Chapter 87 (1/2)

In his childhood, Karenin's day began with a passage of the Bible.

The man with dark blonde hair was not born so serious and boring.

When Karenin was still young and his parents were still alive, although he was not as lively as his peers, he also had this kind of childlike loveliness. But this gentleman can be classified as the more introverted and sensitive since he was a child.

Karenin's father, old Karenin, was a traditional parent of a large family. He had the height of the family, and rarely had the stout limbs and neck of Russian officials.

The old Karenin was old-fashioned, but occasionally a little mean and witty. He has a simple hobby. He likes all the things that people in the circle like and dislikes in the circle. But sometimes, this old-fashioned gentleman also has a little gentle heart. This mood is not for his good tempered wife, but for his eldest son.

Matvey, as the eldest son of this large family, is undoubtedly extremely qualified.

His birth is a feat in itself. The ancient and natural form of genetic integration has made the two couples who were married by family marriage much closer.

Children's education in this family is very clear-cut, as early as Matvey can not speak when it has been doomed. But what makes life interesting is that it likes to break the rules.

With Matvey's growing up, this intelligent, kind and humorous child made old Karenin gradually play the role of father.

When Matvey was old enough, he gave him a purebred foal, and after that he also sent various things, such as shotguns, and all kinds of funny and manly things he brought back from abroad. Until his death, Karenin's brother Matvey was extremely beloved.

These things were not told to Karenin by anyone, nor did he inquire about them out of curiosity. In fact, there is no need to ask about the family, the elder brother's bedroom, and the father's forbidden area, the study, which his father could not easily enter. The furnishings and traces of these places all illustrate the fact that Matvey was favored.

Since the eldest son has completely occupied the heart of the father, there is not much space for children to share.

If the daughter still has that rare gender and clever advantage, then as the second son, Karenin's birth is just like a dull time.

These three children are actually the last two who are more like fathers, but the latter prefer the eldest son who is not very similar to him. Even in terms of character, Karenin, the younger son, inherited the appearance of his father, while the older son's excessive intelligence and optimism seemed to be a school of his own. But the word ”love” has never had any specific conditions.

The old Mr. Karenin's approach is not worthy of praise. If his biased eye is in any ordinary novel, the young son as the protagonist is likely to grow into some kind of surly adult. Under the mature appearance, there is still a rebellious heart which is not tempered and powerful with time.

But fortunately, Karenin is that small part of the probability. The reason is probably due to his brother Matvey.

At that time, the most favorite child in a family might have become a dandy in some aristocratic gangs. He entered the Yamen with his father's relationship and went with the flow with his salary, but he was also at ease.

Matvey is another exception.

He is intelligent but not conceited, charitable and not too stupid. As a brother, Matvey's existence is more meaningful in Karenin's mind than his father's vague and rigid figure.

When he was very young, Karenin, who was more introverted, began to chase his elder brother's step unconsciously.

He was careful and careful, observing his brother's daily life, reading his favorite books, and learning Matvey's language. In the eyes of outsiders, his imitation was mostly attributed to his desire to get the attention of his father, even to Karenin's mother.

Under the latter's loving gaze, Karenin once frowned slightly and explained, but was interrupted by a kiss. So, without excuse, the fact became such an established memory that, in a conversation a long time later, Karenin could still learn from her sister Maria that the boy who seriously wanted to get his father's eyes was a false fact of his own.

That's not true, but Karenin stopped refuting it because of the false memories of good intentions. That's not particularly important after all.

But Matvey seems to know. This intelligent elder brother said nothing, but took time out of his busy study life as much as possible, and gave more guidance on his brother's study.

Communication on study takes up a lot of their time.

Matvey's respect and unique love made Karenin not realize that he was different. It was only when his parents died and when he left for boarding school in his uncle's house that the elder reminded him carelessly. It turns out that some of his practices are extremely against the world.At that time, Matvey was only 17 years old, and he was still the favorite in the University. After their parents died, most people were watching. After all, it's never friendship that holds the circle together.

Young people in college are no longer so simple. If social intercourse before adulthood is based on the eyes of parents, it is the place where beagles begin to hunt independently. In this circle, they sniff with their noses, look at them with their eyes, touch them with their forelimbs, and divide their own people by their tails. Among them, Zhang's political career is not turbulent at all. And all this, Karenin was in his own university after the thorough understanding.

