direction, you see where the ground is overflowed,
that is the best place. I 've killed as many as seven-
teen woodcock there. We will separate with the two
dogs in different directions, and then we will meet at the
mill."
"Well, who will go to the right, who to the left.''"
asked Stepan Arkadyevitch. " There is more room to
the right ; you two go that way and I will take the left,"
said he, with pretended indifference.
" Capital, we will shoot more than he does. Come
on, come on, come on," cried Veslovsky.
Levin saw that he was in for it, so they started off
together.
As soon as they struck into the marsh the dogs began
to hunt round and darted off for the swamp. Levin
well knew what that careful and indeterminate manoeuver
of Laska's meant ; he also knew the place, and he was
on the lookout for a bevy of woodcock.
" Veslovsky, come in line, in line," he cried in a voice
of anguish to his companion, who insisted in falling be-
hmd. Since the accidental discharge of the weapon at
the Kolpensky marsh. Levin could not help taking an
interest in the direction in which Veslovsky's gun-barrel
was pointing.
" Now, I won't bother you, don't worry about me ! "
But Levin could not help worrying, and he remem-
bered Kitty's words as she said good-by to him : " Look
out that you don't shoot one another."
Closer and closer ran the dogs, avoiding each other,
each following her own scent ; the expectation of start-
ing up a woodcock was so strong that the squeak of
loo ANNA KARENINA
his heel as he lifted it out of the mud seemed to Levin
like the cry of the bird ; he clutched and squeezed the
butt of his gun.
Bang ! Bang ! A gun went off directly behind his
ear.
It was Vasenka shooting at a flock of ducks which
were splashing about in the swamp, and alighted far
away from the huntsmen in an irregular line. Before
Levin had a chance to glance round, a woodcock
drummed, — another, a third, and half a dozen more
flew up one after the other.
Stepan Arkadyevitch shot one at the very instant he
was about beginning his zigzags, and the woodcock fell
in a heap in the swamp. • Oblonsky took his time in
aiming at another which was flying low toward the high
grass, and simultaneously with the flash the bird fell
and it could be seen skipping from the mown grass,
flapping its white uninjured wing.
Levin was not so fortunate ; he shot at too close
range for the first woodcock, and missed ; he was about
to follow after it, but just as it was rising again, another
flew up from almost under him and diverted his atten-
tion, causing him to miss again.
While they were reloading, still another woodcock
flew up, and Veslovsky, who had got his gun loaded
first, fired two charges of small shot into the water.
Stepan Arkadyevitch picked up his woodcock, and looked
at Levin with flashing eyes.
" And now let us separate," said he, and limping with
his left leg, and holding his gun ready cocked and whis-
tling to his dog, he started off by himself. Levin and
Veslovsky took the other direction.
It always happened with Levin that when his first
shots were unsuccessful, he grew excited, lost his temper,
and shot badly the rest of the day. So it was in the
present instance. The woodcock were abundant ; they
kept flying up from before the dogs, and from under
the huntsmen's feet, and Levin might have easily re-
trieved his fortunes ; but the longer he hunted, the more
he disgraced himself before Veslovsky, who kept mer-
ANNA KARENINA loi
ril}i firing recklessly, never killing anything and never in
the slightest degree abashed at his ill luck. Levin
moved forward hotly, growing more and more excited,
and finally he came not to have much hope of bringing
down his game. Laska seemed to understand this state
of things. She began to follow the scent more lazily,
and looked at the huntsmen with almost an air of doubt
and reproach. Shot followed shot. The gunpowder-
smoke hung round the sportsmen, but in the great wide
meshes of the hunting-bag lay only three light little
woodcock. And of those one was killed by Veslovsky,
and one of them they both brought down.
Meantime on the other side of the swamp Stepan
Arkadyevitch's shots were heard, not very frequently,
but, as it seemed to Levin, very significantly, and at
almost each one he would hear him cry : —
" Krak, Krak, apporte."
This still more excited Levin. The woodcock kept
flying up into the air over the high grass. The drum-
ming on the ground and the cries of the birds in the air
continued incessantly on all sides, and the woodcock,
which flew up before them and swept through the air,
kept settling down again in front of the huntsmen. Now
instead of two hawks there were dozens of them scream-
ing over the marsh.
After they had shot over the larger half of the swamp,
Levin and Veslovsky directed their steps to a place
where there were alternating strips of meadow-land,
which the peasants were accustomed to mow. Half (rf
these strips had already been mown.
Although there was less hope of finding game where
the grass was tall than where it had been cut, Levin
had agreed with Stepan Arkadyevitch to join him there,
and so he proceeded with his companion across the mown
and unmown strips.
" Hi ! sportsmen," cried a muzhik, who with several
others were sitting around an unharnessed cart. " Come
and have a bite with us. We '11 give you some wine."
Levin looked round.
" Come on, we 've plenty," shouted a jolly bearded
io!2 ANNA KARENINA
muzhik with a red face, displaying his white teeth and
holding up a green bottle which glittered in the sun.
" QiCest-ce qu'ils disentf " asked Veslovsky.
" They invite us to drink some vodka with them.
They have probably just finished their meadows. I 'd
go if I were you," said Levin, not without craftiness, for
he hoped that Veslovsky would be tempted by the
vodka and would go for it.
" Why should they treat us .-' "
" Oh, they are probably having a jollification. Really,
you had better go. It will interest you."
" Allans, c' est curieux."
" Go ahead, go, you will find the road to the mill,"
cried Levin ; and, looking round, he saw to his delight
that Veslovsky, stooping over and dragging one leg
after the other, and carrying his musket on his out-
stretched arm, was making his way from the swamp
toward the peasants.
"You come too," cried the muzhik to Levin. " Don't
be afeared,^ we '11 give you a tart."
Levin felt a strong inclination to drink a glass of
vodka and to eat a piece of bread. He was tired and
could hardly lift his feet out of the bog, and for a moment
he hesitated. But the dog was pointing, and imme-
diately all his weariness vanished, and he lightly made
his way over the marsh toward the dog. The woodcock
flew from under his feet; he fired and brought it down.
The dog pointed again — pil ! From in front of the
dbg another arose. Levin blazed away. But the day
was unfortunate ; he missed, and when he looked for
the one he had killed, it was nowhere to be found. He
searched all through the tall grass, but Laska had no
faith that her master had killed it, and when he sent
her to find it, she pretended to circle round but did not
really search.
Even without Vasenka, on whom Levin had laid the
blame for his bad luck, there was no improvement.
There also woodcock abounded, but Levin missed shot
after shot.
^ He says niabos' for nebos\ nichavo for nichevo.
ANNA KARENINA lej
The slanting rays of the sun were still hot ; his clothes,
wet through with perspiration, stuck to his body ; his
left boot, full of water, was heavy and made a sucking
noise ; over his face, begrimed with gunpowder, the per-
spiration ran in drops ; there was a bitter taste in his
mouth ; his nose was filled with the odor of smoke and
of the bog ; in his ears rang the incessant cries of the
woodcock; his gun-barrels were so hot that he could
not touch them ; his heart beat with loud and rapid
strokes, his hands trembled with excitement, his weary
legs kept stumbling and catching in the roots and tus-
socks : but still he kept on shooting. At last, having
made a disgraceful failure, he threw down his gun and cap.
"No, I must get my wits back," he said to himself;
and, picking up his gun and cap, he called Laska to heel,
and quitted the swamp. As he came out on the dry
ground he sat down on a tussock, took off his boots and
stockings, poured out the water, then he went back to
the swamp, took a long drink of the boggy-smelling
water, soaked his hot gun-barrels, and washed his face
and hands. After he had cooled off, he again went
down to the place where he would find the woodcock,
and he made up his mind not to lose his self-control
again. He meant to be calm, but it was the same as
before. His finger would press the trigger before he
had taken fair aim at the bird. Indeed, it went from
bad to worse.
He had only five birds in his game-bag when he
quitted the marsh and went to the alder-wood where he
had agreed to meet Stepan Arkadyevitch.
Before he caught sight of Stepan Arkadyevitch he
saw his dog Krak, all black with the marsh slime, and
with an air of triumph as he came leaping out from under
the up-turned root of an alder and began to snuff at
Laska. Then appeared Stepan Arkadyevitch 's stately
figure in the shade of the alders. He came along, still
limping, but with flushed face, all covered with perspi-
ration and with his collar flung open.
" Well, how is it ? Have you killed many ?" he criedy
with a gay smile.
I04 ANNA KARENINA
" How is it with you ? " asked Levin, But there was
no need of asking, because he could see his overflowing
game-bag.
" Oh, just a trifle." He had fourteen birds. "What
a splendid marsh. Veslovsky must have bothered you.
Two can't hunt well with the same dog," said Stepan
Arkadyevitch, to soften the effect of his triumph.
CHAPTER XI
When Levin and Stepan Arkadyevitch reached the
peasant's izba, where Levin always stopped when he
was out hunting, Veslovsky was already there. He was
laughing his merrily contagious laugh, sitting in the
middle of the hut and clinging with both hands to a
bench from which a soldier, the brother of their host, was
pulling him in his efforts to haul off his muddy boots.
" I have only just got here. lis ont /// charmants.
Imagine it — they gave me plenty to eat and drink.
What bread, 't was marvelous. D^licieux. And such
vodka I never tasted ! And they utterly refused to take
any payment. They kept saying : ' Drink it down,' or
something like that."
" Why should they take money .'' They regarded you
as a guest. Do you suppose they had vodka to sell .'' "
asked the soldier, who at last succeeded in pulling off
the wet boot together with the mud-stained stocking.
Notwithstanding the dirtiness of the izba, which the
huntsmen and their dogs had tracked all over with mud,
notwithstanding the smell of bog and gunpowder with
which it was filled, and notwithstanding the absence of
knives and forks, the three men drank their tea and ate
their luncheon with appetites such as only hunting pro-
duces. After they had washed up and cleansed off the
mud, they went to a hay-loft where the coachman had
prepared them beds.
Although it was already dark, not one of the huntsmen
felt any inclination to go to sleep. After they had in-
dulged in various recollections and stories of shooting,
ANNA KARENINA 105
of dogs, and of previous expeditions, the conversation
turned on a theme which interested them all. As it
happened, Vasenka kept going into raptures over the
fascination of this their camp and the fragrance of the
hay, and the charm of the broken telyega — it seemed
to him to be broken because the front part was taken
off — and about the hospitality of the muzhiks, who had
given him vodka to drink, and about the dogs, which
were lying each at his master's feet.
Then Obion sky gave an account of a charming meet
which he had attended the summer before at the place of a
man named Malthus, who was a well-known railway mag-
nate. Stepan Arkadyevitch told what wonderful marshes
and game preserves Malthus rented in the govern-
ment of Tver, what equipages, dog-carts, and wagonettes
were provided for the sportsmen, and how a great break-
fast tent was carried to the marshes and pitched there.
" I can't comprehend you," exclaimed Levin, raising
himself on his hay. " I should think such people would
be repulsive to you, I can understand that a breakfast
with Lafitte might be very delightful ; but is n't such
luxury revolting to you ? All these people, like all
monopolists, acquire money in such a way that they gain
the contempt of people ; they scorn this contempt and
then use their ill-gotten gains to buy off this contempt ! "
" You 're perfectly right," assented Veslovsky. " Per-
fectly. Of course Oblonsky does this out of bonhomie,
but others say, ' Oblonsky goes there.' " ....
"Not in the least," — Levin perceived that Oblonsky
smiled as he said this. " I simply consider that this
man is no more dishonorable than any other of our rich
merchants or nobles. They all have got their money
by hard work and by their brains."
" Yes, but what kind of hard work } Is it hard work
to secure a concession and then farm it out } "
" Of course it is hard work. Hard work in this sense,
that if it were not for such men, then we should have
no railways."
" But it is not hard work such as the muzhik or the
student has."
io6 ANNA KARENINA
"Agreed, but it is work in this sense, that it is a form
of activity which gives us results — railways. But per-
haps you argue that railways are useless."
" No ; but that is another question. I am willing to
acknowledge that they are useful. But all gains that
are disproportionate to the amount of labor expended are
dishonorable."
" But who is to determine the suitability .'' "
" Property acquired by any dishonest way, by craft,"
said Levin, feeling that he could not very well make the
distinction between honorable and dishonorable. " For
example, the money made by stock-gambling," he went
on to say, "that is bad, and so are the gains made by
fortunes acquired without labor, as it used to be with
the speculators in monopolies ; only the form has been
changed. Le rot est mort, vive le roi! We had only just
done away with brandy-farming when the railways and
stock-gambling came in ; it is all money acquired with-
out work."
" Yes, that may be very wise and ingenious reasoning.
— Lie down, Krak," cried Stepan Arkadyevitch, address-
ing the dog, which was licking his fur and tossing up
the hay. Oblonsky was evidently convinced of the cor-
rectness of his theory, and consequently argued calmly
and dispassionately. " But you do not make the dis-
tinctions clear between honest and dishonest work. Is
it dishonest when I receive a higher salary than my
head clerk, although he understands the business better
than I do.?"
" I don't know."
" Well, I will tell you one thing : what you receive
for your work on yout estate is — let us say — five
thousand above your expenses ; but this muzhik, our host,
hard as he works, does not get more than fifty rubles,
and this disparity is just as dishonorable as that I re-
ceive more than my head clerk or that Malthus receives
more than a railway engineer. On the contrary, it seems
to me that the hostility shown by society to these men
arises from envy/' ....
" No, that is unjust," said Veslovsky ; "it cannot be
ANNA KARENINA i^
envy, and there is something unfair in this state of
things."
" Excuse me," persisted Levin. " You say it is unfair
for me to receive five thousand while the muzhik gets
only fifty ; you 're right. It is unfair. I feel it,
but...."
" The distinction holds throughout. Why do we eat,
drink, hunt, waste our time, while he is forever and ever
at work "{ " said Vasenka Veslovsky, who was evidently
for the first time in his life thinking clearly on this ques-
tion, and therefore was willing to be frank.
" Yes, you feel so, but you don't give your estate up
to the muzhik," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, not sorry of
a chance to tease Levin.
Of late there had arisen between the two brothers-in-
law a secretly hostile relationship ; since they had mar-
ried sisters, a sort of rivalry existed between them as to
which of them had the best way of living, and now this
hostility expressed itself by the conversation taking a
personal turn.
" I do not give it because no one demands this of me,
and even if I wanted to, I could not," replied Leviti.--
" Give it to this muzhik; he would not refuse it." , n"
" But how could I give it to him ? Should I come
with him and sign the deed ? "
" I don't know ; but if you are convinced that you
have not the right.... "
" I am not altogether convinced. On the contrary I
feel that I have no right to give it away, that I have
certain obligations both to the land and to my family."
" No, excuse me ; if you consider that this inequality
is unjust, then why don't you do so ? "
"I do it, only in a negative way, in the sense that
I do not try to increase the discrepancy that exists be-
tween him and me."
" No, but that is a paradox, if you will allow me to
say so."
" Yes, that is a sort of sophistical statement," averred
Veslovsky. — " Ho! friend," ^ he exclaimed, addressing
^ Khozain.
16« ANNA KARENINA
their host, who had just then come into the loft, mak-
ing the door creak on its hinges, " are n't you asleep
yet?"
" No, how can one sleep ? But I supposed you
gentlemen were asleep — still, I heard talking. I wanted
to get a hook. — Will she bite.-*" he added, carefully
slipping along in his bare feet.
" But where do you sleep ?"
" We are on night duty."
"Oh, what a night," exclaimed Veslovsky, catching
a glimpse of the edge of the izba and the unharnessed
wagons in the faint light of the west through the now
widely opened door. " Just listen to those women's
voices singing ; it is not bad at all. Who is singing,
friend ? " said he, addressing the muzhik.
" Oh, those are the girls from the farm, singing to-
gether."
" Come, let 's go out and take a walk ! We shall
never go to sleep. Come on, Oblonsky."
"What's theuse.-*" said Oblonsky, stretching, "it's
more comfortable here."
" Well, then, I '11 go alone," exclaimed Veslovsky,
jumping up eagerly and putting on his shoes and
stockings. " Good-by — da svidanya — gentlemen. If
there 's any fun, I will come and call you. You have
given me good hunting and I won't forget you."
" He 's a splendid young fellow," said Oblonsky, after
Veslovsky had gone out and the muzhik had shut the
door again.
" Yes, he is," replied Levin, still continuing to think
of what they had been talking about. It seemed to
him that he had clearly, to the best of his ability, uttered
his thoughts and feelings, and yet these men, who were
by no means stupid or insincere, agreed in declaring
that he indulged in sophistries. This confused him.
"This is the way of it, my friend," said Oblonsky.
" One of two things must be : either you must agree that
the present order of society is all right, and then stand up
for your rights, or confess that you enjoy unfair privileges,
as I do, and get all the good out of them that you can."
ANNA KARENINA 109
" No ; if this was unfair, you could not get any enjoy-
ment out of these advantages .... at least I could not.
With me the main thing would be to feel that I was not
to blame."
" After all, why should we not go out," said Stepan
Arkadyevitch, evidently growing tired of this discus-
sion. " You see we are not going to sleep. Come on,
let 's go out."
Levin made no reply. What he had said in their
conversation about his doing right only in a negative
sense occupied his mind. ** Can one be right only in
a negative way .■' " he asked himself.
" How strong the odor of the fresh hay is," said
Stepan Arkadyevitch, as he got up. " It is impossible
to go to sleep. Vasenka is hatching some scheme out
there. Don't you hear them laughing, and his voice.-'
Won't you come ? Come on."
" No, I am not going," said Levin.
" Is this also from principle ?" asked Stepan Arkadye-
vitch, with a smile, as he groped round in the dark-
ness for his cap.
" No, not from principle, but why should I go .-* "
" Do you know you are laying up misfortune for
yourself .-*" said Stepan Arkadyevitch, having found his
cap, and getting up.
" Why so ? "
" Don't I see how you are giving in to your wife ?
I heard how much importance you attached to the ques-
tion whether she approved of your going off for a
couple of days' hunting. That is very well as an idyl,
but it does n't work for a whole lifetime. A man ought
to be independent ; he has his own masculine interests.
A man must be manly," said Oblonsky, opening the
door.
"What does that mean .... going and flirting with the
farm girls .■* " asked Levin.
" Why not go, if there 's fun in it ? Ca ne tire pas d
consequence. My wife would not be any the worse off
for it, and it affords me amusement. The main thing
is the sanctity of the home. There should not be any
tio ANNA KARENINA
trouble at home. But there is no need of a man's tying
his hands."
" Perhaps not," said Levin, dryly, and he turned over
on his side. " To-morrow I must start early and I shan't
wake any one, and I shall start at daybreak."
^^ Messieurs, venez 2^//^," called Vasenka, returning.
" Charmante ! I have discovered her! Channante ! A
perfect Gretchen, and she and I have already scraped
acquaintance. Truly she is mighty pretty," he cried,
with such an expression of satisfaction that any one
would think that she had been made for his especial
benefit, and that he was satisfied with the work of the
one who had prepared her for him.
Levin pretended to be asleep, but Oblonsky, putting
on his slippers and Hghting a cigar, left the barn and
soon their voices died away.
It was long before Levin could go to sleep. He
heard his horses munching their hay, then the muzhik
setting out with his eldest son to watch the animals in
the pasture, then the soldier going to bed on the other
side of the loft with his nephew, the youngest son of
their host ; he heard the little boy in a low voice telling
his uncle his impressions regarding the dogs, which to
him seemed terrible and monstrous beasts ; then the boy
asking what these dogs caught, and the soldier in a
hoarse and sleepy voice telHng him that the next day the
huntsmen would go to the swamp and would fire off their
guns; and then, the boy still continuing to ply him with
questions, the soldier hushed him up, saying, " Go to
sleep, Vaska, go to sleep, and you will see," and soon
the man began to snore and all became quiet. All that
was heard was the neighing of the horses and the cries
of the woodcock.
" Why is this simply revolting .-* " he asked himself.
" Well, what 's to be done .'' It is not my fault." And
he began to think of the morrow.
" To-morrow I will start early in the morning, and I
will take it on myself not to get excited. I will bring
down some woodcock. And there are plenty of snipe !
And when I get back, there '11 be a letter from Kitty.
ANNA KARENINA iii
Yes, perhaps Stiva is right ; I am not manly toward
her; I am too much under my wife's thumb But
what is to be done about it? This also is revolting."
Through his dream he heard Veslovsky and Stepan
Arkadyevitch gayly talking and laughing. For an
instant he opened his eyes. The moon had risen, and
through the open doors he saw them standing there in
the bright moonlight, and talking. Stepan Arkadye-
vitch was saying something about the freshness of a
young girl, comparing her to a walnut just out of its
shell, and Veslovsky laughing his contagious laugh,
made some reply, evidently repeating the words spoken
by some muzhik, "You'd better be going home."
Levin spoke through his dream, " Gentlemen, to-
morrow morning at daybreak."
CHAPTER XII
Waking at earliest dawn, Levin tried to wake his
companions. Vasenka, lying on his stomach, with one
leg in a stocking, was sleeping so soundly that it was
impossible to get any reply from him. Oblonsky, only
half awake, refused to start out so early. And even
Laska, sleeping curled up in a round ball at the edge
of the hay, got up reluctantly, and lazily stretched out
and straightened her hind legs, one after the other.
Levin, putting on his boots, took his gun and cautiously
opening the creaking door of the shed, went outdoors.
The coachmen were sleeping near the wagons ; the
horses were dozing. Only one sheep was drowsily eat-
ing with his nose in the trough. It was still gray in
the yard.
" You are up early, are n't you, my dear," said the old
peasant woman, the mistress of the house, coming out
from the izba, and addressing him in a friendly way, like
an old acquaintance.
" Yes, I 'm going out shooting, auntie. Can I go this
way to the swamp .-' "
" Directly behind the barns, follow the foot-path along
ir2 ANNA KARENINA
by the hemp-field." Stepping cautiously with her barej
sunburnt feet, the old woman accompanied Levin as far
as the fence back of the barn. " Go straight on and
you '11 come to the swamp. Our boys went there last
evening."
Laska ran merrily ahead along the foot-path. Levin
followed her with swift, light steps, constantly watching
the 'sky. He had an idea that he would reach the
swamp before the sun would be up. But the sun did
not loiter. The moon, which had been shining brightly
when he first came out, was now growing pallid like a
lump of quicksilver. The morning star, which before
was most conspicuous, now almost defied detection ;
certain spots before almost indistinguishable on the
distant field, now were becoming plainly visible ; these
were heaps of rye. The dew, though it could not be
seen in the absence of the sunlight, was so dense on the
fragrant tall hemp from which the seed had already
been gathered, that it wet Levin's legs and blouse above
his belt. In the transparent stillness of the morning the
slightest sounds were audible. A bee, humming like a
bullet, whizzed by Levin's ear. He looked around and
discovered a second and yet a third. They were com-
ing from the hives and were flying over the hemp-field
and disappearing in the direction of the swamp. The
foot-path led directly into the marsh, which could be
detected by the mists rising over it, here denser, there
thinner, so that clumps of grass and cytisus bushes
looked like little islands emerging from them. Peasant
boys and men, who had been on night duty, were
scattered about on the edge of the swamp and along the
roadside, and all of them were sleeping wrapped up in
their kaftans. At a little distance from them three
horses were moving about unfastened. One of them
carried clinking chains. Laska ran along by her
master's side, eager to dash ahead, and with her eyes
on everything. After they had passed the sleeping
muzhiks and had reached the first swampy places. Levin
examined the priming of his gun and let the dog go.
One of the horses, a fat chestnut three-year-old, see-
ANNA KARENINA iij
ing Laska, shied, and, lifting his tail, whinnied. The two
other horses were also startled, and dashed through the
water and galloped out of the swamp. As they pulled
their hoofs out of the soft, sticky mud, they made a
noise like smacking. Laska paused, looking with
amused eyes at the horses, and seemed to ask her
master what she should do. Levin caressed her and
gave a whistle as a signal that she might begin her
work. Laska, joyous and full of importance, darted on
over the soil of the marsh, which quaked under her
weight.
As soon as she got fairly into the bog, Laska in-
stantly distinguished amid all the well-known odors of
roots and swamp-grass and the mud and the droppings
of the horses, the scent of the bird perceptible through
the whole place — the penetrating bird odor which
more than anything else excited her. Wherever there
was moss or sage bushes this odor was peculiarly strong,
but it was impossible to make out in which direction it
increased or diminished in strength. In order to get
her bearings, the dog had to bear to the lee of the wind.
Unconscious of any effort in moving her legs, Laska in
an eager gallop, yet so restrained that she was able to
stop at a bound, if anything of consequence presented it-
self, dashed toward the right away from the breeze which
was now beginning to blow freshly from the east. Snuff-
ing the air with her widespread nostrils, she suddenly
became conscious that she was no longer following a
trail, but was on the game itself — not one bird alone,
but many. Laska slackened her speed. The birds
were there, but she could not as yet determine exactly
where. In order to find the exact spot, she began
another circle, when suddenly the voice of her master
called her back.
" Here, Laska," he cried, directing her toward the
other side. She paused as if to ask him if she had not
better keep on as she had begun. But he repeated his
command in a stern voice, sending her to a tussock-
covered place overflowed with water, where there could
not possibly be anything.
VOL. III. — 8
n4 ANNA KARENINA
She heard him, and, pretending to obey him, so as to
satisfy him, ran hastily over the spot indicated, and then
returned to the place which had attracted her before,
and instantly perceived them again. Now that he no
longer bothered her she knew exactly what to do, and
without looking where she was going, stumbling over
tussocks to her great indignation and falling into the
water, but quickly extricating herself with her strong,
agile legs, she began to circle round, so as to get her
exact bearings.
The scent of the birds kept growing stronger and
stronger, more and more distinct, and suddenly it be-
came perfectly evident to her that one of them was there,
just behind a certain tussock not five steps in front of her,
and she stopped and trembled all over. Her legs were
so short that she could not see anything, but she knew
by the scent that the bird was sitting there not five steps
distant from her. She pointed, growing each instant
more certain of her game and full of joy in the anticipa-
tion. Her tail stuck straight out and only the end of it
quivered. Her mouth was open slightly. Her ears were
cocked up. Indeed, one ear had been all the time pricked
up as she ran, and she was panting heavily, but cautiously,
and looking round still more cautiously, rather with her
eyes than with her head, to see if her master was coming.
He was coming, leaping from tussock to tussock, and
more slowly than usual it seemed to her ; his face bore
the expression which she knew so well, and which was
so terrible to her. It seemed to her that he was coming
slowly, and yet he was running !
Remarking Laska's peculiar method of search as she
crouched down close to the ground and took such long
strides that her hind legs seemed to rake the ground,
and noticing her slightly opened mouth. Levin knew
that she was on the track of snipe, and offering a
mental prayer to God that he might not miss especially
his first shot, he followed the dog. As he came up
close to her he looked from his superior height and saw
with his eyes what she perceived only with her nose.
In a nook between two tussocks not more than six feet
ANNA KARENINA ^15
away from him a snipe was sitting. With head raised
it was listening. Then, slightly spreading and closing
its wings and awkwardly wagging its tail, it hid behind
its nook.
" At him, at him ! " cried Levin, pushing Laska from
behind.
*' But I can't move," thought Laska. " Where shall
I go ? From here I smell 'em, but if I stir I shan't
find anything, or know what they are or where they
are."
But Levin again pushed the dog with his knee, and
in an excited whisper he cried again, "At him, Lasotchka,
at him ! "
"Well, if he wants me to do it, I will, but I won't
answer for the consequences now," she said to herself,
and she darted forward with all her might between the
tussocks ! She no longer went by scent, but only by
her eyes and ears, and did not know what she was
doing.
Ten paces from the first place a second snipe arose
with a loud squawking and a characteristic drumming
of wings. Instantly the shot rang out and the bird fell
heavily with its white breast on the moist ground. Still
another immediately flew up, not even roused by the dog.
When Levin aimed at it it was already a long shot,
but he brought it down. After flying twenty feet or
more the second snipe rose high into the air, then, spin-
ning like a top, fell heavily to the ground on a dry
spot.
"That is the talk," thought Levin, thrusting the fat
snipe, still warm, into his hunting-bag. " Ha, Lasotchka,
there 's some sense in this, hey ? "
When Levin, having reloaded, went still farther into
the swamp, the sun was already up, though it was as
yet hidden behind masses of clouds. The moon, which
had now lost all its brilliancy, looked like a white cloud
against the sky; not a star was to be seen. The swampy
places, which before had been silvered with the dew,
were now yellow. The whole swamp was amber. The
blue of the grass changed into yellowish green. The
ii6 ANNA KARENINA
marsh birds bustled about among the bushes glittering
with dew and casting long shadows along by the brook.
A hawk awoke and perched on a hayrick, turning his
head from side to side, looking with displeasure at the
marsh. The jackdaws flew fieldward, and a barefooted
urchin was already starting to drive the horses up to an
old man who had been spending the night there, and was
now crawling out from under his kaftan. The gun-
powder smoke lay white as milk along the green grass.
One of the peasant children ran down to Levin. , i?,
"There were some ducks here last evening, uncle," ^
he cried, and followed him at a distance.
And Levin experienced a feeling of the keenest satis-
faction in killing three woodcock, one after the other,
while the boy was watching him and expressing his
approbation.
CHAPTER XIII
The superstition of hunters, that if the first shot
brings down bird or beast, the field will be good, was
justified.
Tired and hungry, but delighted, Levin returned
about ten o'clock, after a run of thirty versts, having
brought down nineteen snipe and woodcock and one
duck, which, for want of room in his game-bag, he hung
at his belt. His companions had been long up ; and
after waiting till they were famished, they had eaten
breakfast. .
" Hold on, hold on ! I know there are nineteen,"
cried Levin, counting for the second time his woodcock
and snipe, with their bloodstained plumage, and their
drooping heads all laid one over the other, so different
from what they were on the marsh.
The count was verified, and Stepan Arkadyevitch's
envy was delightful to Levin.
It was also delightful to him, on returning to his
^ Dyadenka, little uncle.
ANNA KARENINA try
lodging, to find there a messenger who had just come
from Kitty, bringing him a letter.
I am perfectly well and happy, and if you fear lest I shall
not be sufficiently cared for, you may be reassured. I have a
new body-guard in the person of Marya Vlasyevna. [She was
a midwife, a new and very important personage in Levin's fam-
ily.] She came over to see me. She thinks I am wonderfully
well, and we shall keep her till you get back. We are all well
and happy, and if you are enjoying yourself and the hunting is
good you may stay another day.
These two pleasures — his successful hunt and the let-
ter from his wife — were so great, that they effaced from
Levin's mind two less agreeable incidents. The first
was the fact that his fast horse, who had apparently been
overworked the evening before, refused to eat and was
out of sorts. The coachman said that she was used up.
" They abused her last evening, Konstantin Dmitritch,"
said he. " The idea ! They drove her ten versts at full
speed ! "
The second unpleasantness, which for the first mo-
ment put an end to his happy frame of mind, but which
afterward caused him no end of amusement, arose from
the fact that not a thing was left for him from all the
abundant store of provisions which Kitty had put up
for them, and which it seemed ought to have lasted
them a whole week. As he returned from his long and
weary tramp. Levin had indulged his imagination in
certain tarts, so that when he entered the izba he
actually felt the taste of them in his mouth just as Laska
scented the game, and he immediately ordered Filipp
to serve them to him. It then transpired that not only
the tarts, but all the cold chicken, had disappeared.
" There ! talk of appetites," said Stepan Arkadyevitch,
laughing and nodding at Vasenka Veslovsky ; " I can-
not complain of mine, but this is marvelous."
" Well ! what shall I do ? " cried Levin, glowering at
Veslovsky. " FiUpp, give me some cold beef."
" Beef 's all gone and the dogs have got the bones ! "
replied Filipp.
ii8 ANNA KARENINA
Levin was so irritated that he could not help exclaim-
ing, "I should think you might have left something
for me ! " and he felt like crying.
*' Then cook me a woodcock," he said, with trembling
voice, to Filipp, trying not to look at Vasenka, " and
bring me some milk."
But after he drank his milk he was mortified because
he had shown his disappointment so plainly and before
a stranger, and he began to laugh at himself for his
anger.
In the afternoon they went out into the fields again,
and even Veslovsky shot several birds, and at night they
went home.
They were as gay on their return as they had been
while going. Veslovsky now sang songs, and now told
of his adventures with the muzhiks who gave him his
vodka and bade him drink it down quick. Then he
related his nocturnal experiences with the nuts and the
farm girl, and the muzhik who asked him if he was
married or not, and who, when he found that he was
not married, said to him : " Well, you 'd better not be
running after other folks' women ; first of all go home
and get a wife for yourself."
This advice greatly amused Veslovsky.
" Well, on the whole, I am awfully glad we went,
are n't you. Levin .-' "
"Very glad," replied Levin, sincerely, and he was
especially happy because he no longer felt that animosity
which he had felt at home toward Vasenka Veslovsky ;
but, on the other hand, had conceived a genuine friend-
ship for him.
CHAPTER XIV
About ten o'clock the next morning, after inspecting
the farm, Levin knocked at the door of the room in
which Vasenka had spent the night.
" Entres" cried Veslovsky. "Excuse me, but I am
just finishing my ablutions,'' he added, with a smile,
standing before Levin in his bare skin.
ANNA KARENINA 119
*' Do not let me disturb you," said Levin, and he sat
down by the window. " Did you sleep well ? "
" Like the dead. Is it a good day for hunting ? "
" What do you drink, tea or coffee .''"
" Neither ; I always go down to breakfast ; I am
mortified at being so late. The ladies, I suppose, are
already up ? Splendid time for a ride ! You must show
me your horses."
After walking around the garden, examining the stable,
and performing a few gymnastic exercises together on
the parallel bars. Levin and his guest returned to the
house and went into the drawing-room,
" We had splendid sport and got so many new im-
pressions," said Veslovsky, approaching Kitty, who was
sitting near the samovar. " What a pity that ladies are
deprived of this pleasure ! "
" Well, of course he must have something to say to
the lady of the house," thought Levin. Again he de-
tected something peculiar in the smile and in the tri-
umphant air with which his guest behaved toward Kitty.
The princess, who was sitting on the other side of the
table with Marya Vlasyevna and Stepan Arkadyevitch,
called Levin to her and began to broach her idea that
they should go to Moscow for Kitty's confinement, and
explained to him how the rooms should be prepared for
her.
Just as all the preparations for his wedding had
seemed distasteful to Levin because they were so insig-
nificant in comparison with the majesty of the event
itself, so now even more humiliating were all the prepa-
rations for the approaching confinement, the time of
which they were reckoning up on their fingers. He
tried to shut his ears to all the talk about the various
kinds of swaddling-clothes for the unborn infant ; he
did his best to shut his eyes to all the mysterious and
numberless bands and triangular pieces of linen to which
Dolly seemed to attribute special importance and the
like.
The event of the birth of a son — for he was firmly
persuaded that it would be a son — -seemed to him so
I20 ANNA KARENINA
extraordinary that he could not believe in its possibility ,
and while on the one hand it promised him a happiness
too enormous and therefore incredible, on the other
hand it seemed to him too mysterious to admit of trying
to imagine what it meant, and consequently all this
preparation as if for something commonplace, for some-
thing in the hands of men, seemed to him revolting and
humiliating. The princess did not understand his feel-
ings, and she attributed his unwillingness to think and
talk about this to indifference and carelessness, and so
she gave him no peace. She had just been charging
Stepan Arkadyevitch to look up a suite of rooms, and
now she called Levin to her.
" Do as you think best, princess ; I understand nothing
about the matter," said he.
" But it must be decided just when you will go to
Moscow."
" Truly I don't know ; what I know is that millions of
children are born away from Moscow, and doctors ...
and all that ...."
" Yes, but in that case ...."
" Let Kitty do as she pleases about it."
" It is impossible to speak with Kitty about it. Do
you want me to frighten her .'' Only this spring Natali
Golitsuin died in consequence of an unskilhxl accoTic/ieur."
" I shall do as you wish," repeated Levin, angrily.
The princess began to say something more to him,
but he was not listening. Though his conversation with
the princess upset him, he was not angered by what she
said, but by what he saw at the samovar.
" No ; that can't go on," thought he, as he from time
to time glanced over at Vasenka, who was bending
down to Kitty, with a flattering smile, and making some
remark to her ; and he also noticed his wife's disturbed
and blushing face.
There was something improper in Veslovsky's attitude,
his smile, his eyes. So, too, Kitty's action and appear-
ance seemed to him unbecoming, and again the light
flashed in his eyes. And again, as happened two days
before, he felt himself suddenly, without the least warn-
ANNA KARENINA i2i-
ing, precipitated from the height of happiness, content-
ment, and dignity, into an abyss of despair, hatred, and
confusion. Again they seemed to him, each and all, his
enemies.
" Do just as you please, princess," said he again,
turning round.
" Heavy is the cap of Monomakh," said Stepan Ar-
kadyevitch in jest, referring evidently, not to Levin's
conversation with the princess, but to the cause of
Levin's agitated face, which he had noticed. " How
late you are, Dolly ! "
All rose to greet Darya Aleksandrovna. Vasenka
also arose, but only for a moment ; and with the lack of
politeness characteristic of up-to-date young men toward
ladies, scarcely bowing, he resumed his conversation with
some humorous remarks.
" Masha has been wearing me all out," said Dolly.
" She did not sleep well and she is terribly fretful to-day."
The conversation which Vasenka and Kitty were en-
gaged in once more turned, as it had the evening before,
on Anna and whether love could hold outside the con-
ventions of society This conversation was disagree-
able to Kitty, and it agitated her, not only by reason of
the topic and the tone in which it was carried on, but
still more because she was already conscious of the
effect it would have on her husband. But she was too
simple and innocent to understand how to put an end
to it, or even to hide the signs of agitation which this
young man's too pronounced attentions produced in her.
Whatever she did, she knew perfectly well would be re-
marked by her husband and would be absolutely misin-
terpreted.
And indeed, when she asked Dolly what was the
matter with Masha, and Vasenka, waiting till this new
subject of conversation, which was a bore to him, should
be finished, stared with an indifferent look at Dolly,
this question struck Levin as an unnatural aijd obnox-
ious kind of slyness.
" Well, are we going after mushrooms to-day ? " asked
Dolly.
122 ANNA KARENINA
" Oh, yes, do let us go, I should like to get some,'
said Kitty, and she blushed. For mere politeness' sake
she wanted to ask Vasenka if he would go with them,
but she did not do so.
" Where are you going, Kostia .-' " she asked, with a
guilty air, as her husband, with deliberate steps, went
by her on his way out of the room.
This guilty confusion confirmed all his suspicions.
" A machinist came while I was away. I have not
had a chance to see him yet," he answered, without
looking at her.
He had gone down-stairs, but had not yet left his
library, before he heard Kitty's well-known footsteps
imprudently hurrying after him.
" What is it.-* We are busy," said he, curtly.
" Excuse me," said Kitty, addressing the German ma-
chinist ; " I wish to say a few words to my husband."
The mechanic was about to leave, but Levin stopped
him : " Don't disturb yourself."
" I don't want to lose the three o'clock train," re-
marked the German.
Without answering him. Levin went out into the cor-
ridor with his wife.
" Well, what do you wish to say to me .-' " he asked in
French.
He did not look at her face, and did not want to see
how it quivered and what a look of pathetic humiliation
was in her eyes.
" I .... I wanted to say that it is impossible to live so;
it is torture " .... murmured she,
"There is some one there at the cupboard," he re-
plied angrily. " Don't make a scene."
" Then let us go in here, then,"
Kitty wanted to go into the next room, but there the
English governess was teaching Tania.
"Then let us go into the garden."
In the garden they ran across a muzhik who was
weeding a path. And now no longer thinking that the
muzhik would see her tearful or his agitated face, not
thinking that they were in sight of people, as if running
ANNA KARENINA 123
from some unhappiness, they went with swift steps
straight on, feeling that they must have a mutual expla-
nation, and find some lonely spot where they could talk,
and free themselves from this misery that was oppress-
ing them both.
" It is impossible to live so. It is torture. I suffer.
You suffer. Why is it .-* " she said, when at last they
reached a bench standing by itself in the corner of the
linden alley.
" But tell me one thing: was not his manner indecent,
improper, horribly insulting?" he asked, standing in
front of her in the same position, with his fists doubled
up on his chest, in which he had stood before her two
days before.
" It was," said she, in a trembling voice ; " but, Kos-
tia, can't you see that I am not to blame .'' All this
morning I have been trying to act so that.... but oh,
these men.... why did he come.? How happy we
were ! " she said, choking with the sobs that shook her
whole body.
The gardener saw with surprise that, though nothing
was chasing them, and there was nothing to run away
from, and there was nothing especially attractive about
the bench where they had been sitting, yet still they
went past him back to the house with peaceful, shining
faces.
CHAPTER XV
As soorl as he had taken his wife to her room. Levin
went to seek Dolly. Darya Aleksandrovna also was in
a state of great excitement. She was pacing up and
down her chamber, and scolding little Masha, who
stood in a corner, crying.
" You shall stay all day in the corner, and eat dinner
alone, and you shall not see one of your dolls, and you
shall have no new dress," she was saying, though she
did not know why she was punishing the child. " This
is a naughty little girl," she said to Levin; "where does
she get this abominable disposition .'' "
124 ANNA KARENINA
" Why, what has she done ? " asked Levin, rather in-
differently, for he was annoyed to find that he had come
at the wrong time when he wished some advice regard-
ing his own affairs.
" She and Grisha went into the raspberry bush, and
there .... but I can't tell you what she did. I 'd a thou-
sand times rather have Miss Elliot. This governess
does n't look after anything .... she 's a machine. Figiirez
voiis, que la petite ...y
And Darya Aleksandrovna related Masha's misdeeds.
"There's nothing very bad in that. That doesn't
signify a bad disposition. It is only a piece of childish
mischief," said Levin, soothingly.
" But what is the matter with you ? You look troubled.
What has happened down-stairs .-* " asked Dolly, and by
the tone of her questions Levin perceived that it would
be easy for him to say what he had in his mind to say.
" I have n't been down-stairs. I have been alone in
the garden with Kitty. We have just had a quarrel ....
the second since.... Stiva came."
Dolly looked at him with her intelligent, penetrating
eyes.
" Now tell me, with your hand on your heart," he
said, "tell me, was the conduct, not of Kitty, but of
this young man, anything else than unpleasant, not
unpleasant, but intolerable, insulting even, to a hus-
band .? "
" What shall I say to you } — Stand, stand in the
corner!'' said she to Masha, who, noticing the scarcely
perceptible smile on her mother's face, started to go
away. " Society would say that he is only behaving as
all young men behave. // fait la coiir d nne j'eune ei
jolie femme, and her husband, as himself a gentleman
of society, should be flattered by it."
"Yes, yes," said Levin, angrily; "but have you
noticed it ? "
" I noticed it, of course, and so did Stiva. Just after
tea he said to me, ^ Je crois que Veslovsky fait tin petit
brin de conr a Kitty.' " ^
^ I believe Veslovsky is trying to flirt with Kitty.
ANNA KARENINA 125
'• Well, that settles it. Now I am calm. I am going
to send him away," said Levin.
" What ! Are you out of your senses ? " cried Dolly,
alarmed. "What are you thinking about, Kostia .'' "
she went on with a laugh. — " You may go now to
Fanny," she said to the child. " No ! If you like, I
will speak to Stiva. He will get him to leave. He can
say you are expecting company. However, it is not
our house."
" No, no ! I will do it myself."
*' You will quarrel." ....
" Not at all, I shall find it amusing," said he, with a
happier light shining in his eyes. " There, now, Dolly,
forgive her ; she won't do it again," he said, pointing
to the little culprit, who had not gone to Fanny, but
was now standing irresolute beside her mother, and
looking askance at her with pleading eyes.
The mother looked at her. The little girl, sobbing,
hid her face in her mother's lap, and Dolly laid her thin
hand tenderly on her head.
" Is there anything in common between us and that
fellow .'* " thought Levin, and he went to find Veslovsky.
As he passed through the hall he ordered the carriage
to be made ready to go to the station.
" The springs were broken yesterday," the servant
answered.
" Then bring the tarantas. Only be quick about it.
Where is the guest .'' "
" He went to his room."
Levin found Vasenka in the act of trying on his
gaiters in preparation for a ride. He had just taken
his things out of his valise, and laid aside some new love-
songs.
Either there was something strange in Levin's ex-
pression, or Vasenka himself was conscious that ce petit
brin de coiir which he was making was rather out of
place in this family ; but at all events, he felt as uncom-
fortable in Levin's presence as it is possible for an
elegant young man to feel.
" Do you ride in gaiters .■* " asked Levin.
126 ANNA KARENINA
" Yes ; it 's much neater," replied Vasenka, putting
up one fat leg on a chair, and struggling with the
bottom button, and smiling with genuine good humor.
He was really a very good-hearted young fellow, and
Levin felt sorry for him and conscience-stricken for
himself as his host when he saw the timidity in Vasenka's
eyes.
On the table lay a fragment of a stick which they
had broken off that morning while trying to prop up the
parallel bars for their gymnastic exercises. Levin took
this fragment in his hand and began to break off the
ragged ends, not knowing how to commence.
" I wanted .... " He stopped for a moment ; but sud-
denly remembering Kitty and all that had taken place,
he went on, looking him squarely in the eye. " I have
had the horses put in for you."
" What do you mean } " began Vasenka, in surprise.
" Where are we going ? "
" You are going to the railway station," said Levin,
with a frown, breaking off the end of the stick.
" Are you going away ? Has anything happened ? "
"I happen to be expecting company," Levin went
on, breaking off pieces of his stick more and more ner-
vously with his strong fingers. " Or, no, I am not
expecting any one, and nothing has happened, but I
beg you to go away. You may explain my lack in
politeness as you please."
Vasenka drew himself up.
" I beg yoH to explain to me," said he, with dignity,
comprehending at last.
" I cannot explain to you, and you will be wise not to
question me," Levin said slowly, trying to remain calm,
and to check the tremulous motions of his face.
And as the chipped pieces of the stick were by this
time all broken. Levin took the stick in his fingers, split
it in two, and picked up the part that fell to the
floor.
Apparently the sight of those energetic hands, those
very muscles which he had seen tested that morning
while they were doing their gymnastics, those flashing
ANNA KARENINA iiy
eyes, and the quivering face and the subdued sound of
his voice impressed Vasenka more than the spoken
words. Shrugging his shoulders and smiHng disdain-
fully, he submitted.
'• May I not see Oblonsky ? "
The shrugging of the shoulders and the smile did not
annoy Levin. *' What else could he do .'' " he asked
himself.
" I will send him to you immediately."
" What sense is there in such conduct ! " exclaimed
Stepan Arkadyevitch, when he had learned from his
friend that he was to be driven from the house, and
finding Levin in the garden, where he was walking up
and down waiting for his guest's departure. " Mais
c'est ridiaile ! To be stung by such a fly as that !
Mais c est dn der^nier ridicule ! What difference does
it make to you if a young man .... "
But the spot where the fly had stung Levin was evi-
dently still sensitive, because he turned pale again and
cut short the explanations which Stepan Arkadyevitch
tried to give.
" Please don't take the trouble to defend the young
man ; I can't help it. I am sorry both for you and for
him. But I imagine it won't be a great trial for him to
go away, and my wife and I both found his presence
unpleasant."
" But it was insulting to him. Et p7ds cest ridicule''
" Well, it was humiHating and extremely disagreeable
to me. I am not to blame toward him, and there is no
reason why I should suffer for it."
" Well, I did not expect this of you. On pent itre
jaloux, mais a ce point c est du dei'nier ridiculed
Levin quickly turned away, and entered the thick
shrubbery by the driveway, and continued to walk up
and down the path.
Soon he heard the rumbling of the tarantas, and
through the trees he saw Vasenka riding up the road,
sitting on the straw (for unfortunately the tarantas had
no seat), the ribbons of his Scotch cap streaming behind
his head as he jolted along.
128 ANNA KARENINA
"What now?" thought Levin, as he saw a servant
run from the house and stop the cart. It was only to
find a place for the machinist, whom Levin had entirely
forgotten. The machinist, with a low bow, said some-
thing to Veslovsky, and clambered into the tarantas, and
they drove off together.
Stepan Arkadyevitch and the old princess were in-
dignant at Levin's conduct. And he himself felt that
he had been not only ridiculous in the highest degree,
but even blameworthy and disgraceful ; but as he re-
membered all that he and his wife had suffered, he
asked himself how he should do another time in similar
circumstances, and his answer was that he should do
exactly the same thing again.
In spite of all this, toward the end of the day, all of
them, with the exception of the old princess, who could
not forgive Levin's behavior, became extraordinarily
gay and lively, just like children after a punishment or
like grown people after a solemn official reception, so
that in the evening, in the absence of the old princess,
they talked about the dismissal of Vasenka as about
something that had taken place long, long before. And
Dolly, who had inherited from her father the gift of
telling a funny story, made Varenka laugh till she cried,
by telling her three and four times, and each time with
new amusing details, how she had just put on, in honor
of their guest, some new ribbons, and was just going
into the drawing-room, when, at that very minute, the
rattle of an old tumble-down wagon drew her to the
window. Who was in this old tumble-down wagon .-*
Vasenka himself ! and his Scotch cap, his love-songs,
his romantic airs, and his gaiters, seated on the straw !
" If only a carriage had been given him ! But no !
Then I hear a shout : * Hold on ! ' * Well,' I say to my-
self, ' they have taken pity on him ; ' not in the least ;
I look and see a fat German, — and off they go ! and
my ribbons were wasted."
ANNA KARENINA 129
CHAPTER XVI
Darya Aleksandrovna carried out her plan of go-
ing to see Anna. She was sorry to offend her sister,
or to displease her sister's husband. She realized that
the Levins were right in not wishing to have anything
to do with Vronsky ; but she considered it her duty to
go to see Anna and prove to her that her feehngs could
not change, in spite of the change in her position.
In order not to be dependent on the Levins, Darya
Aleksandrovna sent to the village to hire horses ; but
Levin, when he heard about it, went to her with his
complaint : —
"Why do you think this journey would be disagree-
able to me ? And even if it were, it would be still more
unpleasant for me not to have you take my horses,"
said he. " You never told me that you were really
going ; but to hire them from the village is disagreeable
to me in the first place, and chiefly because, though they
undertake to get you there, they would not succeed. I
have horses. And if you don't wish to offend me, you
will take mine."
Darya Aleksandrovna had to yield, and on the ap-
pointed day Levin had all ready for his sister-in-law a
team of four horses, and a relay, made up of working
and saddle-horses ; a very far from handsome turnout,
but capable of taking Darya Aleksandrovna to her
destination in one day.
Now that horses were needed to take the old princess
out for her daily drive, and for the midwife, it was a
rather heavy burden for Levin ; but, according to the law
of hospitality, he could not possibly think of allowing
Darya Aleksandrovna to hire horses outside, and, more-
over, he knew that the twenty rubles which was asked
for the hire of a team would be a serious matter for her,
for Darya Aleksandrovna's pecuniary affairs had got
into a very wretched condition, and caused the Levins
as much anxiety as if they had been their own.
Darya Aleksandrovna, by Levin's advice, set out at
VOL. III. — 9
13© ANNA KARENINA
early dawn. The weather was fine, the calash was
comfortable, the horses went merrily, and on the box,
next the coachman, in place of a footman, sat the book-
keeper, whom Levin had sent for the sake of greater
security.
Darya Aleksandrovna dropped off to sleep, and did
not wake up till they reached the place where they had
to change horses. It was at the same rich muzhik's
house where Levin had stopped on his way to Svia-
zhsky's. After she had taken tea, and talked awhile with
the women about their children and with the old man
about Count Vronsky, for whom he had great respect,
Darya Aleksandrovna proceeded on her way about ten
o'clock.
At home on account of her maternal cares she never
had much time to think. Consequently now, during this
four hours' journey, all the thoughts that had been so
long restrained suddenly began to throng through her
brain, and she passed her whole life in review as she
had never before done and from every side. These
thoughts were strange even to herself.
First she thought of her children, and began to worry
over them, though her mother and her sister — and
it was the latter on whom she chiefly relied — had
promised to look after them. " If only Masha does n't
do some stupid thing, and if Grisha does n't get kicked
by the horse, and if Lili does n't have an attack of indi-
gestion," she said to herself.
Then questions of the present moment began to
mingle with questions of the immediate future. She
began to consider how she must make changes in her
rooms when she returned to Moscow, she must refurnish
her drawing-room ; her eldest daughter would need a
shuba for winter. Then came questions of a still more
distant future. How should she best continue the chil-
dren's education ?
" The girls can be easily managed," she said to herself,
** but the boys .'' It is well that I am able to look after
Grisha, but it comes from the fact that I am free just
now, with no baby in prospect. Of course there 's no
ANNA KARENINA 13I
dependence to be placed on Stiva. I shall be able to
bring them up with the assistance of excellent people ;
but if I have any more babies ...."
And it occurred to her how unjust was the saying
that the curse laid on woman lay in the pangs of child-birth.
"Childbirth is nothing, but pregnancy is such misery,"
she said to herself, recalling the last experience of the
sort, and the death of the child. And the thought
brought to mind her talk with the young wife at the
post-house. When asked if she had children, this
peasant woman had answered cheerfully : —
" I had one daughter, but God relieved me of her ; she
was buried in Lent.
" And you are very sad about her } "
" Why should I be 1 father has plenty of grandchildren,
as it is, and she would have been only one care more !
You can't work or do anything ; it hinders everything."
This reply had seemed revolting to Darya Aleksan-
drovna, in spite of the young peasant-woman's appear-
ance of good nature, but now she could not help recalling
what she had said. There was certainly a grain of truth
in those cynical words.
" Yes, and as a general thing," said Darya Aleksan-
drovna, as she looked back over the fifteen years of her
married life, " pregnancy, nausea, dullness of spirits, in-
difference to everything, and worst of all, ugliness.
Kitty, our little, young, pretty Kitty, how ugly even
she has grown, and I know well what a fright I become
when I am in that condition. The birth-pains, the aw-
ful sufferings, and that last moment.... then the nursing
of the children, the sleepless nights, the agonies...."
Darya Aleksandrovna shuddered at the mere recollec-
tion of the agony which with almost every one of her
children she had suffered from broken breast.
Then the illnesses of the children, that panic of fear ,
then their education, their evil disposition ; she recalled
little Masha's disobedience in going to the raspberry
bush ; the lessons, Latin — everything that is so incom-
prehensible and hard. And, above all, the death of these
children.
132 ANNA KARENINA
And once more she went over the undying pangs that
weighed down her maternal heart in the cruel remem-
brance of the death of her youngest child, the nursHng
who died of the croup, and his funeral, and the indiffer-
ence of other people as they looked at the little pink
coffin, and her own heartrending grief, which none
could share, as she looked for the last time on the pal-
lid brow with the clinging curls, and the surprised half-
open mouth visible for one instant ere they shut down
the cover with its silver-gilt cross.
" And what is all this for ? What will be the result of
it all ? That I never have a moment of rest, spending my
days now in bearing children, now in nursing them, for-
ever irritable, complaining, self-tormented, and torment-
ing others, repulsive to my husband. I shall live on, and
my children will grow up wretched, ill-educated, and
poor. Even now, if I had not been able to spend the
summer with the Levins, I don't know how we should
have got along. Of course Kostia and Kitty are so
considerate that we can't feel under obligations to them ;
but this cannot go on so. They will be having children
of their own, and then they will not be able to help us
any more ; even now their expenses are very heavy.
What then .'' Papa, who has kept almost nothing for him-
self, won't be able to help us, will he ? One thing is per-
fectly certain, I cannot educate my children unaided ;
and, if I have to have assistance, it will be humiliating.
Well, let us suppose that we have good luck, if no more
of the children die and I can manage to educate them.
Under the most favorable circumstances they will at
least turn out not to be bad. That is all that I can
hope for. And to bring about so much, how much
suffering, how much trouble, I must go through My
whole life is spoiled ! "
Again she recalled what the young peasant woman
had said, and again it was odious to her to remember it;
but she could not help agreeing that there was a grain
of coarse truth in her words.
"Is it much farther, Mikhaila ? " asked Darya Alek-,
sandrovna of the bookkeeper, in order to check tHese
painful thoughts.
ANNA KARENINA 133
"They say it is seven versts from this village."
The calash was rolling through the village street and
across a little bridge. On the bridge was passing a
whole troop of peasant women talking, with loud and
merry voices, and carrying their sheaves on their backs.
The women paused on the bridge and gazed inquisi-
tively at the calash. All the faces turned toward Darya
Aleksandrovna seemed to her healthy and cheerful,
mocking her with the very joy of life.
"All are full of life, all of them enjoy themselves,"
said Darya Aleksandrovna, continuing to commune with
her own thoughts, as she passed by the peasant women
and was carried swiftly up the little hill, pleasantly
rocking on the easy springs of the old calash, "while I,
like one let loose from a prison, am free for a moment
from the life that is crushing me with its cares. All
other women know what it is to live, these peasant
women and my sister Natali and Varenka and Anna
whom I am going to visit — every one but me.
"And they blame Anna. Why.-* Am I really any
better than she .'' At least I have a husband whom I
love ; not, to be sure, as I wish I loved him, but I love
him in a way, and Anna did not love hers. In what
respect is she to blame .-* She desired to live. And God
put that desire into our hearts. Very possibly I might
have done the same thing. And to this day I am not
certain whether I did well in taking her advice at that
horrible time when she came to visit me in Moscow.
Then I ought to have left my husband and begun my life
all over again. If I had I might have loved and been loved.
And now are things any better ? I cannot respect him,
but I need him," she said to herself, referring to her
husband, " and so I endure him. Is that any better ?
At that time I still had the power of pleasing, I had
some beauty then," said Darya Aleksandrovna, still
pursuing her thoughts ; and the desire to look at her-
self in a mirror came over her. She had a small travel-
ing mirror in her bag, and she wanted to take it out ;
but, as she looked at the backs of the coachman and
the swaying bookkeeper, she felt that she should be
IJ4 ANNA KARENINA
ashamed of herself if either of them turned round and
saw her, and so she did not take out the mirror. Hut,
even though she did not look at the mirror, she felt that
even now it was not too late : for she remembered
Sergyei Ivanovitch, who was especially amiable to her,
and Stiva's friend, the good Turovtsuin, who had helped
her take care of the children during the time of the
scarlatina, and had been in love with her. And then
there was still another, a very young man, who, as her
husband used jestingly to remark, found her prettier
than all her sisters. And all sorts of passionate and im-
possible romances rose before her imagination.
" Anna has done perfectly right, and I shall never
think of reproaching her. She is happy, she makes
some one else happy, and she is not worn out as I am, but
keeps all her freshness and her mind open to all sorts of
interests," said Darya Aleksandrovna, and a roguish
smile played over her lips because, as she passed Anna's
romantic story in review, she imagined herself simul-
taneously having almost the same experiences with a
sort of collective representation of all the men who had
ever been in love with her. She, just like Anna, con-
fessed everything to her husband. And the amazement
and perplexity which she imagined Stepan Arkadye-
vitch displayed at this confession caused her to smile.
With such day-dreams she reached the side road that
led from the highway to Vozdvizhenskoye.
CHAPTER XVII
The coachman reined in his four horses, and looked
off to the right toward a field of rye where some mu-
zhiks were sitting beside their cart. The bookkeeper at
first started to jump down, but afterward reconsidered,
and shouted, imperatively summoning a muzhik to the
carriage. The breeze which had blown while they were
in motion died down, when they stopped ; the horse-flies
persisted in sticking to the sweaty horses, which kept
angrily shaking them off. The metallic sound of whet-
ANNA KARENINA 135
ting scythes, borne by the breeze across from the telyega,
ceased. One of the peasants got up and came over to
the calash. " Say, hurry up," cried the bookkeeper,
angrily, to the muzhik, who, in his bare feet, came
leisurely along the ruts of the dry and little-traveled
road, "come here."
The old man, whose curly hair was bound round with
a piece of bast, and whose bent back was black with
perspiration, quickened his step, and came up to the
calash, and took hold of the rim with his sunburnt hand.
" Vozdvizhenskoye ? the manor-house .'' ^ to the count's ? "
he repeated ; " why, all you have to do 's to drive on up
the hill. First turn to the left. Then straight along the
preshpekt and that '11 bring you there. Who do you
want ? The count himself .'' "
" Do you know whether they are at home, galubchik.? "
asked Darya Aleksandrovna, not mentioning names, for
she did not know how to ask for Anna even of a
muzhik.
" Must be at home," said the muzhik, shuffling along
in his bare feet and leaving in the dust the tracks of his
soles with their five toes. " They must be at home," he
repeated, evidently liking to talk. " This afternoon
some new guests came. Guests, such quantities of
them ! .... What do you want," he cried, addressing his
comrade, who shouted something from the cart,
"They've all been out on horseback. We saw them
go by. They must be back by this time. But whose
folks are you } "
" We have come from a long way," said the coachman,
climbing upon the box. " So then, it is not far."
" I tell you, you are almost there. If you drive on .... "
said he, shifting his hand on the rim of the calash.
His young comrade, healthy-looking and thick-set,
also came up to the carriage.
" Do you need any help in getting in the harvest ? "
he asked.
" I don't know, galubchik."
^ Barsky dvor, a dvor, or house and grounds, belonging to a barin ol
noble.
136 ANNA KARENINA
" Well, you understand, you turn to the left and then
you '11 get there," said the muzhik, evidently reluctant to
part with the strangers and anxious to talk.
The coachman touched up his horses, but they had
hardly started ere the muzhik cried : —
"Wait! he! hold on!" cried two voices together
The coachman reined in again. " There they come.
