This attention to his glasses and indifference to what was taking place at the Levins' astonished Levin at first, but he immediately recollected himself and realized that no one knew or was bound to know his feelings, and that it was therefore all the more necessary to act calmly, deliberately, and firmly in order to break through this wall of indifference and to attain his aim. 'Do not hurry and do not omit anything,' he said to himself, conscious of an increasing uplift of his physical powers and of his attention to all that lay before him.
Absorto en su trabajo, apenas le había mirado, y aquella atención hacia las lámparas y su indiferencia ante las palabras de Levin, al primer momento indignaron a éste. Pero reflexionó en seguida y comprendió que nadie sabía lo que ocurría en su interior ni estaba obligado a compartir sus sentimientos, y se dijo que, por esta razón, debía obrar con tranquilidad y firmeza para romper el hielo de la indiferencia de los otros y alcanzar el fin que perseguía.