Levin had on this visit to town seen a great deal of his old friend at the university, Professor Katavasov, whom he had not seen since his marriage. He liked in Katavasov the clearness and simplicity of his conception of life. Levin thought that the clearness of Katavasovās conception of life was due to the poverty of his nature; Katavasov thought that the disconnectedness of Levinās ideas was due to his lack of intellectual discipline; but Levin enjoyed Katavasovās clearness, and Katavasov enjoyed the abundance of Levinās untrained ideas, and they liked to meet and to discuss.
Levin had read Katavasov some parts of his book, and he had liked them. On the previous day Katavasov had met Levin at a public lecture and told him that the celebrated Metrov, whose article Levin had so much liked, was in Moscow, that he had been much interested by what Katavasov had told him about Levinās work, and that he was coming to see him tomorrow at eleven, and would be very glad to make Levinās acquaintance.