There they are," cried the muzhik. " See what a lot
of them," and he pointed to four persons on horseback
and two in a char a bancs who were coming along the
road.
They were Vronsky and his jockey, Veslovsky and
Anna, on horseback, and the princess Varvara with
Sviazhsky in the char a bancs. They had been out to
ride and to look at the operation of some newly imported
reaping-machines.
When the carriage stopped the riders were all walk
ing their horses. In front Anna rode with Veslovsky.
Anna rode at an easy gait on a little stout English cob
with a cropped mane and docked tail. Her pretty head,
with her dark ringlets escaping from under a tall hat,
her full shoulders, her slender waist in a tightly fitting
amazonka, and her whole easy, graceful horsemanship
surprised Dolly. At first it seemed to her unbecoming
for Anna to be riding horseback. Darya Aleksandrovna
connected the idea of horseback riding for ladies with
the idea of light, youthful coquetry, which seemed to
her did not accord well with Anna's position ; but as she
examined her more closely she immediately became
reconciled to her going on horseback. Notwithstanding
all her elegance, everything about her was so simple,
easy, and appropriate in her pose and in her habit and
in her motions, that nothing could have been more
natural.
Next to Anna, on a gray, fiery cavalry horse, rode
Vasenka Veslovsky, thrusting his fat legs forward, and
evidently very well satisfied with himself. He still
wore his Scotch cap with its floating ribbons, and
Darya Aleksandrovna could hardly restrain a smile of
amusement when she saw him.
ANNA KARENINA 137
Behind them rode Vronsky on a dark chestnut horse
of purest blood, which was evidently spoiling for a gal-
lop. He was sawing on the reins to hold him back.
Behind them came a little man in a jockey's livery.
Sviazhsky and the princess in a new char d bancs, drawn
by a plump raven-black trotter, brought up the rear.
Anna's face, as she recognized Dolly in the little per-
son curled up in a corner of the old carriage, suddenly
grew bright with a happy smile, and, uttering a cry of
joy, she put her cob to a gallop. Riding up to the
calash, she leaped off the horse without any one's aid,
and, gathering up her skirts, ran to meet her.
" I thought so, and did not dare to think so! What
pleasure! you can't imagine my joy," she said, pressing
her face to Dolly's, kissing her, and then holding her off
at arm's length and looking at her with an affectionate
smile. " What a pleasure, AlekseY," she said, glancing
at Vronsky, who had also dismounted, and was com-
ing toward them, " what a piece of good fortune ! "
Vronsky came up, raising his tall gray hat. "You
can't imagine what delight your visit gives us," said he,
in a tone which conveyed a peculiar satisfaction, and with
a smile which displayed his strong white teeth,
Vasenka, without dismounting from his horse, took
off his beribboned cap, and waved it gayly round his
head, in honor of the guest.
"This is the Princess Varvara," began Anna, in reply
to a questioning look of Dolly as the char a bancs came
up.
"Ah!" replied Darya Aleksandrovna, and her face
showed involuntary annoyance.
The J'rincess Varvara was her husband's aunt, and
she knew her of old, and did not esteem her. She
knew that she had lived all her life long in a humiliating
dependence on rich relatives; and the fact that she was
living at Vronsky's, at the house of a stranger to her,
insulted her through her husband's family. Anna
noticed the expression of Dolly's face, and was con-
fused ; she blushed, and, dropping the train of her
amazonka, she tripped over it.
138 ANNA KARENINA
Darya Aleksandrovna went over to the char d band
when it had stopped and coolly greeted the Princess Var-
vara. Sviazhsky was also an acquaintance. He asked
after his friend Levin and his young wife; then, casting
a fleeting glance at the oddly matched horses and the
patched side of the old carriage, he proposed that the
ladies should get into the char a bancs.
" I will take this vehicle to go home in ; the horse is
quiet and the princess is an excellent driver."
"Oh, no," interrupted Anna, coming up; "remain as
you are. I will go home with Dolly in the calash."
Darya Aleksandrovna's eyes were dazzled by the un-
exampled elegance of the carriage, and the beauty of
the horses, and the refined brilliancy of the company
around her, but more than all was she struck by the
change that had taken place in her old friend, her
dearly beloved Anna.
Any other woman, less observant, and unacquainted
with Anna in days gone by, and especially any one who
had not been under the sway of such thoughts as had
occupied Darya Aleksandrovna on the way, would not
have noticed anything peculiar about Anna. But now
Darya Aleksandrovna was struck by the transient beauty
characteristic of women when they are under the in-
fluence of love, and which she detected now in Anna's
face. Everything about her face was extraordinarily
fascinating: the well-defined dimples in her cheeks and
chin, the curve of her lips, the smile, which, as it were,
flitted over her features, the gleam in her eyes, the grace-
fulness and quickness of her movements, the richness
in the tones of her voice, even the manner with which
she, with a sort of sternly affectionate manner, replied
to Veslovsky, who had asked permission to ride her cob
so as to teach it to gallop by a pressure of the leg. It
seemed as if she herself was aware of this, and rejoiced
in it.
When the two ladies were seated together in the
calash, they both suddenly felt a sense of constraint.
Anna was confused at the scrutinizingly questioning look
which Dolly fixed on her, and Dolly because she could
ANN4 KARENINA IJ9
not help feeling ashamed of the dirty old calash in which
Anna had taken her seat with her.
The coachman, Filipp, and the bookkeeper experienced
the same feeling. The bookkeeper, in order to hide his
confusion, fidgeted about in helping the ladies to be com-
fortably seated ; but Filipp, the coachman, frowned and
was loath to acknowledge any such superficial superiority.
He put on an ironical smile as he scrutinized the raven-
black trotter harnessed to the char a bancs, and decided
in his own mind that the black trotter might do very well
for a prominazhe, but that he could not show forty versts
at a heat.
The muzhiks had left their telyega, and gayly and
curiously were watching the meeting of the friends, and
making their observations.
" They seem tolerably glad ; hain't seen each other
for some time," remarked the curly-haired old man.
" There, Uncle Gerasim, that black gelding would haul
in the sheaves lively ! "
" Glian'-ka, look ! Is that a woman in trousers .-* "
asked another, pointing at Veslovsky, sitting on the side-
saddle.
" Nye, muzhik! see how easy he rides."
" Say, then, my children, we shan't get another nap,
shall we .-* "
" No more sleep now," said the old man, squinting
his eyes and glancing at the sun ; " past noon ! Look !
Now get your hooks and to work."
CHAPTER XVIII
Anna looked at Dolly's tired, worn face, with the
wrinkles powdered with dust, and was on the point of
saying that she looked thin ; but, realizing that she her-
self had grown more beautiful than ever, and that Dolly's
eyes told her so, she sighed, and began to talk about
herself.
"You are studying me," she said. "You are won-
dering if I can be happy in my position I Well, what
HO ANNA KARE;^INA
can I say? It is shameful to confess it ! but I .... I am
unpardonably happy. What has happened is Uke a
piece of enchantment ; Hke a dream where everything
was terrible, agonizing, and suddenly you wake up and
realize that it was only a nightmare. I had been asleep,
I had suffered awful agonies, and now that is all long,
long past. And how especially happy I am now that we
are together ! " and she looked at Dolly with a timid,
questioning smile.
" How glad I am ! " Darya Aleksandrovna answered,
more coldly than she wished. " I am glad for you ; ....
but why have you not written me .'' "
" Why ? .... Because I did not dare to You knew my
position."
" Not dare .-• to me ! If you knew how I ...."
Dolly was about to tell her about the reflections she
had had on the journey, but somehow it did not seem to
her to be the fitting place. " We will have our talk by
and by," she added. " What is that group of buildings,
or little village rather } " she asked, wishing to change
the conversation, and pointing to some green and red
roofs which appeared through the acacias and lilac trees.
But Anna did not reply to her question.
,(|f" No, no ! how do you feel about my position .•* What
do you think of it .-* tell me ! " Anna went on.
"I think...." began Darya Aleksandrovna; but at
this instant Vasenka Veslovsky, in his short jacket,
spurring the cob into a trot with his right leg and creak-
ing terribly on the leather side-saddle, went dashing by
them.
" It goes, Anna Arkadyevna," he shouted.
Anna did not even look at him, but again it seemed
to Darya Aleksandrovna that it was impossible to begin
on this long conversation in the carriage, and so she said
less than she thought.
" I do not think about it at all," said she. ** I love
you and always have loved you. And when we love
people so, we love them for what they are, not for what
we wish they were."
Anna turned her eyes away from her friend's face, half
ANNA KARENINA 141
closing them in order better to take in the meaning of
the words. This was a new habit, which Dolly had
never seen in her before. Apparently she interpreted
her friend's answer as she wanted, and she looked at
Dolly.
" If you have any sins, they will all be blotted out by
this visit and by your kind words," she said, and Dolly
saw that her eyes were dimmed with tears. She silently
took her hand.
" What are those buildings ? What a lot of them ! "
said Dolly again, after a moment of silence.
" Those are the roofs of our buildings, — our barns and
stables," replied Anna. " Here our park begins. It
was all neglected, but AlekseT has made it new again.
He is very fond of this kind of occupation, and to my
great surprise he has developed a passion for farming.^
Ah, his is a rich nature ! Whatever he undertakes he
excels in. He not only does not get bored, but he is
passionately interested in it. I do not know how, but
he is making a capital farmer, so economical, almost
stingy — but only in farm ways. For things of other
sorts he will spend ten thousand rubles and never give
it a thought." ,
She said this with that joyously crafty characteristic
smile of women when they speak of the men they love,
and the secret peculiarities which they alone know about.
" Do you see that large building .'' That is a new
hospital. I think it will cost him more than a hundred
thousand. It is his hobby just now. Do you know
what made him build it ? The peasants asked him to
reduce the rent of some meadows, but he declined to do
so, and I told him he was stingy. Of course, it was n't
altogether that, but everything taken together, so he
began to build the hospital to prove my charge unjust;
c'est tme petitesse, perhaps, but I love him the better for
it. Now in a moment you '11 see the house. It was
built by his grandfather, and the outside hasn't been
changed at all."
" How beautiful ! " cried Dolly, with involuntary sur-
^ Khozydistvo.
14a ANNA KARENINA
prise at the sight of a stately house ornamented with
columns, and surrounded by a park filled with ancient
trees of various shades of green.
"Isn't it beautiful ? And the view from the second
story is magnificent."
They came into the dvor, or court, paved with small
stones and ornamented with flower-beds; two workmen
were at this moment surrounding a bed filled with loam
with roughly trimmed stones. They stopped under a
covered entrance.
" Oh, they have already arrived," said Anna, as she
^w the saddle-horses being led away. " Is n't that
horse a pretty creature .-* that cob ; he 's my favorite.
Bring him here and give him some sugar ! Where is
the count .'' " she asked of the two servants in Uvery
who came hurrying out to receive them. " Ah, here he
is ! " added she, perceiving Vronsky with Veslovsky
coming to meet them.
" Where shall we put the princess ? " asked Vronsky
of Anna, in French, and, without waiting for an answer,
once more greeted Darya Aleksandrovna, and this time
he kissed her hand, — " in the large balcony chamber, I
suppose .'' "
*' Oh, no, that is too far off. Better put her in the
corner chamber. We shall see more of each other.
Come, come," said she, giving her favorite horse some
sugar which the lackey had brought.
" Et vous oubliez voire devoir,'' she added, turning to
Veslovsky, who was already in the porch.
" Pardon, j'en at tout plein les poches," he replied,
smiling, and thrusting his fingers into his waistcoat
pocket.
" Mais vous venez trap tard,'' she repHed, wiping
her hand, which the horse had mouthed in taking the
sugar.
Anna turned to Dolly, —
"You'll stay with us a long time," said she. " Only
one day .-' That is impossible."
"That is what I promised, — and the children," an-
swered the latter, ashamed at the wretched appearance
ANNA KARENINA 143
of her poor little traveling-bag and at the dust with
which she felt herself covered.
" No, Dolly, dushenka However, we '11 talk of that
by and by. Come up to your room." And Anna con-
ducted Dolly up-stairs.
The room was not the chamber of honor which
Vronsky offered her, but one where she could be nearer
Anna ; but even this room, though they felt it needful
to apologize for it, was furnished with a luxury such as
she was not accustomed to, and which recalled the most
sumptuous hotels that she had seen abroad.
" Well, dushenka! how glad I am ! " said Anna, seat-
ing herself for a moment in her riding-habit. Tell me
about your family. I saw Stiva just an instant, but he
could not tell me anything about the children. How is
my darling Tania ? She must be a great girl ! "
"Yes, very large," answered Dolly, laconically, as-
tonished that she answered so coolly about her children.
" We are all living charmingly with the Levins," she
added.
" There ! If I had known," said Anna, " that you
wouldn't look down on me, .... you all would have come
here. Stiva is an old and good friend of Alekselt's,"
said Anna, blushing.
" Yes ! but we are so well .... " began Dolly in con-
fusion.
" Well ! I am so happy, I talk nonsense ; only,
dushenka, I am so glad to see you," said Anna, kissing
her again. " But you would not tell me what you think
about me; I want to know all. But I am so glad that
you see me just as I am. My only idea, you see, is to
avoid making people think that I am making any dis-
play. I don't want to make any display ; I want simply
to live and not do any harm to any one but myself.
Am I not right about it.-* However, we'll talk of all
this at our leisure. Now I 'm going to change my dress;
I will send you a waiting-maid."
g4* ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XIX
Darya Aleksandrovna, when left alone, examined
her chamber with the eyes of a genuine housekeeper.
All that she saw as she went through the house, and all
that she saw in the room, impressed her by its richness
and elegance ; and this new European luxury, which she
had read about in English novels, she had never seen
before in Russia, — certainly not in the country. All
was new, from the French tapestries to the carpet which
covered the whole room, the bed with its hair mattress,
the marble toilet-table, the bronzes on the mantel, the
rugs, the curtains, — all was costly and new.
The smart waiting-maid who came to offer her ser-
vices was dressed with much more style than Dolly, and
was as costly and new as the whole room. Darya Alek-
sandrovna liked her good breeding, her dexterity, and
her helpfulness ; but she felt confused at taking out be-
fore her her poor toilet articles from her bag, especially
a mended night-dress, which she had happened to put in
by mistake from among her oldest ones. She was ashamed
of the very patches and mended places which gave her
a sense of pride at home. It was clear that for six
nightgowns, it would take twenty-four arshins of nain-
sook at sixty-five kopeks, amounting to more than fifteen
rubles, besides the cost of the trimmings ; and these fif-
teen rubles were saved ; but in the presence of this brill-
iant attendant she felt not so much ashamed as awkward.
Darya Aleksandrovna felt great relief when her old-
time acquaintance, Annushka, came into her room to take
the place of the dashing chambermaid, who was needed
by her mistress.
Annushka was evidently very glad at the arrival of
her mistress's friend, and talked incessantly. Dolly
noticed that she was eager to express her opinion about
her mistress's position, and about the love and devotion
which the count showed to Anna Arkadyevna ; but she
peremptorily stopped her as soon as she began to talk
on this topic.
ANNA KARENINA 145
" I grew up with Anna Arkadyevna, and love her
more than the whole world. It 's not for us to judge
her, and she seems to love ...."
" Please have these washed, if it is possible," said
Darya Aleksandrovna, interrupting her.
" I will do so. We have two women especially for the
laundry, but the washing is done all by machinery. The
count looks out for everything. He is such a hus-
band ...."
Dolly was glad when Anna came in and put an end
to the babbling Annushka's confidences.
Anna had put on a very simple batiste gown. Dolly
noticed particularly this simple gown. She knew what
this simplicity meant, and how much money it repre-
sented.
"An old acquaintance," said Anna to Annushka.
Anna now was no longer confused. She was per-
fectly calm and self-possessed. Dolly saw that now she
was entirely free from the impression which her coming
had at first produced, and had assumed that superficial
tone of indifference which, as it were, closed the door to
the expression of real thought and feelings.
" Well, and how is your little daughter ? " asked
Dolly.
"Ani?" — for so she called her daughter Anna —
" very well. Her health is much better. Should you
like to see her ? Come, and I'll show her to you. We
have had great trouble with her," she went on to relate.
" We had an Itahan for her nurse; good, but so stupid ;
we wanted to send her back, but the little thing is so
much attached to her, we still keep her."
"But how have you done about...." began Dolly,
wishing to ask about the child's name; but, as she saw
Anna's countenance grow suddenly dark, she changed
the ending of the question. " Have you weaned her.'' "
Anna understood.
" That is not what you were going to ask. You were
thinking of the child's name, weren't you.? This tor-
ments Aleksef ; she has no name; that is, she is a
Karenin," and she closed her eyes so that only the lashes
VOL. HI. — 10
146 ANNA KARENINA
were visible " However," she added, her face sud-
denly lighting up again, " we will talk again about all
that ; come, and I'll show her to you. Elle est irh
gentille ; she is already beginning to creep."
In the nursery there was the same sumptuousness as
had struck Darya Aleksandrovna throughout the rest of
the house, only to an even higher degree. There were
baby-coaches imported from England, and instruments
for teaching children to walk, and a peculiarly arranged
divan like a biUiard table for creeping, bath-tubs, swings.
All were new, beautiful, solid, of English make, and
evidently very costly. The room was large, very high-
studded, and light.
When they entered the little girl with only her shirt
on was seated in an arm-chair by the table, and was eat-
ing her broth and spilling it all over her bosom. A
Russian maid-servant who assisted in the nursery was
helping her, and at the same time was apparently her-
self eating. Neither the Italian nurse nor the nurse-
maid was present ; they were in the next room, and could
be heard talking together in a strange French jargon
which was the only means they had of communicating
their ideas to each other.
The English maid, a tall, sprucely dressed woman with
a disagreeable face and an untrustworthy expression,
came into the doorway shaking her Hght brown curls
as soon as she heard Anna's voice, and immediately
began to offer her excuses, although Anna had not
chidden her. At every word Anna spoke the English
maid would several times repeat the phrase, " Yes, my
lady."
The dark-browed, dark-haired, rosy little girl, with
her strong, pretty little form, very much pleased Darya
Aleksandrovna in spite of the unfriendly look with which
she gazed at the stranger ; her healthy appearance also
pleased her, and her way of creeping. Not one of her
own children had learned so early to creep. This little
girl, when she was put down on the carpet and her dress
was tucked up behind, was wonderfully beautiful. With
her brilliant black eyes she gazed up at her elders Hke
ANNA KARENINA 147
a pretty little animal, evidently delighting in the fact that
they admired her, and she smiled ; and, putting out her
legs sidewise, she energetically crept about* now going
swiftly backward, and again darting forward, and clutch-
ing things with her little fingers.
But the whole atmosphere of the nursery, and especially
the English maid, struck Darya Aleksandrovna very un-
pleasantly. Only by the supposition that no respectable
person would consent to serve in a household as irregular
as Anna's, could she understand how Anna, with her
knowledge of people, could be willing to put up with
such an unsympathetic, vulgar maid. .
Darya Aleksandrovna, after a few words, observed
that Anna, the nurse, the maid, and the child were not
much wonted to each other, and that the mother was
almost a stranger in this part of the house. She wanted
to find a plaything for the little girl and did not know
where it was kept. Strangest of all, in answering the
question how many teeth the child had, she made a mis-
take, and did not know anything about the last two.
"It is always a grief to me that I am so useless here,"
said Anna, as they went out, holding up the train of her
dress so that it should not catch on any of the toys by
the door. " It was not so with my oldest."
** I thought, on the contrary ...." began Dolly, timidly.
" Oh, no ! You know that I have seen Serozha again,"
said she, half shutting her eyes and looking fixedly
before her, as if she sought for something far away.
" However, we '11 talk about that by and by. You can't
believe — but I am like a person dying of starvation,
who finds a banquet before her, and does not know
what to begin with. You and the talk I am going to
have with you are this banquet for me. With whom
could I speak openly if not with you ? I don't know
what topic to take up first. Mais je ne voiis ferai grace
de rien} I must tell you all.
" Well, I want to give you a sketch now of the people
you will meet here," she began. " First, the Princess
Varvara. You know her, and I know your opinion and
1 I shall not spare you anything.
148 ANNA KARENINA
Stiva's in regard to her. Stiva says her whole aim ot
Hfe consists in proving her preeminence over Aunt
Katerina Pavlovna. That is all true of her ; but she
is good, I assure you, and I am so grateful to her. At
Petersburg there was a time when 7m chaperon was
indispensable. Then she came along just in time. It
is really true ; she is good. She made my position much
easier. I see you don't know how difficult my position
was .... there in Petersburg ! " she added. " Here I am
very comfortable and happy. But about this afterward.
But I must tell you about our guests. Then there 's
Sviazhsky ; he is the marshal of the district,^ and a very
clever man, and he needed Aleksef for something. You
see, with his fortune, now, as we live in the country,
Aleksef can wield a wide influence. Then Tushkievitch ;
you have met him ; he was at Betsy's ; but they sent
him off, and he came to visit us. As Aleksei' says, he
is one of those very agreeable men, if one takes him
just as he wishes to appear, et puis il est comme il faiit,
as the Princess Varvara says. And then Veslovsky ....
you know him. A very good young fellow," she said,
and a mischievous smile curled her lips. " How about
that absurd story he told of Levin } Veslovsky told
Aleksei, and we don't believe it. // est trh ge7itil
et naif,'' she added, with the same smile. " I have
to entertain all these people, because men need amuse-
ment, and Aleksef needs society ; and we have to make
it lively and gay, so that AlekseY won't want some-
thing new. We also have with us the superintendent.
He is a German, a very good man, who understands his
business ; Aleksei" has great esteem for him. Then
there 's the doctor, a young man who is not exactly a
Nihilist, but, you know, he eats with his knife, but a
very good doctor. Then the architect, — utie petite cour''
* Predvodityel, marshal of the nobility.
ANNA KARENINA 149
CHAPTER XX
"Well, princess, here we have Dolly, whom you
wished so much to see," said Anna, as she and Darya
Aleksandrovna came out on the great stone terrace
where the Princess Varvara was sitting in the shade,
with her embroidery frame in front of her, making a
chair cover for Count AlekseY Kirillovitch. " She says
that she does not want anything before dinner, but
supposing you order luncheon brought in, while I go
and find the gentlemen."
The Princess Varvara gave Dolly a gracious and
somewhat condescending reception, and immediately
began to explain that she had come to live with Anna
because she loved her more than her sister, Katerina
Pavlovna, — that was the aunt that had superintended
Anna's education, — and because, now when all were
abandoning Anna, she considered it her duty to help
her at this trying period of transition.
" Her husband is going to grant her a divorce, and
then I shall go back to my solitude ; but, however pain-
ful it may be, I shall stay here for the present, and not
imitate the example of others. And how kind you are ;
how good of you to make this visit ! They live exactly
like the very best married people. Let God judge them ;
it is not for us. It was just so with Biriuzovsky and
Madame Avenyef, and then Vasiliyef and Madame
Mamonov, and Liza Neptunova. You see no one says
anything about them, and in the end they will be re-
ceived. And then c'est un int^riejir si j'oli, si covime it
faiit. ToHt-d-fait a Vanglaise. On se rhmit le matin
au breakfeast et puis on se s^pare} Every one does just
as he pleases till dinner-time. They dine at seven.
Stiva did very wisely to send you ; he would better keep
on good terms with them. You know the count has
great influence through his mother and his brother.
1 They have a perfect estabUshment, and the inside of their house is so
charming, so styHsh. It is altogether English. The family meets at break-
fast and then separates.
11© ANNA KARENINA
And then they do so much good. Has he told you
about his hospital? ^a sera admirable! Everything
from Paris."
This conversation was interrupted by Anna, who re-
turned to the terrace, followed by the gentlemen, whom
she had found in the billiard-room.
Considerable time still remained before dinner, the
weather was beautiful, and so various propositions were
made for their amusement during the two hours before
them.
There was every facility for diversion there at Voz-
dvizhenskoye and many of them were very different
from what they had at Pokrovskoye.
" Une partie de lawn tennis," proposed Veslovsky,
with his gay, contagious smile. " I '11 take one side
with you again, Anna Arkadyevna."
" No, it is hot ; suppose we go into the park, and take
Darya Aleksandrovna out in the boat to show her the
landscape," said Vronsky.
" I am agreeable to anything," said Sviazhsky.
" I think Dolly would like to do that better than any-
thing else," said Anna. " So then the boat-ride it is."
That having been decided, Veslovsky and Tushkie-
vitch went to the landing, agreeing to get the boat
ready, and the two couples took the path to the park ;
Anna walked with Sviazhsky, and Dolly with Vronsky.
Dolly was somewhat confused and embarrassed by
this absolutely novel environment in which she found
herself. Abstractly, theoretically, she not only justified,
but even approved, of Anna's conduct. Like the major-
ity of irreproachably virtuous women, wearying often of
the monotony of a virtuous Hfe, Dolly from a distance
excused illicit love, and even envied it a little. More-
over, she loved Anna with all her heart.
But in reality, finding her among these strangers, with
their fashionable ways, which were quite novel to her,
she was thoroughly ill at ease. Especially odious to her
was it to see the Princess Varvara forgiving everything,
because she could thereby share in her niece's luxury.
Abstractly and on general principles Dolly excused
ANNA KARENINA 151
Anna's conduct, but the sight of the man for whom she
had taken this step was unpleasant to her. Moreover,
Vronsky was not congenial to her at any time ; she
thought him very haughty, and could see no reason
except his wealth to justify his haughtiness. But in
spite of all her will-power, there in his own establish-
ment he more than ever impressed her with a sense of
his importance and she could not feel at ease with him ;
she felt just as she had felt when the maid took the
nightgown from her valise. Just as before the maid she
had felt, not exactly ashamed, but awkward, on account
of the patches, so now with Vronsky she felt all the
time, not exactly ashamed, but uncomfortable.
Dolly felt confused and cast about in her mind for
something to talk about.
Although she felt sure that he with his pride might
be displeased if she praised his house and park, never-
theless, finding no other topic of conversation, she re-
marked that she liked his house very much.
" Yes, it is a very handsome building, and in good old
style," replied the count.
" I liked the court in front of the steps ; was it
always so."*"
" Oh, no ! " said he, and his face shone with satisfac-
tion. " If you had only seen it in the spring ! "
And at first coldly, but warming as he went on, he
pointed out to Dolly the many improvements he had
made in the house and park. It was evident that Vron-
sky, having consecrated much labor to the improvement
and beautification of his establishment, really felt the
need of appreciation from some new person, and that he
was not a little gratified at Darya Aleksandrovna's praise.
" If you would like to look into the hospital and are
not tired, we might go that way. It is not far. Come,
let us go ! Shall we, Anna ? "
"Yes-— shall we not?" she said, turning to Svi-
azhsky ; " mats il ne faut pas laisser le fiauvre Veslovsky
et Tiishkievitch se morfondre Id dans le bateau ! ^ We
^ Btit we rimst not leave these gehtlemeti to wait ift vain {ft tos in the
boat.
1^2 ANNA KARENINA
must send word to them. Yes, This is a monument
which he will leave here," said she to Dolly, with the
same shrewd knowing smile on her face as when she
first spoke of the hospital.
" Oh, capital work ! " said Sviazhsky ; and then, not to
seem assenting from mere politeness, he added : —
" I am surprised, count, that you, who are doing so
much for the peasants' sanitary advantage, are so indif-
ferent to schools."
" C'est devenu tellentent commun, les icoles" replied
Vronsky. " You must know I do this to amuse myself.
This is the way to the hospital," said he, addressing
Darya Aleksandrovna, pointing to a side-path which
led from the avenue. The ladies put up their sun-
shades and walked along the side-path.
After making a few turns and passing through a
wicket-gate, Darya Aleksandrovna saw before her on
rising ground a large red building of complicated archi-
tecture not completely finished. The iron roof, not as
yet painted, ghttered in the sun. Near the hospital
itself there was another building going up, in the midst
of the woods, and workmen in aprons stood on scaffold-
ings laying the bricks, taking mortar from buckets and
smoothing it with trowels.
" How rapidly the work is going on," remarked
Sviazhsky. "The last time I was here the roof was
not in position."
" It will be ready by autumn, for the inside is
already nearly finished," said Anna.
" And what is this other new building } "
"A house for the doctor, and a pharmacy," replied
Vronsky ; and, seeing the architect, in a short overcoat,
approaching, he excused himself to the ladies, and went
to meet him.
Going round the mortar-pit, from which the workmen
were getting Hme, he joined the architect and began to
talk angrily with him.
" The pediment will be much too low," he replied
to Anna, who asked him what the discussion was
about.
ANNA KARENINA 153
" I said that the foundation ought to be raised," said
Anna.
" Yes ! Of course, it would have been better, Anna
Arkadyevna," said the architect; "yes, it was amis-
take."
" Yes, indeed ! I am very much interested in this,"
said Anna, in reply to Sviazhsky, who expressed his
surprise that the architect spoke to her as he did.
"The new building must correspond with the hospital.
But this was thought of afterward, and begun without
any plan."
Having concluded his talk with the architect, Vronsky
joined the ladies and conducted them into the hospital.
Though on the outside they were already placing the
cornices and were painting the lower part of the build-
ing, on the upper floors almost everything was done.
They went up by a broad cast-iron staircase to the
second story, and entered the first great room. The
walls were stuccoed for marble, the great glass win-
dows were already in place ; only the parquetry floor
was as yet to be finished, and the carpenters, engaged
in planing the squares, left off their work, and, removing
the tapes which bound their hair, greeted the visitors.
" This is the reception-room," said Vronsky. " In
this there will be not much besides the desk, a table,
and a cupboard."
" Here, come this way. Don't go near the window,"
said Anna, touching the paint to see if it was dry.
" Aleksef, the paint is beginning to dry."
From the reception-room they went into the corridor.
Here Vronsky explained the new system of ventilation ;
then he showed them the marble bath-rooms and the
beds with extra spring mattresses. Then he showed
them one after the other the wards, the laundry, then
the heating apparatus, then the noiseless barrows for
wheeling articles along the corridors, and many other
contrivances, Dolly was simply amazed at the sight of
so many novelties, and, wishing to understand it thor-
oughly, she asked a great many questions, which
Vronsky answered with the greatest alacrity.
154 ANNA KARENINA
" Yes, I think this hospital will be the only one of the
kind in Russia," remarked Sviazhsky.
" Shall you not have a lying-in department ? " asked
Dolly. " That is so necessary in this country. I have
often thought ...."
In spite of his politeness, Vronsky interrupted her.
" This is not an obstetrical institution, but a hospital,
and is meant for all except infectious diseases," said he.
"And now look at this," and he showed Darya Alek-
sandrovna a newly imported chair designed for con-
valescents. "Will you look at it, please .-^ " He sat
down in the chair and began to move it along. " He
can't walk.... or he is still weak, or he has a lame leg,
but still he must have the air, and so he goes out and
enjoys himself I "
Darya Aleksandrovna was interested in everything;
everything pleased her very much, but, more than all,
Vronsky himself pleased her with his natural nai've
enthusiasm.
"Yes, he is certainly a good, lovable man," she
thought, not Ustening to what he said, but looking at
him and trying to penetrate his expression, and then
momentarily looking at Anna. He pleased her so much
with his animation that she understood how it was that
Anna came to love him.
CHAPTER XXI
" No ; the princess must be tired, and the horses will
not interest her," said Vronsky to Anna, who had pro-
posed to show Dolly the stable, where there was a new
stallion that Sviazhsky wished to see. " You go there,
and I will escort the princess back to the house. And,
if you please," added he to Dolly, " we will talk a little
on the way, if that will be agreeable."
" I know nothing about horses, so I shall very will-
ingly go with you," said Darya Aleksandrovna.
She saw by Vronsky's face that he wanted something
of her, nor was she mistaken. As soon as they had
ANNA KARENINA ^^,5
passed through the wicket-gate again into the park, he
looked in the direction where Anna was gone, and, hav-
ing convinced himself that they were out of her sight
and hearing, he began : —
" You have guessed that I wanted to have a talk with
you," said he, looking at her with his smiling eyes, " I
am not mistaken in believing that you are Anna's friend,
am I ? "
He took off his hat, and, taking out his handkerchief
wiped his head, which was growing bald.
Darya Aleksandrovna made no reply, and only gazed
at him in alarm. Now that she was entirely alone with
him, she suddenly felt terror-stricken ; his smiling eyes
and the stern expression of his face frightened her.
The most diverse suppositions as to what he might be
wanting to talk with her about chased one another
through her mind.
" Can it be that he is going to ask me to come with
my children and make them a visit, and I shall be
obliged to decline ? or is it that he wants me to find
society for Anna when she comes to Moscow ? .... Or is
he going to speak of Vasenka Veslovsky and his rela-
tions to Anna .'' Or can it be about Kitty, and that he
wants to confess that he was to blame toward her.? "
She thought over everything that might be disagree-
able, but never suspected what he really wanted to talk
with her about.
" You have such an influence over Anna, she is so
fond of you," said he, " help me."
Darya Aleksandrovna looked timidly and question-
ingly into Vronsky's energetic face, which, as they
passed under the linden trees, was now lighted up by
the flecking sunbeams and then again darkened by the
shadows, and she waited for him to proceed ; but he,
catching his cane in the paving-stones, walked in silence
by her side.
" Of all Anna's friends, you are the only one who has
come to see her — I do not count the Princess Varvara
— I know very well it is not because you approve of our
position ; it is because you love Anna, and, knowing
156 ANNA KARENINA
the cruelty of her position, want to help her. Am 1
right?"
" Yes," said Darya Aleksandrovna, shutting up her
sunshade, " but .... "
" No," he interrupted, and he involuntarily stopped
and obliged her to stop also, though he had no intention
of putting his companion into an awkward situation.
" No one feels more strongly and completely the cruelty
of Anna's position than I do. And you will realize this
if you will do me the honor to believe that I am not
heartless. I am the cause of her being in this position,
and therefore I feel it."
"I understand," said Darya Aleksandrovna, invol-
untarily admiring him for the honest and straight-
forward way in which he said this. " But for the very
reason that you feel yourself the cause I fear you are
inclined tp exaggerate," said she. " Her position in
society is difficult, I admit."
"In society it is hell!" said he, frowning gloomily;
" you can't conceive moral tortures worse than those
which Anna endured at Petersburg during the fortnight
we were there; and I beg you to believe...."
"Yes, but here.-*.... And so far neither she nor you
feel the need of a society life." ....
" Society! why should I need it } " exclaimed Vronsky,
scornfully.
" Up to the present time, and perhaps it will be so
always, you are calm and happy. I see in Anna that
she is happy, perfectly happy, and she has already told
me that she is," said Darya Aleksandrovna, smiling.
And while she spoke the doubt arose in her mind : " Is
Anna really happy ? "
But Vronsky, it seemed, had no doubt on that score : —
" Yes, yes, I know that she has revived after all her
sufferings. She is happy .... she is happy now. But
I .-* " said Vronskv. " I am afraid of what the future
has in store for us .... excuse me, do you want to go .'* "
" No, it is immaterial."
" Well, then, let us sit down here."
Darya Aleksandrovna sat down on a garden bench
ANNA KARENINA 157
in a nook of the walk. He was standing in front of
her.
" I see that she seems happy," he repeated ; and the
doubt whether Anna was happy again rose in Darya
Aleksandrovna's mind more strongly than ever. " But
will it last ? Whether we did right or wrong is a hard
question ; but the die is cast," he said, changing from
Russian to French, " and we are joined for life ; we are
joined by the ties of love. We have one child, and we
may have others. But the law and all the conditions of
our state are such that there are a thousand complica-
tions, which Anna, now that she is resting after her
afflictions and sufferings, does not see and will not see.
It is natural ; but I cannot help seeing. My daughter,
according to the law, is not my daughter, but Karenin's,
and I do not like this falsehood," said he, with an ener-
getic gesture of repulsion, and looking at Darya Aleksan-
drovna with a gloomy, questioning face.
She did not reply, but simply looked at him. He
continued : —
" To-morrow a son may be born — my son — and by
law he would be a Karenin, and could, inherit neither
my name nor my property, and, however happy we were
here at home, and however many children we had, there
would be no legal connection between me and them.
They would be Karenins. You understand the cruelty,
the horror, of this state of things .-* I try to explain this
to Anna. It irritates her — she will not understand me,
and I cannot tell ker all. Now look at the other side.
I am happy in her love, but I must have occupation. I
have taken up my present enterprise, and I am proud
of it, and consider it far more beneficial than the occupa-
tions of my former comrades at the court and in the
service. And certainly I would not change my occupa-
tion for theirs. I work here, on my own place, and I am
happy and contented, and we need nothing more for our
happiness. I love my activity, ce/a n est pas un pis alter;
far from it."
Darya Aleksandrovna noticed that at this point of his
explanation he became entangled, and she did not under
158 ANNA KARENINA
stand very well his sudden pause, but she felt that, having
fairly begun to speak of his intimate affairs concerning
which he could not talk with Anna, he would now make
a full breast of it, and that the question of his activities
in the country belonged to the same category as his
relations to Anna.
"And so I keep on," said he, growing more cheerful
again, " The chief thing is that when one works one
must have the persuasion that what one has done will
not die with him, that he will have heirs .... but I have
none Conceive the feelings of a man who knows that
his children and those of the wife he worships do not
belong to him ; that they belong to a man who hates
them, and would never recognize them. Is n't it hor-
rible ? "
He was silent and deeply moved.
"Yes, of course," said Darya Aleksandrovna ; "I
understand this. But what can Anna do .'' "
" Well, that brings me to the purpose of this talk,"
said the count, controlling himself with effort. " Anna
can get a divorce. It depends on her If we are to
petition the emperor to legitimize the children, a divorce
is essential. But that depends on Anna. Her husband
consented to that, and your husband had it all arranged
some time ago, and I know that he now would not
refuse ; all it requires is for Anna to write to him. He
said up and down that he would consent, if Anna would
apply for it. Of course," he added, frowning, " this
condition is one of those Pharisaic cruelties of which
only heartless people are capable. He knows what
torture all remembrance of him has for her, and so he
exacts this letter from her. I understand that it is pain-
ful to her. But the reasons are so imperative that she
must passer pardessus toutes ces finesses de sentiment. II
va dn bonhenr et de V existence d' Antia et de ces enfants.^
I don't speak about myself, though it is painful, very
painful, to me," said he, with a wrathful expression
against whoever was responsible for this state of things.
1 She ought to be above these excessive sensibilities; her happiness is
involved, as well as her children's.
ANNA KARENINA r^
"And this is why I make bold to apply to you, princess,
as to a very anchor of salvation. Help me to persuade
Anna of the need of getting a divorce."
*' Why, of course I will," said Darya Aleksandrovna,
gravely, for she vividly recalled her last meeting with
Aleksel Aleksandrovitch. " Of course I will," she re-
peated resolutely, as she thought of Anna.
" Exert your influence on her and induce her to write
the letter. I do not wish, and indeed I find it almost
impossible, to talk with her about this."
"Very well, I will speak to her. But why does she
not think of it herself.-*" asked Darya Aleksandrovna,
suddenly remembering Anna's strange new trick of
half-closing her eyes. And then it occurred to her that
Anna did this especially when any reference was made
to the more intimate side of her life.
" She seems to try to shut her eyes to her whole life,
as if to put it out of her mind," said Darya Aleksan-
drovna to herself " Yes, I will speak to her, cer-
tainly ; both for your sake and for hers," repeated
Dolly, in response to Vronsky's grateful look.
And they got up and went to the house.
CHAPTER XXII
Finding Dolly already returned, Anna looked scruti-
nizingly into her eyes, as if she would read there a reply
to her wonder what she and Vronsky had been talking
about, but she asked no questions.
" Dinner is nearly ready, and we have hardly seen
each other. I count on this evening; but now I must
go and change my gown. I suppose you 'd like to do
the same. One gets so soiled after such a walk."
Dolly went to her room, and felt ridiculous. She had
no change to make, since she had worn her best gown ;
but, in order to make some change in her toilette, in
honor of dinner, she asked the maid to brush the dust
off, she changed her cuffs and put on a fresh ribbon,
and put some lace in her hair.
i6o ANNA KARENINA
"It is all I could do," she said laughingly, to Anna,
who came to her, dressed in a third but very simple cos-
tume.
" Well ! we are very formal here," said Anna, in apol-
ogy for her elegant attire. " AlekseY is so glad that you
came. I believe he has fallen in love with you," she
added. " I hope you are not tired."
Before dinner there was no time for any talk. When
they entered the drawing-room, they found the Princess
Varvara and the gentlemen all in evening dress. The
architect was the only one that wore a frock-coat.
Vronsky presented the doctor and the superintendent
to his guest. She had already met the architect at
the hospital.
A portly butler, wearing a stiffly starched white
cravat, and with his smooth round face shining, came
and announced that dinner was served, and the ladies
stood up. Vronsky asked Sviazhsky to escort Anna
Arkadyevna into the dining-room, and he himself offered
his arm to Darya Aleksandrovna. Veslovsky was
quicker than Tushkievitch in handing in the Princess
Varvara, so that Tushkievitch went with the doctor and
the superintendent.
The dinner, the service, the plate, the wine, and the
dishes served, not only corresponded to the general tone
of new luxury appertaining to the household, but seemed
even more luxurious and elegant. Darya Aleksandrovna
took note of this splendor, which was quite new to her,
and, as the mistress of an establishment of her own, she
could not help making a mental inventory of the details,
and wondering how and by whom it was all done ; and
yet she had no dream of introducing anything like it
into her own home, which was conducted on a scale of
far greater simplicity.
Vasenka Veslovsky, her own husband, and even
Sviazhsky and many more men whom she knew, had
never carried out anything like this, and every one of
them believed in the dictum that the master of a well-
regulated household always desires to make his guests
imagine that the elegance and comfort surrounding
ANNA KARENINA i6t
them are not any trouble to him, but come about spon
taneously.
Darya Aleksandrovna knew that even such a simple
matter as providing kasha for her children's breakfast
does not go of itself, and that all the more in such
an elegant and complicated establishment there had to
be some one in full and complete charge. And by the
glances with which Aleksef Kirillovitch took in the de-
tails of the table, and by the nods which he gave toward
the butler and by the way in which he offered Darya
Aleksandrovna the choice between botvinya and soup,
she understood that everything was done under the direct
superintendence of the master of the house. Anna had
nothing more to do with it than Veslovsky had. She
and Sviazhsky, the princess and Veslovsky, were only
guests, gayly and thoughtlessly taking advantage of
what was done for them.
Anna was khozya'ika, or mistress of the household,
only in the management of the conversation ; and this
conversation was very difficult at a small table among
guests belonging to such different spheres of life as the
superintendent and the architect, who were trying not to
be dazzled by such unwonted splendor, and who were
unused to taking part in a general conversation ; but
Anna went through with her task with her usual tact
and simplicity, and even with pleasure, as Darya Alek-
sandrovna noticed.
The conversation turned first on the way in which
Tushkievitch and Veslovsky had gone down alone to the
boat, and Tushkievitch began to speak of the recent
yacht-race under the auspices of the Petersburg yacht-
club. But Anna, taking advantage of the first pause,
quickly turned to the architect, in order to bring him
out of his silence.
" Nikolai' Ivanuitch was surprised," said she, referring
to Sviazhsky, " to see how the new building had grown
since he was here last. But I myself am here every
day, and every day I am surprised myself to see how
fast it progresses.
" It is good to work with his excellency," said the
VOL. III. — II
iJ^a ANNA KARENINA
architect, smiling He had a sense of the dignity of his
calling, and was a very worthy and self-possessed gentle-
man " You don't do such work under government
patronage. When they would write reams of paper, I
simply lay the plan before the count, we talk it over, and
three words decide it." -u
" American ways," suggested Sviazhsky, smiling. .rf
" Yes ! buildings there are raised rationally." ....
The conversation then went off on the abuse of power
in the United States ; but Anna immediately started him
on a third theme, in order to bring out the superinten-
dent from his silence.
" Have you ever seen the steam reaping-machines .'' "
she asked of Darya Aleksandrovna. " We had just
been to see ours when we met you. I never saw one
before."
" How do they work .'' " asked Dolly. ,7/
" Just like scissors. A plank and a quantity of little
knives. Like this ! "
Anna took a knife and fork into her beautiful white
hands covered with rings, and tried to show her. She
apparently saw that she did not make herself very clear,
but, knowing that she spoke pleasantly and that her,
hands were beautiful, she continued her explanations, u
" Better say pen-knives ! " said Veslovsky, with an
attempt at a pun,^ and not taking his eyes from her.
Anna smiled almost imperceptibly, but made no reply
to his remark.
"Am I not right, Karl, that they are like scissors .-""
she said, appealing to the director.
" 0/i,ja," replied the German. " £s ist ein gans ein-
f aches Ding ; " ^ and he began to explain the construction
of the machine.
" It is too bad that it does not bind the sheaves. I
saw one at the Vienna Exposition ; it bound them with
wire," said Sviazhsky. "That kind would be much
more convenient."
" £s kommt draiif an Der Preis von Draht muss
1 Nozhnitsui, scissors ; nozhitchki, little knives.
* It is a very simple thing.
ANNA KARENINA 163
ausgerechnet werdcji." And the German, aroused from
his silence, turned for confirmation to Vronsky — " Das
Idsst sick ausrechnen, Erlaiichty
The German put his hand into his pocket, where he
kept a pencil and notebook, in which he had an exact
statement, but, suddenly remembering that he was at the
dinner-table, and noticing Vronsky's cold eyes fastened
on him, he controlled himself.
" Zii complicirt^ inacht zu viel Klopofs," ^ he said in
conclusion.
" WiiJischt mail Dochots, so hat man audi Klopots,'' ^
said Vasenka Veslovsky, making sport of the German.
" J\idore r allemand,'' he said, with a peculiar smile,
turning to Anna.
" Cesses ! " said she, with affected sternness.
" We expected to find you on the field," said she to
the doctor, who was somewhat infirm. " Were you
there .? "
"I was there, but I evaporated," replied the doctor,
with a melancholy attempt at a jest.
" It must have been a beautiful motion."
" Magnificent."
" Well, and how did you find your old woman .-* I
hope it is n't the typhus."
" Whether it is typhus or not I can't tell yet, but ...."
" How sorry I am," said Anna ; and, having thus
shown her politeness to the dependents, she turned
again to her friends.
" At any rate, it would be pretty hard to reconstruct
a machine by following your description, Anna Arka-
dy evna," said Sviazhsky,
" No, why so.'' " said Anna, with a smile which inti-
mated that she knew there was something charming in
her description of the construction of the reaping-ma-
chines, and that even Sviazhsky had noticed it. This
new trait of youthful coquetry struck Dolly unpleasantly.
" Still, in architecture Anna Arkadyevna's knowledge
is very remarkable," said Tushkievitch.
^ Too complicated, makes too much bother.
* If one wants money, he must have bother.
i64 ANNA KARENINA
" Well, yesterday evening I heard Anna Arkadyevna
making some wise remark about plinths," said Veslovsky.
'' Would you find me doing that ? "
" There is nothing remarkable in that, when one
keeps one's eyes and ears open," said Anna. " But don't
you know what houses are built of ? "
Darya Aleksandrovna perceived that Anna was not
pleased with this tone of badinage which she and Veslov-
sky kept up, but that she fell into it involuntarily.
In this respect Vronsky behaved exactly the opposite
to Levin. He evidently attributed not the least impor-
tance to Veslovsky's nonsense, but, on the contrary,
encouraged this jesting.
" Well, tell us, Veslovsky, what they use to fasten
stones together."
" Cement, of course."
" Bravo ! And what is cement made of ? "
" Well, it is something like gruel No, a sort of
mastic," said Veslovsky, amid general laughter.
The conversation among the guests, with the excep-
tion of the doctor, the superintendent, and the architect,
who generally kept silence, went on without cessation,
now growing light, now dragging a little, and now
touching to the quick. ,ti
Once Darya Aleksandrovna was touched to the quick,
and felt so provoked that she grew red in the face, and
afterward she wondered if she made any improper or
unpleasant remark. Sviazhsky spoke of Levin and told
of some of his strange opinions in regard to machines
being injurious to Russian agriculture.
" I have not the pleasure of knowing this Mr. Levin ;
probably he has never seen the machines he criticizes.
But if he has seen and tried, they must have been
Russian ones, and not the foreign make. What can be
his views .''"
" Turkish views," said Veslovsky, smiling at Anna.
" I cannot defend his opinions," said Dolly, reddening ;
"but Levin is a thoroughly intelligent man, and if he
were here he would know what answer to make you,
but I can't."
ANNA KARENINA 165
" Oh, I am very fond of him, and we are excellent
friends," said Sviazhsky, smiling good-naturedly ; " mais
pardon, il est tm petit peu toqti^. For example, he con-
siders tht zemstvo and the justices of the peace — every-
thing — entirely useless — will have nothing to do with
them."
" It 's our Russian indifference ! " exclaimed Vronsky,
filling his goblet with ice-water from a carafe. " Not to
feel the obligations which our privileges impose on us
and so ignore them."
" I don't know any one who is more strict in the ful-
filment of his duties," said Dolly, irritated by Vronsky's
superior tone.
" I, on the contrary," continued Vronsky, evidently
somewhat piqued by this conversation, — " I, on the con-
trary, am very grateful, as you see, for the honor which
has been done me, thanks to Nikolaf Ivanovitch " — he
referred to Sviazhsky — "in my appointment as honorary
justice of the peace. I consider that for me the duty
of going to the sessions of the court, of judging the
affairs of a muzhik, are as important as anything that I
could do. And I shall consider it an honor if you elect
me a member of the town-council.^ This is the only
way that I can repay society for the privileges I enjoy
as a landed proprietor. Unfortunately the influence
which the large landed proprietors ought to wield is not
fully appreciated."
Vronsky's calm assurance that he was in the right
seemed very strange to Darya Aleksandrovna. She
knew that Levin, whose opinions were diametrically
opposite, was equally firm on his side ; but she loved
Levin, and so she was on his side.
" So we can depend on you at the next election, can
we } " said Sviazhsky. " But we ought to leave earlier,
so as to get there by the 8th. Will you do me the honor
to go with me, count } "
" I pretty much agree with your deau frhr," said
Anna, "though for different reasons," she added, with
a smile. " I am afraid that nowadays we are getting
^ The Russian name for this official is glasnui.
i6^ ANNA KARENINA
to have too many of these public duties, just as in old
times there were so many chinovniks that there was a
chinovnik for everything ; so now every one is becoming
a public functionary. Aleksel has been here six months,
and is already a member of five or six different public
commissions — wardenship,^ judge, town councilman,
juryman ^ — I don't know what else. Dii train que cela
va all his time will be spent on it. And I am afraid if
these things are multiplied so, that it will be only a
matter of form. You have ever so many offices, NikolaT
Ivanuitch, have you not.-* at least twenty, haven't you?"
she asked, turning toward Sviazhsky.
Anna spoke jestingly, but in her tone there was a
shade of irritation. Darya Aleksandrovna, who was
watching Anna and Vronsky attentively, immediately
noticed it. She saw also that the count's face assumed
a resolute and obstinate expression, and that the Princess
Varvara made haste to talk about some Petersburg ac-
quaintances, so as to change the subject; and, remember-
ing what Vronsky had told her in the garden about his
pleasure in activity, she felt certain that this conversa-
tion about public activities had something to do with a
secret quarrel between Vronsky and Anna.
The dinner, the wines, the service, were luxurious, but
everything seemed to Darya Aleksandrovna formal and
impersonal, like the state dinners and balls that she had
seen, and on an ordinary day and in a small circle it
made a disagreeable impression on her.
After dinner they sat down on the terrace. Then
they began to play lawn-tennis. The players, dividing
into two sides, took their places on the carefully rolled
and smoothly shaven croquet-ground, on which the net
was stretched between gilded posts. Darya Aleksan-
drovna was invited to play, but it took a long time
before she learned how, and when she got an idea of
the game she felt so tired that she went and sat down
by the Princess Varvara and only watched the players.
Her partner, Tushkievitch, also ceased playing, but the
others continued the game a long time. Sviazhsky and
1 Popechitelstvo.
ANNA KARENINA 167
Vronsky both played very well and earnestly. They
followed the tennis-ball with quick eyes as it was sent
from one side to the other, not wasting their energies,
and not getting confused, skilfully running to meet it,
waiting till it should bound, and with good aim and
perfect accuracy catching it on the racket and sending
it over the net.
Veslovsky played worse than the others. He got too
much excited, but nevertheless by his gayety he kept up
the spirits of the other players. His jests and shouts
never ceased. Like the other men, by the advice of the
ladies he took off his coat and played, and his tall,
well-shaped figure in his shirt-sleeves, and his ruddy,
warm face, and his violent motions made a pleasant
picture to remember.
When Darya Aleksandrovna that night lay down in
her bed, as soon as she closed her eyes she saw Vasenka
Veslovsky dancing about on the croquet-ground.
But while they were playing, Darya Aleksandrovna
did not feel happy. She was displeased with the frivolity
which Vasenka Veslovsky and Anna still kept up while
they were playing ; nor did such a childish game played
by grown men and women by themselves, without chil-
dren, seem natural or sensible. But lest she should de-
stroy the pleasure of the others and so as to pass away
the time, she rested a Httle while and then took part in
another game and made believe that she was gay. All
that day it seemed to her as if she were acting in a
comedy with better actors than herself, and that her
bad acting spoiled the whole piece. She had come
intending to stay for two days if they urged her. But
in the evening, during the game of tennis, she made up
her mind to go home the next day. Those very same
maternal cares which she had so hated as she thought
them over during her journey, now, after two days'
absence, presented themselves in another light and
began to attract her. When, after tea and after a
moonlight row in the boat, she went alone to her room,
took off her gown, and began to put up her thin hair foi
the night, she felt a great sense of relief.
iS8 ANNA KARENINA
It was even unpleasant to think that Anna would
soon be in to see her. She would have preferred to be
alone with her thoughts.
CHAPTER XXIII
Dolly was just feeling ready to go to bed when
Anna came in, in her night costume.
All that day Anna had more than once been on the
point of speaking intimately, but each time, after saying
a few words, she had put it off, saying, " By and by ;
when we are alone, we will talk. I must tell you
everything."
Now they were alone and Anna did not know what
to talk about. She sat by the window looking at Dolly,
and casting over in her mind that inexhaustible store of
topics which she wished to talk about, and yet she
could not find one to begin with. It seemed to her
as if she had already told all that was in her heart to
tell.
" Well, what about Kitty ? " asked Anna, sighing
deeply, and looking guiltily at Dolly. "Tell me the
truth, Dolly ; is she angry with me ? "
"Angry ? No," answered Dolly, smiling.
" Does n't she hate .... does n't she despise me ? "
" Oh, no ; but you know this is one of the things
people don't forgive."
*' Yes, yes," said Anna, turning away and looking out
of the open window. " But I was not to blame ! And
who is to blame .'' and what is there blameworthy about
it ? Could it have been otherwise ? Now tell me .-'
How do you think .-* Could you have helped being
Stiva's wife .-* "
"Truly, I don't know ; but you must tell me .... "
" Yes, yes ! But finish telling me about Kitty. Is
she happy ? They say her husband is an excellent
man."
" That *s too little to say, that he 's excellent ; I don't
know a better man."
ANNA KARENINA 169
" Oh, how glad I am ! I am very glad. * Little to
say, that he 's an excellent man,' " she. repeated.
Dolly smiled.
" But now tell me about yourself," said Dolly. " I
want a long talk with you. I have talked with ...."
She did not know what to call Vronsky — it was awk-
ward to call him either count or Alekself Kirillovitch.
"With AlekseT," said Anna. "Yes; I know that
you talked with him. But I wanted to ask you frankly
what you think of me.... of my life."
" How can I tell you at such short notice.? I don't
know what to say."
"No; you must tell me You see my life. But
you must not forget that you see us in summer with
people, and we are not alone ....but we came in the
early spring, we lived entirely alone, and we shall live
alone again. I ask for nothing better than living alone
with him. But when I imagine that I may live alone
without him, absolutely alone, and this would be .... I
don't see why this may not be frequently repeated, that
he may spend half of his time away from home," she
said, and, getting up, she sat down close by Dolly.
" Oh, of course," she said quickly, interrupting Dolly,
who was about to speak, " of course, I cannot keep
him by force.... I don't keep him. To-day there's a
race ; his horses race ; he goes. I am very glad ! But
you think of me ; imagine my situation .... what is to be
said about it ? " She smiled. " But what did he talk
v/ith you about .-' "
" He spoke about a matter which I myself wanted to
talk over with you ; and it is easy for me to be an advo-
cate of it, — about this : whether it is not possible or
essential to" — Darya Aleksandrovna hesitated — "to
improve, make your position legal .... you know how I
look at .... but anyhow, if possible, a marriage must take
place."
" You mean divorce .■' " said Anna. " Do you know,
the only woman who came to see me in Petersburg was
Betsy Tverskaya ! Perhaps you know her. A u fond
cest la femme la plus depravh qui existe. She had a
xyo ANNA KARENINA
liaison with this Tushkievitch, deceiving her husband
in the most outrageous way .... but she told me that she
did not wish to know me, because my position was
illegal ! Don't think that I compare .... I know you.
dear heart.^ But I could not help remembering it.
Well, what did he say to you .-' "
" He said that he suffered both for you and for him-
self ; maybe you will say that it is egoism, but what an
honorable and noble egoism ! He wishes to make his
daughter legitimate, and to be your husband and with a
husband's rights."
"What wife, what slave, could be more of a slave
than I, in my position } " she interrupted angrily.
" The main reason that he wishes it is that you may
not suffer."
" This is impossible. Well ? "
" Well, to make your children legitimate, to give them
a name."
"What children.''" said Anna, not looking at Dolly,
but half-closing her eyes.
" Ani, and those that may come to you."
"Oh, he can be easy ; I shall not have any more."....
" How can you say that you won't have any more.-^"....
" Because I will not have any more ; " and, in spite of
her emotion, Anna smiled at the naive expression of
astonishment, of curiosity, and horror depicted on Dolly's
face. " After my illness the doctor told me...."
" It is impossible," exclaimed Dolly, looking at Anna
with wide-opened eyes. For her this was one of those
discoveries, the consequences and deductions of which
are so monstrous that at the first instant it touches only
the feeling, that it is impossible to grasp it, but that it
rouses momentous trains of thought.
This discovery, which explained for her how hap-
pened all these hitherto inexplicable families of one
or at most two children, stirred up so many thoughts,
considerations, and contradictory feelings that she could
1 Pushenka nioya.
ANNA KARENINA IJ:\
not say a word, and only gazed with wide-open eyea
of amazement at Anna. It was the very thing of
which she had dreamed, but now that she knew it
was possible she was horror-struck. She felt that it
was a quite too simple solution of a too complicated
question.
"■N'est ce pas immorali" she asked, after a mo-
ment's silence.
" Why .? Remember that I must choose between two
things : either being pregnant, that is to say, sick, or
being the friend, the companion, of my husband ; for so I
consider him. If that is a doubtful fact to you, it is not
so to me," said Anna, in an intentionally superficial and
frivolous tone.
"Yes, yes, but...." exclaimed Darya Aleksandrovna,
hearing the very same arguments which she had brought
up to herself, and no longer finding in them their former
weight.
" For you, for other women," proceeded Anna, apparr
ently divining her thoughts, " there may be some doubt
about this; but for me Just think! I am not his
wife ; he will love me just as long as he loves me ; and
how, by what means, am I to keep his love? It ji^ by
this." _ rl^ , ,-.7Ji
And she put out her white arms in front of her beau-
tiful body.
With extraordinary rapidity, as always happens in
moments of emotion, all sorts of thoughts and ideas went
rushing through Darya Aleksandrovna's mind.
" I have not tried," she reasoned, " to attract Stiva to
myself ; he deserted me for some one else, and the first
woman for whom he sacrificed me did not retain him by
being always pretty and gay. He threw her over and
took another. And will Anna be able to fascinate and
retain Count Vronsky.-' If that is what attracts him,
then he will be able to find women who dress even bet-
ter and are more fascinating and merry-hearted. And
however white, however beautiful, her bare arms, how-
ever beautiful her rounded form, and her animated face
framed in her black hair, he will be able to find still
172 ANNA KARENINA
better, more attractive women, just as my abominable,
wretched, and beloved husband has done."
Dolly made no reply, and only sighed. Anna re-
marked this sigh, which signified dissent, and she pro-
ceeded. She had in reserve still more arguments, still
stronger, and impossible to answer.
" You say that this is immoral. But this requires to
be reasoned out," she went on saying. " You forget my
position. How can I desire children .■* I don't say any-
thing about the suffering, I am not afraid of that. But
think what my children will be ! Unfortunate beings,
who will have to bear a name which is not theirs, — by
their very birth compelled to blush for their father and
mother."
" Well, this is the very reason why a divorce is neces-
sary."
But Anna did not hear her. She wanted to produce
the same arguments by which she had so many times
persuaded herself.
" Why was the gift of reason bestowed on me, if I
cannot employ it in preventing the birth of more un-
happy beings ? "
She looked at Dolly, but without waiting for any an-
swer she went on : —
" I should always feel my guilt toward these unhappy
children. If they do not exist, they will not know mis-
ery; but if they exist and suffer, then I am to blame."
These were the same arguments as Darya Aleksan-
drovna had used to herself, but now she listened and
did not understand them. She said to herself : —
" How can one be culpable with regard to non-ex-
istent existences .'' " And suddenly the thought came,
" Could it have been possibly any better if my darling
Grisha had never existed .-' " and it struck so unpleasantly,
so strangely, that she shook her head to chase away the
cloud of maddening thoughts that came into her mind.
