首頁>> >> 外国经典>> 列夫·托爾斯泰 Leo Tolstoy   俄羅斯 Russia   俄羅斯帝國   (1828年九月9日1910年十一月20日)
安娜·卡列寧娜 Anna Karenina
  《安娜·卡列尼娜》(俄語:Анна Каренина)是俄國作傢列夫·托爾斯泰於1875年-1877年間創作的小說,被廣泛認為是寫實主義小說的經典代表。《安娜·卡列尼娜》完稿於1877年,1875年1月開始連載於〈俄羅斯公報〉上。小說甫發表就引發了熱烈的討論。托爾斯泰的堂姑母亞歷山德拉·安得烈葉夫娜·托爾斯泰婭曾寫道:“《安娜·卡列尼娜》的每個篇章都轟動了整個社會,引起了熱烈的爭論,毀譽參半,褒貶不一。似乎議論的是他們的切身問題一樣。”作品共分八章,開場白“幸福的家庭都是相似的,不幸的家庭各有各的不幸”(Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way),是托氏對婚姻和家庭的悟言。
  《安娜·卡列尼娜》-簡介
  
  在托爾斯泰全部作品中,《戰爭與和平》、《安娜·卡列尼娜》、《復活》是三個里程碑,也是他的三部代表作品。《安娜·卡列尼娜》在這三部代表作中有其特殊的重要性,它是三部巨著之中藝術上最為完整的一部,並且體現了托氏思想和藝術發展道路的過渡與轉變,可以稱之為代表作中的代表作。它通過女主人公安娜追求愛情而失敗的悲劇,和列文在農村面臨危機而進行的改革與探索這兩條綫索,描繪了俄國從莫斯科到外省鄉村廣阔而豐富多彩的圖景,先後描寫了150多個人物,是一部社會百科全書式的作品。
  《安娜·卡列尼娜》-作傢簡介
  
  列夫·尼古拉耶維奇·托爾斯泰(1828-1910)是俄國批判現實主義文學最偉大的代表,世界文學史上最偉大的作傢之一。在世界文壇中堪與莎士比亞、歌德、巴爾紮剋並肩而立的作傢當首推列夫托爾斯泰。他那三部鴻篇巨著無疑代表了19世紀世界現實主義文學的最高水平。列夫·托爾斯泰是俄國文學史上最偉大的文豪之一,他在文學方面的成就受到舉世矚目的認同。
  《安娜·卡列尼娜》-內容梗概
  
  《安娜·卡列尼娜》通過女主人公安娜追求愛情而失敗的悲劇,和列文在農村面臨危機而進行的改革與探索這兩條綫索,描繪了俄國從莫斯科到外省鄉村廣阔而豐富多彩的圖景,先後描寫了150多個人物,是一部社會百科全書式的作品。
  
  故事以雙綫進行,一為安娜,一為列文。托氏以二人為軸,描寫出不同的婚姻和家庭生活,更進一步則寫出當時俄國政治,宗教,農事景像。
  
  在文中,列文為托氏之化身,代表着1860,70年代的社會轉型催生者。列文重視農事,對貴族生活不甚投入,住在鄉村和指導農民工作。列文熱愛吉蒂,起初求婚被拒,但幾經波折,終抱得美人歸,並一同住在鄉下。
  
  女主人翁安娜,年青時和丈夫亞歷山大.卡列寧(Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin)結合,本婚姻美滿,育有一子。卡列寧在仕途上成功,安娜亦於交際場上光茫四射。故事始於奧布朗斯基公爵和英國家庭女教師戀愛,與妻子道麗鬧翻,求助於其妺安娜。安娜從聖.彼得堡到莫斯科替二人調解,在車站認識了年輕軍官佛倫斯基(Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky)。並在莫斯科一次舞會中和佛倫斯基發生致命的戀情,自此不能自拔,最後身敗名列並自殺身亡。佛倫斯基為求得美人,追隨安娜至聖彼得堡,最後兩人陷入熱戀。他倆頻頻幽會,最後安娜懷孕,並嚮丈夫承認了私情。卡列寧一度想與妻子分居,但為存面子,拒絶離婚並要求妻子終止戀情。然而安娜分娩時幾乎難産而瀕臨死亡,在死亡面前,卡列寧原諒了她。安娜病後無法壓抑自己對佛倫斯基的愛,終於離傢出走。佛倫斯基帶着安娜前往意大利旅行,這時安娜感到無比的幸福。其後回到俄羅斯,於兒子生日時,按捺不住偷偷會見自己的兒子。卻無法見容於俄國社會,上流社會把安娜看作墮落的女人,斷絶和她的往來。安娜衹得移居鄉下,靠寫作打發時間。二人共處日久,佛倫斯基和安娜在生活上的不信任日增。安娜感到很難過,認為情人為前途名譽離她而去,沮喪失望之下,安娜為處罰佛倫斯基,在火車駛近時跳下火車月臺自殺。葬禮之後,亞歷山大·卡列寧帶走她的女兒,佛倫斯基受到良心的譴責,大病一場,後來志願從軍,前往巴爾幹參戰,但求一死。
  《安娜·卡列尼娜》-創作背景資料
  
  在世界文學的巍巍群山中,堪與莎士比亞、歌德、巴爾紮剋這幾座高峰比肩而立的俄國作傢當首推列夫·托爾斯泰。托爾斯泰是一位有思想的藝術傢,也是一位博學的藝術大師。他的作品展現的社會畫面之廣阔,藴含的思想之豐饒,融會的藝術、語言、哲學、歷史、民俗乃至自然科學等各種知識之廣博,常常令人望洋興嘆。《安娜·卡列尼娜》是他的一部既美不勝收而又博大精深的巨製。
  
  巨大的思想和藝術價值,使得這部巨著一發表便引起巨大社會反響。托爾斯泰並沒有簡單地寫一個男女私通的故事,而是通過這個故事揭示了俄國社會中婦女的地位,並由此來鞭撻它的不合理性。作品描寫了個人感情需要與社會道德之間的衝突。1877年,小說首版發行。據同代人稱,它不啻是引起了“一場真正的社會大爆炸”,它的各個章節都引起了整個社會的“蹺足”註視,及無休無止的“議論、推崇、非難和爭吵,仿佛事情關涉到每個人最切身的問題”。
  
  但不久,社會就公認它是一部了不起的巨著,它所達到的高度是俄國文學從未達到過的。偉大作傢陀思妥耶夫斯基興奮地評論道:“這是一部盡善盡美的藝術傑作,現代歐洲文學中沒有一部同類的東西可以和它相比!”他甚至稱托爾斯泰為“藝術之神”。而書中的女主人公安娜·卡列尼娜則成為世界文學史上最優美豐滿的女性形象之一。這個資産階級婦女解放的先鋒,以自己的方式追求個性的解放和真誠的愛情,雖然由於制度的桎梏,她的悲劇衹能以失敗而告終。但她以內心體驗的深刻與感情的強烈真摯,以蓬勃的生命力和悲劇性命運而扣人心弦。
  
  《安娜·卡列尼娜》的構思始於1870年,而到1873年托爾斯泰纔開始動筆。這是他一生中精神睏頓的時期。最初,托爾斯泰是想寫一個上流社會已婚婦女失足的故事,但隨着寫作的深入,原來的構思不斷被修改。小說的初步創作不過僅用了短短的50天時間便得以完成,然而托爾斯泰很不滿意,他又花費了數十倍的時間來不斷修正,前後經過12次大的改動,遲至4年之後纔正式出版。這時,小說廢棄的手稿高達1米多!“全部都應當改寫,再改寫”,這是托爾斯泰經常挂在嘴邊的一句話。顯然,一部《安娜·卡列尼娜》與其說是寫出來的,不如說是改出來的。
  
  正是在作者近乎苛刻的追求中,小說的重心有了巨大的轉移,安娜由最初構思中的“失了足的女人”(她趣味惡劣、賣弄風情,品行不端),變成了一個品格高雅、敢於追求真正的愛情與幸福的“叛女”形象,從而成為世界文學中最具反抗精神的女性之一。
  
  《安娜·卡列尼娜》通過安娜追求愛情而失敗的悲劇,列文在農村面臨危機而進行的改革與探索這兩條綫索,描繪了俄國從莫斯科到外省鄉村廣阔而豐富多彩的圖景,先後描寫了150多個人物,是一部社會百科全書式的作品。小說藝術上最突出的特點是首次成功地采用了兩條平行綫索互相對照、相輔相成的“拱門式” 結構,並在心理描寫上細緻入微、精妙絶倫。小說中那大段的人物內心獨白,無疑都是現實主義描寫的典範。
  《安娜·卡列尼娜》-人物形象
  
  安娜
  
  《安娜·卡列尼娜》是由兩條主要的平行綫索和一條聯結性次要綫索結構而成的,整體上反映了農奴製改革後“一切都翻了一個身,一切都剛剛安排下來”的那個時代在政治、經濟、道德、心理等方面的矛盾。小說通過安娜—— 卡列寧——渥倫斯基綫索展示了封建主義家庭關係的瓦解和道德的淪喪;通過列文——吉提綫索描繪出資本主義勢力侵入農村後,地主經濟面臨危機的情景,揭示出作者執着地探求出路的痛苦心情。而道麗——奧勃朗斯基這一次要綫索巧妙地聯結兩條主綫,在家庭思想上三條綫索相互對應、參照,勾勒出三種不同類型的家庭模式和生活方式。作者以這種建築學而自豪,圓拱將兩座大廈聯結得天衣無縫,“使人覺察不出什麽地方是拱頂”。
  主人公安娜·卡列尼娜是世界文學史上最優美豐滿的女性形象之一。她以內心體驗的深刻與感情的強烈真摯,以蓬勃的生命力和悲劇性命運而扣人心弦。
  
  安娜第一次出現時的音容笑貌令人難以忘懷:她姿態端麗、溫雅,一雙濃密的睫毛掩映下的眼睛中“有一股被壓抑的生氣在她的臉上流露……仿佛有一種過剩的生命力洋溢在她的全身心,違反她的意志”,在眼神和微笑中顯現出來。在這幅出色的肖像中展現了安娜的精神美,也提示我們去探究她的生活之謎。安娜父母早逝,在姑母包辦下嫁給了比她大二十歲的大官僚卡列寧。婚後在宗法思想支配下她曾安於天命,衹是把全部感情寄托在兒子身上。渥倫斯基喚醒了她晚熟的愛情。她渴望自由而大膽地愛,不願像別特西公爵夫人那樣在傢宴上公開接待情人;也不願接受丈夫的建議仍然保持表面的夫妻關係,偷偷與情人往來;終於衝出家庭與渥倫斯基結合,公然與整個上流社會對抗。從此安娜失去了一個貴族婦女在社交界的一切地位和權利,除了渥倫斯基的愛,她一無所有,因此,她熱烈而執着地獻身於這種愛。確實,在國外,在渥倫斯基的莊園裏,安娜曾體驗過短暫的“不可原諒的幸福”。她丟棄母親的天職,但內心無法平息因失去愛子而産生的悲傷;她想昂起驕傲的頭,宣稱她是幸福的女人,但卻擺脫不掉有罪的妻子的意識。她的靈魂一直受到折磨。而孤註一擲的、囿於自我的對渥倫斯基的愛又不可能得到相應的感情反響,安娜絶望了,她在臨終前滿含怨憤地喊出:“一切全是虛偽、全是謊言、全是欺騙、全是罪惡。”
  
  安娜的形象在作傢創作過程中有過極大變化:從一個低級趣味的失足女人改寫成真誠、嚴肅、寧為玉碎、不為瓦全的女性。托爾斯泰通過安娜的愛情、家庭悲劇寄寓了他對當時動蕩的俄國社會中人的命運和倫理道德準則的思考。作傢歌頌人的生命力,贊揚人性的合理要求;同時,他又堅决否定一切政治、社會活動(包括婦女解放運動)對改善人們命運的作用,強調母親——婦女天職的重要性。作傢世界觀的矛盾構成安娜形象的復雜性。一百多年來各國作傢按自己的理解把安娜搬上舞臺、銀幕、熒光屏。安娜形象一直激動着不同時代、不同民族的讀者,這正說明安娜形象的藝術生命力是不朽的。
  
