campfires, or wattle fences to serve for shelter. Some fifteen men with merry shouts were shaking down the high wattle wall of a shed, the roof of which had already been removed. "Now then, all together - shove!" cried the voices, and the huge surface of the wall, sprinkled with snow and creaking with frost, was seen swaying in the gloom of the night. The lower stakes cracked more and more and at last the wall fell, and with it the men who had been pushing it. Loud, coarse laughter and joyous shouts ensued. "Now then, catch hold in twos! Hand up the lever! That’s it.... Where are you shoving to?" "Now, all together! But wait a moment, boys... With a song!" All stood silent, and a soft, pleasant velvety voice began to sing. At the end of the third verse as the last note died away, twenty voices roared out at once: "Oo-oo-oo-oo! That’s it. All together! Heave away, boys!..." but despite their united efforts the wattle hardly moved, and in the silence that followed the heavy breathing of the men was audible. "Here, you of the Sixth Company! Devils that you are! Lend a hand... will you? You may want us one of these days." Some twenty men of the Sixth Company who were on their way into the village joined the haulers, and the wattle wall, which was about thirty-five feet long and seven feet high, moved forward along the village street, swaying, pressing upon and cutting the shoulders of the gasping men. "Get along... Falling? What are you stopping for? There now...." Merry senseless words of abuse flowed freely. "What are you up to?" suddenly came the authoritative voice of a sergeant major who came upon the men who were hauling their burden. "There are gentry here; the general himself is in that hut, and you foul-mouthed devils, you brutes, I’ll give it to you!" shouted he, hitting the first man who came in his way a swinging blow on the back. "Can’t you make less noise?" The men became silent. The soldier who had been struck groaned and wiped his face, which had been scratched till it bled by his falling against the wattle. "There, how that devil hits out! He’s made my face all bloody," said he in a frightened whisper when the sergeant major had passed on. "Don’t you like it?" said a laughing voice, and moderating their tones the men moved forward. When they were out of the village they began talking again as loud as before, interlarding their talk with the same aimless expletives. In the hut which the men had passed, the chief officers had gathered and were in animated talk over their tea about the events of the day and the maneuvers suggested for tomorrow. It was proposed to make a flank march to the left, cut off the Vice-King (Murat) and capture him. By the time the soldiers had dragged the wattle fence to its place the campfires were blazing on all sides ready for cooking, the wood crackled, the snow was melting, and black shadows of soldiers flitted to and fro all over the occupied space where the snow had been trodden down. Axes and choppers were plied all around. Everything was done without any orders being given. Stores of wood were brought for the night, shelters were rigged up for the officers, caldrons were being boiled, and muskets and accouterments put in order. The wattle wall the men had brought was set up in a semicircle by the Eighth Company as a shelter from the north, propped up by musket rests, and a campfire was built before it. They beat the tattoo, called the roll, had supper, and settled down round the fires for the night - some repairing their footgear, some smoking pipes, and some stripping themselves naked to steam the lice out of their shirts. CHAPTER VIII One would have thought that under the almost incredibly wretched conditions the Russian soldiers were in at that time - lacking warm boots and sheepskin coats, without a roof over their heads, in the snow with eighteen degrees of frost, and without even full rations (the commissariat did not always keep up with the troops) - they would have presented a very sad and depressing spectacle. On the contrary, the army had never under the best material conditions presented a more cheerful and animated aspect. This was because all who began to grow depressed or who lost strength were sifted out of the army day by day. All the physically or morally weak had long since been left behind and only the flower of the army - physically and mentally - remained. More men collected behind the wattle fence of the Eighth Company than anywhere else. Two sergeants major were sitting with them and their campfire blazed brighter than others. For leave to sit by their wattle they demanded contributions of fuel. "Eh, Makeev! What has become of you, you son of a bitch? Are you lost or have the wolves eaten you? Fetch some more wood!" shouted a red-haired and red-faced man, screwing up his eyes and blinking because of the smoke but not moving back from the fire. "And you, Jackdaw, go and fetch some wood!" said he to another soldier. This red-haired man was neither a sergeant nor a corporal, but being robust he ordered about those weaker than himself. The soldier they called "Jackdaw," a thin little fellow with a sharp nose, rose obediently and was about to go but at that instant there came into the light of the fire the slender, handsome figure of a young soldier carrying a load of wood. "Bring it here - that’s fine!" They split up the wood, pressed it down on the fire, blew at it with their mouths, and fanned it with the skirts of their greatcoats, making the flames hiss and crackle. The men drew nearer and lit their pipes. The handsome young soldier who had brought the wood, setting his arms akimbo, began stamping his cold feet rapidly and deftly on the spot where he stood. "Mother! The dew is cold but clear.... It’s well that I’m a musketeer..." he sang, pretending to hiccough after each syllable. "Look out, your soles will fly off!" shouted the red-haired man, noticing that the sole of the dancer’s boot was hanging loose. "What a fellow you are for dancing!" The dancer stopped, pulled off the loose piece of leather, and threw it on the fire. "Right enough, friend," said he, and, having sat down, took out of his knapsack a scrap of blue French cloth, and wrapped it round his foot. "It’s the steam that spoils them," he added, stretching out his feet toward the fire. "They’ll soon be issuing us new ones. They say that when we’ve finished hammering them, we’re to receive double kits!" "And that son of a bitch Petrov has lagged behind after all, it seems," said one sergeant major. "I’ve had an eye on him this long while," said the other. "Well, he’s a poor sort of soldier...." "But in the Third Company they say nine men were missing yesterday." "Yes, it’s all very well, but when a man’s feet are frozen how can he walk?" "Eh? Don’t talk nonsense!" said a sergeant major. "Do you want to be doing the same?" said an old soldier, turning reproachfully to the man who had spoken of frozen feet. "Well, you know," said the sharp-nosed