"No, I do not know; I believe it wrong," she said,
with an expression of disgust.
" But you must not forget that you and I .... and more-
over," added Anna, notwithstanding the wealth of hei
ANNA KARENINA 173
own arguments and the poverty of poor Dolly's, seem-
ing somehow to recognize that this thing was immoral
after all, — "you must not forget the main thing, that I
am not now in the same position as you are. For you
the question is, Do you wish to have more children ? but
for me, Do I desire them ? This is the principal differ-
ence. You must know that I cannot desire them in my
position."
Darya Aleksandrovna was silent. She suddenly be-
came aware that such an abyss separated her from Anna
that between them certain questions existed on which
they could never agree, and which had best not be
discussed.
CHAPTER XXIV
"That shows all the more necessity for legalizing
your position, if possible."
"Yes, if possible,'' answered Anna, in an entirely dif-
ferent tone, calm and sweet.
" Is a divorce entirely impossible .-' They tell me
your husband has consented."
" Dolly, 1 do not wish to talk about this."
"Well, we will not," Darya Aleksandrovna hastened
to say, noticing the expression of suffering on Anna's
face. " Only it seems to me that you look too much on
the dark side."
" I .'' Not at all ; I am very happy and contented.
You ?,?iw,Je fais des passions with Veslovsky .... "
" Yes ! To tell the truth, Veslovsky's manner dis-
pleases me very much," said Darya Aleksandrovna, will-
ing enough to change the conversation.
" Oh ! there 's nothing ! It tickles Aleksef, and that 's
all there is of it. But he is a mere boy and entirely in
my hands. You understand, I do as I please with him ;
just as you do with your Grisha Dolly ! " — she sud-
denly changed the subject — "you say that I look on
the dark side. You can't understand. This is too terri-
ble ; I try not to look at all ! "
" You are wrong ; you ought to do what is necessary.'
174 ANNA KARENINA
" But what is necessary ? You say I must marry
Aleksef, and that I don't think about that. / not think
about that ! " she exclaimed, and the color flew over her
face. She got up, straightened herself, and began walk-
ing up and down the room with her graceful gait, stop-
ping now and then. " Not think about that ! There is
not a day or an hour when I do not think of it, and
blame myself for thinking of it; — because the thought
of it will make me mad — will make me mad," she
repeated. "When I think of it, I cannot go to sleep
without morphine. But very good ! let us speak calmly.
You talk about divorce, but in the first place Jie would not
consent ; he is now under the Countess Lidya's influence."
Darya Aleksandrovna, reclining in her easy-chair with
a sympathetic and sorrowful face, watched Anna as she
walked up and down. She shook her head.
" We must try," said she.
"Suppose I should try. What does it mean.^" she
asked, evidently expressing a thought which she had
gone over in her own mind a thousand times and had
learned by heart. " It means that I, who hate him, and
who have nevertheless confessed my guilt to him — I
believe in his magnanimity — that I humiliate myself to
write him Well! suppose I make the effort; sup-
pose I do it. I shall receive either an insulting answer
or his consent. Good, I get his consent .... " Anna at
this time was in the farthest end of the room and stopped
there to arrange a window-curtain. " I get his con-
sent .... but my s-son } You see he will not give him
to me I No, he will grow up despising me, living with
his father, whom I have left. Just think, I love these
two almost equally, both more than myself ; these two,
Serozha and Aleksei."
She advanced to the middle of the room and stood in
front of Dolly, pressing her hands to her breast. In her
white peignoir she seemed wonderfully tall and large.
She bent her head, and, looking out of her moist, shining
eyes on the little, homely, lean Dolly, sitting there in
her darned nightgown and nightcap, all a-tremble with
emotion, went o.n : ^^
ANNA KARENINA 475
" These two only I love, and the one excludes the
other. I cannot bring them together, and yet this is
the one thing I want. If this were not so, it would be all
the same, — all, all the same. It will end in .some way ;
but I cannot, I will not, talk about this. So do not
despise me, do not judge me. You in your purity
could never imagine what I suffer ! "
She sat down beside Dolly and, with a guilty expres-
sion in her eyes, took her hand.
" What do you think ? What do you think of me ?
Do not despise me ! I do not deserve that ; I am mis-
erably unhappy. If there is any one unhappy, it is I .... "
said she, and, turning away, she began to weep.
After Anna left her, Dolly said her prayers and went
to bed. She pitied Anna with all her soul while she
was talking with her ; but now she could not bring her-
self to think of her. Memories of home and her children
arose in her imagination with new and wonderful joy.
So dear and precious seemed this little world to her that
she decided that nothing would tempt her to stay longer
away from them, and that she would leave the next day.
Anna, meantime, returning to her dressing-room, took
a glass, and poured into it several drops of a mixture
containing chiefly morphine, and, having swallowed it,
she sat a little while motionless, then went with a calm
and joyous heart to her bedroom.
When she went into her sleeping-room, Vronsky
looked scrutinizingly into her face. He was trying to
discover some trace of the talk which he knew by the
length of her stay in Dolly's room she must have had
with her. But in her expression, which betrayed a cer-
tain repressed excitement, as if she were trying to con-
ceal something, he found nothing except the beauty to
which he was so accustomed, and which always intoxi-
cated him, and the consciousness of it and the desire
that it might still have its usual effect on him.
He did not like to ask her what they had been talk-
ing about, but hoped that she herself would tell him.
But she only said : —
" I am glad you like Dolly ; you do, don't you ? "
176 ANNA KARENINA
" Yes ! I 've known her for a long time. She 's a
very good woman, mais cxcessivcment terre a ten'e. But
still I am well pleased at her visit."
He gave Anna another questioning look, and took
her hand ; but she understood his look in another way,
and smiled.
The next morning, in spite of repeated urging from
her hosts, Darya Aleksandrovna prepared to go away.
Levin's coachman, in his old kaftan and a sort of postil-
ion's cap, put the unmatched horses into the old carr
riage with its shabby harness, and, looking stern and
resolute, drove up the sanded driveway to the covered
portico.
Darya Aleksandrovna took a cold farewell of the
Princess Varvara and the gentlemen. The day that
they had passed together made them all see clearly that
they had no interests in common, and that they were
better apart. Anna only was sad. She knew that no
one would waken again in her the feelings which Dolly
had aroused in her soul. To have these feelings
aroused was painful to her, but still she knew that they
represented all the better side of her nature, and that
soon all vestige of such feelings would be stifled by the
life that she was leading.
As soon as she got fairly away from the house, Darya
Aleksandrovna experienced a pleasant feeling of relief,
and she was about to ask her men how they liked the
Vronskys, when suddenly the coachman, Filipp himself,
spoke out : —
" They 're rich, rich enough, but they give only three
measures of oats. The horses cleaned it all up before
cockcrow. What are three measures ? Only a bite.
Nowadays oats cost only forty-five kopeks. With us,
we give our visitors' horses as much as they will eat."
" A stingy barin," said the bookkeeper.
" Well, but you liked their horses, did n't you.? " asked
Dolly.
" The horses, yes, they were all right. And the food
was good. But still somehow I felt kind of homesick,
fl
ANNA KARENINA 177
Darya Aleksandrovna ; I don't know how it was with
you," said he, turning to her his good, handsome face.
" Yes, and so did I. But do you think we shall get
home this evening ? "
" We must get home."
On reaching home and finding every one perfectly
happy and glad to see her, Darya Aleksandrovna, with
great liveliness, told the story of her trip and how warmly
she had been received, about the luxury and good taste
of the Vronskys' estabhshment and about their amuse-
ments ; and she would not allow any one to say a word
against them.
" You must know Anna and Vronsky, — and I know
him better than I did, — to appreciate how kind and
affectionate they are," said she, with perfect sincerity,
forgetting the vague feeling of discomfort that she had
felt when she was there.
CHAPTER XXV
Vronsky and Anna passed the rest of the summer
and part of the autumn in the country under the same
conditions, and took no steps toward getting a divorce.
It was agreed between them that they should not make
any visits ; but they both felt that the longer they lived
alone, particularly in the autumn, and without guests,
the more unendurable became their Ufe, and that they
must have some change. c^rnhi -
Nothing which constitutes happiness was apparently
wanting to them. They were rich, young, well ; they
had one child, and they had pleasant occupations.
Though they had no guests, Anna continued to take
the greatest care of her person and her dress. She
read much, both in the way of novels and of serious
literature, and sent abroad for valuable books which
she saw praised in the foreign magazines and journals.
And she read carefully, as one can do only when in the
solitude of the country. Moreover, all subjects which
interested Vronsky, she studied up in books and scien-
voL. in. — 12
fjrg ANNA KARENINA
tific journals, so that often he went directly to her with
questions relating to agronomics and to architecture,
even with those on the breeding of horses, and the best
methods of hunting. He was amazed at her knowledge
and her memory ; and when he felt any doubt about the
beginning of an enterprise and wanted moral support,
he would consult her, and she would find in books what-
ever he asked about and then show it to him.
The arrangement of the hospital also occupied her.
She not only assisted in it, but, moreover, invented
many original ideas and carried them out. But, after
all, her chief preoccupation was herself .... herself and
how she might retain Vronsky's affections, how she
might supply for him all that he needed.
Vronsky appreciated this, and saw that the only aim
of her life was to please him and to obey his wishes in
every particular ; but at the same time he was op-
pressed by the chains of -tenderness which she tried
to forge around him. As time went on, he found
himself more and more embarrassed by these chains,
and more desirous of, if not exactly escaping from them,
at least of keeping them from interfering with his inde-
pendence. If it had not been for his ever increasing
desire for freedom, if it had not been for the fact that
every time he had to go to the city, to the races, there
was a scene with Anna, Vronsky would have been
perfectly contented with his existence.
The role of rich landed proprietor, which he had
chosen for himself as constituting the true work of the
Russian aristocracy, and which he had been engaged
in now for half a year, gave him ever increasing pleasure.
His work, which absorbed him more and more, was
prospering admirably. Notwithstanding his enormous
expenses for the building of the hospital, for machinery,
and cattle imported from Switzerland, and many other
things, he felt sure that he was not wasting, but increas-
ing, his property. As far as it concerned the matter of
income, the sale of wood, of wheat, of wool, the leasing
of land, Vronsky was as firm as a rock, and succeeded
in holding to his price. In matters concerning his whole
ANNA KARENINA ff9
management, both on this and on his other estates, he
kept to the simplest and least risky processes, and was
to the highest degree economical and prudent in all
details. Notwithstanding all the cleverness and shrewd-
ness of his German superintendent, who tried to involve
him in purchases and who so managed every calculation
that a large outlay was needed at first, but where, by
waiting a little, the same thing could be done much
cheaper and with greater profit, Vronsky used his own
judgment. He would listen to his superintendent, would
ask him all sorts of questions, and consent to his pro-
posed plans only when the thing to be imported or con-
structed was something perfectly new, unheard of as
yet in Russia, and calculated to cause surprise. More-
over, he would decide to embark in large enterprises
only when he had plenty of money on hand, and in
entering on any such outlay he attended to all the details,
and insisted that he should have the very best results.
Thus it was evident that in carrying out his undertakings
he was not dissipating, but was increasing, his estate.
In the month of October the government of Kashin,
in which were situated the estates of Vronsky, Sviazhsky,
Koznuishef, and a part of Levin's, was to hold its nobiliary
elections. 1 These elections, for many reasons, and because
of the persons who took part in them, attracted general
attention. Much was said about them and great prepa-
rations were made for them. People from Moscow,
Petersburg, and even 'from abroad, who had never wit-
nessed an election, came to look on.
Vronsky had some time before promised Sviazhsky to
go with him.
Just before the elections, Sviazhsky, who had often
visited Vozdvizhenskoye, came after Vronsky. On
the evening before this event Vronsky and Anna almost
had a quarrel about his proposed trip. It was getting
autumnal in the country, a melancholy, gloomy time,
and therefore Vronsky, already ready for a contest,
announced with a cold, stem expression, such as he rarely
allowed himself toward Anna, that he was going away on
^ Dvorianskiye vuiborui.
i>8o ANNA KARENINA
this expedition. But to his surprise Anna received the
news with entire calmness, and only asked him when he
should be back. He looked at her scrutinizingly, not
understanding her calmness. She smiled as he looked
at her. He knew her power of retiring into herself, and
he knew that it was manifested only when she was plan-
ning something about herself and did not wish him to
know her plans. He was afraid of this now, but he was
so desirous of avoiding a scene that he almost forced
himself into believing that her manner was sincere.
" I hope you will not be lonely."
"I hope so too," said Anna. "I received a box of
books from Gautier yesterday ; no, I shall not be lonely."
" She is adopting a new tone, and so much the better,"
thought he ; " but it is all the same thing."
And so, without entering into any frank explana-
tion with her, he started off for the elections. This was
the first time since the beginning of their liaison that he
had left her without full and complete explanation. In
one way this disquieted him ; in another, he felt that it
was better so.
" At first there will be something as there is now, not
altogether clear and above board, but after a while she
will get used to it. At all events," he thought, *' I can
give up to her everything except my independence as a
man."
CHAPTER XXVI
In September Levin returned to Moscow for Kitty's
confinement.
He had already been there a whole month without
anything to do, when Sergyef Ivanovitch, who had an
estate in the government of Kashin, and who took a
great interest in the approaching elections, was getting
ready to make the journey. He took with him his
brother, who had a parcel of land in the Seleznevsky
district, and who, moreover, had some very important
business to transact in regard to a trusteeship and the
ANNA KARENINA i8i
receipt of certain money in Kashin in behalf of his sister,
who lived abroad.
Levin was even at the last moment in a state of un-
certainty, but Kitty, seeing that he was bored in Moscow,
not only urged him to go, but without his knowledge
bought him a noble's uniform at an expense of eighty
rubles. And these eighty rubles paid out for the uni-
form constituted the chief reason which induced Levin
to go. He therefore went to Kashin.
He had been at Kashin six days, present at every
session of the electors, and employing himself in his sis-
ter's affairs, which did not progress at all satisfactorily.
All the marshals of nobility were absorbed in the elec-
tions, and it was impossible to accomplish the very simple
business which depended on his guardianship. The
other matter — the receipt of some money — in the
same way caused him great delay. After long parley-
ings concerning the removal of an interdict, the money
was ready to be paid over ; but the notary, a most
obliging man, could not deliver the paper, because the
signature of the president was necessary, and the presi-
dent, neglecting his duties, was at the sessions of the
nobles. All these annoyances, this wandering from
place to place, these talks with very pleasant good men,
who thoroughly appreciated the disagreeable position of
the petitioner but could not help him, all this endeavor
which brought no result, produced on Levin's mind a
most painful impression, analogous to that tormenting
impotence which one sometimes experiences in a night-
mare when one wants to employ physical force and is
unable to do so. He frequently experienced this when
talking with that most obliging of men, the solicitor.
This solicitor, it seemed, was doing everything in his
power and was exerting all his mental energies to get
Levin out of his difficulties.
"Try this way or that way," he would say, *' or go to
this place or to that place ; " and the solicitor would lay
out a whole plan for avoiding the fatal obstacle that
stood in the way. But immediately he would add,
"Still there's a delay; however, try it." And Levin
i^^ ANNA KARENINA
would go flying off in this direction or that, and doing
whatever he was told to do. All were good and kind,
but it seemed as if the obstacles, even after he had
passed them, kept growing up again and cutting off his
path.
Especially annoying was it to him that he could
never know with whom he was really contending, for
whose profit it was that he could never bring his busi-
ness to a conclusion. And no one seemed to know this
either. Not even the solicitor knew this. If Levin
could have understood, as he understood why it was im-
possible to get at the office of a railway otherwise than
by standing in line, it would not have been humiliating
and vexatious, but, as regarded the obstacles that stood
in his way, not one could tell him why they existed
But Levin had greatly changed since his marriage.
He had learned patience, and if he could not compre-
hend why all this was arranged as it was, then he told him-
self, since he did not know all about it, he was not in a
position to judge, that apparently it was unavoidable;
and he strove not to lose his temper.
Now that he was present at the elections, he endeav-
ored not to be severe in his criticisms, nor to enter into
controversies, but as far as he could to understand the
matters which excellent and honorable men whom he
thoroughly respected found so serious and so absorbing.
Since his marriage Levin had opened his eyes to so
many new and serious sides of life which had hitherto
seemed to him, in his superficial view of them, of no
great importance, that now in the matter of the elections
he looked for a serious significance and found one.
Sergyef Ivanovitch explained to him the idea and sig-
nificance of the change which was proposed to the elec-
tors. The governmental predvodityel, or marshal of
nobility, had charge of very many matters of public im*
portance, — as, for example, guardianships, such as the
one which Levin himself was now trying to bring into a
satisfactory shape, — and large sums of money and the
direction of the gymnasia, or schools for women, and for
the peasantry and the military and the training of the
ANNA KARENINA 1S3
people for their new duties, and finally of the zemstvo, or
popular assembly. Now the present marshal, Snetkof,
was a man of the old aristocratic stamp, who had squan-
dered an enormous property, was a very worthy and
honorable man in his way, but wholly incapable of com-
prehending the new needs of the present time. He
always on every occasion took the side of the nobles;
he always cast the whole weight of his influence against
the extension of popular education and he gave the
zemstvo, which was coming to have such an enormous
significance, a partisan character.
It was considered necessary to put in his place a new
and active man, imbued with the most enlightened
modern ideas, and to manage the business so as to ex-
tract from all the rights given to the noblesse,^ not as Xhp
noblesse, but simply as a constituent part of the zemstvo,
such advantages of self-government as were possible.
In the rich government of Kashin, which always took
the lead in every advance, such forces were now con-
centrated that the business now before the assembled
nobles would be likely to set an example for all the
other departments, indeed for all Russia, And there^
fore the business had a great importance.
It was proposed to elect as marshal instead of Snet-
kof, either Sviazhsky, or, still better, Nevyedovsky, a
man of eminent understanding, formerly a professor,
who was an intimate friend of Sergyei Ivanovitch's.
The sobranie, or provincial assembly, was opened by a
speech from the governor, who urged the nobihty to elect
the necessary functionaries, not from partisan reasons, but
for merit and for the public weal ; and he hoped that
the nobility of the department of Kashin would do their
duty, as they had always done, and thus deserve their
monarch's confidence.
Having finished his speech, the governor left the hall,
and the noblemen, tumultuously and eagerly, and some
of them even enthusiastically, followed him, and sur-
rounded him while he was putting on his shuba, and talk-
ing in a friendly way with the government marshal.
^ Dvorianstvo,
iSV ANNA KARENINA
Levin, anxious to see everybody and miss nothing,
was in the midst of the throng, and he heard the gov-
ernor say, " Please tell Marya Ivanovna that my wife is
very sorry, but she had to go to the asylum."
Then all the nobles gayly took their shubas, and went
in a body to the cathedral.
In the cathedral Levin, together with the rest, raised
his hand and repeated, after the protopope, the solemn
oaths by which they swore to fulfil their duties. The
church service always impressed Levin, and when he
joined with this throng of men, old and young, in re-
peating the words, " I kiss the cross," he felt stirred.
On the second and third day the assembly was occu-
pied with the moneys meant for the educational estab-
lishments for the nobility and for women, which Sergyet
Ivanovitch declared had no especial importance, and
Levin, who had his own business to attend to, was not
present.
On the fourth day the verifying of the government
accounts came up, and here, for the first time, the new
party came into direct collision with the old. The com-
mission, whose duty it was to verify these accounts,
announced to the assembly that the money was all
accounted for. The government marshal arose, and
with tears in his eyes thanked the nobility for their con-
fidence in him. The nobles loudly congratulated him,
and shook hands with him.
But at this time one noble belonging to Sergyel
Ivanovitch's party declared that he had heard that the
commission, for fear of affronting the government mar-
shal, had not properly performed the verification of the
accounts. One of the members of the commission un-
guardedly admitted this. Then a very small and very
young-looking, but very sarcastic, gentleman began to
say that it would probably be agreeable for the govern-
ment marshal to give an account of his expenditures,
and that the excessive delicacy of the members of the
commission had deprived him of that moral satisfaction.
Thereupon the members of the commission v/ithdrew
their report, and Sergyei' Ivanovitch began logically to
ANNA KARENINA 185
prove that it was necessary to acknowledge that the
expenditures had been verified or that they had not been
verified, and he went into a long exposition of the
dilemma.
A chatterer from the opposite party replied to
Sergyef Ivanovitch. Then Sviazhsky spoke, and was
followed by the sarcastic gentleman. The proceedings
were tedious, and no end was reached. Levin was sur-
prised that they discussed this so long, and all the more
because, when he asked Sergyef Ivanovitch whether
Snetkof were suspected of peculation, he replied : —
"Oh, he's an honest man. But we must shake this
old-fashioned patriarchal way of managing business."
On the fifth day occurred the election of the district
marshals. The session was a stormy one for many of
the districts. In the ^lyezd or district of Seleznevskoye,
Sviazhsky was unanimously elected by acclamation, and
he gave a grand dinner the same evening.
CHAPTER XXVII
The principal election, that of marshal of the govern-
ment, did not take place until the sixth day.
The great halls and the little halls were crowded with
nobles in their various uniforms. Many came for this
day only. Acquaintances who had not met for years
were there, some from the Krimea, some from Peters-
burg, some from abroad. The debates were carried on
at the governor's table, under the emperor's portrait.
The nobles both in the larger and in the smaller hall
were grouped in opposing camps, and, judging by the
hostile and mistrustful looks exchanged, by the conversa-
tions which ceased at the approach of strangers, by the
fact that some walked up and down the distant corridor
whispering together, it was evident that each side had
secrets from the other. Even by a superficial glance it
could be seen that the nobles were divided into two
sharply contrasting types : the old and the new. The
old school wore for the most part either old court uni-
i86 ANNA KARENINA
forms, tightly buttoned up, with swords, and ancient
hats, or else their ordinary marine, cavalry, or infantry
uniforms of very ancient date. The uniforms of the
old nobles were made in the ancient style, with epau-
lets on the shoulders, and with short waists and tight
armholes, as if their possessors had grown out of them ;
but the younger men wore court uniforms with broad
shoulders, long waists, and white waistcoats unbuttoned,
or else uniforms with black collars and embroidered
laurel leaves — the distinguishing badge of the ministry
of justice. Court uniforms were to be seen here and
there, also among the young men, adding to the brilliancy
of the throng.
But the division into "old" and "young" did not
coincide with the party lines. Some of the younger
men, to Levin's surprise, belonged to the old party, and,
on the contrary, some of the very oldest nobles were on
confidential terms with Sviazhsky and were evidently
warm partizans of the new school.
In the smaller hall, where men were smoking and
lunching, Levin was standing near a group of his friends
and listening to what was said, and vainly exerting all
his intellectual powers to comprehend what was said.
Sergye'f Ivanovitch was the center around whom many
men had gathered. He was now listening to Sviazhsky
and Khliustof, the marshal of another district, who be-
longed to their party. Khliustof would not agree to go
with his district and beg Snetkof to stand as candidate ;
but Sviazhsky advised him to do this, and Sergyei Ivano-
vitch approved of this plan. Levin could not under-
stand why a party opposed to this marshal and wanting to
defeat him should nevertheless put him up as a candidate.
Stepan Arkadyevitch, who had just been lunching
and drinking, joined them in his chamberlain's uniform,
wiping his mouth with a perfumed and embroidered
cambric handkerchief.
" We hold the situation," said he, arranging both his
side-whiskers, "Sergyei Ivanovitch;" and after he heard
Sviazhsky's plan he agreed with him.
•' One district is enough, but let Sviazhsky pretend to
ANNA KARENINA t8^
be in opposition ; " and all except Levin understood the
meaning of his words.
" Well, how is Kostia ? " he said, turning to Levin and
taking him by the arm. " So you came, it seems, in style."
Levin would not have been sorry to be in style, but
he could not comprehend what was taking place, and,
going a few steps from the rest, he expressed to him his
astonishment at seeing the hostile districts asking the old
marshal to stand as candidate.
" O saiicta siniplicitas ! " replied Oblonsky ; and in a
few clear words he explained to Levin what the state of
the case was.
" If, as at the last elections, all the districts should
unite on the government marshal, he would be elected.
This is not what is wanted. Now eight of the districts
have agreed to ask him to stand. But if two should
refuse to accept him for their candidate, then Snetkof
might decline to stand. And then the old party might
take for their candidate some one else in their party, so
that the whole scheme would be defeated. But if Sviazh-
sky's district is the only one refusing to adopt him as
their candidate, Snetkof will accept the nomination. So
he is selected and proposed as a candidate so as to
throw dust in the eyes of the opposite party, and when
we set up our candidate they will go over to him."
Levin began to get some idea of the plan, but it was
not entirely clear to him, and he was about to ask a few
more questions, when suddenly there was heard in the
next room a great shouting and uproar and confusion : —
" What is it .-' What } Who .'' .... Confidence in whom }
What .'' .... It is disproved Lack of confidence They
won't admit Flerof .... prosecution They refuse to ad-
mit a man } Shame ! .... The law." Such were the words
that Levin heard shouted from all sides, and he, together
with all the rest, hurrying from all directions and shout-
ing at the tops of their voices, rushed into the great
hall, and, pressing along with all the nobles, he made
his way up to the governor's table, about which the
government marshal, Sviazhsky, and other leaders were
hotly discussing.
1 88 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XXVIII
Levin stood at quite a distance. A noble breathing
stertorously near him and another with thick squeaking
soles prevented him from hearing distinctly. All he
could distinguish was the marshal's gentle voice, then
the sharp voice of the sarcastic gentleman, and then the
voice of Sviazhsky. He could only distinguish that they
were disputing about the meaning of a clause of the law,
and the meaning of the words, " nakhodivshayosa pod
slyedstvieniy
The crowd parted to let Sergyef Ivanovitch get to the
table. Sergyef Ivanovitch, after waiting till the sar-
castic gentleman was done speaking, said that it seemed
to him it would be a better way to consult the law
itself, and he asked the secretary to find for him the
text of the law. The law said that in case of divergence
of opinion a vote must be taken.
Sergyeif Ivanovitch read the clause, and was just
beginning to explain its meaning when he was inter-
rupted by a tall, stout, round-shouldered proprietor, with
dyed whiskers, and wearing a tight uniform with a high
collar which seemed to prop up the back of his head.
This man came up to the table, and, striking it with his
fist,, shouted at the top of his voice : —
" Put it to the ballot. Vote on it ! No discussing !
The ballot ! "
Then suddenly a number of voices broke out at once,
and the tall noble, still pounding with his fist, grew
angrier and angrier, and shouted louder and louder.
But it was impossible to make out what he was talking
about.
He said the same thing as Sergyeif Ivanovitch had
proposed ; but evidently he hated Koznuishef and his
whole party, and this feeling of hatred communicated
itself to the whole party, and called forth the opposition
of similar, though more decorous, hatred from the other
side.
Voices were raised and for a moment everything was
ANNA KARENINA 1^9
in confusion, so that the government marshal was obliged
to call for order : —
" Put it to vote, put it to vote. That man knows
what he is talking about ! There '11 be bloodshed
The emperor's confidence Don't count the marshal,
he 's not our prikashchik That 's not the point ! ....
Please, put it to vote It 's odious ! " were the ex-
clamations heard on every side in angry, violent tones.
Eyes and faces became still angrier and more violent,
with words of irreconcilable hatred. Levin did not
understand at all what the trouble was, and was amazed
at the passion with which they discussed the question
whether they should vote or not vote on the opinion
concerning Flerof. He forgot, as SergyeY Ivanovitch
afterward explained to him, the syllogism that for the
common weal it was necessary to elect a new govern-
ment marshal ; to defeat the present marshal a majority
of the votes was needed ; to get a majority of the votes
it was necessary to give Flerof the right of voting ; to
pronounce Flerof qualified it was necessary to have it
decided how the clause of the law was to be understood.
" One voice may decide the whole matter, and we
must be serious and logical if we wish to act for the
public good," said Sergye'i Ivanovitch, in conclusion.
But Levin forgot this, and it was trying for him to
see these excellent men, for whom he had such respect, in
such a disagreeable and angry frame of mind. In order
to avoid this feeling he, without waiting for the end of
the election, went into the smaller hall, where there was
no one except the servants connected with the buffet.
Seeing the servants busily engaged in polishing the
service and putting away the plates and glasses, seeing
their contented lively faces. Levin felt an unexpected
feeling of relief, just as if he had come out from an ill-
smelling room into pure air. He began to walk back
and forth, watching the servants. It pleased him greatly
to watch one of the servants, an old man with gray side-
whiskers, expressing his scorn for the younger ones, who
stood in awe of him, teaching them the best way of folding
napkins. Levin was just about to engage the old ser-
ipo ANNA KARENINA
vant in conversation, when the Secretary of the Assembly,
a little old man, who made a specialty of knowing all the
nobles of the province by their full names, came to call
him.
" Excuse me, Konstantin Dmitritch," said he ; " your
brother is asking for you. The opinion is to be voted on."
Levin went into the hall, took a little white ball, and,
following close behind Sergyei' Ivanovitch, he went to
the table where Sviazhsky was standing with an impor-
tant and ironical air, running his beard through his hand
and occasionally putting it to his nose. Sergyei Ivano-
vitch put his ball into the ballot-box, and made room for
Levin ; but Levin, having entirely forgotten what the vot-
ing was for, was disconcerted, and asked his brother : —
"Where shall I put it.? "
He spoke in a low tone, and as there was talking near
him, he hoped that his question would not be overheard ;
but the speakers stopped, and his unfortunate question
was heard. Sergyei' Ivanovitch frowned, and repUed
sternly : —
"This is a matter entirely of conviction."
A number of the bystanders smiled. Much embar-
rassed. Levin quickly cast his vote, and as he happened
to hold it in his right hand, he threw it into the right-
hand receptacle. Only after he had deposited it did he
remember that he ought to have put it in his left hand,
and he did so, but it was already too late ; and growing
still more confused, he hastily made his way to the very
rear rank.
" One hundred and twenty-six in the affirmative ; ninety-
eight in the negative," announced the secretary, who
could not pronounce the letter r. Then a laugh went
round ; a button and two nuts were found in the ballot-
box. The questionable noble was admitted and the new
party was victorious.
But the old party did not even yet acknowledge itself
defeated. Levin heard them request Snetkof to stand
as their candidate, and he saw a throng of nobles sur-
rounding the government marshal, who was making an
address. Levin went nearer. In reply to the nobles,
ANNA KARENINA 191
Snetkof was speaking of the confidence which the
nobility had reposed in him, of their love for him which
he did not deserve, because all his service had consisted
in his devotion to the nobility, whom he had served for
twenty years. Several times he repeated the words, " I
have served to the best of my ability, I appreciate your
confidence and thank you for it," and then, suddenly
pausing because of the tears which choked him, he
hurried from the room. His tears arose either from
the injustice that had been done him, or from his love
for the nobles, or possibly from the unpleasant position
in which he was placed, finding himself surrounded by
enemies ; but his grief was contagious ; the majority of
the nobles were touched, and Levin felt sorry for him.
At the door the government marshal stumbled against
Levin.
" Excuse me, — I beg your pardon," he said, as to a
stranger ; then, recognizing him, he smiled a melancholy
smile. It seemed to Levin that he wanted to say some-
thing but was prevented by his emotion. The expression
of his face and his whole figure in his uniform, with his
crosses, and white pantaloons ornamented with galloon,
as he hastened out, reminded Levin of some hunted ani-
mal which sees that it has little chance to escape. This
expression in the government marshal's face went to
Levin's heart, for only the day before he had been to see
him about the guardianship affair, and had seen in the
whole establishment the dignity of a good-hearted domes-
tic gentleman : the house large, with ancestral furniture ;
unstylish, dirty, but dignified, old serv^ants who had evi-
dently been former serfs and had not changed their mas-
ter ; the wife, a tall, benevolent lady in her lace cap and
Turkish shawl, caressing her lovely granddaughter ; the
youngest son, a boy in the sixth class of the gymnasium,
who had come in to wish his father good morning and
to kiss his big hand ; the imposing but affectionate greet-
ings and gestures of the master of the house : all this
had awakened in Levin involuntary respect and sympa-
thy even then, and now he felt touched and sorry for the
old man, and wanted to say something pleasant to him.
192 ANNA KARENINA
"Perhaps you will be our marshal again."
*' I doubt it," said Snetkof, with his scared look. " 1
am tired, getting old. There are younger and better
men than I. Must let them take my place." And he
disappeared by a side door.
Now the most solemn moment had arrived. It was
necessary to proceed immediately to the election itself.
The leaders of both parties were counting on their fin-
gers the white and black balls. The controversy re-
garding Flerof gave the new party not only one more
vote, but also gained time, so that they could send for
three nobles, whom the trickery of the old party was
going to deprive of the possibility of taking part in the
election. Two nobles who had a weakness for wine had
been made drunk by Snetkof's henchmen, and a third
had been seduced by the promise of a uniform.
Having learned about this, the new party had made
haste during the contest concerning Flerof to send an
izvoshchik for the noble and to provide him with a uni-
form, and to bring one of the two drunken nobles to the
hall.
" I brought one of them, I had to douse him with
water," said the proprietor who had gone in search of
him, addressing Sviazhsky. " He '11 do."
" He 's not very drunk, is he ; can't he stand ? " asked
Sviazhsky, shaking his head. " Yes, he 's a young man.
•Only don't let them get him to drinking here I told
the caterer not to give him any wine under any consid-
eration."
CHAPTER XXIX
The narrow hall where men smoked and had lun-
cheon was crowded with nobles. The excitement kept
increasing, and all faces showed signs of anxiety. Es-
pecially agitated were the leaders, who knew all the
details and had followed the voting very closely. These
men had charge of the approaching engagement. The
others, Hke the soldiers in the ranks before the battle,
although ready for the conflict, in the meantime sought
ANNA KARENINA 19J
diversion. Some ate luncheon, standing or sitting at
the buffet ; others walked up and down the long room
smoking cigarettes, and talked with friends whom they
had not seen for long.
Levin did not feel hungry, he did not smoke, and he
did not care to join his friends, that is, Sergyei Ivano-
vitch, Stepan Arkadyevitch, Sviazhsky, and the others,
for the reason that Vronsky in his equerry's uniform
stood in lively conversation with them. The evening
before he had seen Vronsky at the election, and had
carefully avoided him, not wishing to come into contact
with him. He went to a window and sat down, watch-
ing the groups and listening to what was said around
him. He felt depressed, especially because all the others,
as he could see, were animated, active, and occupied, and
he alone was inert and indifferent ; the only other excep-
tion was an old man in a naval uniform, who had no teeth
and who spoke in a mumbling voice.
"What a rogue. I told him it was not so ! He can't
make it up in three years," a round-shouldered, short
proprietor was saying energetically; this man, whose
long unpomaded hair was spread out over the embroi-
dered collar of his uniform coat, walked along, noisily
putting down the heels of his new boots which evidently
had been made for the elections ; but as he caught sight
of Levin he cast a hostile glance at him, and turned
about abruptly.
"Yes, it is a nasty thing to say so," repeated the
little proprietor, in a piping voice.
Immediately behind these two came a whole throng
of proprietors, crowding around a tall general, and
quickly approaching where Levin was. They were evi-
dently trying to find some place where they would not
be overheard. " How does he dare to say that I ordered
his trousers to be stolen. He drank them up, I reckon.
I don't care a straw if he is a prince. Don't let him
dare to say such a thing ; it 's swinish! "
" Hold on, excuse me. They insist on the letter of
the law," they were saying in another group; "his
wife must be inscribed among the nobility."
VOL. III. — 13
194 ANNA KARENINA
" The devil take the letter of the law ! I insist on its
spirit. According to that they are genuine nobles, be-
lieve me."
" Your excellency, let us come, fine champagne ! "
Another group immediately pressed behind a noble
who was shouting something at the top of his voice ;
this was one of the three drunken nobles.
" I always advised Marya Semyonovna to let it on a
lease because she gets no profit out of it," a proprietor
was saying in a pleasant voice. This man had gray
whiskers and wore the uniform of a colonel on the old
general's staff. It was the same proprietor whom he had
once met at Sviazhsky's house. Levin immediately
recognized him. The proprietor also glanced at Levin,
and they greeted each other.
" This is very pleasant. How are you ? I remember
you very well. We met last year at Nikolaif Ivanovitch's,
at the marshal's."
" Well, how goes your farming ? " ^ asked Levin.
" Everything is going to rack and ruin," said the pro-
prietor, halting near Levin, and looking at him with a
submissive smile, but with an expression of calmness
and confidence that this was the natural order of things.
" But how does it happen that you are in our part of
the world .-* " he asked. " Did you come to take part in
owx coup d'etat f he went on, pronouncing the French
words with confidence, but with a bad accent.
" All Russia is assembled here, — chamberlains, if not
ministers."
He pointed to Stepan Arkadyevitch's imposing figure,
as in white trousers and chamberlain's uniform he strode
along next the general.
" I must confess to you," said Levin, " I don't under-
stand the significance of these noblemen's elections."
The old gentleman looked at him.
" Well ! what is there to understand .'* what signifi-
cance can they have ? It 's a decaying institution which
prolongs itself by the force of inertia. Look at all these
uniforms; they tell you this is an assemblage of justices
^ Khozyaistvo, everything connected with his estate.
ANNA KARENINA 195
of the peace, perpetual councilors, and so on, but no
noblemen."
" Why, then, do you come ? "
" From habit, to keep up relations ; from a sort of
moral obligation. And then, if I must tell the truth, I
came on a question of personal interest. My son-in-law
wants to be elected as a perpetual councilor ; he 's not
rich ; I must try to help him. But why do such people
as that come ? " and he pointed out the orator whose
sharp voice had struck Levin during the debates at the
governor's table.
" It is a new generation of nobles." ^
" Certainly new, but not nobles. They are landhold-
ers, but we are the proprietors. But they are trying to
get the power as if they were nobles."
" Yes, but you say it is a decaying institution .-'"
*' Decaying or not decaying, it must be treated more
respectfully. Even though Snetkof .... We may not be.
worth much, but, nevertheless, we have lasted a thousand
years. Suppose you lay out a new garden before your
house and there happens to be a century-old tree which
has grown up on your land Though the tree is old
and gnarled, you don't have it cut down, but you lay out
your walks and your flower-beds in such a way as to
preserve intact the old oak. You can't grow such a
tree in one year," said he, cautiously, and immediately
changed the conversation. " Well, how do matters go
with you .'* "
" Not very brilliantly ; five per cent ! "
" Yes, but you don't reckon your own time and labor.
Now, I will tell you about myself. Up to the time
when I began to take care of my own estate, and while
I was still in the service, I used to receive three thou-
sand a year. Now I work harder than when I was
in the service, and I also get about five per cent, and
am lucky if I get that. And all my time and trouble
are thrown in."
" But why do you do so if the results are so unprofit-
able?"
* Dvorianstvo, noblesse.
196 ANNA KARENINA
"Yes, why do I? What shall I say? Habit, and
because I know it has got to be done. I will tell you
something besides," continued the proprietor, leaning
his elbow on the window-seat and falling into a tone of
monologue, " my son has no taste for farming.^ He is
evidently going to be a scholar. So there '11 be no one
to carry it on after me. And yet one goes ahead. Here
I 've just planted a garden."
"Yes, yes," said Levin. "You are quite right. 1
always am conscious that there 's no real economy in
my farming, but still I go on with it But one feels
that one owes a certain duty to the land."
" Now I will tell you another thing," continued the
proprietor. " A neighbor, a merchant, came to see me.
We went over the farm, and then the garden. ' Well,
Stepan Vasilyevitch, your place is in order,' said he,
'but your garden has too much shade.' But he found
it in order, mind you. ' My advice would be, cut down
those lindens. Just for the bark. Here are a thousand
lindens. Each one will make two excellent basts, and
basts sell well. If I were you, I should cut some of
that linden trash down and sell it.' "
" Yes, and with the money he would buy cattle, or
perhaps a bit of ground cheap, and he would lease it to
the peasants," said Levin, with a smile, for evidently he
had more than once come in contact with similar cases.
" And so he makes a fortune. But you and I thank
God if we keep our land, and are able to leave it to our
children."
" You are married, I have heard .'' "
"Yes," replied Levin, with proud satisfaction. "It
is wonderful ! We live without making any profit,
obliged, like ancient vestals, to watch some holy fire."
The old gentleman smiled under his white mustache.
" Some people, like our friend Sviazhsky and Count
Vronsky, pretend to make something by agriculture ;
but so far they have only succeeded in eating into their
capital."
" Why should n't we imitate the merchants, and cut
^ Khozyautvo.
ANNA KARENINA 1-97
down the trees in our parks and make money? " asked
Levin, reverting to the idea which had struck him.
" Just this ! because we guard the sacred fire, as you
say. Besides, that is not the business of the nobles.
And our work as nobles does not lie here, at these elec-
tions, but at home, each in his own place. It is a caste
instinct that tells us what is necessary or not necessary.
The muzhiks have theirs ; a good muzhik will persist
in hiring as much land as he can. No matter how bad
it is, he will work it just the same, — even without
profit."
" We are all alike," said Levin. " I am very glad to
have met you ! " he added, seeing Sviazhsky approach-
ing.
" Here we have met for the first time since we were
together at your house," said the proprietor to Svi-
azhsky. " Yes, and we have been having a talk."
" And doubtless have been slandering the new order
of things .'' " said Sviazhsky, smiling.
" Something of the sort."
** One must free one's mind."
CHAPTER XXX
Sviazhsky took Levin's arm, and together they a.p-
proached their friends.
It was now impossible to avoid Vronsky. He was
standing with Stepan Arkadyevitch and Sergyei Ivano-
vitch, and was looking straight at Levin as he came
along.
" I am delighted ! " said he, offering his hand to
Levin. " I think we met at the Princess Shcher-
batsky's."
" Yes, I remember our meeting perfectly," answered
Levin, growing purple ; and he immediately turned
away and entered into conversation with his brother.
Vronsky, smiling slightly, began conversing with Svi-
azhsky, apparently having no desire to continue his
talk with Levin. But Levin, while he was speaking
198 ANNA KARENINA
with his brother, kept looking at Vronsky, trying to
think of something that he might say to him so as to
atone for his rudeness.
" On whom does the business depend now ? " he
asked, turning to Sviazhsky and Vronsky.
" On Snetkof. He must either dedine or consent,"
repHed Sviazhsky.
" What will he do, consent or not ? "
" That is where the trouble lies — neither one thing
nor the other," said Vronsky,
" But who will be nominated if he declines ? " asked
Levin, looking at Vronsky.
" Any one may," answered Sviazhsky.
"You, perhaps," suggested Levin.
" Certainly not," replied Sviazhsky, scowling, and
directing an agitated look at the sarcastic gentleman
who was standing near SergyeY Ivanovitch.
" Who then .-' Nevyedovsky .-" " continued Levin, feel-
ing that he was treading on dangerous ground.
But this was still worse ; Nevyedovsky and Sviazhsky
were two of the candidates.
" Not I in any case," replied the sarcastic gentleman.
It was Nevyedovsky himself. Sviazhsky introduced
him to Levin.
" This takes hold of you, does n't it ? " asked Stepan
Arkadyevitch, winking at Vronsky. " It 's just like a
race. One might put up stakes."
" Yes, indeed it takes hold," said Vronsky. " And
having once begun with it, one must carry it through.
It 's a battle," said he, contracting his brows and com-
pressing his powerful jaws.
"What a worker Sviazhsky is ! He sees everything
so clearly and plans in advance ! "
"Oh, yes," said Vronsky, heedlessly.
A silence followed, during which Vronsky, since it
was necessary to look at something, looked at Levin, at
his legs, at his uniform, and then at his face ; and notic-
ing his downcast expression said, for the sake of say-
ing something : —
" How is it that you who live in the country are not a
ANNA KARENINA 199
justice of the peace ? Your uniform is not that of a jus-
tice, I see."
" Because I think that justices of the peace are an
absurd institution," answered Levin, gloomily, but all the
time hoping for an opportunity to atone for his former
rudeness.
" I do not think so; on the contrary ...." said Vronsky,
surprised.
" It is all child's play," interrupted Levin; "justices
of the peace are unnecessary for us. In eight years I
never have had any business with one. And the one
case I had was decided exactly contrary to the evidence.
There 's a justice of the peace forty versts from me. I
had a small matter amounting to two rubles; I had to
send for a lawyer, and that cost fifteen ...."
And Levin went on to tell how a muzhik had stolen
some flour from a miller, and when the miller charged
him with it, the muzhik made a calumnious complaint.
All this was not to the point, and awkwardly put, and
Levin himself, while speaking, felt it.
" Oh, this is such an origi?ial!" said Stepan Arka-
dyevitch, with his oily smile. " Come on ; it seems
they are balloting." ....
And they separated.
" I don't understand," said Sergyef Ivanovitch, who
had noticed his brother's awkward sally, " I don't under-
stand how it is possible to be so absolutely devoid of
political tact. It is just what we Russians lack. The gov-
ernment marshal is our opponent, and you are ami cockon,
you are on intimate terms with him. But why on earth
make an enemy of Count Vronsky .-' .... not that I make a
friend of him, for I have just refused his invitation to
dinner ; but he is ours. Then you asked Nevyedovsky if
he was going to be a candidate. It is n't the right way
to act."
" Oh I I don't understand anything about it ; it all
seems to me unimportant," said Levin, gloomily.
"You say that it is unimportant; but when you mix
up in it, you spoil it."
Levin was silent, and they entered the large hall.
aoo ANNA KARENINA
The oM marshal had decided to be a candidate,
although he felt that there was something up, some trick
in preparation ; and though he knew that not all the dis-
tricts had nominated him, still he decided to stand.
Silence reigned in the hall; the secretary in a loud
voice explained that votes would now be cast for Mikhaifl
Stepanovitch Snetkof, captain of the guard, ^ as govern-
ment marshal.
The district marshals went from their desks to the
government table with plates in which were the ballots,
and the election began. " Deposit it at the right," whis-
pered Stepan Arkadyevitch to Levin, as he and his
brother approached the table behind the district mar-
shal. But Levin now forgot the count which they had
explained to him, and was afraid that Stepan Arkadye-
vitch had made a mistake in saying "At the right." Now
Snetkof was the opposition candidate. Going up to the
box. Levin held the ballot in his right hand, but thinking
that he was wrong, he transferred the ballot to his left
hand just in front of the box itself, and consequently de-
posited it in the wrong place. The tally-keeper who
stood by the box, knowing by the mere motion of the
elbow how each one voted, involuntarily frowned.
There was no reason for him to practise his cleverness.
Deep silence reigned and the click of the ballots was
heard. Then a single voice was heard announcing the
affirmative and negative votes.
The marshal was chosen by a decided majority. A
great tumult arose, and all rushed toward the door.
Snetkof came in, and the nobles surrounded him, offer-
ing him their congratulations.
" Well ! is it over ? " asked Levin of Sergyef Ivanovitch.
" On the contrary, it is just begun," replied Sviazhsky,
taking the words out of his brother's mouth, and smiling.
"The opposition candidate may have more votes."
Levin had forgotten all about this, and only now real-
ized that this was only finessing. But it was a bore to
him to recall what the plan had been. He felt a sort of
humiliation, and a desire to escape from the throng. As
1 Rotmistr gvardi.
ANNA KARENINA 201
no one paid any heed to him, and he thought he was o.
no use to any one, he sHpped out into the smaller hall,
where, as before, he found consolation in watching the
servants. The old servant asked him if he would have
something to eat, and Levin consented. After he had
eaten a cutlet with beans, and had talked with the ser-
vants about their former masters. Levin, not caring to
go back to the crowd which was so unpleasant to him,
walked about the galleries.
The galleries were full of well-dressed ladies, who
were leaning over the balustrades endeavoring not to
lose a word that was said in the hall below, and around
them was standing and sitting a throng of elegantly
dressed lawyers, professors of the gymnasia with spec-
tacles on, and officers. Everywhere they were talking
about the elections and the proposed change in the mar-
shal, and saying how interesting the voting was. As
Levin stood near one group, he heard a lady saying to a
lawyer : —
"How glad I am that I heard Koznuishef. It pays
to go hungry for it. It was charming. How distinctly
I could hear all he said. There is not one who equals
him in the court, only Maidel, and even he is not nearly
so eloquent."
Finding a comfortable place near the railing. Levin
leaned over and tried to look and to listen. All the
nobles were sitting behind screens in the parts of the
hall devoted to their various districts. In the center of
the hall stood a gentleman in uniform, and in a light but
clear voice he was saying : —
" You will now cast your votes for Staff-Captain
Yevgeni Ivanovitch Apukhtin as candidate for the posi-
tion of marshal of the nobility of the government."
A deathlike silence ensued, and again a weak, senile
voice was heard : —
" He declined."
Again the same thing began, and again, " He de-
clined." So it went on for about an hour.
Levin, leaning on the balustrade, looked and listened.
At first he was filled with amazement, and was anxious
lOft ANNA KARENINA
to know what it all meant ; then, becoming persuaded that
it was beyond his power to comprehend it, it began to
bore him. Then, as he thought of the excitement and
the angry passions expressed in all faces, he felt mel-
ancholy ; he made up his mind to depart, and he started
down-stairs. As he was passing through the entry of
the gallery, he encountered a sad-looking gymnasium
scholar walking back and forth with streaming eyes.
On the staircase he met a couple, a lady swiftly hur-
rying along on her heels, and the gentle colleague of the
prokuror.
" I told you not to be late," the prokuror was saying,
just as Levin stood to one side to give the lady room to
pass. Levin was on the lowest stair, and was just get-
ting the cloak-check out of his waistcoat pocket, when
the secretary found him.
" Excuse me, Konstantin Dmitriyevitch, they are bal-
loting."
And the candidate who was now receiving votes was
this very Nevyedovsky whose refusal had seemed to him
so explicit !
Levin started to go into the hall. The door was
locked ; the secretary knocked ; the door opened, and as
he entered he met two very red-faced proprietors.
" I cannot endure it," said one of the red-faced pro-
prietors.
Immediately behind the proprietor appeared the old
government marshal. His face was terrible in its expres-
sion of fright and weakness.
" I told you not to let any one go out ! " he shouted to
the guard.
" I let some one in, your excellency." ^
"O Lord!" and, sighing painfully, the old marshal,
slinking along in his white pantaloons, with bowed head,
went through the hall to the great table.
The vote was counted, and Nevyedovsky, as had
been planned, was government marshal. Many were
happy ; many were satisfied, gay ; many were enthusias-
tic ; many were dissatisfied and unhappy. The old gov-
^ Vashe prevoskhodilyclstvo.
ANNA KARENINA qioj
ernment marshal was in despair, and could not disguise
it. When Nevyedovsky went out of the hall, the throng
surrounded him and expressed their enthusiasm toward
him as they had done toward the governor when he
opened the election, and as they had done toward Snet-
kof when he was elected.
CHAPTER XXXI
On this day the newly elected marshal of the govern-
ment and many of the new party which triumphed with
him dined with Vronsky.
The count came to the elections because, it was tire-
some in the country and it was necessary for him to
assert his independence before Anna, and also because
he wished to render a service to Sviazhsky in return for
similar favors shown him at the zemstvo elections, and
last and principally because he intended strictly to fulfil
the duties which he imposed upon himself as a noble
and a landowner.
But he had never anticipated the intense interest
which he would take in the elections or the success
with which he would play his part. He was a perfectly
"new man" among the nobles, but he was evidently
successful, and he was not mistaken in supposing that
he already inspired confidence. This sudden influ-
ence was due to his wealth and distinction, to the fine
house which he occupied in town, — a house which an
old friend of his, Shirkof, a financier and the director of
a flourishing bank at Kashin, had given up to him, —
and partly to an excellent cook whom he brought with
him, and to his friendship with the governor, who was
his ally and a protecting ally; but above all to his simple
and impartial treatment of every one, so that the majority
of the nobles quickly changed their minds in regard to
the reputation he had acquired of being proud. He him-
self felt that, with the exception of this silly gentleman
who had married Kitty Shcherbatsky, and who a propos
de bottes had been disposed foolishly to quarrel with hira
204 ANNA KARENINA
and say all manner of foolish things, everybody whom
he met was disposed to side with him. He clearly saw,
and others recognized the fact, that he had very largely
contributed to Nevyedovsky's success. And now, as he
sat at the head of his own table celebrating Nevy-edovsky 's
election, ne experienced a pleasant feeling of triumphant
pride in his choice. He was so much interested in the
election that he determined that, if he should be married
at the end of the next three years, he would run as a
candidate, just as once when, after having won a prize
by means of his jockey, he had decided to run a race
himself.
Now he was celebrating the triumph of his jockey.
Vronsky sat at the head of the table, but he placed the
young governor at his right. Vronsky saw that all looked
upon him as the khozyaln of the government, who had
triumphantly opened the elections, who had gained by
his speech great consideration and even worship ; but
for Vronsky he was nothing more than Katka Maslof,
— such was his nickname at the Corps of Pages, — who
used to be confused in his presence, and whom he tried
to put at his ease.
At his left he placed Nevyedovsky, a young man with
a sarcastic and impenetrable face. Toward him Vronsky
showed respectful consideration.
Sviazhsky accepted his own failure gayly ; indeed, as
he said, lifting his glass to Nevyedovsky, he could not
call it a failure ; it would be impossible to find a bettei
representative of the new tendencies which the nobility
was to follow. And therefore, as he said, everything
that was honorable stood on the side of the success just
won, and triumphed with it.
Stepan Arkadyevitch also was gay, because he was
having such a good time and because every one else
was so happy.
During the admirable dinner they reviewed the various
episodes of the elections. Sviazhsky gave a comical
travesty of the former marshal's tearful discourse, and,
turning to Nevyedovsky, he advised his excellency to
choose a more complicated manner of verifying his ac-
ANNA KARENINA ^05
counts than by tears. Another noble with a turn for
humor related how lackeys in short clothes had been
ordered for the former marshal's ball, and how now
these lackeys would have to be discharged unless the
new marshal of the government should give balls with
lackeys in short clothes.
During all the time of the dinner, whenever they
addressed Nevyedovsky they called him " your excel-
lency," 1 and all spoke of him as " our government
marshal."^ This was spoken with the same sort of satis-
faction as people feel when they address a newly married
woman as madame and add her husband's name.
Nevyedovsky pretended that he was not only indiffer-
ent, but even scorned this new title, but it was evident
that he was happy and was exercising self-control not to
betray his enthusiasm, since to do so would not be be-
coming to the new liberal environment in which they all
found themselves.
After dinner a number of telegrams were sent off to
people who were interested in the result of the elections.
And Stepan Arkadyevitch, who felt very gay, sent Darya
Aleksandrovna a despatch thus worded : —
Nevyedovsky elected by twenty majority. I am well.
Regards to all.
He dictated it alou^, and added, " I want to make
them feel happy." But when Darya Aleksandrovna
received the despatch, she only sighed for the ruble
which it cost, and she knew well that it was sent during
a dinner. She knew that Stiva had a weakness at the
end of dinners /aire j'otier /e tilcgraphe.
The dinner was excellent, and the wines came from
no Russian dealer, but were directly imported from
abroad ; and everything was noble, simple, and joyous.
The guests, twenty in number, were selected by Sviazh-
sky from among the new liberal workers, and they were
united in sentiments, keen-witted, and thoroughly well-
bred. They drank many toasts, accompanied by witty
1 Vashe prevoskhodityektvo.
* Nash gubernsky predvodityel.
2o6 ANNA KARENINA
speeches, in honor of the new marshal, and of the gov-
ernor, and of the director of the bank, and of " our
beloved host."
Vronsky was contented. He had never expected to find
in the provinces such distinguished society.
Toward the end of dinner the gayety redoubled, and
the governor asked Vronsky to attend a concert arranged
for the benefit of our brothers by his wife, who wanted
to make his acquaintance.
" There will be a ball afterward, and you shall see our
beauty. In fact, she is remarkable."
'* Not in my line,'' answered Vronsky in English;
he liked the phrase, but he smiled and promised to
go.
Just before they left the table, and while they were
lighting their cigars, Vronsky's valet approached him,
bringing a note on a tray.
" From Vozdvizhenskoye, by a special messenger,"
gaid the man, with a significant expression.
"It is remarkable how much he looks like the colleague
of the prokuror Sventitsky," said one of the guests in
French, referring to the valet, while Vronsky, with a
frown on his brow, was reading the note.
The note was from Anna, and Vronsky knew, before
he read it through, what was in it. He had promised,
as the elections were to last fiVe days, to return on
Friday; but it was now Saturday, and he knew that the
letter would be full of reproaches because he had not
fulfilled his promise. The one he had sent off the after-
noon before had evidently not been received.
The tenor of the note was what he expected ; but its
form was a great surprise, and extremely unpleasant to
him.
Am is very sick, and the doctor says it may be pneumonia.
I shall go wild, here all alone. The Princess Varvara is only
a hinurance mstead of a help. I expected you day before
yesterday, and now I send a messenger to know where you are
and what you are doing. I wanted to come myself, but hesi-
tated, knowing that it would be disagreeable to you. Send some
answer, that I may know what to do.
ANNA KARENINA So^
The child was ill, and she had wished to come herself.
A. sick daughter, and this hostile tone !
Vronsky was impressed by the antithesis between the
jolly, careless company, and the moody, exacting love to
which he was obliged to return. But he was obliged to
go, and he left by the first train that would take him
home that night.
CHAPTER XXXII
Before Vronsky' s departure for the election, Anna,
coming to the conclusion that the scenes which had
always taken place every time he left her for a journey
might serve to cool his love rather than attach him
more firmly to her, resolved to control herself to the best
of her ability, so as to endure calmly the separation from
him. But the cold, stern look which he had given her
when he came to tell her about his journey had wounded
her, and he was hardly out of her sight before her reso-
lution was shaken.
In her solitude, as she began to think over his cold
look, which seemed to hint at a desire for liberty, she
came back, as she always did, to one thing — to the
consciousness of her humiliation.
" He has the right to go when and where he pleases.
Not only to go, but to abandon me. He has all the
rights, and I have none ! But as he knows this, he
ought not to have done this. And yet what has he
done ? .... He looked at me with a hard, stern look. Of
course, that is vague, intangible. Still, he did not for-
merly look at me so, and it signifies much," she thought;
"that look proves that he is growing cold toward me."
And, although she was persuaded that he had begun
to grow cold toward her, still there was nothing she
could do, there was no change she could bring about in
her relations toward him. Just as before, she could
retain his affections only by her love, by her fascination.
And, just as before, the only way she could keep herself
from thinking what would happen if he should abandon
2o8 ANNA KARENINA
her, she busied herself incessantly all day ; at night she
took morphine.
To be sure, there was one means left — not to keep
him with her — for this she wished nothing else but his
love — but to bind him to her, to be in such a relation
to him that he would not abandon her. This means was
divorce and marriage ; and she began to desire it, and
resolved that she would agree to it the first time he or
Stiva spoke about it again. With such thoughts she
spent five days without him, the five days he expected
to be away.
Drives and walks, conversations with the Princess
Varvara, visits to the hospital, and, above all, reading,
the reading of one book after another, occupied her
time. But on the sixth day, when the coachman re-
turned without bringing Vronsky, she felt that she no
longer had strength enough left to smother the thought
about him and what he was doing at Kashin. Just at
this very time her little girl was taken ill. Anna attended
to her, but it did not divert her mind, the more as the
little one was not dangerously ill. Do the best she could,
she did not love this child, and she could not pretend to
feelings which had no existence.
On the evening of the sixth day, while she was entirely
alone, she felt such apprehension about him that she
almost made up her mind to start for the city herself,
but after a long deliberation, she wrote the prevaricating
note and sent it by a special messenger.
When, the next morning, she received his letter, she
regretted hers. With horror she anticipated the repetition
of that severe look which he would give her on his return
— especially when he learned that his daughter had not
been dangerously ill. But still she was glad she had
written him. Now Anna acknowledged to herself that
he might be annoyed by her, that he might miss his liberty,
but yet she was glad that he was coming ; suppose he
was annoyed by her, still he would be there with her so
that she should see him, so that she should be aware of
his every motion.
She was sitting in the parlor, by the lamp, reading a
ANNA KARENINA 209
new book of Taine's, listening to the sound of the wind
outside, and watching every moment for the arrival of
the carriage. Several times she thought that she heard
the rumble of wheels, but she was deceived. At last
she distinctly heard not only the wheels, but the coach-
man's voice, and the carriage rolling under the covered
porch.
The Princess Varvara, who was laying out a game of
patience, heard it too. Anna's face flushed ; she rose,
but, instead of going down, as she had twice done already,
she stopped. She was suddenly ashamed at her decep-
tion, and still more alarmed by the doubt as to how he
would receive her. All her irritation had vanished.
All she feared was Vronsky's displeasure. She remem-
bered that her daughter for two days now had been
perfectly well. She was annoyed that the child should
recover just as she sent off the letter.
And then she realized that he was there, himself,
with his eyes, his hands. She heard his voice, joy
filled her heart, and, forgetting everything, she ran to
meet him.
" How is Ani.** " he asked anxiously, from the bottom
of the stairs, as she ran swiftly down.
He was seated in a chair, and his lackey was pulling
off his furred boots.
"All right; much better."
" And you .'' " he asked, shaking himself.
She seized his two hands, and drew him toward her,
looking into his eyes.
" Well, I am very glad," he said, coldly surveying her,
her head-dress, her whole toilet, which, as he knew, had
been put on expressly for him.
All this pleased him, but how many times had the
same thing pleased him ! and that stony, severe expres-
sion, which Anna so much dreaded, remained on his
face.
" Well ! I am very glad ; and how are you ? " he
asked, kissing her hand, after he had wiped his damp
mustache.
