第十七章 第十六章
公爵夫人坐在圈手椅里，默默微笑；公爵在她身旁坐下。吉娣站在父亲椅旁，拉着他的手。大家都没有开口。
还是公爵夫人首先打破沉默，把大家的思想和感情变成具体问题。大家一开始都有一种奇怪的痛苦的感觉。
“什么时候举行婚礼？必须举行祝福和公布。婚礼定在哪一天呢？亚历山大，你看怎样？”
“他就是，”老公爵指着列文说，“他是这件事的主角。”
“什么时候？”列文红着脸说，“明天。如果您问我，我说今天就祝福，明天就结婚。”
“得啦，mon cher①，别胡说！”
“那就一星期以后。”
“他简直疯了。”
“不，怎么呢？”
“瞧你说的！”母亲对他这样性急，心里很高兴，笑着说，“嫁妆怎么办？”
“难道还要嫁妆和办种种手续吗？”列文恐怖地想，“不过，难道嫁妆、祝福和那些手续——我的幸福会因此受到破坏吗？什么也不能破坏它！”他望望吉娣，发觉她对于嫁妆一事丝毫也不觉得难为情，“那她一定是对的，”他心里想。
“噢，我什么也不懂；我只是说了我想说的话罢了。”他抱歉地说。
“那我们就来商量商量吧。祝福和公布就在今天举行。那很好。”
公爵夫人走到丈夫面前，吻了吻他，想要走开，但他把她留下来，拥抱她，象年轻的情人那样温柔地、笑眯眯地吻了她几次。两个老人一时显然有点糊涂了，弄不清究竟是他们又相爱了，还是他们的女儿在恋爱。等公爵和公爵夫人走了，列文走到未婚妻面前，拉住她的手。现在他定下心来了，可以说话了，他有许多话要告诉她。但他说出来的完全不是他要说的话。
“我早就知道会这样的！我从来没有存过这样的希望；可是我心里一直相信这件事的，”他说，“我相信这是命中注定的。”
“我也是！”她说，“就是在我……，”她停了一下，又继续用自己的诚实眼睛望着他，坚决地说，“就是在我推开我的幸福的时候，我也一直只爱你一个人。但是我当时太迷了，我应该告诉你……你能原谅我吗？”
“也许正是为了你好。我得请你宽恕的事太多了。我应该告诉你……”
这是他决定要说的一件事。他一开始就决定告诉她两件事——他不象她那么纯洁，他不信教。这是件痛苦的事，但他认为还是应该把这两件事告诉她。
“不，现在不要说，以后再说吧！”他说。
“好的，以后说，但你一定要告诉我。我什么也不怕。我想知道一切。现在事情已经决定了。”
他接下去说：“事情决定了，不论我是什么样的人，你都会要我吗？你不会抛弃我吗？”
“是的，是的。”
他们的谈话给莉诺小姐打断了，她装出一副深情的笑容，来祝贺她心爱的学生。她还没有走，仆人们就都来贺喜了。接着亲友们都来了，于是开始了那种幸福的忙乱，直到结婚后第二天，列文才脱离这种忙乱。列文一直觉得很局促，很无聊，但是幸福的紧张心情却越来越强烈。他觉得人家对他有许多要求，但凡是人家叫他做的事，他做了都得到了幸福。他原来还以为他的订婚不会象一般人的那样，一般的订婚条件只会损害他特殊的幸福，可是结果他做的事却和别人一样，而他的幸福只有因此而增加，变得越来越特殊，越来越和过去不同，也不是别人所能做到的。
“现在我们要吃糖果了，”莉诺小姐说。列文就坐车去买糖果。
“哦，我很高兴，”斯维亚日斯基说，“我劝你到福明那里去买鲜花。”
“要吗？”他就赶车到福明那儿去了。
他哥哥说要借钱给他，因为他有许多花销要付，还要送礼物……
“哦，要送礼物吗？”于是他又飞也似地跑到富尔德店里去。
他在糖果店、在福明花店、在富尔德店里都看到，人家都等着他，为他高兴，并且象他这几天打交道的所有的人那样，都为他的幸福而得意。特别奇怪的是，不仅人人都喜爱他，而且一向同他不投机、态度冷淡而且麻木的人也都热烈地向他祝贺，事事都顺着他，十分体贴地对待他的感情，并且相信他是有世界上最幸福的人，因为他的未婚妻十全十美。吉娣也有同样的感觉。诺斯登伯爵夫人曾婉转地暗示她本来指望她得到一门更好的亲事，吉娣听了十分生气，她硬说世界上没有什么比列文更好的人，结果诺斯登伯爵夫人只好承认了，以后每逢吉娣在场，她就以崇拜的微笑迎接列文。
他答应她的忏悔是这段时期里一件痛苦的事。他同老公爵商量，得到了他的同意，就把他的日记交给吉娣，其中有一段一直折磨他的自白。他当初写这本日记，就是为了给他未来的未婚妻看的。有两件事使他痛苦：一是他的不纯洁，一是他的缺乏信仰。他的不信神就这样无声无息地过去了。她是信神的，她从来没有怀疑过宗教真理，但他表面的不信神并没有影响她。她凭着爱情了解他的内心，从心里看到她想要看的东西，至于说他这种精神状态是不信神的，那她根本无所谓。但要说到另一件事，她不禁伤心地哭了。
列文不是没有经过内心斗争，就把日记交给她的。他知道他们之间不能也不应有秘密，因此他决定这样做。但他没有考虑这事对她会产生什么样的影响，他没有设身处地替她想想。直到那天夜里他到他们家里去，在到剧场去以前，他走进她的房间，看到她那满眼泪痕，因他造成无法补救的痛苦而显得可怜可爱的脸，他才感觉到那把他可耻的过去和她的鸽子般纯洁隔开的深渊，对他做的事感到害怕了。
“拿去吧，把这些可怕的日记拿去吧！”她说，把她面前桌上的日记本推开，“您为什么要给我呀！……不，这样还好些。”她看他那绝望的脸色，补充说，“可是这真可怕，真可怕呀！”
他低下了头，默默无言。他什么也说不出。
“您不能宽恕我。”他喃喃地说。
“不，我宽恕了，但这也太可怕了！”
不过，他太幸福了，因此这个忏悔没有摧毁他的幸福，只是给它添上新的色彩。她宽恕了他；但从此以后，他更觉得自己不配她，在精神上更自卑，而把自己不应得到的幸福看得更高了。
The princess sat in her armchair, silent and smiling; the prince sat
down beside her. Kitty stood by her father’s chair, still holding his
hand. All were silent.
The princess was the first to put everything into words, and to
translate all thoughts and feelings into practical questions. And all
