When the professor had gone, Sergey Ivanovitch turned to his brother.

"Delighted that you've come. For some time, is it? How's your farming getting on?"

Levin knew that his elder brother took little interest in farming, and only put the question in deference¹ to him, and so he only told him about the sale of his wheat and money matters.

Levin had meant to tell his brother of his determination to get married, and to ask his advice; he had indeed firmly resolved to do so. But after seeing his brother, listening to his conversation with the professor, hearing afterwards the unconsciously patronizing tone in which his brother questioned him about agricultural matters (their mother's property had not been divided, and Levin took charge of both their shares), Levin felt that he could not for some reason begin to talk to him of his intention of marrying. He felt that his brother would not look at it as he would have wished him to.

"Well, how is your district council doing?" asked Sergey Ivanovitch, who was greatly interested in these local boards and attached great importance to them.

"I really don't know."

"What! Why, surely you're a member of the board?"

"No, I'm not a member now; I've resigned," answered Levin, "and I no longer attend the meetings."

"What a pity!" commented Sergey Ivanovitch, frowning.

Levin in self-defense began to describe what took place in the meetings in his district.

"That's how it always is!" Sergey Ivanovitch interrupted him. "We Russians are always like that. Perhaps it's our strong point, really, the faculty² of seeing our own shortcomings; but we overdo³ it, we comfort ourselves with irony⁴ which we always have on the tip of our tongues. All I say is, give such rights as our local self-government to any other European people--why, the Germans or the English would have worked their way to freedom from them, while we simply turn them into ridicule⁵."

"But how can it be helped?" said Levin penitently⁶. "It was my last effort. And I did try with all my soul. I can't. I'm no good at it."

点击收听单词发音  

1 deference
n.尊重，顺从；敬意
参考例句：
Do you treat your parents and teachers with deference?你对父母师长尊敬吗？ The major defect of their work was deference to authority.他们的主要缺陷是趋从权威。

2 faculty
n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员
参考例句：
He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。 He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

3 overdo
vt.把...做得过头，演得过火
参考例句：
Do not overdo your privilege of reproving me.不要过分使用责备我的特权。 The taxi drivers' association is urging its members,who can work as many hours as they want,not to overdo it.出租车司机协会劝告那些工作时长不受限制的会员不要疲劳驾驶。

4 irony
n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄
参考例句：
She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。 In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

5 ridicule
v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄
参考例句：
You mustn't ridicule unfortunate people.你不该嘲笑不幸的人。 Silly mistakes and queer clothes often arouse ridicule.荒谬的错误和古怪的服装常会引起人们的讪笑。

6 penitently
参考例句：
He sat penitently in his chair by the window. 他懊悔地坐在靠窗的椅子上。 来自柯林斯例句

7 utterly
adv.完全地，绝对地
参考例句：
Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。 I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

8 humbly
adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地
参考例句：
We humbly beg Your Majesty to show mercy. 我们恳请陛下发发慈悲。 "You must be right, Sir,'said John humbly. “你一定是对的，先生，”约翰恭顺地说道。

9 humility
n.谦逊，谦恭
参考例句：
Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。 His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

10 infamous
adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的
参考例句：
He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。 I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

11 decided
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
参考例句：
This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。 There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。