Grief is an instinctive response to the loss of parents at the age of twelve. But after that, the day can be the same.

At the age of 20, when he got the sad news of his brother's death, Karenin understood the significance of Matvey to him.

It is not only the friendship between brothers, but also a precious friendship. When reading those letters, Karenin felt deeply touched by every word of his brother. It was also at that time that Karenin really understood why his father doted on his son so much.

In those last days, Matvey's letters never complained, almost imperceptible. His attitude towards disease is open-minded, no one loves life more than he does, and no one is more magnanimous than he is to life and death. This is something Karenin will never learn.

In this family, the most pitiful is not Matvey, nor Maria, but the most introverted Karenin on the surface.

Karenin was a man who could not see other people's tears from childhood. Of course, he never had a chance to see it before, but since he started boarding school, he has seen more tears.

The tears of boys being bullied, the tears of girls sad and frustrated, until he entered politics, the sad and sad faces of those poor people. At that time, Karenin began to make up his mind that he had to do something at least.

”Just be yourself, Alexis.” Matvey once said this to 10-year-old Karenin.

At that time, Karenin was questioning his brother about an accident he had seen by accident.

Ordinary children would look for answers from their father or mother, but Karenin used to find out the answers himself. His questions to his family were very few. But these rare inquiries, Karenin did not go to his father, in his immature mind, in fact, by virtue of some natural perception, he had long sought a mentor for himself.

From a father's point of view, this distrust seems to be a tragedy. But even if these things were told to old Mr. Karenin, I'm afraid he would not care.

Fortunately, Karenin had at least one elder brother.

If the other side of light can only be shadow, then Matvey should be the favorite light, while Karenin, as the youngest son, can only make a shadow wrongly.

But in fact, Karenin did not have this feeling.

This good environment benefits from the noble character of Matvey. Even though he was not a doting elder brother, he was, as he said at the beginning, a pure noble man, and very clever.

His time with his parents was short and alienated, his time with his brother was calm and restrained, and his lack of attention due to his parents' personality during his childhood made him not very aware of how to be a father. In his youth, the early death of his brother made Karenin fail to learn the most rigorous tact in politics.

If anyone was in the position of Karenin, he would probably not have achieved what he had today.

As far as Karenin is concerned, his youth is not much to be missed.

The years Matvey was alive, but they didn't live together. His elder sister Maria, who is several years older than him, lives in his uncle's house.

The Karenin did not inherit the family's thin and tall genes. He was of medium height, with a long face, a decent moustache, and a strong habit of smoking and drinking.

Like most of his younger sons, Karenin's uncle had a prodigal youth. Like most aristocratic children, they followed the tradition and married a well-off wife.

Such a person, originally nothing special. When you are young, you don't look too showy. When you are old, you are not so bad. There was an only child, but he died before he was five years old. There are mistresses, but no more children.

After the death of Karenin's father, it was reasonable to take care of them both out of sympathy or some kind of family responsibility.

Karenin's sister, a woman as gentle as her mother, seldom plucked up the courage at that time, took Karenin's hand and asked him quietly whether he must go to his uncle's house to live.

It was the first time that Karenin, a 12-year-old ignorant boy, began to feel the heavy responsibility.

As a man, both mother and sister should be protected. But he couldn't do it when he was young. It's not that I didn't want to ask my brother Matvey, but I just gave up the idea in a flash.For both their financial situation and their future, it is more appropriate to go to their uncle for a stable education than to live with an elder brother who has been abroad all the year round.

”Uncle will arrange it.” Karenin told Maria that the girl with the same eyes as him could only tear out a smile sadly.

”Ah, yes, this is the best.”

Karenin's lips moved. He knew that he should give more reasons to comfort Maria, or himself. But in the end, he could only hold the elder sister's hand, but he didn't know whether to use force.

At last, when he was ready to leave home, Karenin looked at the furniture covered with white cotton cloth, and his heart suddenly became empty.

At that moment, he was almost surprised. After all, he didn't care much about this place before.

For Karenin, family is only a traditional concept.

