Page 1567 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

as he waited at the study door, and still more from the
faces of his father and uncle, he guessed that they must
have been talking of his mother. And to avoid
condemning the father with whom he lived and on whom

he was dependent, and, above all, to avoid giving way to
sentimentality, which he considered so degrading,
Seryozha tried not to look at his uncle who had come to
disturb his peace of mind, and not to think of what he
recalled to him.
But when Stepan Arkadyevitch, going out after him,
saw him on the stairs, and calling to him, asked him how
he spent his playtime at school, Seryozha talked more
freely to him away from his father’s presence.
‘We have a railway now,’ he said in answer to his
uncle’s question. ‘It’s like this, do you see: two sit on a
bench— they’re the passengers; and one stands up straight
on the bench. And all are harnessed to it by their arms or
by their belts, and they run through all the rooms—the
doors are left open beforehand. Well, and it’s pretty hard
work being the conductor!’
‘That’s the one that stands?’ Stepan Arkadyevitch
inquired, smiling.

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