" It is all the same to me," thought Anna, "if only
VOL. III. — 14
2IO ANNA KARENINA
he is here ; and when he is here he cannot help loving
me ; he does not dare not to love me."
The evening passed pleasantly and merrily in the
presence of the Princess Varvara, who complained to
him that when he was away Anna took morphine.
" What can I do ? I cannot sleep, — my thoughts
are distracting ; when he is here, I never take it, — almost
never."
Vronsky told about the elections, and Anna, by her
questions, cleverly led him to talk about what especially
pleased him, his own success. Then she told him all
the interesting things that had happened since he went
away, and took care to speak of nothing unpleasant.
But late in the evening, when they were alone, Anna,
seeing that she had him at her feet again, wished to
efface the unpleasant effect of her letter ; she said: —
" Confess that you were displeased to receive my
letter, and that you did not believe me."
As soon as she spoke she saw that, though he was
affectionately disposed toward her, he did not forgive
this.
'* Yes," answered he, " your letter was strange. Ani
was sick, and yet you yourself wanted to come."
" Both were true."
"Well, I do not doubt it."
"Yes, you do doubt. I see that you are angry."
" Not for one minute ; but what vexes me is that you
will not admit that there are duties ...."
" What duties ? Going to concerts ? "
" We won't talk about it."
" Why not talk about it ? "
" I only mean that imperious duties may meet us.
Now, for instance, I shall have to go to Moscow on
busines.s Akh ! Anna, why are you so irritable ? Don't
you know that' I cannot live without you .<* "
" If this is the way," said Anna, changing her tone
suddenly, " then you are tired of this kind of life Yes,
you come home one day and go away the next ...."
" Anna, this is cruel ; I am ready to give up my whole
life...."
ANNA KARENINA 211
But she would not listen to him.
" If you are going to Moscow, I shall go with you ; I
will not stay here alone We must either live together
or separate."
" But you know I ask nothing more than to live with
you, but for that .... "
" The divorce is necessary. I will write him. I see
that I cannot continue to live in this way But I am
going with you to Moscow."
" You really threaten me ; but all I ask in the world
is not to be separated from you," said Vronsky, smiling.
As the count spoke these affectionate words, the look
in his eyes was not only icy, but wrathful, hke that of a
man persecuted and exasperated.
She saw his look and accurately read its meaning.
" If this is so, then it is misfortune ! " said this look.
The expression was only momentary, but she never for-
got it.
Anna wrote to her husband, begging him to grant the
divorce, and toward the end of November, after separat-
ing from the Princess Varvara, who had to go to Peters-
burg, she went to Moscow with Vronsky. Expecting
every day to get Aleksel Aleksandrovitch's reply, and
immediately afterward to secure the divorce, they set
up their establishment as if they were married.
PART SEVENTH
CHAPTER I
THE Levins had been in Moscow for two months,
and the time fixed by competent authorities for
Kitty's deUverance was already passed.
But she was still waiting, and there was no sign that
the time was any nearer than it had been two months
before. The doctor and the midwife and Dolly and her
mother, and especially Levin, who could not without ter-
ror think of the approaching event, now began to feel
impatient and anxious. Kitty alone kept perfectly calm
and happy. She now clearly recognized in her heart
the birth of a new feeling of love for the child which
already partly existed for her, and she entertained this
feeling with joy. The child was no longer only a part
of her ; even now it already lived its own independent
life at times. This caused her suffering ; but at the
same time she felt like laughing, with a strange, un-
known joy.
All whom she loved were with her, and all were so
good to her, took such care of her, and tried so to make
everything pleasant for her, that, if she had not known
and felt that the end must soon come, this would have
been the happiest and best part of her life. Only one
thing clouded her perfect happiness, and this was that
her husband was different from the Levin she loved or
the Levin that lived in the country.
She had loved his calm, gentle, and hospitable ways
in the country. In the city he seemed all the time rest-
less and on his guard, as if he feared that some one was
going to insult him or her. There in the country he
was usefully occupied, and seemed to know that he was
ANNA KARENINA 213
in his place. Here in the city he was constantly on the
go, as if he were afraid of forgetting something ; but he
had nothing really to do. And she felt sorry for him.
But she knew that to his friends he was not an object
of commiseration ; and when in society she looked at him
as one studies those who are beloved, endeavoring to look
on him as a stranger, and see what effect he produced on
others, she saw with anxiety the danger that she herself
might become jealous of him for the reason that he was
not at all pitiable, but was rather an exceedingly attrac-
tive man by reason of his dignified, rather old-fashioned,
shy politeness to ladies, his strong physique, and his very
expressive face. But she read his inner nature. She
saw that he was not himself, otherwise she could not
define his actions. But sometimes in her heart she re-
proached him because he could not adapt himself to city
life. Sometimes even she confessed that it was really
difficult for him to conduct his life so as to please her.
But, indeed, what could he find to do ? He was not
fond of cards. He did not go to the clubs. She now knew
what it meant to frequent the company of high livers,
like Oblonsky It meant to drink and to go to places —
she could not think without horror of where these men
were in the habit of going. Should he go into society ?
She knew that to enjoy that it would be necessary to
find pleasure in the company of young ladies, and she
could not desire that. Then, should he sit at home with
her, with her mother, and her sister.? But however
pleasant these conversations might be to her, she knew
that they must be wearisome to him. What, then, re-
mained for him to do ? Was he to go on with his book ?
He intended to do this, and began to make researches
in the public library ; but, as he confessed to Kitty, the
more he had nothing to do, the less time he had. More-
over, he complained to her that too much was said about
his book, and that therefore his ideas were thrown into
confusion and that his interest in his work was flagging.
One result of their life in Moscow was that there
were no more quarrels between them, either because city
conditions were different, or because both were beginning
214 ANNA KARENINA
to be more guarded and prudent ; the fact remained
that, since they left the country, the scenes of jealousy
which they feared might again arise were not repeated.
In these circumstances one very important affair for
them both took place : Kitty had a meeting with
Vronsky.
Kitty's godmother, the old Princess Marya Borisovna,
was always very fond of her, and wanted to see her.
Kitty, though owing to her condition she was not going
out now, went with her father to see the stately old
princess ; and there she met Vronsky. At this meeting
Kitty could reproach herself only for the fact that for
the moment when she first saw the features, once so
familiar, she felt her heart beat fast, and her face
redden ; but her emotion lasted only a few seconds.
The old prince hastened to begin an animated conver-
sation with Vronsky ; and by the time he had finished
Kitty was ready to look at Vronsky, or to talk with him
if need be, just as she was talking with the princess,
and, what was more, without a smile or an intonation
which would have been disagreeable to her husband,
whose invisible presence, as it were, she felt near her at
the moment.
She exchanged some words with Vronsky, smiled
serenely when he jestingly called the assembly at
Kashin "our parliament," — she had to smile so as to
show that she understood the jest. Then she addressed
herself to the old princess, and did not turn her head
until Vronsky rose to take leave. Then she looked at
him, but evidently it was only because it is impolite not
to look at a man when he bows.
She was grateful to her father because he said noth-
ing about this meeting with Vronsky ; but Kitty under-
stood from his especial tenderness after their visit, during
their usual walk, that he was satisfied with her. She
felt satisfied with herself. She had never anticipated
that she should have the strength of mind to remember
all the details of her former feelings toward Vronsky,
and yet to seem and to feel perfectly indifferent and
calm in his presence.
ANNA KARENINA 215
Levin turned far more crimson than she did, when
she told him about her meeting with Vronsky at the
house of the Princess Marya Borisovna. It was very
hard for her to tell him about it, and still harder to go
on relating the details of the meeting, for the reason
that he did not ask her a question, but only gazed at her
and frowned.
" It was such a pity that you were n't there," she said
to her husband, — " not in the room, for before you I
should not have been so self-possessed. I 'm blushing
now ever and ever so much more than I did then," said
she, blushing till the tears came, — "but if you could
have looked through the keyhole."
Her sincere eyes told Levin that she was satisfied
with her behavior, and, though she blushed, he immedi-
ately became calm ; he asked her some questions, just
as she wished him to do. When he had heard the
whole story, even to the detail that she could not help
blushing for the first second, and afterward was per-
fectly at her ease as if she had never met him before.
Levin grew extraordinarily gay, and declared that he
was very glad of it, and that in future he should not
behave so foolishly as he had done at the elections,
but that when he met Vronsky again he should be as
friendly as possible.
" It is so painful to look on him almost as an enemy,
whom it is hard to meet. I am very, very glad."
CHAPTER II
" Please don't forget to call at the Bohls'/' said
Kitty, as her husband came to her room, about eleven
o'clock in the morning, before going out. " I know that
you are going to dine at the club, because papa wrote
you. But what are you going to do this morning .'' "
" I 'm only going to Katavasof's."
" Why are you going so early } "
" He promised to introduce me to Metrof. He 's a
2i6 ANNA KARENINA
famous scholar from Petersburg. I want to talk over
my book with him."
" Oh, yes ; was n't it his article you were praising .^
Well, and after that ? "
" Possibly to the tribunal, about that affair of my
sister's."
"Are n't you going to the concert ? " she asked.
" No ; why should I go all alone .■* "
" Do go. They 're going to give those new pieces....
it will interest you. I should certainly go."
" Well, at all events, I shall come home before din-
ner," said he, looking at his watch.
" Put on your best coat, so as to go to the Countess
Bohl's."
" Why, is that really necessary ? "
" Akh ! certainly. The count himself came here.
Now, what does it cost you.? You go, you sit down,
you talk five minutes about the weather, then you get
up and go."
" Well, you don't realize that I am so out of practice,
that I feel abashed. How absurd it is for a strange
man to come to a house, to sit down, to stay a little
while without any business, to find himself in the way,
feel awkward, and then go."
Kitty laughed.
" Yes ; but did n't you use to make calls before you
were married .-' "
" Yes, but I was always bashful," said he ; " and now
I am so out of the way of it, that, by Heavens,^ I would
rather not have any dinner for two days than make this
call. I am so bashful. It seems to me as if they must
take offense, and say, 'Why do you come without
business .■' ' "
" No, they don't take offense. I will answer that for
you," said Kitty, looking brightly into his face. She
took his hand. " Now, prashchaf ! — please go ! "
He kissed his wife's hand, and was about to go, when
she stopped him.
" Kostia, do you know I have only fifty rubles left ? "
1 Yet Bogu.
ANNA KARENINA I17
"Well, I will go and get some from the bank. How
much do you want ? " said he, with his well-known ex-
pression of vexation.
" No, wait! " She detained him by the arm. " Let us
talk about this a moment ; this troubles me. I try not
to buy anything unnecessary ;' still, the money runs
away. We must retrench somehow or other."
" Not at all," said Levin, with a little cough, and
looking askance upon her.
She knew this cough. It was a sign of strong vexa-
tion, not with her, but with himself. He was actually
discontented, not because much money was spent, but
because he was reminded of what he wanted to forget.
" I have ordered Sokolof to sell the corn, and to get
the rent of the mill in advance. We shall have money
enough."
" No ; but I fear that, as a general thing .... "
"Not at all, not at all," he repeated. "Well, good-
by, darling." ^
"Sometimes I wish I hadn't listened to mamma.
How happy we were in the country ! I tire you all,
waiting for me ; and the money we spend .... "
" Not at all, not at all ! Not one single time since we
were married till now have I thought that things would
have been better than they are."
" Truly .**" said she, looking into his face.
He said that, thinking only to comfort her. But when
he saw her gentle, honest eyes turned to him with an
inquiring look, he repeated what he had said with his
whole heart ; and he remembered what was coming to
them so soon.
" How do you feel this morning ? Do you think it
will be soon ? " he asked, taking both her hands in his.
" I sometimes think that I don't think and don't know
anything."
"And don't you feel afraid?"
She smiled disdainfully : —
" Not the least bit. No, nothing will happen to-day ;
don't worry." ju j;ij (
^ Nu prashchal, dushenka; literally, Now, farewell, adieu, little soul.
2i8 ANNA KARENINA
" If that is so, then I am going to Katavasof s."
" I am going with papa to take a little walk on the
boulevard. We are going to see Dolly. I shall expect
you back before dinner. Oh, there ! Do you know,
Dolly's position is getting to be entirely unendurable .''
She is in debt on every" side, and has n't any money at
all. We talked about it yesterday with mamma and
Arseny," ■ — this was her sister Natali Lvova's husband,
— " and they decided that you should scold Stiva. It is
truly unendurable. It is impossible for papa to speak
about it ; but if you and he .... "
"Well, what can we do .-* " asked Levin.
" You had better go to Arseny's, and talk with him ;
he will tell you what we decided about it."
" All right ! I will follow Arseny's advice. Then, I
will go directly to his house. By the way, if he is at the
concert, then I will go with Natali. So good-by."
On the staircase, the old bachelor servant, Kuzma,
who acted in the city as steward, stopped his mas-
ter.
" Krasavtchika^has just been shod, and it lamed her,"
— this was Levin's left pole-horse, which he had brought
from the country ; — " what shall I do ? " said he.
When Levin established himself in Moscow, he brought
his horses from the country. He wished to set up as
good a stable as possible, but not to have it cost too
much. It seemed to him now that hired horses would
have been less expensive ; and even as it was, he was
often obliged to hire of the izvoshchik.
" Take her to the veterinary ; perhaps she is going
to have a swimmer."
" Well, how shall you arrange for Katerina Aleksan-
drovna ? " asked Kuzma.
Levin was now no longer troubled as he had been at
first, when he first came to Moscow, that for the drive
from Vozdvizhenko to Svintsef Vrazhek it was necessary
to have a span of heavy horses harnessed into his heavy
carriage and drive in it four versts through mealy snow,
and keep them waiting four hours there, and have to pay
1 Little Beauty.
ANNA KARENINA ^,19
five rubles for it. Now it seemed to him the natural
thing to do.
" Get a pair of horses from the izvoshchik, and put
them into our carriage."
" I will obey."
And having thus decided simply and quickly, thanks
to his training in city ways, a labor which in the coun-
try would have cost him much trouble and attention.
Levin went out on the porch, and, beckoning to an izvosh-
chik, took his seat in the cab, and rode off to the
Nikitskaya Street.
On the way the question of money did not occupy
him, but he thought over how he was about to make
the acquaintance of the sociological savant from Peters-
burg, and what he should say to him in regard to his
treatise.
It was only during the first part of his stay in Mos-
cow that Levin, who had been used to the productive
ways of the country, was amazed at the strange and
unavoidable expenses which met him on every side.
But now he was wonted to them. He had somewhat the
same experience as he had been told drunken men went
through : each successive glass made him more reckless.^
When Levin took the first hundred-ruble note for the
purchase of liveries for the lackey and Swiss, he could
not avoid the consideration that these liveries were
wholly useless to any one ; and yet they seemed to be
unavoidable and indispensable, judging from the amaze-
ment of Kitty and her mother, when he made the re-
mark that they might go without them — and he put it
to himself that these liveries represented the wages of
two laborers for a year, that is to say, about three
hundred working days from early in the morning till
late at night ; so that the first hundred-ruble note corre-
sponded to the first glass.^
But the second bill of twenty-eight rubles, expended
for the purchase of provisions for a family dinner, cost
1 An untranslatable Russian proverb: Piervaya riumka — kolom;
vtoraya sokolom, a posle tretve — viielkimi ptashetchkami.
* The kolom, or stake, of the proverb.
220 ANNA KARENINA
him less trouble, though he still mentally computed that
this money represented nine chetverts, or more than
fifty bushels, of oats which these same workmen, at the
cost of many groans, had mowed, bound into sheaves,
threshed, winnowed, gathered up, and put into bags.
And now the money spent in this way had long ceased
to evoke any such considerations, but they flew around
him like little birds. He had long ceased to ask him-
self whether the pleasure purchased by his money was
anywhere near commensurate with the labor spent in
acquiring it. He also forgot the common principle of
economics, that there is a certain price below which it is
impossible to sell grain except at a loss. His rye, the
price of which he had kept up so long, had to be sold
at ten kopeks a bushel cheaper than he had sold it a
month earlier. Even the calculation that if he kept on
at his present rate of expenditure it would be impossible
to get through the year without getting into debt, did
not cause him any anxiety.
Only one thing troubled him : the keeping up his
bank account, without asking how, so that there might
be always enough for the daily needs of the household.
And up to the present time he had succeeded in doing
this. But now his deposit at the bank had run low, and
he did not know exactly how to restore it. And this
problem was causing him some anxiety just at the time
when Kitty asked him for some more money. But he
did not want to bother about that just now. So he
drove away, thinking of Katavasof and his approaching
acquaintance with Metrof.
CHAPTER III
During his present stay in Moscow Levin had once
more come into intimate relationship with his old uni-
versity friend, Professor Katavasof, whom he had not
seen since the time of his marriage. Katavasof was
agreeable to him because of the clearness and simplicity
of his philosophy. Levin thought that the clearness of
ANNA KARENINA 22J
his philosophy arose from the poverty of his nature,
while Katavasof thought that the incoherence of Le-
vin's ideas arose from a lack of mental discipline. But
Katavasof 's lucidity was agreeable to Levin, and Levin's
fecundity of undisciplined ideas was agreeable to Kata-
vasof, and they both liked to meet and discuss together.
Levin had read several passages from his treatise to
Katavasof, who had liked them. The evening before
Katavasof, happening to meet Levin at a public lecture,
told him that the celebrated scholar, Professor Metrof,
whose article had pleased Levin, was in Moscow, and
was greatly interested in what he had heard of Levin's
work. He was to be at Katavasof's house the next day
at eleven o'clock, and would be delighted to make Le-
vin's acquaintance.
" Delighted to see you, batyushka," said Katavasof,
receiving Levin in his reception-room. " I heard the
bell, and wondered if it could be time And now what
do you think of the Montenegrins ? It looks to me like
war."
"What makes you think so ? " asked Levin.
Katavasof in a few words told him the latest news, and
then, taking him into his library, introduced him to a
short, thick-set, and very pleasant-looking man : it was
Metrof. The conversation for a short time turned on
politics, and on the views held by the high authorities
in Petersburg in regard to the recent elections. Metrof,
in regard to this, quoted some significant words spoken
by the emperor and one of the ministers, which he had
heard from a reliable source. Katavasof had heard from
an equally reliable source that the emperor had said some-
thing quite different. Levin tried to imagine to himself
the conditions in which the words in either case might
have been said, and the conversation on this theme came
to an end.
" Well ! here is the gentleman who is writing a book
on the natural condition of the laborer in relation to the
soil," said Katavasof. "I am not a specialist, but it
pleases me as a naturalist that he does not consider the
human race outside of zoological laws, but recognizes
222 ANNA KARENINA
man's dependence on his environment, and seeks to find
in this dependence the laws of his development."
" That 's very interesting," said Metrof .
" I began simply to write a book on rural economy," ^
said Levin, reddening ; " but in studying the principal
instrument, the laborer, I arrived at a decidedly unex-
pected conclusion, in spite of myself."
And Levin expatiated on his ideas, trying the ground
carefully as he did so, for he knew that Metrof had
written an article against the current views on political
economy ; and how far he could hope for sympathy in
his new views, he did not know, and could not tell from
the scholar's calm, intellectual face.
" How, in your opinion, does the Russian laborer
differ from that of other peoples .-' " asked Metrof. " Is
it from the point of view which you call zoological ? or
from that of the material conditions in which he finds
himself .-' "
This way of putting the question proved to Levin how
widely their opinions diverged ; nevertheless, he con-
tinued to set forth his theory, which was based on the
idea that the Russian people could not have the same
relation to the soil as the other European nations ; and
to prove this position, he hastened to add that, in his
opinion, the Russian people feels instinctively predes-
tined to populate the immense uncultivated tracts stretch-
ing toward the East.
** It is easy to be mistaken about the general destiny
of a people, by forming premature conclusions," said
Metrof, interrupting Levin ; *' and the situation of the
laborer will always depend on his relation to land and
capital."
And, without giving Levin time to reply, he began
to explain the peculiarity of his own views. Levin did
not understand, because he did not try to understand,
in what consisted the peculiarity of his views ; he saw
that Metrof, like all the rest, notwithstanding his article,
in which he refuted the teachings of the economists,
looked on the condition of the Russian people from the
^ Sehkoye kkozyaistvo.
ANNA KARENINA i^j
standpoint of capital, wages, and rent, though he was
obliged to confess that for the eastern and by far the
greater part of Russia, there was no such thing as rent ;
that for nine-tenths of Russia's eighty millions, wages
consisted in a bare subsistence, and the capital did not
yet exist, except as it was represented by the most primi-
tive tools. Although Metrof differed from other political
economists, in many ways he regarded the laborer from
this point of view, and he had a new theory as to wages,
which he demonstrated at length.
Levin listened with some disgust, and tried to reply.
He wanted to interrupt Metrof, in order to express his
own opinions, which he felt deserved to be heard at far
greater length. But, finally recognizing that they looked
on the subject from such a radically opposite standpoint
that they could never understand each other, he no
longer tried to refute him, he let Metrof talk, and only
listened. Though he was not at all interested in what
he said, nevertheless he experienced a certain pleasure in
listening to him. He was flattered that such a learned
man would condescend to give him the benefit of his
thoughts, sometimes by a hint pointing to a complete
phase of the subject, and showing him so much defer-
ence as to one thoroughly versed in the subject. He
ascribed this to his own merits ; he did not know that
Metrof, having talked this over with all his own intimates
on this subject, was glad to have a new auditor ; and,
moreover, that he liked to talk with any one on the sub-
jects that occupied him, so as to elucidate certain points
for his own benefit.
" We shall be late," remarked Katavasof, consulting
his watch as soon as Metrof had concluded his argu-
ment. " Yes ! there is a special session to-day of the
' Society of Friends ' ^ in honor of the semi-centennial of
Svintitch," he added, in reply to Levin's question.
" We meet at the house of Piotr Ivanuitch ; I promised
to speak on his work in zoology. Come with us ; it will
be interesting."
" Yes, it is high time," said Metrof. " Come with us,
^ Obshchestvo Liubitelye,
?24 ANNA KARENINA
and then afterward, if you like, come home with me.
I should greatly like to hear your work."
" It is only a sketch, not worth much ; but I should
like to go with you to the session."
" What is that, batyushka .-' Have you heard .'' He
gave a special opinion," said Katavasof, who was putting
on his dress-coat in the next room.
And the talk turned on the university question.
The university question was a very important topic
this winter in Moscow. Three old professors in the
council would not accept the opinion of the younger
ones ; the younger ones expressed a special opinion.
This opinion, according 1:o some, was dreadful, accord-
ing to others was the simplest and most righteous of
opinions, and the professors were divided into two
parties.
The one to which Katavasof belonged saw in the
opposition dastardly violation of faith, and deception ;
the other side charged their opponents with childishness
and lack of confidence in the authorities.
Levin, although he was not connected with the uni-
versity, had heard and talked much during his stay in
Moscow regarding this affair, and had his own opinion
regarding it. So he took part in the conversation, which
was continued even after they had got out into the
street, and until they had all three reached the buildings
of the old university.
The session had already begun. Six men were sitting
around a table covered with a cloth ; and one of them,
nearly doubled up over a manuscript, was reading some-
thing. Katavasof and Metrof took their places at the
table. Levin sat down in an unoccupied chair near a stu-
dent, and asked him in a low voice what they were read-
ing. The student, looking angrily at Levin, replied: —
..*' The biography."
f)-:>Levin did not care much for the savant's biography,
fefill he could not help listening, and he learned various
interesting particulars of the life of the celebrated man.
When the reader came to an end, the chairman con-
gratulated him, and then read some verses which had
ANNA KARENINA 2^5
been sent to him in honor of the occasion by the poet
Mient, of whose work he spoke eulogistically. Then
Katavasof read in his loud, harsh voice a sketch of the
work of Svintitch. When Katavasof had finished, Levin
looked at his watch and found that it was already two
o'clock;- he realized that he should lose the concert if
he should read his treatise to Metrof, and, moreover, he
no longer cared to do it.
During the reading of the papers he had come to a
conclusion regarding the conversation he had just had.
It was clear to his own mind that, though Metrof's ideas
very likely had some value, yet his own ideas also had
value, and that ideas could be made clear and profitable
only when every person should work separately in his
chosen path, but that the communication of these ideas
was perfectly profitless.
And, having decided to decline Metrof's invitation.
Levin at the end of the session went up to him. Metrof
introduced Levin to the chairman, with whom he was
talking about the political news. Thereupon Metrof
told the chairman what he had already told Levin, and
Levin made the same remarks as he had made that morn-
ing, but for the sake of variety he also told his new theory
which had just come into his mind. After this the con-
versation again turned on the university question. As
Levin had already heard as much as he cared to about
this, he made haste to tell Metrof that he regretted that
he could not accept his invitation, bade him good-by,
and hastened to Lvof s.
CHAPTER IV
Lvof, who had married Natalie, Kitty's sister, had
spent his life in the European capitals, where he had not
only received his education, but had also pursued his dip-
lomatic career.
The year before he had resigned his diplomatic ap-
pointment, not because it was distasteful to him, — for
he never found anything distasteful to him, — and had
VOL. III. — 15
226 ANNA KARENINA
accepted a position in the department of the palace in
Moscow, so that he might be able to give a better educa-
tion to his two sons.
In spite of very different opinions and habits, and the
fact that Lvof was considerably older than Levin, they
had seen much of each other this autumn, and had be-
come great friends.
Levin found his brother-in-law at home, and went in
without ceremony.
Lvof, in a house-coat with a belt, and in chamois-skin
slippers, was sitting in an arm-chair, and with blue glasses
was reading a book which rested on a stand, while he
held a half-burned cigar in his shapely hand. His hand-
some, delicate, and still youthful face, to which his shin-
ing, silvery hair gave an expression of aristocratic dignity,
lighted up with a smile as he saw Levin.
" Good ! I was just going to send to find out about
you all. How is Kitty } " said he ; and, rising, he pushed
forward a rocking-chair, " Sit down here : you '11 find
this better. Have you read the last circular in the /our-
nal de St. P^tersbourgf I find it excellent," said he, with
a slight French accent.
Levin informed him of what he had heard as to the
reports in circulation at Petersburg ; and, after having
spoken of politics, he told about his acquaintance with
Metrof and the session at the university. This greatly
interested Lvof.
" There ! I envy you your intimacy in that learned
society," said he, and he went on speaking, not in Rus-
sian, but in French, which was far more familiar to him.
" True, I could not meet them very well. My public
duties, and my occupation with the children, would pre-
vent it; and then, I do not feel ashamed to say that my
own education is too faulty." ''Kf orfv/
" I can't think that," said Levin, with'a snifile, and, as
always, touched by his modest opinion of himself, ex-
pressed not for the sake of bringing out a flattering con-
tradiction, but genuine and honest.
" Oh, dear ! I now feel how little I know. Now that
I am educating my sons, I am obliged to refresh my
. ANNA KARENINA ibP^
memory. I learn my lessons over again. Just as in
your estate, you have to have workmen and overseers,
so here it needs some one to watch the teachers. But
see what I am reading," — and he pointed to the gram-
mar of Buslayef lying on the stand, — ** Misha has to
learn it, and it is so hard Now explain this to me."
Levin wanted to explain to him that it was impossible
to understand it, that it simply had to be learned. But
Lvof did not agree with him.
"Yes, now you are making fun of it."
" On the contrary, you can't imagine how much I
learn, when I look at you, about the way to teach
children."
" Well ! You could not learn much from me."
" I only know that I never saw children so well
brought up as yours, and I should not want better chil-
dren than yours."
Lvof evidently wanted to restrain himself so as not
to betray his satisfaction, but his face lighted up with a
smile.
" Only let them be better than L That is all that I
want. But you don't know the bother," he began,
"with lads who, like mine, have been allowed to run
wild abroad."
" You are regulating all that. They are such capable
children. The main thing is — their moral training.
And this is what I learn in looking at your children."
" You speak of the moral training. You can't imag-
ine how hard it is. Just as soon as you have conquered
one crop of weeds, others spring up, and there is always
a fight. If you don't have a support in religion, — be-
tween ourselves, — no father on earth, relying on his own
strength and without this help, could ever succeed in
training them."
This conversation, which was extremely interesting to
Levin, was interrupted by the pretty Natalie Aleksan-
drovna, dressed for going out.
"I didn't know you were here," said she to Levin,
evidently not regretting, but even rejoicing, that she had
interrupted his conversation, which was too long for her
228 ANNA KARENINA
pleasure. " Well ! and how is Kitty ? I am going to
dine with you to-day. See here, Arseny," she said,
turning to her husband, "you take the carriage." ....
And between husband and wife began a discussion of
the question how they should spend the day. As the
husband had to attend to his official business, and the
wife was going to the concert and to a public session of
the Committee of the Southeast, it was needful to dis-
cuss and think it all over. Levin, as a member of the
family, was obliged to take part in these plans. It was
decided that he should go with Natahe to the concert
and to the pubhc meeting, and then send the carriage
to the office for Arseny, who would come and take her
to Kitty's, or if he was not yet ready Levin would serve
as her escort.
" This man is spoiling me," said Lvof to his wife ;
" he assures me that our children are lovely, when I
know that they are full of faults."
" Arseny goes to extremes. I always say so," said
his wife. " If you expect perfection, you will never be
satisfied. And papa is right in saying that when we
were children they went to one extreme : they kept us
on the entresol, while the parents lived in the bel-etagc ;
but now, on the contrary, the parents live in the lumber-
room, and the children in the bcl-etage. The parents
are now of no account ; everything must be for the
children."
" Supposing this is more agreeable .-• " suggested Lvof,
with his winning smile, as he offered her his arm. " Any
one not knowing you would think that you were not a
mother, but a step-mother."
" No, it is not good to go to extremes in anything,"
said Natalie, gently, laying his paper-cutter in its
proper place on the table.
" Ah, here they are ! Come in, ye perfect children,"
said Lvof to the handsome lads, who came in, and, after
bowing to Levin, went to their father, evidently wishing
to ask some favor of him.
Levin wanted to speak with them, and to hear what
they said to their father, but Natalie was talking with
ANNA KARENINA 229
him ; and just then Lvof s colleague, Makhotin, in his
court-uniform, came into the room, and began a lively
conversation about Herzegovina, the Princess Korzin-
sky, and the premature death of Madame Apraksin.
Levin forgot all about Kitty's message. He remem-
bered it just as they reached the vestibule.
" Oh ! Kitty commissioned me to speak with you
about Oblonsky," said he, as Lvof went with them to
the head of the staircase.
" Yes, yes ! inanian wants us, les beaux-fr^res, to at-
tack him," said Lvof, turning red. " But how can I .? "
"Then I'll undertake it," said the smiling Madame
Lvof, who, wrapped in her white dogskin rotonda, was
waiting till they should finish talking.
CHAPTER V
Two very interesting pieces were to be given at the
matinee. One was a fantasia or symphonic poem called
" The King Lear of the Steppes," the other was a quar-
tette dedicated to the memory of Bach. Both pieces
were new and of the new school, and Levin desired to
form his own opinion in regard to them. So, after he
had conducted his sister-in-law to her place, he took his
stand near a column, and determined to listen as atten-
tively and conscientiously as possible. He tried not to
allow his attention to be distracted and his impressions
spoiled by letting his eyes follow the white-cravatted
kapellmeister's waving arms, which are always so dis-
turbing to the musical attention, or by looking at the
ladies in their hats, who for concerts take especial pains
to tie ribbons round their ears, or at all those faces
either occupied with nothing, or occupied with the most
heterogeneous interests, music being the last. He tried
to avoid meeting the connoisseurs and the chatterers,
but he stood alone by himself, looking down and listen-
ing.
But the more he listened to the "King Lear" fantasia,
the more he felt the impossibility of forming a clear and
230 ANNA KARENINA
exact idea of it. The musical thought, at the moment
of its development, was constantly interrupted by the
introduction of new themes, or vanished, leaving only
the impression of a complicated and laborious attempt
at instrumentation. But these same new themes, beau-
tiful as some of them were, gave an unpleasant impres-
sion, because they were not expected or prepared for.
Gayety and sadness and despair and tenderness and
triumph followed one another like the incoherent
thoughts of a madman, to be themselves followed by
others as wild.
During the whole performance, Levin experienced a
feeling analogous to what a deaf man might have in
looking at dancers. He was in a state of utter dubiety
when the piece came to an end, and he felt a great weari-
ness from the strain of intellectual intensity which was
never rewarded. . /t.'iT'f AHO
On all sides were heard loud applause and clapping
of hands. All got up and moved about, talking. Wish-
ing to get some hght on his doubts by the impressions
of others. Levin began to walk about, seeking for the
connoisseurs, and he was glad when at last he saw one
of the best-known musical critics talking with his friend
Pestsof.
"It's wonderful," said Pestsof, in his deep bass.
" How are you, Konstantin Dmitritch ? The passage
that is the richest in color, the most statuesque, so to
speak, is that where Cordelia appears, where woman,
das ewig Weibliche, comes into conflict with fate.
Don't you think so .'' "
'• Why Cordelia .'' " asked Levin, with hesitation, for
he had wholly forgotten that the symphonic poem had
anything to do with King Lear.
"Cordelia appears here," said Pestsof, tapping with
his finger on the satin program which he held in his
hand. Then only did Levin notice the title of the sym-
phonic poem, and he made haste to read the text of
Shakespeare, translated into Russian and printed on the
back of the program. "You can't follow it without
that," said Pestsof, addressing Levin, now that his
a
ANNA KARENINA aj,t
friend, the critic, had gone, and there was nothing more
to talk with him about.
Levin and Pestsof spent the intermission in discuss-
ing the merits and defects of the Wagnerian tendencies
in music. Levin maintained that the mistake of Wag-
ner and all his followers consisted in transferring music
to the domain of an alien art, that poetry made the mis-
take when it tried to depict the features of the human
face, which it was the province of painting to do, and as
a concrete example of this kind of a mistake he adduced
the sculptor who should try to express in marble the
shades of poetic imagery rising round the figure of the
poet on the pedestal.
" These shades are so far from being shades in the
case of the sculptor, that they even rest on the steps,"
said Levin. This phrase pleased him, but he had a
lurking suspicion that he had once used this same
phrase before, and to Pestsof himself, and he felt
confused.
Pestsof argued that art is one, and that it can reach its
loftiest manifestations only by combining all its forms.
Levin could not listen to the second number on the
program. Pestsof, who was standing near him, kept
talking to him most of the time, criticizing it for its ex-
cessive, mawkish, affected simplicity, and comparing it
to the simplicity of the Pre-Raphaelites in painting.
On his way out, he met various acquaintances, with
whom he exchanged remarks on politics, music, and
other topics ; among others he saw Count Bohl, and the
call which he should have made on him came to mind.
" Well, go quickly," said Natalie, to whom he confided
this. " Perhaps the countess is not receiving. If so,
you will come and join me at the meeting. You will
have plenty of time."
132 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER VI
" Perhaps they are not receiving ? " asked Levin, as
he entered the vestibule of Count Bohl's house.
" Oh, yes ! permit me ! " answered the Swiss, resolutely
taking the visitor's shuba.
" What a nuisance ! " thought Levin, drawing off one
of his gloves with a sigh, and turning his hat in his
hands. " Now, why did I come ? Now, what am I
going to say to them ? "
Passing through the first drawing-room, he met the
Countess Bohl at the door, who, with a perplexed and
severe face, was giving orders to a servant. When she
saw Levin, she smiled, and invited him to walk into a
small parlor, where voices were heard. In this room
were sitting her two daughters and a Muscovite colonel
whom Levin knew. Levin joined them, passed the
usual compliments, and sat down near a divan, holding
his hat on his knee.
*' How is your wife .-* Have you been to the concert .■*
We were not able to go. Mamma had to attend the
requiem," said one of the young ladies.
"Yes, I heard about it — what a sudden death!" —
said Levin.
The countess came in, sat down on the divan, and
asked also about his wife and the concert.
Levin replied, and asked some questions about the
sudden death of Madame Apraksin.
" But then, she was always in delicate health."
" Were you at the opera yesterday .-' "
"Yes, I was."
" Lucca was very good."
"Yes, very good," he said ; and he began, seeing that
it was entirely immaterial to him what they thought
about him, to repeat what he had heard a hundred times
about the singer's extraordinary talent. The Countess
Bohl pretended that she was listening. Then, when he
had said all he had to say, and relapsed into silence, the
colonel, who had hitherto held his peace, began also to
ANNA KARENINA ^^
speak. The colonel also talked about the opera and
about an illumination. Then, saying something about a
supposititious fo/le journie at Turin, the colonel, laugh-
ing, got up, and took his departure. Levin also got up,
but a look of surprise on the countess's face told him
that it was not yet time for him to go. Two minutes
more at least were necessary. He sat down.
But, as he thought what a foolish figure he was cut-
ting, he was more and more incapable of finding a sub-
ject of conversation.
"Are you going to the public meeting.?" asked the
countess. " They say it will be very interesting."
" No, but I promised my belle-sceur that I would call
for her there," replied Levin.
Silence again ensued; the mother exchanged a look
with her daughter.
" Now it must be time to go," thought Levin ; and
he rose. The ladies shook hands with him, and charged
him with mille choses for his wife.
The Swiss, as he put on his shuba for him, asked his
address, and wrote it gravely in a large, handsomely
bound book.
" Of course, it 's all the same to me ; but how useless
and ridiculous it all is ! " thought Levin, comforting him-
self with the thought that every one did the same thing,
and he went to the public meeting of the committee,
where he was to find his sister-in-law to bring her home
with him.
At the public meeting of the committee there was a
great throng of people, and society was well represented.
Levin reached the place just in time to hear a sketch
which all said was very interesting. When the reading
of the sketch was finished, society came together, and
Levin met Sviazhsky, who invited him to come that very
evening to a meeting of the Society of Rural Economy,^
at which a very important report was to be read. He
also met Stepan Arkadyevitch, who had just returned
from the races, and many other acquaintances, and
Levin talked much and heard many opinions relating to
^ Obshchestvo siekkava khozyaistva.
234 ANNA KARENINA
the meeting and the new piece and the lawsuit. But
apparently in consequence of his weariness and the
strain which he began to feel, he made a blunder in
speaking of a certain lawsuit, and this blunder he after-
ward remembered with annoyance. Speaking of the
recent punishment of a foreigner who had been tried in
Russia, and that it would have been irregular to punish
him by exile. Levin repeated what he had heard the
evening before in a conversation with a friend of his.
" I think that to send him abroad is just the same as to
punish a fish by throwing it into the water," said Levin.
Too late he remembered that this comparison which
he put forth to express his thought, though he had heard
his friend use it, was really taken from a fable by Krui-
lof , and that his friend had taken it from the feiiilleton
of a newspaper.
Returning home with his sister-in-law, and finding
Kitty well and happy. Levin went to the club.
CHAPTER VII
Levin reached the club very punctually. A number
of the guests and members arrived there at the same
time as he did. Levin had not been at the club very
recently, indeed, not since the time when, havang finished
his studies at the university, he passed a winter at Mos-
cow, and went into society. He remembered the club
in a general sort of way, but had entirely forgotten the
impressions which, in former days, it had made upon
him. But as soon as he entered the great semicircular
dvor, or court, sent away his izvoshchik, and mounted the
steps and saw the liveried Swiss noiselessly open the door
for him, and bow as he ushered him in ; as soon as he
saw in the cloak-room the galoshes and shubas of the
members, who felt that it was less work to take them off
down-stairs, and leave them with the Swiss, than to wear
them up-stairs ; as soon as he heard the well-known
mysterious sound of the bell, and as soon as he mounted
the easy flight of carpeted stairs and saw the statue on
'ANNA KARENINA ^45
the landing, and on the upper floor recognized the third
Swiss in his club livery, who, having grown older, dis-
played neither dilatoriness nor haste in opening the door
for him, he once more felt the old-time impression of the
club — the atmosphere of comfort, ease, and good-
breeding.
"Your hat, if you please," said the Swiss to Levin,
who had forgotten the rule of the club to leave hats at
the cloak-room.
"It's a long time since you were here," said the
Swiss. " The prince wrote to you yesterday. Prince
Stepan Arkadyevitch has not come yet."
The Swiss knew not only Levin, but all his connec-
tions and family, and took pleasure in reminding him
of his relationships.
Passing through the first connecting " hall " and the
conversation-room at the right where the fruit-dealer
sits, Levin, who walked faster than the old attendant,
entered the dining-room, which was filled with a noisy
throng. He made his way along by the tables, almost
all of which were occupied. As he looked about him
on all sides, he saw men of the most heterogeneous
types, old and young, most of them acquaintances and
many of them friends. It seemed as if all of them had
-left their cares and worries with their hats in the cloak-
room, and had collected together to make the most of
the material advantages of life. There were Sviazhsky
and Shcherbatsky and Nevyedovsky and the old prince
and Vronsky and Sergye'f Ivanovitch.
" Ah, why are you late ? " said the prince, with a smile,
extending his hand to his son-in-law over his shoulder.
"How is Kitty.?" added he, putting a corner of his
napkin into the button-hole of his waistcoat.
" She is well, and is dining with her sisters."
" Ah ! the old gossips ! Well, there 's no room with
us. Go to that table there and get a seat as quickly as
you can .... " said the prince, taking with care a plate of
nk/ia, or soup made of lotes.
" Here, Levin," cried a jovial voice from a table a
little farther away.
236 ANNA KARENINA
It was Turovtsuin. He was sitting with a young
officer, and near him were two chairs tilted up. Levin,
with joy, went to join him. He always liked the good-
hearted, prodigal Turovtsuin ; his reconciliation with
Kitty was connected with him, and now, especially,
after all his wearisome intellectual conversations, the
sight of his jolly face was delightful.
" These places were for you and Oblonsky. He will
be here directly," said Turovtsuin; and then he intro-
duced Levin to the young officer, who held himself very
straight and had bright, laughing eyes, — Gagin, from
Petersburg.
" Oblonsky is always late."
"Ah! here he is."
" You have only just come, have n't you .-' " asked
.Oblonsky of Levin, hurrying up to him. " Your health.
Will you take vodka .'' Come on, then."
Levin got up, and went with him to a large table, on
which all kinds of liquors and a most select zakuska
were set out. It would seem as if the two dozen differ-
ent kinds of drinks might have offered a choice, but
Stepan Arkadyevitch thought good to ask for a special
concoction, which a servant in livery hastened to get for
him. They drank it from small glasses, and then re-
turned to their places.
At the very iirst, even while they were eating their
ukha, Gagin had champagne served, and he ordered the
four glasses filled. Levin did not refuse the wine when
it was offered to him, and he in turn ordered a bottle.
He was hungry, and ate and drank with great satis-
faction ; and with still greater satisfaction took part in
the gay and lively conversation of his neighbors. Gagin,
lowering his voice, told a new Petersburg anecdote ;
and, though it was indecorous and ridiculous, it was so
funny that Levin laughed uproariously, till those around
him looked at him in surprise.
" That is in the same kind as ' Alas, I cannot endure
it,' " quoted Stepan Arkadyevitch. " Do you remember.-'
Akh ! it was lovely ! Bring us another bottle," said he
to the lackey, and he began to tell an anecdote.
ANNA KARENINA 237
"Piotr Ilyitch Vinovsky sends these," interrupted a
little old lackey, addressing Stepan Arkadyevitch, and
bringing two diminutive glasses of bubbling champagne,
and offering them to Oblonsky and Levin, Stepan
Arkadyevitch took the glass, and, exchanging glances
with a bald, ruddy, mustachioed man, at the other end of
the table, nodded to him and smiled.
"Who is that ? " asked Levin.
" You met him at my house once, don't you remem-
ber .-* He 's a very good fellow."
Levin followed Oblonsky's example, and took his
glass. Stepan Arkadyevitch's anecdote was also very
diverting. Then Levin had his story to tell, and it
likewise raised a laugh. Then the conversation turned
on horses, and the races that had taken place that day,
and they told how brilliantly Vronsky's trotter, Atlasnui,
had won the first prize.
" Ah, here they are ! " said Stepan Arkadyevitch,
toward the end of the dinner, turning round in his chair
to extend his hand to Vronsky, who was walking with a
tall colonel of the Guards. Vronsky's face was also
radiant with the good-natured gayety that reigned in the
club. He leaned his elbow on Oblonsky's shoulder, and
whispered some words in his ear with an air of good-
humor, and extended his hand with a friendly smile to
Levin.
" I am very glad to meet you," said he. " I looked
for you after the elections, but they told me you had
gone."
"Yes! I went away the same day We have just
been speaking of your trotter. It was a very fast
race."
" Yes, it was. Have n't you race-horses, too .-' "
" I ? No. My father had horses, and I know about
them."
" Where did you dine .-* " asked Stepan Arkadyevitch.
"At the second table, behind the columns."
" He has been loaded down with congratulations. It 's
very pretty .... a second imperial prize. I wish I could
only have the same luck at play as he does with horses.
238 ANNA KARENINA
Now ! how they waste golden time ! I am going to the
Infernalnaya," said the tall colonel ; and he left theiji.
"That's Yashvin," said Vronsky to Turovtsuin ; and
sat down in a vacant place near them. Having drained
the glass of champagne which was filled for him, he also
ordered a bottle. Either from the effect of the wine
which he had drunk, or from the social atmosphere of
the club, Levin talked cordially with him about the best
breeds of cattle, and was happy to feel no more hatred
against his former rival. He even told him, among other
things, that he had heard from his wife of the meeting
which had taken place at the house of the Princess
Marya Borisovna.
" Akh ! the Princess Marya Borisovna } She 's a
charmer ! " exclaimed Stepan Arkadyevitch ; and he
told an anecdote of the old lady which made every one
laugh. Especially Vronsky laughed so heartily that
Levin felt perfectly reconciled to him.
"Well, gentlemen, have we finished.?" said Oblonsky,
getting up and smiling. " Then let us go."
CHAPTER Vni
On leaving the table Levin, in company with Gagin,
walked through the lofty rooms to the billiard-room, and
he felt that his walk was singularly straight, and that his
hands moved easily. In the large " hall " he met his
father-in-law.
" Well ! How do you like our Temple of Indolence ? "
asked the old prince, taking his son-in-law by the arm.
"Come, take a turn."
" I should like to look around. It is interesting."
jn'M Yes, to you ; but my interest in it is different from
yours. When you see old men like that," said he, indi-
cating a member of the club who, with stooping shoul-
ders and falling lip, was slowly shuffling along in soft
boots across the hall, "you would think that they were
born shliupiks."
" Why do you call them ' little sloops ' ? "
ANNA KARENINA 239
" Here you are, and don't know what that means !
That is our club term. You know how eggs roll. Well,
when any one goes with a gait like that, he becomes a
shliupik. And so when any one of us goes stumbling
through the club, he becomes a shliupik. You laugh,
do you .'' but one has to look out else he finds himself
one. Do you know Prince Chechensky .^ " he asked;
and Levin saw by his face that he was going to tell
some ridiculous yarn.
" No, I don't know him."
"Well, no matter. Prince Chechensky is famous.
Well, that is neither here nor there. He 's always play-
ing billiards. Three years ago he wasn't among the
shliupiks, but was a great galliard ! He himself called
other people shliupiks. Only he came one time .... but
our Swiss — you know Vasili, our tall one.-' — he is a
great bonmotist. Prince Chechensky asks him, * Well,
Vasili, is any one here yet .-* have any shliupiks come } '
And Vasili answers, ' You are the third.' Now, brother !
how is that?"
The two men walked on, chatting, and greeting their
friends, and passed through all the rooms, — the main
room, where men accustomed to one another as partners
were playing cards for small stakes ; the divan-room,
where others were having games of chess, and Sergyef
Ivanovitch was talking with some one ; the billiard-room,
where, in the bay of the room, around a divan, a gay
party, among them Gagin, had gathered and were drink-
ing champagne. They glanced in also at the Infernal-
nay a, where, at the gambling-table, Yashvin, surrounded
by men betting, was already established. With hushed
voices, they entered the reading-room, where, under a
shaded lamp, a young man with a stern face was turn-
ing over the leaves of one journal after another, while
near by was a bald-headed general absorbed in reading.
They passed quietly into a room which the prince called
the Hall of the Wits,^ and there they found three gen-
tlemen talking politics.
" Prince, we 're all ready, if you please," said one
1 Umnaya Komnata, the intellectual room.
24.0 ANNA KARENINA
of his partners, finding him there. And the prince
joined them.
Levin sat down, and Hstened to the three gentlemen,
but, as he recalled all the conversations of the same kind
he had heard since morning, he felt excessively bored.
He got up, and went off to find Turovtsuin and
Oblonsky, who were sure to be gay.
Turovtsuin was with the champagne-drinkers on the
high divan in the billiard-room, and Stepan Arkadyevitch
and Vronsky were talking in a corner near the door.
*' Not that she finds it tedious," Levin heard in pass-
ing ; " but it 's the uncertainty, the indefiniteness of her
position."
He was about to pass on discreetly, but Stepan
Arkadyevitch called him.
" Levin," said he ; and Levin saw that there were in
his eyes, not exactly tears, but moisture, as was always
the case, either after he had been drinking, or when
he was touched ; and just now it was both. " Levin,
don't go;" and he took him by the arm, and detained
him. "He is my sincere, if not my best, friend," said
he, addressing Vronsky. "You, too, are more like a
kinsman and a friend to me. I want to bring you
together, and see you friends. You ought to be good
friends, because you are both good men."
" There 's nothing left for us but to give the kiss of
friendship," said Vronsky, gayly, offering his hand to
Levin, who pressed it cordially.
"I am very, very glad," said Levin.
" Waiter, a bottle of champagne ! " cried Stepan
Arkadyevitch.
" I am also very glad," said Vronsky.
But, in spite of Oblonsky's desires, and their mu-
tual satisfaction, they had nothing to say, and both
knew it.
"Do you know, he doesn't know Anna.-*" remarked
Oblonsky ; " and I want to introduce him to her. Come
on, Levin."
"Is it possible?" said Vronsky. "She will be very
much pleased. I should beg you to come at once, but
ANNA KARENINA 241
I am troubled about Yashvin, and I want to stay here
till he has finished playing."
" Is he going to lose? "
" All he has. I am the only one who has any influ-
ence over him," said Vronsky.
" What do you say, Levin, shall we have a game of
pool.'' First-rate," said Stepan Arkadyevitch. "Place
the pyramid," said he, addressing the marker.
" It is all ready," replied the marker, who had some
time before put the balls in the triangular frame, and
had placed the red ball in readiness to break the
pyramid.
" Well, then, go ahead."
After their game, Vronsky and Levin sat down at
Gagin's table, and Levin, at Stepan Arkadyevitch's
instance, began to bet on the aces. Vronsky sat down
for a time at the same table, where his acquaintances
kept coming up and joining him ; then, after a time, he
went to the Infernalnaya to find out how Yashvin was get-
ting along. Levin felt a pleasant sense of exhilaration
after the intellectual weariness of the morning. He was
pleased to have his unfriendly feehngs toward Vronsky
ended, and the impression of restfulness, good-fellow-
ship, and comfort still remained by him.
When the game was ended, Stepan Arkadyevitch
took Levin's arm, saying : —
" Well ! let us go to see Anna. We need n't wait for
Vronsky. What say you .-* She is at home. I promised
her to bring you a long time ago. Where were you go-
ing this evening ? "
" Nowhere in particular. I only told Sviazhsky I
would go to the Society of Rural Economy. But I '11
go with you, if you wish."
" Excellent ! let us go, then. See if my carriage has
come," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, addressing a lackey.
Levin went to the desk, paid the forty rubles which
he had lost at cards, in some mysterious way gave his
fee to the old lackey who was standing by the door, and
went through the long rooms down to the entrance.
VOL. III. — 16
242 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER IX
" Oblonsky's carriage ! " cried the Swiss, in a porten-
tous voice.
The carriage came up, and the two friends got in.
Only as long as the carriage was still in the courtyard
did Levin continue to experience the feeling of clubbish
comfort, of satisfaction, and of indubitable decorum,
which had surrounded him. But as soon as the car-
riage rolled out on the street, the jolting over the un-
even pavement, the cries of an angry izvoshchik whom
they met, and the sight of the red sign of a low public
house and some shops lighted up, caused this impression
to fade away, and he began to think over what follies he
had committed, and to ask himself if he were doing right
in going to see Anna. What would Kitty say ? Stepan
Arkadyevitch, as if he had divined what was passing in
the mind of his companion, cut short his meditations.
"How glad I am," said he, "that you are going to
know her ! You know Dolly has been wishing it for a
long time. Lvof goes to her house, too. Though she
is my sister," continued Stepan Arkadyevitch, " I am
bold enough to say that she is a remarkable woman.
You will see it. Her position is very hard, especially
just now."
" Why do you say * especially now ' ? "
" We are negotiating with her husband for a divorce,
and he is willing ; but there are difficulties on account
of the son ; and this matter, which ought to have been
settled long ago, is dragging on now these three months.
As soon as the divorce is granted, she will marry Vronsky.
— How stupid it is, this old habit of dizziness, ' Isaiah re-
joice,' in which no one beheves, and which destroys the
happiness of people," exclaimed Stepan Arkadyevitch,
interrupting what he was saying. Then he went on,
" and then her position will become as regular as yours
or mine."
" Where does the difficulty lie ? "
" Akh ! it is a long and tiresome story ; everything is
ANNA KARENINA 243
so undecided. But this is the point : she has been wait-
ing three months for that divorce here in Moscow, where
everybody knows her and him ; and she does n't see a
single woman but Dolly, because, don't you see, she
does n't wish that any one should come to see her from
pity. What do you think .-* That fool of a Princess
Varvara left her because she considered it irregular.
Any other woman than Anna would not have found
resources in herself ; but you shall see how she lives,
how dignified and calm she is. — To the left, at the cor-
ner opposite the church," cried Oblonsky to the coach-
man, leaning out of the window. " Fu, how hot it is ! "
he added, throwing open his shuba in spite of twelve
degrees of cold.
"Well, she has a daughter, hasn't she, to take up
her time and attention ? "
"You seem to imagine every woman to be only a
setting-hen, ime couvetise," said Stepan Arkadyevitch,
" Why, yes, of course, she gives her time and attention
to her daughter ; but she does n't make any fuss about it.
She is occupied mainly with her writing. I see you smile
ironically, but you are wrong. She has written a book
for young people. She has n't spoken of it to any one,
except to me ; and I showed the manuscript to Vorkuyef,
the publisher .... you know he is a writer himself, it seems.
He is up in such matters, and he says that it is a remark-
able thing. Do you think that she sets up for a blue-
stocking ? Not at all. Anna is, above all things, a
woman with a heart, as you will see. She has in her
house a little Enghsh girl and a whole family, and is
looking after them."
" What ? Some philanthropical scheme ? "
" Here you are immediately trying to turn it into
something absurd ! It is not for philanthropy's sake,
but because she loves to do it. They had — that is,
Vronsky had — an English trainer, a master in his call-
ing, but a drunkard. He did nothing but drink — dc-
liriwn tremens — and abandoned his family. Anna saw
them, helped them, got drawn in more and more, and
now has the whole family on her hands. I don't mean
244 ANNA KARENINA
merely by giving them money. She herself teaches the
boys Russian, so as to fit them for the gymnasium ; and
she has taken the little girl home with her. Well, you
shall see her."
At this moment the carriage entered a courtyard.
Stepan Arkadyevitch rang at the door before which
they had stopped, and, without inquiring whether the
mistress of the house was at home, went into the vesti-
bule. Levin followed him, more and more uneasy as to
the propriety of the step he was taking.
He saw, as he looked at himself in the glass, that he
was very red in the face ; but he knew that he was not
tipsy. He went up the carpeted stairs after Oblonsky.
On the second floor a servant received them with a bow ;
and Stepan Arkadyevitch, as if he were a connection,
asked him, "Who is with Anna Arkadyevna .-' " and
received the answer : —
" Mr. Vorkuyef."
"Where are they.?"
" In the library."
They passed through a small, wainscoted dining-room,
and walking along on the thick carpet they came to the
library, dimly lighted by a single lamp with a huge shade.
A reflector-lamp on the wall threw its rays on a full-length
portrait of a woman, which instantly attracted Levin's
attention. It was the portrait of Anna, painted by Mi-
khai'lof in Italy. While Stepan Arkadyevitch went on,
and the man's voice, which had been heard, ceased speak-
ing. Levin stood looking at the portrait which shone down
from its frame, and he could not tear himself away. He
forgot where he was ; and, not hearing what was said,
he kept his eyes fixed on the wonderful portrait. It was
not a painting, but a living, beautiful woman, with her
dark, curling hair, bare shoulders and arms, and a pen-
sive half-smile on her lovely lips, and gazing at him tri-
umphantly and yet tenderly from her entrancing eyes.
Only because it was not ahve did it seem more beautiful
than life itself.
" Va otcJien rada — I am very glad," said a voice, sud-
denly, behind him, evidently addressed to him, — the
ANNA KARENINA 245
voice of the same woman whom he admired in the
picture.
It was Anna, who had been concealed by a lattice-
work of climbing plants, and who rose to receive her
visitor. And in the dusk of the library Levin recog-
nized the original of the portrait, in a simple dark blue
gown, not in the same position, not with the same ex-
pression, but with the same lofty beauty which had been
represented by the artist in the painting. She was less
brilliant in the reality, but the living woman had a new
attraction which the portrait lacked.
CHAPTER X
She advanced to meet him, and did not conceal the
pleasure which his visit caused her. With the ease and
simplicity which Levin recognized as characteristic of a
woman of the best society, she extended to him a small,
energetic hand, introduced him to Vorkuyef, and called
his attention to a light-complexioned and pretty little
girl — her pupil, she said — who was seated with her
work near the table.
" I am very, very glad," she repeated ; and in these
simple words, spoken by her. Levin found an extraordi-
nary significance. " I have known you and liked you
for ever so long, both because of your friendship with
Stiva and because of your wife I knew her a very
short time, but she gave me the impression of a flower,
a lovely flower. And to think ! she will soon be a
mother ! "
She talked freely and without haste, occasionally look-
ing from Levin to her brother, and Levin was conscious
that the impression which he produced was excellent,
and he immediately felt perfectly at his ease with her
and on the simplest and most friendly terms, as if he
had known her from childhood.
To Oblonsky, who asked if smoking was allowed, she
replied : —
" That is why we have taken refuge in Aleksef's study ; "
246 ANNA KARENINA
and, looking at Levin, instead of asking " Do you
smoke ? " she held over a tortoise-shell cigar-case to him,
and took a cigarette herself.
" How are you to-day ? " asked her brother.
" Pretty well ; a little nervous, as usual."
" Isn't it extraordinarily good ? " said Stepan Arkadye-
vitch, noticing Levin's admiration of the portrait.
" I never saw a better portrait."
"An extraordinary likeness, is n't it.'"' added Vorkuyef.
Levin looked from the portrait to the original. Anna's
face lighted up with a peculiar glow as she felt conscious
of his eyes resting on her. He blushed, and, to conceal
his confusion, was just going to ask her when she had
seen Darya Aleksandrovna. But at that instant Anna
said : —
" Ivan Petrovitch and I were talking just now of
Vashchenkof's pictures. Do you know them .? "
" Yes ; I have seen them," answered Levin.
" But I beg your pardon .... you were just going to ask
me something .-* "
Levin asked whether she had seen Dolly lately.
" She was here yesterday. She was indignant at what
happened to Grisha at the gymnasium. It seems his
Latin teacher was unfair to him."
" Yes ; I saw the pictures. They pleased me very
much," said Levin, returning to the topic which they
had begun to talk about.
What Levin now said was entirely free from the tech-
nical formahty with which he had talked in the morning.
Every word of the conversation with her seemed to be
significant. And pleasant as it was to talk with her, it
was still pleasanter to listen to her. Anna talked not
only naturally and intelligently, but, though intelligently,
still without pretense, not arrogating any great importance
to her own thoughts but attributing great importance to
what her friends said.
The conversation turned on the new tendencies of art
and on some new illustrations to the Bible which a
French artist had recently made.
Vorkuyef severely criticized the realism which the
ANNA KARENINA 247
artist carried to brutality ; Levin remarked that the
French had carried conventionality in art to greater
lengths than any other people, and that, therefore, they
found especial merit in the reaction toward realism.
They discovered poetry in the fact that they no longer
lied.
Never had Levin said a clever thing which gave him
anything like the pleasure that this did. Anna's face
grew suddenly bright, as the full force of his remark
dawned on her. She laughed.
"I am delighted," she said; "just as you are when
you see a very lifelike portrait. What you just said is
characteristic of all French art at the present time —
painting and even literature : Zola, Daudet. But pos-
sibly this is always the way that men form their
conceptions from imaginary, conventional figures, but
afterward — all the combinaisons made, the imaginary
figures weary, and people begin to invent more natural
and truthful figures."
" That is perfectly true," said Vorkuyef.
" Have you been to the club } " asked Anna, turning
to her brother.
" Yes, yes, here is a genuine woman," said Levin to
himself, forgetting himself, and gazing steadily into her
handsome, mobile face, which now suddenly changed
its expression. Levin did not hear what she was talk-
ing about as she bent over toward her brother, but he
was struck by the change in her expression. Beautiful
as it had been before in repose, it now suddenly as-
sumed a mixed expression of curiosity, wrath, and pride.
But this lasted for only one minute. She half closed
her eyes, as if she were trying to remember something.
" However, this is interesting to no one," said she,
and she addressed the English girl in English. " Please
order the tea in the drawing-room ^
The girl rose and went out.
" Well, has she passed the examination } " asked
Stepan Arkadyevitch.
" Perfectly. She is a very capable girl, and a lovely
character."