He didn't feel too much warmth at home like the children of the poor. Even when I was young, the milk was not sucked from the mother's Ru room.

But at that moment, in Karenin's blue pupil, there was something complex in the surging emotion.

His fingers couldn't help touching his father's desk. The top mahogany desks were smooth and straight. They had withstood the weight of his father's elbow, overstocked a lot of documents, and even some paint marks were burned off by ash.

All this seemed to form a huge whirlpool in Karenin's mind, so that he finally determined the fact that he had chewed dozens of times - he had to leave, they had to leave.

”Yes, I will miss you only when I leave.” Matvey said.

At that time, he was too young to be childish. He was slender and handsome. He combined the advantages of his parents and had his own temperament.

This temperament is charming, but it is not so rampant that Matvey's comments have been high since he first joined politics.

”Yes.” Karenin quietly agreed with his brother's words.

”Come on, don't let uncle wait.” Matvey said.

Instead of gently holding Karenin's hand as before, he treats his younger brother as an adult.

His respect and restraint made Karenin feel comfortable. As a result, Karenin looked at the tall figure of the other side, and his worries about home faded a lot.

Uncle's house is spacious and quiet.

Aunt is not a kind person. If there was a reserved coldness in the woman when she was young, the breath of life was stripped from her face after the death of her only son.

For her uncle's lovers, she never took care of them, and even died without a word of bitterness. But Karenin's uncle, a man who actually had absolute superiority at that time, didn't marry any mistress as everyone guessed after his wife passed away. He lived alone for nearly ten years in his short life of 47.

Some good Samaritans speculated that Karenin's uncle was deeply in love with his wife, so he insisted on not marrying her after her death. Some people said that he just didn't want to get some women cheaper. Karenin once thought that it was not worth discussing whether his uncle loved his aunt or not. Maybe there is, maybe not. For a long time, he also used a word in his heart: ”if you want to say love, there is not much love” to evaluate this matter. Until later, he began to really think about it.

It was a winter evening, five years after my aunt died.

Uncle Karenin's body and bones are not very good. It was not long after Karenin entered the Department. He was being teased and excluded. He was more silent than he was later.

Young face, dense fragrance of tea, warm fireplace, and middle-aged people lying in rocking chairs.

It's so quiet in this family, especially since Maria got married.

Karenin has not yet moved out of his home, but it is not far away.

”I just dreamt about your aunt.” Said Karenin's uncle, opening his already defunct eyes.

At this time, Karenin would not answer the phone. Years of training made him more cautious. Although there is a young man's impulse in his heart, his rational restraint is becoming stronger year by year.

”It's not a good dream. She didn't even give me a smile. It's little things. It's like it happened, it's like it's in my own imagination, who knows. ” Karenin's uncle said slowly, with a smile in the corner of his mouth.

The smile was so warm that it left a place for the smile in Karenin's brain, which was always filled with busy work, until a long time later.

For a long time after that, Karenin's uncle did not mention his wife again.

Just as everyone was about to forget, one day the uncle lying in bed suddenly developed hysteria and began to recite his wife's name.He seemed to be back in his newlyweds, calling his wife's nickname affectionately. He took his wife's dressing gown and laid it by his bed. Then he kept talking. When he woke up the next morning, it seemed that nothing had happened.

It's a secret. At least, under Karenin's control, no one in Petersburg has ever talked about it.

Those who knew about it were sent away by Karenin, and after Yu's hope was satisfied and proper threats were given, everyone talked about it.

Karenin protected his uncle's face and saved his family's image in the circle with the mentality and means that a young man should not have. However, at the same time, a question inevitably broke into his heart.

This question can be said to be the longest accumulated problem.

At that time, there were no people who could answer Karenin's confusion.

After Matvey died, Karenin's inner world became more closed. Under his uncle's education, he wore a political mask and became more disciplined. Those who had curiosity and innocence in the years of baptism, become more and more light, and eventually disappeared. I don't know which day, Karenin began to get up early, the first thing is to read a Bible.

Youth

the words in the Bible guide people to be good, loyal, not jealous, not suspicious.

Most people think that they know all about Karenin's love of political and theological books. Or sigh his compassion, love, or secretly ridicule his falsehood.

But Karenin's study of theology was never to be such a man.

