the journey resumed.
the carters had left the inn long before nekhludoff awoke. the landlady had had her tea, and came in wiping her fat, perspiring neck with her handkerchief, and said that a soldier had brought a note from the halting station. the note was from mary pavlovna. she wrote that kryltzoff's attack was more serious than they had imagined. "we wished him to be left behind and to remain with him, but this has not been allowed, so that we shall take him on; but we fear the worst. please arrange so that if he should he left in the next town, one of us might remain with him. if in order to get the permission to stay i should be obliged to get married to him, i am of course ready to do so."
nekhludoff sent the young labourer to the post station to order horses and began packing up hurriedly. before he had drunk his second tumbler of tea the three-horsed postcart drove up to the porch with ringing bells, the wheels rattling on the frozen mud as on stones. nekhludoff paid the fat-necked landlady, hurried out and got into the cart, and gave orders to the driver to go on as fast as possible, so as to overtake the gang. just past the gates of the commune pasture ground they did overtake the carts, loaded with sacks and the sick prisoners, as they rattled over the frozen mud, that was just beginning to be rolled smooth by the wheels (the officer was not there, he had gone in advance). the soldiers, who had evidently been drinking, followed by the side of the road, chatting merrily. there were a great many carts. in each of the first carts sat six invalid criminal convicts, close packed. on each of the last two were three political prisoners. novodvoroff, grabetz and kondratieff sat on one, rintzeva, nabatoff and the woman to whom mary pavlovna had given up her own place on the other, and on one of the carts lay kryltzoff on a heap of hay, with a pillow under his head, and mary pavlovna sat by him on the edge of the cart. nekhludoff ordered his driver to stop, got out and went up to kryltzoff. one of the tipsy soldiers waved his hand towards nekhludoff, but he paid no attention and started walking by kryltzoff's side, holding on to the side of the cart with his hand. dressed in a sheepskin coat, with a fur cap on his head and his mouth bound up with a handkerchief, he seemed paler and thinner than ever. his beautiful eyes looked very large and brilliant. shaken from side to side by the jottings of the cart, he lay with his eyes fixed on nekhludoff; but when asked about his health, he only closed his eyes and angrily shook his head. all his energy seemed to be needed in order to bear the jolting of the cart. mary pavlovna was on the other side. she exchanged a significant glance with nekhludoff, which expressed all her anxiety about kryltzoff's state, and then began to talk at once in a cheerful manner.
"it seems the officer is ashamed of himself," she shouted, so as to be heard above the rattle of the wheels. "bousovkin's manacles have been removed, and he is carrying his little girl himself. katusha and simonson are with him, and vera, too. she has taken my place."
kryltzoff said something that could not be heard because of the noise, and frowning in the effort to repress his cough shook his head. then nekhludoff stooped towards him, so as to hear, and kryltzoff, freeing his mouth of the handkerchief, whispered:
"much better now. only not to catch cold."
nekhludoff nodded in acquiescence, and again exchanged a glance with mary pavlovna.
"how about the problem of the three bodies?" whispered kryltzoff, smiling with great difficulty. "the solution is difficult."
nekhludoff did not understand, but mary pavlovna explained that he meant the well-known mathematical problem which defined the position of the sun, moon and earth, which kryltzoff compared to the relations between nekhludoff, katusha and simonson. kryltzoff nodded, to show that mary pavlovna had explained his joke correctly.
"the decision does not lie with me," nekhludoff said.
"did you get my note? will you do it?" mary pavlovna asked.
"certainly," answered nekhludoff; and noticing a look of displeasure on kryltzoff's face, he returned to his conveyance, and holding with both hands to the sides of the cart, got in, which jolted with him over the ruts of the rough road. he passed the gang, which, with its grey cloaks and sheepskin coats, chains and manacles, stretched over three-quarters of a mile of the road. on the opposite side of the road nekhludoff noticed katusha's blue shawl, vera doukhova's black coat, and simonson's crochet cap, white worsted stockings, with bands, like those of sandals, tied round him. simonson was walking with the woman and carrying on a heated discussion.
when they saw nekhludoff they bowed to him, and simonson raised his hat in a solemn manner. nekhludoff, having nothing to say, did not stop, and was soon ahead of the carts. having got again on to a smoother part of the road, they drove still more quickly, but they had continually to turn aside to let pass long rows of carts that were moving along the road in both directions.