  列文
  
  列文則是托爾斯泰式主人公中自傳性特別強的一個人物,他在托爾斯泰的創作中起着承前啓後的作用,在他身上藝術地再現了作傢世界觀激變前夕的思想感情和生活感受,從結構安排來看,列文的幸福家庭與安娜的不幸家庭互為對照,但從思想探索來看,列文婚後卻産生了精神危機,他為貴族階級自甘敗落而憂心忡忡。他研究勞動力在農業生産中的作用,製定“不流血的革命”方案,探討人生的目的,但卻毫無出路。羅曼·羅蘭指出,列文不僅體現了托爾斯泰看待事物的既保守又民主的觀點,而且“列文和吉提的戀愛,他倆婚後的頭幾年生活,就是作傢自己家庭生活回憶的搬演。同樣,列文哥哥之死也是托爾斯泰的哥哥德米特裏之死的痛苦追憶”。而作品的尾聲“則是作者本人趨嚮精神革命的過渡”。
  《安娜·卡列尼娜》-主題思想
  
  關於列夫·托爾斯泰,馬原有一個說法,他認為托爾斯泰是小說史上爭議最少的作傢。這裏所說的爭議最少,指的是他在文學史上的地位。也就是說,你可以喜歡或不喜歡托爾斯泰的作品,但似乎無人能夠否認他作為一位傑出思想傢和第一流小說傢的地位。
  
  《安娜·卡列尼娜》在列夫·托爾斯泰的所有作品中,是寫得最好的。《戰爭與和平》也許更波瀾壯闊、更雄偉、更有氣勢,但它不如《安娜·卡列尼娜》那麽純粹、那麽完美。順便說一句,列夫·托爾斯泰並不是一個出色的文體傢,但他的文體的精美與和諧無與倫比,這並非來自作者對小說修辭、技巧、敘述方式的刻意追求,而僅僅源於藝術上的直覺。
  
  在《安娜·卡列尼娜》這部小說中,列夫·托爾斯泰塑造了許多在文學史上光芒四射的人物:安娜、渥倫斯基、吉提、列文、卡列寧、奧布浪斯基公爵……在這些人物中,惟一一個在生活中左右逢源,帶有點喜劇色彩的就是奧布浪斯基公爵,其他的人物無不與死亡主題有關。如果我們簡單地歸納一下,這部作品主要寫了兩個故事:其一,是安娜與渥倫斯基從相識、熱戀到毀滅的過程,以及圍繞這一進程的所有社會關係的糾葛,其二是列文的故事以及他在宗教意義上的展開個人思考。
  
  正如那句著名的開場白所顯示的一樣,作者對現實的思考是以家庭婚姻為基本單位而展開的,至少涉及到了四種婚姻或愛情答案:卡列寧夫婦,安娜和渥倫斯基,奧布浪斯基夫婦,列文與吉提。每一個答案都意味着罪惡和災難。安娜是惟一經歷了兩種不同婚姻(愛情)形式的人物。在作者所賦予的安娜的性格中,我以為激情和活力是其基本的內涵,正是這種壓抑不住的活力使美貌純潔的吉提相形見絀;正是這種被喚醒的激情使她與卡列寧的婚姻、甚至彼得堡習以為常的社交生活、甚至包括孩子謝遼沙都黯然失色。
  
  與這種激情與活力相伴而來的是不顧一切的勇氣。當小說中寫到渥倫斯基在賽馬會上摔下馬來,安娜因失聲大叫而暴露了"姦情"之時,對丈夫說出下面這段話是需要一點勇氣的,“我愛他,我是他的情婦……隨你高興怎麽樣把我處置吧。”托爾斯泰對這種激情真是太熟悉了,我們不妨想一想《戰爭與和平》中的娜塔莎,《復活》中的卡秋莎,還有蟄伏於作者心中的那頭強壯的熊--它的咆哮聲一直睏擾着列夫·托爾斯泰。
  
  馬丁·杜伽爾曾認為,托爾斯泰是最具洞察力的作傢,他的目光十分銳利,能夠穿透生活的壁壘而發現隱含其中的"真實"。但我卻傾嚮於認為,從根本上來說,托爾斯泰是一個圖解自我觀念的作傢,不管是早期還是晚期作品,主題上的聯繫十分清晰,尤其是《戰爭與和平》、《安娜·卡列尼娜》兩部巨著,其中的人物、情節、主題多有雷同之處,他的觀念的疆域並不寬廣,他的素材也不豐富,但這並不妨礙托爾斯泰的偉大,正如塞萬提斯的狹隘主題並不妨礙《堂吉訶德》的偉大一樣。小說的真實來自他的智慧,敏感而浩瀚的心靈,而更為重要的是他的誠實。維特根斯坦在讀完《哈澤·穆拉特》以後曾感慨地說: “他(托爾斯泰)是一個真正的人,他有權寫作。”
  
  托爾斯泰與《安娜·卡列尼娜》
  
    關於列夫·托爾斯泰,馬原有一個說法,他認為托爾斯泰是小說史上爭議最少的作傢。我理解他的意思,這裏所說的爭議最少,指的是他在文學史上的地位。也就是說,你可以喜歡或不喜歡托爾斯泰的作品,但似乎無人能夠否認他作為一位傑出思想傢和第一流小說傢的地位。
    在我的學生中間,對托爾斯泰不屑一顧的大有人在。有一次碰到一位學生,依我看他的導師是一名頗有學問的俄國文學專傢,不知何故,該生卻對恩師頗為不滿,提出是否可以轉到我的名下,讓我給他指導。我問他為何要更換導師,他便列舉了原導師的幾個罪狀,其中一條是:他竟然讓我去讀什麽《安娜·卡列尼娜》。可見,在這些言必稱美國的學生們的頭腦中,老托爾斯泰顯然已經是一個不中用的古董了。我對他說,導師就不必換了。因為如果我當你的導師,第一本推薦的書恐怕還是《安娜·卡列尼娜》。
    《安娜·卡列尼娜》不僅是我最喜歡的長篇小說,而且我也認為,在列夫·托爾斯泰的所有作品中,它也是寫得最好的。《戰爭與和平》也許更波瀾壯闊、更雄偉、更有氣勢,但它不如《安娜·卡列尼娜》那麽純粹、那麽完美。順便說一句,列夫·托爾斯泰並不是一個出色的文體傢,但他的文體的精美與和諧無與倫比,這並非來自作者對小說修辭、技巧、敘述方式的刻意追求,而僅僅源於藝術上的直覺。
    在《安娜·卡列尼娜》這部小說中,列夫·托爾斯泰塑造了許多在文學史上光芒四射的人物:安娜、渥倫斯基、吉提、列文、卡列寧、奧布浪斯基公爵……在這些人物中,惟一一個在生活中左右逢源,帶有點喜劇色彩的就是奧布浪斯基公爵,其他的人物無不與死亡主題有關。如果我們簡單地歸納一下,這部作品主要寫了兩個故事:其一,是安娜與渥倫斯基從相識、熱戀到毀滅的過程,以及圍繞這一進程的所有社會關係的糾葛,其二是列文的故事以及他在宗教意義上的展開個人思考。
    正如那句著名的開場白所顯示的一樣,作者對現實的思考是以家庭婚姻為基本單位而展開的,至少涉及到了四種婚姻或愛情答案:卡列寧夫婦,安娜和渥倫斯基,奧布浪斯基夫婦,列文與吉提。每一個答案都意味着罪惡和災難。安娜是惟一經歷了兩種不同婚姻(愛情)形式的人物。在作者所賦予的安娜的性格中,我以為激情和活力是其基本的內涵,正是這種壓抑不住的活力使美貌純潔的吉提相形見絀;正是這種被喚醒的激情使她與卡列寧的婚姻、甚至彼得堡習以為常的社交生活、甚至包括孩子謝遼沙都黯然失色。
    與這種激情與活力相伴而來的是不顧一切的勇氣。當小說中寫到渥倫斯基在賽馬會上摔下馬來,安娜因失聲大叫而暴露了“姦情”之時,對丈夫說出下面這段話是需要一點勇氣的,“我愛他,我是他的情婦……隨你高興怎麽樣把我處置吧。”托爾斯泰對這種激情真是太熟悉了,我們不妨想一想《戰爭與和平》中的娜塔莎,《復活》中的卡秋莎,還有蟄伏於作者心中的那頭強壯的熊——它的咆哮聲一直睏擾着列夫·托爾斯泰。
    馬丁·杜伽爾曾認為,托爾斯泰是最具洞察力的作傢,他的目光十分銳利,能夠穿透生活的壁壘而發現隱含其中的"真實"。但我卻傾嚮於認為,從根本上來說,托爾斯泰是一個圖解自我觀念的作傢,不管是早期還是晚期作品,主題上的聯繫十分清晰,尤其是《戰爭與和平》、《安娜·卡列尼娜》兩部巨著,其中的人物、情節、主題多有雷同之處,他的觀念的疆域並不寬廣,他的素材也不豐富,但這並不妨礙托爾斯泰的偉大,正如塞萬提斯的狹隘主題並不妨礙《堂吉訶德》的偉大一樣。小說的真實來自他的智慧,敏感而浩瀚的心靈,而更為重要的是他的誠實。維特根斯坦在讀完《哈澤·穆拉特》以後曾感慨地說:“他(托爾斯泰)是一個真正的人,他有權寫作。”


  Anna Karenina (Russian: Анна Каренина; Russian pronunciation: [ˈanə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə]) (sometimes Anglicised as Anna Karenin) is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger. Tolstoy clashed with its editor Mikhail Katkov over issues that arose in the final installment; therefore, the novel's first complete appearance was in book form.
  
  Widely regarded as a pinnacle in realist fiction, Tolstoy considered Anna Karenina his first true novel, when he came to consider War and Peace to be more than a novel. The character of Anna was likely inspired, in part, by Maria Hartung (Russian spelling Maria Gartung, 1832–1919), the elder daughter of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.[citation needed] Soon after meeting her at dinner, Tolstoy began reading Pushkin's prose and once had a fleeting daydream of "a bare exquisite aristocratic elbow", which proved to be the first intimation of Anna's character.
  
  Although Russian critics dismissed the novel on its publication as a "trifling romance of high life", Fyodor Dostoevsky declared it to be "flawless as a work of art". His opinion was shared by Vladimir Nabokov, who especially admired "the flawless magic of Tolstoy's style", and by William Faulkner, who described the novel as "the best ever written".[citation needed] The novel is currently enjoying popularity as demonstrated by a recent poll of 125 contemporary authors by J. Peder Zane, published in 2007 in The Top Ten, which declared that Anna Karenina is the "greatest novel ever written".
  
  The title: Anna Karenin vs Anna Karenina
  
  The title has been translated as both Anna Karenin and Anna Karenina. The first instance naturalizes the Russian name into English, whereas the second is a direct transliteration of the actual Russian name. As Vladimir Nabokov explains: "In Russian, a surname ending in a consonant acquires a final 'a' (except for the cases of such names that cannot be declined) when designating a woman".
  
  Nabokov favours the first convention - removing the Russian 'a' to naturalize the name into English - but subsequent translators mostly allow Anna's actual Russian name to stand. Larissa Volokhonsky, herself a Russian, prefers the second option, while other translators like Constance Garnett and Rosemary Edmonds prefer the first solution.
  Main characters
  
   * Anna Arkadyevna Karenina – Stepan Oblonsky's sister, Karenin's wife and Vronsky's lover. She is also a minor character in War and Peace. [citation needed]
   * Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky – Lover of Anna
   * Prince Stepan Arkadyevitch Oblonsky ("Stiva") – a civil servant and Anna's brother.
   * Princess Darya Alexandrovna Oblonskaya ("Dolly") – Stepan's wife
   * Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin – a senior statesman and Anna's husband, twenty years her senior.
   * Konstantin Dmitrievitch Levin ("Kostya") – Kitty's suitor and then husband.
   * Nikolai Levin – Konstantin's brother
   * Sergius Ivanich Koznyshev – Konstantin's half-brother
   * Princess Ekaterina Alexandrovna Shcherbatskaya ("Kitty") – Dolly's younger sister and later Levin's wife
   * Princess Elizaveta ("Betsy") – Anna's wealthy, morally loose society friend and Vronsky's cousin
   * Countess Lidia Ivanovna – Leader of a high society circle that includes Karenin, and shuns Princess Betsy and her circle. She maintains an interest in the mystical and spiritual
   * Countess Vronskaya – Vronsky's mother
   * Sergei Alexeyitch Karenin ("Seryozha") – Anna and Karenin's son
   * Anna ("Annie") – Anna and Vronsky's daughter
   * Varenka – a young orphaned girl, semi-adopted by an ailing Russian noblewoman, whom Kitty befriends while abroad
  
  Plot summary
  
  The novel is divided into eight parts. The novel begins with one of its most quoted lines:
  “ Happy families are all alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. ”
  Part 1
  
  The novel opens with a scene introducing Prince Stepan Arkadyevitch Oblonsky, "Stiva", a Moscow aristocrat and civil servant who has been unfaithful to his wife Darya Alexandrovna, nicknamed "Dolly". Dolly has discovered his affair - with the family's governess - and the house and family are in turmoil. Stiva's affair and his reaction to his wife's distress shows an amorous personality that he cannot seem to suppress.
  
