Page 255 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

‘I am listening,’ answered Vronsky, rubbing himself
with a rough towel.
‘Up comes the Grand Duchess with some ambassador
or other, and, as ill-luck would have it, she begins talking

to him about the new helmets. The Grand Duchess
positively wanted to show the new helmet to the
ambassador. They see our friend standing there.’ (Petritsky
mimicked how he was standing with the helmet.) ‘The
Grand Duchess asked him to give her the helmet; he
doesn’t give it to her. What do you think of that? Well,
every one’s winking at him, nodding, frowning—give it
to her, do! He doesn’t give it to her. He’s mute as a fish.
Only picture it!... Well, the...what’s his name, whatever
he was...tries to take the helmet from him...he won’t give
it up!... He pulls it from him, and hands it to the Grand
Duchess. ‘Here, your Highness,’ says he, ‘is the new
helmet.’ She turned the helmet the other side up, And—
just picture it!—plop went a pear and sweetmeats out of it,
two pounds of sweetmeats!...He’d been storing them up,
the darling!’
Vronsky burst into roars of laughter. And long
afterwards, when he was talking of other things, he broke
out into his healthy laugh, showing his strong, close rows
of teeth, when he thought of the helmet.

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