equally felt this strange and painful for the first minute.
“When is it to be? We must have the benediction and announcement. And
when’s the wedding to be? What do you think, Alexander?”
“Here he is,” said the old prince, pointing to Levin—“he’s the
principal person in the matter.”
“When?” said Levin blushing. “Tomorrow. If you ask me, I should say,
the benediction today and the wedding tomorrow.”
“Come, _mon cher_, that’s nonsense!”
“Well, in a week.”
“He’s quite mad.”
“No, why so?”
“Well, upon my word!” said the mother, smiling, delighted at this
haste. “How about the trousseau?”
“Will there really be a trousseau and all that?” Levin thought with
horror. “But can the trousseau and the benediction and all that—can it
spoil my happiness? Nothing can spoil it!” He glanced at Kitty, and
noticed that she was not in the least, not in the very least, disturbed
by the idea of the trousseau. “Then it must be all right,” he thought.
“Oh, I know nothing about it; I only said what I should like,” he said
apologetically.
“We’ll talk it over, then. The benediction and announcement can take
place now. That’s very well.”
The princess went up to her husband, kissed him, and would have gone
away, but he kept her, embraced her, and, tenderly as a young lover,
kissed her several times, smiling. The old people were obviously
muddled for a moment, and did not quite know whether it was they who
were in love again or their daughter. When the prince and the princess
had gone, Levin went up to his betrothed and took her hand. He was
self-possessed now and could speak, and he had a great deal he wanted
to tell her. But he said not at all what he had to say.
“How I knew it would be so! I never hoped for it; and yet in my heart I
was always sure,” he said. “I believe that it was ordained.”
“And I!” she said. “Even when....” She stopped and went on again,
looking at him resolutely with her truthful eyes, “Even when I thrust
from me my happiness. I always loved you alone, but I was carried away.
I ought to tell you.... Can you forgive that?”
“Perhaps it was for the best. You will have to forgive me so much. I
ought to tell you....”
This was one of the things he had meant to speak about. He had resolved
from the first to tell her two things—that he was not chaste as she
was, and that he was not a believer. It was agonizing, but he
considered he ought to tell her both these facts.
“No, not now, later!” he said.
“Very well, later, but you must certainly tell me. I’m not afraid of
anything. I want to know everything. Now it is settled.”
