"Your praise is worth having. The tradition is kept up here that you are the best of skaters," she said, with her little black-gloved hand brushing a grain of hoarfrost off her muff.
"Yes, I used once to skate with passion; I wanted to reach perfection."
"You do everything with passion, I think," she said smiling. "I should so like to see how you skate. Put on skates, and let us skate together."
"Skate together! Can that be possible?" thought Levin, gazing at her.
"I’ll put them on directly," he said.
And he went off to get skates.
"It’s a long while since we’ve seen you here, sir," said the attendant, supporting his foot, and screwing on the heel of the skate. "Except you, there’s none of the gentlemen first-rate skaters. Will that be all right?" said he, tightening the strap.
"Oh,