The source of his habit is now forgotten, but in many practices, Karenin found that there was nothing wrong with this habit, so he did not change it.

At the end of the day, Karenin was a born political expert.

This is not to say that he is better than most people. If only from the perspective of intelligence, Karenin can only enter the qualification line at most, but it is the weakness of human nature that makes him excellent.

In this secular world, Karenin is not detached from the outside.

He did not have too fair ideal, nor too much attachment to the enjoyment of the world of mortals. He is calm and rigid, and lives his life in the same way. In the eyes of outsiders, he has some funny fun.

Although Karenin didn't think there was anything wrong with him, in his position, there were always some good people who would think for him with one purpose or another.

Before Karenin became governor of the province, his uncle had mentioned it. It seemed that he had to have a suitable mate.

”At your age, it's OK to let loose before you get married, but anyway, marriage is not the same thing.”

Karenin's uncle seldom talked to him about these things which were divorced from politics, but it seemed that at the end of the day, he could not avoid going back to politics.

Karenin, only 25, was not tired of it.

Compared with his rigid and cold nature, the character of Karenin seldom appears the word of impatience. Even in the hot and dry stage of young people, he has always maintained a certain strong rationality.

That night, for the first time, Karenin considered his uncle's proposal carefully.

Although some of the people in his circle did not pay much attention to the interests of women in his circle, they did not pay much attention to them.

In Karenin's view, the beauty of women is very one-sided.

Perfume or painted red lips did not stir up much change in Karenin's mood.

As a young man, all his reactions are too common and even easy to be discussed. But in this case, Karenin's position made it easier for him to ignore the small noises.

He used to think that work occupied too much of his mind, but later he thought that it might be more to blame for not meeting the right people.

What is the right person?

Karenin was a man. When he was young, he couldn't be like a girl. He asked about other people with innocence. He never cared.

Naturally, after a few years of his own marriage, Karenin should not have had much contact with this issue, but as a man with a sister, he may have been involved in more topics than most people.

Karenin's sister, Maria, was also a tall and thin woman. The facial features are very similar to their father, but more delicate and soft.

The nose, especially prominent in the family, has been weakened a lot on the woman's face, and her neat teeth have brought her beauty to a higher level.

Maria gave birth to a daughter not long after she married her husband luid, and then a few years later, she had a son, and not long after her son Andre was born, the mother had a very bad time for a while, but fortunately she got through.

”I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm upset with my children. Sometimes I look at him, lying in my arms is so small, as if the world can easily hurt him, I always want to cryAfter Andre was half-year-old, Karenin took time to go to France.

In the autumn morning light, when Maria was preparing breakfast with the cook in the kitchen for the whole family, Karenin, who got up early, heard Maria's rare exclamation.

Looking back at that time, she even looked like she had a layer of tears in her eyes, but in the end, her mouth was still smiling.

For the first time, Karenin learned something from his more reserved sister. As for marriage, although there are such and that pain, but there is always some pain, is with the smile. At that time, Karenin had some different views on marriage.

This view is inconsistent with the majority of people. If it is said, it may cause people to talk about it. But after all, Karenin was not a person who liked to share his mind, and he had few, few, few friends.

People's judgment of close friends is always general but simple.

A person, no matter what status, may not be a lifetime, but if there are so many times, can let you have no scruple to tell the bottom of the heart things, it is probably a good friend.

For Karenin, such a person has hardly visited his life for more than 20 years.

To be honest, Karenin was not a misogynist. It may have been a little bit when he was a child, but since he began to go to boarding school, Karenin did everything very well.

He reads a lot of knowledge, interested or not, but he knows it and can talk to people about it. This kind of Karenin is, to some extent, agreeable.

If Matvey was a good friend of Karenin before, after Matvey's death, Karenin was really alone.

It's not hard. For a character like Karenin, it doesn't matter whether he has intimate friends or not. And that's why he's been in politics for so many years.

Therefore, in his smooth life, suddenly one day, without the intervention of external forces, Karenin knew the truth that most of the wandering people in the world did not understand, and then derived a set of his own marriage concept, which must be said to be a miracle.

Marriage

Karenin, 30, is already a provincial governor.