248 ANNA KARENINA
"You will end by loving her better than your own
daughter."
" That's just like a man. In love, there is no such a
thing as more or less. I love my daughter in one way,
and this girl in another."
" I tell Anna Arkadyevna," said Vorkuyef, "that if she
would spend a hundredth part of the activity she devotes
to this little English girl for the benefit of Russian chil-
dren, what a service her energy would render. She
would accomplish prodigies."
" Now there ! What you want, I can't do ! Count
Aleksei Kirillovitch " — she glanced with an air of timid
inquiry at Levin as she pronounced this name, and he
involuntarily responded by a look which was encourag-
ing, and full of admiration — " used to encourage me,
when we were in the country, to visit the schools. I
went a few times. They were very pleasant, but I
could n't get interested in this occupation. You talk of
energy ; but the foundation of energy is love, and love
does not come at will. So I love this little English girl,
but I really don't know why."
She looked at Levin again ; and her smile and her
look all told him that she spoke only with the aim of
gaining his approval, though sure in advance that they
understood each other.
" I agree with you thoroughly," cried he. " You can't
put your heart into schools and such things, and I think
that from the same reason philanthropic institutions gen-
erally give such small results."
She was silent a moment, then she smiled. "Yes,
yes," she replied, " I never could. Je n'ai pas le coetir
asses large to love a whole asylum of wretched little
girls, cela ne ma jamais rhissi. Women only do it to win
for themselves position sociale. Even now, when I have
so much need of occupation," added she with a sad, con-
fiding expression, addressing Levin, though she was
speaking to her brother, " even now I cannot." Then,
suddenly frowning, — and Levin saw that she frowned
because she had begun to speak of herself, — she
changed the subject.
ANNA KARENINA 24^
" I know about you," said she, smiling at Levin; "you
have the reputation of being only an indifferent citizen,
but I have always defended you as well as I could."
" How have you defended me ? "
"That has depended on the attacks. But suppose
we have some tea," said she. She rose and took a
morocco-bound book which was lying on the table.
" Give it to me, Anna Arkadyevna," said Vorkuyef,
pointing to the book, " it is well worth while."
" No ; it 's all so unfinished ! "
" I have told him about it," remarked Stepan Arkadye-
vitch, indicating Levin.
" You were wrong. My writings are like those little
baskets and carvings made by prisoners, which Liza
Myertsalova used to sell She managed the prisons
for our society," said she, turning to Levin. " Those
unfortunates used to do perfect miracles of patience."
Levin was struck by still a new feature in this remark-
able, fascinating woman. Besides wit, grace, beauty,
she had sincerity. She did not wish to conceal the
thorns of her situation. As she said that she sighed, and
her face suddenly assumed a stern expression, as if
it were changed to stone. With this expression on her
face, she was even more beautiful than before. But
that expression was new ; it was entirely alien to that
which a few moments before had seemed to irradiate
happiness, and which the artist had managed to repro-
duce in the portrait. Levin looked once more at the
portrait and at the original of it, while Anna took her
brother's arm, and a feeling of tenderness and pity came
over him, surprising even himself. She let the two
gentlemen pass into the parlor, and remained behind to
speak to Stiva.
" What is she talking with him about .'' — the divorce .''
Vronsky ? what he was doing at the club.? about me.-*"
thought Levin ; and he was so stirred that he heard
nothing that Vorkuyef was saying to him about the
merits of the story for children which Anna Arkadyevna
had written.
During tea, a pleasant conversation full of ideas was
250 ANNA KARENINA
carried on. There seemed to be no lack of subjects at
any moment ; but it was felt that there was time to say
all that any one wanted to say, and each was willing to
listen when the other talked. And all that was said, not
only by Anna herself, but by Vorkuyef and by Stepan
Arkadyevitch, had a special significance, thanks to her
interested attention and her pertinent remarks; so at
least it seemed to Levin.
All the time they were talking Levin studied her, and
admired her beauty and the cultivation of her mind, and
not less her perfect simplicity and naturalness. He lis-
tened and talked, and all the time thought about her and
her inner life, and tried to penetrate her feelings ; and
he, who had formerly criticized her so severely, now by
some strange train of thought justified her and pitied
her, and confessed to himself the fear that Vronsky did
not wholly understand her.
It was more than eleven o'clock when Stepan Arka-
dyevitch rose to go. Vorkuyef had already left some
time before. Levin rose, too, but with regret. He felt
as if he had only just come.
'^ Praskcha'ite — farewell," said Anna to him, holding
his hand in hers, and looking into his eyes with a fas-
cinating look. " I am glad qiie la glace est rompne.''
She let go his hand, and her eyes twinkled.
" Tell your wife that I love her as I have always done;
and, if she cannot forgive me my position, tell her how
I hope she may never pardon me ; for to pardon, it is
necessary to understand what I have suffered ; and God
preserve her from that ! "
" Yes ! I will surely tell her," answered Levin, and
the color came into his face.
CHAPTER XI
" What a wonderful, lovely, and pitiable woman ! "
thought Levin, as he went out with Stepan Arkadyevitch
into the cold night air.
" There ! what did I tell you 1 " demanded Obion-
■
ANNA KARENINA 251
sky, as he saw that Levin was perfectly overcome.
"Wasn't I right?"
" Yes," answered Levin, thoughtfully, " an extraordi-
nary woman ! Not only intellectual, but she has a won-
derfully warm heart. What a terrible pity it is about
her ! "
" Now, thank God, all will soon be arranged, I
hope. Well, after this, don't form hasty judgments,"
said Stepan Arkadyevitch, opening his carriage-door.
" Proshcha'i — farewell; we go different ways."
Levin went home, never ceasing to think about Anna,
recaUing the smallest incidents of the evening, bringing
back all the charm of her face, and understanding her
situation better and better, and, at the same time, feel-
ing the deepest commiseration for her.
When he reached his house, Kuzma told Levin that
Katerina Aleksandrovna was well, and that her sisters
had but just left her. He handed him at the same time
two letters. Levin, as he stood in the vestibule, ran
through them at once so as not to be distracted after-
ward. One was from his superintendent, Sokolof.
Sokolof wrote that he had not found a purchaser who
would give more than five and a half rubles for the
wheat, and that he could not raise the money elsewhere.
The other letter was from his sister. She reproached
him because her affairs were not yet regulated.
" Well, we '11 sell for five rubles and a half if they
won't give more," thought he, settling with extraordinary
promptness the first question which had been troubling
him.
" It is wonderful how the time here is occupied," he
said to himself, thinking of the second letter. He felt
that he was to blame toward his sister, because he had
not yet accomplished what she had asked him to do for
her. " To-day I did not get to the court either, but I did
not have a moment's time." And, making up his mind
that he would surely go the next day, he went to his
wife's room. On his way, he cast a quick glance back
at his day. There had been nothing except conversa-
252 ANNA KARENINA
tions, — conversations in which he had listened, and in
which he had taken part. No one of the subjects
touched on would have occupied him when in the coun-
try, but here they were very interesting. And all the
conversations in which he had engaged were good : only
in two places they were not absolutely good, — one was
his remark about the fish at the club, the other was
something intangibly wrong in his feeling of tender
pity for Anna.
Levin found his wife sad and absent-minded. The
dinner of the three sisters had been merry ; but after-
ward they had waited and waited for him, and the
evening had seemed long to them ; and now Kitty was
alone.
" Well, what have you been doing ? " she asked him,
looking at him, as she did so, with a suspicious light in
her eyes ; but she took good care to conceal her inten-
tions, so as not to prevent him from telling her the
whole story, and with an encouraging smile she listened
as he told her how he had spent the evening.
" Well, I met Vronsky at the club, and I am very glad
of it. I felt very much at my ease with him, and enjoyed
it. Of course, I shall try to avoid him, but still henceforth
I shan't feel that awkwardness in his society." As he
said these words, he remembered that in order not to
"avoid him," he had immediately gone to Anna's house,
and his face grew red. "Here we say the peasantry
drink; but I don't know which drink more, the peas-
antry, or men in society. The peasantry drink on fes-
tival days, but.... "
Kitty was not interested in the question how much the
peasantry drink. She saw her husband's face grow red,
and she wanted to know the reason,
" Well, where else did you go .-* "
" Stiva insisted on my going with him to Anna Arka-
dyevna's," answered he, blushing more and more, and his
doubts as to the propriety of his visit to Anna were de-
cided for him. He now knew that he ought not to have
done so.
Kitty's eyes opened wide and flashed lightning at the
ANNA KARENINA 453
mention of Anna ; but she restrained herself, and, con-
cealing her emotion, she misled him.
She merely said, " Ah ! "
"You are not going to be vexed because I went?
Stiva begged me to go ; and Dolly wanted me to."
"Oh, no!" said she; but in her eyes he saw a look
which boded little good.
" She is a very charming woman, who is very much
to be pitied, a good woman," continued Levin ; and he
described the life which Anna led, and gave her message
of remembrance to Kitty.
"Yes, of course she is to be pitied," said Kitty, when
he had finished. " Whom did you get a letter from } "
He told her, and, misled by her apparent calmness,
went to undress.
When he came back, he found Kitty in the same arm-
chair. When he approached, she looked at him, and
burst into tears.
"What is it.-* What's the matter.?" he asked, with
some annoyance ; for he understood the cause of her
tears.
" You are in love with that horrid woman. She has
bewitched you. I saw it in your eyes. Yes, yes ! What
will be the end of it .-* You were at the club ; you drank
too much ; you gambled ; and then you went — where !
No ! this shall not go on. We must leave. I am going
home to-morrow ! "
It was long before Levin could pacify his wife ; and
when at last he succeeded, it was only by acknowledg-
ing that his feeling of pity for Anna, together with the
wine, had clouded his brain, and that he had fallen
under her seductive influence, and by promising that he
would avoid her. What he acknowledged with more
sincerity was the ill effect produced on him by this idle
life in Moscow, passed in eating, drinking, and gossip-
ing. They talked till three o'clock in the morning.
Only when it was three o'clock were they sufficiently
reconciled to go to sleep.
254 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER XII
After having said good-by to her visitors, without
sitting down Anna began to walk up and down the full
length of her apartments.
Of late she had got into the habit of unconsciously
doing all she could to attract young men to her ; and
so this whole evening she had striven to awaken a feel-
ing of love in Levin. But though she knew that she
had succeeded in doing this as far as it was possible
with a chaste married man, and though he pleased her
very much, — and in spite of the sharply defined dis-
similarity between Vronsky and Levin, she as a woman
was able to detect the subtile likeness between them
which had caused Kitty to be in love with them both, —
yet as soon as he had left the room she ceased to think
about him.
One thought and one only in various guises followed
her : —
" Why, since I have so evidently an attraction for
others, — for this married man, who is in love with his
wife, — why is he so cold to me.''.... Yet not exactly cold;
he loves me, I know ; but lately something new has
come between us. Why has he spent the whole eve-
ning away.-* He told Stiva that he could not leave
Yashvin, but had to watch him while he played. Is
Yashvin a baby .-• It must be true ; he never tells lies.
But there 's something else back of it. He is glad of
the chance to show me that he has other duties. I
know this. I don't object to it, but what need has he
to assert it so .-* He wants to show that his love for me
must not interfere with his independence ! But the
proof is not necessary. I must have his love. He
ought to understand the wretchedness of the life I lead
here in Moscow, Why am I living } I am not living,
— only dragging out life, in hope of a turn in affairs,
which never, never comes. And Stiva says that he
can't go to Aleksef Aleksandrovitch. And I can't write
again. I cannot do anything, I can't begin anything,
ANNA KARENINA 255
or make any changes, but only control myself, wait,
and invent amusements — this English family, my read-
ing, my writing ; but it is all only to deceive myself,
like this morphine. He ought to be sorry for me," she
said, feeling how the tears of pity at her own lot filled
her eyes.
She heard the door-bell Vronsky rang violently ; and
instantly she wiped away her tears, not only wiped
away the tears, but sat down near the lamp with a book,
and pretended to be calm. She felt that she must show
her dissatisfaction because he had not returned as he
had promised, but not to let her grief be seen. She
might pity herself, but Vronsky must not be allowed to
pity her. She did not want a contest, she blamed him
because he wanted to quarrel, but she herself involun-
tarily took the attitude of an opponent.
"Well! you weren't lonely, were you,''" said he,
briskly and cheerfully, as he came toward her. " What
a terrible passion gambling is."
" No, I was not lonely. I long ago learned not to
be lonely. Stiva and Levin have been here to see me."
" Yes, I knew that they intended to come. Well, and
how do you like Levin ? " he asked, as he sat down near
her.
"Very much. They have only just gone. How
about Yashvin .'' "
" He had won seventeen thousand rubles. I got him
away, but he escaped from me, and went back again ;
and now he 's losing."
" But why did you abandon him .'' " said Anna, sud-
denly raising her eyes to his. The expression of her
face was cold and unpleasant. " You told Stiva that
you were going to stay, to bring him away. Now you
abandon him ! "
" In the first place, I did not send any message to
you ; in the second place, I never tell lies ; and chiefly,
I wished to stay and I stayed," he answered angrily.
" Anna, why, why do you do so .'' " added he, after a
moment's silence, holding out his hand to her, in the
hope that she would place hers in it.
256 ANNA KARENINA
She was glad of this appeal to her love, but some
strange spirit of evil prevented her frona yielding.
" Of course you stayed because you wanted to ; you
always do as you please. But why tell me so .'' What
is the good .? " answered she, growing more and more
heated. " Who . denies that you tell the truth .-' You
wish to justify yourself, do so then ! "
Vronsky drew back his hand, and his face became
more set than before.
" For you this is a matter of obstinacy," she cried,
looking at him fixedly, and suddenly finding the term by
which to call the expression of his face which exasper-
ated her — "sheer obstinacy. For you the question is
to see whether you will win the victory over me. But
the question for me .... " and again the sense of her piti-
able lot came over her, and she almost sobbed. " If
you knew what it meant for me when I feel, as I do
now, that you hate me, ....yes, hate me! If you knew
what it meant for me ! If you knew how near I am to
horrible misfortune at these moments! how I fear....
how I fear for myself," — and she turned away to hide
her sobs.
"But what's all this for.-*" said Vronsky, alarmed at
this despair, and leaning toward Anna to take her hand
and kiss it. " Do I seek outside diversion ? Don't I
avoid the society of women ? "
" As if that were all ! " said she.
" Well ! Tell me what I must do to make you con-
tent. I am ready to do anything that you may be
happy," said he, moved to see her in such despair.
" What would I not do to spare you such grief, Anna ! "
he said.
" It 's nothing, nothing," she replied. " I myself don't
know. It 's the loneliness : it 's my nerves There, let 's
not talk about it any more Tell me what happened
at the races. Why have n't you told me about it ? " she
asked, attempting to conceal the pride she felt at her
victory, for she knew it rested with her.
Vronsky asked for some supper, and as he was eat-
ing described to her the incidents of the races ; but
ANNA KARENINA 257
from the sound of his voice, and from his glance, that
grew colder and colder, she saw that he would not for-
give her for the victory, that the sense of obstinacy
which she had struggled to overcome was as firm in
him as ever. He was colder toward her than before,
as if he regretted having yielded to her. And as she
remembered the words that won her the victory, espe-
cially the words, " How near I am to horrible misfor-
tune, and I fear for myself," she realized that it was a
dangerous weapon, and that she must never employ it
again. But she felt that along with the love which
united them, there stood between them an evil spirit of
conflict which she had not the power to drive from his
heart, and still less from her own.
CHAPTER XHI
There are no imaginable conditions to which a man
cannot accustom himself, especially if he sees that all
those who surround him are living in the same way.
Three months before Levin would not have believed
that he could have slept tranquilly under the conditions
in which he found himself at the present time, — that
living an aimless, unprofitable life, spending more than
his income, getting tipsy, — for he could not call his
experience at the club anything else, — his absurd inti-
macy with a man with whom his wife had once been
in love, and his still more absurd visit to a woman whom
it was impossible to regard as respectable, and after the
fascination which she had exerted over him and the
mortification which he had caused his wife — that under
all these conditions he could sleep serenely. But under
the influence of his weariness, the long hours without
a nap, and the wine which he had drunk, he slept soundly
and serenely.
At five o'clock the noise of an opening door wakened
him. He sat up and looked around; Kitty was not in
bed next him. But behind a screen there was a light
moving, and he heard her steps.
VOL. HI. — 17
258 ANNA KARENINA
" What 's the matter ? " he asked, still only half awake.
" Kitty, what is it ? "
" Nothing," answered she, coming from behind the
screen with a candle in her hand, and smiling at him
with a peculiarly sweet and significant smile ; " I don't
feel quite well."
" What ! Is this the beginning ? Must we send ? "
exclaimed he in alarm, and he began to dress as quickly
as possible.
" No, no," said she, smiling, and holding his hand ;
" it 's nothing ; I did not feel quite well ; it 's all right
now."
Going back to bed, she put out the light, and lay
down again, keeping perfectly still, although her very
stillness and the way she, as it were, held her breath,
were suspicious, and still more so the expression of pe-
culiar tenderness and alertness with which, as she came
out from behind the screen, she said to him, " it 's noth-
ing " ; still, he was so overcome by drowsiness that he
immediately went to sleep again.
It was only afterward that he realized the calmness
of her spirit, and appreciated all that was passing in
her dear, gentle heart as she lay thus motionless near
him, awaiting the most solemn moment of a woman's life.
About seven o'clock he was awakened by her hand
touching his shoulder and her low whisper. She appar-
ently hesitated between the fear of waking him and the
wish to speak to him.
" Kostia, don't be afraid, it's nothing; but I think....
Lizavyeta Petrovna had better be called."
The candle was again lighted. She was sitting on
the bed, holding the knitting on which she had been at
work during the last few days.
" Please don't be alarmed. I 'm not in the least
afraid," said she, seeing her husband's terrified face;
and she pressed his hand to her breast, then to her Ups.
Levin leaped from his bed, and, unconscious of him-
self, without taking his eyes off his wife for a moment,
hurried on his dressing-gown. It was necessary for
him to go, but he could npt tear himself away. Dearly
ANNA KARENINA 259
as he loved her face, well as he knew her expression,
her eyes, yet never before had he seen her look as she
did then. How ugly and horrible did he now seem as
he saw her now, and remembered the mortification which
he had caused her the evening before ! Her flushed
face, with the clustering soft curls escaping from under
her nightcap, was radiant with joy and resolution.
Natural and simple as Kitty's character in general
was, Levin was amazed by what unfolded itself before
him now, when suddenly all the curtains were withdrawn,
and the very essence of her soul shone in her eyes.
And in this simplicity and revelation, she, her very self,
whom he loved, was more apparent than ever. She
looked at him, and smiled. But suddenly her brows
contracted, she lifted her head, and, coming to him, took
his hand, and clung to him, sighing painfully. She
suffered, and yet she seemed to pity him for her suffer-
ings. At first, as he saw this silent suffering, it seemed
to him that he was to blame for it. But in her look
there was tenderness which told him that she not only
did not blame him, but that she loved him all the more
for her suffering.
" If not I, who, then, is to blame for this } " he asked
himself. She suffered, and she seemed to take pride
in her pain, and to rejoice in it. He saw that in her
soul some beautiful transformation was taking place ;
but what .'' he could not understand. It was above his
comprehension.
" I have sent for mamma. Now go quick, and get
Lizavyeta Petrovna.... Kostia.... it 's nothing.... it is all
over."
She went to the other side of the room, and rang the
bell.
" There, now, please go. Pasha is coming ; I want
nothing." And Levin, with astonishment, saw her take
up her work again.
As he went out of one door, he heard Pasha, the maid,
come in at the other. He paused on the threshold and
listened as Kitty gave directions for arranging the room,
and as she herself began to move the bed.
26o ANNA KARENINA
He dressed, and when he had ordered his carriage,
since it was too early for izvoshchiks, he flew up to her
room again, not on tiptoes, but on wings, as it seemed
to him. Two maids were busily engaged in moving
something in the room. Kitty was walking up and
down, knitting swiftly, slipping the knots, and giving
directions.
" I 'm going for the doctor immediately. Lizavyeta
Petrovna has been sent for, but I will call there. There 's
nothing more, is there } Oh, yes, — Dolly."
She looked at him, evidently without hearing what he
said. " Yes, yes, go," said she, and motioned to him
with her hand. He was just passing through the draw-
ing-room, when he heard a groan, pitiful, but instantly
suppressed. He stood still, and could not make up his
mind.
" It is she," he said to himself ; and, putting his hands
to his head, he rushed out.
" Lord have mercy on us ! pardon us ! save us ! " he
exclaimed ; and these words, which suddenly and unex-
pectedly came to his lips, were not spoken merely by
his lips, unbeliever though he was.
Now at this instant, he knew perfectly well that all
his doubts and the impossibility which his reason found
in belief, had not the slightest influence to prevent him
from adckessing himself to God. Everything of this
sort now vanished like dust from his soul. To whom
could he address himself if not to Him in whose hands
he felt were held himself, and his soul, and his love .-*
The horse was not yet ready, but, feeling the special
strain of physical powers unemployed, and of the work
before him calling for his attention, he started on foot
so as not to lose a single instant, and ordered Kuzma
to follow him. At the corner of the street he met a
night izvoshchik hurrying along. In the little sledge
sat Lizavyeta Petrovna, in a velvet cloak, with her head
wrapped up in a kerchief. " Thank God ! " ^ he mur-
mured, as he saw with joy her pale little face, which had
a peculiarly serious, and even stern, expression. Not
1 Slava Bohu.
ANNA KARENINA 261
ordering the driver to stop, he ran along with it back to
the house.
" Only two hours ? not more ? " asked Lizavyeta Pe-
trovna. " You may speak to Piotr Dmitritch, but don't
hurry him. Yes, please get some opium at the apothe-
cary's."
" Do you think all will go on well ? " asked he. " God
help us ! " he added, as he saw his horse starting from
the door ; he got into the sledge alongside of Kuzma,
and ordered him to hurry to the doctor's.
CHAPTER XIV
The doctor was not yet up ; and a servant, who was
busy cleaning the lamps, announced that his master had
gone to bed late, and had given orders not to be waked,
but would be up before long.
The lackey was polishing lamp-chimneys and seemed
very much absorbed in this occupation. At first this ab-
sorption of the lackey in his lamp-chimneys, and his in-
difference to what was going on at home, made Levin
indignant; but on reflection he realized that no one knew
anything about it or was obliged to share in his feelings,
and that consequently it was incumbent on him to be
calm, reasonable, and firm, so as to break down that
wall of indifference, and attain his end.
" I must not spoil matters by haste," said Levin to
himself, feeling all the time a growing intensity of
physical energy and concentration on what was before
him.
Now that he knew that the doctor was not up, and
had given orders not to be disturbed, Levin thought
over several plans which presented themselves to him,
and finally decided on the following : to send Kuzma
with a note to another doctor, to go himself to the apothe-
cary's for the laudanum, and, if on his return the doctor
was not up, then either by bribery or by main force, if
the man would not consent, to waken the doctor at any
cost.
262 ANNA KARENINA
At the apothecary's, the lean clerk, with the same in-
difference as the lackey cleaning the lamp-chimneys had
shown, put a seal on the powders for the waiting coach-
man, and refused to deliver the opium. Striving not to
get impatient or angry, and mentioning the doctor and
midwife by name, and telling what it was needed for,
Levin pleaded with him. The clerk asked his employer
in German if it should be permitted, and, receiving a
favorable reply from behind the screen, he proceeded to
get out a bottle and a funnel, and slowly poured the
liquid from it into a smaller vial, pasted on a label,
sealed it, and in spite of Levin's urgency not to do so,
was even going to wrap it up. This Levin could not
endure ; he resolutely snatched the vial out of the clerk's
hands, and rushed through the great glass doors.
The doctor was still asleep ; and, this time, the ser-
vant was shaking the rugs.
Levin, leisurely getting from his pocket a ten-ruble
note, and dwelling on his words, but not wasting time,
gave him the money, and explained that Piotr Dmitri-
evitch — how great and significant now seemed this
hitherto unimportant Piotr Dmitrievitch — had prom-
ised him to be on hand at any time, so that he would
certainly not be angry, and that, therefore, he must
instantly awaken him.
The lackey consented, and went up-stairs and showed
Levin into the reception-room.
Levin could hear in the next room how the doctor
coughed, walked about, washed his face and hands, and
made some remark.
Three minutes passed ; it seemed to Levin that it
was more than an hour. He could no longer contain
himself.
" Piotr Dmitrievitch ! Piotr Dmitrievitch ! " he cried,
through the opened door, in a beseeching voice. " For
God's sake, forgive me. Let me come in just as you
are. It has been more than two hours now."
" I '11 be out immediately," replied a voice, and Levin
to his surprise knew by the sound of the doctor's voice
that he was smiling as he spoke.
ANNA KARENINA a&j
"Just for one little minute."
" I '11 be out immediately."
Two minutes more went by, while the doctor was
putting on his boots, and another two minutes while he
was brushing his hair and putting on his coat.
" Piotr Dmitrievitch," Levin was just saying once
more ; but at that instant the doctor came in, all ready
dressed and with his hair brushed.
"These people have no hearts," thought Levin. " He
can brush his hair, while we are dying."
" Good morning! " said the doctor, entering the recep-
tion-room serenely, and offering to shake hands. "Don't
feel anxious. Well, how is it .'' "
Levin began at once a long and circumstantial ac-
count, iilled with a crowd of useless details, and inter-
rupted himself at every moment to urge the doctor to
set out.
"Yes, but you must not be anxious. You see you
don't know. I really am not needed yet ; still I have
promised, and I assure you I '11 go. But there 's no
hurry. Please sit down; won't you have some coffee.?"
Levin looked at him, with a questioning look, asking
with his eyes if he were not laughing at him ; but the
doctor was in serious earnest.
"I know, I know," added the physician, smiling; "I
myself am a family man, and we husbands cut a sorry
figure in such cases. The husband of one of my pa-
tients always, on such occasions, goes off to the stable."
" But do you think, Piotr Dmitrievitch, — do you
think she '11 get on well .? "
" All the indications point to a fortunate issue."
"Won't you come at once.-*" said Levin, looking
with angry eyes at the servant who was bringing the
coffee.
" Within an hour."
" For God's sake ! "
"Well, let me take my coffee."
The doctor proceeded to take his breakfast. Both
were silent.
" It seems the Turks are beating. Did you read the
264 ANNA KARENINA
telegram last evening ? " asked the doctor, biting into
a roll.
" No ; but I 'm going," said Levin. " Will you come
in a quarter of an hour .'' "
" Make it a half."
" On your honor .-' "
When Levin got home, he found the princess at the
door, and they went to Kitty's room together. The
princess had tears in her eyes, and her hands trembled.
When she saw Levin, she threw her arms round him,
and kissed him.
"How is it, Lizavyeta Petrovna, dearie," ^ said she,
seizing the midwife's hand as she came to meet them
with a radiant but solicitous face.
" It is going well," said she. " It would be well for
her to lie down. Try to persuade her. She would find
it easier."
Ever since Levin, on waking, had understood the
situation, he had made up his mind, without indulging
in anxious thought, or forebodings, crushing down all
his anxieties and feelings, firmly, without worrying his
wife, but, on the contrary, calming her and sustaining
her courage, that he would endure what was before
him. Not allowing himself even to think of what was
coming or how it might end, judging by answers to
his questions, how long it generally lasted. Levin in his
imagination prepared to have patience and hold his
heart in his hands for five hours, and this seemed to
him within the limit of possibihty. But when he re-
turned after his visit to the doctor's, and found Kitty
still suffering, again he cried more and more frequently,
" Lord, forgive us, and be merciful! " and he was afraid
that he could not endure it, so terrible was it to him ;
thus an hour went by.
And after this another hour passed, and a second, and
a third, and the five which he had set as the very ulti-
mate limit of his endurance ; and the situation was still
the same, and still he was enduring the suspense, because
there was nothing else to do except endure, thinking
^ Duskenka, little soul.
ANNA KARENINA 165
every moment that he had reached the last limit, and
that his heart would burst with his agony. But the
minutes still went by, hours and hours, and his feelings
of agony and horror kept growing worse and more un-
endurable. All the ordinary conditions of life, without
which it is impossible to take cognizance of anything,
ceased to exist for Levin. He lost all consciousness of
time. Now the minutes when she called him to her and
he held her moist hand, which at one time would press
his with extraordinary force, and again push him away,
seemed hours ; then again the hours would seem to him
minutes.
He was surprised when Lizavyeta Petrovna asked
for a light, and he learned that it was five o'clock
in the evening. If they had told him that it was only
ten o'clock in the morning, he would have been just as
much surprised. Where the time had gone, what he
had done, where he had been, he could not have told.
Sometimes he saw Kitty's flushed face, now troubled
and piteous, then calm and almost smiling, as she tried
to reassure him. Then he saw the princess, flushed with
anxiety, her gray curls in disorder, swallowing down her
tears and biting her lips to keep from crying. He had
also seen Dolly, and the doctor smoking great cigar-
ettes, and Lizavyeta Petrovna, with a calm, serious, but
reassuring look, and the old prince, pacing the dining-
room with a frowning face. But how they came and
went, and where they had been, he could not tell.
The princess had been with the doctor in Kitty's room,
then in the library, where a well-set table had appeared ;
then she disappeared, and Dolly was in her place.
Then Levin remembered that they sent him somewhere ;
he moved a divan and a table zealously, thinking it was
for her sake ; and only when it was done did he learn
that they were preparing his own bed for the night.
He was sent to the library to ask the doctor some-
thing ; the doctor replied, and then began to speak of
the disorders of the dnina, or town-council. Then they
sent him to the princess's bedchamber to get a holy
image made of silver, with a golden trimming, from
266 ANNA KARENINA
there ; and, with the aid of an old chambermaid of the
princess's, he cHmbed up to get it from the cabinet;
and, in doing so, broke a little lamp, and the old woman
consoled him for this accident, and encouraged him about
his wife. And he had carried the image to Kitty, and
placed it at. her head, carefully arranging it behind her
pillow. But where, when, and why all this was done
was more than he could tell.
Neither did he comprehend why the old princess took
him by the hand, and, looking at him compassionately,
begged him to calm himself ; or why Dolly tried to per-
suade him to eat something, and led him from the room ;
or why even the doctor looked at him gravely and sym-
pathetically, and offered him a pill.
He knew and felt conscious only that what was occur-
ring was Hke that which had occurred the year before at
the hotel of the government city, by the death-bed of
his brother Nikolai'. That was grief, this was happiness.
But that grief and this happiness were in the same way
outside of the ordinary conditions of life; were in this
peculiar life, as it were, the loopholes through which
appeared something higher. And in exactly the same
way, while the hard, painful event was accomplishing
before him, in exactly the same way incomprehensible,
his soul, at the contemplation of this loftiness, raised
itself to a height which he had never before dreamed
possible, and whither his reason could not follow.
" Lord, have mercy and aid us," he kept repeating, in
spite of his long lack of practice, and yet feeling that he
was addressing God with the same simplicity, the same
confidence, as in his childhood and early youth. All
this time he seemed to be leading two separate exis-
tences ; one was away from Kitty, with the doctor smok-
ing one fat cigarette after another, and knocking the
ashes off against the rim of the unemptied ash-tray ; or
with Dolly and the old princess, who insisted on talking
about dinner, politics, or the illness of Marya Petrovna,
and with whom Levin suddenly, for an instant, would
forget entirely what was taking place, and feel wide
awake ; and the other was in her presence, by her bed-
ANNA KARENINA 167
side, where his heart felt as if it would burst, and it
almost did break with compassion, and where he did not
cease to pray to God.
And every time when he would be aroused from
momentary oblivion by a cry coming from her chamber,
he would fall under the same strange delusion as had at
the first moment taken possession of him ; every time he
heard the cry he would spring to his feet, hasten to
her room, and on the way remember that he was not to
blame, and would long to protect and help. And as he
looked on her, he would see that there was no help to
be given her; and again the pity would seize him, and
he would pray, " Lord, forgive and help us ! "
And in proportion as the time passed by, the stronger
became the two conditions of mind, — he would be
calmer at one moment, perfectly oblivious of her, while
remaining out of her presence, and then again the more
painful would become his sympathetic torments and the
feeling of helplessness before them. He would spring
to his feet, feel the impulse to escape somewhere, and
hasten to her.
Sometimes when she would keep calling for him he
would reproach her ; but, seeing her submissive, smiling
face, and hearing her words, " I have tired you out," he
would reproach God ; but, remembering what God was,
he would beg for pardon and aid.
CHAPTER XV
He did not know whether it was late or early. The
candles had already burned down. Dolly had just come
into the library, and was proposing to the doctor to lie
down. Levin had been sitting there Hstening to the doc-
tor's story of the charlatanry of magnetizers, and look-
ing at the ash at the end of his cigarette. It was one of
the moments of rest, and he was oblivious. He had en-
tirely forgotten what was taking place. He listened to
the doctor, and followed him understandingly.
Suddenly was heard a cry unlike anything he had
268 ANNA KARENINA
ever heard. This cry was so terrible that Levin did
not even stir, but, holding his breath, he looked at the
doctor with eyes full of questioning terror.
The doctor bent his head, as if to hear better, and
smiled with an air of approbation. Levin had reached
the point where nothing could surprise him ; and he
said inwardly, " Evidently that must be so ; but why
that cry .-' " He went back to the sick-room on tiptoe,
passed round by Lizavyeta Petrovna and the princess,
and stood in his place by the bedside. The cry had
ceased, but evidently there was some change. What,
he did not know, and did not care to know. But he
saw it by the grave expression of Lizavyeta Petrovna's
pale face. Her face was stern and pale, and just as
resolute as ever, although her lower jaw trembled a
little. Her eyes were kept steadily fixed on Kitty.
Her flushed, tortured face, with the little tufts of hair
clinging to it, was turned toward him, and her eyes
sought his. She raised her hand and tried to take his.
When once she had got hold of it, she tried with her
moist hand to press it to her forehead.
" Don't go, don't go ! I am not afraid," said she,
quickly. " Mamma, take away my ear-rings ; they
annoy me You are n't afraid .'' .... Lizavyeta Petrovna,
quick, quick ! " — She spoke rapidly, and tried to smile ;
but suddenly her face grew convulsed, and she pushed
him away. " This is terrible ! I shall die, I shall die !
go ! go ! " Then came the same unearthly cry.
Levin seized his head in his hands, and rushed from
the room.
" That is nothing ; all is going well," said Dolly, fol-
lowing after him*.
But, whatever they might say, he knew that now all
was lost ! Leaning his head against the lintel, he stood
in the adjoining room and listened to screams and
moaning — such sounds as he had never heard before,
and he knew that what was making such animaMike
noise was she who had once been Kitty. He had long
ceased to care about the child. He now hated that
child. He even went so far as not to wish for Kitty
ANNA KARENINA 269
to live, provided only her horrible agonies might be
ended.
" Doctor, what does that mean ? My God ! " he said,
seizing the doctor's arm as he went in.
"It is the end," replied the doctor; and his face was
so serious, as he said this, that Levin thought he meant
that Kitty was dead.
Not knowing what would become of him, he went
back to the bedroom.
What he first saw was Lizavyeta Petrovna's face ; it
was even more than before portentous and stern. It
was no longer Kitty's face that was there ; in the place
where it had been before, there was something terrible
both by reason of the agony which contracted it, and by
reason of the sound that came from it. He bowed his
head against the wooden frame of the bed, feeling that
his heart would burst. The awful shriek still continued,
it grew more piercing than ever, as if the last Hmit of
horror had been reached. Then suddenly the shriek
ceased. He could not believe it, but he could not
doubt; and he heard a gentle rustling and a quick
breathing, and his wife's living, loving, happy voice
whispered, " Kanetchna — It is over ! "
He raised his head. As she lay there, beautiful with
a supernatural beauty, with her arms nervelessly resting
on the counterpane, she looked at him, and tried to
smile at him, but could not.
Coming suddenly out of that mysterious and terrible
world where he had been living for twenty-two hours,
Levin felt himself transported back into his ordinary
every-day world of luminous happiness, and he could
not bear it. The cords long tense snapped. He burst
into tears ; and the sobs of joy which he could not fore-
see shook his whole body so violently that he could not
speak.
He knelt beside Kitty, and pressed his lips on her
hand, and her gentle fingers answered his caress. And
meantime, at the foot of the bed, in the skilful hands of
Lizavyeta Petrovna, Uke the small, uncertain flame of a
lamp, flickered the life of a human being, which just
a70 ANNA KARENINA
before had not been, and' which with every right and
every responsibility would live, and propagate its kind.
" He lives, he lives ! Yes, it is a boy ! Don't be
worried," Levin heard Lizavyeta's voice saying, while
with a trembling hand she slapped the little one's back.
" Mamma, is it true ? " asked Kitty.
And the princess's sobs answered her.
And amid the silence, Hke an indubitable answer to
the young mother's questions, was heard a voice, abso-
lutely different from the subdued voices speaking in the
room. It was the bold, decided, imperious, almost im-
pertinent cry of the new human being, which had come
whence no one knew.
Just before, if Levin had been told that Kitty was
dead, that he himself had died with her, and that their
children were angels, and that they were all in the pres-
ence of God, he would not have been surprised. And
now that he had come back to reality, it took a prodig-
ious effort of thought to comprehend that his wife was
alive, that she was doing well, and that this desperately
screeching creature was his son. Kitty was saved, her
suffering was passed, and he was inexpressibly happy.
That he could understand, and it made him happy ; but
the child ! Whence.-' Why.? What was it .-'.... He could
not wont himself to the thought of it. It seemed to him
somehow too much, too overwhelming ; and it was long
before he became accustomed to it.
CHAPTER XVI
The old Prince Sergyef Ivanovitch and Stepan Arka-
dyevitch met at Levin's the next morning, about ten
o'clock, and after they talked about the little mother,
they began to converse about irrelevant topics. Levin
listened to them, and involuntarily remembering what
had taken place, what had been going on that morning,
he also remembered what he himself had been but a
few hours before.
It was as if a hundred years had passed since then.
ANNA KARENINA 471
He felt that he was on some unattainable height from
which he endeavored to descend to their level, that he
might not offend those with whom he was talking. While
talking about indifferent things, he was thinking of his
wife, of the state of her health, and of his son, to the
idea of whose existence he was trying to accustom him-
self. The whole world of womanhood, which had taken
on a new and incomprehensible significance to him, even
after his itiarriage, occupied such a lofty place, that he
could not begin to realize it. He heard the men talking
about their dinner at the club ; but he was thinking,
"What is she doing now.? Is she asleep.? How is
she ? What is in her mind } Is the son Dmitri cry-
ing.-"' And, in the midst of the conversation, in the
midst of a sentence, he sprang up, and left the room.
" Send word down if I may see her," said the old prince.
"Very good.... I will at once," replied Levin, and
without pausing he went to her room.
She was not asleep, but was softly talking with her
mother, making plans about the christening.
With clean clothes and with her hair brushed, she
lay comfortably arranged in bed, with her hands rest-
ing on the counterpane, and a mob-cap with blue rib-
bons on her head, and as her eyes met his she drew
him to her by their look. Her face lighted up more and
more brightly as he approached her. There was in it
that change from the earthly to the superhuman calm
which one sees in death, but, instead of a farewell, she
welcomed him to a new life. Again an emotion, like
that which he had felt during her agony, seized his
heart. She took his hand, and asked him if he had
slept.
He could not answer, but turned his head away, yield-
ing to his weakness.
" I have had a nap, Kostia," she said; " and I feel so
well now."
She looked at him, and suddenly the expression of
her face changed. She heard her baby cry.
" Give him to me, Lizavyeta f etrovna, and let me
show him to his father," she said.
272 ANNA KARENINA
"There, now, let papa look," said Lizavyeta Petrovna,
taking up and exhibiting something red, strange, and
wobbling. " Wait, we must change it first," and Liza-
vyeta Petrovna deposited this red and wobbling some-
thing on the bed, and proceeded to unswathe it and
then swathe it again, lifting and turning it over with one
finger, and shaking some kind of powder over it.
Levin, as he looked at the poor little bit of humanity,
tried in vain to discover within his soul some pat-ernal senti-
ments toward it. His only feeling was one of repulsion ;
but when they took off its things, and he saw its little tiny
delicate arms and legs, still saffron-colored, and its still
tinier fingers, and even a thumb differentiated from the
others, and when he saw Lizavyeta Petrovna handling
its little, waving arms, just as if they were delicate
springs, and putting them into linen garments, such pity
seized him, and such terror lest she should hurt it, that
he made a gesture to stop her.
Lizavyeta Petrovna laughed.
" Never fear, never fear," she said.
When the child was dressed, and metamorphosed into
a regular doll, Lizavyeta Petrovna tossed him up and
down, as if proud of her work, and held him off so that
Levin might see his son in all his beauty.
Kitty, not taking her eyes from him, was alarmed.
" Give him to me, give him to me," she cried ; and
she even Ufted herself up.
" But, Katerina Aleksandrovna, you must know that
any such motions are forbidden. Be patient; I will
give him to you. But we must let papasha see what a
fine young man we are."
And Lizavyeta Petrovna handed to Levin with one
hand — the other supported the Hmp occiput — this
strange, weak, red creature, whose head fell limply on
its swaddling-clothes. All that was to be seen of it was a
nose, a pair of eyes that looked in two directions, and
smacking lips.
" Prekrasmd rebyonok — a splendid baby," said Liza-
vyeta Petrovna.
Levin drew a deep breath of mortification. This
• ANNA KARENINA 273
splendid baby inspired him only with a feeling of pity
and disgust. It was not at all the feeling that he
expected.
He turned away while the nurse placed it in Kitty's
arms. Suddenly a laugh caused him to raise his head.
It was Kitty who laughed ; the baby had taken the
breast.
"There! that's enough, that's enough," said Liza-
vyeta Petrovna ; but Kitty would not let go of her son,
who had gone to sleep on her arm.
" Look at him now," said she, turning the child so
that his father might see him. The little old face sud-
denly grew still more wrinkled, and the child sneezed.
Levin, smiling and hardly able to restrain his tears
of tenderness, kissed his wife, and left the room.
The feelings which this little being awakened in him
were entirely different from what he had expected!
There was neither pride nor joy in the feeling, but
rather a new and painful fear. It was the consciousness
that he had become vulnerable in a new way. And this
consciousness at first was so acute, his fear lest this poor,
defenseless creature might suffer was so poignant, that
it drowned the strange feeling of thoughtless joy, and
even pride, that rose in his heart when the infant
sneezed.
CHAPTER XVII
The affairs of Stepan Arkadyevitch had reached a
critical stage.
The money brought by the sale of two-thirds of the
timber had long ago been spent, and he had obtained
from the merchant at a discount of ten per cent a large
part of the remaining third in advance. Now the mer-
chant would not advance anything more ; as Dolly, for
the first time in her life asserting her rights to her per-
sonal property, had refused her signature to the contract
when it was proposed to give a receipt for the sale of
the last third of the wood. All the salary was used up
174 ANNA KARENINA *
for household expenses, and for the payment of unavoid-
able debts. There was absolutely no money to be had.
It was disagreeable and awkward, and Stepan Arkadye-
vitch felt that it ought not to be continued. The reason of
it, in his opinion, lay in the fact that he got too small a
salary. The place which he held had been very good
five years before, but it was so no longer. Petrof, the
director of a bank, got twelve thousand ; Sventitsky, a
member of the Council, got seventeen thousand ; Mitin,
the head of a bank, got fifty thousand.
"Apparently I have been asleep, and they have for-
gotten me," said Stepan Arkadyevitch to himself ; and
he began to keep his eyes and ears open ; and at the
end of the winter he discovered a very good place, and
matured his attack upon it, beginning at Moscow through
his uncles, his aunts, and his friends, and then, when
the time seemed ripe in the spring, he himself went
down to Petersburg.
It was one of those lucrative sinecure places which
nowadays are found, varying in importance, worth any«
where from looo to 50,000 rubles a year. This place
was in the Commission of the Consolidated Agency for
the Mutual Credit-Balance of the Southern Railway
and Banking Establishments. This place, like all such
places, required at once such varied talents and such
extraordinary activity, that it was hard to find them united
in one person ; but since it was hopeless to find any one
with all these qualities, it was certainly better that the man
put in should be an honest rather than a dishonest man.
Now Stepan Arkadyevitch was an honest man in
every sense of the term ; for in Moscow the word chest-
nui, meaning honest, has two significations, depending
on its accent. They speak of an honest agent, an honest
writer, an honest journal, an honest institution ; and it
means not only that men or institutions are not dishonest,
but that they know how to adapt themselves to circum-
stances. Stepan Arkadyevitch belonged in Moscow to
that class of people who used that convenient word ;
and, as he passed for honest, he therefore felt that he
had a better right than any one else to that place.
ANNA KARENINA
275
This place was worth from 7000 to 10,000 rubles a
year ; and Oblonsky could accept this position, and not
resign his present duties. Everything depended on two
ministers, a lady, and two Jews ; and, although they
were ready to grant what he wished, he had to go to
Petersburg to solicit their aid. Moreover, he faithfully
promised Anna that he would obtain from Karenin a
decisive answer about the divorce, and, having extorted
fifty rubles from Dolly, he set out for Petersburg.
Sitting in Karenin's library and hstening to his ex-
position of a project for reforming the status of Russian
finance, Stepan Arkadyevitch waited as patiently as he
could till he might put in a word about his personal
affairs and about Anna.
" Yes ! That is very true," said he, when Alekse'f
Aleksandrovitch took off the pince-nez without which
he could not read now, and looked inquiringly at his
brother-in-law ; " that is very true in detail ; but never-
theless, the leading principle of our age is liberty."
" Yes, but I advocate another principle which embraces
freedom," replied Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch, accenting
the word " embraces," and putting on his pince-nez to
read over the passage where he had said that very
thing.
And, turning over the pages of his elegantly written
manuscript, with its wide margins, he again read the
concluding paragraph : —
" * For if I sustain the protectionist system, it is not
for the advantage of private individuals, but for the
general good, for all classes alike, both low and high ; '
and it is that which they will not understand," added
he, looking over his pince-nez at Oblonsky, " absorbed as
they are in their personal interests, and so easily satisfied
with phrases."
Stepan Arkadyevitch knew that when Karenin began
to speak of what was said and done by those who were
opposed to his views, and who were the source of all
evil in Russia, he was nearing the end ; and so he will-
ingly renounced his "principle of liberty," and agreed
with him. Aleksei Aleksandrovitch came to a pause,
276 ANNA KARENINA
and turned over the leaves of his manuscript with a
thoughtful air.
" Oh, by the way," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, " I wanted
to ask you, in case you should meet Pomorsky, to say a
little word to him for me ; that I should very much like
to be appointed a member of the Commission of the
Combined Agencies of the Mutual Credit-Balance of
the Railways of the South." To Stepan Arkadyevitch
the name ^ of this positfon which was so dear to his
heart was already very familiar, and he could rattle it
off with great rapidity and without making a mistake.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch asked what the functions of
this new commission were to be, and then he reflected.
It seemed to him that the existence of this commission
was directly opposed to his projects of reform. But as
the operations of this commission were very complicated,
and his own projects of reform occupied a very vast
field, he felt that he could not settle this question at a
glance, and, taking off his pince-nez, he said : —
" Without doubt I could speak to him ; but why are
you especially desirous to have this place } "
" The salary is good, — nine thousand rubles, — and
my means.... "
" Nine thousand rubles ! " repeated AlekseY Aleksan-
drovitch, and he frowned. The high emolument of this
position reminded him that Stepan Arkadyevitch's sup-
posititious function was directly opposed to the principal
feature of his projects, which always inclined to economy.
" I believe, and I show in my pamphlet, that in our
day these enormous salaries are signs of the defective-
ness of the economic assiette of our administration."
" Yes ; but what would you have .■' " said Stepan
Arkadyevitch. " Now let us see ! A bank director gets
ten thousand, he is worth it ; or an engineer gets twenty
thousand. These are not sinecures."
" I opine that salaries are payments for merchandise,
and ought to be subject to the law of supply and demand.
If salaries are not subject to this law, — if, for example,
^ Chlen komissii ot soyedinennava agensiva kreditno-vzaimnava balansa
yuzhno-zheleznuikh dorog.
ANNA KARENINA 277
I see two engineers of equal capacity, having pursued
the same studies at the institute, one receiving forty
thousand rubles, while the other contents himself with
two thousand ; or if I see a hussar, who has no special
knowledge, become director of a bank with a phenomenal
salary, I conclude that these salaries are fixed, not in
accordance with the law of supply and demand, but by
sheer partiality. And so, here is an abuse, great in itself
and disastrous in its influence on the imperial service. I
opine.... "
Stepan Arkadyevitch made haste to interrupt his
brother-in-law : —
" Yes, but you agree that a new and undoubtedly
useful institution has been opened. It 's a live thing,
and it is certainly worth while to have it conducted
honestly," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, emphasizing the
adjective.
But the Muscovite signification of the adjective had
no force for Aleksei Aleksandrovitch.
" Honesty is only negative merit," he replied.
" But you will do me a great favor, nevertheless," said
Stepan Arkadyevitch, " if you will speak a little word
to Pomorsky When you happen to meet him, you
know."
" Yes, certainly ; but it seems to me that this depends
more on Bolgarinof," said Aleksei Aleksandrovitch.
"Bolgarinof on his part is well disposed," said Stepan
Arkadyevitch, reddening. Stepan Arkadyevitch red-
dened at the remembrance of Bolgarinof, because that
very morning he had been at the Jew's house, and this
visit had remained as an unpleasant recollection.
Stepan Arkadyevitch knew perfectly well that the
commission of which he wished to become a member
was a new, important, and honorable enterprise ; but
that morning, when Bolgarinof, evidently with malice
prepense, kept him with other petitioners waiting in his
reception-room for two hours, the whole affair became
awkward to him.
Whether it was awkward to him that he, a descendant
of Rurik, a Prince Oblonsky, had to wait two hours in
278 ANNA KARENINA
the Jew's reception-room, or because he, for the first
time in his Hfe, was not following the example of his
ancestors in serving the government, but had got into a
new field, at all events it was awkward.
During these two hours of waiting at Bolgarinof's,
Stepan Arkadyevitch, briskly walking up and down
through the reception-room, smoothing his side whiskers,
occasionally entering into conversation with the other
petitioners, and trying to work out a pun on his long
waiting at the Jew's, diligently concealed from the
others, and also from himself, the trying feeling. But
all that time he felt awkward and annoyed, he did not
know why ; it was either because he had not succeeded
very well with his pun on the word Jew — how he had
to cheiv 1 on the cud of expectation — or for some other
reason.
When at last Bolgarinof, with excessive humility, re-
ceived him, evidently triumphing in his humiliation, and
almost refused his request, Stepan Arkadyevitch made
haste to forget it all. But now, remembering it again,
he reddened with shame.
CHAPTER XVIII
" Now, I have yet one more thing to talk over with
you ; and you know what it is about, — Anna," said
Stepan Arkadyevitch, after a moment's silence, and
shaking off these disagreeable memories.
When Oblonsky spoke Anna's name, Karenin's face
entirely changed ; in place of its former vivacity it took
on an expression of corpse-like rigidity and weariness.
"What more do you want of me.'"' said he, turning
about on his arm-chair, and shutting his pince-nez.
" A decision .... some sort of a decision, Aleksei Alek-
sandrovitch. I address you, not as.... " he was going to
say " a deceived husband," but fearing it might hurt his
cause he stopped, and substituted with little appropriate-
ness, "not as a statesman, but simply as a man, and a good
man and a Christian. You ought to have pity on her."
1 " Builo dyelo do-ZAida i ya dozhidaAsA."
ANNA KARENINA 279
"In what way could I, properly?" asked Karenin,
quietly.
" Yes, have pity upon her. If you saw her as I do, ■ —
I have seen her all winter, — you would pity her. Her
position is cruel."
" I thought," said Karenin, suddenly, in a piercing,
almost whining voice, " that Anna Arkadyevna had
obtained all that she wished."
"Oh! Aleksel" Aleksandrovitch, for God's sake, let us
not make recriminations. What is past is past ; and
you know what she is now waiting for and hoping for is
.... the divorce."
" But I understood, that in case I kept my son, Anna
Arkadyevna refused the divorce ; and so my silence was
equivalent to a reply, and I thought the question settled.
I consider it settled," said he, with more and more
warmth.
" For God's sake don't get angry," said Stepan Arka-
dyevitch, touching his brother-in-law's knee. "This
question is not settled. If you will allow me to recapit-
ulate, the affair stands thus : When you separated, you
were as great, as magnanimous, as was possible to be.
You granted her everything .... her freedom, even a
divorce if she wanted one. She appreciated it. No,
you don't think so ; but she appreciated it absolutely, —
to such a degree that, at first, feeling her guilt toward
you, she did not, she could not, reason about it at all.
She refused everything. But the reality and time have
shown her that her position is painful and intoler-
able."
"Anna Arkadyevna's life cannot interest me," said
Karenin, raising his eyebrows.
" Permit me to disbelieve that," replied Stepan Arka-
dyevitch, gently. " Her position is painful to her, and
without any escape whatever. She deserves it, you say.
She acknowledges that, and does not complain. She
says up and down that she should never dare to ask
anything of you. But I, and all of her relatives, all who
love her, beg and implore you to have pity on her.
Why should she suffer .-^ Whose advantage is it.''"
28o ANNA KARENINA
" Excuse me ; you seem to accuse me of being to
blame." ....
" Oh ! not at all, not at all, understand me," said
Stepan Arkadyevitch, touching Karenin's arm, as if he
believed that personal contact would have a mollifying
effect on his brother-in-law. " I merely say this. Her
position is painful ; and you can relieve it, and it will
not cost you anything. I will so arrange the matter
that you shall have no trouble about it. Besides, you
have promised."
" My consent has been already given ; and I had
supposed that the question of our son had decided the
matter. Besides, I hoped that Anna Arkadyevna would
in her turn have the generosity to understand ...." his
trembling lips could hardly utter the words, and he
turned pale.
" She leaves all to your magnanimity. She asks, she
implores, for only one thing — to be relieved from this
unendurable position in which she finds herself. She
asks for her son. Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, you are a
good man. Just enter for a moment into her feelings.
The question of the divorce is for her a matter of Hfe or
death. If you had not given your promise, she would
have been resigned to her situation, and lived in the
country. But you did give your promise ; and she
wrote you, and came to Moscow. And there in Mos-
cow, where every familiar face was a knife in her heart,
she has been living for six months, every day expect-
ing an answer. Her situation is that of a condemned
criminal, who for months has had the rope around his
neck, and does not know whether he is to expect par-
don or execution. Pity her ; and, besides, I will take
care to arrange all.... vos scrupicles.'" ....
" I am not speaking of that, not of that .... " said
Alekse'f Aleksandrovitch, with some disgust ; " but per-
haps I promised more than I had the right to promise."
" Then, you refuse to do what you have promised } " ....
" I never refused to do all that I could ; but I must
have time to consider how far what I promised is per-
missible."
ANNA KARENINA 281
" No, Aleksel' Aleksandrovitch," said Oblonsky, leap-
ing to his feet, " I do not wish to believe this. She is
as unhappy as it is possible for a woman to be ; and
you cannot refuse such ,..."
"How far what I promised is permissible ? Vous
professez d'etre un libre penseur; but I, as a believer,
cannot defy the law of Christianity in a matter so
important."
" But in Christian communities, and here in Russia,
divorce is permitted," said Stepan Arkadyevitch. " Di-
vorce is permitted by our Church, and we see ...."
" Permitted, but not in this sense."
" Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, I don't know you," said
Oblonsky, after a moment's silence. " You are not the
same man you were. Did you not forgive all .-•.... and did
we not appreciate your magnanimity ,-' .... were you not
moved by genuine Christian feeling.? Weren't you
ready to sacrifice everything .-' You yourself said, * If
any man will take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak
also.' And now...."
" I beg of you," said Karenin, rising suddenly, and
turning pale, and with a trembling jaw, " I beg of you,"
he said, in a high-pitched voice, "to cut short, to cut
short this conversation ! "
" Oh, well, pardon me, pardon me, if I have offended
you ! " said Stepan Arkadyevitch, in confusion, holding
out his hand ; " but I had to fulfil the mission I was
charged with."
Aleksei" Aleksandrovitch gave him his hand, and said,
after a moment's reflection : —
" I must have time to think about it, and seek for
light. You shall have my final answer day after to-
morrow."
CHAPTER XIX
Stepan Arkadyevitch was going out, when Kornef
came in, and announced, " Sergyeif Alekseyevitch."
"Who is Sergyei Alekseyevitch.?" Oblonsky began
to ask, but in an instant he remembered.
282 ANNA KARENINA
" Oh, Serozha ! " he exclaimed ; " and here was I,
thinking it was some direktor of a department," he said
to himself. " Anna begged me to see him."
And he recalled the sad, timid expression with which,
as he left her, Anna had said to him, " You will see
him, and can find out what he is doing, and where he is,
and who is taking care of him. And, Stiva .... if possi-
ble ! Would it be possible .'' " ....
He knew what she meant by the words, " if possible " ;
if it were possible to get the divorce, so as to have her
son. But now Stepan Arkadyevitch knew that this was
out of the question. He was none the less glad to see
his nephew again.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch reminded his brother-in-law
that he must not talk to him of his mother, and begged
him not even by a word to remind him of her.
" He was very ill after that interview with his mother,
which we were not prepared for," said Aleksei Aleksan-
drovitch, " and for a while we feared for his life. But
sensible medical treatment and sea-bathing in the sum-
mer restored him to health, and I have followed the
doctor's advice, and sent him to school. Activity, being
with companions of his own age, have had a happy influ-
ence on him; his health is good, and he is studying
well."
" Why, he 's become quite a young man ! he is no longer
Serozha; he is full-grown Sergyel Alekseyevitch," said
Stepan Arkadyevitch, with a smile, as a handsome, tall,
robust boy, dressed in a kurtotchka, or jacket, and long
trousers, came in briskly and without constraint. The boy
had a look of sound health and good spirits. He bowed
to his uncle as to a stranger. Then, as he remembered
him, he reddened, and, as if offended and angry at some-
thing, turned away, and handed his school report to his
father.
" Well, that is excellent," said Karenin ; " now you
may go and play."
" He has grown tall and slender, and lost his childish
look and become a real boy ; I like it," remarked Stepan
Arkadyevitch, with a smile. *' Do you remember rae ? "
ANNA KARENINA 283
The boy quickly glanced at his father.
" I remember you, mononcle,'' answered the boy, look-
ing at Stepan Arkadyevitch, and then casting down his
eyes.
The uncle called the lad to him, and took his hand.
" Well, how are you .■* " he asked, wanting to talk, but
not knowing what to say.
The boy, blushing, and not answering, hastily with-
drew his hand, and, as soon as his uncle had released it,
flew away like a bird set free.
A year had passed since Serozha had seen his mother
for the last time. During this time he had not even
heard anything about her. He had been sent to school,
and had become acquainted with boys of his own age,
and learned to like them. His dreams and recollections
about his mother, which after his interview with her had
made him ill, now no longer occupied his mind. When
they recurred to him he even tried to get rid of them,
regarding them as disgraceful for a boy and fit only
for girls ; he knew that his parents had quarreled and
parted, and that he must accustom himself to the idea of
remaining with his father.
The sight of his uncle, who looked like his mother,
was unpleasant to him, because it awakened memories
which caused him shame ; and it was still more unpleas-
ant, because, from certain words which he had caught
as he entered the door, and by the peculiar expression
of his father's and his uncle's faces, he knew that they
were talking about his mother. And so as not to blame
his father, with whom he lived and on whom he was
dependent, and especially so as not to give way to a sen-
timent which he felt was too degrading, he tried not to
look at his uncle, who had come to disturb his tranquil-
lity, and not to think of the past.
But when, shortly after, Stepan Arkadyevitch went
out, he found the boy on the stairs, and he called him to
him, and asked him how he spent bis spare time, now
that he was at school. Serozha, out of his father's pres-
ence, talked freely.
"We have a railroad now," he said, in answer to his
284 ANNA KARENINA
question. " Just see ! These two are sitting on the
seat ; they are passengers ; and there is one man trying
to stand on the seat ; and they are all going, and by
means of our arms and our belts we go through the
whole length of the hall, and the doors open in front.
And I tell you it's very hard here for the conductor."
"Is that the one standing.-*" asked Stepan Arkadye-
vitch, amused.
"Yes. He has to be bold and skilful, because the
train comes to a very sudden stop, and he might get
thrown over."
"Well, that is no joke," said Stepan Arkadyevitch,
sadly, as he looked at the boy's bright eyes, which were
like his mother's, and which had already lost their child-
ish look of innocence. And, although he had promised
AlekseY Aleksandrovitch not to speak of Anna, he could
not resist.
" Do you remember your mother ? " he asked suddenly.
"No, I do not," Serozha answered quickly, turning
red ; and his uncle could not make him talk any more.
When the Russian tutor found Serozha on the stairs,
half an hour after, he could not make out whether he
was crying or was sulky.
" Did you hurt yourself when you fell .■* " he asked.
" I said this was a dangerous game, and I shall have to
tell your father .-^ "
" If I had, no one should find it out," answered the boy.
"Well, what 's the matter, then ? "
"Let me alone !.... What is it to him whether I
remember or not .-*.... Why did he remind me ? .... Let me
be ...." and the boy seemed to defy not only his tutor,
but the whole world.
CHAPTER XX
Stepan Arkadyevitch, as usual, did not waste his
time at Petersburg. He had not only his business to
attend to : his sister's divorce and his new position to
look after ; but, moreover, as he said, to refresh himself
after musty Moscow.
