Awakening (eBook)

Leo Tolstoy (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2018
640 Seiten
Seltzer Books (Verlag)
978-1-4553-5517-4 (ISBN)

Infos

Classic novel of religious awakening. According to Wikipedia: 'Leo Tolstoy, or Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828 -1910) was a Russian writer widely regarded as one of the greatest of all novelists. His masterpieces War and Peace and Anna Karenina stand, in their scope, breadth and vivid depiction of 19th-century Russian life, at the very peak of realist fiction.'

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Classic novel of religious awakening. According to Wikipedia: "e;Leo Tolstoy, or Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828 - 1910) was a Russian writer widely regarded as one of the greatest of all novelists. His masterpieces War and Peace and Anna Karenina stand, in their scope, breadth and vivid depiction of 19th-century Russian life, at the very peak of realist fiction."e;

Textauszug

CHAPTER XXVI.  THE HOUSE OF KORCHAGIN.

 

“Please to walk in, your excellency,” said the friendly, fat doorkeeper­ of the Korchagins’ big house, opening the door, which moved noiselessly­ on its patent English hinges; “you are expected. They are at dinner.­ My orders were to admit only you.” The doorkeeper went as far as the­ staircase and rang.

 

“Are there any strangers?” asked Nekhludoff, taking off his overcoat.

 

“Mr. Kolosoff and Michael Sergeivitch only, besides the family.”

 

A very handsome footman with whiskers, in a swallow-tail coat and white­ gloves, looked down from the landing.

 

“Please to walk up, your excellency,” he said. “You are expected.”

 

Nekhludoff went up and passed through the splendid large dancing-room,­ which he knew so well, into the dining-room. There the whole Korchagin­ family--except the mother, Sophia Vasilievna, who never left her­ cabinet--were sitting round the table. At the head of the table sat old­ Korchagin; on his left the doctor, and on his right, a visitor, Ivan­ Ivanovitch Kolosoff, a former Marechal de Noblesse, now a bank director,­ Korchagin’s friend and a Liberal. Next on the left side sat Miss Rayner,­ the governess of Missy’s little sister, and the four-year-old girl­ herself. Opposite them, Missy’s brother, Petia, the only son of the­ Korchagins, a public-school boy of the Sixth Class. It was because of­ his examinations that the whole family were still in town. Next to­ him sat a University student who was coaching him, and Missy’s cousin,­ Michael Sergeivitch Telegin, generally called Misha; opposite him,­ Katerina Alexeevna, a 40-year-old maiden lady, a Slavophil; and at the­ foot of the table sat Missy herself, with an empty place by her side.

 

“Ah! that’s right! Sit down. We are still at the fish,” said old­ Korchagin with difficulty, chewing carefully with his false teeth,­ and lifting his bloodshot eyes (which had no visible lids to them) to­ Nekhludoff.

 

“Stephen!” he said, with his mouth full, addressing the stout, dignified­ butler, and pointing with his eyes to the empty place. Though Nekhludoff­ knew Korchagin very well, and had often seen him at dinner, to-day this­ red face with the sensual smacking lips, the fat neck above the napkin­ stuck into his waistcoat, and the whole over-fed military figure, struck­ him very disagreeably. Then Nekhludoff remembered, without wishing to,­ what he knew of the cruelty of this man, who, when in command, used­ to have men flogged, and even hanged, without rhyme or reason, simply­ because he was rich and had no need to curry favour.

 

“Immediately, your excellency,” said Stephen, getting a large soup ladle­ out of the sideboard, which was decorated with a number of silver vases.­ He made a sign with his head to the handsome footman, who began at once­ to arrange the untouched knives and forks and the napkin, elaborately­ folded with the embroidered family crest uppermost, in front of the­ empty place next to Missy. Nekhludoff went round shaking hands with­ every one, and all, except old Korchagin and the ladies, rose when he­ approached. And this walk round the table, this shaking the hands of­ people, with many of whom he never talked, seemed unpleasant and odd. He­ excused himself for being late, and was about to sit down between Missy­ and Katerina Alexeevna, but old Korchagin insisted that if he would not­ take a glass of vodka he should at least take a bit of something to whet­ his appetite, at the side table, on which stood small dishes of lobster,­ caviare, cheese, and salt herrings. Nekhludoff did not know how hungry­ he was until he began to eat, and then, having taken some bread and­ cheese, he went on eating eagerly.

 

“Well, have you succeeded in undermining the basis of society?”­  asked Kolosoff, ironically quoting an expression used by a retrograde­ newspaper in attacking trial by jury. “Acquitted the culprits and­ condemned the innocent, have you?”

 

“Undermining the basis--undermining the basis,” repeated Prince­ Korchagin, laughing. He had a firm faith in the wisdom and learning of­ his chosen friend and companion.