  In the midst of the turmoil, Stiva reminds the household that his married sister, Anna Arkadyevna Karenina is coming to visit from Saint Petersburg.
  
  Meanwhile, Stiva's childhood friend Konstantin Dmitrievich Levin ("Kostya") arrives in Moscow with the aim of proposing to Dolly's youngest sister Princess Katerina Alexandrovna Shcherbatskaya, "Kitty". Levin is a passionate, restless but shy aristocratic landowner who, unlike his Moscow friends, chooses to live in the country on his large estate. He discovers that Kitty is also being pursued by Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky, an army officer.
  
  At the railway station to meet Anna, Stiva bumps into Vronsky. Vronsky is there to meet his mother. Anna and the Countess Vronskaya have travelled together in the same carriage and talked together. As the family members are reunited, and Vronsky sees Anna for the first time, a railway worker accidentally falls in front of a train and is killed. Anna interprets this as an "evil omen." Vronsky is infatuated with Anna. Anna, who is uneasy about leaving her young son, Seryozha, alone for the first time, talks openly and emotionally to Dolly about Stiva's affair and convinces Dolly that her husband still loves her, despite his infidelity. Dolly is moved by Anna's speeches and decides to forgive Stiva.
  
  Dolly's youngest sister, Kitty, comes to visit her sister and Anna. Kitty, just 18, is in her first season as a debutante and is expected to make an excellent match with a man of her social standing. Vronsky has been paying her considerable attention, and she expects to dance with him at a ball that evening. Kitty is very struck by Anna's beauty and personality and is infatuated with her. When Levin proposes to Kitty at her home, she clumsily turns him down, because she believes she is in love with Vronsky and that he will propose to her.
  
  At the ball, Vronsky pays Anna considerable attention, and dances with her, choosing her as a partner instead of Kitty, who is shocked and heartbroken. Kitty realises that Vronsky has fallen in love with Anna, and that despite his overt flirtations with her he has no intention of marrying her and in fact views his attentions to her as mere amusement, believing that she does the same.
  
  Anna, shaken by her emotional and physical response to Vronsky, returns at once to Saint Petersburg. Vronsky travels on the same train. During the overnight journey, the two meet and Vronsky confesses his love. Anna refuses him, although she is deeply affected by his attentions to her.
  
  Levin, crushed by Kitty's refusal, returns to his estate farm, abandoning any hope of marriage, and Anna returns to her husband Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin, a senior government official, and their son Sergei ("Seryozha") in Petersburg.
  Tatiana Samoilova as Anna in the 1967 Soviet screen version of Tolstoy's novel.
  
  On seeing her husband for the first time since her encounter with Vronsky, Anna realises that she finds him repulsive, noting the odd way that his ears press against his hat.
  Part 2
  
  The Shcherbatskys consult doctors over Kitty's health which has been failing since she realizes that Vronsky did not love her and that he did not intend to propose marriage to her, and that she refused and hurt Levin, whom she cares for, in vain. A specialist doctor advises that Kitty should go abroad to a health spa to recover. Dolly speaks to Kitty and understands that she is suffering because of Vronsky and Levin. Kitty, humiliated by Vronsky and tormented by her rejection of Levin, upsets her sister by referring to Stiva's infidelity and says she could never love a man who betrayed her.
  
  Stiva stays with Levin on his country estate when he makes a sale of a plot of land, to provide funds for his expensive city lifestyle. Levin is upset at the poor deal he makes with the buyer and his lack of understanding of the rural lifestyle.
  
  In St. Petersburg, Anna begins to spend more time with the fashionable socialite and gossip Princess Betsy and her circle, in order to meet Vronsky, Betsy's cousin. Vronsky continues to pursue Anna. Although Anna initially tries to reject him, she eventually succumbs to his attentions.
  
  Karenin warns Anna of the impropriety of paying too much attention to Vronsky in public, which is becoming a subject of society gossip. He is concerned about his and his wife's public image, although he believes that Anna is above suspicion.
  
  Vronsky, a keen horseman, takes part in a steeplechase event, during which he rides his mare Frou-Frou too hard and she falls and breaks her back. Vronsky escapes with minimal injuries but is devastated that his mare must be shot. Anna tells him that she is pregnant with his child, and is unable to hide her distress when Vronsky falls from the racehorse. Karenin is also present at the races and remarks to her that her behaviour is improper. Anna, in a state of extreme distress and emotion, confesses her affair to her husband. Karenin asks her to break off the affair to avoid society gossip and believes that their relationship can then continue as previously.
  
  Kitty goes with her mother to a resort at a German spa to recover from her ill health. There they meet the Pietist Madame Stahl and the saintly Varenka, her adopted daughter. Influenced by Varenka, Kitty becomes extremely pious, but is disillusioned by her father`s criticism. She then returns to Moscow.
  Part 3
  
  Levin continues his work on his large country estate, a setting closely tied to his spiritual thoughts and struggles. Levin wrestles with the idea of falseness, wondering how he should go about ridding himself of it, and criticising what he feels is falseness in others. He develops ideas relating to agriculture and the unique relationship between the agricultural labourer and his native land and culture. He believes that the agricultural reforms of Europe will not work in Russia because of the unique culture and personality of the Russian peasant.
  
  Levin pays Dolly a visit, and she attempts to understand what happened between him and Kitty and to explain Kitty's behaviour to him. Levin is very agitated by Dolly's talk about Kitty, and he begins to feel distant from her as he perceives her behaviour towards her children as false. Levin resolves to forget Kitty and contemplates the possibility of marriage to a peasant woman. However, a chance sighting of Kitty in her carriage as she travels to Dolly's house makes Levin realise he still loves her.
  
  In St. Petersburg, Karenin crushes Anna by refusing to separate from her. He insists that their relationship remain as it was and threatens to take away their son Seryozha if she continues to pursue her affair with Vronsky.
  Part 4
  
  Anna continues to pursue her affair with Vronsky. Karenin begins to find the situation intolerable. He talks with a lawyer about obtaining a divorce. In Russia at that time, divorce could only be requested by the innocent party in an affair, and required either that the guilty party confessed (which would ruin Anna's position in society) or that the guilty party was discovered in the act. Karenin forces Anna to give him some letters written to her by Vronsky as proof of the affair. However, Anna's brother Stiva argues against it and persuades Karenin to speak with Dolly first.
  
  Dolly broaches the subject with Karenin and asks him to reconsider his plans to divorce Anna. She seems to be unsuccessful, but Karenin changes his plans after hearing that Anna is dying after a difficult childbirth. At her bedside, Karenin forgives Vronsky. Vronsky, embarrassed by Karenin's magnanimity, attempts suicide by shooting himself. He fails in his attempt but wounds himself badly.
  
  Anna recovers, having given birth to a daughter, Anna ("Annie"). Although her husband has forgiven her, and has become attached to the new baby, Anna cannot bear living with him. She hears that Vronsky is about to leave for a military posting in Tashkent and becomes desperate. Stiva finds himself pleading to Karenin on her behalf to free her by giving her a divorce. Vronsky is intent on leaving for Tashkent, but changes his mind after seeing Anna.
  
  The couple leave for Europe - leaving behind Anna's son Seryozha - without obtaining a divorce.
  
  Much more straightforward is Stiva's matchmaking with Levin: he arranges a meeting between Levin and Kitty which results in their reconciliation and betrothal.
  Part 5
  
  Levin and Kitty marry and immediately go to start their new life together on Levin's country estate. The couple are happy but do not have a very smooth start to their married life and take some time to get used to each other. Levin feels some dissatisfaction at the amount of time Kitty wants to spend with him and is slightly scornful of her preoccupation with domestic matters, which he feels are too prosaic and not compatible with his romantic ideas of love.
  
  A few months later, Levin learns that his brother Nikolai is dying of consumption. Levin wants to go to him, and is initially angry and put out that Kitty wishes to accompany him. Levin feels that Kitty, whom he has placed on a pedestal, should not come down to earth and should not mix with people from a lower class. Levin assumes her insistence on coming must relate to a fear of boredom from being left alone, despite her true desire to support her husband in a difficult time. Kitty persuades him to take her with him after much discussion, where she proves a great help nursing Nikolai for weeks over his slow death. She also discovers she is pregnant.
  
  In Europe, Vronsky and Anna struggle to find friends who will accept their situation. Whilst Anna is happy to be finally alone with Vronsky, he feels suffocated. They cannot socialize with Russians of their own social set and find it difficult to amuse themselves. Vronsky, who believed that being with Anna in freedom was the key to his happiness, finds himself increasingly bored and unsatisfied. He takes up painting, and makes an attempt to patronize an émigré Russian artist of genius. Vronsky cannot see that his own art lacks talent and passion, and that his clever conversation about art is an empty shell. Bored and restless, Anna and Vronsky decide to return to Russia.
  
  In Petersburg, Anna and Vronsky stay in one of the best hotels but take separate suites. It becomes clear that whilst Vronsky is able to move in Society, Anna is barred from it. Even her old friend, Princess Betsy - who has had affairs herself - evades her company. Anna starts to become very jealous and anxious that Vronsky no longer loves her.
  
  Karenin is comforted – and influenced – by the strong-willed Countess Lidia Ivanovna, an enthusiast of religious and mystic ideas fashionable with the upper classes. She counsels him to keep Seryozha away from Anna and to make him believe that his mother is dead. However, Seryozha refuses to believe that this is true. Anna manages to visit Seryozha unannounced and uninvited on his ninth birthday, but is discovered by Karenin.
  
  Anna, desperate to resume at least in part her former position in Society, attends a show at the theatre at which all of Petersburg's high society are present. Vronsky begs her not to go, but is unable to bring himself to explain to her why she cannot go. At the theatre, Anna is openly snubbed by her former friends, one of whom makes a deliberate scene and leaves the theatre. Anna is devastated.
  
  Unable to find a place for themselves in Petersburg, Anna and Vronsky leave for Vronsky's country estate.
  Part 6
  
  Dolly, her mother the Princess Scherbatskaya, and Dolly's children spend the summer with Levin and Kitty on the Levins' country estate. The Levins' life is simple and unaffected, although Levin is uneasy at the "invasion" of so many Scherbatskys. He is able to cope until he is consumed with an intense jealousy when one of the visitors, Veslovsky, flirts openly with the pregnant Kitty. Levin tries to overcome his jealousy but eventually succumbs to it and in an embarrassing scene evicts Veslovsky from his house. Veslovsky immediately goes to stay with Anna and Vronsky, whose estate is close by.
  
