Page 1284 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

rose from it, thicker in one place and thinner in another,
so that the reeds and willow bushes swayed like islands in
this mist. At the edge of the marsh and the road, peasant
boys and men, who had been herding for the night, were

lying, and in the dawn all were asleep under their coats.
Not far from them were three hobbled horses. One of
them clanked a chain. Laska walked beside her master,
pressing a little forward and looking round. Passing the
sleeping peasants and reaching the first reeds, Levin
examined his pistols and let his dog off. One of the horses,
a sleek, dark-brown three-year-old, seeing the dog, started
away, switched its tail and snorted. The other horses too
were frightened, and splashing through the water with
their hobbled legs, and drawing their hoofs out of the
thick mud with a squelching sound, they bounded out of
the marsh. Laska stopped, looking ironically at the horses
and inquiringly at Levin. Levin patted Laska, and whistled
as a sign that she might begin.
Laska ran joyfully and anxiously through the slush that
swayed under her.
Running into the marsh among the familiar scents of
roots, marsh plants, and slime, and the extraneous smell of
horse dung, Laska detected at once a smell that pervaded
the whole marsh, the scent of that strong-smelling bird

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