ANNA KARENINA 285
«
For Moscow, in spite of its caf^s-c/iantants, and its
omnibuses, was still only a stagnant marsh. Stepan
Arkadyevitch always felt that this was so. Living in
Moscow, especially in proximity to his family, he was
conscious that his spirit flagged. When his life in
Moscow was long unbroken by a trip to Petersburg,
he even began to be annoyed by his wife's bad temper
and reproaches, and to worry over his health, the educa-
tion of his children, and the petty details of the house-
hold. He even went so far as to be disturbed about his
debts.
As soon as he set foot in Petersburg, and entered
that circle where life was really life, and not vegetat-
ing, as in Moscow, immediately all such thoughts dis-
appeared like wax in the fire.
His wife.'' .... He had just been talking with Prince
Chetchensky. Prince Chetchensky had a wife and fam-
ily, — grown-up boys, pages now ; and he had another
establishment, outside the law, and in this also there
were children. But, though the first family was well
enough in its way. Prince Chetchensky felt happier
with his second family ; and he had introduced his old-
est legitimate son into his other family ; he told Stepan
Arkadyevitch he considered it a good way to train him
and develop him. What would have been said about
that in Moscow .''
Children .'' In Petersburg, fathers did n't trouble them-
selves with their children. Children were educated in
institutions, and there was no sign of that crazy notion
in vogue in Moscow — Lvof shared in it — that children
should have all the luxuries, and their parents nothing
but care and trouble.
The government service } The service, too, was not
that tiresome, hopeless treadmill that it was in Mos-
cow. Here there was interest in the service. Meetings
with men in authority, mutual services, opportune words
spoken, the knowledge of how to take advantage of
chances — and a man might suddenly find himself high
in his career, like Brianzef, whom Stepan Arkadyevitch
met that evening, and who was now a leading dignitary
?86 ANNA KARENINA
Yes, there was something interesting in the service
here.
The Petersburg views about money especially ap-
pealed to Stepan Arkadyevitch.
Bartnyansky, who now spent at least fifty thousand
rubles, judging by the rate at which he was living, made
a remark which deeply impressed him. Just before
dinner, as they were talking together, Stepan Arkadye-
vitch had said : —
" You seem to have some connection with Mordvinsky.
You might do me a favor ; please say a little word to
him in my behalf. It is a place which I should like to
have, member of the commission." ....
"Well, I won't forget Only what pleasure can you
have in attending to this railroad business with the
Jews .?.... Of course, if you want it; but still it's a
wretched business."
Stepan Arkadyevitch did not say to him that it was
"no sinecure." Bartnyansky would not have known
what he meant.
" I need money ; I must have something to live on."
♦• But don't you live, then ? "
"Yes, but in debt."
" Much } " asked Bartnyansky, sympathetically.
"Yes; twenty thousand rubles."
Bartnyansky broke out into a gay laugh.
" Oh, happy man ! I have a million and a half of
debts, and not a ruble ; and, as you see, I live all the same."
And Stepan Arkadyevitch saw that this was not mere
words, but was actually true. Zhivakhof was in debt
three hundred thousand, and had not a kopek. Petrov-
sky had spent five millions, and yet he went on living
just as before, and had charge of the finances, and had
only twenty thousand salary.
Petersburg had a delightful physical influence on
Stepan Arkadyevitch. It made him feel younger. In
Moscow he sometimes detected gray hairs, he would
fall asleep after dinner, it made him breathe hard to go
up-stairs, he was dull in the company of young women,
he no longer, danced at balls.
ANNA KARENINA 287
At Petersburg he experienced what the sixty-year-old
Prince Piotr Oblonsky, who had just returned from
abroad, told him one evening : —
"We don't know how to live here," said Piotr Oblon-
sky. " For example, I spent the summer at Baden,
and now, honestly, I feel like a new man. I see a
young woman, and.... I enjoy my dinner, I can take my
wine ; I 'm well and vigorous. When I come back to
Russia, I have to see my wife, have even to go into the
country. You wouldn't believe it, but in a couple of
weeks I am in my dressing-gown. Good-by to the
young beauties. I am old, think only of the salvation
of my soul. To make me over, I go to Paris."
Stepan Arkadyevitch felt the same difference as Piotr
Oblonsky did. In Moscow he reached such a low ebb
of vitality that he felt sure that, if he ever attained the
same age, he too should be driven to thinking about the
salvation of his soul ; in Petersburg he was conscious of
being a well-regulated man.
Between the Princess Betsy Tversky and Stepan Arka-
dyevitch there had been for a long time a very strange
relationship. He always jested with her, and he always
said very improper things by way of jest, knowing that
they pleased her more than anything else. The day
after his interview with Karenin, Stepan Arkadyevitch
went to see her ; and, feeling particularly young, he con-
ducted himself with more than his usual levity ; and
went so far in his impropriety that he could not retrieve
his steps, and, unfortunately, he felt that she was not
only displeased, but was even opposed to him. Yet this
tone had been established because it generally amused
her. So he was glad to have the Princess Miagkaya
interrupt their tete-a-tete.
"Ah, here you are ! " said she, when she saw him. "Well !
and how is your poor sister } Do not look at me so. Since
women who are a thousand times worse than she throw
stones at her, I think she did quite right. I can't forgive
Vronsky for not letting me know that she was in Peters-
burg. I should have gone to see her, and gone with her
everywhere. Give her my love. Now tell m$ about her."
288 ANNA KARENINA
"Well! her position is a very painful one; she...."
Stepan Arkadyevitch began, in the simplicity of his
heart, taking the princess's words as genuine money,
when she said, " Tell me about your sister." But the
princess, in her usual way, interrupted him, and began
to talk herself. "She did what everybody but myself
does and hides. But she was not willing to lie, and she
did right ; and she has at least bettered herself in having
forsaken that imbecile, — I beg your pardon, — your
brother-in-law. Everybody said he was a genius. A
genius ! I was the only one who said he was a goose ;
and people have come to be of my opinion, now that he
has taken up with the Countess Lidia and Landau. I
should like not to agree with everybody .... it's stupid;
but this time I can't help it."
" Now please explain something to me," said Stepan
Arkadyevitch. " What does this mean ? Yesterday I
was at his house, talking of the divorce, and I asked
him for a definite answer ; my brother-in-law said to me
that he could not give me an answer without reflection ;
and this morning I received an invitation from Lidia
Ivanovna for this evening instead of an answer."
" Now ! That 's just it ! " cried the princess, delighted.
"They will consult Landau as to what to say."
" Why Landau .-' who is Landau ? "
"What! you don't know Jules l^andau.... /e fame iix
Jules Landau, /e clairvoyant? He also in my opinion
is an imbecile, but on him depends your sister's fate.
That 's what comes of living in the provinces. Landau,
you must know, was coinmis of a mercantile house at
Paris, and went to see a doctor. He fell asleep in the
waiting-room, and, while he was asleep, gave advice to
all the sick .... most astonishing advice. Then Yuri
Melyedinsky's wife — you know he was sick — called
him to see her husband. He treated her husband. In
my opinion, he did n't do him any good, for Melyedinsky
is just as sick as he was before ; but his wife and he
believe in Landau. They took him into their house,
and they brought him to Russia. Naturally, people
here have thrown themselves at him. He treats every-
ANNA KARENINA 289
body. He cured the Countess Bezzubof, and she fell so
in love with him that she has adopted him."
"How! adopted him .'' "
" Yes, adopted him. He is n't Landau any more, but
Count Bezzubof. But Lidia — and I like her very much,
in spite of her crankiness — must needs be smitten with
him ; and nothing that she and Aleksei' Aleksandrovitch
take up is decided without consulting him. Your sister's
fate is, therefore, in the hands of this Count Bezzubof,
alias Landau."
CHAPTER XXI
After an excellent dinner with Bartnyansky, and
considerable cognac, Stepan Arkadyevitch went to the
Countess Lidia Ivanovna's a little later than the hour
designated.
"Who is with the countess.-'.... the Frenchman.-'" he
asked of the Swiss, as he noticed beside Aleksei" Alek-
sandrovitch's well-known overcoat a curious mantle with
clasps.
"Aleksef Aleksandrovitch Karenin and the Count
Bezzubof," answered the servant, stolidly.
"Princess Miagkaya was right," thought Oblonsky,
as he went up-stairs. " Strange ! it would be a good
thing to cultivate the countess. She has great influ-
ence. If she would say a little word in my behalf to
Pomorsky, it would be just the thing."
It was still very light outdoors, but the blinds were
drawn in the Countess Lidia Ivanovna's little drawing-
room, and the lamps were lighted.
At a round table, on which was a lamp, the countess
and Aleksef Aleksandrovitch were sitting, engaged in a
confidential talk. A short, lean, pale man, with knock-
kneed legs and a feminine figure, with long hair falling
over his coat-collar, and handsome, glowing eyes, was
examining the portraits on the wall at the other end of
the room.
Stepan Arkadyevitch, after having greeted the coun-
VOL. III. — 19
1^ ANNA KARENINA
tess and AlekseT Aleksandrovitch, involuntarily turned
round to look once more at this singular personage.
"Monsieur Landau," said the countess, gently, and
with a precaution which struck Oblonsky. The intro-
duction was made.
Landau hastily glanced around, and coming up, placed
his moist, unresponsive hand in Oblonsky's, and im-
mediately went back to look at the portraits. Lidia
Ivanovna and Aleksef Aleksandrovitch exchanged sig-
nificant glances.
" I am very glad to see you to-day," said the countess
to Stepan Arkadyevitch, motioning him to a chair.
"You noticed," added she, in a low voice, glancing at
the Frenchman, " that I introduced him to you by the
name of Landau ; but his name is really Count Bezzubof,
as you probably know. Only he is not fond of the
title."
" Yes, I heard about it," said Stepan Arkadyevitch ;
" it is said he perfectly cured the Countess Bezzubof."
" She came to see me to-day," said the countess, ad-
dressing Aleksel Aleksandrovitch, "and it was sad to
see her. This separation is terrible for her. It is such
a blow to her."
" Then he is positively going ? "
"Yes; he is going to Paris. Yesterday he heard a
voice," said Lidia Ivanovna, looking at Stepan Arka-
dyevitch.
" Oh, a voice ? " repeated he, feeling that it was nec-
essary to use great prudence among these people, where
things occurred or might occur, without his being able
to explain them.
A moment's silence ensued, at the end of which the
Countess Lidia Ivanovna, as if accidentally stumbling
on the chief topic of their conversation, said, with a
sweet smile, addressing Oblonsky : —
" I have known of you for a long time, and I am de-
lighted to make your acquaintance. Les amis de nos
amis sont nos amis. But to be truly friends, we must
know what is passing in the souls of those we love ; and
I fear you do not with regard to Aleksef Aleksandro-
ANNA KARENINA 191
vitch. You understand what I mean," said she, rais-
ing her beautiful, dreamy eyes.
" I understand in part that Aleksel Aleksandrovitch's
position ...." answered Oblonsky, not understanding very
well what she was talking about, and preferring to con-
fine himself to generalities.
"The change is not in his external position," said the
countess, solemnly, and at the same time looking ten-
derly at Aleksei Aleksandrovitch, who had risen to join
Landau; "it is his heart which has changed, — a new
heart has been given to him, — and I very much fear
that you do not realize sufficiently the great transforma-
tion which has taken place in him."
"That is ....in a general way, I can perceive the
change in him. We have always been friends, and
now...." said Oblonsky, answering the deep gaze of
the countess with a tender one, as he queried with
which of the two ministers she could do him the most
effective service.
" This transformation cannot diminish his love for his
neighbor ; on the contrary, the change which has taken
place must increase love. But I fear you don't under-
stand me Will you not have some tea .'' " she asked,
looking toward a lackey who entered with a tea-tray.
" Not altogether, countess ; of course, his misfor-
tune...."
" Yes, he underwent a misfortune, but it became the
highest happiness, because his heart was renewed," said
she, raising her eyes lovingly to Stepan Arkadyevitch.
" I believe I shall have to get her to speak to them
both," thought Oblonsky. "Oh! assuredly, countess,"
said he, "but I think that these changes are so per-
sonal 1 that no one likes to speak of them, even to his
most intimate friends."
" On the contrary, we ought to speak, and to help
one another."
" Yes, without doubt ; but there are such differences
of conviction; and, moreover...." and Oblonsky smiled
unctuously.
1 Intimui.
292 ANNA KARENINA
"There cannot be differences in regard to sacred
truth."
"Oh, yes, of course, but...."
Stepan Arkadyevitch grew confused, and stopped
speaking. He perceived that the countess was talking
about religion.
" It seems to me that he 's going to sleep," said Alek-
self Aleksandrovitch, approaching the countess, and
speaking in a significant whisper.
Stepan Arkadyevitch turned round. Landau was
seated near the window, with his elbow leaning on the
arm and back of a chair, and his head bowed as he saw
the looks turned toward him. He raised his head and
smiled in a naive and childlike manner.
" Don't pay any attention to him," said the countess,
pushing a chair toward Aleksef Aleksandrovitch. " I
have noticed ...." she began, but was interrupted by a
lackey bringing her a letter. She read it through with
extraordinary rapidity, sent a reply, and resumed the
thread of her discourse. " I have noticed that Musco-
vites, the men especially, are very indifferent to religion."
" Oh, no, countess ! I think that Muscovites have the
reputation of being very pious," replied Stepan Arka-
dyevitch.
" But as far as I have observed, you yourself," said
Aleksel Aleksandrovitch, with his weary smile, " I am
sorry to say, belong to the category of the indiffer-
ents."
" Is it possible to be indifferent } " cried Lidia
Ivanovna.
" I am not indifferent, but rather in the attitude of
expectation," answered Oblonsky, with his most agree-
able smile. " I do not think that the time for me to
settle such questions has come yet."
Alekseif Aleksandrovitch and the countess exchanged
glances.
"We can never know whether the time for us has
come or not," said Alekseif Aleksandrovitch, sternly, "we
ought not even to think whether we are prepared or not.
The blessing does not follow human calculations, does
ANNA KARENINA 293
not always light upon the most deserving, but comes to
those who are unprepared ; witness Saul."
"It seems that it isn't to be now," murmured the
countess, following with her eyes the movements of the
Frenchman. Landau got up and joined them.
" May I listen ? " asked he.
"Oh, yes! I did not wish to disturb you," said the
countess, tenderly. " Sit down with us."
" The essential thing is not to close one's eyes to the
light," continued Aleksef Aleksandrovitch.
" Akh ! if you knew what a blessing we experience
when we feel His constant presence in our souls," said
the Countess Lidia Ivanovna, with an ecstatic smile.
" But a man may feel himself incapable of rising to
such a height," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, convinced
that the heights of religion were not his fo7'te, but fear-
ing to offend a person who, by one word to Pomorsky,
might get him the place that he wanted.
" You mean that sin may prevent him ? " asked Lidia
Ivanovna. " But that is a mistaken view. For him
who believes, there is no more sin. Sin is already re-
deemed. Pardon," she added, as the lackey brought
ber another note. She read it, and answered verbally,
" Say to-morrow at the grand duchess's; " then she con-
tinued, " For the believer there is no sin."
" Yes ; but ' faith without works is dead,' " said
Stepan Arkadyevitch, recalling this phrase of his cate-
chism, with a smile establishing his independence.
"That is the famous passage in the Epistle of St.
James," said Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, in a reproachful
tone, looking at the countess, as if to recall frequent dis-
cussions on the subject, " How much harm the false
interpretation of that passage has done ! It has driven
more persons from the faith than anything else ! ' I
have no works, therefore I cannot believe,' is the logi-
cal conclusion from it. It means exactly the opposite."
" It is our monks who claim to be saved by works, by
their fastings, their abstinences," said the countess, with
an air of fastidious scorn. " Our way is far better and
easier," she added, looking at Oblonsky with that scorch-
294 ANNA KARENINA
ing smile with which, at court, she was wont to wither
young maids of honor, disconcerted at the newness of
their position.
" We are saved by Christ who suffered for us ; we are
saved by faith," resumed Aleksef Aleksandrovitch.
" Vous comprcnez V anglais ? " asked Lidia Ivanovna ;
and, receiving an affirmative answer, she rose, and took
a small book from a side-table. " I 'm going to read to
you, ' Safe and Happy ; or, Under the Wing,' " said she,
with a look of interrogation at Karenin. " It is very
short," added she, resuming her seat and opening the
book. " Here the way is described by which faith is
attained, and the joy which is higher than any that
earth can give, which fills the soul of the believer. Man
who believes cannot be unhappy, because he is no longer
alone. Yes, and here you see...." She was about to
go on reading, when again the lackey appeared. " From
Borozdin .? Say to-morrow, at two o'clock Yes," she
said, with a sigh, marking the place in the book with
her finger, and looking up with her pensive, loving
eyes. " This is the way true faith is acquired. Are
you acquainted with Marie Sanina .-* You have heard
of her great affliction .^ She lost her only son. She
was in despair. Well, how is it now .-* She found this
friend. She thanks God for the death of her child.
Such is the happiness faith can give ! "
"Ah, yes; this is very...." murmured Stepan Arka-
dyevitch, glad to be able to keep silent during this read-
ing, and to think over his affairs a little. " I shall do
better not to ask anything to-day," thought he ; " only how
can I get out of this without compromising myself .■* " •
"This will be dull for you," said the countess to Lan-
dau. " You don't understand English ; but this is short."
"Oh ! I shall understand," said he, with a smile; and
he shut his eyes.
Alekself Aleksandrovitch and the countess significantly
looked at one another, and the reading began.
ANNA KARENINA *95
CHAPTER XXII
Stefan Arkadyevitch felt perfectly bewildered by
these strange and to him unwonted discourses to which
he had been listening. After the stagnation of Moscow,
the complication of life in Petersburg as a general thing
had an enlivening effect on him ; but he liked it and was
at home in it when he was among those whom he knew
well. In this unfamiliar environment, he was bewildered
and stupefied, and could not make anything out of it.
As he hstened to the reading, and saw the brilliant
eyes of Laudau — naive or knavish, he could not tell
which — fixed on him, he felt a peculiar heaviness in his
head. The most heterogeneous thoughts went whirling
through his brain.
" Marie Sanina is happy in having lost her son
It would be good if I could only smoke ! .... To be saved,
one needs only to believe The monks do not under-
stand about this, but the Countess Lidia Ivanovna
does. What makes my head feel so heavy .'' Is it the
brandy, or the strangeness of all this ? I have done
nothing out of the way as yet ; but I shan't venture to
ask anything to-day. It is said they make you say your
prayers. Suppose they should make me say mine !
That would be too nonsensical. What stuff that is she
is reading ! But she reads well. Landau Bezzubof ....
why is he Bezzubof .'' "
Suddenly Stepan Arkadyevitch felt that his lower
jaw was irresistibly beginning to accomplish a yawn.
He smoothed his whiskers to conceal the yawn, and
shook himself ; but the next moment he felt sure that
he was asleep, and even beginning to snore. The voice
of the Countess Lidia Ivanovna waked him, saying : —
" He 's asleep.
Stepan Arkadyevitch waked with a start, feeling a
consciousness of guilt. But instantly he was relieved
to find that the words, *' He 's asleep," had reference,
not to himself, but to Landau. The Frenchman was as
sound asleep as Stepan Arkadyevitch had been. But
2^6 ANNA KARENINA
Stepan Arkadyevitch's nap would have offended them,
— he did not think of this at the time, so strange did
everything seem, — but Landau's rejoiced them exceed-
ingly, and especially the Countess Lidia Ivanovna.
" Mon ami," said the Countess Lidia Ivanovna, cau-
tiously, so as not to disturb him ; and, picking up the
folds of her silk gown, in the enthusiasm of the moment,
calling Karenin, not AlekseY Aleksandrovitch, but, " Mon
ami, donnez liii la main ! vous voyez ? Sh-h ! " said she
to the lackey, who once more entered the parlor with
a message. " I can't receive it now."
The Frenchman slept, or pretended to sleep, leaning
his head on the back of his arm-chair, and resting his
hand on his knee, but making feeble gestures, as if he
were trying to catch something.
Aleksef Aleksandrovitch got up, and cautiously,
though he tripped over a table as he did so, stepped over
to the chair, and put his hand into the Frenchman's
hand. Stepan Arkadyevitch also got up, and opening
his eyes wide, and trying to decide whether he were
asleep or not, looked from one to the other, and felt his
ideas growing more and more confused.
" Que la personne qui est arrivie la deniihe, celle qui
demande, qii elle ....sorte. Qu'elle sorte," ^ murmured the
Frenchman, without opening his eyes.
" Vous m'excuseres, mais vous voyez — revenez vers
dix heures, encore m.ieux demain." ^
" Qiielle sorte, '^ repeated the Frenchman, impatiently.
'' Cest mot, n'est ce pas?" asked Oblonsky, and at
an affirmative sign, forgetting what he was going to ask
Lidia Ivanovna, forgetting his sister's affairs, with one
single desire to escape as soon as possible, hastened out
on his tiptoes and rushed down into the street, as if he
were fleeing from a pest-house, and for a long time
talked and jested with his driver, so as to bring back
his spirits.
^ The person who came in last .... the one who is questioning .... let him
go away.
2 You will excuse me, but you understand .... come back at ten o'clock,
or, still better, to-morrow.
ANNA KARENINA 297
At the French Theater, which he reached in time for
the last act, and afterward over his champagne at the
the Tartars', Stepan Arkadyevitch gradually began to
breathe more freely in the familiar atmosphere. Never-
theless, all that evening he was very far from being
himself.
When he returned to the house of Piotr Oblonsky,
where he made his home in Petersburg, he found a note
from Betsy. She wrote him that she was very desirous
of finishing their talk, and urged him to call the next
day. He had hardly finished reading this note and
making up a face at it, when heavy shuffling steps were
heard down-stairs as of men lifting some heavy object.
Stepan Arkadyevitch went out to see what it was. It
was the rejuvenated Piotr Oblonsky, who was so tipsy that
he could not walk up-stairs ; but when he caught sight of
Stepan Arkadyevitch, he ordered his attendants to put
him on his feet, and, clinging to Stepan Arkadyevitch's
arm, he managed to reach his room, where he began to
relate how he had spent the evening, till he fell asleep.
Stepan Arkadyevitch himself was in such a weak
state of mind, that, contrary to his custom, he did not
fall asleep quickly. What he had heard and seen dur-
ing the day was disgusting. But more disgusting than
anything else was the recollection of the evening at the
Countess Lidia Ivanovna's.
The next day he received from Aleksei Aleksandro-
vitch a flat refusal in the matter of the divorce, and
knew that this decision was based on the words which
the Frenchman had uttered during his slumber, real or
feigned.
CHAPTER XXni
In order that anything may be accomplished in family
life, it is requisite that between the husband and wife
there should be either absolute discord or loving har-
mony. But when the relations between the two are
uncertain, and there is neither the one nor the other,
nothing can be accomplished.
298 ANNA KARENINA
Many families remain for years in places of which the
husband and wife both are tired and disgusted, simply
because there is neither full discord nor full concord.
Unendurable to Vronsky and Anna was their Hfe in
Moscow, in the heat and dust, when the sun shone, not
now with its springtime beauty, but with summer fervor,
and ail the trees along the boulevards had been long in
leaf, and the leaves were already thick with dust. Though
they had long before decided to remove to Vozdvizhen-
skoye, still they continued to live in Moscow, which was
detestable to them both, and the reason for this was that
of late there had been no harmony between them.
The exasperation which tended to keep them apart
had no tangible cause, and all attempts at an explanation,
instead of closing the chasm, only widened it. It was
an internal irritation which, as far as she was concerned,
had for its source the diminution of his love for her, and
on his part his annoyance because, thanks to her, he
found himself placed in an embarrassing position, which
she, instead of trying to relieve, made still more difficult.
Neither he nor she formulated any definite complaints,
but each considered the other in the wrong, and at every
opportunity tried to make this evident.
She considered that he, with ail his habits, ideas,
desires, with all his spiritual and physical tendencies,
had one distinguishing quality, — the power of loving
women ; and this love, she felt, ought by good rights to
be wholly concentrated on her. This love had diminished ;
consequently, in her opinion, a part of this love must
necessarily be transferred to others or to some other
woman, and — she was jealous. She was jealous, not of
any definite woman, but of his diminished love for her.
Having as yet no definite object for her jealousy to rest
on, she was on the watch for one. On the slightest pre-
text she would transfer her jealousy from one person to
another. Sometimes she suspected him of low amours,
which he might enter into as an unmarried man about
town ; sometimes she distrusted ladies whom he might
meet in society ; then again, with the imaginary young
lady whom he would be likely to marry in case he broke
ANNA KARENINA 299
with her. This form of jealousy especially tormented
her, for the reason that he himself had carelessly, in a
moment of confidence one day, spoken of his mother's
lack of tact in having ventured to propose to him to
marry the young Princess Sorokin.
And being thus jealous, Anna felt indignant with him
and kept finding reasons for her indignation. For all
the painfulness of her position she blamed him. She
considered him responsible for her painful state of
expectancy which she was enduring in Moscow, as it
were suspended between heaven and earth, for the
uncertainty in which she lived, for Aleksei' Aleksandro-
vitch's delay and indecision, and for her loneliness. If
he loved her, he would understand the difficulty of her
position, and save her from it. He was to blame because
she was living in Moscow and not in the country. He
could not live in the country, as she wanted to do. He
wanted society, and so condemned her to this horrible
position, the trials of which he could not comprehend,
And, again, he was responsible for depriving her forever
of her son. Even those rare moments of tenderness
which they occasionally enjoyed did not appease her;
she now detected in his tenderness a shade of calmness,
of assurance, which he had never before shown, and
which exasperated her.
It was getting dark. Vronsky was at a gentlemen's
dinner; and Anna, while waiting for him, had taken
refuge in his library, where the noise of the street was
less oppressive than in the rest of the house. She
walked up and down, going over in memory their last
altercation.
As she recalled in memory the insulting words that
had been spoken, and tried to think what had led to it,
she at last remembered how the quarrel had begun. For
some time she found it impossible to believe that any
dissension could have arisen from such an inoffensive
conversation, from a subject which was so unimportant
to any one. But such was the fact. It all began from
his having made sport of women's gymnasia, declaring
them unnecessary, and she had taken up the cudgels in
300 ANNA KARENINA
their defense. He had disrespectfully attacked the
education of women in general, and had said that Han-
nah, Anna's English prot^gie, had not the slightest need
of knowing anything about physics.
That had irritated Anna. She saw in it a derogatory
reference to her own occupations, and she conjured up
and uttered a phrase which was meant to repay him for
the pain he inflicted on her.
" I did not expect that you would comprehend me and
my feelings as a man who really loved would, but I ex-
pected at least some delicacy," said she.
And in reality he had reddened with vexation and
made some unpleasant remark. She did not remem-
ber what retort she then made, but, whatever it was,
he had said with the manifest intention of hurting her
feelings : —
" I confess your devotion to that girl does not interest
me, because I can see in it nothing but an affecta-
tion."
This cruelty of his, with which he demolished the
fabric which she had with such labor erected so as to
endure the trials of her life, this injustice of his in accus-
ing her of pretense and affectation, drove her frantic.
" It is very unfortunate that only what is low and
material is comprehensible to you," she had retorted,
and she left the room.
When, in the evening, he came to see her, the discus-
sion was not resumed, but they both felt that it was not
forgotten.
All this day he had not been at home ; and she was
so lonely and wretched, as she thought of their quarrels,
that she resolved to forget everything, to ask his forgive-
ness, and to take the blame on herself, so as to bring
about a reconciliation at any cost.
" I am to blame ; I am irritable ; I am absurdly jeal-
ous. I will make it up with him, and we will leave for the
country, and there I shall be calmer," she thought.
" Affectation ! " — nenaturalno. She suddenly remem-
bered the word which had so affronted her, above all in
his intention of causing her pain by it.
ANNA KARENINA 301
" I know what he meant. He meant by affected that
I did not love my daughter, but loved another's child.
What does he know of the love a child can inspire .-'
Has he the least idea what I sacrificed for him in giving
up Serozha .-' But this desire to wound me ! No, he
loves another woman ; it must be so."
And seeing that, even while she wanted to calm her-
self she was once more going over the circle she had
so many times traversed, and was once more returning
to the same state of irritation, she was horror-struck.
" Is it wholly out of the question ? Can I not attach
him to myself .'' " she queried, and then she began at the
beginning again. " He is true, he is honorable, he loves
me. I love him ; in a day or two dissension will be
ended. What is necessary ? Calmness, gentleness, and
I shall bring him back to me. Yes ; now, when he
comes, I will tell him that I was to blame .... although
I was not to blame ; .... and we will go off."
And, in order not to think any more, and not to give
way to her irritation, she gave orders to bring down her
trunks, to begin preparations for departure.
At ten o'clock Vronsky came in.
CHAPTER XXIV
"Well, did you have a gay time .-'" asked Anna, going
to meet him with an apologetic and affectionate look on
her face.
"As such things usually are," answered he, noticing
at once by her face that she was in one of her best
moods. He was already accustomed to such metamor-
phoses, and this time he was particularly glad, because
he himself was in his happiest frame of mind. " What
do I see .'' This is good," he added, pointing to the
trunks in the entry.
" Yes, we must go. I went out to walk to-day, and it
was so good that I longed to get back to the country.
There 's nothing to keep you here, is there ? "
302 ANNA KARENINA
" I should like nothing better I will be back imme-
diately, and we will talk it over ; all I want is to change
my coat. Have the tea brought."
There was something irritating in the tone in which
he said, "This is good," as one speaks to a child which
has ceased to be capricious, and still more irritating was
the discrepancy between her apologetic and his self-
confident tone, and for a moment she felt rising within
her the desire to be pugnacious. But making an effort
to restrain herself, she relinquished it, and met Vronsky
as gayly as before.
When he came in, she told him calmly the incidents
of the day, and her plans for departure, using in part
the very words she had thought over.
" Do you know, it came over me like an inspiration,"
said she, — " why wait here for the divorce .-' Will it not
be all the same when we are in the country ? I cannot
wait longer. I want to stop hoping about the divorce.
I don't want to hear anything more about it. I think
it won't have any more effect on my life. Don't you
agree with me ? "
" Oh, yes ! " said he, looking with disquietude at
Anna's excited face.
** Come, tell me what you did ; who were there .-' "
said she, after a moment's silence.
Vronsky named over the guests.
"The dinner was excellent. And we had a boat-race,
and it was all very jolly. But in Moscow nothing can
be done sans ridicule. Some woman, the swimming-
teacher of the queen of Sweden, gave us an exhibition
of her art."
" What ! Did she swim for you ? " demanded Anna,
frowning.
" Yes, in an ugly red" costume de natation. She was
old and hideous What day do we go } "
" What an inane idea ! Was there anything extraor-
dinary about her method of swimming?" asked Anna,
not replying to his question.
" Not at all. I tell you it was horribly stupid. When
have you decided to go ? "
I
ANNA KARENINA 303
Anna tossed her head as if to get rid of a disagree-
able thought.
" When shall we go ? The sooner the better. To-
morrow we can't, but the day after,"
" Yes .... no .... wait ! Day after to-morrow is Monday.
I shall have to go to maman^' said Vronsky, somewhat
confused ; because, as he mentioned his mother's name,
he saw Anna's eyes fixed with a look of suspicion on
him, and his confusion increased her distrust. She for-
got the queen of Sweden's swimming-teacher in her
alarm about the Princess Sorokin, who was living at a
country seat in the suburbs of Moscow with the old
countess.
" Can't you go there to-morrow ? "
" Why, no ! That 's impossible. There is some busi-
ness that I must attend to, — a power of attorney ; and
the money will not be ready to-morrow."
" If that is so, we won't go at all."
"But why not.?"
" I won't go if it is put off later. Sunday or never ! "
"Why so .'' " cried Vronsky, in astonishment. "There 's
no sense in that."
" It has no sense for you, because you never take me
into account at all. You can't understand my life.
The only thing that interests me here is Hannah. You
say that it is hypocrisy. You said last evening that
I did not love my daughter, but that I pretended to love
this English girl, that this was affectation. I should
like to know what can be natural in the life I lead
here ? "
For an instant she came to herself, and was fright-
ened because she had broken her vow. But, though
she knew that she was dashing to destruction, she could
not resist the temptation of proving to him that he was
in the wrong, she could not help heaping insults on him.
" I never said that : I said that I did not sympathize
with this sudden tenderness for her."
" Why do you, who boast of being straightf orwai d,
tell me a lie .? "
" I never boast, and I never tell lies," said he, re-
304 ANNA KARENINA
pressing the anger which was rising within him ; " and
I am very sorry if you do not respect...."
" Respect ! That was invented to cover up the lack
of love. If you don't love me any more, it would be
better and more honorable to say so."
" No ! this is becoming intolerable," cried the count,
suddenly leaping from his chair ; and, standing in front
of her, speaking in measured tones : " Anna," he asked,
" why do you try my patience so ? " and she could see
how he was holding back the bitter words that were
ready to escape him. " It has its limits."
" What do you mean by that ? " she cried, looking
with terror at the unconcealed expression of hate on his
whole face, and especially in his fierce, cruel eyes.
" I mean...." he began. Then he stopped. "I have
a right to demand what you wish of me."
" What can I wish .-' I can only wish that you do not
abandon me, as you are thinking of doing," she said,
comprehending all that he left unsaid. " Everything
else is secondary. I wish to be loved ; but love is gone.
All is over."
She turned toward the door.
" Stop ! sto-op ! " said Vronsky, still darkly frowning,
but holding her by the arm. " What is the trouble .'' I
said that it is necessary to postpone our starting for
three days, and you answer by saying that I lie and am
dishonorable."
" Yes ; and I repeat it that a man who throws it into
my face that he has sacrificed everything for me," said
she, alluding to a former quarrel, " is worse than dis-
honorable : he is heartless."
" That settles it ; my patience is at an end," cried
Vronsky, quickly dropping her hand.
" He hates me; that is certain," she thought, as she
went from the room in silence with tottering steps.
" He loves some other woman ; that is more certain
still," she said to herself, as she reached her room. " I
wish to be loved, but love is gone. All is over." She
repeated the words that she had said, — "I must put an
end to it."
ANNA KARENINA 305
"But how?" she asked herself, sinking into a chair
before her mirror.
The most heterogeneous thoughts crowded upon her.
Where should she go .'' To her aunt, who had brought
her up .'' To Dolly .'' or simply go abroad alone by her-
self .'' What was he doing alone in his study ? Would
the rupture be final, or was there a possibility of recon-
ciliation .'' How would Alekseif Aleksandrovitch look
upon it ? and what would her former acquaintances in
Petersburg say ? Many other ideas of what would hap-
pen came into her mind, but she could not take any
satisfactory account of them. A vague idea came into
her mind, and awakened some interest, but she could
not express it. Thinking once more of Alekseif Alek-
sandrovitch, she recalled a phrase which she had used
after her illness, and the feeling that clung to her, —
" Why did n't I die .'' " and immediately the words awoke
the feeling which they had at that time expressed. Yes,
that was the idea which alone settled everything.
" Death, yes, that is the only way of escape. My
terrible shame, and the dishonor which I have brought
on Aleksei Aleksandrovitch and Serozha, all will be
wiped away by my death. If I die, he will repent for
me then ; he will be sorry, he will love me, he will suffer
for me."
A smile of pity for herself came over her face as she
kept mechanically taking off and putting on the rings
of her left hand, and with vivid imagination she pictured
how he would feel after she was dead.
Approaching steps — his steps — caught her ears.
She affected to be busily engaged in taking off her
rings, and did not turn her head.
He came to her, and, taking her hand, said tenderly :
" Anna, we will go day after to-morrow if you wish. I
am ready for anything Well .'' " said he, waiting.
She did not speak.
" What do you say .-' " he asked.
" You yourself know," said she ; and then, unable
to control herself longer, she burst into tears. " Leave
me, leave me," she murmured through her sobs. " I
VOL. III. — 20
3o6 ANNA KARENINA
am going away to-morrow I will do more. What am
I ? A lost woman, a millstone about your neck. I
don't want to torment you. I will set you free. You
do not love me; you love another."
Vronsky begged her to be calm. He swore there
was not the slightest ground for her jealousy, and that
he had never ceased and never should cease to love her ;
that he loved her more than ever.
" Anna, why torture yourself and me so ? " he asked,
as he kissed her hand. His face expressed the deepest
tenderness ; and it seemed to her that her ears caught
the sound of tears in his voice, and that she felt their
moisture on her hand.
Passing suddenly from jealousy to the most passionate
tenderness, she covered his head, his neck, his hands,
with kisses.
CHAPTER XXV
Feeling that their reconciliation was complete, Anna
the next morning eagerly made her preparations for
departure. Although it was not yet definitely decided
whether they should start on Monday or Tuesday, since
Doth days had certain contingencies, Anna was busily
making her preparations for the journey, feeling now
perfectly indifferent whether they went a little sooner
or a little later. She was engaged in her room taking
various articles from an open trunk, when Vronsky,
already dressed, came to her earlier than usual.
" I am going now to mnnian. Perhaps she can get
me the money through Yegerof, and then I shall be
ready to go to-morrow," he said.
She was feeling particularly cheerful, but his reference
to his visit to his mother's datcha was like a stitch in the
side.
" No ; I shall not be ready myself ; " and immediately
she thought, " So then it was possible to arrange it so as
to do as I wished." — " No ; do just as you intended to.
And now go to the dining-room, and I will join you as
ANNA KARENINA 307
soon as I have taken out these unnecessary things," she
added, giving something more to Annushka, whose arms
were already laden with a heap of articles.
Vronsky was eating his beefsteak when she entered
the dining-room.
" You can't realize how odious these apartments have
become to me," she said, as she sat down by him.
" Nothing is more detestable than these chambres
garni es. There is no individuality in them, no soul.
The clock, the curtains, and especially the wall-papers —
they are a caucliemar. I think of Vozdvizhenskoye as of
the promised land. Shall you not send on the horses in
advance .-* "
" No, they will follow us. But were you going any-
where.-*"
" I wanted to go to the Wilsons' ; I must get a gown.
So it is decided that we go to-morrow, is it .'* " she added,
in a joyous tone. But suddenly her face changed.
Vronsky's valet came in, and asked him to sign a receipt
foradespatch from Petersburg. Still there was nothing re-
markable in Vronsky's receiving a telegram, but he acted
as if he wanted to conceal something from her ; and, saying
that he would sign it in his Ubrary, he turned to her : —
" To-morrow without fail I shall have finished every-
thing."
" From whom is the despatch ? " she asked, not hear-
ing him.
" From Stiva," answered the count, reluctantly.
" Why did n't you show it to me "i What secret can
there be between Stiva and me .-' "
Vronsky called the valet back, and ordered him to
bring in the telegram.
" I did not care to show it because Stiva has a pas-
sion for telegraphing. Why need he send me a despatch
to tell me that nothing was decided.'* "
"About the divorce .^ "
"Yes. He maintains that he cannot get a definite
answer. Here, see for yourself."
Anna took the despatch with a trembling hand. It
read as Vronsky had told her. At the end it said : —
3o8 ANNA KARENINA
" Little hcpe ; but I shall do everything possible and
impossible."
" I told you yesterday that it was absolutely immaterial
to me when I received the divorce, or whether I get it
at all," said she, flushing, "so it is perfectly useless to
hide anything from me. In the same way, he can hide
from me his correspondence with women," thought she.
"Yashvin wanted to come this morning with Voftof,"
said Vronsky. " It seems that he has been gambling
again, and has won from Pyebtsof all he has and more
than he can pay.... about sixty thousand rubles."
" No," said she, vexed because by this change in the
conversation he so evidently insinuated that she was
vexed. " Why do you think that this news interests me
so much that you must hide it from me .'' I told you
that I did not want to think about it, and I should wish
that you had as little interest in it as I."
" It interests me because I like clearness."
" Clearness ! But in love, not in mere outside show,"
she said, getting more and more angry, not at his words,
but at the tone of cool calmness in which he spoke.
" Why do you want a divorce .-* "
" Bozhe mo'i ! Always ' love,' " thought Vronsky,
frowning. " You know very well why ; it is for your
sake and for the children we may have."
"There will not be any more children."
" I am sorry for that."
" You feel the need of it, because of the children ; but
don't you have some thought of me .'' " said she, forget-
ting that he had just said "for your sake and the
children's."
The question of the possibility of having children had
been long vexatious and trying to her. She took his
desire to have children as a proof of indifference toward
her beauty.
" Akh ! I said for your sake .... more than all for your
sake ; for I am convinced that your irritability comes
largely from the uncertainty of your position," he an-
swered, scowling with annoyance.
" Yes, now he has ceased to pretend, and all his cold
ANNA KARENINA 309
hatred of me is plain to be seen," she said to herself,
not hearing his words, but gazing with horror at a cold
and cruel judge who looked out of his eyes, and mocked
her.
" That is not the cause," said she ; " and I do not
understand how my irritability, as you call it, can be
caused by the fact that I have come absolutely into your
power. How is my position indefinite .'' It seems to
me the contrary."
" I am sorry that you are not willing to understand,"
he replied, obstinately determined to express his thought.
" Its uncertainty comes from this, — that you think that
I am free."
" Oh ! as far as that goes, you can be perfectly easy,"
she said, turning from him, and beginning to drink her
coffee. She took the cup, raising her little finger, and
put it to her lips ; and as she drank she looked at him,
and by the expression of his face saw clearly that her
motions and the sounds that she made in swallowing
were repulsive to him.
" It is absolutely indifferent to me what your mother
thinks, and how she intends to marry you off," said she,
putting down the cup with trembling hand.
"We will not talk of that."
" Yes, we will too ; and I assure you that a heartless
woman, whether young or old, — your mother or any-
body else, — does not interest me ; and I don't want to
know her."
" Anna, I beg you not to speak disrespectfully of my
mother."
" A woman who has no conception of what the honor
and happiness of her son consist in, has no heart."
" I repeat my request that you will not speak disre-
spectfully of my mother, whom I respect," reiterated the
count, raising his voice, and looking severely at Anna.
She did not reply, but looked attentively at his face
and his hands, and recalled with all its details, the scene
of the evening before, and his passionate caresses
"Just such caresses he has lavished, and will still con
tinue to lavish, on other women," she thought.
3IO ANNA KARENINA
"You don't love your mother. Those are simple
words, words, words ! " she said, looking at him with
eyes full of hatred.
" If that is the case, it is necessary ...."
" It is necessary to decide ; and I have decided," said
she, and was preparing to leave the room, when the
door opened, and Yashvin entered.
She stopped immediately, and bade him good-morning.
Why, when her soul was full of bitterness ; when she
felt that she was at the turning-point of her life, which
might take a terrible direction, — why, at this moment,
she had to dissimulate before a stranger, who sooner or
later would know all, she could not tell ; but, calming
the inner tumult of her feelings, she sat down again,
and began to talk with the guest,
" Well, how are your affairs .'' Have they paid you
your debt .'' " she asked.
" No ; not yet. Probably I shall not get it all. And
I 've got to leave Wednesday," said Yashvin, awkwardly,
glancing at Vronsky, and evidently suspecting that a
quarrel was in progress. " When do you leave ? "
"Day after to-morrow, I think," said Vronsky.
" You have taken long to make up your minds."
" But now it is all decided," said Anna, looking straight
into Vronsky's eyes with a look that told him how im-
possible it was to think of reconcihation.
" Did n't you feel sorry for that unlucky Pyebtsof .-' "
asked Anna, addressing Yashvin.
" I have never asked myself whether I pitied a mai
or not, Anna Arkadyevna. My whole fortune is here,'
said he, pointing to his pocket. " Now I am a rich
man, but I may come out of the club this evening a
beggar. Whoever plays with me would gladly leave
me without a shirt, and I him. Well ! We engage in
war, and that makes the fun."
" Well, but if you were married, how would it be foi
your wife .-' "
Yashvin laughed.
" But I am not married, and I don't expect to marry.'
" But how about Helsingfors ? " suggested Vronsky
ANNA KARENINA 311
joining in the conversation, and looking at Anna's
smiling face. But as she met his glance her face
suddenly assumed a set and cold expression, as much
as to say to him : " I have not forgotten. It 's still the
same."
" And have n't you ever been in love .-' " she asked of
Yashvin.
" Oh, Lord ! plenty of times. Only remember, one
may sit down to cards, but must be able to get up when
the time comes for a rendezvous ; but I interest myself
in love-affairs in such a way that I need not be late to
play my hand in the evening. And so I always arrange
matters."
" You misunderstand ; I did not ask about that, but
about actual...." She wanted to say He Isingfors, hut
she did not like to use a word which Vronsky had just
spoken.
Voitof came at this moment to see about a horse
which he had bought ; Anna got up and left the room.
Before he left the house, Vronsky went to her room.
She pretended to look for something on the table, but
then, being ashamed of this dissimulation, she looked
him straight in the face. She asked him coolly in
French, " What do you want .? "
"The certificate for Gambetta; I have sold him," an-
swered Vronsky, in a tone which said louder than words,
" I have not time for explanations, nor would they lead
to anything."
** I 'm not to blame," thought he ; "if she wants to
punish herself, tant pis pour elle ."
However, as he left the room he thought she said
something to him, and his heart was suddenly touched
with compassion for her,
" What is it, Anna .? " he asked.
" I said nothing," she answered coldly and calmly.
"Nothing! tant pis," he said again to himself. On
his way out, as he passed a mirror, he caught sight in
it of her pale face and trembling lips. He was tempted
to go back and say some comforting words to her, but
he was already too far on his way. He passed the
312 ANNA KARENINA
entire day outside the house ; and when he came home
the maid informed him that Anna Arkadyevna had a
headache, and begged him not to disturb her.
CHAPTER XXVI
Never before had they let a day end with a quarrel
unsettled. This was the first time. This was not a
mere quarrel ; it was evidently the avowal of permanent
coldness. How was it possible for him to look at her
as he had done when he came into her room after his
document.'' how could he look at her, and see that her
heart was full of despair, and then go out with a calm, in-
different face ? He had not only grown cold to her, but
he hated her, because he loved some other woman.
This was clear. And, as she recalled all the cruel
words which he had said to her, Anna began to imagine
also the words which she was certain he would like to
say to her and might say, and she grew more and more
irritated.
" I will not keep you," she imagined him saying.
"You may go wherever you please. As you don't care
to be divorced from your husband, you probably intend
to go back to him. If you want money, I will give it
to you. How many rubles do you want .-' "
All these insulting words which the cruel man might
say were said merely in her imagination, but she could
not forgive him any more than if he had really said
them.
" But did he not swear to me only yesterday that he
loved me .'' Is he not a sincere and honest man ? " she
said to herself a moment afterward. " Have I not been
in despair several times before, all for nothing.? "
She passed the entire day, except two hours during
which she made a visit to her prot/j^/s, the Wilsons, in
alternate doubt and hope. Was all at an end.-* Was
there any chance of a reconciliation ? Should she leave
him then and there, or should she wait and see him once
again .? She waited for him all day ; and in the eve-
ANNA KARENINA 313
ning she went to her room, telling Annushka to say that
she had a headache.
" If he comes in spite of that, it will show that he
loves me still ; if not, it is over, and I shall make up my
mind what there is for me to do."....
Late in the evening she heard his carriage-wheels on
the pavement, his ring, and his steps, and his colloquy
with the maid ; he believed what he was told, he did not
care to make any further inquiries, and he went to his
room. Evidently all was at an end. And Death as the
only means of establishing a love for her in his heart, of
punishing him, and of winning the victory in the struggle
which the evil spirit that had possession of her soul was
waging with him, clearly, vividly, presented itself before
her.
Now everything was a matter of indifference —
whether they went to the country or not, whether she
procured the divorce or not — it was unnecessary ; the
one essential thing was to punish him.
When she poured out her usual dose of opium, and
it came over her that if she swallowed all that was in
the vial she would die, it seemed so easy and simple
that she felt a real joy in imagining how he would
mourn, repent, and love her when it was too late. She
lay on her bed with open eyes, and watched the dying
candle-light on the molded cornice of the ceiling mingle
with the shadow of the screen which divided the room ;
she vividly pictured to herself how he would think when
she was no more, when she was only a memory. " How
could I speak to her such cruel words .''" he would say
to himself. " How could I leave her without saying
anything at all ? and now she is no more ; she has left
us forever ! She is there ...."
Suddenly the shadow of the screen seemed to waver
and cover the whole cornice, the whole ceiling ; other
shadows from the other sides joined in with it ; for an
instant they seemed to be running, then with new rapid-
ity they trembled, melted together, and all became dark.
" Death ! " thought she ; and such a great terror seized
upon her, that for a long time she did not know where
314 ANNA KARENINA
she was ; and it was long before her trembling hands
could find the matches, in order to light another candle
in place of the one that had burned down and gone out.
" No, no ! anything .... only to live ! I love him, and
he loves me; these dreadful days will go by !" she said
to herself, feeling that tears of joy poured down her
cheeks at her return to life. And to escape her terror
she fled to Vronsky's library.
He was in his library, soundly sleeping. She went to
him, and, holding the candle above his face, looked at
him a long time. Now, as he slept, she felt such love
for him, that at the sight of him she could not refrain
from tears of tenderness; but she knew that, if he woke
he would look at her with a cold, self-justifying look,
and that before she spoke a word of her love she would
not be able to resist the temptation of proving to him
how wrong he was.
Without waking him she went back to her room ; and,
after a second dose of opium, she fell into"a heavy sleep
which lasted till morning, and all the time she was con-
scious of herself.
Toward morning she had the frightful nightmare
which she had experienced several times even before
her liaison with Vronsky. She saw a little old man,
with unkempt beard, doing something, bending over a
gourd, and muttering unintelligible French words ; and,
as always when she had this nightmare, and therein
lay the horror of the dream, she felt that the little old
man paid no heed to her, but did this horrible some-
thing in the gourd over her head. She awoke in a cold
perspiration.
When she got up, the events of the day before seemed
enveloped in mist.
"There was a quarrel. It has happened several
times before. I said I had a headache, and he didn't
come to see me. That is all. To-morrow we shall go
away. I must see him, and get ready for our depar-
ture," she said to herself ; and, knowing that he was in
his library, she started to go to him.
. But, in crossing the drawing-room, her attention was
ANNA KARENINA 315
arrested by the sound of a carriage stopping, and she
looked out of the window and saw a carriage, from the
window of which a young girl in a light hat was putting
out her head, and giving orders to the footman, who
was at the door-bell. After a colloquy in the vestibule,
some one came up-stairs, and Anna heard Vronsky's
steps in the room next the drawing-room. Then he ran
swiftly down-stairs. Anna looked out again, and saw
him go out to the door-steps bare-headed, and approach
the carriage. The young girl in the lilac-colored hat
handed him a package. Vronsky smiled as he spoke
to her. The carriage drove away, and Vronsky came
quickly up-stairs again.
The mist which enwrapped everything in Anna's soul
suddenly cleared away. The feehngs of the day before
tore her anguished heart more cruelly than ever. She
now could not understand how she could have so far
debased herself as to stay a single day under his roof.
She went to his library, to acquaint him with the resolu-
tion that she had taken.
" The Princess Sorokin and her daughter have brought
me the money and papers from maman. I could not
get them yesterday. How is your headache .-^ better } "
he said quietly, seeming not to notice the gloomy and
solemn expression of Anna's face.
She did not reply ; but, standing in the middle of the
room, she looked fixedly at him. He glanced at her
for an instant, his brows contracted, and he continued to
read his letter. Without speaking, Anna turned slowly
about, and left the room. He might yet detain her ; but
she had reached the door. He said not a word, the only
sound heard was the rustling of the sheet of paper.
" Oh ! by the way," he exclaimed, just as she was on
the threshold, "do we really go to-morrow ? "
" You, but not I," answered she, turning round on him.
"Anna, it is impossible to live in this way."
"You, not I," she repeated.
" It 's becoming intolerable ! "
" You .... you will be sorry for this," said she ; and she
went out.
3i6 ANNA KARENINA
Frightened at the despairing tone with which she
spoke those last words, he sprang up and started to
follow her ; but, on reflection, he seated himself again,
and, firmly clenching his teeth, he frowned. That unbe-
coming threat, as he termed it, irritated him. " I have tried
every means," he said to himself : " the only thing left is
to pay no attention ; " and he made up his mind to go to
the city and to his mother's again, to have her sign a deed,
Anna heard the sound of his steps in his library and
the dining-room. He stopped at the drawing-room.
But he did not come to her : he only gave some direc-
tions about sending the stallion to Voitof. Then she
heard the calash drive to the entrance, a door opened
and Vronsky went out. Then he came back into the
vestibule again and some one ran up-stairs. It was his
valet, who was sent to get a pair of forgotten gloves.
She went to the window, and saw Vronsky take his
gloves, then touch the coachman's back, and say some
words to him ; and then, without glancing at the window,
he sat down as usual, in the carriage, crossing one leg
over the other. And, putting on the gloves, he turned
the corner, and disappeared from Anna's sight.
CHAPTER XXVII
" He is gone. It 's all over," said Anna to herself, as
she stood at the window ; and the impression of black-
ness which she had felt in the night at the dying candle
and that of the nightmare blending in one, filled her
heart with chill horror. " No, I cannot endure this," she
cried, and, crossing the room, she rang the bell violently.
She was so afraid to stay alone, that, without waiting,
she went to meet the servant.
" Find out where the count has gone."
The man replied that he had gone to the stables.
" He left word that the carriage would return immedi-
ately if you wished to go out."
" Very well. Wait, I am going to write a note, send
Mikhail with it to the stables. Have him hurry."
ANNA KARENINA 31J
She sat down and wrote : —
1 am to blame. Come back. We must explain things.
For Heaven's sake, come ! I am frightened.
She sealed the note, and gave it to the servant ; and,
in her fear of being alone, she went to the nursery.
" Why, he is not the same as he was. Where are his
blue eyes, and his pretty, timid smile .-' " was her first
thought when she saw the plump and rosy little girl, with
her dark curly hair, instead of Serozha, whom, in the
confusion of her thoughts, she had expected to see.
The little girl was seated at the table, noisily tapping
on it with a glass stopper. She looked unintelligently at
her mother with two dark, currant-colored eyes. Answer-
ing the English nurse that she was well, and expected to
go to the country the next day, Anna sat down beside
the little girl, and began to spin the stopper from the
carafe in front of her. The motion of the child's brows
and her hearty laugh recalled Vronsky so vividly that
Anna, choking down her sobs, rose suddenly, and hur-
ried from the room.
" Is it possible that all is over ? No, it cannot be,"
thought she. " He will return. But how can he explain
that smile of his and his animation, after he spoke with
/lerf But even if he doesn't explain it, I shall believe
him ; if I do not believe, there is only one thing left,
and that I do not want."
She looked at her watch. Twelve minutes had gone by.
" Now he must have received my note, and must come
back in ten minutes. And what if he should n't come
back."* No, but that's impossible. He must not find
me with red eyes ; I '11 go and bathe my face. There,
there! Have I brushed my hair yet.-"' She could not
remember. She put her hands to her head. " Yes, I
brushed my hair, but I really don't remember when it
was." She actually did not believe that her hands told
her truly, and she went to the pier-glass to see. Her
hair was properly arranged, but she could not remember
anything about it.
" Who is this .'' " she asked herself, as she caught sight
jf^. ANNA KARENINA
of a glowing face and strangely brilliant eyes gazing at
her from the mirror. " Yes, it is I." And she suddenly
seemed to feel his kisses ; and she shivered, and shrugged
her shoulders. Then she put her hand to her lips, and
kissed it. " It must be that I am going out of my
mind ; " and she fled to her room, which Annushka was
putting in order.
" Annushka," she said, as she stood before the maid,
not knowing what to say.
" Will you go to Darya Aleksandrovna's .-' " said the
maid, as if reading her thoughts.
'• To Darya Aleksandrovna's ? Yes, I will go there.
Fifteen minutes to go, fifteen to come back. He ought
to be here." She looked at her watch. " Oh ! how
could he leave me in such a condition .-* How can he
live, and not be at peace with me .'' " She went to the
window, and looked out into the street ; perhaps she
had made a mistake in calculating, and she began over
again to count the minutes since he left.
Just as she was about going to consult the great clock,
so as to verify hers, a carriage stopped before the door.
It was the count's calash, but no one came up-stairs, and
she heard voices in the vestibule. It was the messenger,
who came back in the calash. She hurrie^l down to him.
" They were too late for the count. He had gone to
the Nizhegorodsky railway station."
" What is the matter .? what is it ? " she asked, address-
ing the ruddy, jolly Mikhafl, who handed her back the
note. Oh, yes ; he did not receive it, she remembered.
" Go with this note to the Countess Vronsky's in the
country, you understand ? and bring an answer back to
me immediately 1 "
" But what shall I do.?" she thought "Yes, I will
go to see Dolly, to be sure, or else I shall go out of my
mind. Ah ! I might telegraph ! " And she wrote the
following despatch : —
I absolutely must speak to you. Come back immediately.
Having sent the telegram, she went and dressed ; and
then, with her hat on, she again looked at the stout,
ANNA KARENINA j^tj
good-natured Annushka, whose little, gentle gray eyes
were full of sympathy.
*' Annushka, my dear, what am I to do ? " murmured
she, dropping into an arm-chair with a sob.
"You mustn't excite yourself so, Anna Arkady evna.
Go out for a drive ; that will divert you. These things
will happen," said the maid.
" Yes, I am going out," said Anna, collecting her
thoughts, and rising. " If a despatch comes while I am
gone, send it to Darya Aleksandrovna's. Or ....no, I
will come back — I must keep from thinking. I must
do something, and go out, and, above all, get out of this
house," thought she, listening, with alarm, to the wild
beating of her heart. She hastened out and got into the
calash.
" Where do you wish to go .'' " asked Piotr, just before
he took his seat on the box.
"To Znamenko, to the Oblonskys'."
CHAPTER XXVIII
The weather was clear. A fine, thick rain had fallen
all the morning, but now it had just cleared off. The
roofs and flagstones and harnesses and the metal-work
of the carriages glittered in the May sunshine. It was
three o'clock, the liveliest time in the streets.
Sitting in the corner of the comfortable calash, which
swung easily on its elastic springs as it rolled swiftly
along, drawn by a pair of grays, Anna, soothed by the
monotonous rumble of the wheels and the hurrying im-
pressions that she received in the fresh, pure air, reviewed
the events of the past few days, and her situation seemed
entirely different from what it had been at home. Now,
the idea of death did not frighten her so much, and death
itself did not seem to her so inevitable. Now she blamed
herself for the humiliation to which she had stooped.
" I begged hinl to forgive me. I bent before him. I
accused myself. Why did I ? Can't I live without
him?"
320 ANNA KARENINA
And, leaving this question unanswered, she began to
read the sign-boards mechanically.
" Kontor i sklad. Ziibnoi Vratch} — Yes, I will tell
Dolly all about it. She does not love Vronsky. It will
be hard, shameful, .... but I will confess everything. She
loves me. I will follow her advice. I will not allow
him to treat me like a child. Philoppof — KalatcJii ;
they say they send those loaves as far as Petersburg.
The water at Moscow is so good ; ah ! the wells of
Muitishchensky ! "
And she remembered how long, long ago, when she
was seventeen, she had gone with her aunt to the
monastery of Troitsa.^
"They traveled with horses in those days. Was it
really I, with the red hands } How many things which
seemed then beautiful and unattainable are worthless to
me now ! What I was then, is passed forever beyond
recall ! And ages could not bring me back. Would I
have believed then that I could have fallen into such
debasement .-* .... How proud and self-satisfied he will be
when he reads my note! But I will tell him How
disagreeable this paint smells ! Why are they always
painting and building 1 Modui i uborui. Fashionable
Dressmaker," she read.
A man bowed to her ; it was Annushka's husband.
" Our parasites, as Vronsky says. Ours } Why otirs ?
Ah, if one could tear out the past by the roots ! But
that's impossible; one can only avoid thinking about it.
And I do that."
And yet, here she recalled her past with Aleksel
Aleksandrovitch, and how she had driven him out of her
memory.
" Dolly will think that I am leaving the second hus-
band, and that I am, therefore, really bad. Do I want
to be good .-* I cannot." .... And she felt the tears com-
* Office and warehouse. Surgeon-Dentist.
2 The Troitskata Lavra, or Trinity Laura, near Moscow, founded by
St. Sergius in the fourteenth century in the time of the Grand Prince
Simeon; the richest and most famous institution of its kind in Russia. At
one time it had 700 monks and 1 10,000 iouh, or male serfs.
ANNA KARENINA 321
ing. And, seeing two happy young girls going by, she
fell to wondering why they were smiling at each other.
" Probably about love. They don't know how sad
and wretched it is The boulevards and the children !
There are three little boys, playing horse. Serozha !
my little Serozha. I shall lose all. I shall never have
him again Well, if he does not come back, all is
indeed lost. Perhaps he missed the train, and has
already reached home. Do I wish to humiliate myself
still more.-*" she said, reproaching herself for her weak-
ness. " No, I 'm going to Dolly's. I shall say to her,
' I am unhappy, I am suffering ; I deserve it ; but I am
so unhappy, help me ! * Oh, these horses, this calash !
how I hate to use them ! they are his. I will never see
them again ! "
While thinking over what she should say to Dolly, and
deliberately torturing her heart, she reached the house,
and went up the steps.
" Is there any one here } " she asked, in the anteroom.
" Katerina Aleksandrovna Levina," answered the
servant.
** Kitty, the same Kitty with whom Vronsky was once
in love," thought Anna ; " and he thinks of her with
love, and is sorry that he did not marry her; and he
thinks of me with hate, and is sorry that he ever met
me.
