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Chapter 1 - Pierre’s life in Moscow
After Prince Andreys engagement to Natasha, Pierre without any apparent cause suddenly felt it impossible to go on living as before. Firmly convinced as he was of the truths revealed to him by his benefactor1, and happy as he had been in perfecting his inner man, to which he had devoted2 himself with such ardor3 — all the zest4 of such a life vanished after the engagement of Andrey and Natasha and the death of Joseph Alexeevich, the news of which reached him almost at the same time. Only the skeleton of life remained: his house, a brilliant wife who now enjoyed the favors of a very important personage, acquaintance with all Petersburg, and his court service with its dull formalities. And this life suddenly seemed to Pierre unexpectedly loathsome5. He ceased keeping a diary, avoided the company of the Brothers, began going to the Club again, drank a great deal, and came once more in touch with the bachelor sets, leading such a life that the Countess Helene thought it necessary to speak severely6 to him about it. Pierre felt that she right, and to avoid compromising her went away to Moscow.
In Moscow as soon as he entered his huge house in which the faded and fading princesses still lived, with its enormous retinue7; as soon as, driving through the town, he saw the Iberian shrine8 with innumerable tapers9 burning before the golden covers of the icons10, the Kremlin Square with its snow undisturbed by vehicles, the sleigh drivers and hovels of the Sivtsev Vrazhok, those old Moscovites who desired nothing, hurried nowhere, and were ending their days leisurely11; when he saw those old Moscow ladies, the Moscow balls, and the English Club, he felt himself at home in a quiet haven12. In Moscow he felt at peace, at home, warm and dirty as in an old dressing13 gown.
Moscow society, from the old women down to the children, received Pierre like a long-expected guest whose place was always ready awaiting him. For Moscow society Pierre was the nicest, kindest, most intellectual, merriest, and most magnanimous of cranks, a heedless, genial14 nobleman of the old Russian type. His purse was always empty because it was open to everyone.
Benefit performances, poor pictures, statues, benevolent15 societies, gypsy choirs16, schools, subscription17 dinners, sprees, Freemasons, churches, and books — no one and nothing met with a refusal from him, and had it not been for two friends who had borrowed large sums from him and taken him under their protection, he would have given everything away. There was never a dinner or soiree at the Club without him. As soon as he sank into his place on the sofa after two bottles of Margaux he was surrounded, and talking, disputing, and joking began. When there were quarrels, his kindly18 smile and well-timed jests reconciled the antagonists19. The Masonic dinners were dull and dreary20 when he was not there.
When after a bachelor supper he rose with his amiable21 and kindly smile, yielding to the entreaties22 of the festive23 company to drive off somewhere with them, shouts of delight and triumph arose among the young men. At balls he danced if a partner was needed. Young ladies, married and unmarried, liked him because without making love to any of them, he was equally amiable to all, especially after supper. “Il est charmant; il n’a pas de sexe.” "He is charming; he has no sex,” they said of him.
Pierre was one of those retired24 gentlemen-in-waiting of whom there were hundreds good-humoredly ending their days in Moscow.
How horrified25 he would have been seven years before, when he first arrived from abroad, had he been told that there was no need for him to seek or plan anything, that his rut had long been shaped, eternally predetermined, and that wriggle26 as he might, he would be what all in his position were. He could not have believed it! Had he not at one time longed with all his heart to establish a republic in Russia; then himself to be a Napoleon; then to be a philosopher; and then a strategist and the conqueror27 of Napoleon? Had he not seen the possibility of, and passionately28 desired, the regeneration of the sinful human race, and his own progress to the highest degree of perfection? Had he not established schools and hospitals and liberated29 his serfs?
But instead of all that — here he was, the wealthy husband of an unfaithful wife, a retired gentleman-in-waiting, fond of eating and drinking and, as he unbuttoned his waistcoat, of abusing the government a bit, a member of the Moscow English Club, and a universal favorite in Moscow society. For a long time he could not reconcile himself to the idea that he was one of those same retired Moscow gentlemen-in-waiting he had so despised seven years before.
Sometimes he consoled himself with the thought that he was only living this life temporarily; but then he was shocked by the thought of how many, like himself, had entered that life and that Club temporarily, with all their teeth and hair, and had only left it when not a single tooth or hair remained.
In moments of pride, when he thought of his position it seemed to him that he was quite different and distinct from those other retired gentlemen-in-waiting he had formerly30 despised: they were empty, stupid, contented31 fellows, satisfied with their position, “while I am still discontented and want to do something for mankind. But perhaps all these comrades of mine struggled just like me and sought something new, a path in life of their own, and like me were brought by force of circumstances, society, and race — by that elemental force against which man is powerless — to the condition I am in,” said he to himself in moments of humility32; and after living some time in Moscow he no longer despised, but began to grow fond of, to respect, and to pity his comrades in destiny, as he pitied himself.
Pierre longer suffered moments of despair, hypochondria, and disgust with life, but the malady33 that had formerly found expression in such acute attacks was driven inwards and never left him for a moment. “What for? Why? What is going on in the world?” he would ask himself in perplexity several times a day, involuntarily beginning to reflect anew on the meaning of the phenomena34 of life; but knowing by experience that there were no answers to these questions he made haste to turn away from them, and took up a book, or hurried of to the Club or to Apollon Nikolaevich’s, to exchange the gossip of the town.
