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Chapter 8 - Prince Andrew on Kutúzov’s staff in Moldavia. He visits Bald Hills
After his interview with Pierre in Moscow, Prince Andrey went to Petersburg, on business as he told his family, but really to meet Anatole Kuragin whom he felt it necessary to encounter. On reaching Petersburg he inquired for Kuragin but the latter had already left the city. Pierre had warned his brother-in-law that Prince Andrey was on his track. Anatole Kuragin promptly1 obtained an appointment from the Minister of War and went to join the army in Moldavia. While in Petersburg Prince Andrey met Kutuzov, his former commander who was always well disposed toward him, and Kutuzov suggested that he should accompany him to the army in Moldavia, to which the old general had been appointed commander in chief. So Prince Andrey, having received an appointment on the headquarters staff, left for Turkey.
Prince Andrey did not think it proper to write and challenge Kuragin. He thought that if he challenged him without some fresh cause it might compromise the young Countess Rostova and so he wanted to meet Kuragin personally in order to find a fresh pretext2 for a duel3. But he again failed to meet Kuragin in Turkey, for soon after Prince Andrey arrived, the latter returned to Russia. In a new country, amid new conditions, Prince Andrey found life easier to bear. After his betrothed4 had broken faith with him — which he felt the more acutely the more he tried to conceal5 its effects — the surroundings in which he had been happy became trying to him, and the freedom and independence he had once prized so highly were still more so. Not only could he no longer think the thoughts that had first come to him as he lay gazing at the sky on the field of Austerlitz and had later enlarged upon with Pierre, and which had filled his solitude6 at Bogucharovo and then in Switzerland and Rome, but he even dreaded7 to recall them and the bright and boundless8 horizons they had revealed. He was now concerned only with the nearest practical matters unrelated to his past interests, and he seized on these the more eagerly the more those past interests were closed to him. It was as if that lofty, infinite canopy9 of heaven that had once towered above him had suddenly turned into a low, solid vault10 that weighed him down, in which all was clear, but nothing eternal or mysterious.
Of the activities that presented themselves to him, army service was the simplest and most familiar. As a general on duty on Kutuzov’s staff, he applied11 himself to business with zeal12 and perseverance13 and surprised Kutuzov by his willingness and accuracy in work. Not having found Kuragin in Turkey, Prince Andrey did not think it necessary to rush back to Russia after him, but all the same he knew that however long it might be before he met Kuragin, despite his contempt for him and despite all the proofs he deduced to convince himself that it was not worth stooping to a conflict with him — he knew that when he did meet him he would not be able to resist calling him out, any more than a ravenous14 man can help snatching at food. And the consciousness that the insult was not yet avenged15, that his rancor16 was still unspent, weighed on his heart and poisoned the artificial tranquillity17 which he managed to obtain in Turkey by means of restless, plodding18, and rather vainglorious19 and ambitious activity.
In the year 1812, when news of the war with Napoleon reached Bucharest — where Kutuzov had been living for two months, passing his days and nights with a Wallachian woman — Prince Andrey asked Kutuzov to transfer him to the Western Army. Kutuzov, who was already weary of Bolkonsky’s activity which seemed to reproach his own idleness, very readily let him go and gave him a mission to Barclay de Tolly.
Before joining the Western Army which was then, in May, encamped at Drissa, Prince Andrey visited Bald Hills which was directly on his way, being only two miles off the Smolensk highroad. During the last three years there had been so many changes in his life, he had thought, felt, and seen so much (having traveled both in the east and the west), that on reaching Bald Hills it struck him as strange and unexpected to find the way of life there unchanged and still the same in every detail. He entered through the gates with their stone pillars and drove up the avenue leading to the house as if he were entering an enchanted20, sleeping castle. The same old stateliness, the same cleanliness, the same stillness reigned21 there, and inside there was the same furniture, the same walls, sounds, and smell, and the same timid faces, only somewhat older. Princess Marya was still the same timid, plain maiden22 getting on in years, uselessly and joylessly passing the best years of her life in fear and constant suffering. Mademoiselle Bourienne was the same coquettish, self-satisfied girl, enjoying every moment of her existence and full of joyous23 hopes for the future. She had merely become more self-confident, Prince Andrey thought. Dessalles, the tutor he had brought from Switzerland, was wearing a coat of Russian cut and talking broken Russian to the servants, but was still the same narrowly intelligent, conscientious24, and pedantic25 preceptor. The old prince had changed in appearance only by the loss of a tooth, which left a noticeable gap on one side of his mouth; in character he was the same as ever, only showing still more irritability26 and skepticism as to what was happening in the world. Little Nikolai alone had changed. He had grown, become rosier27, had curly dark hair, and, when merry and laughing, quite unconsciously lifted the upper lip of his pretty little mouth just as the little princess used to do. He alone did not obey the law of immutability28 in the enchanted, sleeping castle. But though externally all remained as of old, the inner relations of all these people had changed since Prince Andrey had seen them last. The household was divided into two alien and hostile camps, who changed their habits for his sake and only met because he was there. To the one camp belonged the old prince, Madmoiselle Bourienne, and the architect; to the other Princess Marya, Dessalles, little Nikolai, and all the old nurses and maids.
