Going out of the nursery and being again alone, Levin went back at once to the thought, in which there was something not clear.

Instead of going into the drawing room, where he heard voices, he stopped on the terrace, and leaning his elbows on the parapet, he gazed up at the sky.

It was quite dark now, and in the south, where he was looking, there were no clouds. The storm had drifted on to the opposite side of the sky, and there were flashes of lightning and distant thunder from that quarter. Levin listened to the monotonous¹ drip from the lime trees in the garden, and looked at the triangle of stars he knew so well, and the Milky² Way with its branches that ran through its midst. At each flash of lightning the Milky Way, and even the bright stars, vanished, but as soon as the lightning died away, they reappeared in their places as though some hand had flung them back with careful aim.

"Well, what is it perplexes me?" Levin said to himself, feeling beforehand that the solution of his difficulties was ready in his soul, though he did not know it yet. "Yes, the one unmistakable, incontestable manifestation³ of the Divinity is the law of right and wrong, which has come into the world by revelation, and which I feel in myself, and in the recognition of which--I don't make myself, but whether I will or not--I am made one with other men in one body of believers, which is called the church. Well, but the Jews, the Mohammedans, the Confucians, the Buddhists--what of them?" he put to himself the question he had feared to face. "Can these hundreds of millions of men be deprived of that highest blessing⁴ without which life has no meaning?" He pondered a moment, but immediately corrected himself. "But what am I questioning?" he said to himself. "I am questioning the relation to Divinity of all the different religions of all mankind. I am questioning the universal manifestation of God to all the world with all those misty⁵ blurs⁶. What am I about? To me individually, to my heart has been revealed a knowledge beyond all doubt, and unattainable by reason, and here I am

点击收听单词发音  

1 monotonous
adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的
参考例句：
She thought life in the small town was monotonous.她觉得小镇上的生活单调而乏味。 His articles are fixed in form and monotonous in content.他的文章千篇一律，一个调调儿。

2 milky
adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的
参考例句：
Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。 I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

3 manifestation
n.表现形式；表明；现象
参考例句：
Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。 What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。

4 blessing
n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿
参考例句：
The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。 A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

5 misty
adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的
参考例句：
He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。 The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

6 blurs
n.模糊( blur的名词复数 )；模糊之物；（移动的）模糊形状；模糊的记忆v.（使）变模糊( blur的第三人称单数 )；（使）难以区分
参考例句：
The electron clouds are clearly visible as blurs surrounding the invisible nuclei. 电子云就象环绕着看不见的核的一片云雾。 来自辞典例句 The letter had many blots and blurs. 信上有许多墨水渍和污迹。 来自辞典例句

7 obstinately
ad.固执地，顽固地
参考例句：
He obstinately asserted that he had done the right thing. 他硬说他做得对。 Unemployment figures are remaining obstinately high. 失业数字仍然顽固地居高不下。

8 twig
n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解
参考例句：
He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。 The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。

9 rotation
n.旋转；循环，轮流
参考例句：
Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。 The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。

10 astronomers
n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )
参考例句：
Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》 Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 varied
adj.多样的，多变化的
参考例句：
The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。 The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

12 stationary
adj.固定的，静止不动的
参考例句：
A stationary object is easy to be aimed at.一个静止不动的物体是容易瞄准的。 Wait until the bus is stationary before you get off.你要等公共汽车停稳了再下车。

13 meridian
adj.子午线的；全盛期的
参考例句：
All places on the same meridian have the same longitude.在同一子午线上的地方都有相同的经度。 He is now at the meridian of his intellectual power.他现在正值智力全盛期。

14 Christian
adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒
参考例句：
They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。 His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

15 standing
n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的
参考例句：
After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。 They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

16 remorseful
adj.悔恨的
参考例句：
He represented to the court that the accused was very remorseful.他代被告向法庭陈情说被告十分懊悔。 The minister well knew--subtle,but remorseful hypocrite that he was!牧师深知这一切——他是一个多么难以捉摸又懊悔不迭的伪君子啊！