Page 58 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

‘Well, how is your district council doing?’ asked Sergey
Ivanovitch, who was greatly interested in these local
boards and attached great importance to them.
‘I really don’t know.’

‘What! Why, surely you’re a member of the board?’
‘No, I’m not a member now; I’ve resigned,’ answered
Levin, ‘and I no longer attend the meetings.’
‘What a pity!’ commented Sergey Ivanovitch,
frowning.
Levin in self-defense began to describe what took place
in the meetings in his district.
‘That’s how it always is!’ Sergey Ivanovitch interrupted
him. ‘We Russians are always like that. Perhaps it’s our
strong point, really, the faculty of seeing our own
shortcomings; but we overdo it, we comfort ourselves
with irony which we always have on the tip of our
tongues. All I say is, give such rights as our local self-
government to any other European people—why, the
Germans or the English would have worked their way to
freedom from them, while we simply turn them into
ridicule.’
‘But how can it be helped?’ said Levin penitently. ‘It
was my last effort. And I did try with all my soul. I can’t.
I’m no good at it.’

57 of 1759