第一百六十三章 第六章
第六章
孩子们喝茶的时候，大人们坐在阳台上，仿佛什么事也没发生过似的聊着天。虽然大家——尤其是谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇和瓦莲卡——心里都清楚，刚才发生了一件虽未成事却至关重要的大事。他们俩有着同样的心境，就像考完试的学生，要么继续留级，要么被永远逐出校门。在座的所有人都觉得发生了什么，便起劲地谈论着无关紧要的话题。那天晚上，列文和基蒂特别幸福，并且意识到了彼此的爱情。他们爱情中的幸福似乎是对那些渴望同样感受却未能如愿的人的一种不愉快的指责——他们因此感到一丝内疚。
“记住我的话，亚历山大不会来了，”老公爵夫人说。
那天晚上他们正等着斯捷潘·阿尔卡季奇坐火车来，老公爵写信说他也可能来。
“我知道为什么，”公爵夫人继续说；“他说年轻人起初应该让他们单独待一阵子。”
“可是爸爸已经让我们单独待着了，我们一直没见到他，”基蒂说。“再说，我们现在也不是年轻人了！——我们已经成了老夫妻了。”
“要是他不来的话，我就跟你们这些孩子告别了，”公爵夫人伤心地叹了口气说道。
“妈妈，您说什么傻话呀！”两个女儿立刻一起反驳她。
“您想他是什么心情呀？现在呢……”
忽然，公爵夫人的声音里出现了一阵意想不到的颤抖。她的女儿们都沉默了，面面相觑。“妈妈总是能找到伤心的事，”她们的眼神似乎这么说。她们不知道，公爵夫人虽然住在女儿家很快乐，也觉得自己在这里很有用，但自从他们最小的也是最心爱的女儿出嫁后，老家里人去楼空，她为自己也为丈夫感到非常难过。
“什么事，阿加菲娅·米哈伊洛夫娜？”基蒂突然问阿加菲娅·米哈伊洛夫娜，后者正带着一副神秘兮兮、意味深长的神情站在那里。
“是关于晚饭的事。”
“哦，那好，”多莉说；“你去安排吧，我去听格里沙背书，不然他整天什么事都做不成了。”
“那是我的事！不，多莉，我去，”列文说着跳了起来。
已经上中学的格里沙，暑假里得复习这学期的功课。达里娅·亚历山德罗夫娜先前在莫斯科就跟儿子一起学拉丁文，来到列文家后，她定下规矩，每天至少一次跟他一起复习最难的拉丁文和算术课。列文主动提出替她上课，可是做母亲的有一回听到列文讲课，发现他的教法跟莫斯科的老师不完全一样，便尽管很不好意思，又怕伤了列文的面子，但还是坚决地说，必须严格照着老师那样，照课本教，最好还是由她自己来上。列文对斯捷潘·阿尔卡季奇深感惊讶，他竟把本属于自己的责任抛给了对功课一窍不通的母亲；对老师们把孩子教得这么差也深感惊讶。但他答应大姨子按她的要求来上课。于是他便不再用自己的方式，而是照着课本教格里沙，因此对此兴趣索然，常常忘了上课时间。今天就是这样。
“不，我去，多莉，你坐着，”他说。“我们会照着课本好好上的。只是等斯季瓦来了，我们出去打猎的时候，就要耽误一次了。”
于是列文往格里沙那边去了。
瓦莲卡也正在对基蒂说同样的话。即使在列文这个幸福和睦的家里，瓦莲卡也总能设法让自己派上用场。
“晚饭的事我来安排，你坐着吧，”她说着站起身来准备去找阿加菲娅·米哈伊洛夫娜。
“好的，好的，很可能他们没有买到鸡。要是那样，就用我们的……”
“阿加菲娅·米哈伊洛夫娜和我来安排，”瓦莲卡说着就跟她一起出去了。
“多好的姑娘啊！”公爵夫人说。
“不是好，妈妈，她是极好的姑娘；再也找不到第二个了。”
“那么你们今天是在等斯捷潘·阿尔卡季奇了？”谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇说，显然不想继续谈论瓦莲卡了。“很难找到比你们这两个女婿更不相同的了，”他带着微妙的笑意说。“一个总是活动，只在交际界生活，如鱼得水；另一个是我们的科斯佳，活泼、机警、样样敏捷，可是一到交际界，要么变得无精打采，要么就像鱼上了岸一样无助地挣扎。”
“是啊，他太漫不经心了，”公爵夫人对谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇说。“我一直想请您告诉他，她（她指了指基蒂）不能住在这里；她一定得去莫斯科。他还说什么要请个医生来……”
“妈妈，他会想办法的；他什么都答应了，”基蒂说，因为母亲在这件事上请谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇评理而生气。
他们正说着话，听见了马儿的喷鼻声和车轮碾过沙砾路的声音。多莉还没来得及起身去迎接丈夫，列文就从楼下格里沙上课的房间窗户跳了出去，又把格里沙也拉了出来。
“是斯季瓦！”列文在阳台下面喊道。“我们上完课了，多莉，别担心！”他又加了一句，然后像个孩子似的跑去迎接马车。
“_Is ea id, ejus, ejus, ejus!_”格里沙一边在小路上跳着，一边喊道。
“还有一个人！一定是爸爸！”列文在林荫道入口处停下来喊道。“基蒂，别走那个陡峭的楼梯，绕过来。”
然而列文把马车里坐着的人误认为是老公爵了。等他走近马车，看见斯捷潘·阿尔卡季奇身边坐着的不是公爵，而是一个戴苏格兰帽的英俊健壮的年轻人，帽子后面拖着长长的缎带。这是瓦先卡·韦斯洛夫斯基，谢尔巴茨基家的远房表亲，彼得堡和莫斯科社交界的一位出色的年轻人。“一个极好的人，又是热心的猎人，”斯捷潘·阿尔卡季奇介绍他时说。
