Anna Karenina полностью

Beside Anna on a fiery grey cavalry horse rode Vasenka Veslovsky, in his Scotch cap with its flying ribbons, his fat legs stretched forward, obviously admiring himself, and Darya Alexandrovna, recognizing him, could not suppress a gay smile. Behind them rode Vronsky. Under him was a dark bay thoroughbred, obviously excited from galloping. He worked the reins, trying to hold it back.

After him rode a small man in a jockey’s outfit. Sviyazhsky and the princess, in a new char à banc drawn by a big black trotter, were overtaking the riders.

Anna’s face suddenly lit up with a joyful smile as she recognized the small figure huddled in the corner of the old carriage as Dolly. She gave a cry, sat up in the saddle and touched her horse into a gallop. Coming up to the carriage, she jumped down unassisted and, holding the skirts of her riding habit, ran to meet Dolly.

‘I thought so but didn’t dare think it. What a joy! You can’t imagine what a joy it is for me!’ she said, first pressing her face to Dolly’s and kissing her, then drawing back and looking at her with a smile.

‘What a joy, Alexei!’ she said, turning to Vronsky, who had dismounted and was coming towards them.

Vronsky, having taken off his tall grey hat, approached Dolly.

‘You won’t believe how glad we are that you’ve come,’ he said, giving the words he spoke a special significance and revealing his strong white teeth in a smile.

Vasenka Veslovsky, without dismounting, took his cap off and greeted the visitor, joyfully waving the ribbons over his head.

‘That is Princess Varvara,’ Anna responded to Dolly’s questioning look, as the char à banc drove up.

‘Ah!’ said Darya Alexandrovna, and her face involuntarily showed displeasure.

Princess Varvara was her husband’s aunt; she had known her for a long time and had no respect for her. She knew that Princess Varvara had spent her whole life as a sponger on wealthy relations, but the fact that she was now living off Vronsky, a man who was a stranger to her, offended her feelings for her husband’s family. Anna noticed the look on Dolly’s face, became embarrassed, blushed, lost hold of her skirt and tripped over it.

Darya Alexandrovna went over to the halted char à banc and greeted Princess Varvara coldly. Sviyazhsky was also an acquaintance. He asked how his eccentric friend and his young wife were doing and, after a fleeting glance at the ill-matched horses and the carriage with its patched splash-boards, invited the ladies to ride in the char a banc.

‘And I’ll go in that vehicle,’ he said. ‘The horse is quiet, and the princess is an excellent driver.’

‘No, you stay as you were,’ said Anna, coming over, ‘and we’ll go in the carriage.’ And, taking Dolly by the arm, she led her away.

Darya Alexandrovna stared wide-eyed at that elegant equipage, the like of which she had never seen before, at those superb horses, at the elegant, shining faces that surrounded her. But she was struck most of all by the change that had taken place in her familiar and beloved Anna. Another less attentive woman, one who had not known Anna before, and above all one who had not been thinking what Darya Alexandrovna had been thinking on the way, would not have noticed anything special about Anna. But Dolly was struck by that temporary beauty which women have in moments of love and which she now found in Anna’s face. Everything in her face - the distinctness of the dimples on her cheeks and chin, the set of her lips, the smile that seemed to flit about her face, her shining eyes, the gracefulness and quickness of her movements, the fullness of the sound of her voice, even the manner in which she replied with angry indulgence to Veslovsky, who asked permission to ride her cob in order to teach him to gallop on the right leg-everything was especially attractive, and it seemed that she herself knew it and rejoiced in it.

When the two women got into the carriage, both were suddenly overcome with embarrassment. Anna was embarrassed by the attentively inquisitive way Dolly looked at her; Dolly because, after Sviyazhsky’s words about the ‘vehicle’, she felt involuntarily ashamed of the dirty old carriage that Anna got into with her. The coachman Filipp and the clerk felt the same way. To conceal his embarrassment, the clerk bustled about, helping the ladies in, but Filipp the coachman turned glum and prepared himself ahead of time not to submit to this external superiority. He smiled ironically, glancing at the black trotter, and had already made up his mind that this black one of the char à banc was good only for ‘permenading’, and would not even make twenty-five miles in hot weather, harnessed singly.

The muzhiks all got up from the cart and curiously and merrily watched the visitor’s reception, making their own observations.

‘They’re glad, too, haven’t seen each other in a long while,’ said the curly-headed old man tied with bast.

‘Say, Uncle Gerasim, with that black stallion to haul sheaves, we’d step lively!’