When Anna arrived, the two sisters were talking over
the subject of feeding babies. Dolly went alone to the
drawing-room to receive the guest that had come to
disturb their conversation.
" You have n't gone away yet ? I was just going to
your house," said Dolly, " I have a letter from Stiva
to-day."
"We had a despatch," answered Anna, glancing round
to see if Kitty was coming.
"He writes that he does not understand what AlekseK
Aleksandrovitch requires, but that he will not come away
till he has a definite answer."
" I thought you had company. May I read the
letter .? "
VOL. III. — 21
321 ANNA KARENINA
"Yes, .... Kitty," said Dolly, confused; "she is in the
nursery. You know she has been very ill."
" I heard so. May I read the letter .-' "
" Certainly ; I '11 go and get it. AlekseY Aleksandro-
vitch does not refuse ; on the contrary, Stiva is quite
hopeful," said Dolly, stopping at the door.
" I neither hope nor want anything," said Anna.
" Does Kitty think it humiliating to meet me } "
thought Anna, when she was left alone. " Perhaps she
is right ; but she who once loved Vronsky has no right
to thrust it in my face, even if she is right. I know
that a virtuous woman cannot receive me in my present
position. I have given up everything for him, and this
is my reward ! Ah, how I hate him ! Why did I come
here ? I am more wretched here than at home."
She heard the voices of the two sisters in an adjoin-
ing room.
" And what am I to say to Dolly ? Delight Kitty with
the spectacle of my misery .'' Submit to her condescen-
sion .'' Never ! Even Dolly would n't understand. I
will not say anything to her. All I should want to see
Kitty for would be to show her that I am indifferent, —
that I scorn every one and everything."
Dolly came in with the letter ; Anna silently looked
it through, and returned it.
"I knew all that," said she; "but it doesn't interest
me at all."
" Now, why not ? I have good hopes," said Dolly, look-
ing critically at Anna. She had never seen her in
such a strange state of irritation. "When do you go
away?"
Anna half closed her eyes, and looked before her with-
out answering.
"Is Kitty afraid of me.-*" she asked, after a moment,
glancing toward the door, with heightened color.
" Akh, what nonsense ! But she is nursing the baby
.... it does not go very well yet I have been giving
her some advice.... she will be delighted, and is coming
directly," answered Dolly, awkwardly, not knowing how
to tell a fib. " Oh, there she is now. "
ANNA KARENINA f 323
When Kitty heard that Anna was there, she had not
wished to appear ; but Dolly had persuaded her. Con-
trolling her repugnance, she went to the parlor, and,
blushing as she approached Anna, she held out her
hand.
" I am very glad," said she, in a trembling voice.
Kitty was confused by the struggle between her dis-
like of this wicked" woman and her desire to be polite
to her ; but, as soon as she saw Anna's beautiful, attrac-
tive face, all her unfriendliness vanished.
" I should not have been surprised if you had refused
to see me; I am used to everything," said Anna. "You
have been very ill; yes, you have changed."
Kitty felt that Anna looked at her with dislike, and
she attributed her unfriendliness to the awkward position
in which she stood in regard to herself, having once been
her especial favorite. Her heart was filled with com-
passion.
They talked of Kitty's illness, about her baby, and of
Stiva ; but evidently nothing interested Anna.
" I came to bid you good-by," she said to Dolly, as
she rose.
" When do you go .? "
But, without answering her, Anna turned to Kitty.
"Well, I am very glad to have seen you again," said
she, with a smile. " I 've heard so much about you from
every one, and especially from your husband. He came
to see me, and I liked him very much," she added, with
a wicked emphasis. " Where is he ? "
" He has gone to the country," answered Kitty,
blushing.
" Give my love to him ; now don't forget ! "
" I will do it, certainly," said Kitty, simply, with a com-
passionate look.
" So, prashchai, Dolly, good-by," said Anna, kissing
her ; and, shaking hands with Kitty, she hastened away.
" She is as fascinating as ever," remarked Kitty, to
her sister, when Dolly rejoined Kitty. "And how
beautiful she is ! But there is something very painful
about her.... terribly painful."
324 1 ANNA KARENINA
" She does n't seem to be in her usual state to-day. 1
thought she came near bursting into tears, when I accom-
panied her into the anteroom."
CHAPTER XXIX
Anna took her seat in her carriage in an even unhap-
pier state of mind than she had been when she left her
house. In addition to her former sufferings, she now
felt the humiliation and sense of moral degeneracy which
her meeting with Kitty had clearly made evident.
" Where would you wish to go now .-' Home .-' " asked
Piotr.
" Yes, home," she replied, now not thinking at all
where she was going.
" They looked on me as some strange, incomprehen-
sible curiosity. — What can that man be saying so
eagerly to the other .-• " thought she, seeing two passers-
by talking together. " Is it possible to say what one
really feels ? I wanted to confess to Dolly, and I am
glad that I kept still. How she would have rejoiced at
my unhappiness ! She would have tried to hide it, but
at heart she would have been glad ; she would have
thought it just that I should be punished for that happi-
ness which she begrudged me. And Kitty would have
been still more pleased. How I read her through and
through ! She knows her husband liked me uncommonly
well, and she is jealous, and hates me; and, what 's more,
she despises me. In her eyes, I am an immoral woman.
If I had been an immoral woman I might have made
/tim fall in love with me, if I had wanted to ! I confess
I thought of it. — There goes a man who is delighted
with his own looks," she said to herself, as a tall, florid
man went by, and, mistaking her for an acquaintance,
lifted his shiny hat from his shiny bald head, and
instantly recognized his mistake.
" He thought he knew me ! He knows me quite as
well as any one in the world knows me. I don't know
myself ; I only know my appetites^ as the French say. —
ANNA KARENINA 32^
They covet some of that bad ice-cream," she said to
herself, as she watched two Httle street children stand-
ing in front of a vender, who had just set down from
his head his tub of ice-cream, and was wiping his face
with a corner of his coat.
" We all want our sweet delicacies ; if not sugar-
plums, then bad ice-cream, just like Kitty, who, not
catching Vronsky, took Levin. She envies me, she
hates me ; and we all hate one another, I Kitty, and
Kitty me. That is a fact. — Tiiitkin coiffeur — Je inefais
coiffer par Tiutkin I will tell him this nonsense
when he comes," thought she, and smiled, and then
instantly remembered that there was no one now to
whom she could tell amusing things. "There is noth-
ing amusing, nothing gay; it is all disgusting. The
vesper-bell is ringing, and that storekeeper is crossing
himself so quickly that one would think he was afraid
of losing the chance.
"Why these churches, these bells, these lies.-' Just
to hide the fact that we all hate one another, like those
izvoshchiks who are swearing at each other so angrily.
Yashvin was right when he said, ' He is after my shirt,
and I am after his.' That is a fact."
She was so engrossed by these thoughts that she for-
got her grief for a while, and was surprised when the
carriage stopped in front of her house. The sight of
the Swiss, coming to meet her, rerninded her that she
had sent a letter and a telegram.
" Is there an answer yet .-• "
"I will go and see," said the Swiss; and, looking on
the secretary, he came back in a moment with a tele-
gram in a thin, square envelop. Anna read : —
I cannot be back before ten o 'clock. Vronsky.
" And has the messenger come back.? "
" Not yet," replied the Swiss.
" Ah ! if that is so, then I know what I must do ; "
and, feeling a vague sense of anger and a desire for
vengeance arising in her soul, she ran up-stairs.
" I myself will go and find him," thought she.
S26 ANNA KARENINA
" Before I go away forever, I will tell him all. I never
hated any one as I hate this man ! "
And when she caught sight of Vronsky's hat hanging
on the peg, she shivered with aversion. She did not
reflect that the despatch was in answer to her telegram,
and that he could not as yet have received her note.
She imagined him now chatting gayly with his mother
and the Princess Sorokin, without a thought of her
suffering.
" Yes, I must go as quickly as possible," she said, not
knowing at all whither she should go.
She felt that she must fly from the thoughts that
oppressed her in this terrible house. The servants, the
walls, the furniture, everything about it, filled her with
disgust and pain, and crushed her with a terrible
weight.
" Yes, I must go to the railroad station, and if not
there, then somewhere else, to punish him."
She looked at the time-table in the newspaper. The
evening train went at two minutes past eight.
" Yes, I shall have plenty of time."
She ordered the two other horses to be harnessed, and
she had transferred from her trunk to her traveling-bag
things enough to last for several days. She knew that
she should never come back again. She revolved a
thousand plans in her head, and determined that when
she had done what she had in mind to do, either at the
countess's country seat, or at the station, she would go
to the first city on the Nizhni Novgorod Railway and
stay there.
Dinner was on the table. She went to it, smelt the
bread and cheese, and persuading herself that the odor
of the victuals was repugnant to her, she ordered
the carriage again, and went out. The house was
already casting a shadow across the wide street ; but
the sky was clear, and it was warm in the sun. An-
nushka, who brought her things, and Piotr, who carried
them to the carriage, and the coachman, who was evi-
dently angry, all were disagreeable to her, and vexed
her with their words and motions.
ANNA KARENINA 327
" I do not need you, Piotr."
" Who will get your ticket ? "
" Well, go if you wish ; it makes no difference to me,"
she said pettishly.
Piotr nimbly mounted the box, and, folding his arms,
ordered the coachman to drive to the station.
CHAPTER XXX
" Now I am myself again. Now I remember it all,"
said Anna to herself, as soon as the calash started, and,
rocking a little, rattled along over the cobble-stones of
the pavement ; and once more her impressions began to
go whirling through her mind.
" Yes, what was that good thing that I was thinking
about last.'' Tiutkin, the coiffeur? Oh, no; not that.
Oh, yes ; what Yashvin said about the struggle for
existence, and hatred, the only thing that unites men.
No ; we go at haphazard."
She saw in a carriage drawn by four horses a party
of merrymakers, who had evidently come to the city for
a pleasure-trip.
"And the dog which you take with you does not help
you at all. You can't get out of yourself." Glancing
in the direction where Piotr was turning, she saw a
working-man almost dead drunk, who, with a flopping
head, was being led by a policeman. She added : " That
man's way is quicker. Count Vronsky and I did not
reach this pleasure, though we expected much."
And now for the first time Anna turned this bright
light, all-revealing, upon her relations with the count;
hitherto she had steadfastly refused to do so.
" What did he seek in me .'' A satisfaction for his
vanity, rather than for his love ! "
She remembered Vronsky's words, and the expression
of his face, which reminded her of a submissive dog,
when they first met and loved. Everything seemed a
confirmation of this thought.
" Yes ; he cared for the triumph of success above
328 ANNA KARENINA
everything. Of course, he loved me, but chiefly from
vanity. Now that he is not proud of me any more, it is
over. He is ashamed of me. He has taken from me
all that he could take, and now I am of no use to him.
I weigh upon him, and he does not want to be in dis-
honorable relationship with me. He said, yesterday, he
wanted the divorce and to marry me so as to burn his
ships. Perhaps he loves me still, — but how .-• The
zest is gone," she said in EngUsh. — " That man likes
to show off, and he is mighty proud of himself," she
added, as she looked at a ruddy-faced man riding by on
a hired horse.
" There is nothing about me any longer to his taste.
If I leave him, he will rejoice in the bottom of his heart."
This was not mere hypothesis ; she saw this clearly,
in that penetrating light which now revealed to her the
meaning of life and of her false relations.
" My love has been growing more and more passion-
ate and selfish ; his has been growing fainter and fainter.
That is why we cannot get on together." She went on
thinking. " There can't be any help for it. He is all in
all to me. I struggle to draw him closer and closer to
me, and he wants to fly from me. Up to the time of
our union, we flew to meet each other ; but now we move
irresistibly apart. This cannot be altered. He accuses
me of being absurdly jealous, — and I am ; I confess
that I am absurdly jealous, and yet I am not either. I am
not jealous, but my love is no longer satisfied. But .... "
she opened her mouth to speak, and, in the excitement
caused by the stress of her thoughts, she changed her
place in the carriage.
" If I could only be something else than a passionate
mistress, but I cannot, and I do not wish to be ; and by
this very wish I awake his dislike of me, while he stirs
up all my evil passions, and this cannot be otherwise.
" Don't I know that he would not deceive me, that he
is no longer in love with Kitty, that he has no intention
of marrying Sorokina ? I know it well, but it is none
the easier for me. If now that he no longer loves me,
he is kind, affectionate to me, merely from a sense of
ANNA KARENINA 329
duty, but cannot be what I must have, that would be a
thousand times worse than to have him angry with me.
That would be — hell! And so it is. He has long
ceased to love me. When love ceases, hate begins. — I
don't know these streets at all. What hosts of houses !
in them, people, people, — no end of them ! and they
all hate one another !
" Well ! let me think what could happen to me now
that would give me happiness again .-' Suppose that
Aleksel Aleksandrovitch should consent to the divorce,
and would give me back Serozha, and that I should marry
Vronsky.?"
And as she thought of Aleksef Aleksandrovitch, Anna
could see him with extraordinary vividness before her,
as if alive, with his dull, lifeless, faded eyes, his white,
blue-veined hands, and his cracking joints, and the in-
tonations of his voice, and, as she recalled their relation
to each other, which had been called love, she shuddered
with aversion.
" Well ! Suppose I got the divorce, and were married
to Vronsky, would not Kitty still look at me as she
looked at me to-day } She certainly would. Would
not Serozha ask and wonder why I had two husbands .-'
But between me and Vronsky what new feeling could I
imagine .'' Is it possible that our relations might be, if
not pleasanter, at least not so tormenting as they are
now } No, and no ! " she rephed, without the least hesi-
tation. " Impossible ! We are growing apart ; and I
make him unhappy ; he makes me unhappy, and I can-
not change him ; every means has been tried. The screw
has been turned for the last time
" Now, there 's a beggar with a child. She thinks
she inspires pity. Were we not thrown into the world
to hate one another, and to torment ourselves and every-
body else .-• Here come the schoolboys out to play !
Serozha } "
It reminded her of her son.
" I used to think that I loved him, and I was touched
by his gentleness. I have Hved without him, I have
given him up for my love, and was not sorry for the
330 ANNA KARENINA
change, as long as I was contented with him whom I
loved."
And she remembered with disgust what she called
that love. And the clearness with which she now saw
her own life, as well as the lives of others, deUghted
her.
"Thus am I, and Piotr and the coachman, Feodor,
and that merchant, and all people from here to the
Volga, wherever these remarks are applicable .... and
everywhere and always," she thought, as the carriage
stopped in front of the low-roofed station of the Nizhni
Novgorod Railway, and the porters came hurrying out
to meet her.
" Shall I book you for Obiralovka ? " asked Piotr.
She had entirely forgotten why she had come, and
only by a great effort could she understand what he
meant.
*' Yes," she said, handing him her purse ; and, taking
her little red bag, she got out of the carriage. As she
entered the waiting-room for the first-class passengers
with the throng, she reviewed all the details of her situ-
ation and the plans between which she was halting.
And again hope and despair in alternation irritated the
wounds in her tortured, cruelly palpitating heart. As
she sat on the stelliform divan waiting for the train, she
looked with aversion on the people going and coming, —
they were all her enemies, — and thought now of how,
when she reached the station, she would write to him,
and what she would write, and then how at this very
moment he — not thinking of her suffering — was com-
plaining to his mother of his position, and how she
would go to his room, and what she would say to him.
The thought that she might yet live happily crossed
her brain ; and how hard it was to love and hate him at
the same time 1 And, above all, how frightfully her
heart was beating !
ANNA KARENINA 331
CHAPTER XXXI
A BELL sounded, and some impudent young men, ugly
and vulgar, and yet mindful of the impression they pro-
duced, hurried before her. Then Piotr, in his livery
and top-boots, with his dull, good-natured face, crossed
the waiting-room, and came up to escort her to the car-
riage. The noisy men about the door stopped talking
while she passed out on the platform ; then one of them
whispered to his neighbor some remark, which was ap-
parently impudent. Anna mounted the high steps, and
sat down alone in the compartment on the dirty sofa
which once had been white, and laid her bag beside her
on the springy seat. Piotr, at the window, raised his
gold-laced hat, with an inane smile, for a farewell, and
departed. The saucy conductor shut the door. A
woman, deformed, and ridiculously dressed up, followed
by a little girl laughmg affectedly, passed below the car-
window. Anna looked at her with disgust. " Katerina
Andreyevna has everything, ma tante,'' screamed the little
girl.
" That child, even she is grotesque and makes gri-
maces," thought Anna; and she seated herself at the
opposite window of the empty apartment, to avoid seeing
the people.
A dirty hunchback muzhik passed close to the win-
dow, and examined the car-wheels ; he wore a cap,
from beneath which could be seen tufts of disheveled
hair.
" There is something familiar about that humpbacked
muzhik," thought Anna ; and suddenly she remembered
her nightmare, and drew back, trembling with fright,
toward the carriage-door, which the conductor was just
opening to admit a lady and gentleman.
" Do you want to get out .'' "
Anna did not answer ; under her veil the conductor and
the passengers did not see the horror in her face. She
returned to her corner and sat down again. The couple
took seats opposite her, and cast stealthy but curious
332 ANNA KARENINA
glances at her gown. The husband and wife were ob
noxious to her. The husband asked her if she objected
to smoking, — evidently not for the sake of smoking,
but as an excuse for entering into conversation with
her. Having obtained her permission, he remarked to
his wife in French that he felt even more inclined to
talk than to smoke. They exchanged stupid remarks,
with the hope of attracting Anna's attention.
Anna clearly saw how they bored each other, how
they hated each other. It was impossible not to hate
such painful monstrosities.
The second gong sounded, and was followed by the
rumble of baggage, noise, shouts, laughter. Anna saw
so clearly that there was nothing to rejoice at, that this
laughter roused her indignation, and she longed to stop
her ears so as not to hear it.
At last the third signal was given, the locomotive
whistled, there was a sound of escaping steam, the train
started, and the gentleman crossed himself.
"It would be interesting to ask him what he meant by
that," thought Anna, looking at him angrily. Then she
looked past the woman's head, out of the car-window,
at the people apparently moving backward even while
they were standing and walking on the platform. The
carriage in which Anna sat moved past the stone walls
of the station, the switches, the other carriages. The
wheels with a ringing sound moved more easily and
smoothly over the rails ; the rays of the setting sun
slanted into the car-window, and a light breeze played
through the slats of the blinds in the carriages, and
Anna forgot her neighbors, breathed in the fresh air,
and took up again the course of her thoughts.
" There ! What was I thinkmg about .-' Oh, yes, I
was just deciding that I could not imagine any situa-
tion in which my life could be anything but one long
misery. We are all dedicated to unhappiness; we all
know it, and only seek for ways to deceive ourselves.
But when we see the truth, what is to be done ? "
'■ Reason was given to man, that he might avoid what
annoys him," remarked the woman, in French, appar-
ANNA KARENINA 333
ently delighted with her sentence, and putting out hei
tongue.
The words fitted in with Anna's thought.
"To avoid what annoys him," she repeated, and a
glance at the red-faced man, and his thin companion,
showed her that the woman looked on herself as a mis-
understood creature, and that her stout husband did not
contradict this opinion, and took advantage of it to de-
ceive her. Anna, as it were, read their history, and
looked into the most secret depths of their hearts ; but
it was not interesting, and she went on with her
reflections.
" Yes, it annoys me very much, and reason was given
to avoid it ; therefore it must be done. Why not extin-
guish the light when it shines on things disgusting to
see ? But how ? Why does the conductor keep hurry-
ing through the car } Why do the young people in this
carriage scream so loud ? Why do they speak ? What
are they laughing at .'' It is all false, all a lie, all decep-
tion, all vanity and vexation."
When the train reached the station, Anna went out
with the other passengers, and, with the idea of avoiding
too rude a contact with the bustling crowd, she hesitated
on the platform, trying to recollect why she had come,
and what she meant to do. All that seemed to her pos-
sible before to do, now seemed to her difficult to exe-
cute, especially amid this noisy crowd, which would not
leave her in peace. Now the porters came to her, to
offer her their services ; now some young men, clattering
with their heels up and down the platform, and talking
loud, observed her curiously ; now hurrying passengers
pushed her aside.
Finally, remembering that she was proposing to go
farther if there was no answer from Vronsky, she
stopped an official, and asked him 'f a coachman had
not been there with a letter for Count Vronsky.
" Count Vronsky ? Just now some one was here.
Princess Sorokin and her daughter met him. What
kind of a looking man is this coachman .-'"
Even while she was talking with the official, the coach*
334 ANNA KARENINA
man Mikhail, rosy and gay in his elegant blue livery and
watch-chain, immensely proud that he had fulfilled his
commission so well, came to her and handed her a
note.
Anna broke the seal, and her heart stood still even
before she had read the carelessly written lines : —
I am very sorry that your note did not find me in Moscow.
I shall return at ten o'clock.
"Yes, that is what I expected," she said to herself,
with an angry grimace.
" Very good, you may go home," she said to Mikhalfl.
' She spoke the words slowly and gently, because the
tumultuous beating of her heart almost prevented her
from breathing.
" No, I will not let you make me suffer so," thought
she, addressing, with a threat, neither Vronsky nor her
own self, so much as the thought that was torturing her ;
and she moved along the platform, past the station.
Two chambermaids walking on the platform turned to
look at her, and made audible remarks about her toilet.
" She has genuine lace," they said. The young men
would not leave her in peace. They stared at her, and
passed her again and again, joking and talking with loud
voices. The station-master came to her, and asked if
she was going to take the train. A lad selling kvas did
not take his eyes from her.
^' Boske mo'i! where shall I go.-*" she said to her-
self, as she walked farther and farther along the plat-
form.
When she reached the end of it, she stopped. Some
women and children, who had come to the station to
meet a man in spectacles, were talking and laughing.
They too stopped talking, and turned to see Anna pass
by. She hastened her steps, and reached the very limit
of the platform. A freight-train was coming. The plat-
form shook, and made her feel 4s i^ she were on a mov-
ing train. i\ fur>;
Suddenly she remembered the man who was run over
on the day when she met Vronsky for the first time, and
ANNA KARENINA J35
she knew then what was left for her to do. With light
and swift steps she descended the stairway which led
from the water-tank at the end of the platform down to
the rails, and stood very near the train, which was slowly
passing by. She looked under the cars, at the chains
and the brake, and at the high iron wheels of the first
car, and she tried to estimate with her eye the distance
between the fore and back wheels, and the moment when
the middle would be in front of her.
"There," she said, looking at the shadow of the car
thrown upon the black coal-dust which covered the
sleepers, " there, in the center ; he will be punished,
and I shall be delivered from it all .... and from my-
self."
She was going to throw herself under the first car as
its center came opposite where she stood. Her little red
traveling-bag caused her to lose the moment ; she could
not detach it from her arm. She awaited the second.
A feeling Hke that she had experienced once, just before
taking a dive in the river, came over her, and she made
the sign of the cross. This familiar gesture called back
to her soul a whole series of memories of her youth and
childhood ; and suddenly the darkness which hid every-
thing from her was torn asunder. Life, with its elusive
joys, glowed for an instant before her. But she did not
take her eyes from the car; and when the center, be-
tween the two wheels, appeared, she threw away her
red bag, drawing her head between her shoulders, and,
with outstretched hands, threw herself on her knees
under the car. For a second she was horror-struck at
what she was doing.
" Where am I ? What am I doing ? Why ? "
She tried to get up, to draw back ; but something
monstrous, inflexible, struck her head, and threw her on
her back.
" Lord, forgive me all ! " she murmured, feeling the
struggle to be in vain.
A little muzhik was working on the railroad, mumbling
in his beard.
And the candle by which she had read the book
336 ANNA KARENINA
that was filled with fears, with deceptions, with anguish,
and with evil, flared up with greater brightness than she
had ever known, revealing to her all that before was
in darkness, then flickered, grew faint, and went out
forever.
PART EIGHTH
CHAPTER I
ALMOST two months had passed by, half the hot
summer was gone, but Sergyei" Ivanovitch had only
just made up his mind to leave Moscow. An important
event for him had just occurred. The year before he
had finished his book, entitled, " An Essay on the Prin-
ciples and the Forms of Government in Europe and in
Russia," the fruit of six years of labor. The introduc-
tion, as well as some fragments from the book, had
already appeared in the reviews, and certain parts had
been read by the author to the people of his circle, so
that the ideas contained in this treatise could not be a
perfect novelty for the public; but nevertheless Sergyei
Ivanovitch expected that the book on its appearance
would attract serious attention, and produce, if not a
revolution in science, at least a powerful sensation in
the learned world.
This book, after careful revision, had been published
the year before, and distributed among the booksellers.
Though Sergyei Ivanovitch answered reluctantly and
with pretended indifference the questions of his friends
who asked how the book was going, and though he
refrained from inquiring of the booksellers how it
was selling, nevertheless he followed eagerly and with
strained attention every sign of the impression which
his book was producing on society and literature.
But a week passed, a second, a third, and there was
not a sign of any impression. His friends, specialists
and savants, evidently out of politeness, spoke to him
about it ; but the rest of his acquaintances, not being
interested in a book of scientific purport, did not speak
about it at all. Society, also, which just at that time
VOL. m. — 22 337
338 ANNA KARENINA
was preoccupied with entirely different matters, showed
utter unconcern. In literary circles, also, during the
lapse of a month, there was not a word about his book.
Sergyei Ivanovitch carefully calculated the time neces-
sary for preparing critical reviews, but months passed
by and there also was absolute silence.
Only in the Northern Beetle, in a facetious feuilleton
regarding the singer Drabanti, who had lost his voice,
a few scornful words were said in regard to Koznuishef s
book, showing that it had already been criticized by
all, and was given over to universal ridicule. At length,
after three months, a critical article appeared in a journal
of importance. SergyeY Ivanovitch knew who the author
was. He had met him once at Golubtsof s.
He was a very young and feeble critic, very clever as
a writer, but perfectly uneducated, and cowardly in his
private relations.
Notwithstanding Sergyer Ivanovitch's contempt of
the author, he began to read the article with extraordi-
nary interest. It proved to be abominable.
Evidently, the critic understood the whole book just
exactly as he should not have understood it. But he
had so cleverly put together a selection of extracts, that
for those who had not read the book — and apparently
almost no one had read it — it was perfectly clear that
the entire book, in spite of its high pretensions, was
nothing but a tissue of pompous phrases, and these not
always intelligible, as the critic's frequent interrogation
points testified, and that the author of the work was a
perfect ignoramus ; and it was done in such a witty way
that SergyeV Ivanovitch himself could not deny the wit
of it ; but, after all, it was abominable.
SergyeY Ivanovitch, in spite of the unusual conscien-
tiousness with which he examined into the justice of
these remarks, did not for a moment think of answer-
ing the ridiculous errors and blunders ; but he could not
help instantly remembering all the least details of his
meeting and conversation with the author of the article.
" Did I say anything to affront him ? " said Sergyei
Ivanovitch.
ANNA KARENINA 339
And remembering how, when he met the young
author of the article, he had shown up his ignorance
in conversation, he, therefore, understood the animus of
the criticism.
The appearance of this article was followed by a
silence, unbroken by either voice or journal, and Ser-
gyei Ivanovitch saw that his six years' labor, into which
he had put so much of his heart and soul, had been
wasted.
And his position was made all the more trying be-
cause, now that his book was off his hands, he had
nothing especial to occupy the larger part of his time.
He was bright, well educated, in perfect health, and
very active ; and he did not know how to employ his
industry. Conversations with callers, visits to the club,
and the meetings of committees, where there was a
chance for him to talk, took some of his time ; but he,
a man long wonted to life in the city, did not permit
himself to talk with every one, as his inexperienced
brother did when he was in Moscow ; so that he had
much leisure and a superfluity of intellectual energy.
To his joy, just at this time, which was so trying to
him because of the failure of his book, and after his
interest in dissenters, American subjects, the famine in
Samara, expositions, spiritualism, was exhausted, the
Slavic question began to engross public attention ; and
Sergyei' Ivanovitch, who had been one of its earliest
advocates, gave himself up to it with enthusiasm.
Among Sergyei' Ivanovitch's friends nothing else was
thought about or talked about except the Serbian war.
All the things that lazy people are accustomed to do
was done for the help of these brother Slavs. Balls,
concerts, dinners, matches, ladies' finery, beer, drinking-
saloons, — everything bore witness of sympathy for the
Slavs.
With much that was said and written on this subject,
Sergyei' Ivanovitch could not agree. He saw that the
Slav question was one of those fashionable movements
that always carry people to extremes. He saw that
many people with petty personal ends in view took
340 ANNA KARENINA
part in it. He recognized that the newspapers made
many useless and exaggerated statements, in order to
attract attention to themselves, and belittle their rivals.
He saw that in this common impulse of society, upstarts
put themselves forward, and outdid one another in mak-
ing a noise, — commanders-in-chief without an army,
ministers without a ministry, journaHsts without a jour-
nal, party-leaders without partizans. He saw much that
was childish and absurd ; but he also saw and admired
the enthusiasm which united all classes, and which it
was impossible not to share.
The massacre of the Serbians, who professed the same
faith, and spoke almost the same language, aroused sym-
pathy for their sufferings, and indignation against their
persecutors ; and the heroism of the Serbs and Mon-
tenegrins, who were fighting for a great cause, aroused
a universal desire to help their brethren, not only in
word, but in deed.
But there was another phenomenon which delighted
Sergyei Ivanovitch especially. This was the manifesta-
tion of public opinion. Society actually spoke out its
desires. "The national soul received expression," as
Sergyef Ivanovitch expressed it; and the more he studied
this movement as a whole, the more evidently it seemed
to him that it was destined to grow to enormous propor-
tions and to constitute an epoch.
He devoted himself to the service of this great cause,
and forgot to think about his book.
All his time was now so occupied that he could
scarcely reply to the letters and demands made upon
him.
He had worked all the spring and a part of the sum-
mer, and only in the month of July could he tear himself
away to go to his brother in the country.
He went for a fortnight's vacation, and rejoiced to
find even in the depths of the country, in the very
holy of holies of the peasantry, the same awakening of
the national spirit in which he himself and all the
inhabitants of the capital and the large cities of the
empire firmly believed.
ANNA KARENINA 341
Katavasof seized the opportunity to fulfil a promise
he had made to visit Levin, and the two friends left
town together.
CHAPTER II
Sergyei Ivanovitch and Katavasof had just reached
the station of the Kursk Railway, which was especially
crowded that day, and, leaving their carriage, they were
looking at a lackey who had followed them laden with
various articles, when four cabs filled with volunteers
also drove up. Ladies carrying bouquets met them, and
accompanied by a crowd they entered the station.
One of the ladies who had come to meet the volun-
teers came out of the waiting-room and addressed Sergyei
Ivanovitch.
" Did you also come to see them off .-* " she asked,
speaking in French.
" No ; I am going myself, princess, to have a little
rest at my brother's. But are you still on escort duty .-* "
he added, with a scarcely perceptible smile of amusement.
" I have to be," replied the princess. " But tell me, is
it true that we have sent off eight hundred already ?
Malvinsky told me so."
" More than eight hundred. We 've sent off more than
a thousand, if we count those not immediately from
Moscow," said Sergyei' Ivanovitch.
"There, I said so ! " cried the lady, delighted. " And
is it true that the subscriptions amount to nearly a
million .-* "
" More than that, princess."
" Have you read the news .-• They have beaten the
Turks again."
" Yes, I read about it," replied Sergyeif Ivanovitch.
She referred to a recent despatch, which confirmed the
report that three days before the Turks had been beaten
at every point, and had fled, and that the next day a
decisive battle was expected.
"Oh, by the way, do you know a splendid young
342 ANNA KARENINA
fellow is petitioning to go ? I don't see why they put
obstacles in his way. I wanted to ask you to put your
signature on his petition. I know him. He comes
from the Countess Lidia Ivanovna."
After asking some particulars in regard to the young
man, Sergyei Ivanovitch went into the waiting-room,
affixed his signature to the document, and handed it
back to the princess.
" Do you know Count Vronsky, the famous, is going
on this train }" said the princess, with a triumphant and
significant smile, as he rejoined her and handed her the
petition.
"I heard that he was going; but I did not know
when. On this train .'' "
" I just saw him. He is here. His mother is the only
one with him. All things considered, I do not think he
could do anything better."
"Oh, yes! Of course."
During this conversation the crowd had rushed into
the restaurant of the station, where a man with a glass
in his hand was making an address to the volunteers : —
" For the service of our faith and humanity and our
brethren," he said, raising his voice, '' Matnshka Moskva
— Mother Moscow — gives you her blessing in this noble
cause. May it prosper ! " he concluded, with tears in his
eyes. The crowd responded with cheers, and a fresh
throng poured into the waiting-room, nearly overwhelm-
ing the princess.
" Ah, princess ! What do you say to this ? " cried
Stepan Arkadyevitch, who, with a radiant smile of joy,
suddenly appeared in the midst of the throng. " Did n't
he speak gloriously .-' Bravo ! And here 's Sergyeif
Ivanovitch. You ought to speak just a few words, you
know, of encouragement, you do it so well," added Ob-
lonsky, touching Koznuishef's arm, with an expression
of suave, flattering deference.
" Oh, no ; I am leaving immediately."
•' Where .? "
" To the country — to my brother's," replied Sergyei
Ivanovitch. ;>! iio'{
ANNA KARENINA :i^3
" Then you '11 see my wife. I have written her, but
you '11 see her before she gets my letter. Please tell her
that you met me, and everything is a// rigJit, she will
understand ; and be so good as to tell her, too, that I got
my place as member of the Commission of .... Well, she
knows what that is, you know, les p elites mis^res de la
vie hiimaine,'' said he, turning to the princess, as if in
apology. " Miagkai'a, not Liza, but Bibiche, sends a
thousand guns and twelve hospital nurses. Did I tell
you } "
" Yes ; I heard about it," answered Koznuishef, coldly.
" But what a pity you are going away," replied Ste-
pan Arkadyevitch. " We give a farewell dinner to-mor-
row to two volunteers, — at Dimer's, — Bartnyansky of
Petersburg, and our Veslovsky — Grisha. Both are
going. Veslovsky is just married. He 's a fine lad.
Isn't it so, princess .? " he added, addressing the lady.
The princess did not reply, but looked at Koznuishef.
The fact that the princess and Sergyef Ivanovitch evi-
dently wanted to get rid of him did not in the least dis-
concert Stepan Arkadyevitch. Smiling, he glanced now
at the princess's hat plume, now off to one side or the
other as if searching for a new subject ; and, as he saw
a lady going by with a subscription-box, he beckoned
to her, and handed her a five-ruble note.
" I can't bear to see these subscription-boxes pass by
me, now that I have ready money," he said. "What
splendid news there is ! Hurrah for the Montenegrins ! "
" What 's that you say ? " he cried, when the princess
told him that Vronsky was going by the first train. For
an instant Stepan Arkadyevitch's face grew sad, but the
next moment, slightly limping with both feet, and stroking
his side-whiskers, he went off to the room where Vronsky
was. He had already entirely forgotten the tears he had
shed over his sister's grave, and saw in Vronsky only a
hero and an old friend.
"One must do him justice, in spite of his faults," said
the princess to Sergyef Ivanovitch, when Oblonsky was
gone. " He has the true Russian, the Slavic, nature.
But I am afraid it will be disagreeable to the count
344 ANNA KARENINA
to see him. Whatever people may say, I pity that
unhappy man. Try to talk a little with him on the
journey," said the princess.
" Certainly, if I have a chance."
" I never liked him, but what he is doing now makes
up for much. He is not only going himself, but he 's
taking out a squadron of cavalry at his own expense."
" Yes, so I have heard."
The bell rang, and the crowd pressed toward the doors.
" There he is," said the princess, pointing out Vronsky,
who was dressed in a long coat and a broad-brimmed
black hat. His mother was leaning on his arm. Ob-
lonsky followed them, talking vivaciously.
Vronsky was frowning, and looked straight ahead, as
if not listening to what Stepan Arkadyevitch said.
Apparently at Oblonsky's suggestion, he looked in
the direction where Sergyef Ivanovitch and the princess
were standing, and raised his hat silently.
His face, which had grown old and worn, was like
stone. Going out on the platform, Vronsky, silently
quitting his mother's side, vanished from sight in his
compartment.
On the platform, men were singing the national
hymn.i Then hurrahs and vivas resounded. One of
the volunteers, a tall, very young man, with stooping
shoulders, ostentatiously responded to the pubUc, wav-
ing above his head a felt hat and a bouquet ; while
behind him two officers, and an elderly man with a full
beard and a greasy cap, put out their heads, also bowing.
CHAPTER III
After SergyeY Ivanovitch had taken leave of the
princess, he and Katavasof, who had joined him, entered
their carriage, which was packed, and the train started.
When the train rolled into the station at Tsaritsuino
it was met by a chorus of young men singing the
" Slav'sa." Again the volunteers put out their heads
1 Bozfu Tsar a Khrani, " God bless the Tsar."
ANNA KARENINA 345
and bowed, but Sergyei Ivanovitch paid no attention to
them ; he had had so much to do with volunteers that
he already knew this general type, and it did not inter-
est him. But Katavasof, who on account of his peda-
gogical occupations had not enjoyed any opportunity to
observe the men who volunteered, was very much inter-
ested, and asked his friend about them.
Sergyelf Ivanovitch advised him to look into their
carriage and talk with some of them.
At the next station, Katavasof followed this advice.
As soon as the train stopped, he went into the second-
class carriage, and made the acquaintance of the vol-
unteers.
Some of them were seated in a corner of the carriage,
talking noisily, aware that they were attracting the at-
tention of the other passengers and of Katavasof, whom
they saw come in. The tall, sunken-chested young man
was talking louder than the others. He was evidently
tipsy, and was telling the story of something which had
happened in their establishment.
Opposite him sat an old officer in the Austrian mili-
tary jacket of the Guard uniform. He was listening
with a smile to the narrator, and occasionally prompting
him. A third volunteer, in an artillery uniform, was
sitting on a box near them. A fourth was asleep.
Katavasof entered into conversation with the youth,
and learned that he had been a rich merchant in Mos-
cow, who, before he was twenty-two years old, had
succeeded in squandering a considerable fortune. Ka-
tavasof did not like him, because he was effeminate,
conceited, and sickly. He evidently felt, especially now
that he was drunk, that he was doing a heroic deed;
and he boasted in the most disagreeable manner.
The second, a retired officer, also impressed Kata-
vasof unpleasantly ; he was a man who had apparently
tried his hand at everything ; he had worked on a rail-
way, and had been director of an estate, and had estab-
lished a factory ; and he talked of everything without
any necessity of doing so, and often used words which
showed his ignorance.
346 ANNA KARENINA
The third, the artilleryman, on the contrary, pleased
Katavasof very much. He was a modest gentleman.
He was evidently disgusted by the affected knowledge
of the retired officer and the young merchant's boasted
heroism, and he would say nothing about himself.
When Katavasof asked him what induced him to go to
Serbia, he answered modestly: —
" I am going because every one else is going. We
must help the Serbians. It is too bad."
" They have very few of our artillerymen, I believe."
" My service in the artillery was very short. I may
be assigned to the infantry or the cavalry."
" Why in the infantry, when they need artillerymen
more than all } " asked Katavasof, gathering from the
artillerist's age that he must have already reached a
considerable rank.
" I did not serve very long in the artillery, but left
the service when I was only a yunker."
And he began to explain why he had not passed his
examination.
All this together produced on Katavasof a generally
unpleasant impression, and when the volunteers rushed
out into one of the stations to get something to drink,
Katavasof felt the desire to talk with some one so as to
confirm his unfavorable impression.
One of his fellow-travelers, a little old man in a mili-
tary paletot, had been listening all the time to Kata-
vasof's talk with the volunteers. As the two were left
alone together in the carriage, Katavasof addressed
him : —
" What a diversity in the condition of all these men
that are going south," said Katavasof, vaguely, wishing
to express his opinions and at the same time draw out
the old man's views.
The old man was a soldier who had fought in two
campaigns, and he knew what it meant to go to war ;
and in the actions and words of these gentlemen, the
bravery with which they kept applying themselves to
the flask, he read their inferiority as soldiers. More-
over, his residence was in a district city, and he wanted
ANNA KARENINA 347
to relate how from that place a good-for-nothing fellow,
a drunkard and thief whom no one would hire as a
workman, had gone as a soldier. But, knowing by ex-
perience that in the present state of excitement under
which society was laboring, it was dangerous to express
himself frankly against the general sentiment, and espe-
cially to criticize the volunteers, he merely looked at
Katavasof.
*' Well, men are needed there," said he, smiling with
his eyes.
And they began to talk over the latest war news, and
each of them concealed from the other his doubt whether
a battle was to be expected on the next day, since, ac-
cording to the latest report, the Turks had been defeated
at all points. And so they parted without either of
them having expressed what he really thought.
When Katavasof returned to his own carriage, he
told Sergyei Ivanovitch, with some twinges of con-
science, that he enjoyed talking with the volunteers, and
he declared that they were excellent lads.
In the great station where they next stopped, the
chorus, the cheers, the bouquets, and the beggars again
appeared, and again the ladies with bouquets conducted
the volunteers into the restaurant ; but there was much
less enthusiasm than there had been at Moscow.
CHAPTER IV
While the train stopped at a certain government
capital, SergyeY Ivanovitch did not go to the restaurant,
but walked up and down the platform.
The first time he passed Vronsky's compartment, he
noticed that the window was shaded. But, when he
passed the second time, he saw the old countess at the
window. She called him to her.
" You see, I am going as far as Kursk with him."
"Yes, I heard he was going," answered Koznuishef,
stopping at the window, and looking in. "What a
348 ANNA KARENINA
noble action on his part ! " he added, seeing that Vron-
sky was not in the carriage.
"Well ! What could he do after his misfortune ? "
"What a horrible thing it was ! " said Sergyef Ivano-
vitch.
" Akh ! What have I not been through ! — Yes, do
come in. — Akh! What have I not been through!"
she repeated, as Sergyeif Ivanovitch came in and sat
down on the seat beside her. " You could not imagine
it. For six weeks he never said a word to any one, and
he only ate when I begged him to do so. We dared not
leave him alone a single instant ; we took away every-
thing which he might kill himself with. We lived on
the first floor, but we had to be on the watch all the
same. You know he shot himself once before, for her
sake," said the old countess, her face clouding at this
remembrance; "yes, she died as was fit for such a
woman to die. Even the death she chose was low and
wretched."
" It is not for us to judge her, countess," replied
Sergyeif Ivanovitch, with a sigh. " But I can imagine
what you have suffered."
" Akh ! Don't speak of it ! My son was with me at
my country place. A note was brought him. He an-
swered immediately. We did not know at all that she
was at the station. That evening I had just gone to my
room, and my Mary told me that a lady had thrown her-
self under the train. I felt something like a shock. I
understood instantly what had happened; I knew it was
she. My first words were, ' Let no one tell the count.'
But they had just told him. His coachman was at the
station when it happened, and saw it all. I ran to my
son's room. He was beside himself ; it was terrible to
see him. Without speaking one word, he left the
house ; and what he found, I do not know ; but they
brought him back like one dead. I should never have
known him. ^Prostration complete,' the doctor said.
Then he became almost insane Akh ! What can be
said .'* " cried the countess, waving her hands. " It was
a terrible time. No; let people say what they will,
J
ANNA KARENINA 349
she was a bad woman. Think ! What a desperate pas-
sion she was in ! She did it to make an extraordinary
sensation, and she succeeded ! She has done irrepara-
ble injury to the Hves of two men of rare merit, — her
husband and my son, — and ruined herself."
" How about her husband ? "
" He has taken her little girl. At first Alyosha con-
sented to everything ; now he is awfully sorry, having
given up his daughter to a stranger, but he could not
take back his word. Karenin went to the funeral ; we
succeeded in preventing a meeting between him and
Alyosha. For him, — that is, her husband, — this death
is a deliverance ; but my poor son gave up everything
for her, sacrificed everything, — me, his position, his
career, — and she was not contented with that, but
wanted to ruin him besides. No ! whatever you may
say, her death is the death of a bad woman, a woman
without religion. May God forgive me ! but when I
think of the harm she has done my son, I cannot help
cursing her memory."
" How is he now ? "
"This Serbian war is our salvation. I am old, and
don't understand much about it ; but God sent it for
him. Of course, to me, as his mother, it is painful ;
and besides, they say ce n'est pas trh Men vu a Peters-
burg, but what can be done about it ^ This is the only
thing that could save him. Yashvin, his friend, gambled
away all he had, and enlisted. He came to Alyosha,
and persuaded him to go to Serbia with him. Now this
is occupying him. Do talk with him, I beg of you, he
is so sad. And then, besides his other troubles, he has
a toothache. But he will be glad to see you. Please
talk with him. He is walking up and down on the
other side of the track."
Sergyei Ivanovitch said that he would be very glad to
talk with the count, and went over to the side where
Vronsky was.
350 ANNA KARENINA
CHAPTER V
10 In the oblique evening shadow cast by a heap of
baggage piled on the platform, Vronsky, in his long
paletot and slouch hat, with his hands in his pockets,
was walking, like a wild beast in a cage, up and down
a narrow space where he could not take more than a
score of steps. It seemed to SergyeY Ivanovitch, as he
drew near, that Vronsky saw him, but pretended not to
recognize him. But to Sergyeif Ivanovitch this was all
the same. He was above any petty susceptibility.
At this moment, Vronsky, in his eyes, was an im-
portant actor in a grand event, and deserved to be
sustained and encouraged. He approached the count.
Vronsky stopped, looked at him, recognized him, and,
taking a few steps to meet him, cordially held out his hand.
" Perhaps you would prefer not to see me," said
Sergyel Ivanovitch; "but can I be of any service to
you .-' "
" No one could be less unpleasant for me to meet
than you," answered Vronsky. " Pardon me. There
is nothing pleasant for me in life."
" I understand, and I want to offer you my services,"
said Koznuishef, struck by the deep suffering that was
apparent in the count's face. " Might not a letter to
Ristitch or Milan be of some use to you .-' "
,^ *' Oh, no!" answered Vronsky, making an effort to
understand. " If it is all the same to you, we will walk
a little. It is so stifling in the train ! A letter ? No,
thank you. One needs no letter of introduction to get
killed. In this case, one to the Turks, perhaps," added
he, with a smile at the corners of his mouth. His eyes
kept the same expression of bitter sadness.
oj " Well ! It would make it easier for you to come into
fslaticns with men prepared for action. Still, as you
please ; but I was very glad to learn of your decision.
The very fact that a man of your standing has joined
the volunteers will raise them above all cavil in the
public estimation."
ANNA KARENINA ||l
*' My sole merit," replied Vronsky, " is that life is of
no value to me. As to physical energy, I know it will
not be wanting for any purpose ; and I am glad enough
to give my life, which is not only useless to me, but
disgusting, to be useful to somebody;" and he made
an impatient motion with his jaw, caused by his un-
ceasing toothache, which prevented him from talking
with the expression he desired.
"You will be regenerated, is my prediction," said
Sergyei' Ivanovitch, feeling touched. " The deliverance
of one's oppressed brethren is an aim for which one
might as well live as die. May God grant you full
success, and fill your soul with peace!" he added, and
held out his hand.
Vronsky pressed his hand cordially.
"As a field-piece, I may be of use But as a man,
.... I am only a ruin," murmured the count, with intervals
between the phrases. The throbbing pain in his tooth,
which filled his mouth with saliva, made it an effort for
him to speak. He stopped, and fixed his eyes mechan-
ically on the engine-wheels, which advanced, revolving
slowly and smoothly on the rails.
And suddenly a sense of intense spiritual anguish
caused him for a moment to forget his toothache. At
the sight of the engine and the rails, through the in-
fluence of his talk with an acquaintance whom he had
not seen since his misfortune, she suddenly appeared to
him, or, at least, that which remained of her, as, when he
rushed like a madman into the barracks near the station,
where they had carried her, he saw, lying on a table,
shamelessly exposed to the sight of all, her bleeding
body, which had so lately been full of life. Her head,
uninjured, with its heavy braids, and its light curls
clustering about the temples, was leaning back, wilBlhc"
eyes half closed ; and in the lovely face hovered still
a strange, wild expression, while her rosy lips, slightly
opened, seemed prepared to utter once again that terri-
ble menace, and predict to him, as she had in their dis-
pute, that he "would repent."
And he tried to remember how she looked when he
3S2 ANNA KARENINA
first met her, also at a railroad station, with that myste-
rious, poetic, charming beauty, overflowing with life and
gayety, demanding and bestowing happiness, and not
bitterly revengeful as he remembered her at their last
interview. He tried to remember the happy moments
he had spent with her, but these moments were forever
spoiled for him. He remembered only her face, haughtily
expressing her threat of unnecessary, but implacable,
vengeance. He ceased to be conscious of his toothache,
and sobs convulsed his face.
After walking up and down by the baggage once or
twice, the count controlled himself, and spoke calmly
with Sergyef Ivanovitch.
" Have you seen the latest telegrams .-• Yes ; they have
fought three times, and another battle is expected to-
morrow."
And, after a few words about King Milan's proclama-
tion, and the immense effect which it might have, the
two men separated at the ringing of the second bell and
went to their respective compartments.
CHAPTER VI
As SergyeY Ivanovitch had not known just when it
would be possible for him to leave Moscow, he did not
telegraph his brother to send for him. Levin was not
at home when he and Katavasof, black as negroes with
smoke and dust, reached Pokrovskoye about noon, in a
tarantas which they hired at the station.
Kitty was sitting on the balcony with her father and
sister when she saw her brother-in-law approaching, and
she ran to meet him.
" Your conscience ought to prick you for not letting
us know," said she, shaking hands with Sergyeif Ivano-
vitch, and offering her brow to be kissed.
" We got along splendidly, and we did not have to
bother you. I am so dusty that I fear to touch you.
I was so busy that I did not know when I could leave.
And you look the same as ever," said he, smiling,
ANNA KARENINA 353
" enjoying the gentle current of your softly flowing hap-
piness. And here is our friend, Feodor Vasilyevitch
who has come at last."
" But I am not a negro. When I have washed, I
shall look like a human being," said Katavasof, with
his usual pleasantry, offering his hand, and laughing,
so that his white teeth gleamed out from his dusty face.
" Kostia will be very glad. He is out on the farm,
but he ought to be back by this time."
"Always occupied with his estate," said Katavasof.
" The rest of us can think of nothing but the Serbian
war. How does my friend regard this subject? He is
sure not to think as other people do."
" Yes, he does, .... but .... perhaps not like everybody,"
said Kitty, a little confused, looking at Sergye'i Ivano-
vitch. " I will send some one to find him. We have
papa with us just now ; he has recently come back from
abroad."
And Kitty, while making her arrangements to send
for Levin, and to furnish her guests a chance to wash
off the dust — the one in the library, the other in the
room assigned to Dolly — and then to have luncheon
ready for them, enjoyed the full power of quick mo-
tion which before her baby was born she had been
so long deprived of. Then she went to the balcony
where her father was : —
" It 's Sergyef Ivanovitch and Professor Katavasof."
" Okh ! in this heat ! It will be a bore ! "
" Not at all, papa ; he is very nice, and Kostia loves
him dearly," said Kitty, laughing at the expression of
consternation on her father's face.
" Go entertain them, dushenka," she said to her sister.
" They saw Stiva at the station ; he was well. And I
am going to the baby for a little while. I actually have
not nursed him since morning ; he will be crying if I
don't go," and she, feeling the pressure of milk, hastened
to the nursery. In reality it had not been guesswork
with her, — the tie that bound her to the child was still
unbroken, — she actually knew by the flow of milk that
he needed something to eat. Even before she reached
VOL. III. — 23
354 ANNA KARENINA
the nursery she knew that he would be crying. And,
indeed, he was.
She heard his voice, and quickened her steps. But
the more she hurried, the louder he cried. It was a fine,
healthy scream, a scream of hunger and impatience.
"Am I late, nurse, late.''" asked Kitty, sitting down,
and getting ready to suckle the child. " There, give
him to me, give him to me, quick, Akh, nurse ! how
stupid ! Take off his cap afterward," said she, quite as
impatient as her baby.
The baby screamed as if it were famished. " Now,
now, it can't be helped, little mother ! " said Agafya
Mikhaiflovna, who could not keep out of the nursery.
" You must do things in order. Agu, agu," she chuckled
to the infant, not heeding Kitty's impatience.
The nurse gave the child to his mother. Agafya
Mikhaiflovna followed the child, her face all aglow with
tenderness.
" He knows me ! He knows me ! God is my witness,
he knew me, Matushka Katerina Aleksandrovna," she
cried.
But Kitty did not hear what she said. Her impatience
was as great as the baby's. It hindered the very thing
that they both desired. The baby, in his haste to suckle,
could not manage to take hold, and was vexed. At last,
after one final shriek of despair, the arrangements were
perfected ; and mother and child, simultaneously breath-
ing a sigh of content, became calm.
"The poor little thing is all in a perspiration," whis-
pered Kitty. " Do you really think he knew you ? " she
added, looking down into the child's eyes, which seemed
to her to peep out roguishly from under his cap, as his
little cheeks sucked in and out, while his Httle hand, with
rosy palm, flourished around his head. " It cannot be.
For, if he knew you, he would surely know me," con-
tinued Kitty, with a smile, when Agafya Mikhaiflovna
persisted in her belief that he knew her.
She smiled, because though she said that he could not
recognize her, yet she knew in her heart that he not
only recognized Agafya Mikhaiflovna, but that he knew
ANNA KARENINA 355
and understood all things, and knew and understood what
no one else understood, and things which she, his mother,
was now beginning to understand only through his
teaching. For Agafya Mikhallovna, for the nurse, for
his grandfather, even for his father, Mitya was just a
little human being, who needed nothing but physical
care; for his mother, he was a being endowed with
moral faculties, who already had a whole history of spirit-
ual relationships.
" You will see if he does n't when he wakes up.
When I do this way, his face will light up, the little
dove ! It will light up like a bright day," said Agafya
Mikhailovna.
" There ! very well, very well, we shall see," whispered
Kitty; "now go away; he is going to sleep."
CHAPTER VII
Agafya Mikhailovna went away on tiptoe ; the
nurse closed the blinds, chased away the flies which
were hidden under the muslin curtain of the cradle ;
then she sat down, and began to wave a little withered
branch over the mother and child.
" It 's hot, hot ! pray God, He may send a little
shower," she said.
" Da ! da ! sh-sh-sh," was the mother's reply, as she
rocked gently to and fro, and pressed Mitya to her
breast. His eyelids now opened, and now closed ; and
he languidly moved his chubby arm. This little arm
disturbed Kitty ; she felt a strong inclination to kiss
it, but she feared to do so lest it should wake him. At
last the arm began to droop, and the eyes closed more
and more. Only rarely now he would raise his long
lashes, and gaze at his mother with his dark, dewy eyes.
The nurse began to nod, and dropped off into a nap.
Overhead she could hear the old prince's voice, and
Katavasof's sonorous laugh.
" Evidently, they don't need me to help in the con-
versation," thought Kitty; "but it is too bad that Kostia
3S6 ANNA KARENINA
is not there ; he must have gone to his bees. Some-
times it disturbs me to have him spend so much time
over them ; but then, on the whole, I am glad ; it
diverts him, and he is certainly more cheerful than he
was in the spring. Then he was so gloomy, and so
unhappy ! What a strange man he is ! "
Kitty knew what caused her husband's disquiet. It
was his doubting spirit ; and although, if she had been
asked if she believed that, in the world to come, he
would fail of salvation owing to his want of faith, she
would have been compelled to say yes, yet his skepti-
cism did not make her unhappy ; and she, who believed
that there was no salvation for the unbeHeving, and
loved more than all else in the world her husband's soul,
smiled as she thought of his skepticism, and called him
a strange man.
" Why does he spend all his time reading those philo-
sophical books ? If all this is written in those books,
then he can understand them. But if it is not true, why
does he read them .'' He himself says that he longs for
faith. Why does n't he believe .'' Probably he thinks
too much ; and he thinks too much because he is lonely.
He is always alone. He can't speak out all his thoughts
to us. I think he will be glad that these guests have
come, especially Katavasof. He likes to discuss with
him."
And immediately Kitty's thoughts were diverted by
the question where it would be best for Katavasof to
sleep. Ought he and Sergyei Ivanovitch to have a
room together or apart .-" And here a sudden thought
made her start, so that she disturbed Mitya, who opened
his eyes and looked at her reproachfully.
" The washerwoman has n't brought back the linen.
I hope Agafya Mikhaflovna has n't given out all we
had ! " and the color rushed to Kitty's forehead.
"There, I must find out myself," thought she; and,
reverting to her former thoughts, she remembered that
she had not finished the important train of spiritual
thoughts which she had begun, and she once more
repeated : —
ANNA KARENINA 357
"Yes, Kostia is an unbeliever;" and, as she did so,
she smiled.
" Yes, he is an unbeliever, but I 'd far liefer he should
always be one than a person like Madame Stahl, or as I
wanted to be when I was abroad. At any rate, he will
never be hypocritical." And a recent example of his
goodness recurred vividly to her memory.
Several weeks before, Stepan Arkadyevitch had writ-
ten Dolly a letter of repentance. He begged her to save
his honor by selling her property to pay his debts.
Dolly was in despair. She hated her husband, despised
him ; and at first she made up her mind to refuse his
request, and apply for a divorce ; but afterward she de-
cided to sell a part of her estate. Kitty, with an involun-
tary smile of emotion, recalled her husband's confusion,
his various awkward attempts to find a way of helping
Dolly, and how, at last, he came to the conclusion that
the only way to accompHsh it without wounding her was
to make over to Dolly their part of this estate.
" How can he be without faith, when he has such a
warm heart, and is afraid to grieve even a child.'' He
never thinks of himself — always of others. Sergyef
Ivanovitch finds it perfectly natural to consider him his
business manager; so does his sister. Dolly and her
children have no one else but him to lean upon. He is
always sacrificing his time to the peasants, who come to
consult him every day.
"Yes ; you cannot do better than to try to be like your
father," she murmured, touching her lips to her son's
cheek, before laying him into the nurse's arms.
CHAPTER VIII
Ever since that moment when, as he sat beside his
dying brother. Levin had examined the problem of life
and death in the light of the new convictions, as he
called them, which from the age of twenty to thirty-four
years had taken the place of his childhood's beliefs, he
358 ANNA KARENINA
was terrified not only at death, but at life ; because it
seemed to him that he had not the slightest knowledge
of its origin, its purpose, its reason, its nature. Our
organism and its destruction, the indestructibility of mat-
ter, the laws of the conservation and development of
forces, were words which were substituted for the terms
of his early faith. These words, and the scientific theo-
ries connected with them, were doubtless interesting from
an intellectual point of view, but they stood for nothing
m the face of real life.
And Levin suddenly felt in the position of a man who
in cold weather had exchanged his warm shuba for a
muslin garment, and who for the first time should indu-
bitably, not with his reason, but with his whole being,
become persuaded that he was absolutely naked, and
inevitably destined to perish miserably.
From that time, without in the least changing his out-
ward fife, and though he did not like to confess it, even
to himself, Levin never ceased to feel a terror of his
ignorance.
Moreover, he vaguely felt that what he called his
convictions not only came from his ignorance, but were
idle for helping him to a clearer knowledge of what he
needed.
At first his marriage, with its new joys and its new
duties, completely blotted out these thoughts ; but they
came back to him, with increasing persistence demand-
ing an answer, after his wife's confinement, when he
lived in Moscow without any serious occupation.
The question presented itself to him in this way : —
" If I do not accept the explanations offered me by
Christianity on the problem of my existence, then what
answer shall I find ? "
And he scrutinized the whole arsertal of his scientific
convictions, and found no answer whatever to his ques-
tions, and nothing like an answer.
He was in the position of a man who seeks to find
food in a toy-store or a gun-shop.
Involuntarily and unconsciously he sought now in every
book, in every conversation, and in every person whom
ANNA KARENINA 359
he met, some sympathy with these questions and their
solution.
More than by anything else, he was surprised and
puzzled by the fact that the men of his class, who for
the most part had, like himself, substituted science for
religion, seemed to experience not the least moral suffer-
ing, but to live entirely satisfied and content. Thus in
addition to the main question there were others which
tormented him : Were these men sincere .■* Were they
not hypocrites. Or did they understand more clearly
than he did the answer science gave to these trouble-
some questions .'' And he took to studying these men,
and books which might contain the solutions which he
so desired.
One thing which he had discovered, however, since
these questions had begun to occupy him, was that he
had made a gross error in taking up with the idea of
his early university friends, that religion had outlived
its day, and no longer existed. The best people whom
he knew were believers, — the old prince, Lvof, of whom
he was so fond, Sergyel Ivanovitch, and all women had
faith ; and his wife believed just as he had believed when
he was a child, and nine-tenths of the Russian people
— all people whose lives inspired the greatest respect —
were believers.
Another strange thing was that, as he read many
books, he became convinced that the men whose opinions
he shared did not attach to them any importance ; and that
without explaining anything they simply ignored these
questions, without an answer to which life seemed to
him impossible, and took up others which were to him
utterly uninteresting, — such, for example, as the devel-
opment of the organism, the mechanical explanation of
the soul, and others.
Moreover, at the time of his wife's illness, he had
what to him seemed a most extraordinary experience :
he, the unbeliever, had prayed, and prayed with sincere
faith. But as soon as the danger was over, he felt that
he could not give that temporary disposition any abiding-
place in his life.
36o ANNA KARENINA
He could not avow that the truth appeared to him
then, but that he was mistaken now ; because, as he began
calmly to analyze his feelings, they eluded him. He
could not avow that he had been deceived then, because
he had experienced a temporary spiritual condition ; and
if he pretended that he had succumbed to a moment of
weakness, he would sully a sacred moment. He was in
a state of internal conflict, and he strove with all the
strength of his nature to free himself from it.
