He heard Oblonsky's steps and took them for the distant tramp of horses; he heard the crumbling of a bit of hummock on which he stepped and which broke off, pulling out the grass by the roots, and he took it for the noise of a snipe on the wing; behind him he heard too a sound of splashing for which he could not account.
Oía los pasos de Esteban Arkadievich confundiéndolos con el lejano pisar de los caballos, sintió un crujido en el montículo de tierra que pisó y lo tomó por el vuelo de un pájaro, y, más lejos, percibió un chapoteo que no podía explicarse.