man they called Jackdaw in a squeaky and unsteady voice, raising himself at the other side of the fire, "a plump man gets thin, but for a thin one it’s death. Take me, now! I’ve got no strength left," he added, with sudden resolution turning to the sergeant major. "Tell them to send me to hospital; I’m aching all over; anyway I shan’t be able to keep up." "That’ll do, that’ll do!" replied the sergeant major quietly. The soldier said no more and the talk went on. "What a lot of those Frenchies were taken today, and the fact is that not one of them had what you might call real boots on," said a soldier, starting a new theme. "They were no more than make-believes." "The Cossacks have taken their boots. They were clearing the hut for the colonel and carried them out. It was pitiful to see them, boys," put in the dancer. "As they turned them over one seemed still alive and, would you believe it, he jabbered something in their lingo." "But they’re a clean folk, lads," the first man went on; "he was white - as white as birchbark - and some of them are such fine fellows, you might think they were nobles." "Well, what do you think? They make soldiers of all classes there." "But they don’t understand our talk at all," said the dancer with a puzzled smile. "I asked him whose subject he was, and he jabbered in his own way. A queer lot!" "But it’s strange, friends," continued the man who had wondered at their whiteness, "the peasants at Mozhaysk were saying that when they began burying the dead - where the battle was you know - well, those dead had been lying there for nearly a month, and says the peasant, ‘they lie as white as paper, clean, and not as much smell as a puff of powder smoke.’" "Was it from the cold?" asked someone. "You’re a clever fellow! From the cold indeed! Why, it was hot. If it had been from the cold, ours would not have rotted either. ‘But,’ he says, ‘go up to ours and they are all rotten and maggoty. So,’ he says, ‘we tie our faces up with kerchiefs and turn our heads away as we drag them off: we can hardly do it. But theirs,’ he says, ‘are white as paper and not so much smell as a whiff of gunpowder.’" All were silent. "It must be from their food," said the sergeant major. "They used to gobble the same food as the gentry." No one contradicted him. "That peasant near Mozhaysk where the battle was said the men were all called up from ten villages around and they carted for twenty days and still didn’t finish carting the dead away. And as for the wolves, he says..." "That was a real battle," said an old soldier. "It’s the only one worth remembering; but since that... it’s only been tormenting folk." "And do you know, Daddy, the day before yesterday we ran at them and, my word, they didn’t let us get near before they just threw down their muskets and went on their knees. ‘Pardon!’ they say. That’s only one case. They say Platov took ‘Poleon himself twice. But he didn’t know the right charm. He catches him and catches him - no good! He turns into a bird in his hands and flies away. And there’s no way of killing him either." "You’re a first-class liar, Kiselev, when I come to look at you!" "Liar, indeed! It’s the real truth." "If he fell into my hands, when I’d caught him I’d bury him in the ground with an aspen stake to fix him down. What a lot of men he’s ruined!" "Well, anyhow we’re going to end it. He won’t come here again," remarked the old soldier, yawning. The conversation flagged, and the soldiers began settling down to sleep. "Look at the stars. It’s wonderful how they shine! You would think the women had spread out their linen," said one of the men, gazing with admiration at the Milky Way. "That’s a sign of a good harvest next year." "We shall want some more wood." "You warm your back and your belly gets frozen. That’s queer." "O Lord!" "What are you pushing for? Is the fire only for you? Look how he’s sprawling!" In the silence that ensued, the snoring of those who had fallen asleep could be heard. Others turned over and warmed themselves, now and again exchanging a few words. From a campfire a hundred paces off came a sound of general, merry laughter. "Hark at them roaring there in the Fifth Company!" said one of the soldiers, "and what a lot of them there are!" One of the men got up and went over to the Fifth Company. "They’re having such fun," said he, coming back. "Two Frenchies have turned up. One’s quite frozen and the other’s an awful swaggerer. He’s singing songs...." "Oh, I’ll go across and have a look...." And several of the men went over to the Fifth Company. CHAPTER IX The fifth company was bivouacking at the very edge of the forest. A huge campfire was blazing brightly in the midst of the snow, lighting up the branches of trees heavy with hoarfrost. About midnight they heard the sound of steps in the snow of the forest, and the crackling of dry branches. "A bear, lads," said one of the men. They all raised their heads to listen, and out of the forest into the bright firelight stepped two strangely clad human figures clinging to one another. These were two Frenchmen who had been hiding in the forest. They came up to the fire, hoarsely uttering something in a language our soldiers did not understand. One was taller than the other; he wore an officer’s hat and seemed quite exhausted. On approaching the fire he had been going to sit down, but fell. The other, a short sturdy soldier with a shawl tied round his head, was stronger. He raised his companion and said something, pointing to his mouth. The soldiers surrounded the Frenchmen, spread a greatcoat on the ground for the sick man, and brought some buckwheat porridge and vodka for both of them. The exhausted French officer was Ramballe and the man with his head wrapped in the shawl was Morel, his orderly. When Morel had drunk some vodka and finished his bowl of porridge he suddenly became unnaturally merry and chattered incessantly to the soldiers, who could not understand him. Ramballe refused food and resting his head on his elbow lay silent beside the campfire, looking at the Russian soldiers with red and vacant eyes. Occasionally he emitted a long-drawn groan and then again became silent. Morel, pointing to his shoulders, tried to impress on the soldiers the fact that Ramballe was an officer and ought to be warmed. A Russian officer who had come up to the fire sent to ask his colonel whether he would not take a French officer into his hut to warm him, and when the messenger returned and said that the colonel wished the officer to be brought to him, Ramballe was told to go. He rose and tried to walk, but staggered and would have fallen had not a soldier standing by held him up. "You won’t do it again, eh?" said one of the soldiers, winking and turning mockingly to Ramballe. "Oh, you fool! Why talk rubbish, lout that you are - a real peasant!" came rebukes from all sides addressed to the jesting soldier. They surrounded Ramballe, lifted him on the crossed arms of two soldiers, and carried him to the