Part 4. Chapter 19.

The mistake made by Alexey Alexandrovitch in that, when preparing for seeing his wife, he had overlooked the possibility that her repentance might be sincere, and he might forgive her, and she might not die—this mistake was two months after his return from Moscow brought home to him in all its significance. L'erreur d'Alexey Alexandrovitch en ce que, en se préparant à voir sa femme, il avait négligé la possibilité que son repentir puisse être sincère, et il pourrait lui pardonner, et elle pourrait ne pas mourir - cette erreur était deux mois après son retour de Moscou lui a ramené à la maison dans toute sa signification. But the mistake made by him had arisen not simply from his having overlooked that contingency, but also from the fact that until that day of his interview with his dying wife, he had not known his own heart. Mais l'erreur qu'il avait commise n'était pas simplement due au fait qu'il avait négligé cette éventualité, mais aussi du fait que, jusqu'au jour de son entretien avec sa femme mourante, il n'avait pas connu son propre cœur. At his sick wife's bedside he had for the first time in his life given way to that feeling of sympathetic suffering always roused in him by the sufferings of others, and hitherto looked on by him with shame as a harmful weakness. Au chevet de sa femme malade, il avait pour la première fois de sa vie cédé la place à ce sentiment de souffrance sympathique toujours suscité en lui par les souffrances des autres, et jusqu'alors considéré par lui avec honte comme une faiblesse nuisible. And pity for her, and remorse for having desired her death, and most of all, the joy of forgiveness, made him at once conscious, not simply of the relief of his own sufferings, but of a spiritual peace he had never experienced before. He suddenly felt that the very thing that was the source of his sufferings had become the source of his spiritual joy; that what had seemed insoluble while he was judging, blaming, and hating, had become clear and simple when he forgave and loved. Il sentit soudain que la chose même qui était la source de ses souffrances était devenue la source de sa joie spirituelle; que ce qui lui avait semblé insoluble pendant qu'il jugeait, blâmait et haïssait, était devenu clair et simple quand il pardonnait et aimait.

He forgave his wife and pitied her for her sufferings and her remorse. Il pardonna à sa femme et la plaignit pour ses souffrances et ses remords. He forgave Vronsky, and pitied him, especially after reports reached him of his despairing action. He felt more for his son than before. Jis labiau jautė savo sūnų nei anksčiau. And he blamed himself now for having taken too little interest in him. But for the little newborn baby he felt a quite peculiar sentiment, not of pity, only, but of tenderness. At first, from a feeling of compassion alone, he had been interested in the delicate little creature, who was not his child, and who was cast on one side during her mother's illness, and would certainly have died if he had not troubled about her, and he did not himself observe how fond he became of her. He would go into the nursery several times a day, and sit there for a long while, so that the nurses, who were at first afraid of him, got quite used to his presence. Sometimes for half an hour at a stretch he would sit silently gazing at the saffron-red, downy, wrinkled face of the sleeping baby, watching the movements of the frowning brows, and the fat little hands, with clenched fingers, that rubbed the little eyes and nose. Parfois, pendant une demi-heure d'affilée, il restait assis silencieusement à regarder le visage rouge safran, duveteux et ridé du bébé endormi, observant les mouvements des sourcils froncés et les grosses petites mains, les doigts serrés, qui frottaient le petit les yeux et le nez. At such moments particularly, Alexey Alexandrovitch had a sense of perfect peace and inward harmony, and saw nothing extraordinary in his position, nothing that ought to be changed.

But as time went on, he saw more and more distinctly that however natural the position now seemed to him, he would not long be allowed to remain in it. He felt that besides the blessed spiritual force controlling his soul, there was another, a brutal force, as powerful, or more powerful, which controlled his life, and that this force would not allow him that humble peace he longed for. Il sentit qu'en plus de la force spirituelle bénie contrôlant son âme, il y en avait une autre, une force brutale, aussi puissante, ou plus puissante, qui contrôlait sa vie, et que cette force ne lui permettrait pas cette humble paix dont il rêvait. He felt that everyone was looking at him with inquiring wonder, that he was not understood, and that something was expected of him. Above all, he felt the instability and unnaturalness of his relations with his wife.

