如果說Tolstoy的”戰爭與和平”是一部史詩，那麼”Anna Karenina”開頭第一句話：「All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.」就點出這本書涵蓋的層面不似”戰爭與和平”那般廣。但是他筆下的人物，有血有肉，有歡喜有困擾，細細讀來，所受的震撼，不下於”戰爭與和平”。
Anna Karenina嫁給大她十二歲、地位顯赫的Karenin（俄國人的名字落落長，許多時候first name 和patronymic（中間的名字，通常是父親的first name）一起稱呼，在此我就大多直稱男生的姓，女生則用first name的暱稱），育有一子，平淡的婚姻中沒有愛情。她在小說的第一次出現就是與後來結孽緣的Vronsky初次見面：
“Vronsky . . . . stopped to allow a lady to leave. With the habitual flair of a worldly man, Vronsky determined from one glance at this lady’s appearance that she belonged to high society. He excused himself and was about to enter the carriage, but felt a need to glace at her once more — not because she was very beautiful, not because of the elegance and modest grace that could be seen in her whole figure, but because there was something especially gentle and tender in the expression of her sweet-looking face as she stepped past him. As he looked back, she also turned her head. Her shining grey eyes, which seemed dark because of their thick lashes, rested amiably and attentively on his face, as if she recognized him, and at once wandered over the approaching crowd as though looking for someone. In that brief glance Vronsky had time to notice the restrained animation that played over her face and fluttered between her shining eyes and the barely noticeable smile that curved her red lips. It was as if a surplus of something so overflowed her being that it expressed itself beyond her will, now in the brightness of her glance, now in her smile. She deliberately extinguished the light in her eyes, but it shown against her will in a barely noticeable smile.”
這段描述，表現了Anna懾人的美麗，以及無人能擋的魅力。但是透過她細微的表情，能了解這個女人內心容易撥動，以及不易駕馭渴望，（這段兩次用到”will”這字，一次是”beyond her will”, 一次是”against her will”.）點出了後來她與Vronsky陷入愛戀的無可控制與無奈。
Anna本身的矛盾，在出場之際只是如此含蓄地點出，一開始我們只感到她的冰雪聰明，哥哥嫂嫂*之間的紛爭，她一介入就迎刃而解。而她與Vronsky之間的吸引，也只是表面上的互相flirting。但是在莫斯科一個盛大的晚會中，她明知嫂嫂的妹妹Kitty心儀Vronsky，甚至期待他會求婚，但是她不顧眾人眼光，也不介意傷Kitty的心，與Vronsky跳了一晚的舞。舞會結束後，她以為雖然放縱一晚，回去之後應該即能回復原來的生活。但是在回Petersburg的火車上，Anna有意無意的仍舊想著Vronsky，因為輾轉反側無法入眠，她到車廂外透氣時卻驚見Vronsky。飄雪的深夜中，心中牽掛的人乍然出現，Vronsky又忍不住吐露愛意，自此他們之間的愛情像水壩打開閘門，洪濤滾滾，再也無能阻擋。
後來Anna回到Petersburg的家，她和Vronsky在社交場合不畏人言地繼續談情，在幾個章節後急轉到他們終於發生關係。Tolstoy的描述完全沒有歡樂可言，而是充滿罪惡、毀滅、自我貶謫的負面情緒，讓人讀了愕然。
“She felt so sinful, so guilty, that nothing was left her but to humiliate herself and beg forgiveness; and as now there was no one in her life but him, to him she addressed her prayer for forgiveness. Looking at him, she had a physical sense of her humiliation, and she could say nothing more. He felt what a murderer must feel, when he sees the body he has robbed of life. That body, robbed by him of life, was their love, the first stage of their love. There was something awful and revolting in the memory of what had been bought at this fearful price of shame. Shame at their spiritual nakedness crushed her and infected him. But in spite of all the murderer's horror before the body of his victim, he must hack it to pieces, hide the body, must use what he has gained by his murder.”
