contrary, was wholly made up of those very same insignificant trifles which he had formerly so despised, but which now, in spite of him, assumed an extraordinary and irrefutable importance. And Levin saw that the regulation of all these trifles was not nearly so easy as he had supposed it would be. Notwithstanding the fact that Levin supposed he had the most delicate comprehension of family life, he, like all men, had imagined that it was only meant as the gratification of his love, and that nothing should prevent it and that no petty details ought to interfere with it. According to his idea, he was to do his work, and rest from it in the delights of love. His wife was to be his love, and that was all.
But, like all men, he forgot that she, too, had to work. His surprise was great to find how this charming and poetic Kitty, in the first weeks, even in the first days, of their married life, could be thinking, planning, taking charge of the table-cloths, the furniture, the mattresses, the table service, the kitchen. Even during their engagement he was dumfounded at the decided way in which she refused to travel abroad and at her determination to go immediately to their country home, as if she knew what was needful, and could think of other things besides her love. It vexed him then, and now many times he still felt vexed, to find that she took upon herself these petty cares and labors.
But he saw that it was unavoidable; and, as he loved her, although he could not see why she did such things, and although he laughed at her for doing them, he could not help admiring. He laughed to see how she disposed the new furniture which came from Moscow, how she rearranged everything in her room and his, how she hung the curtains, provided for the guest-rooms and the rooms that Dolly would have, directed her new chambermaid, how she ordered the old cook to provide for dinner, how she discussed with Agafya Mikhaflovna, whom she removed from the charge of the provisions.
He saw how the old cook smiled gently as he received fantastic orders, impossible to execute; he saw how Agafya Mikhaïlovna shook her head pensively at the
