Chapter 73 — Anna Karenina

After the argument with Sergey, Levin finally commits to what he has been considering since spring: mowing all day with the peasants. He tells the bailiff to summon workers for Kalinov meadow, has Tit sharpen his scythe, and announces his plan at tea despite awkwardness about how his brother and laborers might view it. For Levin, the choice is practical and emotional, a way to keep his temper from spoiling and to return to something physically honest.

He arrives late the next morning and joins a line of forty-two mowers already on their second row. The first stretch is difficult and humiliating under watchful eyes, but Tit quietly regulates the pace and whetting breaks so Levin can continue. Levin strains not to fall behind, studies his uneven row against Tit's clean line, and gradually shifts from self-conscious effort to concentrated rhythm.

As hours pass, rain cools the workers, time dissolves, and Levin enters brief moments when the work seems to do itself and his row smooths out. He is startled when the old man calls lunch after four hours, then worries the rain is ruining hay and is corrected by peasant weather wisdom: mow in rain, rake in fair weather. He rides home for coffee and returns to the field before Sergey is even dressed, confirming his decision to choose bodily labor over abstract dispute.