Page 1267 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

that Veslovsky, bent and stumbling with weariness,
holding his gun out at arm’s length, was making his way
out of the marsh towards the peasants.
‘You come too!’ the peasants shouted to Levin. ‘Never

fear! You taste our cake!’
Levin felt a strong inclination to drink a little vodka
and to eat some bread. He was exhausted, and felt it a
great effort to drag his staggering legs out of the mire, and
for a minute he hesitated. But Laska was setting. And
immediately all his weariness vanished, and he walked
lightly through the swamp towards the dog. A snipe flew
up at his feet; he fired and killed it. Laska still pointed.—
‘Fetch it!’ Another bird flew up close to the dog. Levin
fired. But it was an unlucky day for him; he missed it, and
when he went to look for the one he had shot, he could
not find that either. He wandered all about the reeds, but
Laska did not believe he had shot it, and when he sent her
to find it, she pretended to hunt for it, but did not really.
And in the absence of Vassenka, on whom Levin threw
the blame of his failure, things went no better. There were
plenty of snipe still, but Levin made one miss after
another.
The slanting rays of the sun were still hot; his clothes,
soaked through with perspiration, stuck to his body; his

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