CHAPTER VI
As the service of espousal was coming to an end, one of the officiating priests spread a piece of rose-colored silk in front of the lectern, in the center of the church, the choir chanted an artistic and complicated psalm, in which the tenor and bass sang responsively, and the priest, turning to the young couple, attracted their attention to the piece of rose-colored fabric.
They were both familiar with the superstition that whichever one of a bridal couple first sets foot on the carpet becomes the real head of the family, but neither Kitty nor Levin remembered anything about it after they had gone a few steps, And they did not hear the remarks exchanged about them, or the discussions between those who thought that he was the first and those who were sure that they touched it simultaneously.
After the customary questions as to their willingness to enter into the bonds of matrimony, and would they plight their mutual troth, and their answers, which sounded strangely loud to their own ears, a new office began. Kitty listened to the words of the prayers and tried to understand them, but she could not. The farther the ceremony proceeded, the more her heart overflowed with triumphant joy, which prevented her from fixing her attention.
They prayed to God that "the pair might have the gift of chastity, and might rejoice in the sight of many sons and daughters;" they recalled how God had made "the first woman from Adam's side," that "the woman must leave father and mother and cling to her husband, and they twain shall be one flesh," and that this is a great miracle; they prayed God "to give them fecundity and prosperity, as he had blessed Isaac and Rebecca, Joseph, Moses, and Sephora, and to let them see their children to the third and fourth generation."
"All this is lovely," thought Kitty, as she heard these words; "all this is just as it should be." And a smile of happiness, which was reflected on the faces of all who saw her, shone on her fair, lovely face.
"Put it entirely on," were the words heard in every part of the church, as the priest brought forward the crowns, and Shcherbatsky, in his three-button gloves, tremblingly held the wreath high above Kitty's head.
"Put it on," whispered the latter, smiling.
Levin turned round, and was struck by the radiant joy wliich filled her face, and the same feeling, in spite of himself, took possession of him; he felt, like her, happy and serene.
They listened with joy in their hearts to the reading of the Epistle, and the archdeacon's voice echoing the last verse, fully appreciated by the strangers, who were impatiently waiting for it. Joyfully they drank the warm red wine and water from the flat cup, and they felt still more joyful when the priest, throwing back his chasuble, led them around the lectern, holding both their hands in his, while the bass sang, at the top of his voice, Isaïye likuï. Shcherbatsky and Chirikof, carrying the crowns, smiling and constantly treading on the bride's train, now straggled behind, now bumped into the crowned couple, as the priest paused in front of the relics. The gleam of joy on Kitty's face seemed to be communicated to all present. Levin was sure that the deacon and the priest fell under its influence as well as himself.
When the crowns had been taken from their heads, the priest read the last prayers and congratulated the young couple. Levin looked at Kitty and thought he had never seen her so beautiful; it was the beauty of that new radiance of happiness which transformed her; he wanted to say something to her, but did not know whether the ceremony was yet over or not. The priest relieved him from his uncertainty, and said gently to him, with a kindly smile:—
"Kiss your wife, and you, kiss your husband," and he took their candles.
Levin, with circumspection, kissed his wife's smiling lips, gave her his arm, and went out of the church with a new and strange feeling of being suddenly very near to her. He had not believed, he could not believe, that all this was reality. Nor until their astonished and timid eyes met did he believe it, because he felt that they were indeed one.
That same evening, after the supper, the young couple started for the country.