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Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Part 8. Chapter 17.

Part 8. Chapter 17.

The old prince and Sergey Ivanovitch got into the trap and drove off; the rest of the party hastened homewards on foot.

But the storm-clouds, turning white and then black, moved down so quickly that they had to quicken their pace to get home before the rain. The foremost clouds, lowering and black as soot-laden smoke, rushed with extraordinary swiftness over the sky. They were still two hundred paces from home and a gust of wind had already blown up, and every second the downpour might be looked for.

The children ran ahead with frightened and gleeful shrieks. Darya Alexandrovna, struggling painfully with her skirts that clung round her legs, was not walking, but running, her eyes fixed on the children. The men of the party, holding their hats on, strode with long steps beside her. They were just at the steps when a big drop fell splashing on the edge of the iron guttering. The children and their elders after them ran into the shelter of the house, talking merrily.

"Katerina Alexandrovna?" Levin asked of Agafea Mihalovna, who met them with kerchiefs and rugs in the hall.

"We thought she was with you," she said. "And Mitya?" "In the copse, he must be, and the nurse with him." Levin snatched up the rugs and ran towards the copse.

In that brief interval of time the storm clouds had moved on, covering the sun so completely that it was dark as an eclipse. Stubbornly, as though insisting on its rights, the wind stopped Levin, and tearing the leaves and flowers off the lime trees and stripping the white birch branches into strange unseemly nakedness, it twisted everything on one side—acacias, flowers, burdocks, long grass, and tall tree-tops. The peasant girls working in the garden ran shrieking into shelter in the servants' quarters. The streaming rain had already flung its white veil over all the distant forest and half the fields close by, and was rapidly swooping down upon the copse. The wet of the rain spurting up in tiny drops could be smelt in the air.

Holding his head bent down before him, and struggling with the wind that strove to tear the wraps away from him, Levin was moving up to the copse and had just caught sight of something white behind the oak tree, when there was a sudden flash, the whole earth seemed on fire, and the vault of heaven seemed crashing overhead. Opening his blinded eyes, Levin gazed through the thick veil of rain that separated him now from the copse, and to his horror the first thing he saw was the green crest of the familiar oak-tree in the middle of the copse uncannily changing its position. "Can it have been struck?" Levin hardly had time to think when, moving more and more rapidly, the oak tree vanished behind the other trees, and he heard the crash of the great tree falling upon the others.

The flash of lightning, the crash of thunder, and the instantaneous chill that ran through him were all merged for Levin in one sense of terror.

"My God! my God! not on them!" he said.

And though he thought at once how senseless was his prayer that they should not have been killed by the oak which had fallen now, he repeated it, knowing that he could do nothing better than utter this senseless prayer.

Running up to the place where they usually went, he did not find them there.

They were at the other end of the copse under an old lime-tree; they were calling him. Two figures in dark dresses (they had been light summer dresses when they started out) were standing bending over something. It was Kitty with the nurse. The rain was already ceasing, and it was beginning to get light when Levin reached them. The nurse was not wet on the lower part of her dress, but Kitty was drenched through, and her soaked clothes clung to her. Though the rain was over, they still stood in the same position in which they had been standing when the storm broke. Both stood bending over a perambulator with a green umbrella.

"Alive? Unhurt? Thank God!" he said, splashing with his soaked boots through the standing water and running up to them.

Kitty's rosy wet face was turned towards him, and she smiled timidly under her shapeless sopped hat. "Aren't you ashamed of yourself? I can't think how you can be so reckless!" he said angrily to his wife.

"It wasn't my fault, really. We were just meaning to go, when he made such a to-do that we had to change him. We were just…" Kitty began defending herself. Mitya was unharmed, dry, and still fast asleep.

"Well, thank God! I don't know what I'm saying!" They gathered up the baby's wet belongings; the nurse picked up the baby and carried it. Levin walked beside his wife, and, penitent for having been angry, he squeezed her hand when the nurse was not looking.


Part 8. Chapter 17.

