Anna Karenina — Chapter 182 in French
By Leo Tolstoy
Au mois de septembre, Lévine vint s’installer à Moscou pour les couches de Kitty. In September Levin returned to Moscow for Kitty's confinement.
Depuis un mois, il était là, vivant inoccupé, lorsque Serge Ivanovitch, qui avait des terres dans la province de Kachine et prenait une part très active dans les élections, demanda à son frère, qui avait une voix dans le district de Séléznievsk, de partir avec lui. He had already been there a whole month without anything to do, when Sergyeï Ivanovitch, who had an estate in the government of Kashin, and who took a great interest in the approaching elections, was getting ready to make the journey. En outre, Lévine avait des affaires de tutelle à régler dans la province de Kachine pour sa sœur qui vivait à l’étranger. He took with him his brother, who had a parcel of land in the Seleznevsky district, and who, moreover, had some very important business to transact in regard to a trusteeship and the receipt of certain money in Kashin in behalf of his sister, who lived abroad.
Néanmoins il hésitait. Kitty, voyant qu’il s’ennuyait à Moscou, le pressa de partir, et à son insu lui fit faire un uniforme de gentilhomme qui coûta quatre-vingts roubles. Levin was even at the last moment in a state of uncertainty, but Kitty, seeing that he was bored in Moscow, not only urged him to go, but without his knowledge bought him a noble's uniform at an expense of eighty rubles. Cette somme payée pour l’uniforme trancha la question. And these eighty rubles paid out for the uniform constituted the chief reason which induced Levin to go. Il partit donc pour Kachine. He therefore went to Kashin.
Il y était depuis six jours et, malgré des démarches quotidiennes pour les affaires de sa sœur, elles n’avançaient pas. He had been at Kashin six days, present at every session of the electors, and employing himself in his sister's affairs, which did not progress at all satisfactorily. Tous les maréchaux de la noblesse n’étaient occupés que des élections, et il était impossible de venir à bout d’une simple tutelle. All the marshals of nobility were absorbed in the elections, and it was impossible to accomplish the very simple business which depended on his guardianship. La question d’argent rencontrait également des obstacles. The other matter—the receipt of some money—in the same way caused him great delay. Après de longues démarches, l’argent était prêt à toucher, mais le notaire, l’homme le plus obligeant du monde, ne pouvait pas en délivrer la quittance parce qu’il fallait la signature du président, lequel était en session. After long parleyings concerning the removal of an interdict, the money was ready to be paid over; but the notary, a most obliging man, could not deliver the paper, because the signature of the president was necessary, and the president, neglecting his duties, was at the sessions of the nobles. Toutes ces démarches, ces courses, ces pourparlers avec de très braves gens, tous désireux de rendre service mais qui ne pouvaient rien, tout cela faisait à Lévine l’effet de ces efforts inutiles qu’on fait en rêve. All these annoyances, this wandering from place to place, these talks with very pleasant good men, who thoroughly appreciated the disagreeable position of the petitioner but could not help him, all this endeavor which brought no result, produced on Levin's mind a most painful impression, analogous to that tormenting impotence which one sometimes experiences in a nightmare when one wants to employ physical force and is unable to do so. Il éprouvait souvent quelque chose de semblable en causant avec son avoué, un excellent homme qui semblait faire tout son possible et dépenser toutes ses forces intellectuelles pour le tirer d’embarras. He frequently experienced this when talking with that most obliging of men, the solicitor. This solicitor, it seemed, was doing everything in his power and was exerting all his mental energies to get Levin out of his difficulties.