hut. Ramballe put his arms around their necks while they carried him and began wailing plaintively: "Oh, you fine fellows, my kind, kind friends! These are men! Oh, my brave, kind friends," and he leaned his head against the shoulder of one of the men like a child. Meanwhile Morel was sitting in the best place by the fire, surrounded by the soldiers. Morel, a short sturdy Frenchman with inflamed and streaming eyes, was wearing a woman’s cloak and had a shawl tied woman fashion round his head over his cap. He was evidently tipsy, and was singing a French song in a hoarse broken voice, with an arm thrown round the nearest soldier. The soldiers simply held their sides as they watched him. "Now then, now then, teach us how it goes! I’ll soon pick it up. How is it?" said the man - a singer and a wag - whom Morel was embracing. "Vive Henri Quatre! Vive ce roi valiant!" sang Morel, winking. "Ce diable à quatre..." * * "Long live Henry the Fourth, that valiant king! That rowdy devil." "Vivarika! Vif-seruvaru! Sedyablyaka!" repeated the soldier, flourishing his arm and really catching the tune. "Bravo! Ha, ha, ha!" rose their rough, joyous laughter from all sides. Morel, wrinkling up his face, laughed too. "Well, go on, go on!" "Qui eut le triple talent, De boire, de battre, Et d’être un vert galant." * * Who had a triple talent For drinking, for fighting, And for being a gallant old boy... "It goes smoothly, too. Well, now, Zaletaev!" "Ke..." Zaletaev, brought out with effort: "ke-e-e-e," he drawled, laboriously pursing his lips, "le-trip-ta-la-de-bu-de-ba, e de-tra-va-ga-la" he sang. "Fine! Just like the Frenchie! Oh, ho ho! Do you want some more to eat?" "Give him some porridge: it takes a long time to get filled up after starving." They gave him some more porridge and Morel with a laugh set to work on his third bowl. All the young soldiers smiled gaily as they watched him. The older men, who thought it undignified to amuse themselves with such nonsense, continued to lie at the opposite side of the fire, but one would occasionally raise himself on an elbow and glance at Morel with a smile. "They are men too," said one of them as he wrapped himself up in his coat. "Even wormwood grows on its own root." "O Lord, O Lord! How starry it is! Tremendous! That means a hard frost...." They all grew silent. The stars, as if knowing that no one was looking at them, began to disport themselves in the dark sky: now flaring up, now vanishing, now trembling, they were busy whispering something gladsome and mysterious to one another. CHAPTER X The French army melted away at the uniform rate of a mathematical progression; and that crossing of the Berezina about which so much has been written was only one intermediate stage in its destruction, and not at all the decisive episode of the campaign. If so much has been and still is written about the Berezina, on the French side this is only because at the broken bridge across that river the calamities their army had been previously enduring were suddenly concentrated at one moment into a tragic spectacle that remained in every memory, and on the Russian side merely because in Petersburg - far from the seat of war - a plan (again one of Pfuel’s) had been devised to catch Napoleon in a strategic trap at the Berezina River. Everyone assured himself that all would happen according to plan, and therefore insisted that it was just the crossing of the Berezina that destroyed the French army. In reality the results of the crossing were much less disastrous to the French - in guns and men lost - than Krasnoe had been, as the figures show. The sole importance of the crossing of the Berezina lies in the fact that it plainly and indubitably proved the fallacy of all the plans for cutting off the enemy’s retreat and the soundness of the only possible line of action - the one Kutuzov and the general mass of the army demanded - namely, simply to follow the enemy up. The French crowd fled at a continually increasing speed and all its energy was directed to reaching its goal. It fled like a wounded animal and it was impossible to block its path. This was shown not so much by the arrangements it made for crossing as by what took place at the bridges. When the bridges broke down, unarmed soldiers, people from Moscow and women with children who were with the French transport, all - carried on by vis inertiæ - pressed forward into boats and into the ice-covered water and did not, surrender. That impulse was reasonable. The condition of fugitives and of pursuers was equally bad. As long as they remained with their own people each might hope for help from his fellows and the definite place he held among them. But those who surrendered, while remaining in the same pitiful plight, would be on a lower level to claim a share in the necessities of life. The French did not need to be informed of the fact that half the prisoners - with whom the Russians did not know what to do - perished of cold and hunger despite their captors’ desire to save them; they felt that it could not be otherwise. The most compassionate Russian commanders, those favorable to the French - and even the Frenchmen in the Russian service - could do nothing for the prisoners. The French perished from the conditions to which the Russian army was itself exposed. It was impossible to take bread and clothes from our hungry and indispensable soldiers to give to the French who, though not harmful, or hated, or guilty, were simply unnecessary. Some Russians even did that, but they were exceptions. Certain destruction lay behind the French but in front there was hope. Their ships had been burned, there was no salvation save in collective flight, and on that the whole strength of the French was concentrated. The farther they fled the more wretched became the plight of the remnant, especially after the Berezina, on which (in consequence of the Petersburg plan) special hopes had been placed by the Russians, and the keener grew the passions of the Russian commanders, who blamed one another and Kutuzov most of all. Anticipation that the failure of the Petersburg Berezina plan would be attributed to Kutuzov led to dissatisfaction, contempt, and ridicule, more and more strongly expressed. The ridicule and contempt were of course expressed in a respectful form, making it impossible for him to ask wherein he was to blame. They did not talk seriously to him; when reporting to him or asking for his sanction they appeared to be fulfilling a regrettable formality, but they winked behind his back and tried to mislead him at every turn. Because they could not understand him all these people assumed that it was useless to talk to the old man; that he would never grasp the profundity of their plans, that he would answer with his phrases (which they thought were mere phrases) about a "golden bridge," about the impossibility of crossing the frontier with a crowd of tatterdemalions, and so forth. They had heard all that before. And all