The old prince and Sergey Ivanovitch got into the trap and drove off; the rest of the party hastened homewards on foot. Le vieux prince et Sergey Ivanovitch sont tombés dans le piège et sont partis; le reste du groupe se précipita vers la maison à pied.

But the storm-clouds, turning white and then black, moved down so quickly that they had to quicken their pace to get home before the rain. The foremost clouds, lowering and black as soot-laden smoke, rushed with extraordinary swiftness over the sky. Les nuages les plus avancés, descendant et noirs comme une fumée chargée de suie, se précipitaient avec une rapidité extraordinaire sur le ciel. They were still two hundred paces from home and a gust of wind had already blown up, and every second the downpour might be looked for. Ils étaient encore à deux cents pas de chez eux et une rafale de vent avait déjà soufflé, et à chaque seconde l'averse pouvait être recherchée.

The children ran ahead with frightened and gleeful shrieks. Darya Alexandrovna, struggling painfully with her skirts that clung round her legs, was not walking, but running, her eyes fixed on the children. The men of the party, holding their hats on, strode with long steps beside her. They were just at the steps when a big drop fell splashing on the edge of the iron guttering. Ils étaient juste aux marches lorsqu'une grosse goutte tomba sur le bord de la gouttière en fer. The children and their elders after them ran into the shelter of the house, talking merrily. Les enfants et leurs aînés après eux ont couru dans l'abri de la maison en parlant joyeusement.

"Katerina Alexandrovna?" Levin asked of Agafea Mihalovna, who met them with kerchiefs and rugs in the hall. Levin a demandé à Agafea Mihalovna, qui les a rencontrés avec des mouchoirs et des tapis dans le hall. Vroeg Levin aan Agafea Mihalovna, die hen met hoofddoeken en tapijten in de hal ontmoette.

"We thought she was with you," she said. "And Mitya?" "In the copse, he must be, and the nurse with him." «Dans le bosquet, il doit être, et l'infirmière avec lui. 'In het kreupelhout moet hij zijn, en de verpleegster bij hem.' Levin snatched up the rugs and ran towards the copse. Levin attrapa les tapis et courut vers le bosquet.

In that brief interval of time the storm clouds had moved on, covering the sun so completely that it was dark as an eclipse. Stubbornly, as though insisting on its rights, the wind stopped Levin, and tearing the leaves and flowers off the lime trees and stripping the white birch branches into strange unseemly nakedness, it twisted everything on one side—acacias, flowers, burdocks, long grass, and tall tree-tops. Obstinément, comme s'il insistait sur ses droits, le vent arrêta Levin, et arrachant les feuilles et les fleurs des tilleuls et dépouillant les branches de bouleau blanc en une étrange nudité inconvenante, il tordit tout d'un côté: acacias, fleurs, bardanes, hautes herbes. , et de grands arbres. Koppig, alsof hij aandrong op zijn rechten, stopte de wind Levin, en scheurde de bladeren en bloemen van de lindebomen en het strippen van de witte berkentakken tot vreemde, ongepaste naaktheid, het verdraaide alles aan één kant - acacia's, bloemen, klitjes, lang gras en hoge boomtoppen. The peasant girls working in the garden ran shrieking into shelter in the servants' quarters. Les paysannes qui travaillaient dans le jardin couraient en hurlant vers l'abri dans les quartiers des domestiques. The streaming rain had already flung its white veil over all the distant forest and half the fields close by, and was rapidly swooping down upon the copse. La pluie ruisselante avait déjà jeté son voile blanc sur toute la forêt lointaine et la moitié des champs voisins, et s'abattait rapidement sur le bosquet. The wet of the rain spurting up in tiny drops could be smelt in the air. L'humidité de la pluie jaillissant en minuscules gouttes pouvait se sentir dans l'air.

