‘And what of it? I haven’t stopped thinking about death,’ said Levin. ‘It’s true that it’s time to die. And that everything is nonsense. I’ll tell you truly: I value my thought and work terribly, but in essence - think about it- this whole world of ours is just a bit of mildew that grew over a tiny planet. And we think we can have something great - thoughts, deeds! They’re all grains of sand.’
‘But, my dear boy, that’s as old as the hills!’
‘Old, yes, but you know, once you understand it clearly, everything somehow becomes insignificant. Once you understand that you’ll die today or tomorrow and there’ll be nothing left, everything becomes so insignificant! I consider my thought very important, but it turns out to be as insignificant, even if it’s carried out, as tracking down this she-bear. So you spend your life diverted by hunting or work in order not to think about death.’
Stepan Arkadyich smiled subtly and gently as he listened to Levin.
‘Well, naturally! Here you’re coming over to my side. Remember, you attacked me for seeking pleasures in life? “Be not so stern, O moralist”! ...’6
‘No, all the same there is this good in life that...’ Levin became confused. ‘But I don’t know. I only know that we’ll die soon.’
‘Why soon?’
‘And you know, there’s less charm in life when you think about death - but it’s more peaceful.’
‘On the contrary, the last days are the merriest. Well, anyhow, it’s time for me to go,’ said Stepan Arkadyich, getting up for the tenth time.
‘No, stay!’ said Levin, trying to keep him. ‘When are we going to see each other now? I’m leaving tomorrow.’
‘I’m a fine one! That’s what I came for ... You must come to dinner with us tonight. Your brother will be there, and my brother-in-law Karenin.’
‘Is he here?’ said Levin, and he wanted to ask about Kitty. He had heard that she had been in Petersburg at the beginning of winter, staying with her sister, the diplomat’s wife, and did not know if she had come back or not, but he changed his mind about asking. ‘She’ll be there or she won’t be - it makes no difference.’
‘So you’ll come?’
‘Well, naturally.’
‘At five o’clock, then, and in a frock coat.’
And Stepan Arkadyich got up and went downstairs to see his new superior. Stepan Arkadyich’s instinct had not deceived him. The terrible new superior turned out to be a very courteous man, and Stepan Arkadyich had lunch with him and stayed so long that it was past three o‘clock before he got to Alexei Alexandrovich.
VIII
Alexei Alexandrovich, having come back from church, spent the whole morning at home. He was faced that morning with two tasks: first, to receive and send off to Petersburg a deputation from the racial minorities that was now in Moscow; and second, to write the promised letter to the lawyer. The deputation, though invited on his initiative, presented many inconveniences and even dangers, and Alexei Alexandrovich was very glad to have found it in Moscow. The members of the deputation had not the slightest idea of their role and responsibilities. They were naïvely convinced that their course consisted in explaining their needs and the true state of things and asking for government assistance, and they decidedly failed to understand that some of their statements and demands supported the hostile party and would therefore ruin the whole thing. Alexei Alexandrovich spent a long time with them, wrote a programme from which they were not to deviate, and, after dismissing them, wrote letters to Petersburg for the guidance of the deputation. His chief assistant in this matter was to be Countess Lydia Ivanovna. She was an expert in dealing with deputations and no one knew so well as she how to handle a deputation and guide it properly. Having finished that, Alexei Alexandrovich also wrote to the lawyer. Without the least hesitation, he gave him permission to act at his own discretion. In the letter he enclosed three notes from Vronsky to Anna which he had found in the portfolio he had taken from her.
Ever since Alexei Alexandrovich had left home with the intention of not returning to his family, and ever since he had seen the lawyer and told at least one person of his intention, especially since he had turned the matter of his life into a matter of papers, he had been growing more and more accustomed to his intention and now saw clearly the possibility of carrying it through.
He was sealing the envelope to his lawyer when he heard the loud sounds of Stepan Arkadyich’s voice. Stepan Arkadyich was arguing with Alexei Alexandrovich’s valet and insisting that he should be announced.
‘It makes no difference,’ thought Alexei Alexandrovich. ‘So much the better: I’ll declare my position regarding his sister now and explain why I cannot dine with them.’
‘Show him in!’ he said loudly, gathering up the papers and putting them into the blotter.