he said - that it was necessary to await provisions, or that the men had no boots - was so simple, while what they proposed was so complicated and clever, that it was evident that he was old and stupid and that they, though not in power, were commanders of genius. After the junction with the army of the brilliant admiral and Petersburg hero Wittgenstein, this mood and the gossip of the staff reached their maximum. Kutuzov saw this and merely sighed and shrugged his shoulders. Only once, after the affair of the Berezina, did he get angry and write to Bennigsen (who reported separately to the Emperor) the following letter: "On account of your spells of ill health, will your excellency please be so good as to set off for Kaluga on receipt of this, and there await further commands and appointments from His Imperial Majesty." But after Bennigsen’s departure, the Grand Duke Tsarevich Constantine Pavlovich joined the army. He had taken part in the beginning of the campaign but had subsequently been removed from the army by Kutuzov. Now having come to the army, he informed Kutuzov of the Emperor’s displeasure at the poor success of our forces and the slowness of their advance. The Emperor intended to join the army personally in a few days’ time. The old man, experienced in court as well as in military affairs - this same Kutuzov who in August had been chosen commander in chief against the sovereign’s wishes and who had removed the Grand Duke and heir - apparent from the army - who on his own authority and contrary to the Emperor’s will had decided on the abandonment of Moscow, now realized at once that his day was over, that his part was played, and that the power he was supposed to hold was no longer his. And he understood this not merely from the attitude of the court. He saw on the one hand that the military business in which he had played his part was ended and felt that his mission was accomplished; and at the same time he began to be conscious of the physical weariness of his aged body and of the necessity of physical rest. On the twenty-ninth of November Kutuzov entered Vilna - his "dear Vilna" as he called it. Twice during his career Kutuzov had been governor of Vilna. In that wealthy town, which had not been injured, he found old friends and associations, besides the comforts of life of which he had so long been deprived. And he suddenly turned from the cares of army and state and, as far as the passions that seethed around him allowed, immersed himself in the quiet life to which he had formerly been accustomed, as if all that was taking place and all that had still to be done in the realm of history did not concern him at all. Chichagov, one of the most zealous "cutters-off" and "breakers-up," who had first wanted to effect a diversion in Greece and then in Warsaw but never wished to go where he was sent: Chichagov, noted for the boldness with which he spoke to the Emperor, and who considered Kutuzov to be under an obligation to him because when he was sent to make peace with Turkey in 1811 independently of Kutuzov, and found that peace had already been concluded, he admitted to the Emperor that the merit of securing that peace was really Kutuzov’s; this Chichagov was the first to meet Kutuzov at the castle where the latter was to stay. In undress naval uniform, with a dirk, and holding his cap under his arm, he handed Kutuzov a garrison report and the keys of the town. The contemptuously respectful attitude of the younger men to the old man in his dotage was expressed in the highest degree by the behavior of Chichagov, who knew of the accusations that were being directed against Kutuzov. When speaking to Chichagov, Kutuzov incidentally mentioned that the vehicles packed with china that had been captured from him at Borisov had been recovered and would be restored to him. "You mean to imply that I have nothing to eat out of.... On the contrary, I can supply you with everything even if you want to give dinner parties," warmly replied Chichagov, who tried by every word he spoke to prove his own rectitude and therefore imagined Kutuzov to be animated by the same desire. Kutuzov, shrugging his shoulders, replied with his subtle penetrating smile: "I meant merely to say what I said." Contrary to the Emperor’s wish Kutuzov detained the greater part of the army at Vilna. Those about him said that he became extraordinarily slack and physically feeble during his stay in that town. He attended to army affairs reluctantly, left everything to his generals, and while awaiting the Emperor’s arrival led a dissipated life. Having left Petersburg on the seventh of December with his suite - Count Tolstoy, Prince Volkonski, Arakcheev, and others - the Emperor reached Vilna on the eleventh, and in his traveling sleigh drove straight to the castle. In spite of the severe frost some hundred generals and staff officers in full parade uniform stood in front of the castle, as well as a guard of honor of the Semenov regiment. A courier who galloped to the castle in advance, in a troyka with three foam-flecked horses, shouted "Coming!" and Konovnitsyn rushed into the vestibule to inform Kutuzov, who was waiting in the hall porter’s little lodge. A minute later the old man’s large stout figure in full-dress uniform, his chest covered with orders and a scarf drawn round his stomach, waddled out into the porch. He put on his hat with its peaks to the sides and, holding his gloves in his hand and walking with an effort sideways down the steps to the level of the street, took in his hand the report he had prepared for the Emperor. There was running to and fro and whispering; another troyka flew furiously up, and then all eyes were turned on an approaching sleigh in which the figures of the Emperor and Volkonski could already be descried. From the habit of fifty years all this had a physically agitating effect on the old general. He carefully and hastily felt himself all over, readjusted his hat, and pulling himself together drew himself up and, at the very moment when the Emperor, having alighted from the sleigh, lifted his eyes to him, handed him the report and began speaking in his smooth, ingratiating voice. The Emperor with a rapid glance scanned Kutuzov from head to foot, frowned for an instant, but immediately mastering himself went up to the old man, extended his arms and embraced him. And this embrace too, owing to a long-standing impression related to his innermost feelings, had its usual effect on Kutuzov and he gave a sob. The Emperor greeted the officers and the Semenov guard, and again pressing the old man’s hand went with him into the castle. When alone with the field marshal the Emperor expressed his dissatisfaction at the slowness of the pursuit and at the mistakes made at Krasnoe and the Berezina, and informed him of his intentions for a future campaign abroad. Kutuzov made no rejoinder or remark. The same submissive, expressionless look with which he had listened to the Emperor’s commands