Anna Karenina - Part 3

"I've seen it.... The little house covered with ivy, isn't it?"

"Yes; that's Nastia's work," she said, indicating her sister.

"You teach in it yourself?" asked Levin, trying to look above the

open neck, but feeling that wherever he looked in that direction

he should see it.

"Yes; I used to teach in it myself, and do teach still, but we

have a first-rate schoolmistress now. And we've started

gymnastic exercises."

"No, thank you, I won't have any more tea," said Levin, and

conscious of doing a rude thing, but incapable of continuing the

conversation, he got up, blushing. "I hear a very interesting

conversation," he added, and walked to the other end of the

table, where Sviazhsky was sitting with the two gentlemen of the

neighborhood. Sviazhsky was sitting sideways, with one elbow on

the table, and a cup in one hand, while with the other hand he

gathered up his beard, held it to his nose and let it drop again,

as though he were smelling it. His brilliant black eyes were

looking straight at the excited country gentleman with gray

whiskers, and apparently he derived amusement from his remarks.

The gentleman was complaining of the peasants. It was evident to

Levin that Sviazhsky knew an answer to this gentleman's

complaints, which would at once demolish his whole contention,

but that in his position he could not give utterance to this

answer, and listened, not without pleasure, to the landowner's

comic speeches.

The gentleman with the gray whiskers was obviously an inveterate

adherent of serfdom and a devoted agriculturist, who had lived

all his life in the country. Levin saw proofs of this in his

dress, in the old-fashioned threadbare coat, obviously not his

everyday attire, in his shrewd, deep-set eyes, in his idiomatic,

fluent Russian, in the imperious tone that had become habitual

from long use, and in the resolute gestures of his large, red,

sunburnt hands, with an old betrothal ring on the little finger.