Page 1277 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

bye, gentlemen. If it’s fun, I’ll fetch you. You’ve treated
me to some good sport, and I won’t forget you.’
‘He really is a capital fellow, isn’t he?’ said Stepan
Arkadyevitch, when Veslovsky had gone out and the

peasant had closed the door after him.
‘Yes, capital,’ answered Levin, still thinking of the
subject of their conversation just before. It seemed to him
that he had clearly expressed his thoughts and feelings to
the best of his capacity, and yet both of them,
straightforward men and not fools, had said with one voice
that he was comforting himself with sophistries. This
disconcerted him.
‘It’s just this, my dear boy. One must do one of two
things: either admit that the existing order of society is
just, and then stick up for one’s rights in it; or
acknowledge that you are enjoying unjust privileges, as I
do, and then enjoy them and be satisfied.’
‘No, if it were unjust, you could not enjoy these
advantages and be satisfied—at least I could not. The great
thing for me is to feel that I’m not to blame.’
‘What do you say, why not go after all?’ said Stepan
Arkadyevitch, evidently weary of the strain of thought.
‘We shan’t go to sleep, you know. Come, let’s go!’

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