Page 1073 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

Chapter 18

Levin could not look calmly at his brother; he could
not himself be natural and calm in his presence. When he
went in to the sick man, his eyes and his attention were
unconsciously dimmed, and he did not see and did not
distinguish the details of his brother’s position. He smelt
the awful odor, saw the dirt, disorder, and miserable
condition, and heard the groans, and felt that nothing
could be done to help. It never entered his head to analyze
the details of the sick man’s situation, to consider how that
body was lying under the quilt, how those emaciated legs
and thighs and spine were lying huddled up, and whether
they could not be made more comfortable, whether
anything could not be done to make things, if not better,
at least less bad. It made his blood run cold when he began
to think of all these details. He was absolutely convinced
that nothing could be done to prolong his brother’s life or
to relieve his suffering. But a sense of his regarding all aid
as out of the question was felt by the sick man, and
exasperated him. And this made it still more painful for
Levin. To be in the sick-room was agony to him, not to
be there still worse. And he was continually, on various

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