Page 994 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

Chapter 6

When the ceremony of plighting troth was over, the
beadle spread before the lectern in the middle of the
church a piece of pink silken stuff, the choir sang a
complicated and elaborate psalm, in which the bass and
tenor sang responses to one another, and the priest turning
round pointed the bridal pair to the pink silk rug. Though
both had often heard a great deal about the saying that the
one who steps first on the rug will be the head of the
house, neither Levin nor Kitty were capable of
recollecting it, as they took the few steps towards it. They
did not hear the loud remarks and disputes that followed,
some maintaining he had stepped on first, and others that
both had stepped on together.
After the customary questions, whether they desired to
enter upon matrimony, and whether they were pledged to
anyone else, and their answers, which sounded strange to
themselves, a new ceremony began. Kitty listened to the
words of the prayer, trying to make out their meaning, but
she could not. The feeling of triumph and radiant
happiness flooded her soul more and more as the

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