韦斯洛夫斯基见自己代替老公爵来了，使大家失望，却毫不在意，他快活地向列文打了招呼，说以前就认识他，又把格里沙抱上马车，把他举过斯捷潘·阿尔卡季奇带来的那条波音达猎犬。
列文没有上车，而是跟在车后走。老公爵没来，让他有点不高兴；他越是常见到老公爵，就越喜欢他。他更不高兴的是，来了这个瓦先卡·韦斯洛夫斯基，一个跟他格格不入的多余的人。等到他走近台阶，看见大家——大人和孩子们——都兴高采烈地聚集在那里，又看见瓦先卡·韦斯洛夫斯基用一种特别热情和殷勤的神态吻着基蒂的手时，他觉得这人更加格格不入和多余了。
“您的太太和我是表亲，而且是老朋友了，”瓦先卡·韦斯洛夫斯基说着，又非常热情地握了握列文的手。
“怎么样，鸟多不多？”斯捷潘·阿尔卡季奇对列文说，几乎没容大家互相问候完。“我们这次可是怀着最凶残的意图来的。怎么了，妈妈，她们自从去了莫斯科就没回来过！瞧，塔尼娅，这是给你的！劳驾，在马车后面！”他朝四面八方说着。“多莉，你越长越漂亮了，”他对妻子说，再次吻了吻她的手，一只手握着，另一只手轻轻拍着。
列文一分钟前还快活至极，现在却阴沉地看着大家，一切都不称他的心。
“昨天他用这双嘴唇吻了谁呀？”他望着斯捷潘·阿尔卡季奇对妻子那种温柔的样子想道。他又看了看多莉，他也不喜欢她了。
“她不相信他的爱情。那她高兴什么呢？真恶心！”列文想。
他看了看一分钟前还觉得十分可爱的公爵夫人，也不喜欢她像在自己家一样欢迎这个戴着缎带的韦斯洛夫斯基的那种态度。
甚至那个也走到台阶上来的谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇，他对奥布隆斯基那种热情洋溢的接待，也使列文觉得很不愉快。虽然列文知道哥哥并不喜欢也不尊重奥布隆斯基。
还有瓦莲卡，她那副一本正经的样子跟这位先生认识，心里却只想着要出嫁，这也使他生厌。
最可恨的是基蒂，她居然迎合这位先生把他这次下乡看作自己和大家的节日的那种愉快口吻。尤其不愉快的是她回应他微笑时的那种特殊的笑容。
大家说着话乱哄哄地走进屋里。但大家刚坐定，列文就转过身出去了。
基蒂看出丈夫有心事。她想找个机会跟他单独谈谈，但他急忙躲开她，说是要到账房去。很久以来，他都不觉得管理农庄的事有当时那么重要。“对他们来说，一切都是过节，”他想；“但这里的事可不是过节，这些事不能等人，没有它们就没法生活。”
During the time of the children’s tea the grown-up people sat in the
balcony and talked as though nothing had happened, though they all,
especially Sergey Ivanovitch and Varenka, were very well aware that
there had happened an event which, though negative, was of very great
importance. They both had the same feeling, rather like that of a
schoolboy after an examination, which has left him in the same class or
shut him out of the school forever. Everyone present, feeling too that
something had happened, talked eagerly about extraneous subjects. Levin
and Kitty were particularly happy and conscious of their love that
evening. And their happiness in their love seemed to imply a
disagreeable slur on those who would have liked to feel the same and
could not—and they felt a prick of conscience.
“Mark my words, Alexander will not come,” said the old princess.
That evening they were expecting Stepan Arkadyevitch to come down by
train, and the old prince had written that possibly he might come too.
“And I know why,” the princess went on; “he says that young people
ought to be left alone for a while at first.”
“But papa has left us alone. We’ve never seen him,” said Kitty.
“Besides, we’re not young people!—we’re old, married people by now.”