“Helene, who has never cared for anything but her own body and is one of the stupidest women in the world,” thought Pierre, “is regarded by people as the acme35 of intelligence and refinement36, and they pay homage37 to her. Napoleon Bonaparte was despised by all as long as he was great, but now that he has become a wretched comedian38 the Emperor Francis wants to offer him his daughter in an illegal marriage. The Spaniards, through the Catholic clergy39, offer praise to God for their victory over the French on the fourteenth of June, and the French, also through the Catholic clergy, offer praise because on that same fourteenth of June they defeated the Spaniards. My brother Masons swear by the blood that they are ready to sacrifice everything for their neighbor, but they do not give a ruble each to the collections for the poor, and they intrigue40, the Astraea Lodge41 against the Manna Seekers, and fuss about an authentic42 Scotch43 carpet and a charter that nobody needs, and the meaning of which the very man who wrote it does not understand. We all profess44 the Christian45 law of forgiveness of injuries and love of our neighbors, the law in honor of which we have built in Moscow forty times forty churches — but yesterday a deserter was knouted to death and a minister of that same law of love and forgiveness, a priest, gave the soldier a cross to kiss before his execution.” So thought Pierre, and the whole of this general deception46 which everyone accepts, accustomed as he was to it, astonished him each time as if it were something new. “I understand the deception and confusion,” he thought, “but how am I to tell them all that I see? I have tried, and have always found that they too in the depths of their souls understand it as I do, and only try not to see it. So it appears that it must be so! But I— what is to become of me?” thought he. He had the unfortunate capacity many men, especially Russians, have of seeing and believing in the possibility of goodness and truth, but of seeing the evil and falsehood of life too clearly to be able to take a serious part in it. Every sphere of work was connected, in his eyes, with evil and deception. Whatever he tried to be, whatever he engaged in, the evil and falsehood of it repulsed47 him and blocked every path of activity. Yet he had to live and to find occupation. It was too dreadful to be under the burden of these insoluble problems, so he abandoned himself to any distraction48 in order to forget them. He frequented every kind of society, drank much, bought pictures, engaged in building, and above all — read.
He read, and read everything that came to hand. On coming home, while his valets were still taking off his things, he picked up a book and began to read. From reading he passed to sleeping, from sleeping to gossip in drawing rooms of the Club, from gossip to carousals and women; from carousals back to gossip, reading, and wine. Drinking became more and more a physical and also a moral necessity. Though the doctors warned him that with his corpulence wine was dangerous for him, he drank a great deal. He was only quite at ease when having poured several glasses of wine mechanically into his large mouth he felt a pleasant warmth in his body, an amiability49 toward all his fellows, and a readiness to respond superficially to every idea without probing it deeply. Only after emptying a bottle or two did he feel dimly that the terribly tangled50 skein of life which previously51 had terrified him was not as dreadful as he had thought. He was always conscious of some aspect of that skein, as with a buzzing in his head after dinner or supper he chatted or listened to conversation or read. But under the influence of wine he said to himself: “It doesn’t matter. I’ll get it unraveled. I have a solution ready, but have no time now — I’ll think it all out later on!” But the later on never came.
In the morning, on an empty stomach, all the old questions appeared as insoluble and terrible as ever, and Pierre hastily picked up a book, and if anyone came to see him he was glad.
Sometimes he remembered how he had heard that soldiers in war when entrenched52 under the enemy’s fire, if they have nothing to do, try hard to find some occupation the more easily to bear the danger. To Pierre all men seemed like those soldiers, seeking refuge from life: some in ambition, some in cards, some in framing laws, some in women, some in toys, some in horses, some in politics, some in sport, some in wine, and some in governmental affairs. “Nothing is trivial, and nothing is important, it’s all the same — only to save oneself from it as best one can,” thought Pierre. “Only not to see it, that dreadful it!”
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1
benefactor
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| n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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loathsome
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| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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tapers
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| （长形物体的）逐渐变窄( taper的名词复数 )； 微弱的光； 极细的蜡烛 | |
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icons
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| n.偶像( icon的名词复数 )；（计算机屏幕上表示命令、程序的）符号，图像 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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choirs
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| n.教堂的唱诗班( choir的名词复数 )；唱诗队；公开表演的合唱团；（教堂）唱经楼 | |
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subscription
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| n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方） | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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antagonists
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| 对立[对抗] 者，对手，敌手( antagonist的名词复数 )； 对抗肌； 对抗药 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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wriggle
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| v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒 | |
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conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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liberated
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| a.无拘束的，放纵的 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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acme
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| n.顶点，极点 | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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comedian
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| n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员 | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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44
profess
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| v.声称，冒称，以...为业，正式接受入教，表明信仰 | |
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45
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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46
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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47
repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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48
distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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49
amiability
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| n.和蔼可亲的，亲切的，友善的 | |
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50
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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entrenched
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| adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯) | |
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