on the field of Austerlitz seven years before settled on his face now. When Kutuzov came out of the study and with lowered head was crossing the ballroom with his heavy waddling gait, he was arrested by someone’s voice saying: "Your Serene Highness!" Kutuzov raised his head and looked for a long while into the eyes of Count Tolstoy, who stood before him holding a silver salver on which lay a small object. Kutuzov seemed not to understand what was expected of him. Suddenly he seemed to remember; a scarcely perceptible smile flashed across his puffy face, and bowing low and respectfully he took the object that lay on the salver. It was the Order of St. George of the First Class. CHAPTER XI Next day the field marshal gave a dinner and ball which the Emperor honored by his presence. Kutuzov had received the Order of St. George of the First Class and the Emperor showed him the highest honors, but everyone knew of the imperial dissatisfaction with him. The proprieties were observed and the Emperor was the first to set that example, but everybody understood that the old man was blameworthy and good-for-nothing. When Kutuzov, conforming to a custom of Catherine’s day, ordered the standards that had been captured to be lowered at the Emperor’s feet on his entering the ballroom, the Emperor made a wry face and muttered something in which some people caught the words, "the old comedian." The Emperor’s displeasure with Kutuzov was specially increased at Vilna by the fact that Kutuzov evidently could not or would not understand the importance of the coming campaign. When on the following morning the Emperor said to the officers assembled about him: "You have not only saved Russia, you have saved Europe!" they all understood that the war was not ended. Kutuzov alone would not see this and openly expressed his opinion that no fresh war could improve the position or add to the glory of Russia, but could only spoil and lower the glorious position that Russia had gained. He tried to prove to the Emperor the impossibility of levying fresh troops, spoke of the hardships already endured by the people, of the possibility of failure and so forth. This being the field marshal’s frame of mind he was naturally regarded as merely a hindrance and obstacle to the impending war. To avoid unpleasant encounters with the old man, the natural method was to do what had been done with him at Austerlitz and with Barclay at the beginning of the Russian campaign - to transfer the authority to the Emperor himself, thus cutting the ground from under the commander in chief’s feet without upsetting the old man by informing him of the change. With this object his staff was gradually reconstructed and its real strength removed and transferred to the Emperor. Toll, Konovnitsyn, and Ermolov received fresh appointments. Everyone spoke loudly of the field marshal’s great weakness and failing health. His health had to be bad for his place to be taken away and given to another. And in fact his health was poor. So naturally, simply, and gradually - just as he had come from Turkey to the Treasury in Petersburg to recruit the militia, and then to the army when he was needed there - now when his part was played out, Kutuzov’s place was taken by a new and necessary performer. The war of 1812, besides its national significance dear to every Russian heart, was now to assume another, a European, significance. The movement of peoples from west to east was to be succeeded by a movement of peoples from east to west, and for this fresh war another leader was necessary, having qualities and views differing from Kutuzov’s and animated by different motives. Alexander I was as necessary for the movement of the peoples from east to west and for the refixing of national frontiers as Kutuzov had been for the salvation and glory of Russia. Kutuzov did not understand what Europe, the balance of power, or Napoleon meant. He could not understand it. For the representative of the Russian people, after the enemy had been destroyed and Russia had been liberated and raised to the summit of her glory, there was nothing left to do as a Russian. Nothing remained for the representative of the national war but to die, and Kutuzov died. CHAPTER XII As generally happens, Pierre did not feel the full effects of the physical privation and strain he had suffered as prisoner until after they were over. After his liberation he reached Orel, and on the third day there, when preparing to go to Kiev, he fell ill and was laid up for three months. He had what the doctors termed "bilious fever." But despite the fact that the doctors treated him, bled him, and gave him medicines to drink, he recovered. Scarcely any impression was left on Pierre’s mind by all that happened to him from the time of his rescue till his illness. He remembered only the dull gray weather now rainy and now snowy, internal physical distress, and pains in his feet and side. He remembered a general impression of the misfortunes and sufferings of people and of being worried by the curiosity of officers and generals who questioned him, he also remembered his difficulty in procuring a conveyance and horses, and above all he remembered his incapacity to think and feel all that time. On the day of his rescue he had seen the body of Petya Rostov. That same day he had learned that Prince Andrew, after surviving the battle of Borodino for more than a month had recently died in the Rostovs’ house at Yaroslavl, and Denisov who told him this news also mentioned Helene’s death, supposing that Pierre had heard of it long before. All this at the time seemed merely strange to Pierre: he felt he could not grasp its significance. Just then he was only anxious to get away as quickly as possible from places where people were killing one another, to some peaceful refuge where he could recover himself, rest, and think over all the strange new facts he had learned; but on reaching Orel he immediately fell ill. When he came to himself after his illness he saw in attendance on him two of his servants, Terenty and Vaska, who had come from Moscow; and also his cousin the eldest princess, who had been living on his estate at Elets and hearing of his rescue and illness had come to look after him. It was only gradually during his convalescence that Pierre lost the impressions he had become accustomed to during the last few months and got used to the idea that no one would oblige him to go anywhere tomorrow, that no one would deprive him of his warm bed, and that he would be sure to get his dinner, tea, and supper. But for a long time in his dreams he still saw himself in the conditions of captivity. In the same way little by little he came to understand the news he had been told after his rescue, about the death of Prince Andrew, the death of his wife, and the destruction of the French. A joyous feeling of freedom - that complete inalienable freedom natural to man which he had first experienced at the first halt outside Moscow - filled Pierre’s soul during his convalescence. He was surprised to find that this inner freedom, which was independent of external conditions, now had as it were an additional setting of external liberty. He was alone in a strange town, without acquaintances. No one demanded anything of him or sent him anywhere. He had all he wanted: the thought of his wife which had been a continual torment to him was no longer there, since she was no more. "Oh, how good! How splendid!" said he to himself when a cleanly laid table was moved up to him with savory beef tea, or when he lay down for the night on a soft clean bed, or when he remembered that the French had gone and that his wife was no more. "Oh, how good, how splendid!" And by old habit he asked himself the question: "Well, and what then? What am I going to do?" And he immediately gave himself the answer: "Well, I shall live. Ah, how splendid!" The very question that had formerly tormented him, the thing he had continually sought to find - the aim of life - no longer existed for him now. That search for the aim of life had not merely disappeared temporarily - he felt that it no longer existed for him and could not present itself again. And this very absence of an aim gave him the complete, joyous sense of freedom which constituted his happiness at this time. He could not see an aim, for he now had faith - not faith in any kind of rule, or words, or ideas, but faith in an ever-living, ever-manifest God. Formerly he had sought Him in aims he set himself. That search for an aim had been simply a search for God, and suddenly in his captivity he had learned not by words or reasoning but by direct feeling what his nurse had told him long ago: that God is here and everywhere. In his captivity he had learned that in Karataev God was greater, more infinite and unfathomable than in the Architect of the Universe recognized by the Freemasons. He felt like a man who after straining his eyes to see into the far distance finds what he sought at his very feet. All his life he had looked over the heads of the men around him, when he should have merely looked in front of him without straining his eyes. In the past he had never been able to find that great inscrutable infinite something. He had only felt that it must exist somewhere and had looked for it. In everything near and comprehensible he had seen only what was limited, petty, commonplace, and senseless. He had equipped himself with a mental telescope and looked into remote space, where petty worldliness hiding itself in misty distance had seemed to him great and infinite merely because it was not clearly seen. And such had European life, politics, Freemasonry, philosophy, and philanthropy seemed to him. But even then, at moments of weakness as he had accounted them, his mind had penetrated to those distances and he had there seen the same pettiness, worldliness, and senselessness. Now, however, he had learned to see the great, eternal, and infinite in everything, and therefore - to see it and enjoy its contemplation - he naturally threw away the telescope through which he had till now gazed over men’s heads, and gladly regarded the ever-changing, eternally great, unfathomable, and infinite life around him. And the closer he looked the more tranquil and happy he became. That dreadful question, "What for?" which had formerly destroyed all his mental edifices, no longer existed for him. To that question, "What for?" a simple answer was now always ready in his soul: "Because there is a God, that God without whose will not one hair falls from a man’s head." CHAPTER XIII In external ways Pierre had hardly changed at all. In appearance he was just what he used to be. As before he was absent-minded and seemed occupied not with what was before his eyes but with something special of his own. The difference between his former and present self was that formerly when he did not grasp what lay before him or was said to him, he had puckered his forehead painfully as if vainly seeking to distinguish something at a distance. At present he still forgot what was said to him and still did not see what was before his eyes, but he now looked with a scarcely perceptible and seemingly ironic smile at what was before him and listened to what was said, though evidently seeing and hearing something quite different. Formerly he had appeared to be a kindhearted but unhappy man, and so people had been inclined to avoid him. Now a smile at the joy of life always played round his lips, and sympathy for others, shone in his eyes with a questioning look as to whether they were as contented as he was, and people felt pleased by his presence. Previously he had talked a great deal, grew excited when he talked, and seldom listened; now he was seldom carried away in conversation and knew how to listen so that people readily told him their most intimate secrets. The princess, who had never liked Pierre and had been particularly hostile to him since she had felt herself under obligations to him after the old count’s death, now after staying a short time in Orel - where she had come intending to show Pierre that in spite of his ingratitude she considered it her duty to nurse him - felt to her surprise and vexation that she had become fond of him. Pierre did not in any way seek her approval, he merely studied her with interest. Formerly she had felt that he regarded her with indifference and irony, and so had shrunk into herself as she did with others and had shown him only the combative side of her nature; but now he seemed to be trying to understand the most intimate places of her heart, and, mistrustfully at first but afterwards gratefully, she let him see the hidden, kindly sides of her character. The most cunning man could not have crept into her confidence more successfully, evoking memories of the best times of her youth and showing sympathy with them. Yet Pierre’s cunning consisted simply in finding pleasure in drawing out the human qualities of the embittered, hard, and (in her own way) proud princess. "Yes, he is a very, very kind man when he is not under the influence of bad people but of people such as myself," thought she. His servants too - Terenty and Vaska - in their own way noticed the change that had taken place in Pierre. They considered that he had become much "simpler." Terenty, when he had helped him undress and wished him good night, often lingered with his master’s boots in his hands and clothes over his arm, to see whether he would not start a talk. And Pierre, noticing that Terenty wanted a chat, generally kept him there. "Well, tell me... now, how did you get food?" he would ask. And Terenty would begin talking of the destruction of Moscow, and of the old count, and would stand for a long time holding the clothes and talking, or sometimes listening to Pierre’s stories, and then would go out into the hall with a pleasant sense of intimacy with his master and affection for him. The doctor who attended