WHEN LEVIN FIRST RETURNED FROM MOSCOW, and while he still started and blushed every time he remembered the disgrace of the refusal, he had said to himself, 'I blushed and started like this when I was ploughed in physics and had to remain in the second class; and in the same way I felt myself lost when I made a mess of my sister's affair that had been entrusted to me. And what happened?
Ancora nei primi tempi dopo il suo ritorno da Mosca, Levin, fremendo ed arrossendo ogni volta che ricordava l’offesa del rifiuto, finiva col dire a se stesso: «Arrossivo e fremevo proprio così giudicando tutto perduto, quando presi uno in fisica e dovetti ripetere l’anno; così pure mi considerai fallito quando persi la causa affidatami da mia sorella.