Anna Karenina (Marian Schwartz Translation) by Leo Tolstoy

Author:Leo Tolstoy [Tolstoy, Leo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature
ISBN: 9780300203943
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 1877-01-01T16:00:00+00:00

15

The streets were still deserted. Levin set out for the Shcherbatsky house. The front doors were locked and everyone was asleep. He started back, went to his room again, and asked for coffee. The day servant, no longer Egor, brought it to him. Levin wanted to start a conversation, but someone rang for the servant and he left. Levin tried to sip his coffee and put a bun in his mouth, but his mouth definitely did not know what to do with the bun. Levin spat out the bun, put on his coat, and went out for a walk again. It was past nine when he arrived for the second time on the Shcherbatskys’ front steps. In the house they had just gotten up, and the cook was on his way to get provisions. He would have to live through at least two more hours.

All this night and morning Levin had been living perfectly unconsciously and had felt totally removed from the conditions of material life. He had not eaten for an entire day, had not slept for two nights, had spent several hours without a coat in the frost and felt not only fresher and haler than ever but perfectly independent of his body. He moved without any effort of his muscles and felt he could do anything. He was certain he could fly or move the corner of a building if need be. He spent the remaining time walking through the streets, constantly looking at his watch and looking from side to side.

What he saw then he never saw again. In particular the children on their way to school, the doves flying down from the rooftops to the sidewalk, and the flour-dusted batch bread, set out by an invisible hand, touched him. The bread, the doves, and the two boys were unearthly creatures. All this happened simultaneously: a boy ran up to a dove and, smiling, glanced at Levin; the dove fluttered its wings and darted off, gleaming in the sun between flakes of snow trembling in the air; and from a window he could smell freshly baked bread and the buns were set out. All this taken together was so unusually fine that Levin laughed and cried from joy. Having made a large circle along Gazetny Lane and Kislovka, he returned again to the hotel, and placing his watch before him, sat down, waiting for twelve o’clock. In the next room they were saying something about machines and trickery and coughing a morning cough. They didn’t realize the hand was approaching twelve. The hand reached it. Levin came out on the front steps. The drivers obviously knew everything. They surrounded Levin with happy faces, arguing among themselves and offering their services. Trying not to offend the other drivers and promising to ride with them as well, Levin took one and ordered him to drive to the Shcherbatskys’. The driver was splendid in his white shirt collar, which poked out from under his coat and fit snugly around his strong, red, muscled neck.

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