When the softening effect of the near approach of death had passed away, Alexey Alexandrovitch began to notice that Anna was afraid of him, ill at ease with him, and could not look him straight in the face. Lorsque l'effet adoucissant de l'approche proche de la mort fut passé, Alexey Alexandrovitch commença à remarquer qu'Anna avait peur de lui, mal à l'aise avec lui et ne pouvait pas le regarder droit en face. Kai švelnus artėjančio mirties artėjimo efektas praėjo, Aleksejus Aleksandrovičius ėmė pastebėti, kad Anna jo bijojo, jam buvo blogai ir negalėjo žiūrėti jam tiesiai į veidą. She seemed to be wanting, and not daring, to tell him something; and as though foreseeing their present relations could not continue, she seemed to be expecting something from him.

Towards the end of February it happened that Anna's baby daughter, who had been named Anna too, fell ill. Alexey Alexandrovitch was in the nursery in the morning, and leaving orders for the doctor to be sent for, he went to his office. On finishing his work, he returned home at four. Going into the hall he saw a handsome groom, in a braided livery and a bear fur cape, holding a white fur cloak. En entrant dans le hall, il vit un beau marié, dans une livrée tressée et une cape de fourrure d'ours, tenant un manteau de fourrure blanche.

"Who is here?" asked Alexey Alexandrovitch.

"Princess Elizaveta Federovna Tverskaya," the groom answered, and it seemed to Alexey Alexandrovitch that he grinned. During all this difficult time Alexey Alexandrovitch had noticed that his worldly acquaintances, especially women, took a peculiar interest in him and his wife. All these acquaintances he observed with difficulty concealing their mirth at something; the same mirth that he had perceived in the lawyer's eyes, and just now in the eyes of this groom. Everyone seemed, somehow, hugely delighted, as though they had just been at a wedding. When they met him, with ill-disguised enjoyment they inquired after his wife's health. Lorsqu'ils le rencontrèrent, avec une jouissance mal déguisée, ils s'enquirent de l'état de santé de sa femme. The presence of Princess Tverskaya was unpleasant to Alexey Alexandrovitch from the memories associated with her, and also because he disliked her, and he went straight to the nursery. In the day nursery Seryozha, leaning on the table with his legs on a chair, was drawing and chatting away merrily. Dans la crèche, Seryozha, appuyé sur la table, les jambes sur une chaise, dessinait et bavardait joyeusement. The English governess, who had during Anna's illness replaced the French one, was sitting near the boy knitting a shawl. She hurriedly got up, curtseyed, and pulled Seryozha. Elle se leva précipitamment, fit une révérence et tira Seryozha.

Alexey Alexandrovitch stroked his son's hair, answered the governess's inquiries about his wife, and asked what the doctor had said of the baby. Alexey Alexandrovitch a caressé les cheveux de son fils, a répondu aux questions de la gouvernante sur sa femme et a demandé ce que le médecin avait dit du bébé. "The doctor said it was nothing serious, and he ordered a bath, sir." "But she is still in pain," said Alexey Alexandrovitch, listening to the baby's screaming in the next room. "I think it's the wet-nurse, sir," the Englishwoman said firmly. «Je pense que c'est la nourrice, monsieur,» dit fermement l'Anglais. - Manau, kad tai slaugytoja, pone, - tvirtai pasakė anglė. "What makes you think so?" "Qu'est-ce qui vous fait penser ainsi?" he asked, stopping short.

"It's just as it was at Countess Paul's, sir. «C'est exactement comme chez la comtesse Paul, monsieur. They gave the baby medicine, and it turned out that the baby was simply hungry: the nurse had no milk, sir." Alexey Alexandrovitch pondered, and after standing still a few seconds he went in at the other door. The baby was lying with its head thrown back, stiffening itself in the nurse's arms, and would not take the plump breast offered it; and it never ceased screaming in spite of the double hushing of the wet-nurse and the other nurse, who was bending over her. Le bébé était couché la tête rejetée en arrière, se raidissant dans les bras de la nourrice, et ne voulait pas prendre la poitrine dodue qui lui était offerte; et il ne cessait de crier malgré le double silence de la nourrice et de l'autre infirmière, qui se penchait sur elle. "Still no better?" said Alexey Alexandrovitch.

"She's very restless," answered the nurse in a whisper. "Miss Edwarde says that perhaps the wet-nurse has no milk," he said. "I think so too, Alexey Alexandrovitch." "Then why didn't you say so?" "Who's one to say it to? "A qui le dire? Anna Arkadyevna still ill…" said the nurse discontentedly. The nurse was an old servant of the family. And in her simple words there seemed to Alexey Alexandrovitch an allusion to his position.

