Page 754 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

On the 30th of September the sun came out in the
morning, and hoping for fine weather, Levin began
making final preparations for his journey. He gave orders
for the wheat to be delivered, sent the bailiff to the

merchant to get the money owing him, and went out
himself to give some final directions on the estate before
setting off.
Having finished all his business, soaked through with
the streams of water which kept running down the leather
behind his neck and his gaiters, but in the keenest and
most confident temper, Levin returned homewards in the
evening. The weather had become worse than ever
towards evening; the hail lashed the drenched mare so
cruelly that she went along sideways, shaking her head and
ears; but Levin was all right under his hood, and he looked
cheerfully about him at the muddy streams running under
the wheels, at the drops hanging on every bare twig, at the
whiteness of the patch of unmelted hailstones on the
planks of the bridge, at the thick layer of still juicy, fleshy
leaves that lay heaped up about the stripped elm-tree. In
spite of the gloominess of nature around him, he felt
peculiarly eager. The talks he had been having with the
peasants in the further village had shown that they were
beginning to get used to their new position. The old

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