At this age, he can sit in this position. However, Karenin's admiration stems from his pursuit of career. He did not stop in this position. By the time he was thirty-two years old, Karenin had become a very important senior official in the whole of Petersburg.

At this position, Karenin knew that it was not easy to break through again in his career. At least, he had to slow down.

Then one thing came up again.

Karenin's colleague, or a well-known lady in that circle, should consider his personal life in private, and she could introduce a very suitable girl to him.

Karenin did not doubt the truth of it.

His current position can help him to find a good marriage for himself, and even speed up the promotion he needs to suspend.

Karenin is not a saint. He will think about it. And just before he made the most appropriate decision, his sensibility, which had been deliberately suppressed, finally got a moment of free breathing.

At the banquet that day, if the stars in the sky were already very bright gems, even the stars would easily be eclipsed in that miss o'bronsky.

Many people think that Karenin's eyes almost never look at women, because he is occupied by work. But what they didn't know was that, in fact, Karenin had never been attracted to any woman.

He was not the one who found Miss obronsky in the crowd at the first sight, and it was even the envious voice of his colleagues that made him look at it.

Then he saw the lady.

Her slim body, soft shoulders, plump shoulders. Her delicate skin is like superior lanolin, which sets off her lips as soft and rich as rose flowers, and her eyes, a rare gray, are full of vitality and vigor under the shade of thick eyelashes.

”Very beautiful woman.”

This is Karenin's first image of miss obronsky, but it is only here.

After a few hours of drinking, Karenin did not talk to each other until after a dance, he caught a glimpse of the lady looking at him.

”Is it an illusion?”

There was a trace of doubt in Karenin's heart, and he even glanced aside, so as not to make himself suspicious.

When he looked at it again, he found that his eyes had left him and looked at the dance floor.

Her brother whispered to her in a friendly whisper.

An embarrassment rose in Karenin's mind.

For the rest of the time, Karenin confirmed that miss obronsky had no intention of talking to him. So, later, when he was sitting alone near the secluded round table, when the man with the little Silk Handbag was smiling at him, Karenin almost doubted whether he had developed hysteria.The word ”marriage” was transmitted through the medium of sound from the middle of his tiny lips. When it fell on Karenin's eardrum, it became like a drum, and it made a thunderous sound, so that for a few seconds, Karenin's brilliant brain did not think of anything.

But Karenin, after all, was Karenin. After a brief absence, he regained his composure in an instant.

Adding questions to questions is not a good way to ask questions, but it can make you in a controllable position. If you really can't answer the previous question skillfully, then this method is extremely feasible.

Karenin knew that the other party did not realize this, but from Miss obronsky's cheerful and careless explanation, he seemed to be a little convinced himself.

He listened to the young lady who was out of tune with the surrounding environment and talked about the reasons why they were suitable for marriage. He didn't even mind writing it down and leaving permanent evidence.

After seeing those elegant handwriting, after novelty, Karenin's heart had a decision.

He looked at the expectant eyes of the young lady and her fingers twisted unconsciously because of her nervousness. The problem that had puzzled him for a long time was like suddenly finding a hole in the tangled coil. Therefore, Karenin, who always believed that political action should be put before the rules, for the first time, added this keen intuition to his emotions 。

”I will agree with you.”

Agreeing to get married is not an end, and it's not a relief.

After going back, more annoyance seemed to emerge suddenly from the mist that had dissipated.

In the eyes of outsiders, Karenin has not changed much.

When he stood up, he smoothed the hem of his clothes as usual. Walk with a steady gait and a calm face.

His actions in handling official business are still meticulous, and the speed of reading official documents has not decreased.

Meet visitors and check accounts.

Everything seems to be different, except, in the evening, the butts that are pressed out in the thin thread ashtray.

”It's not like me.” Karenin, sitting in his study chair, thought, his hands folded, his eyes focused, his mind flying.

As if struggling in the end, Karenin even suddenly got up from his chair, but just as he was about to raise his feet or sit down again, he hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to sit down.

”I have to think of something to convince myself to be calm.” Karenin thought quietly that these ideas hardly need to be thought about, and over the years, they have become his instinctive response to comfort himself.

He toured his study, glancing over the shelves of books, then examining his desk. Finally, as if he had thought of something, Karenin could not help but complain about his slow thinking.