“Only if he doesn’t come, I shall say good-bye to you children,” said
the princess, sighing mournfully.
“What nonsense, mamma!” both the daughters fell upon her at once.
“How do you suppose he is feeling? Why, now....”
And suddenly there was an unexpected quiver in the princess’s voice.
Her daughters were silent, and looked at one another. “Maman always
finds something to be miserable about,” they said in that glance. They
did not know that happy as the princess was in her daughter’s house,
and useful as she felt herself to be there, she had been extremely
miserable, both on her own account and her husband’s, ever since they
had married their last and favorite daughter, and the old home had been
left empty.
“What is it, Agafea Mihalovna?” Kitty asked suddenly of Agafea
Mihalovna, who was standing with a mysterious air, and a face full of
meaning.
“About supper.”
“Well, that’s right,” said Dolly; “you go and arrange about it, and
I’ll go and hear Grisha repeat his lesson, or else he will have nothing
done all day.”
“That’s my lesson! No, Dolly, I’m going,” said Levin, jumping up.
Grisha, who was by now at a high school, had to go over the lessons of
the term in the summer holidays. Darya Alexandrovna, who had been
studying Latin with her son in Moscow before, had made it a rule on
coming to the Levins’ to go over with him, at least once a day, the
most difficult lessons of Latin and arithmetic. Levin had offered to
take her place, but the mother, having once overheard Levin’s lesson,
and noticing that it was not given exactly as the teacher in Moscow had
given it, said resolutely, though with much embarrassment and anxiety
not to mortify Levin, that they must keep strictly to the book as the
teacher had done, and that she had better undertake it again herself.
Levin was amazed both at Stepan Arkadyevitch, who, by neglecting his
duty, threw upon the mother the supervision of studies of which she had
no comprehension, and at the teachers for teaching the children so
badly. But he promised his sister-in-law to give the lessons exactly as
she wished. And he went on teaching Grisha, not in his own way, but by
the book, and so took little interest in it, and often forgot the hour
of the lesson. So it had been today.
