520 521
Levin, whose convictions, very logical though never original, go one
way by themselves, while their life, exceedingly definite and firm in its
direction, goes its way quite apart and almost always in direct contra-
diction to their convictions. Sviazhsky was an extremely advanced
man. He despised the nobility, and believed the mass of the nobility to
be secretly in favor of serfdom, and only concealing their views from
cowardice. He regarded Russia as a ruined country, rather after the
style of Turkey, and the government of Russia as so bad that he never
permitted himself to criticize its doings seriously, and yet he was a
functionary of that government and a model marshal of nobility, and
when he drove about he always wore the cockade of office and the cap
with the red band. He considered human life only tolerable abroad,
and went abroad to stay at every opportunity, and at the same time he
carried on a complex and improved system of agriculture in Russia, and
with extreme interest followed everything and knew everything that
was being done in Russia. He considered the Russian peasant as
occupying a stage of development intermediate between the ape and
the man, and at the same time in the local assemblies no one was
readier to shake hands with the peasants and listen to their opinion.
He believed neither in God nor the devil, but was much concerned
about the question of the improvement of the clergy and the mainte-
nance of their revenues, and took special trouble to keep up the church
in his village.
On the woman question he was on the side of the extreme advo-
cates of complete liberty for women, and especially their right to labor.
But he lived with his wife on such terms that their affectionate child-
less home life was the admiration of everyone, and arranged his wife’s
life so that she did nothing and could do nothing but share her
husband’s efforts that her time should pass as happily and as agree-
ably as possible.
If it had not been a characteristic of Levin’s to put the most favor-
able interpretation on people, Sviazhsky’s character would have pre-
sented no doubt or difficulty to him: he would have said to himself, “a
fool or a knave,” and everything would have seemed clear. But he
could not say “a fool,” because Sviazhsky was unmistakably clever, and
moreover, a highly cultivated man, who was exceptionally modest over
his culture. There was not a subject he knew nothing of. But he did
not display his knowledge except when he was compelled to do so.
Still less could Levin say that he was a knave, as Sviazhsky was unmis-
takably an honest, good-hearted, sensible man, who worked good-
humoredly, keenly, and perseveringly at his work; he was held in high
honor by everyone about him, and certainly he had never consciously
done, and was indeed incapable of doing, anything base.
Levin tried to understand him, and could not understand him, and
looked at him and his life as at a living enigma.
Levin and he were very friendly, and so Levin used to venture to
sound Sviazhsky, to try to get at the very foundation of his view of life;
but it was always in vain. Every time Levin tried to penetrate beyond
the outer chambers of Sviazhsky’s mind, which were hospitably open
to all, he noticed that Sviazhsky was slightly disconcerted; faint signs of
alarm were visible in his eyes, as though he were afraid Levin would
understand him, and he would give him a kindly, good-humored re-
pulse.
Just now, since his disenchantment with farming, Levin was par-
ticularly glad to stay with Sviazhsky. Apart from the fact that the sight
of this happy and affectionate couple, so pleased with themselves and
everyone else, and their well-ordered home had always a cheering
effect on Levin, he felt a longing, now that he was so dissatisfied with