這只是其中一段，光是這段負面的文字就用得夠多了，例如guilty、humiliate、murder、victim…，多到無法想像這會是相愛男女終於結合之後的反應。不禁想著，如果世間男女都唸這章，也許婚外情的情況會少許多？不過馬上就發覺這個想法的幼稚。人是有血有肉的動物，驅動心的，即使腦袋不同意，還是會忍不住去做。千百年來，多少歷史重演，不也是如此嗎？
Anna後來與Vronsky生了一女，拋家棄子地追隨Vronsky，因為社會無法接受她的身分，忍氣吞聲地躲在家裡，一方面羨慕Vronsky仍能在外公開社交，進而懷疑他不再愛她，一個冰雪聰明的女子，開始感到屈辱及至錯亂，實在讓人百般難過。
我想如果這本書只旋繞在Anna身上，讀者一定會被壓的喘不過氣來。還好，書中交叉穿插的，還有另一對主角，Levin和Kitty。
Levin是個內向而矜持的莊主，喜愛原野生活，不愛都市和名位。在故事剛開始時，他進城向Kitty求婚，但因為當時Kitty心繫Vronsky，她雖然也喜歡Levin，卻只能拒絕。後來Kitty發現Vronsky完全沒有與她結婚的意願，Levin又已心碎離去，她的羞辱失望可想而知。
唸書時就一直隱隱覺得，Tolstoy為Levin這個人物上寫的細節特別多，無論是他對信仰、愛情、生命的想法，或是對大自然的喜愛，及對為他工作的粗人平民的親近，細微而富感情。後來才知道Tolstoy是藉由Levin寫出自己真實的一面。
我喜歡唸Levin在凌晨時分出外打獵，沼澤樹叢的動靜，樹葉的聲響與氣味，獵狗的期待和與主人的互動，都是那般生動，另外他幫忙田作時感受到的肉體磨練也特別深刻。他被Kitty拒絕後，即使知道Vronsky終究沒有對Kitty求婚，Kitty還因此大病一場，但是他的矜持無法讓自己重新追求Kitty。直到有天他在晨曦的原野中見到一輛馬車奔馳而過，裡面有個少女探出頭來，露出一對清亮的眼睛，他馬上知道那是Kitty：
He could not be mistaken. There were no other eyes like those in the world. There was only one creature in the world that could concentrate for him all the brightness and meaning of life. It was she. It was Kitty. …... There only, in the carriage that had crossed over to the other side of the road, and was rapidly disappearing, there only could he find the solution of the riddle of his life, which had weighed so agonizingly upon him of late.”
心中隱隱存在但不願承認的真愛，在那一眼中再也毫無懷疑。
這本書中有許多男女之間的感情，有Anna與道貌岸然（但又令人同情）的丈夫；互相折磨的Anna與Vronsky；另外Anna的兄嫂* Stiva與Dolly，則是丈夫認為只要經濟上支援家庭，就沒有其他責任，甚至與家庭教師偷腥也無不可；只有Levin和Kitty是一道清流，他們因為愛情結婚，婚後共同成長，蛻變為更成熟的人。
書中用許多篇幅描述兩幕重要的轉折：一是生，一是死。Tolstoy描述這兩者的折騰與殘酷，讀來驚心動魄，尤其描述Levin的brother Nikolai死亡的過程，是所有章節中唯一有標題的，就是”Death”一字，赤裸地點出這人生必經之路。這兩個事件對Levin對人生的看法有很大的衝擊，然而兩個事件中，從容而勇敢的卻是Kitty，在Levin慌亂與動搖時，給予他支柱與信心。Nikolai嚥下最後一口氣之後，發現Kitty已懷有兒子，是死亡與生命的輪迴；另外Levin與Anna唯一一次見面，被她的美麗而蠱惑，回家後Kitty發覺而與Levin吵架（別忘了Anna是從Kitty手中搶走Vronsky的女人），但隨之而來的則是他兒子的誕生。兩個最黑暗的轉折馬上由光明取代，而光亮都是由那擁有明亮雙眼的少女蛻變而成的少婦帶來，絕對不是巧合。
Anna與Vronsky的愛情後來使她瘋狂，最後悲劇收場。她和Vronsky最初在火車站見面，後來在火車上的風雪夜再度相建而定下孽緣，他們的情分最後也是在火車站結束，是一首如鉛般沉重的悲歌。然而這本書的結尾卻是回到Levin和Kitty的田野生活。閃電的雷雨中，Levin急急尋找在樹林散步的妻兒，驚見他們棲身之處的一棵大樹被閃電擊中而倒下。當他的絕望升起的霎時，卻見到Kitty怯怯的雙眼。他急切的責罵她為何要帶嬰兒來樹林，然後驚魂未定地護衛著妻兒走上歸程：
“They gathered up the wet napkins; the nurse picked up the baby and carried him. Levin walked beside his wife and, guilty on account of his vexation, squeezed her hand in secrete from the nanny.”
經歷了Anna變調的愛情衝擊，這幕平淡的描述尤其感動我。平凡夫妻牽手回家的情景，或許不是追求愛情男女的嚮往，但也許才是延續生命與希望的清流吧。
PS*: 小說中都是寫”brother” 或 ”sister”，長幼的關係很難分清，所以我就假設Stiva是Anna的哥哥，如果寫錯，還請包涵。
PPS：我唸的是最前方圖的版本，但是quote的片段因為懶得逐字抄寫，許多都是從網站的書直接copy，與我唸的版本翻譯不一定相同。