The baby screamed louder than ever, struggling and sobbing. Le bébé hurlait plus fort que jamais, se débattant et sanglotant. The nurse, with a gesture of despair, went to it, took it from the wet-nurse's arms, and began walking up and down, rocking it. "You must ask the doctor to examine the wet-nurse," said Alexey Alexandrovitch. The smartly dressed and healthy-looking nurse, frightened at the idea of losing her place, muttered something to herself, and covering her bosom, smiled contemptuously at the idea of doubts being cast on her abundance of milk. L'infirmière élégamment vêtue et d'apparence saine, effrayée à l'idée de perdre sa place, marmonna quelque chose pour elle-même, et se couvrant la poitrine, sourit avec mépris à l'idée de douter de son abondance de lait. In that smile, too, Alexey Alexandrovitch saw a sneer at his position. Dans ce sourire aussi, Alexey Alexandrovitch a vu un ricanement à sa position.

"Luckless child!" said the nurse, hushing the baby, and still walking up and down with it. dit l'infirmière en faisant taire le bébé et en marchant toujours avec lui.

Alexey Alexandrovitch sat down, and with a despondent and suffering face watched the nurse walking to and fro.

When the child at last was still, and had been put in a deep bed, and the nurse, after smoothing the little pillow, had left her, Alexey Alexandrovitch got up, and walking awkwardly on tiptoe, approached the baby. For a minute he was still, and with the same despondent face gazed at the baby; but all at once a smile, that moved his hair and the skin of his forehead, came out on his face, and he went as softly out of the room.

In the dining room he rang the bell, and told the servant who came in to send again for the doctor. He felt vexed with his wife for not being anxious about this exquisite baby, and in this vexed humor he had no wish to go to her; he had no wish, either, to see Princess Betsy. Il se sentait vexé avec sa femme de ne pas s'inquiéter pour ce bébé exquis, et dans cet humour vexé, il n'avait pas envie d'aller vers elle; il n'avait aucun désir non plus de voir la princesse Betsy. But his wife might wonder why he did not go to her as usual; and so, overcoming his disinclination, he went towards the bedroom. As he walked over the soft rug towards the door, he could not help overhearing a conversation he did not want to hear.

"If he hadn't been going away, I could have understood your answer and his too. «S'il n'était pas parti, j'aurais pu comprendre votre réponse et la sienne aussi. But your husband ought to be above that," Betsy was saying. Bet jūsų vyras turėtų būti aukščiau to “, - sakė Betsy. "It's not for my husband; for myself I don't wish it. Don't say that!" answered Anna's excited voice. "Yes, but you must care to say good-bye to a man who has shot himself on your account…." "That's just why I don't want to." With a dismayed and guilty expression, Alexey Alexandrovitch stopped and would have gone back unobserved. But reflecting that this would be undignified, he turned back again, and clearing his throat, he went up to the bedroom. The voices were silent, and he went in.

Anna, in a gray dressing gown, with a crop of short clustering black curls on her round head, was sitting on a settee. Anna, dans une robe de chambre grise, avec une récolte de courtes boucles noires en grappes sur sa tête ronde, était assise sur un canapé. The eagerness died out of her face, as it always did, at the sight of her husband; she dropped her head and looked round uneasily at Betsy. L'empressement mourut de son visage, comme toujours, à la vue de son mari; elle baissa la tête et regarda Betsy avec inquiétude. Aistringumas mirė nuo jos veido, kaip visada, matant vyrui; ji nuleido galvą ir neramiai pažvelgė į Betsiją. Betsy, dressed in the height of the latest fashion, in a hat that towered somewhere over her head like a shade on a lamp, in a blue dress with violet crossway stripes slanting one way on the bodice and the other way on the skirt, was sitting beside Anna, her tall flat figure held erect. Betsy, vêtue à la hauteur de la dernière mode, dans un chapeau qui dominait quelque part au-dessus de sa tête comme un abat-jour sur une lampe, dans une robe bleue à rayures croisées violettes inclinées dans un sens sur le corsage et dans l'autre sur la jupe, était assise à côté d'Anna, sa grande silhouette plate tenue debout. Bowing her head, she greeted Alexey Alexandrovitch with an ironical smile.

"Ah!" she said, as though surprised. "I'm very glad you're at home. You never put in an appearance anywhere, and I haven't seen you ever since Anna has been ill. Tu n'as jamais fait d'apparition nulle part, et je ne t'ai pas revu depuis qu'Anna est malade. I have heard all about it—your anxiety. Yes, you're a wonderful husband!" she said, with a meaning and affable air, as though she were bestowing an order of magnanimity on him for his conduct to his wife. dit-elle d'un air sensé et affable, comme si elle lui accordait un ordre de magnanimité pour sa conduite à sa femme.

