As he neared Petersburg, Alexey Alexandrovitch not only adhered entirely1 to his decision, but was even composing in his head the letter he would write to his wife. Going into the porter's room, Alexey Alexandrovitch glanced at the letters and papers brought from his office, and directed that they should be brought to him in his study.
"The horses can be taken out and I will see no one," he said in answer to the porter, with a certain pleasure, indicative of his agreeable frame of mind, emphasizing the words, "see no one."
In his study Alexey Alexandrovitch walked up and down twice, and stopped at an immense writing-table, on which six candles had already been lighted by the valet who had preceded him. He cracked his knuckles2 and sat down, sorting out his writing appurtenances. Putting his elbows on the table, he bent3 his head on one side, thought a minute, and began to write, without pausing for a second. He wrote without using any form of address to her, and wrote in French, making use of the plural4 "vous," which has not the same note of coldness as the corresponding Russian form.
"At our last conversation, I notified you of my intention to communicate to you my decision in regard to the subject of that conversation. Having carefully considered everything, I am writing now with the object of fulfilling that promise. My decision is as follows. Whatever your conduct may have been, I do not consider myself justified6 in breaking the ties in which we are bound by a Higher Power. The family cannot be broken up by a whim7, a caprice, or even by the sin of one of the partners in the marriage, and our life must go on as it has done in the past. This is essential for me, for you, and for our son. I am fully5 persuaded that you have repented8 and do repent9 of what has called forth10 the present letter, and that you will cooperate with me in eradicating11 the cause of our estrangement12, and forgetting the past. In the contrary event, you can conjecture13 what awaits you and your son. All this I hope to discuss more in detail in a personal interview. As the season is drawing to a close, I would beg you to return to Petersburg as quickly as possible, not later than Tuesday. All necessary preparations shall be made for your arrival here. I beg you to note that I attach particular significance to compliance14 with this request.
A. Karenin
"P.S.--I enclose the money which may be needed for your expenses."
He read the letter through and felt pleased with it, and especially that he had remembered to enclose money: there was not a harsh word, not a reproach in it, nor was there undue15 indulgence. Most of all, it was a golden bridge for return. Folding the letter and smoothing it with a massive ivory knife, and putting it in an envelope with the money, he rang the bell with the gratification it always afforded him to use the well arranged appointments of his writing-table.
"Give this to the courier to be delivered to Anna Arkadyevna tomorrow at the summer villa," he said, getting up.
"Certainly, your excellency; tea to be served in the study?"
Alexey Alexandrovitch ordered tea to be brought to the study, and playing with the massive paper-knife, he moved to his easy chair, near which there had been placed ready for him a lamp and the French work on Egyptian hieroglyphics16 that he had begun. Over the easy chair there hung in a gold frame an oval portrait of Anna, a fine painting by a celebrated17 artist. Alexey Alexandrovitch glanced at it. The unfathomable eyes gazed ironically and insolently19 at him. Insufferably insolent18 and challenging was the effect in Alexey Alexandrovitch's eyes of the black lace about the head, admirably touched in by the painter, the black hair and handsome white hand with one finger lifted, covered with rings. After looking at the portrait for a minute, Alexey Alexandrovitch shuddered20 so that his lips quivered and he uttered the sound "brrr," and turned away. He made haste to sit down in his easy chair and opened the book. He tried to read, but he could not revive the very vivid interest he had felt before in Egyptian hieroglyphics. He looked at the book and thought of something else. He thought not of his wife, but of a complication that had arisen in his official life, which at the time constituted the chief interest of it. He felt that he had penetrated21 more deeply than ever before into this intricate affair, and that he had originated a leading idea--he could say it without self-flattery--calculated to clear up the whole business, to strengthen him in his official career, to discomfit22 his enemies, and thereby23 to be of the greatest benefit to the government. Directly the servant had set the tea and left the room, Alexey Alexandrovitch got up and went to the writing-table. Moving into the middle of the table a portfolio24 of papers, with a scarcely perceptible smile of self-satisfaction, he took a pencil from a rack and plunged25 into the perusal26 of a complex report relating to the present complication. The complication was of this nature: Alexey Alexandrovitch's characteristic quality as a politician, that special individual qualification that every rising functionary27 possesses, the qualification that with his unflagging ambition, his reserve, his honesty, and with his self-confidence had made his career, was his contempt for red tape, his cutting down of correspondence, his direct contact, wherever possible, with the living fact, and his economy. It happened that the famous Commission of the 2nd of June had set on foot an inquiry28 into the irrigation of lands in the Zaraisky province, which fell under Alexey Alexandrovitch's department, and was a glaring example of fruitless expenditure29 and paper reforms. Alexey Alexandrovitch was aware of the truth of this. The irrigation of these lands in the Zaraisky province had been initiated30 by the predecessor31 of Alexey Alexandrovitch's predecessor. And vast sums of money had actually been spent and were still being spent on this business, and utterly32 unproductively, and the whole business could obviously lead to nothing whatever. Alexey Alexandrovitch had perceived this at once on entering office, and would have liked to lay hands on the Board of Irrigation. But at first, when he did not yet feel secure in his position, he knew it would affect too many interests, and would be injudicious. Later on he had been engrossed33 in other questions, and had simply forgotten the Board of Irrigation. It went of itself, like all such boards, by the mere34 force of inertia35. (Many people gained their livelihood36 by the Board of Irrigation, especially one highly conscientious37 and musical family: all the daughters played on stringed instruments, and Alexey Alexandrovitch knew the family and had stood godfather to one of the elder daughters.) The raising of this question by a hostile department was in Alexey Alexandrovitch's opinion a dishonorable proceeding38, seeing that in every department there were things similar and worse, which no one inquired into, for well-known reasons of official etiquette39. However, now that the glove had been thrown down to him, he had boldly picked it up and demanded the appointment of a special