Anna Karenina - LimpidSoft

PART FIVE CHAPTER 26
Chapter 26
“Well, Kapitonitch?” said Seryozha, coming back rosy and good- humored from his
walk the day before his birthday, and giving his overcoat to the tall old hall porter,
who smiled down at the little person from the height of his long figure. “Well, has
the bandaged clerk been here today? Did papa see him?”
“He saw him. The minute the chief secretary came out, I announced him,” said
the hall porter with a good-humored wink. “Here, I’ll take it off.”
“Seryozha!” said the tutor, stopping in the doorway leading to the inner rooms.
“Take it off yourself.” But Seryozha, though he heard his tutor’s feeble voice, did not
pay attention to it. He stood keeping hold of the hall porter’s belt, and gazing into
his face.
“Well, and did papa do what he wanted for him?”
The hall porter nodded his head affirmatively. The clerk with his face tied up, who
had already been seven times to ask some favor of Alexey Alexandrovitch, interested
both Seryozha and the hall porter. Seryozha had come upon him in the hall, and had
heard him plaintively beg the hall porter to announce him, saying that he and his
children had death staring them in the face.
Since then Seryozha, having met him a second time in the hall, took great interest
in him.
“Well, was he very glad?” he asked.
“Glad? I should think so! Almost dancing as he walked away.”
“And has anything been left?” asked Seryozha, after a pause.
“Come, sir,” said the hall-porter; then with a shake of his head he whispered,
“Something from the countess.”
Seryozha understood at once that what the hall porter was speaking of was a
present from Countess Lidia Ivanovna for his birthday.
“What do you say? Where?”
“Korney took it to your papa. A fine plaything it must be too!”
“How big? Like this?”
“Rather small, but a fine thing.”
“A book.”
“No, a thing. Run along, run along, Vassily Lukitch is calling you,” said the porter,
hearing the tutor’s steps approaching, and carefully taking away from his belt the
little hand in the glove half pulled off, he signed with his head towards the tutor.
“Vassily Lukitch, in a tiny minute!” answered Seryozha with that gay and loving
smile which always won over the conscientious Vassily Lukitch.
Seryozha was too happy, everything was too delightful for him to be able to help
sharing with his friend the porter the family good fortune of which he had heard
during his walk in the public gardens from Lidia Ivanovna’s niece. This piece of
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