  Dolly also pays a short visit to Anna at Vronsky's estate. The difference between the Levins' aristocratic but simple home life and Vronsky's overtly luxurious and lavish country home strikes Dolly, who is unable to keep pace with Anna's fashionable dresses or Vronsky's extravagant spending on the hospital he is building. However, all is not quite well with Anna and Vronsky. Dolly is also struck by Anna's anxious behaviour and new habit of half closing her eyes when she alludes to her difficult position. When Veslovsky flirts openly with Anna, she plays along with him even though she clearly feels uncomfortable. Vronsky makes an emotional request to Dolly, asking her to convince Anna to divorce her husband so that the two might marry and live normally. Dolly broaches the subject with Anna, who appears not to be convinced. However, Anna is becoming intensely jealous of Vronsky, and cannot bear it when he leaves her for short excursions. The two have started to quarrel about this and when Vronsky leaves for several days of provincial elections, a combination of boredom and suspicion convinces Anna she must marry him in order to prevent him from leaving her. She writes to Karenin, and she and Vronsky leave the countryside for Moscow.
  Part 7
  
  The Levins are in Moscow for Kitty's confinement. Despite initial reservations, Levin quickly gets used to the fast-paced, expensive and frivolous Moscow society life. He starts to accompany Stiva to his Moscow gentleman's club, where drinking and gambling are popular pastimes. At the club, Levin meets Vronsky and Stiva introduces them. Levin and Stiva pay a visit to Anna, who is occupying her empty days by being a patroness to an orphaned English girl. Levin is uneasy about the visit and not sure it is the proper thing to do, and Anna easily puts Levin under her spell. When he confesses to Kitty where he has been, she accuses him falsely of falling in love with Anna. The couple are reconciled, realising that Moscow life has had a negative, corrupting effect on Levin.
  
  Anna, who has made a habit of inducing the young men who visit her to fall in love with her, cannot understand why she can attract a man like Levin, who has a young and beautiful new wife, but cannot attract Vronsky in the way she wants to. Anna's relationship with Vronsky is under increasing strain, as whilst he can move freely in Society - and continues to spend considerable time doing so to stress to Anna his independence as a man - she is excluded from all her previous social connections. She is estranged from baby Annie, her child with Vronsky and her increasing bitterness, boredom, jealousy and emotional strain cause the couple to argue. Anna uses morphine to help her sleep, a habit we learned she had begun during her time living with Vronsky at his country estate. Now she has become dependent on it.
  
  After a long and difficult labour, Kitty gives birth to a son, Dmitri, nicknamed Mitya. Levin is both extremely moved and horrified by the sight of the tiny, helpless baby.
  
  Stiva visits Karenin to encourage his commendation for a new post he is seeking. During the visit he asks him to grant Anna a divorce, but Karenin's decisions are now governed by a French "clairvoyant" – recommended by Lidia Ivanovna – who apparently has a vision in his sleep during Stiva's visit, and gives Karenin a cryptic message that is interpreted as meaning that he must decline the request for divorce.
  
  Anna becomes increasingly jealous and irrational towards Vronsky, whom she suspects of having love affairs with other women, and of giving in to his mother's plans to marry him off to a rich Society woman. There is a bitter row, and Anna believes that the relationship is over. She starts to think of suicide as an escape from her torments. In her mental and emotional confusion, she sends a telegram to Vronsky asking him to come home to her, and pays a visit to Dolly and Kitty. Anna's confusion overcomes her, and in a parallel to the railway worker's accidental death in part 1, she commits suicide by throwing herself in the path of a train.
  Part 8
  
  Stiva gets the job he desired so much, and Karenin takes custody of baby Annie. A group of Russian volunteers, including Vronsky, who does not plan to return alive, depart from Russia to fight in the Orthodox Serbian revolt that has broken out against the Turks. Meanwhile, a lightning storm occurs at Levin's estate while his wife and newborn son are outside, causing him to fear for the safety of both of them, and to realize that he does indeed love his son similarly to how he loves Kitty. Also, Kitty's family concerns, namely, that a man as altruistic as her husband does not consider himself to be a Christian, are also addressed when Levin decides after talking to a peasant that devotion to living righteously as decreed by the Christian God is the only justifiable reason for living. After coming to this decision, but without telling anyone about it, he is initially displeased that this change of thought does not bring with it a complete transformation of his behavior to be more righteous. However, at the end of the book he comes to the conclusion that this fact, and the fact that there are other religions with similar views on goodness that are not Christian, are acceptable and that neither of these things diminish the fact that now his life can be meaningfully oriented toward goodness.
  Style
  
  Tolstoy's style in Anna Karenina is considered by many critics to be transitional, forming a bridge between the realist and modernist novel. The novel is narrated from a third-person-omniscient perspective, shifting between the perspectives of several major characters, though most frequently focusing on the opposing lifestyles and attitudes of its central protagonists of Anna and Levin. As such, each of the novel's eight sections contains internal variations in tone: it assumes a relaxed voice when following Stepan Oblonsky's thoughts and actions and a much more tense voice when describing Levin's social encounters. Much of the novel's seventh section depicts Anna's thoughts fluidly, following each one of her ruminations and free associations with its immediate successor. This groundbreaking use of stream-of-consciousness would be utilised by such later authors as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and William Faulkner.
  
  Also of significance is Tolstoy's use of real events in his narrative, to lend greater verisimilitude to the fictional events of his narrative. Characters debate significant sociopolitical issues affecting Russia in the latter half of the nineteenth century, such as the place and role of the Russian peasant in society, education reform, and women's rights. Tolstoy's depiction of the characters in these debates, and of their arguments, allows him to communicate his own political beliefs. Characters often attend similar social functions to those which Tolstoy attended, and he includes in these passages his own observations of the ideologies, behaviors, and ideas running through contemporary Russia through the thoughts of Levin. The broad array of situations and ideas depicted in Anna Karenina allows Tolstoy to present a treatise on his era's Russia, and, by virtue of its very breadth and depth, all of human society. This stylistic technique, as well as the novel's use of perspective, greatly contributes to the thematic structure of Anna Karenina.[citation needed]
  Major themes
  
  Anna Karenina is commonly thought to explore the themes of hypocrisy, jealousy, faith, fidelity, family, marriage, society, progress, carnal desire and passion, and the agrarian connection to land in contrast to the lifestyles of the city. Translator Rosemary Edmonds wrote that Tolstoy doesn't explicitly moralise in the book, he allows his themes to emerge naturally from the "vast panorama of Russian life." She also writes that a key message is that "no one may build their happiness on another's pain," which is why things don't work out for Anna.
  
  Levin is often considered as a semi-autobiographical portrayal of Tolstoy's own beliefs, struggles and life events. Tolstoy's first name is "Lev", and the Russian surname "Levin" means "of Lev". According to footnotes in the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation, the viewpoints Levin supports throughout the novel in his arguments match Tolstoy's outspoken views on the same issues. Moreover, according to W. Gareth Jones, Levin proposed to Kitty in the same way as Tolstoy to Sophie Behrs. Additionally, Levin's request that his fiancée read his diary as a way of disclosing his faults and previous sexual encounters, parallels Tolstoy's own requests to his fiancée Sophie Behrs.
  Anna Karenina and Tolstoy's A Confession
  Alla Tarasova as Anna Karenina in 1937
  
  Many of the novel's themes can also be found in Tolstoy's A Confession, his first-person rumination about the nature of life and faith, written just two years after the publication of Anna Karenina.
  
  In this book, Tolstoy describes his dissatisfaction with the hypocrisy of his social class:
  “ Every time I tried to display my innermost desires – a wish to be morally good – I met with contempt and scorn, and as soon as I gave in to base desires I was praised and encouraged. ”
  
  Tolstoy also details the acceptability of adulterous "liaisons" in aristocratic Russian society:
  “ A dear old aunt of mine, the purest of creatures, with whom I lived, was always saying that she wished for nothing as much as that I would have a relationship with a married woman. "Rien ne forme un jeune homme comme une liaison avec une femme comme il faut." ("Nothing educates a young man better than an affair with a woman established in society.") ”
  
  Another theme in Anna Karenina is that of the aristocratic habit of speaking French instead of Russian, which Tolstoy suggests is another form of society's falseness. When Dolly insists on speaking French to her young daughter, Tanya, she begins to seem false and tedious to Levin, who finds himself unable to feel at ease in her house.
  
  In a passage that could be interpreted as a sign of Anna's eventual redemption in Tolstoy's eyes, the narrator explains:
  “ For in the end what are we, who are convinced that suicide is obligatory and yet cannot resolve to commit it, other than the weakest, the most inconsistent and, speaking frankly, the most stupid of people, making such a song and dance with our banalities? ”
  
  A Confession contains many other autobiographical insights into the themes of Anna Karenina. A public domain version of it is here.
  Film, television, and theatrical adaptations
  For more details on this topic, see Adaptations of Anna Karenina.
  
   * Operas based on Anna Karenina have been written by Sassano (Naples, 1905), Leoš Janáček (unfinished, 1907), Granelli (1912), E. Malherbe (unperformed, 1914), Jeno Hubay (Budapest, 1915), Robbiani (Rome, 1924), Goldbach (1930), Iain Hamilton (London, 1981) and David Carlson (Miami, 2007).
   * Love, a 1927 silent film based loosely on the novel. The film starred Greta Garbo and John Gilbert.
   * Anna Karenina, a critically acclaimed 1935 film, directed by Clarence Brown. The film stars Greta Garbo, Fredric March, and Maureen O'Sullivan.
   * Anna Karenina, a 1948 film directed by Julien Duvivier with Vivien Leigh, Ralph Richardson and Kieron Moore.
   * "MGM Theater Of The Air - Anna Karenina (Radio Broadcast)" (Broadcast 12/09/1949; on American radio, starring Marlene Dietrich
   * "Nahr al-Hob" (or River of Love; 1960; an Egyptian movie starring Omar Sharif and Faten Hamama
   * Anna Karenina, a 1967 Russian film directed by Aleksandr Zarkhi and starring Tatyana Samojlova, Nikolai Gritsenko and Vasili Lanovoy.
   * Anna Karenina (1968) a ballet composed by Rodion Shchedrin
   * Anna Karenina, a 1977 TV version in ten episodes. Made by the BBC it was directed by Basil Coleman and starred Nicola Pagett, Eric Porter and Stuart Wilson.
   * Anna Karenina, a 1985 TV film directed by Simon Langton and starring Jacqueline Bisset, Paul Scofield and Christopher Reeve.
   * Anna Karenina, a 1992 Broadway musical starring Ann Crumb and John Cunningham
   * Anna Karenina, a 1997 British-American production filmed in St. Peterburg, Russia, by director Bernard Rose with Sophie Marceau as Anna Karenina.
   * Anna Karenina, a 2000 TV version in four episodes. It was directed by David Blair and starred Helen McCrory, Stephen Dillane and Kevin McKidd.
   * Anna Karenina a 2005 ballet with choreography by Boris Eifman and music drawn from the works of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
  
  Anna Karenina in literature
  
   * Quirk Classics transformed Anna Karenina into the book 'Android Karenina' (other past transformations have included 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' and 'Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters')
   * The novel is referenced in Vladimir Nabokov's Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle.
   * Repeated reference is made explicitly to Leo Tolstoy and Anna Karenin in Muriel Barbery's Elegance of the Hedgehog
   * Anna Karenina is also mentioned in R. L. Stine's Goosebumps series Don't Go To Sleep.
   * Mikhail Bulgakov makes reference to the Oblonsky household and Tolstoy in The Master and Margarita.
   * In Jasper Fforde's novel Lost in a Good Book, a recurring joke is two unnamed "crowd-scene" characters from Anna Karenina discussing its plot.
   * In the short-story "Sleep" by Haruki Murakami, the main character, an insomniac housewife, spends much time reading through and considering "Anna Karenina". Furthermore, in the short story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo", by the same author, the character of Frog references "Anna Karenina" when discussing how to beat Worm.
   * Martin Amis's character Lev, in the novel House of Meetings, compares the protagonist with Anna Karenina's Vronsky.
   * In the novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being Anna Karenina is compared with the novel like beauty of life, and Tereza arrives at Tomas's apartment with a copy of the book under her arm. In addition, Tereza and Tomas have a pet dog named Karenin, after Anna's husband.
   * In the novel What Happened to Anna K. Irina Reyn loosely transfers the Anna Karenina story to a setting in modern-day New York City.
   * Anna Karenina plays a central role in Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Anna in the Tropics (2002), set in 1929, as a new lector, Juan Julian, reads the text as background for cigar rollers in the Ybor City section of Tampa, FL. As he reads the story of adultery, the workers' passions are inflamed, and end in tragedy like Anna's.
   * In "The Slippery Slope", the 10th book in A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, the Baudelaire orphans Violet, Klaus and the third Quagmire triplet Quigley need to use the central theme of "Anna Karenina" as the final password to open the Vernacularly Fastened Door leading to the V.F.D. Headquarters. Klaus remembered how his mother had read it to him one summer when he was young as a summer reading book. Klaus summarized the theme with these words: "The central theme of Anna Karenina is that a rural life of moral simplicity, despite its monotony, is the preferable personal narrative to a daring life of impulsive passion, which only leads to tragedy." Esme Squalor later said she once was supposed to read the book over the summer, but she decided it would never help her in her life and threw it in the fireplace.
   * Guns, Germs, and Steel (by Jared Diamond) has a chapter (#9) on the domestication of large mammals, titled "Zebras, Unhappy Marriages, and the Anna Karenina Principle." This chapter begins with a variation on the quote, above.
   * in Nicholas Sparks's book The Last Song, the main character, Ronnie, reads Anna Karenina and other Tolstoy books throughout the story.
  
