Part 6. Chapter 27.

The sixth day was fixed for the election of the marshal of the province.

The rooms, large and small, were full of noblemen in all sorts of uniforms. Many had come only for that day. Men who had not seen each other for years, some from the Crimea, some from Petersburg, some from abroad, met in the rooms of the Hall of Nobility. Daugybę metų nematę vyrai, kas iš Krymo, kas iš Peterburgo, kas iš užsienio, susitiko Bajorijos salės kambariuose. There was much discussion around the governor's table under the portrait of the Tsar. The nobles, both in the larger and the smaller rooms, grouped themselves in camps, and from their hostile and suspicious glances, from the silence that fell upon them when outsiders approached a group, and from the way that some, whispering together, retreated to the farther corridor, it was evident that each side had secrets from the other. Les nobles, à la fois dans les plus grandes et les plus petites pièces, se regroupaient dans des camps, et de leurs regards hostiles et méfiants, du silence qui tombait sur eux lorsque des étrangers s'approchaient d'un groupe, et de la façon dont certains, chuchotant ensemble, se retiraient à le couloir le plus éloigné, il était évident que chaque côté avait des secrets de l'autre. In appearance the noblemen were sharply divided into two classes: the old and the new. En apparence, les nobles étaient nettement divisés en deux classes: l'ancienne et la nouvelle. The old were for the most part either in old uniforms of the nobility, buttoned up closely, with spurs and hats, or in their own special naval, cavalry, infantry, or official uniforms. The uniforms of the older men were embroidered in the old-fashioned way with epaulets on their shoulders; they were unmistakably tight and short in the waist, as though their wearers had grown out of them. Les uniformes des hommes plus âgés étaient brodés à l'ancienne avec des épaulettes sur les épaules; ils étaient indéniablement serrés et courts à la taille, comme si leurs porteurs en avaient grandi. The younger men wore the uniform of the nobility with long waists and broad shoulders, unbuttoned over white waistcoats, or uniforms with black collars and with the embroidered badges of justices of the peace. Les jeunes hommes portaient l'uniforme de la noblesse avec de longues tailles et de larges épaules, déboutonné sur des gilets blancs, ou des uniformes à col noir et avec les insignes brodés des juges de paix. To the younger men belonged the court uniforms that here and there brightened up the crowd. Aux jeunes hommes appartenaient les uniformes de la cour qui, çà et là, égayaient la foule.

But the division into young and old did not correspond with the division of parties. Some of the young men, as Levin observed, belonged to the old party; and some of the very oldest noblemen, on the contrary, were whispering with Sviazhsky, and were evidently ardent partisans of the new party. Certains des jeunes gens, comme le fit remarquer Levin, appartenaient au vieux parti; et quelques-uns des nobles les plus anciens, au contraire, chuchotaient avec Sviazhsky, et étaient évidemment de fervents partisans du nouveau parti.

Levin stood in the smaller room, where they were smoking and taking light refreshments, close to his own friends, and listening to what they were saying, he conscientiously exerted all his intelligence trying to understand what was said. Levin se tenait dans la plus petite pièce, où ils fumaient et prenaient de légers rafraîchissements, près de ses propres amis, et écoutant ce qu'ils disaient, il exerçait consciencieusement toute son intelligence en essayant de comprendre ce qui se disait. Sergey Ivanovitch was the center round which the others grouped themselves. Sergey Ivanovitch était le centre autour duquel les autres se groupaient. He was listening at that moment to Sviazhsky and Hliustov, the marshal of another district, who belonged to their party. Hliustov would not agree to go with his district to ask Snetkov to stand, while Sviazhsky was persuading him to do so, and Sergey Ivanovitch was approving of the plan. Hliustov n'accepterait pas d'aller avec son district pour demander à Snetkov de se présenter, tandis que Sviazhsky le persuadait de le faire et que Sergey Ivanovitch approuvait le plan. Levin could not make out why the opposition was to ask the marshal to stand whom they wanted to supersede. Levin ne pouvait pas comprendre pourquoi l'opposition demandait au maréchal de se présenter à qui ils voulaient remplacer.

