In the early days after his return from Moscow, whenever Levin shuddered1 and grew red, remembering the disgrace of his rejection3, he said to himself: "This was just how I used to shudder2 and blush, thinking myself utterly4 lost, when I was plucked in physics and did not get my remove; and how I thought myself utterly ruined after I had mismanaged that affair of my sister's that was entrusted5 to me. And yet, now that years have passed, I recall it and wonder that it could distress6 me so much. It will be the same thing too with this trouble. Time will go by and I shall not mind about this either."
But three months had passed and he had not left off minding about it; and it was as painful for him to think of it as it had been those first days. He could not be at peace because after dreaming so long of family life, and feeling himself so ripe for it, he was still not married, and was further than ever from marriage. He was painfully conscious himself, as were all about him, that at his years it is not well for man to be alone. He remembered how before starting for Moscow he had once said to his cowman Nikolay, a simple-hearted peasant, whom he liked talking to: "Well, Nikolay! I mean to get married," and how Nikolay had promptly7 answered, as of a matter on which there could be no possible doubt: "And high time too, Konstantin Demitrievitch." But marriage had now become further off than ever. The place was taken, and whenever he tried to imagine any of the girls he knew in that place, he felt that it was utterly impossible. Moreover, the recollection of the rejection and the part he had played in the affair tortured him with shame. However often he told himself that he was in no wise to blame in it, that recollection, like other humiliating reminiscences of a similar kind, made him twinge and blush. There had been in his past, as in every man's, actions, recognized by him as bad, for which his conscience ought to have tormented8 him; but the memory of these evil actions was far from causing him so much suffering as those trivial but humiliating reminiscences. These wounds never healed. And with these memories was now ranged his rejection and the pitiful position in which he must have appeared to others that evening. But time and work did their part. Bitter memories were more and more covered up by the incidents--paltry in his eyes, but really important--of his country life. Every week he thought less often of Kitty. He was impatiently looking forward to the news that she was married, or just going to be married, hoping that such news would, like having a tooth out, completely cure him.
Meanwhile spring came on, beautiful and kindly9, without the delays and treacheries of spring,--one of those rare springs in which plants, beasts, and man rejoice alike. This lovely spring roused Levin still more, and strengthened him in his resolution of renouncing10 all his past and building up his lonely life firmly and independently. Though many of the plans with which he had returned to the country had not been carried out, still his most important resolution--that of purity--had been kept by him. He was free from that shame, which had usually harassed11 him after a fall; and he could look everyone straight in the face. In February he had received a letter from Marya Nikolaevna telling him that his brother Nikolay's health was getting worse, but that he would not take advice, and in consequence of this letter Levin went to Moscow to his brother's and succeeded in persuading him to see a doctor and to go to a watering-place abroad. He succeeded so well in persuading his brother, and in lending him money for the journey without irritating him, that he was satisfied with himself in that matter. In addition to his farming, which called for special attention in spring, and in addition to reading, Levin had begun that winter a work on agriculture, the plan of which turned on taking into account the character of the laborer12 on the land as one of the unalterable data of the question, like the climate and the soil, and consequently deducing all the principles of scientific culture, not simply from the data of soil and climate, but from the data of soil, climate, and a certain unalterable character of the laborer. Thus, in spite of his solitude13, or in consequence of his solitude, his life was exceedingly full. Only rarely he suffered from an unsatisfied desire to communicate his stray ideas to someone besides Agafea Mihalovna. With her indeed he not infrequently fell into discussion upon physics, the theory of agriculture, and especially philosophy; philosophy was Agafea Mihalovna's favorite subject.
Spring was slow in unfolding. For the last few weeks it had been steadily14 fine frosty weather. In the daytime it thawed15 in the sun, but at night there were even seven degrees of frost. There was such a frozen surface on the snow that they drove the wagons16 anywhere off the roads. Easter came in the snow. Then all of a sudden, on Easter Monday, a warm wind sprang up, storm clouds swooped17 down, and for three days and three nights the warm, driving rain fell in streams. On Thursday the wind dropped, and a thick gray fog brooded over the land as though hiding the mysteries of the transformations18 that were being wrought19 in nature. Behind the fog there was the flowing of water, the cracking and floating of ice, the swift rush of turbid20, foaming21 torrents22; and on the following Monday, in the evening, the fog parted, the storm clouds split up into little curling crests23 of cloud, the sky cleared, and the real spring had come. In the morning the sun rose brilliant and quickly wore away the thin layer of ice that covered the water, and all the warm air was quivering with the steam that rose up from the quickened earth. The old grass looked greener, and the young grass thrust up its tiny blades; the buds of the guelder-rose and of the currant and the sticky birch-buds were swollen24 with sap, and an exploring bee was humming about the golden blossoms that studded the willow25. Larks26 trilled unseen above the velvety27 green fields and the ice-covered stubble-land; peewits wailed28 over the low lands and marshes29 flooded by the pools; cranes and wild geese flew high across the sky uttering their spring calls. The cattle, bald in patches where the new hair had not grown yet, lowed in the pastures; the bowlegged lambs frisked round their bleating30 mothers. Nimble children ran about the drying paths, covered with the prints of bare feet. There was a merry chatter31 of peasant women over their linen32 at the pond, and the ring of axes in the yard, where the peasants were repairing ploughs and harrows. The real spring had come.
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1
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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rejection
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| n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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renouncing
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的现在分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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laborer
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| n.劳动者，劳工 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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thawed
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| 解冻 | |
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wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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swooped
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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transformations
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| n.变化( transformation的名词复数 )；转换；转换；变换 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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turbid
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| adj.混浊的，泥水的，浓的 | |
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foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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crests
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| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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willow
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| n.柳树 | |
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larks
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| n.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的名词复数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了v.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的第三人称单数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了 | |
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velvety
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| adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的 | |
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wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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marshes
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| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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bleating
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| v.（羊，小牛）叫( bleat的现在分词 )；哭诉；发出羊叫似的声音；轻声诉说 | |
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chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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32
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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