  Further reading
  Translations
  
   * Anna Karenina, Translated by Constance Garnett. Still widely reprinted.
   * Anna Karenina, Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (Allen Lane/Penguin, London, 2000)
   * Anna Karénina, Translated by Margaret Wettlin (Progress Publishers, 1978)
   * Anna Karenina, Translated by Joel Carmichael (Bantam Books, New York, 1960)
   * Anna Karenina, Translated by David Magarshack (A Signet Classic, New American Library, New York and Scarborough, Ontario, 1961)
   * Anna Karenina, Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1918)
   * Anna Karenin, Translated by Rosemary Edmonds (Penguin Classics, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, 1954)
   * Anna Karénina, Translated by Nathan Haskell Dole (Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., New York, 1886)
   * Anna Karenina, Translated by Kyril Zinovieff (Oneworld Classics 2008) ISBN 978-1-84749-059-9
  
  Biographical and literary criticism
  
   * Bakhtin, Mikhail, The Dialogic Imagination, ed. Michael Holquist, trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist (University of Texas Press, Austin, 1981)
   * Bayley, John, Tolstoy and the Novel (Chatto and Windus, London, 1966)
   * Berlin, Isaiah, The Hedgehog and the Fox: An Essay on Tolstoy's View of History (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1966; Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1967)
   * Eikhenbaum, Boris, Tolstoi in the Seventies, trans. Albert Kaspin (Ardis, Ann Arbor, 1982)
   * Evans, Mary, Anna Karenina (Routledge, London and New York, 1989)
   * Gifford, Henry, Tolstoy (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1982)
   * Gifford, Henry (ed) Leo Tolstoy (Penguin Critical Anthologies, Harmondsworth, 1971)
   * Leavis, F. R., Anna Karenina and Other Essays (Chatto and Windus, London, 1967)
   * Mandelker, Amy, Framing 'Anna Karenina': Tolstoy, the Woman Question, and the Victorian Novel (Ohio State University Press, Columbus, 1993)
   * Morson,Gary Saul, Anna Karenina in our time: seeing more wisely (Yale University Press 2007) read parts at Google-Books
  
   * Nabokov, Vladimir, Lectures on Russian Literature (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London and Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1981)
   * Orwin, Donna Tussing, Tolstoy's Art and Thought, 1847-1880 (Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1993)
   * Speirs, Logan, Tolstoy and Chekhov (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1971)
   * Strakhov, Nikolai, N., "Levin and Social Chaos", in Gibian, ed., (W.W. Norton & Company New York, 2005).
   * Steiner, George, Tolstoy or Dostoevsky: An Essay in Contrast (Faber and Faber, London, 1959)
   * Thorlby, Anthony, Anna Karenina (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, 1987)
   * Tolstoy, Leo, Correspondence, 2. vols., selected, ed. and trans. by R. F. Christian (Athlone Press, London and Scribner, New York, 1978)
   * Tolstoy, Leo, Diaries, ed. and trans. by R. F. Christian (Athlone Press, London and Scribner, New York, 1985)
   * Tolstoy, Sophia A., The Diaries of Sophia Tolstoy, ed. O. A. Golinenko, trans. Cathy Porter (Random House, New York, 1985)
   * Turner, C. J. G., A Karenina Companion (Wilfrid Laurier University Press, Waterloo, 1993)
   * Wasiolek, Edward, Critical Essays on Tolstoy (G. K. Hall, Boston, 1986)
   * Wasiolek, Edward, Tolstoy's Major Fiction (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1978)
前言
  《安娜·卡列寧娜》是文學中希世的瑰寶,也是世界藝術寶庫中璀璨奪目的明珠。
   小說中有兩條平行的綫索,當時有人說它沒有“建築術”,有人說它是“兩部小說”。作者委婉地拒絶了這些批評。他說,該書結構之妙正在於圓拱銜接得天衣無縫——兩條綫索有“內在的聯繫”。對此衆說紛紜。依我看,指的是有一個統一的主題,即當時資本主義迅猛發展帶來的、作者所認為的災難性的後果:一方面是貴族受資産階級思想侵蝕,在家庭、婚姻等道德倫理觀念方面發生激烈變化,捲首“奧布隆斯基傢裏一切都混亂了”一語有象徵意義;另一方面是農業受資本主義破壞,國傢面臨經濟發展的道路問題,也就是列文說的:“一切都翻了一個身,一切都剛剛開始安排。”以安娜為中心的綫索(包括奧布隆斯基、卡列寧、弗竜斯基以至謝爾巴茨基等傢族)和列文的綫索,分別表現了這兩方面的問題。
   限於篇幅,下面衹簡單地談談男女兩位主人公以及有關創作藝術的點滴看法。
   小說以安娜·卡列寧娜命名,她的形象在小說中確實居於中心的位置。安娜不僅天生麗質,光豔奪人,而且純真、誠實、端莊、聰慧,還有一個“復雜而有詩意的內心世界”。可是她遇人不淑,年輕時由姑母作主,嫁給一個頭腦僵化、思想保守、虛偽成性並且沒有活人感情的官僚卡列寧。在婚後八年間,她曾努力去愛丈夫和兒子。而現在由於“世風日變”,婚姻自由的思想激起了這個古井之水的波瀾。與弗竜斯基的邂逅,重新喚醒了她對生活的追求。她要“生活”,也就是要愛情。她終於跨越了禮教的樊籬。作為已婚的端莊的婦女,要跨出這一步,需要有很大的决心和勇氣,雖則在當時上流社會私通已司空見慣了。但她的勇氣主要在於,不願與無恥的貴族婦女同流合污,不願像她們那樣長期欺騙丈夫,毅然把曖昧的關係公開。這不啻嚮上流社會挑戰,從而不見容於上流社會,同時也受到卡列寧的殘酷報復:既不答應她離婚,又不讓她親近愛子。她徒然掙紮,曾為愛情而犧牲母愛,可這愛情又成了鏡花水月。她終於越來越深地陷入悲劇的命運。
   不過,雖說造成她的悲劇的是包括卡列寧、弗竜斯基在內的上流社會,安娜作為悲劇人物,本身也不是沒有“過錯”;再說她的性格後來還發生了令人惋惜的變化。這位留裏剋王室的後裔,受時代的洗禮而敢於為“生活”而同社會抗爭,但她自己卻未能完全掙脫舊思想意識的桎梏,她不僅一再對卡列寧懷有負罪感,而且也不能割斷同上流社會的血緣關係,因此以見逐於它而感到無地自容。實際上她也沒有真正學會愛。同弗竜斯基的一見鐘情,似乎因他慷慨好施,主要卻是傾心於他的儀表、風度,出於自己旺盛的生命力的自發要求,並不基於共同的思想感情。這種愛情是盲目的,實際上幾乎全是情欲,而情欲是難以持久的。弗竜斯基初時為了虛榮心而獵逐她,一度因安娜的真摯的愛而變得嚴肅專一,但不久就因功名之心的蠕動而厭棄她。而安娜把愛情當作整個生活,沉溺其中,要弗竜斯基與她朝夕廝守一起,甚至甘為他的“無條件的奴隸”。於是她的精神品質漸漸失去了光彩。為了重新喚起弗竜斯基的愛,竟不惜以姿色的魅力編織“愛情的網”,並且逐漸習慣於“虛偽和欺騙的精神”。最後,她的愛越來越自私,以致在“不滿足”時變成了恨。不過,我們不能因此而責備安娜,須知她生活在歷史的轉折時期。如果說她同社會的外在矛盾,是由於新事物受舊事物壓製,那麽,她自身的矛盾,則是新萌發的意識未能戰勝根深蒂固的舊意識。何況當時能代替舊的道德觀念的新觀念尚未形成。因此可以說,她身上集中了時代的各種矛盾。她的自殺,從主觀上說是尋求解脫,也是對弗竜斯基的報復及對上流社會的;客觀上則是由於集中了各種時代的矛盾而無法剋服,從而無可避免地成為這個轉折時期祭壇的犧牲。這種必然性表明了安娜悲劇的深度。
   列文也是深刻矛盾的人物。他鄙視彼得堡的宮廷貴族,卻以出身世襲貴族而自豪;他不滿於上流社會的荒淫和虛偽,卻認為奢侈是貴族的本分;他反對以農奴製的“棍子”壓製農民,卻又嚮往於貴族的古風舊習;他厭惡資本主義並否定資本主義在發展的必然性,但他自己的農業經營顯然是資本主義方式;他斷言資産階級所得的是“不義之財”,而自己卻和勞動者進行“殘酷的”鬥爭。這些正是這位“有心靈”、有道德感情的貴族在歷史轉折時期而背對歷史發展所必然産生的思想矛盾。
   與安娜不同,列文可以說是獲得了真正的愛情和家庭的幸福。然而,良心的痛苦在折磨着他,在自己富裕同人民貧睏對比下,他深深抱有負罪感。衹是他不同於一般的懺悔貴族,他積極探索同人民接近的道路,並探索通過“不流血的”以達到與農民合作、共同富裕的道路。這種歷史唯心主義的幻想在殘酷的現實面前破滅了。他轉而懷疑自己生存的意義,從社會經濟的探索轉嚮思想和道德的探索,要在各種哲學和宗教中尋求答案,卻毫無所獲。失望之餘,他甚至要以自殺來解脫,最後從宗法製農民那裏得到啓示:要“為靈魂而活着”。他的不安的心靈似乎得到了歸宿,但這歸宿純然是空想,無助於實際矛盾的解决,衹不過是心靈悲劇的麻醉劑罷了。清醒的現實主義使作者在這裏把小說煞住。如果情節再朝前進展,人物會從麻醉中蘇醒過來,心靈的悲劇必定照舊在他面前展開。
   與這兩位主人公相聯繫的、亦即在他們這兩條綫索上的一些次要的人物,是伴隨着他們出場並圍繞他們而活動的。與安娜—卡列寧和安娜—弗竜斯基相聯繫的,主要是彼得堡上流社會的三個圈子和軍界的某些貴族;與列文相聯繫的,主要是外省貴族、地主、農民以及個別商人。一般說來,安娜這條綫索上的人物大多涉及道德倫理問題,列文這條綫索上的人物大多涉及社會經濟問題。當然,兩者間有時也相互交叉。這些人物决不僅是兩位主人公的陪襯或對照物,而且常常居於前景,在情節中占有相當重要的位置。正是賴有他們,作品纔得以超出家庭關係的範圍,突破家庭小說的框架,成為作者所說的“內容廣泛的、自由的小說”,從而成為廣泛反映十九世紀六七十年代社會生活的史詩性傑作。
   就藝術來說,《安娜·卡列寧娜》確實令人嘆為觀止。它的融合無間、互相呼應的兩條綫索的結構,繼《戰爭與和平》之後,又一次成為“背離歐洲形式”、找到“新的框架”的不世之作。再則這部小說的每一場面、每一插麯、每一畫面,一般不衹是“背景”或偶然的“布景”,而是整體的有機部分,這也顯示出結構的嚴密性和完整性。
   書中的人物性格,大都於典型性中見個性。但這麽說未免簡單了些。不僅奧布隆斯基、弗竜斯基、卡列寧等形象豐滿、鮮明、生動,呼之欲出,就連寥寥幾筆畫成的插麯式人物,如一係列貴族、地主,彼得堡社交界的婦女,無不各具特色,歷歷在目;更不用說復雜、矛盾而又完整的安娜了。安娜這個形象在世界文學中,即使不說無與倫比,恐怕也罕有疇匹。這些人物雖是精雕細琢,但不像工筆畫那樣帶有匠氣。作者使用“積纍的方法”,並非機械地憑藉一次又一次的敘述,而是通過直接觀察者的眼光或感受來描寫。例如安娜,她先後在達裏婭、弗竜斯基、基蒂、卡列寧、列文以及米哈伊羅夫等人心目中,分別呈現自己的一個側面,正是這些不同的側面“積纍”成一個立體的、以至多角度的形象。同時,這些直接觀察者由主觀的不同的角度看到的不同側面,何者符合真實,由於作者不置一詞,給讀者留下廣阔想象的餘地,又給這個形象蒙上了一層迷霧,客觀上增添了它的復雜性。托爾斯泰還從進展中刻畫性格。不過,奧布隆斯基和列文等是固有品質的逐漸展示,安娜和弗竜斯基的性格則是發展和變化的。
   《安娜·卡列寧娜》是完全意義上的心理小說。不僅人物的內心生活描寫充分,就是人物間的衝突也大都是心理上的,或是通過心理來表現的,因此全書心理描寫的密度很大。雖則一般使用傳統手法,即作者間接敘述或由人物的語言、動作或表情等直接表現,但筆墨十分細膩。例如總是在動態中寫心理過程,一般是展示過程中的每一環節或每一橫斷面,把人物內心的每一顫動顯現出來。這些過程一般不是直綫式的,而其麯折反復也不是循環,而是蠃旋形的進展,因此令人感到的不是繁復纍贅,而是步步深入。而在不少場合,人物心理還是前後截然相反的,藉用批評傢巴赫金的術語來說,是“對話”式的。這種“對話”有時表現於較長的心理過程的始與終,是逐漸變化的結果;有時則是突然轉折。前者如達裏婭去探望安娜的那一插麯,後者如科茲內雪夫嚮瓦蓮卡的求愛。但無論是漸進或是突變,都符合人物的性格或心理的規律。有時也進入半下意識的領域,如安娜從莫斯科回彼得堡的車上的那種迷離恍惚的心態。而在一些屬於傳統手法的內心獨白中也有所創新。奧布隆斯基在利季婭·伊萬諾夫娜伯爵夫人晚會上那段斷斷續續的內心獨白,表現了人物頭腦處於半睡眠的消極狀態的凌亂的意識之流。特別是安娜在自殺前驅車經過街上時的心理活動:街上瞬息變換的各種外在印象不斷引起她的自由聯想,她不斷由一種感觸或回憶驀地跳到另一種感觸和回憶,她強烈激動、心煩意亂、百感交集的心境躍然紙上。作者是如此巧妙地運用了意識流手法的跳躍性,省略了許多不必要的環節和焊接點,使得人物的思路迅速轉換而又十分自然,各種思緒斷斷續續,此起彼伏,互不連貫而又不凌亂無序。這可以說是文學中的意識流的神來之筆。
   小說中還有許多膾炙人口的場面,許多描寫生動的插麯,以及文筆的自然、質樸和真實……總之,可談者尚多。
   《安娜·卡列寧娜》問世一百多年了。這部出自巨匠之手的藝術傑作,不但沒有減色,反而顯得更為瑰麗。
   陳 燊
   1994.4


  Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
   Everything was in confusion in the Oblonskys' house. The wife had discovered that the husband was carrying on an intrigue with a French girl, who had been a governess in their family, and she had announced to her husband that she could not go on living in the same house with him. This position of affairs had now lasted three days, and not only the husband and wife themselves, but all the members of their family and household, were painfully conscious of it. Every person in the house felt that there was so sense in their living together, and that the stray people brought together by chance in any inn had more in common with one another than they, the members of the family and household of the Oblonskys. The wife did not leave her own room, the husband had not been at home for three days. The children ran wild all over the house; the English governess quarreled with the housekeeper, and wrote to a friend asking her to look out for a new situation for her; the man-cook had walked off the day before just at dinner time; the kitchen-maid, and the coachman had given warning.
   Three days after the quarrel, Prince Stepan Arkadyevitch Oblonsky--Stiva, as he was called in the fashionable world-- woke up at his usual hour, that is, at eight o'clock in the morning, not in his wife's bedroom, but on the leather-covered sofa in his study. He turned over his stout, well-cared-for person on the springy sofa, as though he would sink into a long sleep again; he vigorously embraced the pillow on the other side and buried his face in it; but all at once he jumped up, sat up on the sofa, and opened his eyes.
   "Yes, yes, how was it now?" he thought, going over his dream. "Now, how was it? To be sure! Alabin was giving a dinner at Darmstadt; no, not Darmstadt, but something American. Yes, but then, Darmstadt was in America. Yes, Alabin was giving a dinner on glass tables, and the tables sang, Il mio tesoro--not Il mio tesoro though, but something better, and there were some sort of little decanters on the table, and they were women, too," he remembered.
   Stepan Arkadyevitch's eyes twinkled gaily, and he pondered with a smile. "Yes, it was nice, very nice. There was a great deal more that was delightful, only there's no putting it into words, or even expressing it in one's thoughts awake." And noticing a gleam of light peeping in beside one of the serge curtains, he cheerfully dropped his feet over the edge of the sofa, and felt about with them for his slippers, a present on his last birthday, worked for him by his wife on gold-colored morocco. And, as he had done every day for the last nine years, he stretched out his hand, without getting up, towards the place where his dressing-gown always hung in his bedroom. And thereupon he suddenly remembered that he was not sleeping in his wife's room, but in his study, and why: the smile vanished from his face, he knitted his brows.
   "Ah, ah, ah! Oo!..." he muttered, recalling everything that had happened. And again every detail of his quarrel with his wife was present to his imagination, all the hopelessness of his position, and worst of all, his own fault.
   "Yes, she won't forgive me, and she can't forgive me. And the most awful thing about it is that it's all my fault--all my fault, though I'm not to blame. That's the point of the whole situation," he reflected. "Oh, oh, oh!" he kept repeating in despair, as he remembered the acutely painful sensations caused him by this quarrel.
   Most unpleasant of all was the first minute when, on coming, happy and good-humored, from the theater, with a huge pear in his hand for his wife, he had not found his wife in the drawing-room, to his surprise had not found her in the study either, and saw her at last in her bedroom with the unlucky letter that revealed everything in her hand.
   She, his Dolly, forever fussing and worrying over household details, and limited in her ideas, as he considered, was sitting perfectly still with the letter in her hand, looking at him with an expression of horror, despair, and indignation.
   "What's this? this?" she asked, pointing to the letter.
   And at this recollection, Stepan Arkadyevitch, as is so often the case, was not so much annoyed at the fact itself as at the way in which he had met his wife's words.
   There happened to him at that instant what does happen to people when they are unexpectedly caught in something very disgraceful. He did not succeed in adapting his face to the position in which he was placed towards his wife by the discovery of his fault. Instead of being hurt, denying, defending himself, begging forgiveness, instead of remaining indifferent even--anything would have been better than what he did do--his face utterly involuntarily (reflex spinal action, reflected Stepan Arkadyevitch, who was fond of physiology)--utterly involuntarily assumed its habitual, good-humored, and therefore idiotic smile.
   This idiotic smile he could not forgive himself. Catching sight of that smile, Dolly shuddered as though at physical pain, broke out with her characteristic heat into a flood of cruel words, and rushed out of the room. Since then she had refused to see her husband.
   "It's that idiotic smile that's to blame for it all," thought Stepan Arkadyevitch.
   "But what's to be done? What's to be done?" he said to himself in despair, and found no answer.
一-1
  幸福的家庭都是相似的,不幸的家庭各有各的不幸。
   奧布隆斯基傢裏一切都混亂了。妻子發覺丈夫和他們傢從前的法國女家庭教師有曖昧關係,她嚮丈夫聲明她不能和他再在一個屋子裏住下去了。這樣的狀態已經繼續了三天,不衹是夫妻兩個,就是他們全家和僕人都為此感到痛苦。傢裏的每個人都覺得他們住在一起沒有意思,而且覺得就是在任何客店裏萍水相逢的人也都比他們,奧布隆斯基全家和僕人更情投意合。妻子沒有離開自己的房間一步,丈夫三天不在傢了,小孩們像失了管教一樣在傢裏到處亂跑。英國女家庭教師和女管傢吵架,給朋友寫了信,請替她找一個新的位置。
   廚師昨天恰好在晚餐時走掉了,廚娘和車夫辭了工。
   在吵架後的第三天,斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇·奧布隆斯基公爵——他在交際場裏是叫斯季瓦的——在照例的時間,早晨八點鐘醒來,不在他妻子的寢室,卻在他書房裏的鞣皮沙發上。他在富於彈性的沙發上把他的肥胖的、保養得很好的身體翻轉,好像要再睡一大覺似的,他使勁抱住一個枕頭,把他的臉緊緊地偎着它;但是他突然跳起來,坐在沙發上,張開眼睛。
   “哦,哦,怎麽回事?”他想,重溫着他的夢境。“怎麽回事,對啦!阿拉賓在達姆施塔特①請客;不,不是達姆施塔特,而是在美國什麽地方。不錯,達姆施塔特是在美國。不錯,阿拉賓在玻璃桌上請客,在座的人都唱Ilmiotesoro②,但也不是Ilmiotesoro,而是比那更好的;桌上還有些小酒瓶,那都是女人,”他回想着。
   --------
   ①達姆施塔特,現今西德的一個城市。
   ②意大利語:我的寶貝。
   斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇的眼睛快樂地閃耀着,他含着微笑沉思。“哦,真是有趣極了。有味的事情還多得很,可惜醒了說不出來,連意思都表達不出來。”而後看到從一幅羅紗窗帷邊上射入的一綫日光,他愉快地把腳沿着沙發邊伸下去,用腳去搜索他的拖鞋,那雙拖鞋是金色鞣皮的,上面有他妻子綉的花,是他去年生日時她送給他的禮物;照他九年來的習慣,每天他沒有起來,就嚮寢室裏常挂晨衣的地方伸出手去。他這纔突然記起了他沒有和為什麽沒有睡在妻子的房間而睡在自己的書房裏。微笑從他的臉上消失,他皺起眉來。
   “唉,唉,唉!”他嘆息,回想着發生的一切事情。他和妻子吵架的每個細節,他那無法擺脫的處境以及最糟糕的,他自己的過錯,又一齊涌上他的心頭。
   “是的,她不會饒恕我,她也不能饒恕我!而最糟的是這都是我的過錯——都是我的過錯;但也不能怪我。悲劇就在這裏!”他沉思着。“唉,唉,唉!”他記起這場吵鬧所給予他的極端痛苦的感覺,盡在絶望地自悲自嘆。
   最不愉快的是最初的一瞬間,當他興高采烈的,手裏拿着一隻預備給他妻子的大梨,從劇場回來的時候,他在客廳裏沒有找到他妻子,使他大為吃驚的是,在書房裏也沒有找到,而終於發現她在寢室裏,手裏拿着那封泄漏了一切的倒黴的信。
   她——那個老是忙忙碌碌和憂慮不安,而且依他看來,頭腦簡單的多莉①,動也不動地坐在那裏,手裏拿着那封信,帶着恐怖、絶望和忿怒的表情望着他。
   “這是什麽?這?”她問,指着那封信。
   回想起來的時候,斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇,像常有的情形一樣,覺得事情本身還沒有他回答妻子的話的態度那麽使他苦惱。
   那一瞬間,在他身上發生了一般人在他們的極不名譽的行為突如其來地被揭發了的時候所常發生的現象。他沒有能夠使他的臉色適應於他的過失被揭穿後他在妻子面前所處的地位。沒有感到受了委屈,矢口否認,替自己辯護,請求饒恕,甚至也沒有索性不在乎——隨便什麽都比他所做的好——他的面孔卻完全不由自主地(斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇是喜歡生理學的,他認為這是腦神經的反射作用②)——完全不由自主地突然浮現出他那素常的、善良的、因而癡愚的微笑。
   --------
   ①多莉是他的妻子達裏婭的英文名字。
   ②在《安娜·卡列寧娜》寫成之前不久,在的一份雜志上,《腦神經的反射作用》的作者謝切諾夫教授正和其他的科學家進行着激烈的論戰。對於這種事情一知半解的奧布隆斯基都輕而易舉地想起這個術語,可見這場論戰曾引起了當時公衆的充分註意。
   為了這種癡愚的微笑,他不能饒恕自己。看見那微笑,多莉好像感到肉體的痛苦一般顫慄起來,以她特有的火氣脫口說出了一連串殘酷的話,就衝出了房間。從此以後,她就不願見她丈夫了。
   “這都要怪那癡愚的微笑,”斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇想。
