Anna Karenina - LimpidSoft

PART EIGHT CHAPTER 15
“But the point is, my dear fellow, that there may be cases when the government
does not carry out the will of the citizens and then the public asserts its will,” said
Katavasov.
But evidently Sergey Ivanovitch did not approve of this answer. His brows contracted
at Katavasov’s words and he said something else.
“You don’t put the matter in its true light. There is no question here of a declaration
of war, but simply the expression of a human Christian feeling. Our brothers, one
with us in religion and in race, are being massacred. Even supposing they were not
our brothers nor fellow-Christians, but simply children, women, old people, feeling
is aroused and Russians go eagerly to help in stopping these atrocities. Fancy, if you
were going along the street and saw drunken men beating a woman or a child–I
imagine you would not stop to inquire whether war had been declared on the men,
but would throw yourself on them, and protect the victim.”
“But I should not kill them,” said Levin.
“Yes, you would kill them.”
“I don’t know. If I saw that, I might give way to my impulse of the moment, but I
can’t say beforehand. And such a momentary impulse there is not, and there cannot
be, in the case of the oppression of the Slavonic peoples.”
“Possibly for you there is not; but for others there is,” said Sergey Ivanovitch,
frowning with displeasure. “There are traditions still extant among the people of
Slavs of the true faith suffering under the yoke of the ‘unclean sons of Hagar.’ The
people have heard of the sufferings of their brethren and have spoken.”
“Perhaps so,” said Levin evasively; “but I don’t see it. I’m one of the people myself,
and I don’t feel it.”
“Here am I too,” said the old prince. “I’ve been staying abroad and reading the papers,
and I must own, up to the time of the Bulgarian atrocities, I couldn’t make out
why it was all the Russians were all of a sudden so fond of their Slavonic brethren,
while I didn’t feel the slightest affection for them. I was very much upset, thought I
was a monster, or that it was the influence of Carlsbad on me. But since I have been
here, my mind’s been set at rest. I see that there are people besides me who’re only
interested in Russia, and not in their Slavonic brethren. Here’s Konstantin too.”
“Personal opinions mean nothing in such a case,” said Sergey Ivanovitch; “it’s not
a matter of personal opinions when all Russia–the whole people–has expressed its
will.”
“But excuse me, I don’t see that. The people don’t know anything about it, if you
come to that,” said the old prince.
“Oh, papa!...how can you say that? And last Sunday in church?” said Dolly, listening
to the conversation. “Please give me a cloth,” she said to the old man, who
was looking at the children with a smile. “Why, it’s not possible that all...”
“But what was it in church on Sunday? The priest had been told to read that. He
read it. They didn’t understand a word of it. Then they were told that there was to
be a collection for a pious object in church; well, they pulled out their halfpence and
gave them, but what for they couldn’t say.”
737