commission to investigate and verify the working of the Board of Irrigation of the lands in the Zaraisky province. But in compensation he gave no quarter to the enemy either. He demanded the appointment of another special commission to inquire into the question of the Native Tribes Organization Committee. The question of the Native Tribes had been brought up incidentally in the Commission of the 2nd of June, and had been pressed forward actively40 by Alexey Alexandrovitch as one admitting of no delay on account of the deplorable condition bf the native tribes. In the commission this question had been a ground of contention41 between several departments. The department hostile to Alexey Alexandrovitch proved that the condition of the native tribes was exceedingly flourishing, that the proposed reconstruction42 might be the ruin of their prosperity, and that if there were anything wrong, it arose mainly from the failure on the part of Alexey Alexandrovitch's department to carry out the measures prescribed by law. Now Alexey Alexandrovitch intended to demand: First, that a new commission should be formed which should be empowered to investigate the condition of the native tribes on the spot; secondly43, if it should appear that the condition of the native tribes actually was such as it appeared to be from the official documents in the hands of the committee, that another new scientific commission should be appointed to investigate the deplorable condition of the native tribes from the--(1) political, (2) administrative44, (3) economic, (4) ethnographical, (5) material, and (6) religious points of view; thirdly, that evidence should be required from the rival department of the measures that had been taken during the last ten years by that department for averting45 the disastrous46 conditions in which the native tribes were now placed; and fourthly and finally, that that department explain why it had, as appeared from the evidence before the committee, from No. 17,015 and 18,038, from December 5, 1863, and June 7, 1864, acted in direct contravention of the intent of the law T...Act 18, and the note to Act 36. A flash of eagerness suffused47 the face of Alexey Alexandrovitch as he rapidly wrote out a synopsis48 of these ideas for his own benefit. Having filled a sheet of paper, he got up, rang, and sent a note to the chief secretary of his department to look up certain necessary facts for him. Getting up and walking about the room, he glanced again at the portrait, frowned, and smiled contemptuously. After reading a little more of the book on Egyptian hieroglyphics, and renewing his interest in it, Alexey Alexandrovitch went to bed at eleven o'clock, and recollecting49 as he lay in bed the incident with his wife, he saw it now in by no means such a gloomy light.
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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knuckles
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| n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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plural
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| n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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repented
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| 对（自己的所为）感到懊悔或忏悔( repent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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eradicating
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| 摧毁，完全根除( eradicate的现在分词 ) | |
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estrangement
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| n.疏远，失和，不和 | |
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conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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compliance
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| n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从 | |
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undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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hieroglyphics
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| n.pl.象形文字 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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insolently
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| adv.自豪地，自傲地 | |
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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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penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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discomfit
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| v.使困惑，使尴尬 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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portfolio
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| n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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perusal
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| n.细读，熟读；目测 | |
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functionary
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| n.官员；公职人员 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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initiated
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| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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inertia
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| adj.惰性，惯性，懒惰，迟钝 | |
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livelihood
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| n.生计，谋生之道 | |
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conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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actively
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| adv.积极地，勤奋地 | |
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contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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42
reconstruction
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| n.重建，再现，复原 | |
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43
secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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44
administrative
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| adj.行政的，管理的 | |
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45
averting
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| 防止，避免( avert的现在分词 )； 转移 | |
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disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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47
suffused
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| v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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synopsis
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| n.提要，梗概 | |
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49
recollecting
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| v.记起，想起( recollect的现在分词 ) | |
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