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“Have you ever seen a reaping machine?” she said, addressing
Darya Alexandrovna. “We had just ridden over to look at one when
we met. It’s the first time I ever saw one.”
“How do they work?” asked Dolly.
“Exactly like little scissors. A plank and a lot of little scissors. Like
this.”
Anna took a knife and fork in her beautiful white hands covered
with rings, and began showing how the machine worked. It was clear
that she saw nothing would be understood from her explanation; but
aware that her talk was pleasant and her hands beautiful she went on
explaining.
“More like little penknives,” Veslovsky said playfully, never taking
his eyes off her.
Anna gave a just perceptible smile, but made no answer. “Isn’t it
true, Karl Fedoritch, that it’s just like little scissors?” she said to the
steward.
“Oh, ja,” answered the German. “Es it ein ganz einfaches Ding,”
and he began to explain the construction of the machine.
“It’s a pity it doesn’t bind too. I saw one at the Vienna exhibition,
which binds with a wire,” said Sviazhsky. “They would be more prof-
itable in use.”
“Es kommt drauf an.... Der Preis vom Draht muss ausgerechnet
werden.” And the German, roused from his taciturnity, turned to
Vronsky. “Das laesst sich ausrechnen, Erlaucht.” The German was
just feeling in the pocket where were his pencil and the notebook he
always wrote in, but recollecting that he was at a dinner, and observing
Vronsky’s chilly glance, he checked himself. “Zu compliziert, macht zu
viel Klopot,” he concluded.
“Wuenscht man Dochots, so hat man auch Klopots,” said Vassenka
Veslovsky, mimicking the German. “J’adore l’allemand,” he addressed
Anna again with the same smile.
“Cessez,” she said with playful severity.
“We expected to find you in the fields, Vassily Semyonitch,” she
said to the doctor, a sickly-looking man; “have you been there?”
“I went there, but I had taken flight,” the doctor answered with
gloomy jocoseness.
“Then you’ve taken a good constitutional?”
“Splendid!”
“Well, and how was the old woman? I hope it’s not typhus?”
“Typhus it is not, but it’s taking a bad turn.”
“What a pity!” said Anna, and having thus paid the dues of civility
to her domestic circle, she turned to her own friends.
“It would be a hard task, though, to construct a machine from your
description, Anna Arkadyevna,” Sviazhsky said jestingly.
“Oh, no, why so?” said Anna with a smile that betrayed that she
knew there was something charming in her disquisitions upon the
machine that had been noticed by Sviazhsky. This new trait of girlish
coquettishness made an unpleasant impression on Dolly.
“But Anna Arkadyevna’s knowledge of architecture is marvelous,”
said Tushkevitch.
“To be sure, I heard Anna Arkadyevna talking yesterday about
plinths and damp-courses,” said Veslovsky. “Have I got it right?”
“There’s nothing marvelous about it, when one sees and hears so
much of it,” said Anna. “But, I dare say, you don’t even know what
houses are made of?”
Darya Alexandrovna saw that Anna disliked the tone of raillery
that existed between her and Veslovsky, but fell in with it against her
will.