Page 401 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

those creatures which seem only not to speak because the
mechanism of their mouth does not allow them to.
To Vronsky, at any rate, it seemed that she understood
all he felt at that moment, looking at her.

Directly Vronsky went towards her, she drew in a deep
breath, and, turning back her prominent eye till the white
looked bloodshot, she started at the approaching figures
from the opposite side, shaking her muzzle, and shifting
lightly from one leg to the other.
‘There, you see how fidgety she is,’ said the
Englishman.
‘There, darling! There!’ said Vronsky, going up to the
mare and speaking soothingly to her.
But the nearer he came, the more excited she grew.
Only when he stood by her head, she was suddenly
quieter, while the muscles quivered under her soft,
delicate coat. Vronsky patted her strong neck, straightened
over her sharp withers a stray lock of her mane that had
fallen on the other side, and moved his face near her
dilated nostrils, transparent as a bat’s wing. She drew a
loud breath and snorted out through her tense nostrils,
started, pricked up her sharp ear, and put out her strong,
black lip towards Vronsky, as though she would nip hold
of his sleeve. But remembering the muzzle, she shook it

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