Page 564 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

‘Quite satisfied. We cut the whole meadow. And such
a splendid old man I made friends with there! You can’t
fancy how delightful he was!’
‘Well, so you’re content with your day. And so am I.

First, I solved two chess problems, and one a very pretty
one—a pawn opening. I’ll show it you. And then—I
thought over our conversation yesterday.’
‘Eh! our conversation yesterday?’ said Levin, blissfully
dropping his eyelids and drawing deep breaths after
finishing his dinner, and absolutely incapable of recalling
what their conversation yesterday was about.
‘I think you are partly right. Our difference of opinion
amounts to this, that you make the mainspring self-
interest, while I suppose that interest in the common weal
is bound to exist in every man of a certain degree of
advancement. Possibly you are right too, that action
founded on material interest would be more desirable.
You are altogether, as the French say, too primesautiere a
nature; you must have intense, energetic action, or
nothing.’
Levin listened to his brother and did not understand a
single word, and did not want to understand. He was only
afraid his brother might ask him some question which
would make it evident he had not heard.

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