Page 358 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

Chapter 15

The place fixed on for the stand-shooting was not far
above a stream in a little aspen copse. On reaching the
copse, Levin got out of the trap and led Oblonsky to a
corner of a mossy, swampy glade, already quite free from
snow. He went back himself to a double birch tree on the
other side, and leaning his gun on the fork of a dead lower
branch, he took off his full overcoat, fastened his belt
again, and worked his arms to see if they were free.
Gray old Laska, who had followed them, sat down
warily opposite him and pricked up her ears. The sun was
setting behind a thick forest, and in the glow of sunset the
birch trees, dotted about in the aspen copse, stood out
clearly with their hanging twigs, and their buds swollen
almost to bursting.
From the thickest parts of the copse, where the snow
still remained, came the faint sound of narrow winding
threads of water running away. Tiny birds twittered, and
now and then fluttered from tree to tree.
In the pauses of complete stillness there came the rustle
of last year’s leaves, stirred by the thawing of the earth and
the growth of the grass.

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