Stepan Arkadyevitch, who had just been drinking and taking some lunch, came up to them in his uniform of a gentleman of the bedchamber, wiping his lips with a perfumed handkerchief of bordered batiste. Stépan Arkadyevitch, qui venait de boire et de déjeuner, s'approcha d'eux en uniforme de gentilhomme de la chambre, s'essuyant les lèvres avec un mouchoir parfumé de batiste bordé.

"We are placing our forces," he said, pulling out his whiskers, "Sergey Ivanovitch!" "Nous plaçons nos forces", dit-il en sortant ses moustaches, "Sergey Ivanovitch!" And listening to the conversation, he supported Sviazhsky's contention. Et en écoutant la conversation, il a soutenu l'affirmation de Sviazhsky. "One district's enough, and Sviazhsky's obviously of the opposition," he said, words evidently intelligible to all except Levin. «Un district suffit, et Sviazhsky est manifestement de l'opposition», a-t-il dit, des mots manifestement intelligibles par tous sauf Levin. "Why, Kostya, you here too! «Pourquoi, Kostya, toi aussi ici! I suppose you're converted, eh?" Je suppose que vous êtes converti, hein? " he added, turning to Levin and drawing his arm through his. ajouta-t-il en se tournant vers Levin et en passant son bras à travers le sien. Levin would have been glad indeed to be converted, but could not make out what the point was, and retreating a few steps from the speakers, he explained to Stepan Arkadyevitch his inability to understand why the marshal of the province should be asked to stand.

"O sancta simplicitas!" said Stepan Arkadyevitch, and briefly and clearly he explained it to Levin. If, as at previous elections, all the districts asked the marshal of the province to stand, then he would be elected without a ballot. Si, comme aux élections précédentes, tous les districts demandaient au maréchal de province de se présenter, alors il serait élu sans scrutin. That must not be. Now eight districts had agreed to call upon him: if two refused to do so, Snetkov might decline to stand at all; and then the old party might choose another of their party, which would throw them completely out in their reckoning. Maintenant huit districts avaient accepté de lui faire appel: si deux refusaient de le faire, Snetkov pourrait refuser de se présenter du tout; et alors l'ancien parti pourrait choisir un autre de leur parti, ce qui les rejetterait complètement dans leur compte. But if only one district, Sviazhsky's, did not call upon him to stand, Snetkov would let himself be balloted for. Mais si un seul district, celui de Sviazhsky, ne l'appelait pas à se présenter, Snetkov se laisserait élire. Bet jei tik vienas rajonas, Sviažskio, nepakvietė jo stoti, Snetkovas leido balsuoti. They were even, some of them, going to vote for him, and purposely to let him get a good many votes, so that the enemy might be thrown off the scent, and when a candidate of the other side was put up, they too might give him some votes. Ils allaient même, certains d'entre eux, voter pour lui, et à dessein pour le laisser obtenir un bon nombre de voix, afin que l'ennemi puisse être chassé de l'odeur, et quand un candidat de l'autre côté était présenté, eux aussi pourrait lui donner quelques votes. Levin understood to some extent, but not fully, and would have put a few more questions, when suddenly everyone began talking and making a noise and they moved towards the big room.

"What is it? eh? whom?" "No guarantee? whose? what?" "They won't pass him?" "No guarantee?" "They won't let Flerov in?" "Eh, because of the charge against him?" "Hein, à cause de l'accusation portée contre lui?" "Why, at this rate, they won't admit anyone. «Pourquoi, à ce rythme, ils n'admettent personne. It's a swindle!" C'est une escroquerie! " "The law!" Levin heard exclamations on all sides, and he moved into the big room together with the others, all hurrying somewhere and afraid of missing something. Squeezed by the crowding noblemen, he drew near the high table where the marshal of the province, Sviazhsky, and the other leaders were hotly disputing about something. Pressé par la foule des nobles, il s'approcha de la table haute où le maréchal de la province, Sviazhsky, et les autres chefs se disputaient vivement pour quelque chose.