Pierre and visited him every day, though he considered it his duty as a doctor to pose as a man whose every moment was of value to suffering humanity, would sit for hours with Pierre telling him his favorite anecdotes and his observations on the characters of his patients in general, and especially of the ladies. "It’s a pleasure to talk to a man like that; he is not like our provincials," he would say. There were several prisoners from the French army in Orel, and the doctor brought one of them, a young Italian, to see Pierre. This officer began visiting Pierre, and the princess used to make fun of the tenderness the Italian expressed for him. The Italian seemed happy only when he could come to see Pierre, talk with him, tell him about his past, his life at home, and his love, and pour out to him his indignation against the French and especially against Napoleon. "If all Russians are in the least like you, it is sacrilege to fight such a nation," he said to Pierre. "You, who have suffered so from the French, do not even feel animosity toward them." Pierre had evoked the passionate affection of the Italian merely by evoking the best side of his nature and taking a pleasure in so doing. During the last days of Pierre’s stay in Orel his old Masonic acquaintance Count Willarski, who had introduced him to the lodge in 1807, came to see him. Willarski was married to a Russian heiress who had a large estate in Orel province, and he occupied a temporary post in the commissariat department in that town. Hearing that Bezukhov was in Orel, Willarski, though they had never been intimate, came to him with the professions of friendship and intimacy that people who meet in a desert generally express for one another. Willarski felt dull in Orel and was pleased to meet a man of his own circle and, as he supposed, of similar interests. But to his surprise Willarski soon noticed that Pierre had lagged much behind the times, and had sunk, as he expressed it to himself, into apathy and egotism. "You are letting yourself go, my dear fellow," he said. But for all that Willarski found it pleasanter now than it had been formerly to be with Pierre, and came to see him every day. To Pierre as he looked at and listened to Willarski, it seemed strange to think that he had been like that himself but a short time before. Willarski was a married man with a family, busy with his family affairs, his wife’s affairs, and his official duties. He regarded all these occupations as hindrances to life, and considered that they were all contemptible because their aim was the welfare of himself and his family. Military, administrative, political, and Masonic interests continually absorbed his attention. And Pierre, without trying to change the other’s views and without condemning him, but with the quiet, joyful, and amused smile now habitual to him, was interested in this strange though very familiar phenomenon. There was a new feature in Pierre’s relations with Willarski, with the princess, with the doctor, and with all the people he now met, which gained for him the general good will. This was his acknowledgment of the impossibility of changing a man’s convictions by words, and his recognition of the possibility of everyone thinking, feeling, and seeing things each from his own point of view. This legitimate peculiarity of each individual which used to excite and irritate Pierre now became a basis of the sympathy he felt for, and the interest he took in, other people. The difference, and sometimes complete contradiction, between men’s opinions and their lives, and between one man and another, pleased him and drew from him an amused and gentle smile. In practical matters Pierre unexpectedly felt within himself a center of gravity he had previously lacked. Formerly all pecuniary questions, especially requests for money to which, as an extremely wealthy man, he was very exposed, produced in him a state of hopeless agitation and perplexity. "To give or not to give?" he had asked himself. "I have it and he needs it. But someone else needs it still more. Who needs it most? And perhaps they are both impostors?" In the old days he had been unable to find a way out of all these surmises and had given to all who asked as long as he had anything to give. Formerly he had been in a similar state of perplexity with regard to every question concerning his property, when one person advised one thing and another something else. Now to his surprise he found that he no longer felt either doubt or perplexity about these questions. There was now within him a judge who by some rule unknown to him decided what should or should not be done. He was as indifferent as heretofore to money matters, but now he felt certain of what ought and what ought not to be done. The first time he had recourse to his new judge was when a French prisoner, a colonel, came to him and, after talking a great deal about his exploits, concluded by making what amounted to a demand that Pierre should give him four thousand francs to send to his wife and children. Pierre refused without the least difficulty or effort, and was afterwards surprised how simple and easy had been what used to appear so insurmountably difficult. At the same time that he refused the colonel’s demand he made up his mind that he must have recourse to artifice when leaving Orel, to induce the Italian officer to accept some money of which he was evidently in need. A further proof to Pierre of his own more settled outlook on practical matters was furnished by his decision with regard to his wife’s debts and to the rebuilding of his houses in and near Moscow. His head steward came to him at Orel and Pierre reckoned up with him his diminished income. The burning of Moscow had cost him, according to the head steward’s calculation, about two million rubles. To console Pierre for these losses the head steward gave him an estimate showing that despite these losses his income would not be diminished but would even be increased if he refused to pay his wife’s debts which he was under no obligation to meet, and did not rebuild his Moscow house and the country house on his Moscow estate, which had cost him eighty thousand rubles a year and brought in nothing. "Yes, of course that’s true," said Pierre with a cheerful smile. "I don’t need all that at all. By being ruined I have become much richer." But in January Savelich came from Moscow and gave him an account of the state of things there, and spoke of the estimate an architect had made of the cost of rebuilding the town and country houses, speaking of this as of a settled matter. About the same time he received letters from Prince Vasili and other Petersburg acquaintances speaking of his wife’s debts. And Pierre decided that the steward’s proposals which had so pleased him were wrong and that he must go to Petersburg and settle his wife’s affairs and must rebuild in Moscow. Why this was necessary he did not know, but he knew for certain that it was necessary. His income would be reduced by three fourths, but he felt it must be done. Willarski was going to Moscow and they agreed to travel together. , . 