Holding his head bent down before him, and struggling with the wind that strove to tear the wraps away from him, Levin was moving up to the copse and had just caught sight of something white behind the oak tree, when there was a sudden flash, the whole earth seemed on fire, and the vault of heaven seemed crashing overhead. Tenant sa tête penchée devant lui, et luttant avec le vent qui s'efforçait de lui arracher les enveloppes, Levin se dirigeait vers le bosquet et venait d'apercevoir quelque chose de blanc derrière le chêne, quand il y eut un éclair soudain, la terre entière semblait en feu, et la voûte céleste semblait s'écraser au-dessus de nos têtes. Opening his blinded eyes, Levin gazed through the thick veil of rain that separated him now from the copse, and to his horror the first thing he saw was the green crest of the familiar oak-tree in the middle of the copse uncannily changing its position. Ouvrant ses yeux aveuglés, Levin regarda à travers l'épais voile de pluie qui le séparait maintenant du bosquet, et à sa grande horreur, la première chose qu'il vit fut la crête verte du chêne familier au milieu du bosquet changeant étrangement de position. . "Can it have been struck?" - Ar galima smogti? Levin hardly had time to think when, moving more and more rapidly, the oak tree vanished behind the other trees, and he heard the crash of the great tree falling upon the others. Levin eut à peine le temps de réfléchir que, se déplaçant de plus en plus rapidement, le chêne disparut derrière les autres arbres, et il entendit le fracas du grand arbre tomber sur les autres. Levinas vargu ar turėjo laiko pagalvoti, kada vis sparčiau judėdamas ąžuolas dingo už kitų medžių ir išgirdo, kaip didysis medis nukrito ant kitų.

The flash of lightning, the crash of thunder, and the instantaneous chill that ran through him were all merged for Levin in one sense of terror. L'éclat de la foudre, le fracas du tonnerre et le froid instantané qui le traversa furent tous fusionnés pour Levin dans un sentiment de terreur.

"My God! my God! not on them!" he said.

And though he thought at once how senseless was his prayer that they should not have been killed by the oak which had fallen now, he repeated it, knowing that he could do nothing better than utter this senseless prayer. Et tout en pensant aussitôt à quel point sa prière était insensée qu'ils n'auraient pas dû être tués par le chêne qui était tombé maintenant, il la répéta, sachant qu'il ne pouvait rien faire de mieux que de prononcer cette prière insensée.

Running up to the place where they usually went, he did not find them there.

They were at the other end of the copse under an old lime-tree; they were calling him. Two figures in dark dresses (they had been light summer dresses when they started out) were standing bending over something. Deux silhouettes en robes sombres (c'étaient des robes d'été claires à leurs débuts) se penchaient sur quelque chose. It was Kitty with the nurse. The rain was already ceasing, and it was beginning to get light when Levin reached them. The nurse was not wet on the lower part of her dress, but Kitty was drenched through, and her soaked clothes clung to her. Though the rain was over, they still stood in the same position in which they had been standing when the storm broke. Both stood bending over a perambulator with a green umbrella. Tous deux se penchaient sur une poussette avec un parapluie vert.

"Alive? Unhurt? Thank God!" he said, splashing with his soaked boots through the standing water and running up to them. dit-il, éclaboussant avec ses bottes trempées dans l'eau stagnante et courant vers elles.

Kitty's rosy wet face was turned towards him, and she smiled timidly under her shapeless sopped hat. Le visage humide et rose de Kitty était tourné vers lui, et elle souriait timidement sous son chapeau écrasé informe. Kitty's roze, natte gezicht was naar hem toe gekeerd en ze glimlachte bedeesd onder haar vormeloze, sopte hoed. "Aren't you ashamed of yourself? I can't think how you can be so reckless!" he said angrily to his wife.

"It wasn't my fault, really. We were just meaning to go, when he made such a to-do that we had to change him. Nous voulions juste y aller, quand il a fait une telle tâche que nous avons dû le changer. We were just…" Kitty began defending herself. Mitya was unharmed, dry, and still fast asleep.

"Well, thank God! I don't know what I'm saying!" They gathered up the baby's wet belongings; the nurse picked up the baby and carried it. Ils ont rassemblé les affaires mouillées du bébé; l'infirmière a pris le bébé et l'a porté. Levin walked beside his wife, and, penitent for having been angry, he squeezed her hand when the nurse was not looking.