   “但是怎麽辦呢?怎麽辦呢?”他絶望地自言自語說,找不出答案來。 二
   斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇是一個忠實於自己的人。他不能自欺欺人,不能使自己相信他後悔他的行為。他是一個三十四歲、漂亮多情的男子,他的妻子僅僅比他小一歲,而且做了五個活着、兩個死了的孩子的母親,他不愛她,這他現在並不覺得後悔。他後悔的衹是他沒有能夠很好地瞞過他的妻子。但是他感到了他的處境的一切睏難,很替他的妻子、小孩和自己難過。他也許能想辦法把他的罪過隱瞞住他的妻子,要是他早料到,這個消息會這樣影響她。他從來沒有清晰地考慮過這個問題,但他模模糊糊地感到他的妻子早已懷疑他對她不忠實,她衹是裝做沒有看見罷了。他甚至以為,她衹是一個賢妻良母,一個疲憊的、漸漸衰老的、不再年輕、也不再美麗、毫不惹人註目的女人,應當出於公平心對他寬大一些。結果卻完全相反。
   “唉,可怕呀!可怕呀!”斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇盡在自言自語,想不出辦法來。“以前一切是多麽順遂呵!我們過得多快活;她因為孩子們而感到滿足和幸福;我從來什麽事情也不干涉她;隨着她的意思去照管小孩和傢事。自然,糟糕的是,她是我們傢裏的家庭女教師。真糟!和傢裏的家庭女教師鬍來,未免有點庸俗,下流。但是一個多漂亮的家庭女教師呀!(他歷歷在目地回想着羅蘭姑娘的惡作劇的黑眼睛和她的微笑。)但是畢竟,她在我們傢裏的時候,我從來未敢放肆過。最糟的就是她已經……好像命該如此!唉,唉!但是怎麽,怎麽辦呀?”
   除了生活所給予一切最復雜最難解决的問題的那個一般的解答之外,再也得不到其他解答了。那解答就是:人必須在日常的需要中生活——那就是,忘懷一切。要在睡眠中忘掉憂愁現在已不可能,至少也得到夜間纔行;他現在又不能夠回到酒瓶女人所唱的音樂中去;因此他衹好在白晝夢中消愁解悶。
   “我們等着瞧吧,”斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇自言自語,他站起來,穿上一件襯着藍色綢裏的灰色晨衣,把腰帶打了一個結,於是,深深地往他的寬闊胸膛裏吸了一口氣,他擺開他那雙那麽輕快地載着他的肥胖身體的八字腳,邁着素常的穩重步伐走到窗前,他拉開百葉窗,用力按鈴。他的親信僕人馬特維立刻應聲出現,把他的衣服、長靴和電報拿來了。理發匠挾着理發用具跟在馬特維後面走進來。
   “衙門裏有什麽公文送來沒有?”斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇問,接過電報,在鏡子面前坐下。
   “在桌上,”馬特維回答,懷着同情詢問地瞥了他的主人一眼;停了一會,他臉上浮着狡獪的微笑補充說:“馬車老闆那兒有人來過。”
   斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇沒有回答,衹在鏡裏瞥了馬特維一眼。從他們在鏡子裏交換的眼色中,可以看出來他們彼此很瞭解。斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇的眼色似乎在問:“你為什麽對我說這個?你難道不知道?”
   馬特維把手放進外套口袋裏,伸出一隻腳,默默地、善良地、帶着一絲微笑凝視着他的主人。
   “我叫他們禮拜日再來,不到那時候不要白費氣力來麻煩您或他們自己,”他說,他顯然是事先準備好這句話的。
   斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇看出來馬特維想要開開玩笑,引得人傢註意自己。他拆開電報看了一遍,揣測着電報裏時常拼錯的字眼,他的臉色開朗了。
   “馬特維,我妹妹安娜·阿爾卡季耶夫娜明天要來了,”他說,做手勢要理發匠的光滑豐滿的手停一會,他正在從他的長長的、鬈麯的絡腮鬍子中間剃出一條淡紅色的紋路來。
   “謝謝上帝!”馬特維說,由這回答就顯示出他像他的主人一樣瞭解這次來訪的重大意義,那就是,安娜·阿爾卡季耶夫娜,他所喜歡的妹妹,也許會促使夫妻和好起來。
   “一個人,還是和她丈夫一道?”馬特維問。
   斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇不能夠回答,因為理發匠正在剃他的上唇,於是舉起一個手指來。馬特維朝鏡子裏點點頭。
   “一個人。要在樓上收拾好一間房間嗎?”
   “去告訴達裏婭·亞歷山德羅夫娜:她會吩咐的。”
   “達裏婭·亞歷山德羅夫娜?”馬特維好像懷疑似地重複着。
   “是的,去告訴她。把電報拿去;交給她,照她吩咐的去辦。”
   “您要去試一試嗎,”馬特維心中明白,但他卻衹說:
   “是的,老爺。”
   當馬特維踏着那雙咯吱作響的長靴,手裏拿着電報,慢吞吞地走回房間來的時候,斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇已經洗好了臉,梳過了頭髮,正在預備穿衣服。理發匠已經走了。
   “達裏婭·亞歷山德羅夫娜叫我對您說她要走了。讓他——就是說您——高興怎樣辦就怎樣辦吧,”他說,衹有他的眼睛含着笑意,然後把手放進口袋裏,歪着腦袋斜視着主人。
   斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇沉默了一會。隨即一種溫和的而又有幾分凄惻的微笑流露在他的好看的面孔上。
   “呃,馬特維?”他說,搖搖頭。
   “不要緊,老爺;事情自會好起來的。”馬特維說。
   “自會好起來的?”
   “是的,老爺。”
   “你這樣想嗎?誰來了?”斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇問,聽見門外有女人的衣服的究n聲。
   “我,”一個堅定而愉快的女人聲音說,乳母馬特廖娜·菲利蒙諾夫娜的嚴峻的麻臉從門後伸進來。
   “哦,什麽事,馬特廖娜?”斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇問,走到她面前。
   雖然斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇在妻子面前一無是處,而且他自己也感覺到這點,但是傢裏幾乎每個人(就連達裏婭·亞歷山德羅夫娜的心腹,那個乳母也在內,)都站在他這邊。
   “哦,什麽事?”他憂愁地問。
   “到她那裏去,老爺,再認一次錯吧。上帝會幫助您的。她是這樣痛苦,看見她都叫人傷心;而且傢裏一切都弄得亂七八糟了。老爺,您該憐憫憐憫孩子們。認個錯吧,老爺。這是沒有辦法的!要圖快活,就衹好……”
   “但是她不願見我。”
   “盡您的本分。上帝是慈悲的,嚮上帝禱告,老爺,嚮上帝禱告吧。”
   “好的,你走吧,”斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇說,突然漲紅了臉。“喂,給我穿上衣服。”他轉嚮馬特維說,毅然决然地脫下晨衣。
   馬特維已經舉起襯衣,像馬頸軛一樣,吹去了上面的一點什麽看不見的黑點,他帶着顯然的愉快神情把它套在他主人的保養得很好的身體上。 三
   斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇穿好了衣服,在身上灑了些香水,拉直襯衣袖口,照常把香煙、袖珍簿、火柴和那有着雙重鏈子和表墜的表分置在各個口袋裏,然後抖開手帕,雖然他很不幸,但是他感到清爽,芬芳,健康和肉體上的舒適,他兩腿微微搖擺着走進了餐室,他的咖啡已擺在那裏等他,咖啡旁邊放着信件和衙門裏送來的公文。
   他閱讀信件。有一封令人極不愉快,是一個想要買他妻子地産上的一座樹林的商人寫來的,出賣這座樹林是絶對必要的;但是現在,在他沒有和妻子和解以前,這個問題是無法談的。最不愉快的是他的金錢上的利害關係要牽涉到他急待跟他妻子和解的問題上去。想到他會被這種利害關係所左右,他會為了賣樹林的緣故去跟他妻子講和——想到這個,就使他不愉快了。
   看完了信,斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇把衙門裏送來的公文拉到面前,迅速地閱過了兩件公事,用粗鉛筆做了些記號,就把公文推在一旁,端起咖啡;他一面喝咖啡,一面打開油墨未幹的晨報,開始讀起來。
   斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇定閱一份自由主義派的報紙,不是極端自由主義派的而是代表大多數人意見的報紙。雖然他對於科學、藝術和並沒有特別興趣,但他對這一切問題卻堅持抱着與大多數人和他的報紙一致的意見。衹有在大多數人改變了意見的時候,他這纔隨着改變,或者,更嚴格地說,他並沒有改變,而是意見本身不知不覺地在他心中改變了。
   斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇並沒有選擇他的主張和見解;這些主張和見解是自動到他這裏來的,正如他並沒有選擇帽子和上衣的樣式,而衹是穿戴着大傢都在穿戴的。生活於上流社會裏的他——由於普通在成年期發育成熟的,對於某種精神活動的要求——必須有見解正如必須有帽子一樣。如果說他愛自由主義的見解勝過愛他周圍許多人抱着的保守見解是有道理的,那倒不是由於他認為自由主義更合理,而是由於它更適合他的生活方式。自由黨說一切都是壞的,的確,斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇負債纍纍,正缺錢用。自由黨說結婚是完全過時的制度,必須改革纔行;而家庭生活的確沒有給斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇多少樂趣,而且逼得他說謊做假,那是完全違反他的本性的。自由黨說,或者毋寧說是暗示,宗教的作用衹在於箝製人民中那些野蠻階層;而斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇連做一次短短的禮拜,都站得腰酸腿痛,而且想不透既然現世生活過得這麽愉快,那麽用所有這些可怕而誇張的言詞來談論來世還有什麽意思。而且,愛說笑話的斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇常喜歡說:如果人要誇耀自己的祖先,他就不應當到留裏剋①為止,而不承認他的始祖——猴子,他喜歡用這一類的話去難倒老實的人。就這樣,自由主義的傾嚮成了斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇的一種習癖,他喜歡他的報紙,正如他喜歡飯後抽一支雪茄一樣,因為它在他的腦子裏散布了一層輕霧。他讀社論,社論認為,在現在這個時代,叫囂急進主義有吞沒一切保守分子的危險,叫囂政府應當采取適當措施撲滅的禍害,這類叫囂是毫無意思的;正相反,“照我們的意見,危險並不在於假想的的禍害,而在於阻礙進步的墨守成規,”雲雲。他又讀了另外一篇關於財政的論文,其中提到了邊沁和密勒②,並對政府某部有所諷刺。憑着他特有的機敏,他領會了每句暗諷的意義,猜透了它從何而來,針對什麽人,出於什麽動機而發;這,像平常一樣,給予他一定的滿足。
   --------
   ①留裏剋(死於879),的建國者,留裏剋王朝(869—1598)的始祖。
   ②邊沁(1748—1832),英國資産階級法律學家和倫理學家,功利主義的代表人物。密勒(1806—1372),英國哲學家,活動傢,經濟學家。在倫理學上他接近邊沁的功利主義。
   但是今天這種滿足被馬特廖娜·菲利蒙諾夫娜的勸告和傢中的不如意狀態破壞了。還在報上看到貝斯特伯爵①已赴威斯巴登②的傳說,看到醫治白發、出售輕便馬車和某青年徵求職業的廣告;但是這些新聞報導並沒有像平常那樣給予他一種寧靜的譏諷的滿足。
   --------
   ①貝斯特伯爵(1809—1886),奧匈帝國首相,俾斯麥的政敵。
   ②威斯巴登,德國西部的城市,在萊茵河畔,是礦泉療養地。
   看過了報,喝完了第二杯咖啡,吃完了抹上黃油的面包,他立起身來,拂去落在背心上的面包屑,然後,挺起寬闊的胸膛,他快樂地微笑着,並不是因為他心裏有什麽特別愉快的事——快樂的微笑是由良好的消化引起的。
   但是這快樂的微笑立刻使他想起了一切,他又變得沉思了。
   可以聽到門外有兩個小孩的聲音(斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇聽出來是他的小男孩格裏沙和他的大女兒塔尼婭的聲音),他們正在搬弄什麽東西,打翻了。
   “我對你說了不要叫乘客坐在車頂上。”小女孩用英語嚷着,“拾起來!”
   “一切都是亂糟糟的,”斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇想,“孩子們沒有人管,到處亂跑。”他走到門邊去叫他們。他們拋下那當火車用的匣子,嚮父親走來。
   那小女孩,她父親的寶貝,莽撞地跑進來,抱住他,笑嘻嘻地吊在他的脖頸上,她老喜歡聞他的絡腮鬍子散發出的聞慣的香氣。最後小女孩吻了吻他那因為彎屈的姿勢而漲紅的、閃爍着慈愛光輝的面孔,鬆開了她的兩手,待要跑開去,但是她父親拉住了她。
   “媽媽怎樣了?”他問,撫摸着他女兒的滑潤柔軟的小脖頸。“你好,”他說,嚮走上來問候他的男孩微笑着說。
   他意識到他並不怎麽愛那男孩,但他總是盡量同樣對待;可是那男孩感覺到這一點,對於他父親的冷淡的微笑並沒有報以微笑。
   “媽媽?她起來了,”女孩回答。
   斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇嘆了口氣。“這麽說她又整整一夜沒有睡,”他想。
   “哦,她快活嗎?”
   小女孩知道,她父親和母親吵了架,母親不會快活,父親也一定明白的,他這麽隨隨便便地問她衹是在作假。因此她為她父親漲紅了臉。他立刻覺察出來,也臉紅了。
   “我不知道,”她說。“她沒有說要我們上課,她衹是說要我們跟古裏小姐到外祖母傢去走走。”
   “哦,去吧,塔尼婭,我的寶寶。哦,等一等!”他說,還拉牢她,撫摸着她的柔軟的小手。
   他從壁爐上取下他昨天放在那裏的一小盒糖果,揀她最愛吃的,給了她兩塊,一塊巧剋力和一塊軟糖。
   “給格裏沙?”小女孩指着巧剋力說。
   “是,是。”又撫摸了一下她的小肩膀,他吻了吻她的發根和脖頸,就放她走了。
   “馬車套好了,”馬特維說,“但是有個人為了請願的事要見您。”
   “來了很久嗎?”斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇問。
   “半個鐘頭的光景。”
   “我對你說了多少次,有人來馬上告訴我!”
   “至少總得讓您喝完咖啡,”馬特維說,他的聲調粗魯而又誠懇,使得人不能夠生氣。
   “那麽,馬上請那個人進來吧,”奧布隆斯基說,煩惱地皺着眉。
   那請願者,參謀大尉加裏寧的寡妻,來請求一件辦不到的而且不合理的事情;但是斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇照例請她坐下,留心地聽她說完,沒有打斷她一句,並且給了她詳細的指示,告訴她怎樣以及嚮誰去請求,甚至還用他的粗大、散漫、優美而清楚的筆跡,敏捷而流利地替她寫了一封信給一位可以幫她忙的人。打發走了參謀大尉的寡妻以後,斯捷潘·阿爾卡季奇拿起帽子,站住想了想他忘記什麽沒有。看來除了他要忘記的——他的妻子以外,他什麽也沒有忘記。
   “噢,是的!”他垂下頭,他的漂亮面孔帶着苦惱的表情。
   “去呢,還是不去?”他自言自語;而他內心的聲音告訴他,他不應當去,那除了弄虛作假不會有旁的結果;要改善、彌補他們的關係是不可能的,因為要使她再具有魅力而且能夠引人愛憐,或者使他變成一個不能戀愛的老人,都不可能。現在除了欺騙說謊之外不會有旁的結果;而欺騙說謊又是違反他的天性的。
   “可是遲早總得做的;這樣下去不行,”他說,極力鼓起勇氣。他挺着胸,拿出一支紙煙,吸了兩口,就投進珠母貝殼煙灰碟裏去,然後邁着迅速的步伐走過客廳,打開了通到他妻子寢室的另一扇房門。 四
   達裏婭·亞歷山德羅夫娜穿着梳妝短衣站在那裏,她那曾經是豐滿美麗、現在卻變稀疏了的頭髮,用發針盤在她的腦後,她的面容消瘦憔悴,一雙吃驚的大眼睛,因為她面容的消瘦而顯得更加觸目。各式各樣的物件散亂地擺滿一房間,她站在這些物件當中一個開着的衣櫃前面,她正從裏面挑揀什麽東西。聽到她丈夫的腳步聲,她停住了,朝門口望着,徒然想要裝出一種嚴厲而輕衊的表情。她感覺得她害怕他,害怕快要到來的會見。她正在企圖做她三天以來已經企圖做了十來回的事情——把她自己和孩子們的衣服清理出來,帶到她母親那裏去——但她還是沒有這樣做的决心;但是現在又像前幾次一樣,她盡在自言自語地說,事情不能像這樣下去,她一定要想個辦法懲罰他,羞辱他,哪怕報復一下,使他嘗嘗他給予她的痛苦的一小部分也好。她還是繼續對自己說她要離開他,但她自己也意識到這是不可能的;這是不可能的,因為她不能擺脫那種把他當自己丈夫看待、而且愛他的習慣。況且,她感到假如在這裏,在她自己傢裏,她尚且不能很好地照看她的五個小孩,那麽,在她要把他們通通帶去的地方,他們就會更糟。事實上,在這三天內,頂小的一個孩子因為吃了變了質的湯害病了,其餘的昨天差不多沒有吃上午飯。她意識到要走開是不可能的;但是,還在自欺欺人,她繼續清理東西,裝出要走的樣子。