1 2 3 , . 4 5 " , - ! " , 6 , , 7 . 8 , 9 . , . 10 11 " , ! ! . . . . 12 ? " 13 14 " , ! , . . . ! " 15 16 , , . 17 , 18 : " - - - ! . ! , 19 ! . . . " , 20 . 21 22 " , ! ! . . . 23 ? . " 24 25 26 , , 27 - , 28 , , 29 . 30 31 " . . . ? ? . . . . " 32 33 . 34 35 " ? " 36 . 37 " ; , 38 - , , ! " , 39 . 40 " ? " 41 42 . 43 , 44 . 45 46 " , ! , " 47 . 48 49 " ? " , 50 . 51 52 53 , . 54 55 , 56 57 . 58 , - ( ) . 59 60 61 , 62 , , 63 64 . 65 66 . 67 . , 68 , , 69 . 70 71 72 , , 73 . , 74 , , - 75 , , 76 . 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 - 86 , , 87 , ( 88 ) - 89 . 90 91 , 92 . 93 94 . 95 - - . 96 97 98 . 99 . 100 . 101 102 " , ! , ? 103 ? ! " - 104 - , 105 . " , , 106 ! " . 107 108 - , 109 . 110 " , " , 111 112 , 113 . 114 115 " - ! " 116 117 , , 118 , , 119 . . 120 , 121 , 122 . 123 124 " ! . . . . 125 . . . " , . 126 127 " , ! " - , 128 . " 129 ! " 130 131 , , 132 . 133 134 " , , " , , , 135 , . 136 " , " , 137 . 138 139 " . 140 , ! " 141 142 " , , " 143 . 144 145 " , " . 146 147 " , . . . . " 148 149 " . " 150 151 " , , 152 ? " 153 154 " ? ! " . 155 156 " ? " , 157 . 158 159 " , , " - 160 , 161 , " , . 162 , ! , " , 163 . " ; 164 ; . " 165 166 " , ! " . 167 168 . 169 170 " , 171 , " , 172 . " - . " 173 174 " . 175 . , , " 176 . " , 177 , . " 178 179 " , , " ; " 180 - - , 181 . " 182 183 " , ? . " 184 185 " , " 186 . " , 187 . ! " 188 189 " , , " 190 , " 191 - - , 192 , , 193 , , . " 194 195 " ? " . 196 197 " ! ! , . 198 , . , 199 , . , , 200 201 : . , , 202 . " 203 204 . 205 206 " , " . " 207 . " 208 209 . 210 211 " 212 213 . , 214 . . . " 215 216 " , " . " 217 ; . . . . " 218 219 " , , , 220 , 221 . ! . 222 . . 223 . - ! 224 . 225 . " 226 227 " - , , ! " 228 229 " , ! . " 230 231 " , 232 . 233 ! " 234 235 " , . , " 236 , . 237 238 , . 239 240 " . ! 241 , " , 242 . 243 244 " . " 245 246 " . " 247 248 " . . " 249 250 " ! " 251 252 " ? ? 253 ! " 254 255 , 256 . , 257 . 258 , . 259 260 " ! " 261 , " ! " 262 263 . 264 265 " , " , . " 266 . . 267 . . . . " 268 269 " , . . . . " 270 271 . 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 . 280 , 281 . 282 283 , 284 . 285 286 " , , " . 287 288 , 289 290 . 291 292 . 293 , 294 . ; 295 . 296 , . , 297 , . 298 , . , 299 , 300 . 301 302 303 , . 304 305 306 307 , . 308 , 309 . 310 - . , 311 , 312 . 313 314 , 315 , 316 . , 317 . 318 319 " , ? " , 320 . 321 322 " , ! , - ! " 323 . 324 325 , 326 , . 327 : 328 329 " , , , ! ! , 330 , , " 331 . 332 333 , 334 . 335 336 , , 337 338 . , 339 , . 340 . 341 342 " , , ! . 343 ? " - - . 344 345 " ! ! " , . " 346 . . . " * 347 348 * " , ! 349 . " 350 351 352 " ! - ! ! " , 353 . 354 355 " ! , , ! " , . 356 357 , , . 358 359 " , , ! " 360 361 " , 362 , , 363 . " * 364 365 * 366 , , 367 . . . 368 369 " , . , , ! " 370 371 " . . . " , : " - - - , " , 372 , " - - - - - - - , 373 - - - - " . 374 375 " ! ! , ! ? " 376 377 " : 378 . " 379 380 381 . . 382 , 383 , , 384 385 . 386 387 " , " 388 . " . " 389 390 " , ! ! ! 391 . . . . " 392 393 . , 394 , : 395 , , , 396 . 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 ; 406 , 407 . 408 , 409 410 411 , 412 - - 413 ( ) 414 . 415 , 416 . 417 - 418 - , . 419 420 421 422 423 - 424 - , . 425 426 . 427 . 428 . 429 , , 430 , - 431 - - 432 , . 433 434 . 435 . 436 437 . , 438 , 439 . 440 - 441 - 442 ; . 443 , - 444 - . 445 446 . 447 , , 448 , , . , 449 . 450 451 . 452 , 453 , . 454 455 456 , , ( 457 ) , 458 , 459 . 460 461 , , , 462 . 463 , 464 . ; 465 466 , 467 . 468 469 470 ; 471 , ( 472 ) " , " 473 , 474 . . - 475 , - 476 , , 477 , 478 , . 479 480 481 , 482 . . 483 , , 484 ( ) 485 : 486 487 " , 488 , 489 . " 490 491 , 492 . 493 . 494 , 495 496 . 497 . 498 499 , - 500 501 502 - - 503 , 504 , , 505 . 506 . 507 508 ; 509 510 . 511 512 - - " " 513 . 514 . , , 515 , 516 . 517 , , 518 519 , 520 . 521 522 , " - " " - , " 523 524 : , 525 , 526 527 , 528 , 529 ; 530 . 531 , , , 532 . 533 534 , 535 . 536 537 , 538 539 . 540 541 " . . . . 542 , 543 , " , 544 545 . 546 547 , , 548 : " . " 549 550 551 . 552 . 553 , , 554 . 555 556 - 557 , , , - 558 , 559 . 560 , 561 . 562 563 , 564 - , " ! " 565 , 566 . 567 568 - , 569 , 570 . 571 , 572 , 573 . 574 575 ; 576 , 577 578 . 579 580 581 . , 582 , , 583 , , 584 , 585 , . 586 587 , 588 , 589 , . , 590 - , 591 . 592 593 , 594 . 595 596 597 598 , 599 . . 600 , 601 602 . 603 604 605 , 606 : 607 608 " ! " 609 610 611 , 612 . 613 . 614 615 ; 616 , 617 . . 618 . 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 . . 628 , 629 . 630 , 631 632 - - . , 633 , 634 , 635 , " 636 . " 637 638 639 640 . 641 642 643 : " , ! " 644 . 645 646 647 , 648 649 . 650 , , 651 . 652 653 654 . 655 656 , 657 658 - 659 , 660 661 . 662 663 664 . , , 665 . 666 . 667 668 669 . . 670 671 , , - 672 , 673 - , 674 . 675 676 , 677 , , , . 678 679 680 , 681 , 682 . 683 684 685 686 . 687 688 , , 689 . . 690 , 691 , 692 . 693 , . 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 , 702 703 . , 704 , , 705 . " . " 706 , , 707 , . 708 709 710 . 711 , 712 , . 713 714 , 715 , 716 . 717 . 718 , 719 720 , 721 , . 722 : 723 . 724 , 725 , , 726 ; 727 . 728 , , 729 ; , 730 731 . 732 733 734 735 736 , , 737 , , . 738 . 739 740 , , 741 , . 742 743 - 744 745 - . 746 , 747 , 748 . , . 749 . : 750 751 , . 752 753 " , ! ! " 754 , 755 , 756 . " , , ! " 757 758 : " , ? 759 ? " : 760 " , . , ! " 761 762 , 763 - - 764 . 765 - 766 . 767 , 768 . 769 770 , - 771 , , , - , - 772 . . 773 , 774 775 : . 776 , 777 778 . 779 . 780 , 781 . 782 783 784 . 785 . 786 , , , . 787 , 788 789 . 790 , , , , 791 . , 792 , 793 , , . , , 794 , , , 795 - - 796 , 797 - , , , 798 . 799 . , " ? " 800 , . 801 , " ? " : 802 " , 803 . " 804 805 806 807 808 809 810 811 . 812 . - 813 814 . 815 816 , 817 . 818 , 819 820 , 821 . 822 , 823 . , 824 , 825 , 826 . 827 828 , , 829 ; 830 831 . 832 833 , 834 835 , - 836 837 - 838 . 839 , . 840 , 841 842 ; 843 , , 844 , , . 845 846 847 , 848 . 849 , 850 , ( ) . 851 852 " , , 853 , " . 854 855 - - 856 . 857 " . " , 858 , 859 , . , 860 , . 861 862 " , . . . , ? " . 863 864 , 865 , 866 , , 867 868 . 869 870 , 871 872 , 873 874 , . 875 876 " ; 877 , " . 878 879 , 880 , , . 881 882 , 883 . 884 885 , 886 , , , , 887 888 . 889 890 " , 891 , " . " , 892 , . " 893 894 895 . 896 897 898 , 899 , . 900 , 901 . 902 903 , , 904 , 905 . 906 907 , , . 908 909 910 , , , 911 . 912 913 " , , " . 914 915 916 , . 917 , 918 . 919 920 , , 921 , . 922 , 923 924 . , , , 925 . , 926 , , 927 , , 928 . 929 930 , 931 , , , 932 . 933 , 934 , , 935 . 936 937 , , 938 . , , 939 , , 940 . 941 942 943 . , 944 , , 945 , 946 . " ? " . " 947 . . 948 ? ? " 949 950 . 951 952 , . 953 954 955 . 956 . 957 958 , 959 . 960 , , 961 , , 962 963 . 964 , 965 966 . 967 968 , 969 . 970 971 972 . 973 974 975 . , 976 , . 977 978 979 980 981 , 982 , 983 . 984 985 " , , " . " 986 . . " 987 988 989 , 990 , 991 . 992 993 . 994 995 . 996 , . 997 , . 998 999 . 1000