Alexey Alexandrovitch bowed frigidly, and kissing his wife's hand, asked how she was. "Better, I think," she said, avoiding his eyes. "But you've rather a feverish-looking color," he said, laying stress on the word "feverish." "We've been talking too much," said Betsy. "I feel it's selfishness on my part, and I am going away." She got up, but Anna, suddenly flushing, quickly caught at her hand.

"No, wait a minute, please. I must tell you…no, you." she turned to Alexey Alexandrovitch, and her neck and brow were suffused with crimson. "I won't and can't keep anything secret from you," she said. Alexey Alexandrovitch cracked his fingers and bowed his head. Alexey Alexandrovitch fit craquer ses doigts et baissa la tête.

"Betsy's been telling me that Count Vronsky wants to come here to say good-bye before his departure for Tashkend." She did not look at her husband, and was evidently in haste to have everything out, however hard it might be for her. Elle ne regarda pas son mari et était évidemment pressée de tout sortir, si difficile que cela puisse être pour elle. "I told her I could not receive him." "You said, my dear, that it would depend on Alexey Alexandrovitch," Betsy corrected her. "Oh, no, I can't receive him; and what object would there…." She stopped suddenly, and glanced inquiringly at her husband (he did not look at her). "In short, I don't wish it…." Alexey Alexandrovitch advanced and would have taken her hand. Aleksejus Aleksandrovičius pasistūmėjo į priekį ir būtų paėmęs už rankos.

Her first impulse was to jerk back her hand from the damp hand with big swollen veins that sought hers, but with an obvious effort to control herself she pressed his hand. Sa première impulsion fut de retirer sa main de la main humide aux grosses veines enflées qui cherchait la sienne, mais avec un effort évident pour se contrôler, elle lui serra la main. Pirmasis jos impulsas buvo atitraukti ranką nuo drėgnos rankos su didelėmis patinusiomis gyslomis, kurios ieškojo jos, tačiau akivaizdžiomis pastangomis susivaldyti ji paspaudė jo ranką.

"I am very grateful to you for your confidence, but…" he said, feeling with confusion and annoyance that what he could decide easily and clearly by himself, he could not discuss before Princess Tverskaya, who to him stood for the incarnation of that brute force which would inevitably control him in the life he led in the eyes of the world, and hinder him from giving way to his feeling of love and forgiveness. "Je vous suis très reconnaissant pour votre confiance, mais ..." dit-il, sentant avec confusion et agacement que ce qu'il pouvait décider facilement et clairement par lui-même, il ne pouvait pas discuter devant la princesse Tverskaya, qui pour lui représentait l'incarnation de cela une force brute qui le contrôlerait inévitablement dans la vie qu'il menait aux yeux du monde, et l'empêcherait de céder à son sentiment d'amour et de pardon. "Aš esu labai dėkingas jums už pasitikėjimą, bet ..." - sakė jis, suglumęs ir susierzinęs pajutęs, kad tai, ką jis pats gali lengvai ir aiškiai nuspręsti, negalėjo aptarti prieš princesę Tverskają, kuri jam stojo už to įsikūnijimą. žiauri jėga, kuri neišvengiamai suvaldytų jį gyvenime, kurį jis vedė pasaulio akyse, ir trukdytų užleisti vietą meilės ir atleidimo jausmui. He stopped short, looking at Princess Tverskaya.

"Well, good-bye, my darling," said Betsy, getting up. She kissed Anna, and went out. Alexey Alexandrovitch escorted her out.

"Alexey Alexandrovitch! I know you are a truly magnanimous man," said Betsy, stopping in the little drawing-room, and with special warmth shaking hands with him once more. "I am an outsider, but I so love her and respect you that I venture to advise. Receive him. Alexey Vronsky is the soul of honor, and he is going away to Tashkend." "Thank you, princess, for your sympathy and advice. But the question of whether my wife can or cannot see anyone she must decide herself." He said this from habit, lifting his brows with dignity, and reflected immediately that whatever his words might be, there could be no dignity in his position. Il dit cela par habitude, levant les sourcils avec dignité, et se dit immédiatement que quelles que soient ses paroles, il ne pouvait y avoir aucune dignité dans sa position. And he saw this by the suppressed, malicious, and ironical smile with which Betsy glanced at him after this phrase.