The place where she stood seemed to him a holy shrine, unap- (40) proachable, and there was one moment when he was almost retreating, so overwhelmed was he with terror. “Is it possible I can go over there on the ice, go up to her?” he thought. She was the smile that shed light on all round her. But for Levin she was as easy to find (35) in that crowd as a rose among nettles. There was apparently nothing striking either in her dress or her attitude. She was standing talking to a lady at the opposite end of the ground. (30) He knew she was there by the rapture and the ter- ror that seized on his heart. He walked on a few steps, and the skating-ground lay open before his eyes, and at once, amidst all the skaters, he knew her. He went towards the mounds, whence came the clank (25) of the chains of sledges as they slipped down or were dragged up, the rumble of the sliding sledges, and the sounds of merry voices. An acquaintance met him and called him by his name, but Levin did not even recognize him. And the more he tried to com- pose himself, the more breathless he found himself. What’s the matter with you? What do you want? Be quiet, stupid,” he (20) conjured his heart. He walked along the path towards the skating- ground, and kept saying to himself-“You mustn’t be excited, you must be calm. The old curly birches of the gardens, all their twigs laden with snow, looked as though freshly decked in (15) sacred vestments. Crowds of well-dressed people, with hats (10) bright in the sun, swarmed about the entrance and along the well-swept little paths between the little houses adorned with carving in the Russian style. Rows of carriages, sledges, drivers, and policemen were standing in the approach. Prior to this excerpt, one of the major characters, Levin, has realized that he is in love with his longtime friend Kitty Shtcherbatsky.Īt four o’clock, conscious of his throbbing heart, Levin stepped out of a hired sledge at the Zoological Gardens, and turned along the path to the frozen mounds and the skating ground, knowing that he (5) would certainly find her there, as he had seen the Shtcherbatskys’ carriage at the entrance. The following passage is adapted from Leo Tolstoy’s 1873 novel,Anna Karenina (translated from the original Russian by Constance Garnett).

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