CHAPTER IX
These thoughts tormented him with varying intensity,
but he could not free himself from them. He read and
meditated ; but the more he read and meditated, the end
desired seemed to grow more and more remote.
During the latter part of his stay in Moscow, and
after he reached the country, he became convinced of
the uselessness of seeking in materialism an answer to
his doubts ; and he read over the philosophers whose
explanations of life were opposed to materialism, —
Plato and Spinoza, and Kant and Schelling, and Hegel
and Schopenhauer.
These thoughts seemed to him fruitful while he was
reading, or was contrasting their doctrines with those of
others, especially with those of a materialistic tendency ;
but just as soon as he attempted, independently, to apply
these guides to some doubtful point, he fell back into
the same perplexities as before. The terms ''mind,''
''will" "freedom,'' "essence," had a certain meaning to
his intellect as long as he followed the clew established
by the deductions of these philosophers, and allowed
himself to be caught in the snare of their subtle dis-
tinctions ; but when practical life asserted its point of
view, this artistic structure fell, like a house built of
cards ; and it became evident that the edifice was built
only of beautiful words, having no more connection than
logic with the serious side of life.
Once, as he was reading Schopenhauer, he substituted
ANNA KARENINA 361
the term " love " for that which this philosopher calls
" will," and this new philosophy consoled him for a few
days while he clung to it. But it also proved unsatis-
factory when he regarded it from the standpoint of
practical life ; then it seemed to be the thin muslin with-
out warmth as a dress.
Sergyef Ivanovitch advised him to read Khomyakof 's ^
theological writings : and though he was at first repelled
by the excessive affectation of the author's style, and his
strong polemic tendency, he was struck by their teach-
ings regarding the Church ; he was struck also by the
development of the following thought : —
" Man when alone cannot attain the knowledge of
theological truths. The true light is kept for a com-
munion of souls who are filled with the same love ; that
is, for the Church."
He was delighted with the thought : How much easier
it is to accept the Church, which united with it all believ-
ing people and was endowed with holiness and infallibil-
ity, since it had God for its head, — to accept its teachings
as to Creation, the Fall, and Redemption, and through
it to reach God, — than to begin with God, a far-off,
mysterious God, the Creation, and the rest of it.
But, as he read, after Khomyakof, a history of the
Church by a Catholic writer, and the history of the
Church by an Orthodox writer, and perceived that
the Orthodox Greek Church and the Roman Catholic
Church, both of them in their very essence infallible,
were antagonistic, he saw that he had been deluded by
Khomyakof 's church-teachings ; and this edifice also
fell into dust, like the constructions of philosophy.
During this whole spring he was not himself, and
passed hours of misery.
" I cannot live without knowing what I am, and why
1 Aleksel Stepanovitch Khomyakof was born in 1804 ; after serving in
the Guard and taking active part in the Turkish campaign, he retired to
private life. He wrote several romantic tragedies in verse, also a number
of poems of Panslavonic tendencies ; he is chiefly remembered as a theo-
logical writer, and some of his works have been translated into French and
even English. In 1858 he was president of the Moscow Society of the
Friends of Russian Literature. He died in i860. — Ed.
362 ANNA KARENINA
I exist. Since I cannot reach this knowledge, Ufe 13
impossible," said Levin to himself.
" In the infinitude of time, in the infinitude of matter,
in the infinitude of space, an organic cell is formed,
exists for a moment, and bursts. That cell is — I."
This was a cruel lie ; but it was the sole, the supreme,
result of the labor of the human mind for centuries.
It was the final creed on which were founded the latest
researches of the scientific spirit ; it was the dominant
conviction ; and Levin, without knowing exactly why,
simply because this theory seemed to him the clearest,
was involuntarily held by it.
But this conclusion was not merely a lie, it was the
cruel jest of some evil spirit, — cruel, inimical, to which
it was impossible to submit.
To get away from it was a duty ; deliverance from it
was in the power of every one, and the one means of
deliverance was — death.
And Levin, the happy father of a family, a man in
perfect health, was sometimes so tempted to commit
suicide, that he hid ropes from sight, lest he should
hang himself, and feared to go out with his gun, lest he
should shoot himself.
But Levin did not hang himself, or shoot himself, but
lived and struggled on.
CHAPTER X
When Levin puzzled over what he was, and why he
was born, he found no answer, and fell into despair ; but
when he ceased to ask himself these questions, he seemed
to know what he was and why he was alive, for the very
reason that he resolutely and definitely lived and worked ;
even during the more recent months he had Hved far more
strenuously and resolutely than ever before.
Toward the end of June he returned to the country and
resumed his ordinary work at Pokrovskoye. The super-
intendence of the estates of his brother and sister, his
relations with his neighbors and his muzhiks, his family
ANNA KARENINA :i63
cares, his new enterprise in bee-culture, which he had
taken up this year, occupied all his time. These inter-
ests occupied him, not because he carried them on with a
view to their universal application, as he had done before,
but, on the contrary, because being now on the one hand
disillusionized by the lack of success in his former
undertakings for the common good, on the other being
too much engrossed by his own thoughts and the very
multitude of affairs calling for his attention, he entirely
relinquished all his attempts of cooperative advantage
and he occupied himself with his affairs, simply because it
seemed to him that he was irresistibly impelled to do what
he did, and could not do otherwise.
Formerly — almost from childhood till he reached
manhood — when he began to do anything that would
be good for all, for humanity, for Russia, he saw that the
thought of it gave him, in advance, a pleasing sense of
joy ; but the action in itself never realized his hopes,
nor had he full conviction that the work was neces-
sary, and the activity itself which seemed at first so
important kept growing smaller and smaller, and came
to naught.
But now that since his marriage he had become more
and more restricted by life for its own sake, though
he had no pleasure at the thought of his activity, he felt
a conviction that his work was indispensable, and saw
that the results gained were far more satisfactory than
before.
Now, quite against his will, he cut deeper and
deeper into the soil, like a plow that cannot choose its
path, or turn from its furrow.
To live as his fathers and grandfathers had lived, to
carry out their work so as to hand it on in turn to his
children, seemed to him a plain duty. It was as neces-
sary as the duty of eating when hungry ; and he knew
that, to reach this end, he was under obligation so to
conduct the machinery of the estate ^ at Pokrovskoye
that there might be profit in it. As indubitably as a
debt required to be paid, so was it incumbent on him to
* Khozhydlstventtaya mashina.
364 ANNA KARENINA
preserve his paternal estate in such a condition that his
son, receiving it in turn, might say, " Thank you, my
father," just as Levin himself was grateful to his ancestors
for what they had cleared and tilled. He felt that he
had no right to rent his land to the muzhiks, but that he
himself must keep everything under his own eye, —
maintain his cattle, fertilize his fields, set out trees.
It was as impossible not to look out for the interests
of Sergyeif Ivanovitch and his sister, and all the peasants
that came to consult him, as it was to abandon the child
that had been given into his hands. He felt obliged to
look after the interests of his sister-in-law, who with her
children was living at his house, and of his wife with
her child, and he had to spend with them at least a small
part of his time. And all this, together with his hunt-
ing and his new occupation of bee-culture, filled to over-
flowing his life, the meaning of which he could not
understand when he reflected on it.
Not only did Levin see clearly what it was his duty
to do, but he saw Jiow he must fulfil it, and what had
paramount importance.
He knew that it was requisite to hire laborers as
cheaply as possible; but to get them into his power by
paying down money in advance, and getting them at less
than market price, he would not do, although this was
very advantageous. It was permissible to sell fodder
to the muzhiks in time of scarcity, even though he felt
sorry for those who were improvident ; but he felt it his
duty to do away with inns and drinking-places, even
though they brought in great profit. On principle he
punished as severely as he could thefts from his wood;
but when he found cattle straying he was not inclined
to exact a fine, and though it annoyed the guards and
brought the punishment into contempt, he always insisted
on having the cattle driven out again. He advanced
money to Piotr, to save him from the claws of a money-
lender, who charged him ten per cent a month ; but he
made no allowance for arrears in the obrok or money
due him from negligent muzhiks. He found it impos-
sible to pardon an overseer because a small meadow was
ANNA KARENINA 365
not mowed and the grass was wasted ; but he would not
let them mow a piece of land amounting to eighty
desyatins — or two hundred and sixteen acres — on which
a young forest had been planted. He would not excuse a
muzhik who went home in working hours because his
father had died, — sorry as he was for him, — and he had
to pay him lower wages for the costly months of idle-
ness ; but he was bound to give board and lodging to
old servants who were superannuated.
Levin felt that it was right, on returning home, to go
first to his wife, who was not well, though some muzhiks
had been waiting for three hours to see him ; and he
knew, in spite of all the pleasure that he should have in
seeing his bees hived, nevertheless he felt in duty bound
to deprive himself of this pleasure and let his old bee-
man transfer the swarm without him, and go and talk
with the muzhiks who had come to the apiary for him.
Whether he did well or ill, he knew not ; and he did
not try to settle it, but, moreover, he avoided all thoughts
and discussions on the subject. Reasoning led him to
doubt, and prevented him from seeing what was right
to do, or not to do. When he ceased to consider, but
simply /zved, he never failed to find in his soul the
presence of an infallible judge, telling him which of two
possible courses was the best to take, and which was the
worst ; and when he failed to follow this inner voice, he
was instantly made aware of it.
Thus he lived, not knowing, and not seeing the pos-
sibility of knowing, what he was, or why he lived in the
world, and tortured by his ignorance to such a degree
that he feared committing suicide and yet resolutely pur-
suing the course of life traced out for him.
CHAPTER XI
The day on which Sergyef Ivanovitch reached Pokrov-
skoye had been unusually full of torment for Levin.
It was at that hurried, busy season of the year when
all the peasantry are engaged in putting forth an extraor
366 ANNA KARENINA
dinary effort, and showing an endurance, which are
quite unknown in the ordinary conditions of their liv^es,
and which would be prized very highly if it were not
repeated every year, and did not produce such very
simple results. Mowing and sowing rye and oats, reap-
ing, harvesting, threshing, — these are labors which seem
simple and commonplace; but to accomplish them in the
short time accorded by nature, every one, old and young,
must set to work. For three or four weeks they must
be content with the simplest fare, — black bread, garlic,
and kvas ; must sleep only a few hours, and must not
pause night or day. And every year this happens
throughout all Russia.
Having lived the larger part of his life in the coun-
try, and in the closest relations with the peasantry, Levin
always at harvest-time felt that this universal activity
among the people embraced his own life.
In the early morning he had gone to the field of early
rye, to the field where they were carrying off the oats in
ricks. Then he came back to breakfast with his wife
and sister-in-law, and had afterward gone off on foot to
the farm, where he was trying a new threshing-machine.
This whole day. Levin, as he talked with the overseer
and the muzhiks in the field, as he talked at the house
with his wife and Dolly and the children and his father-
in-law, thought of only one thing ; and constantly the
same questions pursued him : " What am I .'' and where
am I } and why am I here .-* "
As he stood in the cool shadow of his newly thatched
bam, where the hazelwood timbers, still smelling of the
fragrant leaves, held down the straw to the freshly peeled
aspen timbers that made the roof, Levin gazed, now
through the open doors, where whirled and played the
dry and choking dust thrown off by the threshing-
machine ; now at the hot sunlight lying on the grass of
the threshing-floor, and at the fresh straw just brought
out of the barn ; now at the white-breasted swallows
with their spotted heads, as they flew about twittering,
and settled under the eaves, or, shaking their wings,
darted through the open doors ; and then again at the
ANNA KARENINA 367
peasantry, bustling about in the dark and dusty barn,
and strange ideas came into his mind : —
" Why is all this done ? " he asked himself. " Why
am I standing here ? Why am I compelling them to
work, and why are they working so hard ? Why are
they doing their best in my presence ? Why is my old
friend Matriona putting in so with all her might ? I
cured her when a beam fell on her at the fire," he said
to himself, as he looked at a hideous old baba, who was
walking with bare, sunburned feet across the hard,
uneven soil, and was plying the rake vigorously. "She
got well then. But if not to-day or to-morrow, then in
ten years, she must be borne to her grave, and there will
be nothing left of her, nor of that pretty girl in red, who
is husking corn with such graceful, swift motions. They
will bury her. And that dappled gelding will soon die,"
he thought, as he looked at the horse, breathing painfully
with distended nostrils and heavily sagging belly, as it
struggled up the ever descending treadmill. "They will
carry him off. And Feodor, the machine-tender, with
his curling beard, full of chaff, and his white shoulder
showing through a tear in his shirt — they will carry him
off too. But now he gathers up the sheaves, and gives his
commands, and shouts to the women, and, with quick
motions, arranges the belt on the machine. And it will be
the same with me. They will carry me aw^y, and nothing
of me will be left. Why .? "
And, in the midst of his meditations, he mechanically
took out his watch to calculate how much they threshed
in an hour. It was his duty to do this, so that he could
pay the men fairly for their day's work.
'* So far, only three ricks," he said to himself ; and
he went to the machine-tender, and, trying to make
his voice heard above the racket, told him to work
faster.
" You put in too much at once, Feodor ; you see it
stops it, so it wastes time. Do it more regularly."
Feodor, his face black with dust and sweat, shouted
back some unintelligible reply, but entirely failed to
carry out Levin's directions.
368 ANNA KARENINA
He mounted the drum, took Feodor's place, and began
to do the feeding.
He worked thus till it was the muzhiks' dinner-hour,
not a very long time ; and then, in company with Feodor,
he left the barn, and talked with him, leaning against a
beautifully stacked pile of yellow rye saved for plant-
ing.
Feodor was from a distant village, the very one where
Levin had formerly let the association have some land.
Now it was rented to a dvornik.
Levin talked with Feodor about this land, and asked
him if it were not possible that Platon, a rich and trust-
worthy muzhik of his village, would take it for the next
year.
" Price too high ; won't catch Platon, Konstantin Dmi-
tritch," replied the muzhik, wiping the chaff from his
sweaty chest.
" Yes ; but how does Kirillof make money out of
it?"
" Mitiukh ! " — by this contemptuous diminutive Feo-
dor called the dvornik, — " what does n't he make money
out of ! He puts on the screws and gets the last drop !
He has no pity on the peasants. But Uncle Fokanuitch,"
— so he called the old man Platon, — " does he try to
fleece a man .-' And he gives credit, when any one owes
him. He does not try to squeeze it out of them. He 's
that kind of a man ! "
" Yes ; but why does he give credit ? "
" Well, of course men differ. One lives for his belly,
like Mitiukh ; but Fokanuitch, — he 's an honest man, —
he lives for his soul. He remembers God."
" How does he remember God and hve for his soul .'' "
exclaimed Levin, eagerly.
" Why, that 's plain enough. It 's to live according to
God, .... according to truth. People differ. Take you,
Konstantin Dmitritch, for example ; you could n't wrong
a man." ....
"Yes, yes; prashcha'i — good-by," exclaimed Levin,
deeply moved ; and, taking his cane, he turned toward
the house.
ANNA KARENINA 369
As he recalled the muzhik's words, how " Fokanuitch
lived for his soul, according to God .... according to
truth," confused but weighty thoughts arose within him
from some hidden source, and filled his soul with their
brilliant light.
CHAPTER XII
Levin, with long steps, strode along the highway,
filled, not so much with his thoughts, — he could not
as yet get rid of them, — as with a spiritual impulse,
such as he had never known before.
The peasant's words had had in his soul the effect of
an electric spark, suddenly condensing the cloud of dim,
incoherent thoughts, which had not ceased to fill his
mind, even while he was talking about the letting of his
field.
He felt that some new impulse, inexplicable as yet,
filled his heart with joy.
" Not to live for one's self, but for God ! What God }
Could he have said anything more meaningless than
what he said .'' Ho said that we must live, not for our-
selves, that is, for what interests and pleases us, but for
something incomprehensible, for God, whom no one
knows or can define. Still, call it nonsense, did I under-
stand Feodor .'' Did n't I also feel convinced of its truth ?
Did I find it either false or absurd ?
" Nay ; I understood it, and find in it the same mean-
ing as he finds, and understood it more completely and
clearly than anything else in life. And not alone I,
but all, all the world, perfectly imdcrstand this and have
no doubt of it, and are unanimous in its favor.
" And I was seeking for miracles, and regretting that
I could not see one which might fill me with amazement.
A material miracle would have seduced me. But the
real miracle, the only one possibly existing, surrounds
me on all sides — and I have not remarked it.
" Feodor says Kirillof, the dvornik, lives for his belly.
t know what he means by that. No rational being,
VOL. III. — 24
370 ANNA KARENINA
none of us, can live in any other way. But Feodor says,
too, that it is wrong to live for the belly, but that we
should live for truth, for God ; and I know what that
means as well. I, and millions of men, muzhiks, and
sages who have thought and written on the subject, or
in their obscure language have talked about it, in the
past and in the present, — we are in accord on one
point ;• and that is, that we should live for ' the good.'
The only knowledge that I and all men possess that
is clear, indubitable, absolute, is here. We have not
reached it by reason. Reason excludes it, for it has
neither cause nor effect. 'The good,' if it had a cause,
would cease to be the good ; if it had an effect, — a re-
ward, — it would cease to be the good. The good must
be outside of the chain of cause and effect. And I
know this, and we all know it. Can there be greater
miracle than this ?
" Have I really found the solution of my doubts }
Shall I cease to suffer .'' " Levin asked himself as he
followed the dusty road, insensible to weariness and
heat, and feeling that his long travail was at an end.
The sensation was so delightful, that he could not be-
lieve that it was true. He choked with emotion ; his
strength failed him ; and he left the highroad, and went
into the woods, and sat down under the shadow of
an aspen on the unmown grass. ' He uncovered his
moist forehead, and stretched himself out on the succu-
lent wood-grass, and leaned his head on his hand.
" Yes, I must reflect and consider," he thought, look-
ing attentively at the untrodden grass in front of him,
and watching the movements of an earth-beetle crawl-
ing up the stalk of couch-grass, and stopped by a leaf.
" What discovery have I made .-' " he said to himself,
removing the leaf from the beetle's way, and bending
down another stalk of couch-grass to help the beetle on.
** What makes me so happy } What discovery have I
made ?
" I have made no discovery. I have only opened my
eyes to what I already know. I have learned to recog-
nize that power which formerly gave me life, and gives
ANNA KARENINA 371
me life again to-day. I have freed myself* from error.
I have come to know my master.
" I used to say that there was going on in my body,
in the body of this grass, in the body of this beetle," —
the beetle did not want to go to the other stalk, but
spread its wings, and flew away, — " incessant change
of matter, in conformity to certain physical, chemical,
and physiological laws ; and in all of us, together with
the aspens and the clouds, and the nebulae, there was
evolution. Evolution from what .'' into what ? Endless
evolution and conflict. — But was conflict with the Infi-
nite possible .'' And I was surprised to find nothing
along this line, in spite of my best efforts, which could
reveal to me the meaning of my life, my motives, my
longings. But the consciousness that there is a mean-
ing is, nevertheless, so strong and clear, that it forms
the very foundation of my existence ; and I marveled
and rejoiced when the muzhik said, 'To live for God,
for the soul.'
" Now I can say that I know the meaning of life : it
is to live for God, for my own soul. And this meaning,
in spite of its clearness, is mysterious and miraculous.
And such is the meaning of all existence. Yes, there
is pride," said he to himself, turning over on his stomach
and beginning to tie into a knot the stalks of grass,
while trying not to break them. ** Not only pride of
intellect, but the stupidity of intellect. Yes, it is the
wickedness of intellect," he repeated.
He succinctly went over in memory the course of his
thought for the last two years, from the day when the
idea of death struck him, on seeing his beloved brother
hopelessly sick.
Then he had clearly resolved that, since man had no
other prospect than suffering, death, and eternal oblivion,
he must either commit suicide, or find the explanation
of the problem of existence, and in such manner as to
see in it something more than the cruel irony of a malevo-
lent spirit.
But he had not done either, but continued to live, to
think, and to feel. He had married, and had experienced
372 ANNA KARENINA
new joys, wh'ich made him happy when he did not pon-
der on the meaning of Hfe.
What did this mean ? It meant that he was thinking
badly, and living well. Without knowing it, he had been
sustained by those spiritual verities which he had sucked
in with his mother's milk, and he indulged in thought,
not only now not recognizing those truths, but even stren-
uously avoiding them. Now it was clear to him that he
could live only through the blessed influence of the faith
in which he had been taught.
" What should I have been, how should I have lived,
if I had not absorbed these behefs.... if I had not known
that I must live for God, and not for the satisfaction of
my desires .-* I should have been a thief, a liar, a mur-
derer. Nothing of what seems the chief joy of my life
would have had any existence for me."
And, though he made the most strenuous efforts of his
imagination, he could not picture to himself what kind
of a wild creature he might have been, if he had not
really known the aim of his existence.
" I was in search of an answer to my question ; thought
could not give it, for the problem was too lofty. Life
itself, with the innate knowledge of good and evil, alone
could give me an answer. And this knowledge I did
not acquire. It was given to me, like all the rest ; given,
I could not know where to get it. Did I get it from
reason } But would reason ever have proved to me that
I ought to love my neighbor, instead of choking him }
I was taught it in my childhood ; but I believed it gladly,
because it was already existent in my soul. Reason dis-
covered the struggle for existence, — that law which
demands the overthrow of every obstacle in the way of
our desires. That is the result of reason ; but reason
has nothing to do with loving our neighbor."
CHAPTER XIII
Levin remembered a recent scene between Dolly and
her children. The children had been left alone, and had
amused themselves by making raspberry jam over a can-
ANNA KARENINA 373
die, and throwing milk into each other's faces. Their
mother, catching them in the act, scolded them in their
uncle's presence, and sought to make them understand
how much work was involved in what they were destroy-
ing, that the labor was performed for their benefit ; that,
if they broke the cups, they could n't have anything to
drink from ; and if they wasted their milk, they would n't
have any more, and would starve to death.
Levin was struck by the indifference and skepticism
with which the children heard their mother's words.
They were only sorry to have their interesting sport
interrupted, and they did not believe a word of what
she said. They did not believe, because they did not
know the value of what they were playing with, and did
not understand that they were destroying their own
means of subsistence.
"That is all very well," they thought; "but there is
nothing interesting or worth while in it, because it is
always the same, and always will be. And it is monoto-
nous. We don't have to think about it, it is done for
us ; but we do like to do something new and original ;
and here we were making jam in a cup over the candle,
and squirting the milk into each others' faces. It is fun.
It is new, and not half so stupid as to drink milk out of
a cup."
"Is it not thus that we act, is it not the way I have
acted, in trying to penetrate by reasoning the secrets of
nature and the problem of human life ? Is it not the
same that all the philosophers have done with their
theories which lead, by a course of reasoning strange
and unnatural to man, to the knowledge of what he long
has known, and known so surely that without it he could
not live ? Do we not see clearly, in the development of
the theory of each, that the real meaning of human exis-
tence is as indubitably known as it is known to Feodor,
the muzhik ; and do they see any more clearly than he
does the principal meaning of life.-' Do they not all
come back to this, even though it be by a route which
is often equivocal .-' If we were to leave the children to
get their own living, make their own utensils, do the
374 ANNA KARENINA
milking, instead ot playing pranks, they would die of
hunger.
" There, now ! give us over to our own ideas and pas-
sions, with no knowledge of our Creator, without the
consciousness of moral good and evil, and what would
be the result? We reason because we are spiritually
satiated. We are children. Whence comes this joyous
knowledge, which I share with the muzhik, and which
alone gives me serenity of spirit ? Where did I get it }
Here am I, a Christian, brought up in the faith, sur-
rounded by the blessings of Christianity, living upon
these spiritual blessings without being conscious of them ;
and like children I have been reasoning, or at least try-
ing to reason, out the meaning of life.
" But in the serious moments of life, in the hour of
suffering, just as when children are cold and hungry, I
turn to Him, and, like these same children whom their
mother reprimands for their childish faults, I feel that
my childish efforts to get out of the mad circle of rea-
soning have done me no good.
"Yes, reason has taught me nothing. What I know
has been given, revealed to me through the heart, and
especially through faith in the teachings of the Church.
"The Church, the Church.?" repeated Levin, turning
over again, and, as he rested his head on his hand, look-
ing at a herd of cattle down by the river at a distance.
"Can I really believe all that the Church teaches.?" said
he, to test himself, and to bring up everything that might
destroy his present feeling of security. He expressly
called to mind the Church teachings which more than
all had seemed strange to him, and disgusted him.
"Creation.? Yes; but how did I myself explain ex-
istence .? existence .? the devil .? sin .? How did I explain
evil.? redemption?
" But I know nothing and can know nothing except
what is told me and every one else."
And now it seemed to him that not one of these Church
dogmas was inimical to the great objects of life, — faith
in God, in goodness.
On the contrary, all tended to produce that greatest
ANNA KARENINA 375
of miracles, that which consists in enabling the whole
world, with its millions of human beings, young and old,
the muzhik and Lvof, and Kitty and peasants and tsars,
married and single, to comprehend the same great truths,
so as to live that life of the soul which alone is worth
living, and which is our only aim.
Lying on his back, he looked up into the high, cloud-
less sky. "Do I not know," thought he, "that that is
infinity of space, and not a vault of blue stretching above
me ? But, however I strain my sight, I can see only a
vaulted dome; and, in spite of my knowledge of infinite
space, I have more satisfaction in looking at it as a blue,
vaulted dome, than when I try to look beyond."
Levin stopped thinking. He listened to the myste-
rious voices which seemed to wake joyfully in him.
"Is it really faith.?" he thought, fearing to believe in
his happiness. "My God, I thank Thee!" he cried;
and he swallowed down the sobs that arose, and brushed
away with both hands the tears that filled his eyes.
CHAPTER XIV
Levin looked away, and saw the herd, and his one-
horse telyega and his coachman, who approached the
herd of cattle, and began to talk to the herdsman. Then
he heard the sound of wheels and the neighing of the
horse ; but he was so occupied with his thoughts that he
did not think why it was that his coachman was coming
for him.
He only realized it when the coachman, while still
some distance off, cried: —
"The mistress sent for you. Your brother and an-
other barin have come."
Levin got in at once, and took the reins.
As if awakened from sleep, it was long before he
could collect his thoughts. He looked at the well-fed
horse, and at the spot on his neck where the harness
rubbed; and he looked at Ivan, the coachman, sitting
beside him ; and he thought of how he had been expect-
376 ANNA KARENINA
ing his brother, and that his wife was probably troubled
because he was gone so long, and he tried to guess who
the unknown guest who had come with his brother might
be. And his brother and his wife and the unknown guest
now seemed to him different from what they had been
before. He felt that henceforth all his relations with
these friends would be more pleasant than they had been.
" Now there shall be no more of that coldness, such
as there used to be, between my brother and me .... no
more disputes. Nor will Kitty and I quarrel any more ;
and whoever my guest is I shall be polite to him, and
kind to the servants and to Ivan .... all will be dif-
ferent."
And holding in his good horse, which was whinnying
with impatience and pleading for permission to show his
paces, Levin kept looking at Ivan, who was sitting next
him, not knowing what to do with his idle hands, and
constantly pulling down his shirt, which the wind tugged
at ; and in his attempt to find a pretext for beginning a
conversation with the man, he thought of saying that
the horse's girth was buckled up too tightly, but then
this seemed like censuring him, and he wanted to say
something pleasant.
"You had better turn to the right and avoid that
stump," said the coachman, taking hold of one of the
reins.
" Please not touch, or try to give me lessons," said
Levin, exasperated by his coachman's interference.
Just the same as always he was made angry by any
interference with his affairs, and he immediately became
conscious how mistaken he was in supposing for a
moment that his new spiritual condition could keep its
character unchanged on contact with the reality.
When they had arrived within a quarter of a verst of
the house, Levin saw Grisha and Tania running to meet
him.
" Uncle Kostia, mamma is coming, and grandpa and
SergyeT Ivanovitch and some one else," they cried, as
they ran up to the cart.
" Tell me, who is it } "
ANNA KARENINA 377
" Oh, he *s an awful, horrid man, who does so with his
arms," said Tania, climbing up into the cart and mimick-
ing Katavasof.
" Tell me, is he young or old ? " asked Levin, laugh-
ing, reminded of some one by Tania's performance.
" Akh, I only hope he is not a bore," said Levin to
himself.
As soon as they reached a turn in the road and saw
the party approaching. Levin recognized Katavasof, who
was in a straw hat, and gesticulating exactly as Tania
had represented it.
Katavasof was very fond of talking philosophy, and
his conceptions were wholly drawn from the natural
sciences, which had always been his specialty ; and
in Moscow Levin had frequently had discussions with
him.
And one of these discussions, in which Katavasof had
evidently felt that he was victorious, occurred to Levin's
mind as soon as he saw him.
" Henceforth," he said to himself, " I will not enter
into discussions, or express myself so flippantly."
Leaping from the cart and joining Katavasof and his
brother, he asked where Kitty was.
" She has taken Mitya to Kolok," — Kolok was a piece
of woodland near the house, — " she wanted to get him
established there, it was so hot at the house," said
Dolly.
Levin always advised his wife against taking the baby
to the woods, because he felt it was dangerous ; so this
news was not pleasant to him.
" She carries that son of hers from one place to
another," said the old prince. " I told her she 'd better
try the ice-house."
" She wanted to go to the beehives. She thought
you were there," added Dolly. " That is where we were
going."
" Well, what have you been doing that 's good ? "
said Sergyei Ivanovitch, dropping behind the others,
and walking with his brother.
" Oh, nothing particular ; as usual, busy with the farm-
378 ANNA KARENINA
ifig.^ ■ You '11 stay with us awhile, now ? We 've been
expecting you a long time."
" Only a fortnight. I have a great deal to do at
Moscow."
At these words the two brothers looked at one another,
and Levin, in spite of his usual and now especially
strong desire to have friendly, and above all simple,
relations with his brother, felt that it was awkward for
him to look at him. He dropped his eyes and was at
a loss what to say.
Trying to select some topic of conversation which
would be agreeable to Sergyeif Ivanovitch, and avoiding
the Serbian war and the Slavonic question, a hint at
which Sergyet Ivanovitch's remark about his occupation
in Moscow gave, Levin began to talk about his brother's
book.
" Well," he asked, "have there been many reviews of
your book .? "
Sergyef Ivanovitch smiled at the intention of the
question.
" No one thinks anything about it, — I, least of all,"
he said. " You see, Darya Aleksandrovna, we 're going
to have a shower," he added, pointing with his umbrella
to the white clouds which were piling up above the
aspen-tops.
It was evident by these words that the relationship
between the brothers, which Levin wanted to overcome,
was just the same as of old, — if not unfriendly, at least
cool.
Levin approached Katavasof.
" How good it was of you to come to us ! " said he.
" I have wanted to come for a long time. Now we
shall have time to talk. Have you read Spencer.'' "
" Not thoroughly, I don't get anything out of him."
" How so .'' that is interesting. Why is that ? "
" I have definitely made up my mind that the answers
to certain questions which interest me are not to be
found in him or his followers. Now ...."
But he was suddenly struck by the pleasant and
.// /HOC -^ Khozyalstvo.
ANNA KARENINA 379
serene expression of Katavasot's face, and he felt so
sorry at having evidently disturbed his mental equi-
librium by his remark, that, suddenly remembering his
resolution, he stopped short. ' However, we will talk
about that by and by," he added. "If we are going to
the apiary let us go this way, by this path," he said,
turning to the others.
Passing through a narrow path along by an unmown
field, covered on one side with an abundance of those
bright flowers called Ivan-da-Marya, and in the midst of
which grew frequent patches of the tall, dark green
hellebore. Levin led his guests — who were afraid of
being stung — to the cool dense shade of some young
aspens, and established them on some benches and logs
especially prepared for the purpose of receiving the bee-
hives, and he himself went to the storehouse to fetch
for the children, and the grown people as well, some
bread, cucumbers, and fresh honey.
Trying to make as little disturbance as possible, and
listening to the bees, which came flying more and more
thickly around him, he strode along the path that led
to the izba. At the very door, a bee entangled in his
beard began to buzz, but he carefully freed himself from
it. Going into the cool entry, he took his wire mask
down from the peg where it hung, and put it on, and,
thrusting his hands into his pockets, he went into the
inclosure of the apiary, where, amid a smoothly shaven
lawn, stood in straight rows on linden stakes all the old
hives, each having for him its own special history, while
the newer ones which had been set up that year were
ranged along the wall. At the entrance of the hives
he could see the young bees and the drones clustering
together and tumbling over one another, while in their
midst the working bees were industriously darting off in
a straight line toward the forest, where the linden trees
were in bloom, and quickly returning laden with their
pollen.
Kis ears were filled with the incessant, monotonous
humming made by the workers as they flew in with
their burdens, by the drones enjoying their holiday, and
38o ANNA KARENINA
by the guardian bees giving warning of the approach of
an enemy and ready to sting.
On one side of the inclosure the old bee-keeper was
smoothing a hoop, and did not see Levin ; and Levin,
without speaking to him, stood in the midst of his
apiary.
He was glad of the chance of being alone so as to
collect himself in face of the reality which had so sud-
denly come into vivid contrast with his recent state of
mind.
He remembered that he had already been angry with
Ivan, had shown coldness to his brother, and had spoken
foolishly with Katavasof.
" Can it be possible that my happiness was only a
transitory feeling, which will pass away, and leave no
trace behind .-* "
But at the same moment as he analyzed his state of
mind, he felt with joy that his experience had left new
and important results. Practical life had only temporarily
disturbed the spiritual calm which he had found ; but in
his heart it was still intact. Just as the bees, buzzing
around him, threatened him, and robbed him of his
physical calm, and compelled him to defend himself,
so did the cares which surrounded him, as he sat in his
little cart, disturb his spiritual calm ; but this lasted only
while he was in their midst. Just as his physical strength
was intact while he was defending himself against the
bees, so his newly attained spiritual power was also
unimpaired.
CHAPTER XV
" Do you know, Kostia, whom Sergyelf Ivanovitch
found on the train ? " said Dolly, after she had given
her children their cucumbers and honey. " Vronsky.
He 's going to Serbia."
"Yes! and not alone either. He's taking out a
squadron of cavalry at his own expense," said Katavasof.
"That's like him," answered Levin. "But are vol
ANNA KARENINA 381
unteers still going off ? " added he, looking at Sergyei
Ivanovitch.
Sergyei Ivanovitch was busy with a knife-blade rescu-
ing a live bee from the honey that had flowed out of the
white honeycomb at the bottom of his cup, and he did
not answer.
" Indeed ! I should say so ! " said Katavasof, biting
into a cucumber. " If you had only seen them at the
station this morning ! "
" Now, what an idea this is ! For Christ's sake, tell
me, SergyeT Ivanovitch, where all these volunteers are
going, and whom they are going to fight with ? " asked
the old prince, evidently pursuing a conversation which
they had begun before Levin joined them.
"With the Turks," answered Sergyei Ivanovitch,
smiling quietly, as he at last rescued the helpless honey-
smeared bee on the point of his knife, and set him on
an aspen leaf.
" But who has declared war on the Turks ? Is it Ivan
Ivanovitch Ragozof and the Countess Lidia Ivanovna
and Madame Stahl ? "
" No one has declared war ; but the people sympathize
with their oppressed brethren, and want to help them,"
said Sergyei Ivanovitch.
" The prince was not speaking of help, but of war,"
said Levin, coming to the assistance of his father-in-law.
" The prince means that private persons have no right
to take part in a war without being authorized by the
government."
" Kostia, look out ! there 's a bee ! Won't he sting ? "
cried Dolly, defending herself from a wasp.
" That 's not a bee ; that 's a wasp ! " said Levin.
" Come, now ! give us your theory," demanded Kata-
vasof, evidently provoking Levin to a discussion. " Why
shouldn't private persons have that right.''"
" Well, my theory is this : war, on the one hand, is
such a terrible, such an atrocious, thing that no man, at
least no Christian man, has the right to assume the
responsibility of beginning it ; but it belongs to govern-
ment alone, when it becomes inevitable. On the other
382 ANNA KARENINA
hand, both in law and in common sense, where there are
state questions, and above all in matters concerning war,
private citizens have no right to use their own wills."
Sergyei' Ivanovitch and Katavasof were both ready
at the same instant with answers.
"That's where you're mistaken, batyushka," said
Katavasof. "There may be cases when government
does not carry out the will of its citizens, and then
society declares its own will."
But Sergyelf Ivanovitch did not approve of this reply.
He frowned as Katavasof spoke, and put it another
way : —
"You state the question all wrong. Here there is no
declaration of war, but simply an expression of human,
of Christian, sympathy. Our brethren, men of the same
blood, the same faith, are butchered. Now, we do not
merely regard them as brethren and as corehgionists,
but as women, children, old men. Our feelings are
stirred, and the whole Russian people fly to help check
these horrors. Suppose you were walking in the street,
and saw a drunken man beating a woman or a child.
I think you would not stop to ask whether war had been
declared or had not been declared on such a man before
you attacked him and protected the object of his fury,"
" No ; but I should not kill him."
"Yes, you might even kill him."
" I don't know. If I saw such a sight, I might yield
to the immediate feeling. I cannot tell how it would
be. But in the oppression of the Slavs, there is not,
and cannot be, such a powerful motive."
" Perhaps not for you, but other people think differ-
ently," said Sergyelf Ivanovitch, angrily. " The people
still keep the tradition of sympathy with brethren of the
orthodox faith, who are groaning under the yoke of the
' unspeakable Turk.' They have heard of their terrible
sufferings, and are aroused."
"That may be," answered Levin, in a conciliatory
tone, "only I don't see it. I myself am one of the
people, and I don't feel it."
" I can say the same," put in the old prince, - " I was
ANNA KARENINA 383
living abroad ; I read the newspapers, and I learned
about the Bulgarian atrocities ; but I never could under-
stand why all Russia took such a sudden fancy for their
Slavic brethren. I am sure I never felt the slightest
love for them. I was greatly ashamed. I thought I
must be either a monster, or that Carlsbad had a bad
effect on me. But since I have come back, I don't feel
stirred at all ; and I find that I am not the only one
who is not so much interested in the Slav brethren as in
Russia. Here is Konstantin."
"Private opinions are of no consequence — there is
no meaning in private opinions — when all Russia, whe.n
the whole people, signified what they wished," said
Sergyeif Ivanovitch.
" Yes. Excuse me. I don't see this. The people
don't know anything," said the prince.
" But, papa, how about that Sunday in church .-' " said
Dolly, who had been listening to the conversation. —
" Get me a towel, please," she said in an aside to the
old bee-keeper, who was looking at the children with a
friendly smile. " It can't be that all ..,."
" Well ! What about that Sunday at church ? They
tell the priest to read a prayer. He reads it. Nobody
understands one word. They snore just as they do dur-
ing the whole sermon," continued the prince. " Then
they tell them that the salvation of their souls is in
question. Then they pull out their kopeks, and give
them, but why they have not the least idea,"
" The people cannot know their destiny. They have
an instinctive feeling, and at times Hke these they show
it," said Sergyef Ivanovitch, looking at the old bee-
keeper.
The handsome, tall old man, with his black beard,
wherein a few gray hairs were beginning to show, and
with his thick, silvery hair, stood motionless, holding a
cup of honey in his hand, looking at the gentlemen
with a mild, placid air, evidently not understanding a
word of the conversation, nor caring to understand.
He nodded his head with deliberation as he heard
SergyeY Ivanovitch's words, and said : —
384 ANNA KARENINA
" That 's certainly so."
"Well, now! Ask him about it," said Levin. "He
does n't know. He does n't think. — Have you heard
about the war, Mikhafluitch } " asked he of the old man.
" You know what was read on Sunday at church, don't
you .'' What do you think .-' Ought we to fight for the
Christians? "
" Why should we think .-' Our Emperor Aleksandet
Nikolayevitch will think for us, as in everything else.
He knows what to do. — Should you like some more
bread .-' shall I give some to the little lad ? " asked he,
turning to Darya Aleksandrovna, and pointing to Grisha,
who was munching a crust.
" What 's the use of asking him } " said Sergyeif Ivan-
ovitch. " We have seen, and still see, hundreds and
hundreds of men abandoning all they possess, giving
their last penny, enlisting and trooping from every
corner of Russia, all clearly and definitely expressing
their thought and purpose. What does that signify .-* "
" It signifies, in my opinion," said Levin, beginning
to get excited, " that out of eighty millions of men, there
will always be found hundreds, and even thousands,
who have lost their social position, are restless, and are
ready to take up the first adventure that comes along,
whether it is to follow Pugatchof or to go to Khiva or
to fight in Serbia."
" I tell you they are not adventurers who devote them-
selves to this work, but they are the best representatives
of the nation," cried SergyeY Ivanuitch, excitedly, as
if he were defending his last position. " There are the
contributions ; is n't that a test of popular feeling ? "
" That word ' people ' is so vague," said Levin ; " long-
haired scribblers, professors, and perhaps one in a thou-
sand among the peasants understand what it is all about,
but the rest of the eighty millions do as Mikhailuitch
here does. They not only don't express their will, but
they have n't the slightest idea that they have any will
to express. What right, then, have we to say that this
is the will of the people ? "
ANNA KARENINA 385
CHAPTER XVI
Sergyei Ivanovitch was skilled in dialectics, and
without replying he took up another side of the ques-
tion.
" Yes, if you want to get at the mind of the nation by
an arithmetical process, of course it will be very hard
work. We have not the proper gifts, and cannot reckon
it that way. But there are other means of learning it
besides arithmetic. It is felt in the air, it is felt in the
heart, not to speak of those submarine currents which
flow through the stagnant ocean of the people and which
are evident to every unprejudiced person. Take society
in a narrower sense. Take the intelligent classes, and
see how on this point even the most hostile parties com-
bine. There is no longer a difference of opinions ; all
the organs of society express the same thing. They
have all become aware of an elemental force which fills
the nation with its own motive power."
" Yes ; the newspapers all say the same thing, that
is true," said the old prince, "but then, so do all the
frogs croak before a storm. That does n't signify much."
" Whether frogs or not, — I don't edit newspapers,
and I don't set up to defend them. I am talking of
the unanimity of opinion among intelligent people,"
said Sergyei Ivanovitch, turning to his brother.
Levin was about to reply, but the old prince took the
words from his mouth : — .
" Well, something else may be said in regard to that
unanimity. Here 's my son-in-law, Stepan Arkadyevitch,
you know. He has just been appointed member of some
committee, commission, or other, — I don't know what,
— with a salary of eight thousand a year, and nothing
to do. — Now, Dolly, that's not a secret. — Ask him if
his office is useful ; he will tell you that it is indispensa-
ble. And he is an upright man ; but you could not
make him cease to believe in his full eight thousand
salary."
" Oh, yes ! he told me to tell Darya Aleksandrovna
VOL. III. — 25
386 ANNA KARENINA
that he had got that place," said Sergyef Ivanovitch,
angrily, considering that the prince's remark was not
a propos.
** Of course the newspapers are unanimous. That is
easily explained. War will double their circulation.
How can they help supporting the Slavic question and
the national instinct .'' "
" I don't like many of the papers, but you are unjust,"
said SergyeT Ivanovitch.
" I will only add one more suggestion," said the old
prince. "Alphonse Karr wrote a clever thing just
before the Franco-Prussian war, when he said, * You
say this war is absolutely necessary ? very good ; go to
the front, then, and be under the first fire, and lead the
first onslaught.' "
" Good editors would be glad to do that," said Katava-
sof, with a loud laugh, and trying to imagine certain
editorial friends of his in this chosen legion.
"Yes ; but when they ran away," said Dolly, " they 'd
bother the others."
" Just as soon as they begin to run put a miimilleuse
behind them, or some Cossacks with whips," said the
prince.
'* Well, that 's a joke, but not a very good joke ; excuse
me, prince," said Sergyel Ivanovitch.
** I don't think it was a joke," said Levin ; " it was .... "
But his brother interrupted him.
"Every member of society is called upon to do his
duty," said he, " and thoughtful men perform theirs by
giving expression to public opinion ; and the unanimous
and full expression of public opinion is creditable to the
press, and at the same time a good symptom. Twenty
years ago we should have kept quiet ; to-day we hear
the voice of the Russian people, which is ready to rise
like one man, and ready to sacrifice itself for its op-
pressed brethren. It is a great step taken, — a proof
of power."
"Yes, not only to avenge their brethren, but to kill
the Turks," said Levin, timidly. " The people will
sacrifice itself and be ready to sacrifice itself for the
ANNA KARENINA 387
salvation of their souls, but not for murder," he added,
involuntarily connecting this conversation with the
thoughts of the morning.
"What do you mean by soul? That, to a naturalist,
you must remember, is a very puzzling expression.
What is the soul?" demanded Katavasof, with a smile.
" Oh, you know."
"Ton my word,^ I haven't the least idea," and the
professor broke into a burst of laughter.
" Christ said, * I am come not to bring peace, but a
sword,' " remarked Sergyei" Ivanovitch, quoting as simply
as if it were something comprehensible, a passage from
the Gospel which had always troubled Levin.
"That's just so," repeated the old bee-keeper, who
had been standing near them, in response to a chance
look directed to him.
" Come, batyushka, you 're beaten, you 're beaten, —
wholly beaten ! " cried Katavasof, gayly.
Levin reddened with vexation, not because he was
beaten, but because he had been drawn into discussion
again.
" No ; it is impossible for me to dispute with them,"
he thought; "their armor is impenetrable, and I am
defenseless."
He saw that he could not defeat his brother and Kata-
vasof, and it was equally impossible to agree with them.
Their arguments were the fruit of that same pride of the
intellect which had almost ruined him. He could not
admit that a handful of men, his brother among them,
had the right, on the ground of what was told them by
a few hundred eloquent volunteers who came to the
capital, to claim that they and the newspapers expressed
the will and sentiment of the people, especially when
this sentiment expressed itself in vengeance and
butchery.
He could not agree with this because he did not dis-
cover the expression of these thoughts among the peo-
ple in whose midst he lived, and he did not find them in
himself — and he could not consider himself as anything
1 Vot yet Bogu, literally, "Here by God."
388 ANNA KARENINA
else than one of the men constituting the Russian na-
tion — but principally because he did not, any more than
the rest of men, know — nor could he know — what con-
stituted the general good ; but he firmly believed that the
attainment of this general good was brought about only
by the strenuous fulfilment of that law of right which is
revealed to every one, and therefore he could not desire
war, or preach it as a means of attaining any general
end whatever.
He and Mikhaflovitch, and the people in general, ex-
pressed themselves in somewhat the same language as
was used when the early Russians invited the Variags
to come from Scandinavia : —
" Come and rule over us, we gladly promise absolute
submission. We are enduring all trials, all humilia-
tions, all sacrifices, but we do not judge and we do not
decide."
And now, according to SergyeT Ivanovitch, the peo-
ple were ready to turn their backs on a right which they
had purchased at such a price !
He wanted to say in addition that if the general opin-
ion is an infallible judge, then why should not the Revo-
lution, the Commune, be as useful to the Slavs as law-
ful means ?
But all these were thoughts which could not decide
anything. The only thing that he could clearly see was
that at the present moment the discussion was exasper-
ating to Sergyef Ivanovitch, and therefore it was wrong
to discuss it. So Levin held his peace, and turned the
attention of his guests to the clouds that were rolling up,
and he advised them to hurry home if they did not want
to get wet.
CHAPTER XVII
The prince and Sergyeif Ivanovitch seated themselves
in the cart and drove on ; the rest of the party, quick-
ening their steps, started back on foot.
But the thunder-storm, white on top, black under
ANNA KARENINA 389
neath, came up so rapidly that they had to hurry so as
to reach the house before the rain was on them. The
clouds coming on as the vanguard, hung low, were as black
as soot, and drove across the sky with extraordinary
rapidity. They had reached within two hundred feet of
the house, and already the wind had begun to rise, and
the downpour might be expected at any second.
The children ran on ahead laughing and screaming
with delight and terror. Darya Aleksandrovna, strug-
gling with her skirts, which the wind blew round her
legs, no longer walked, but ran, not letting the children
out of her sight. The gentlemen, holding on their hats
with difficulty, walked with long strides. They had just
reached the porch when the great drops began to strike
and splash against the edge of the iron gutter. The
children, and just behind them their elders, with gay
exclamations ran under the shelter of the porch.
" Where is Katerina Aleksandrovna ? " asked Levin
of Agafya Mikhailovna, who was coming out of the
door, loaded with shawls and plaids.
" We supposed she was with you."
" And Mitya ? "
" He must be in the Kolok woods with his nurse."
Levin seized the plaids, and started for Kolok.
In the few minutes that had elapsed, the storm had
reached beyond the sun, and it was as dark as if there
was an eclipse. The wind blew obstinately as if insist-
ing on its own way, tried to stop Levin, and, tearing
off the leaves and flowers from the lindens, and rudely
and strangely baring the white branches of the birches,
bent everything to one side, — acacias, flowers, bur-
docks, the grass, and the tree-tops. The girls working
in the garden ran squealing under the shelter of the
servants' quarters. The white screen of the pouring
rain had already cut off the distant forest and half of
the adjacent field, and was rapidly advancing on Kolok.
The dampness of the shower was felt in the atmosphere
like fine drops.
Bending his head, and fighting vigorously against the
gale, which tugged at his shawls, Levin was already on
390 ANNA KARENINA
his way to Kolok. He thought he already saw white
forms behind a well-known oak, when suddenly a glare
of light seemed to burst from the ground before him,
and the vault of the sky above him to fall with a crash.
When he opened his dazzled eyes, he looked through
the thick curtain formed by the rain, which cut him off
from the Kolok woods, and saw, to his horror, that the
green top of a well-known oak which stood in the forest
had strangely changed its position. Even before he
could ask, " Can the lightning have struck it ? " he saw
it bending over more and more rapidly, and then disap-
pearing behind the other trees, and he heard the crash
the great oak made as it fell, carrying with it the neigh-
boring trees. The glare of the lightning, the crash of
the thunder, and the sensation of chill running over his
whole body blended for Levin in one impression of
horror.
"My God! my God! keep them safe," he ex-
claimed.
And though he instantly felt the absurdity of the
prayer, since the oak had already fallen, he neverthe-
less said it over and over, for he knew that, absurd as
it was, he could not do anything else to help them.
He hastened toward the spot where they generally
went, but he did not find them. They were in another
part of the woods under an old linden, and they called
to him. Two figures dressed in dark clothes — they
usually wore white — were bending over something
under the trees. It was Kitty and the nurse. The
rain had stopped, and it was beginning to grow lighter
when Levin reached them. The bottom of the nurse's
dress was dry, but Kitty's gown was wet through and
clung to her. Though it was no longer raining, they
were standing just as they had been when the shower
began. Both were leaning over the baby-carriage, with
its green parasol.
•* Alive ^ safe ? God be praised ! " he cried, as, splash-
ing through the puddles, he ran to them with his shoes
full of water.
Kitty's glowing face, all wet, was turned to him, and
ANNA KARENINA 391
she smiled timidly from under her hat, which had lost
its shape in the rain.
" There now, are n't you ashamed ? I can't understand
how you could do such a careless thing," he began, in
his vexation scolding his wife.
" Goodness,^ it was not my fault. We were just start-
ing to go when he began to be restless. We had to
change him. We were just ...." Kitty said, trying to
defend herself.
Mitya was safe, dry, and still soundly sleeping.
" Well ! God be thanked ! I don't know what I 'm
saying."
They hastily picked up the wet diapers, the nurse took
the baby, and Levin, ashamed of his vexation, gave his
arm to his wife, and led her away, pressing her hand
gently.
CHAPTER XVIII
In the course of all that day, during the most varied
conversations in which Levin took part, as it were, only
with the external side of his mind, and notwithstanding
his disillusion at finding that the moral regeneration had
not taken place in his nature after all, he did not cease
to be pleasantly conscious that his heart was full.
After the shower, it was too wet to go out for a walk,
and, moreover, other threatening clouds were piling up
on the horizon, and here and there reaching up high into
the sky, black, and laden with thunder. All the house-
hold spent the rest of the day within doors.
Discussions were avoided, and after dinner all were in
the gayest frame of mind.
Katavasof at first kept the ladies laughing by his
original turns of wit, which always pleased people when
they made his acquaintance ; then afterward being drawn
out by Sergyei" Ivanovitch, he related his very interesting
observations on the different characteristics and features
of male and female flies, and their habits.
^ Yet Bogn.
392 ANNA KARENINA
SergyeY Ivanovitch also was very gay ; and at tea he
explained the future of the Eastern question so simply
and well that all could follow him. Kitty alone did not
hear him. She had been summoned to the nursery to
give Mitya his bath.
A few moments after Kitty had left the room, Levin
also was called to follow her.
Leaving his tea, and feeling regretful at having an
interesting conversation interrupted, and at the same
time troubled because they had called him to the nur-
sery, a thing which had hitherto happened only in cases
of emergency, Levin followed his wife.
In spite of the fact that he was greatly interested in
his brother's partly outlined scheme of making thf?
newly enfranchised world of forty millions of Slavs join
with Russia in establishing a new epoch in history — for
it was something entirely novel to him, in spite of his
curiosity and anxiety at having been summoned to the
nursery, as soon as he had left the drawing-room and
was once more alone, he immediately remembered his
thoughts of the morning. And all these theories as to
the significance of the Slav element in the universal his-
tory seemed to him so insignificant in comparison with
what was taking place in his own soul, that for a mo-
ment he forgot all about it, and returned to the moral
state that had so delighted him at the beginning of the
day.
This time he did not wholly retrace the course of
thought which had led him to this state of mind, nor
was it necessary. He was borne immediately back to
that feeling which had guided him, which had been con-
nected with those thoughts, and he now found the feel-
ing stronger and more definite in his soul than ever be-
fore. Now there was no longer what had always marked
his previous imaginary attempts at gaining spiritual
calmness, when he had been obhged to call a halt to the
whole course of his thoughts in order to find the feel-
ing ; now, on the contrary, the feeling of joy and calm-
ness was more vivid than before, but thought did not
overtake the feeling. He walked along the terrace, and
ANNA KARENINA 393
saw two stars glowing in the already darkening sky, and
suddenly he remembered a course of reasoning : —
"Yes," said he to himself, "as I looked at the heav-
ens I thought that the vault which I gaze at is not a lie.
But there was the something that remained half thought
out in my mind, — something that I hid from myself.
Now, what was it .'' There cannot be an answer. If
one could think it out, all things would be explained."
Just as he entered the child's chamber, he remem-
bered what it was that he hid from himself. It was
this : —
" If the chief proof of the existence of God lies in
th^ revelation of good, why should this revelation be
limited to the Christian Church .-' How about those
millions of Buddhists and Mohammedans, who are also
seeking for the truth and doing right ? "
It seemed to him that there must be an answer to
this question, but he could not find and express it before
entering the room.
Kitty, with her sleeves rolled up, was bending over
the bath-tub, in which she was washing the baby. As
she heard her husband's steps, she turned her face to
him, and with a smile called him to her. With one
hand she was supporting the head of the plump little
fellow, who was floating on his back in the water and
kicking with his legs ; with the other she was squeezing
the sponge on him.
" Come here ! look, look ! " said she, as her husband
came up to , her. " Agafya Mikhailovna is right ; he
knows us."
The fact was that Mitya to-day for the first time gave
indubitable proof that he knew his friends.
As soon as Levin went to the bath-tub, the experi-
ment was tried, and it was wholly successful. A cook,
who was called for the purpose, bent over the tub. The
baby frowned and shook his head. Kitty bent over him,
and he smiled radiantly, and clung with his little hands
to the sponge and sucked with his lips, producing such
a strange and contented sound that not only the mother
and the nurse, but Levin himself, were enchanted
394 ANNA KARENINA
They took the baby from the water, wiped him, and,
after he had expressed his disapprobation with a pierc-
ing scream, they gave him to his mother.
" Well, I am very glad to see that you begin to love
him," said Kitty, as she sat down in a comfortable seat,
with the child at her breast. " I am very glad. It
really troubled me when you said you had n't any feel-
ing for him."
" No ! did I say that I had no feeling for him ? I
only said that I was disappointed."
" How were you disappointed .-' "
" I was n't disappointed in him, but in the feeling
that he would arouse. I expected more. I expected .as
a surprise some new and pleasant feeling ; and instead
of that, it was pity, disgust."
She listened to him as she put on her slender fingers
the rings which she had taken off while bathing the
baby.
"And more of fear and pity than of satisfaction. I
never knew until to-day, after the storm, how I loved
him."
Kitty smiled with radiant joy.
" Were you very much afraid ? " she asked. " And
so was I. But it seems more terrible to me now when
the danger is all past. I shall go and look at the
oak to-morrow. How nice Katavasof is ! Well, the
whole day has been so pleasant. You are so delightful
with your brother when you want to be Well, go to
them. It is always hot and stifling here after the
bath."
CHAPTER XIX
Levin, on leaving the nursery and finding himself
alone, began to follow out his line of thought, in which
there had been something obscure.
Instead of going back to the drawing-room, where he
heard the sound of voices, he remained on the terrace,
and, leaning over the balustrade of the terrace, he looked
ANNA KARENINA 395
at the sky. It had grown very dark, and there was not
a cloud in the south where he was looking. The clouds
were all in the opposite quarter. From time to time it
would lighten, and the distant thunder would be heard.
Levin listened to the drops of rain falling rhythmically
from the lindens, and looked at the stars and then at the
Milky Way. Whenever the lightning flashed, then not
only the Milky Way but also the bright stars would dis-
appear from his vision ; but by the time the thunder
sounded they would reappear in their places as if a
careful hand had readjusted them in the firmament.
"Well, now what is it that troubles me."*" Levin
asked himself, already beginning to feel that a resolu-
tion of his doubts, though it had not yet become a
matter of knowledge, was ready in his soul.
" Yes, there is one evident, indubitable manifestation
of the Divinity, and that is the laws of right which are
made known to the world through Revelation, and of
which I am conscious as existing in myself, and in the
recognition of them I am in spite of myself, willingly
or unwillingly, united with other men into one brother-
hood of believers, which is called the Church.
" Yes ; but are Hebrews, Confucians, Mohammedans,
Buddhists, in the same relation .'' " he asked himself, re-
curring to the dilemma which had seemed so portentous
to him. "Can these hundreds of millions of men be
deprived of the greatest of blessings, of that which
alone gives a meaning to life ? "
He paused, but immediately recovered his train of
thought.
"What am I asking myself.?
" I am questioning the relation of the various forms
of human belief to Divinity. I am questioning the rela-
tion of God to the whole universe, with all its nebulae.
But what am I doing ? And at the moment when
knowledge, sure, though inaccessible to reason, is re-
vealed to me, shall I still persist in dragging in
logic ?
" Do I not know that the stars do not move ? " said he,
noticing the change that had taken place in the position
396 ANNA KARENINA
of the brilliant planet which he had seen rising over the
birches; "but, seeing the stars change place, and not
being able to imagine the revolution of the earth, then
I should be right in saying that they moved. Could
the astronomers have made any calculations, and gained
any knowledge, if they had taken into consideration the
varied and complicated motions of the earth ? Have
not their marvelous conclusions as to the distances, the
weight, the motions, and revolutions of the celestial
bodies all been based on the apparent movements of
the stars around a motionless earth, — these very move-
ments which I now witness, as millions of men for
centuries have witnessed them, and which can always
be verified ? And just as the conclusions of the astrono-
mers would have been inaccurate and false if they had
not been based on their observations of the heavens
such as they appeared relatively to a single meridian
and a single horizon, so all my conclusions as to the
knowledge of good and evil would be inaccurate and
false if they were not founded on that comprehension
of good and evil which for all men always has been and
always will be one and the same, and which Christianity
has revealed to me and which my soul can always verify.
The relations of human belief to God must, for me, re-
main unfathomable; to search them out belongs not
to me."
"Haven't you gone in yet.''" said Kitty's voice, sud-
denly. She was on her way to the drawing-room by
the way of the terrace. " There 's nothing that troubles
you, is there ? " asked she, looking wistfully up into her
husband's face and trying to study its expression by the
starlight. By the light of a flash of lightning on the
horizon, she saw that he was calm and happy, and she
smiled.
" She understands me," thought he. " She knows
what I am thinking. Shall I tell her, or not ? Yes, I
will tell her."
But just as he was about to speak, Kitty broke in.
" Kostia," said she, " do be so kind and go to the cor-
ner room and see how they have arranged for Sergyel
ANNA KARENINA 397
Ivanovitch. I don't like to. See if they put in the new
washstand properly."
" Certainly, I '11 go," answered Levin, rising, and kiss-
ing her.
" No ; better be silent," thought he, as she went past ;
" this secret has no importance save for me alone, and
words could not explain it. This new feeling has neither
changed me nor suddenly enlightened me nor made me
happy, as I imagined it would. It is just like my feel-
ing for my son. There is no element of surprise in it.
But it is faith .... no, not faith .... I know not what it is.
But the feeling stole into my soul through suffering, and
there it is firmly established.
" I shall continue to be vexed with Ivan the coach-
man, and get into useless discussions, and express
my thoughts blunderingly. I shall always be blaming
my wife for what annoys me, and repenting at once. I
shall always feel a certain barrier between the Holy of
Holies of my inmost soul, and the souls of others, even
my wife's. I shall continue to pray without being able
to explain to myself why. But my whole life, every
moment of my life, independently of whatever may
happen to me, will be, not meaningless as before, but
full of the deep meaning which I shall have the power
to impress upon it."
THE END
University of California
SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
Return this material to the library
from which it was borrowed.
«-^
klLA
A 000 132 743 6
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11