Anna Karenina - LimpidSoft

PART FIVE CHAPTER 12
the cloth in his hand, and, smiling blissfully, gazed a long while at the figure of
John. At last, as it were regretfully tearing himself away, he dropped the cloth, and,
exhausted but happy, went home.
Vronsky, Anna, and Golenishtchev, on their way home, were particularly lively
and cheerful. They talked of Mihailov and his pictures. The word talent, by which
they meant an inborn, almost physical, aptitude apart from brain and heart, and in
which they tried to find an expression for all the artist had gained from life, recurred
particularly often in their talk, as though it were necessary for them to sum up what
they had no conception of, though they wanted to talk of it. They said that there was
no denying his talent, but that his talent could not develop for want of education–the
common defect of our Russian artists. But the picture of the boys had imprinted itself
on their memories, and they were continually coming back to it. “What an exquisite
thing! How he has succeeded in it, and how simply! He doesn’t even comprehend
how good it is. Yes, I mustn’t let it slip; I must buy it,” said Vronsky.
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