 

At the risk of seeming rude, Nekhludoff left Kolosoff’s question­ unanswered, and sitting down to his steaming soup, went on eating.

 

“Do let him eat,” said Missy, with a smile. The pronoun him she used as­ a reminder of her intimacy with Nekhludoff. Kolosoff went on in a loud­ voice and lively manner to give the contents of the article against­ trial by jury which had aroused his indignation. Missy’s cousin, Michael­ Sergeivitch, endorsed all his statements, and related the contents of­ another article in the same paper. Missy was, as usual, very distinguee,­ and well, unobtrusively well, dressed.

 

“You must be terribly tired,” she said, after waiting until Nekhludoff­ had swallowed what was in his mouth.

 

“Not particularly. And you? Have you been to look at the pictures?” he­ asked.

 

“No, we put that off. We have been playing tennis at the Salamatoffs’.­ It is quite true, Mr. Crooks plays remarkably well.”

 

Nekhludoff had come here in order to distract his thoughts, for he­ used to like being in this house, both because its refined luxury had a­ pleasant effect on him and because of the atmosphere of tender flattery­ that unobtrusively surrounded him. But to-day everything in the house­ was repulsive to him--everything: beginning with the doorkeeper, the­ broad staircase, the flowers, the footman, the table decorations, up to­ Missy herself, who to-day seemed unattractive and affected. Kolosoff’s­ self-assured, trivial tone of liberalism was unpleasant, as was also the­ sensual, self-satisfied, bull-like appearance of old Korchagin, and the­ French phrases of Katerina Alexeevna, the Slavophil. The constrained­ looks of the governess and the student were unpleasant, too, but most­ unpleasant of all was the pronoun _him_ that Missy had used. Nekhludoff­ had long been wavering between two ways of regarding Missy; sometimes he­ looked at her as if by moonlight, and could see in her nothing but what­ was beautiful, fresh, pretty, clever and natural; then suddenly, as­ if the bright sun shone on her, he saw her defects and could not help­ seeing them. This was such a day for him. To-day he saw all the wrinkles­ of her face, knew which of her teeth were false, saw the way her hair­ was crimped, the sharpness of her elbows, and, above all, how large her­ thumb-nail was and how like her father’s.

 

“Tennis is a dull game,” said Kolosoff; “we used to play lapta when we­ were children. That was much more amusing.”

 

“Oh, no, you never tried it; it’s awfully interesting,” said Missy,­ laying, it seemed to Nekhludoff, a very affected stress on the word­ “awfully.” Then a dispute arose in which Michael Sergeivitch, Katerina­ Alexeevna and all the others took part, except the governess, the­ student and the children, who sat silent and wearied.

 

“Oh, these everlasting disputes!” said old Korchagin, laughing, and he­ pulled the napkin out of his waistcoat, noisily pushed back his chair,­ which the footman instantly caught hold of, and left the table.

 

Everybody rose after him, and went up to another table on which stood­ glasses of scented water. They rinsed their mouths, then resumed the­ conversation, interesting to no one.

 

“Don’t you think so?” said Missy to Nekhludoff, calling for a­ confirmation of the statement that nothing shows up a man’s character­ like a game. She noticed that preoccupied and, as it seemed to her,­ dissatisfied look which she feared, and she wanted to find out what had­ caused it.

 

“Really, I can’t tell; I have never thought about it,” Nekhludoff­ answered.

 

“Will you come to mamma?” asked Missy.

 

“Yes, yes,” he said, in a tone which plainly proved that he did not want­ to go, and took out a cigarette.

 

She looked at him in silence, with a questioning look, and he felt­ ashamed. “To come into a house and give the people the dumps,” he­ thought about himself; then, trying to be amiable, said that he would go­ with pleasure if the princess would admit him.

 

“Oh, yes! Mamma will be pleased. You may smoke there; and Ivan­ Ivanovitch is also there.”

 

The mistress of the house, Princess Sophia Vasilievna, was a recumbent­ lady. It was the eighth year that, when visitors were present, she lay­ in lace and ribbons, surrounded with velvet, gilding, ivory, bronze,­ lacquer and flowers, never going out, and only, as she put it, receiving­ intimate friends, i.e., those who according to her idea stood out from­ the common herd.

 

Nekhludoff was admitted into the number of these friends because he was­ considered clever, because his mother had been an intimate friend of the­ family, and because it was desirable that Missy should marry him.

 

Sophia Vasilievna’s room lay beyond the large and the small­ drawing-rooms. In the large drawing-room, Missy, who was...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.3.2018
• Übersetzer: Leo Tolstoy
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Anthologien
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Klassiker / Moderne Klassiker
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-10: 1-4553-5517-8 / 1455355178
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4553-5517-4 / 9781455355174