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"Alphonse Karr said a capital thing before the war with Prussia: 'You consider war to be inevitable? Very good. Let everyone who advocates war be enrolled in a special regiment of advance-guards, for the front of every storm, of every attack, to lead them all!" "A nice lot the editors would make!" said Katavasov, with a loud roar, as he pictured the editors he knew in this picked legion.

But knowing by experience that in the present condition of the public temper it was dangerous to express an opinion opposed to the general one, and especially to criticize the volunteers unfavorably, he too watched Katavasov without committing himself. "Well, men are wanted there," he said, laughing with his eyes.

When Katavasov had finished, Levin looked at his watch, saw it was past one, and thought that there would not be time before the concert to read Metrov his book, and indeed, he did not now care to do so. During the reading he had thought over their conversation.

And this it was which, at the moment when Kitty had mentioned money, had disturbed him; but he had no time to think about it. He drove off, thinking of Katavasov and the meeting with Metrov that was before him. Levin had on this visit to town seen a great deal of his old friend at the university, Professor Katavasov, whom he had not seen since his marriage.

Levin had read Katavasov some parts of his book, and he had liked them.

He was standing near them and responded to a chance glance turned in his direction. "Ah, my dear fellow, you're defeated, utterly defeated!" cried Katavasov good-humoredly. Levin reddened with vexation, not at being defeated, but at having failed to control himself and being drawn into argument. "No, I can't argue with them," he thought; "they wear impenetrable armor, while I'm naked."

The third, the artilleryman, on the contrary, struck Katavasov very favorably. He was a quiet, modest fellow, unmistakably impressed by the knowledge of the officer and the heroic self-sacrifice of the merchant and saying nothing about himself. When Katavasov asked him what had impelled him to go to Servia, he answered modestly: "Oh, well, everyone's going. The Servians want help, too.

Entering into conversation with the youth, Katavasov learned that he was a wealthy Moscow merchant who had run through a large fortune before he was two-and-twenty. Katavasov did not like him, because he was unmanly and effeminate and sickly. He was obviously convinced, especially now after drinking, that he was performing a heroic action, and he bragged of it in the most unpleasant way.

And these words were enough to re-establish again between the brothers that tone hardly hostile, but chilly which Levin had been so longing to avoid. Levin went up to Katavasov. "It was jolly of you to make up your mind to come," he said to him. "I've been meaning to a long while. Now we shall have some discussion, we'll see to that. Have you been reading Spencer?"

Katavasov went back to his own carriage, and with reluctant hypocrisy reported to Sergey Ivanovitch his observations of the volunteers, from which it would appear that they were capital fellows.