the road, which was cut up by deep ruts, lay through a thick pine forest, mingled with birch trees and larches, bright with yellow leaves they had not yet shed. by the time nekhludoff had passed about half the gang he reached the end of the forest. fields now lay stretched along both sides of the road, and the crosses and cupolas of a monastery appeared in the distance. the clouds had dispersed, and it had cleared up completely; the leaves, the frozen puddles and the gilt crosses and cupolas of the monastery glittered brightly in the sun that had risen above the forest. a little to the right mountains began to gleam white in the blue-grey distance, and the trap entered a large village. the village street was full of people, both russians and other nationalities, wearing peculiar caps and cloaks. tipsy men and women crowded and chattered round booths, traktirs, public houses and carts. the vicinity of a town was noticeable. giving a pull and a lash of the whip to the horse on his right, the driver sat down sideways on the right edge of the scat, so that the reins hung over that side, and with evident desire of showing off, he drove quickly down to the river, which had to be crossed by a ferry. the raft was coming towards them, and had reached the middle of the river. about twenty carts were waiting to cross. nekhludoff had not long to wait. the raft, which had been pulled far up the stream, quickly approached the landing, carried by the swift waters. the tall, silent, broad-shouldered, muscular ferryman, dressed in sheepskins, threw the ropes and moored the raft with practised hand, landed the carts that were on it, and put those that were waiting on the bank on board. the whole raft was filled with vehicles and horses shuffling at the sight of the water. the broad, swift river splashed against the sides of the ferryboats, tightening their moorings.
when the raft was full, and nekhludoff's cart, with the horses taken out of it, stood closely surrounded by other carts on the side of the raft, the ferryman barred the entrance, and, paying no heed to the prayers of those who had not found room in the raft, unfastened the ropes and set off.
all was quiet on the raft; one could hear nothing but the tramp of the ferryman's boots and the horses changing from foot to foot.