  Stepan Arkadyevitch was a truthful man in his relations with himself. He was incapable of deceiving himself and persuading himself that he repented of his conduct. He could not at this date repent of the fact that he, a handsome, susceptible man of thirty-four, was not in love with his wife, the mother of five living and two dead children, and only a year younger than himself. All he repented of was that he had not succeeded better in hiding it from his wife. But he felt all the difficulty of his position and was sorry for his wife, his children, and himself. Possibly he might have managed to conceal his sins better from his wife if he had anticipated that the knowledge of them would have had such an effect on her. He had never clearly thought out the subject, but he had vaguely conceived that his wife must long ago have suspected him of being unfaithful to her, and shut her eyes to the fact. He had even supposed that she, a worn-out woman no longer young or good-looking, and in no way remarkable or interesting, merely a good mother, ought from a sense of fairness to take an indulgent view. It had turned out quite the other way.
   "Oh, it's awful! oh dear, oh dear! awful!" Stepan Arkadyevitch kept repeating to himself, and he could think of nothing to be done. "And how well things were going up till now! how well we got on! She was contented and happy in her children; I never interfered with her in anything; I let her manage the children and the house just as she liked. It's true it's bad HER having been a governess in our house. That's bad! There's something common, vulgar, in flirting with one's governess. But what a governess!" (He vividly recalled the roguish black eyes of Mlle. Roland and her smile.) "But after all, while she was in the house, I kept myself in hand. And the worst of it all is that she's already...it seems as if ill-luck would have it so! Oh, oh! But what, what is to be done?"
   There was no solution, but that universal solution which life gives to all questions, even the most complex and insoluble. That answer is: one must live in the needs of the day--that is, forget oneself. To forget himself in sleep was impossible now, at least till nighttime; he could not go back now to the music sung by the decanter-women; so he must forget himself in the dream of daily life.
   "Then we shall see," Stepan Arkadyevitch said to himself, and getting up he put on a gray dressing-gown lined with blue silk, tied the tassels in a knot, and, drawing a deep breath of air into his broad, bare chest, he walked to the window with his usual confident step, turning out his feet that carried his full frame so easily. He pulled up the blind and rang the bell loudly. It was at once answered by the appearance of an old friend, his valet, Matvey, carrying his clothes, his boots, and a telegram. Matvey was followed by the barber with all the necessaries for shaving.
   "Are there any papers form the office?" asked Stepan Arkadyevitch, taking the telegram and seating himself at the looking-glass.
   "On the table," replied Matvey, glancing with inquiring sympathy at his master; and, after a short pause, he added with a sly smile, "They've sent from the carriage-jobbers."
   Stepan Arkadyevitch made no reply, he merely glanced at Matvey in the looking-glass. In the glance, in which their eyes met in the looking-glass, it was clear that they understood one another. Stepan Arkadyevitch's eyes asked: "Why do you tell me that? don't you know?"
   Matvey put his hands in his jacket pockets, thrust out one leg, and gazed silently, good-humoredly, with a faint smile, at his master.
   "I told them to come on Sunday, and till then not to trouble you or themselves for nothing," he said. He had obviously prepared the sentence beforehand.
   Stepan Arkadyevitch saw Matvey wanted to make a joke and attract attention to himself. Tearing open the telegram, he read it through, guessing at the words, misspelt as they always are in telegrams, and his face brightened.
   "Matvey, my sister Anna Arkadyevna will be here tomorrow," he said, checking for a minute the sleek, plump hand of the barber, cutting a pink path through his long, curly whiskers.
   "Thank God!" said Matvey, showing by this response that he, like his master, realized the significance of this arrival--that is, that Anna Arkadyevna, the sister he was so fond of, might bring about a reconciliation between husband and wife.
   "Alone, or with her husband?" inquired Matvey.
   Stepan Arkadyevitch could not answer, as the barber was at work on his upper lip, and he raised one finger. Matvey nodded at the looking-glass.
   "Alone. Is the room to be got ready upstairs?"
   "Inform Darya Alexandrovna: where she orders."
   "Darya Alexandrovna?" Matvey repeated, as though in doubt.
   "Yes, inform her. Here, take the telegram; give it to her, and then do what she tells you."
   "You want to try it on," Matvey understood, but he only said, "Yes sir."
   Stepan Arkadyevitch was already washed and combed and ready to be dressed, when Matvey, stepping deliberately in his creaky boots, came back into the room with the telegram in his hand. The barber had gone.
   "Darya Alexandrovna told me to inform you that she is going away. Let him do--that is you--as he likes," he said, laughing only with his eyes, and putting his hands in his pockets, he watched his master with his head on one side. Stepan Arkadyevitch was silent a minute. Then a good-humored and rather pitiful smile showed itself on his handsome face.
   "Eh, Matvey?" he said, shaking his head.
   "It's all right, sir; she will come round," said Matvey.
   "Come round?"
   "Yes, sir."
   "Do you think so? Who's there?" asked Stepan Arkadyevitch, hearing the rustle of a woman's dress at the door.
   "It's I," said a firm, pleasant, woman's voice, and the stern, pockmarked face of Matrona Philimonovna, the nurse, was thrust in at the doorway.
   "Well, what is it, Matrona?" queried Stepan Arkadyevitch, going up to her at the door.
   Although Stepan Arkadyevitch was completely in the wrong as regards his wife, and was conscious of this himself, almost every one in the house (even the nurse, Darya Alexandrovna's chief ally) was on his side.
   "Well, what now?" he asked disconsolately.
   "Go to her, sir; own your fault again. Maybe God will aid you. She is suffering so, it's sad to hee her; and besides, everything in the house is topsy-turvy. You must have pity, sir, on the children. Beg her forgiveness, sir. There's no help for it! One must take the consequences..."
   "But she won't see me."
   "You do your part. God is merciful; pray to God, sir, pray to God."
   "Come, that'll do, you can go," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, blushing suddenly. "Well now, do dress me." He turned to Matvey and threw off his dressing-gown decisively.
   Matvey was already holding up the shirt like a horse's collar, and, blowing off some invisible speck, he slipped it with obvious pleasure over the well-groomed body of his master.
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