聂赫留朵夫醒来时，马车夫都早已上路。老板娘喝够了茶，用手绢擦擦汗淋淋的粗脖子，走进房间来说，旅站上有个士兵送来一封信。信是谢基尼娜写的。她说克雷里卓夫这次发病比他们预料的更严重。“我们一度想把他留下，自己也留下来陪他，可是没有得到许可。我们就带着他上路，可是怕他路上出事。请您到城里去疏通一下，要是能让他留下，我们当中也留下一个人来陪他。如果因此需要我嫁给他，那我也情愿。”
聂赫留朵夫打发跑堂的到驿站去叫马车，自己赶紧收拾行李。他还没有喝完第二杯茶，就有一辆带铃铛的三驾驿车来到大门前。驿车车轮在冰冻的泥地上滚动，就象在石板路上那样隆隆作响。聂赫留朵夫给粗脖子的老板娘付清了帐，匆匆走出门，在马车软座上坐下，吩咐车夫尽可能快赶，一心想追上那批犯人。他在离牧场大门不远处，果然赶上了他们的大车。大车载着袋子和病人，在冰冻的泥地上辘辘行进。押解官不在这里，他赶到前头去了。士兵们显然喝过酒，兴致勃勃地谈天说地，跟着车队，走在路的两边。车辆很多。前头的大车每辆坐着六个刑事犯，很拥挤。后头的大车每辆坐着三个人，都是政治犯。最后一辆大车上坐着诺伏德伏罗夫、格拉别茨和玛尔凯。倒数第二辆上坐着艾米丽雅、纳巴托夫和一个害风湿症的虚弱女人。谢基尼娜把自己的座位让给她了。倒数第三辆铺着干草和枕头，上面躺着克雷里卓夫。谢基尼娜就坐在他旁边的驭座上。聂赫留朵夫吩咐车夫在克雷里卓夫旁边停下来，自己向他走去。一个酒意十足的押解兵向聂赫留朵夫摆摆手，但聂赫留朵夫不理他，径自走到大车跟前，拉住大车的木柱，在旁边走着。克雷里卓夫身穿土皮袄，头戴羔皮帽，嘴上包着一块手绢，看上去更加消瘦和苍白。他那双好看的眼睛显得更大更亮。他的身子在大车上微微摇晃，眼睛盯着聂赫留朵夫。聂赫留朵夫问他健康情况，他只是闭上眼睛，生气地摇摇头。他的全部精力显然因大车颠簸消耗光了。谢基尼娜坐在大车另一边。她向聂赫留朵夫意味深长地使了个眼色，表示对克雷里卓夫的情况很忧虑，接着就用快乐的声调说起话来。
“那军官大概感到不好意思了，”她大声说，好让聂赫留朵夫在辘辘的车轮声中听清她的话。“他们给布卓夫金去了手铐。现在他自己抱着女儿，卡秋莎和西蒙松跟他们一块儿赶路，薇拉接替了我的位子，也跟他们在一起。”
克雷里卓夫指着谢基尼娜说了一句话，可是谁也听不清。他皱起眉头，显然在忍住咳嗽，接着摇摇头。聂赫留朵夫把头凑过去，想听清他的话。于是克雷里卓夫从手绢里露出嘴来，喃喃地说：
“现在好多了。只要不着凉就行。”
聂赫留朵夫肯定地点点头，同谢基尼娜交换了一个眼色。
“哦，三个天体的问题怎样了？”克雷里卓夫又喃喃地说，吃力地苦笑了一下。“不容易解决吧？”
聂赫留朵夫不明白他的话，谢基尼娜就向他解释说，这原是一个确定日、月、地球三个天体关系的著名数学问题，克雷里卓夫开玩笑，把聂赫留朵夫、卡秋莎和西蒙松的关系比作那个问题。克雷里卓夫点点头，表示谢基尼娜正确地解释了他的玩笑。
“解决这问题的关键不在我，”聂赫留朵夫说。
“您接到我的信了？这事您肯办吗？”谢基尼娜问。
“我一定去办，”聂赫留朵夫说。他发现克雷里卓夫脸上有点不高兴，就回到自己的马车那里，在凹陷的车座上坐下，双手扶住马车两侧，因为道路坎坷不平，车子颠簸得很厉害。他开始追赶身穿囚服囚袍、戴脚镣和双人手铐的囚犯队伍。这个队伍伸展有一俄里长。聂赫留朵夫认出道路另一边有卡秋莎的蓝头巾、薇拉的黑大衣和西蒙松的短上衣、绒线帽和扎着带子的白羊毛袜。西蒙松跟妇女们并排走着，嘴里起劲地讲着什么事。
妇女们看见聂赫留朵夫，都向他点头招呼，西蒙松彬彬有礼地举了举帽子。聂赫留朵夫同他们没有话要说，就没有停车，一直赶到他们前头去。他的马车又来到坚固的大路上，走得快多了，但为了超车，得不时离开大路，绕过长长的车队，赶到前头去。
这条车辙纵横的大路通到一座阴暗的针叶树林。道路两旁，桦树和落叶松还没有落叶，现出耀眼的土黄色。这段路走了一半，树林就没有了，道路两边都是田野，出现了修道院的金十字架和圆顶。天气放晴了，云都消散了，太阳高高地升到树林上空，潮湿的树叶、水塘、圆顶和教堂的十字架都在阳光下熠熠发亮。右前方，在灰蒙蒙的天边，现出白忽忽的远山。聂赫留朵夫的三驾马车来到城郊一个大村子。村街上满是人：有俄罗斯人，也有戴着古怪帽子、穿着古怪服装的少数民族。喝醉酒的和没有喝过酒的男男女女群集在商铺、饭店、酒馆和货车旁边，吵吵嚷嚷。城市显然不远了。
车夫给了右边骖马一鞭子，紧了紧缰绳，侧身坐在驭座上，好让缰绳往右边收。他显然想显显身手，把马车赶得在大街上飞跑，也不放慢速度，一直跑到河边的渡口。这时渡船正在水流湍急的河心，从那边划过来。这边渡口大约有二十辆大车等着过河。聂赫留朵夫没有等很多工夫。渡船远远地划到上游，又被急流冲下来，不多一会儿就靠拢木板搭成的码头。
几个船夫都生得身材高大，肩膀宽阔，肌肉发达。他们穿着羊皮袄和长统靴，默默无言，熟练地甩出缆索，套在木桩上，放下船板，让停在船上的车辆上岸，再把候船的车辆装到船上，让渡船装满车辆和马匹。宽阔湍急的河水拍打着渡船的两舷，把缆索绷紧。等渡船装满旅客，聂赫留朵夫的车子和卸下的马匹，在周围大车的拥挤下，在渡船边上停住，船夫就关上船板，也不理睬没有上船的旅客的要求，解开缆索开船。渡船上一片寂静，但听得船夫沉重的脚步声和马匹倒换蹄子踩响船板的声音。