During his stay at Bald Hills all the family dined together, but they were ill at ease and Prince Andrey felt that he was a visitor for whose sake an exception was being made and that his presence made them all feel awkward. Involuntarily feeling this at dinner on the first day, he was taciturn, and the old prince noticing this also became morosely29 dumb and retired30 to his apartments directly after dinner. In the evening, when Prince Andrey went to him and, trying to rouse him, began to tell him of the young Count Kamensky’s campaign, the old prince began unexpectedly to talk about Princess Marya, blaming her for her superstitions31 and her dislike of Mademoiselle Bourienne, who, he said, was the only person really attached to him.
The old prince said that if he was ill it was only because of Princess Marya: that she purposely worried and irritated him, and that by indulgence and silly talk she was spoiling little Prince Nikolai. The old prince knew very well that he tormented32 his daughter and that her life was very hard, but he also knew that he could not help tormenting33 her and that she deserved it. “Why does Prince Andrey, who sees this, say nothing to me about his sister? Does he think me a scoundrel, or an old fool who, without any reason, keeps his own daughter at a distance and attaches this Frenchwoman to himself? He doesn’t understand, so I must explain it, and he must hear me out,” thought the old prince. And he began explaining why he could not put up with his daughter’s unreasonable34 character.
“If you ask me,” said Prince Andrey, without looking up (he was censuring35 his father for the first time in his life), “I did not wish to speak about it, but as you ask me I will give you my frank opinion. If there is any misunderstanding and discord36 between you and Marya, I can’t blame her for it at all. I know how she loves and respects you. Since you ask me,” continued Prince Andrey, becoming irritable37 — as he was always liable to do of late — “I can only say that if there are any misunderstandings they are caused by that worthless woman, who is not fit to be my sister’s companion.”
The old man at first stared fixedly38 at his son, and an unnatural39 smile disclosed the fresh gap between his teeth to which Prince Andrey could not get accustomed.
“What companion, my dear boy? Eh? You’ve already been talking it over! Eh?”
“Father, I did not want to judge,” said Prince Andrey, in a hard and bitter tone, “but you challenged me, and I have said, and always shall say, that Marya is not to blame, but those to blame — the one to blame — is that Frenchwoman.”
“Ah, he has passed judgment40 . . . passed judgement!” said the old man in a low voice and, as it seemed to Prince Andrey, with some embarrassment41, but then he suddenly jumped up and cried: “Be off, be off! Let not a trace of you remain here! . . . ”
Prince Andrey wished to leave at once, but Princess Marya persuaded him to stay another day. That day he did not see his father, who did not leave his room and admitted no one but Mademoiselle Bourienne and Tikhon, but asked several times whether his son had gone. Next day, before leaving, Prince Andrey went to his son’s rooms. The boy, curly-headed like his mother and glowing with health, sat on his knee, and Prince Andrey began telling him the story of Bluebeard, but fell into a reverie without finishing the story. He thought not of this pretty child, his son whom he held on his knee, but of himself. He sought in himself either remorse42 for having angered his father or regret at leaving home for the first time in his life on bad terms with him, and was horrified43 to find neither. What meant still more to him was that he sought and did not find in himself the former tenderness for his son which he had hoped to reawaken by caressing44 the boy and taking him on his knee.
“Well, go on!” said his son.
Prince Andrey, without replying, put him down from his knee and went out of the room.
As soon as Prince Andrey had given up his daily occupations, and especially on returning to the old conditions of life amid which he had been happy, weariness of life overcame him with its former intensity45, and he hastened to escape from these memories and to find some work as soon as possible.
“Thank God that I can,” replied Prince Andrey. “I am very sorry you can’t.”
“Why do you say that?” replied Princess Marya. “Why do you say that, when you are going to this terrible war, and he is so old? Mademoiselle Bourienne says he has been asking about you. . . . ”
As soon as she began to speak of that, her lips trembled and her tears began to fall. Prince Andrey turned away and began pacing the room.
“Ah, my God! my God! When one thinks who and what — what trash — can cause people misery47!” he said with a malignity48 that alarmed Princess Marya.
She understood that when speaking of “trash” he referred not only to Mademoiselle Bourienne, the cause of her misery, but also to the man who had ruined his own happiness.
“Andrey! One thing I beg, I entreat49 of you!” she said, touching50 his elbow and looking at him with eyes that shone through her tears. “I understand you” (she looked down). “Don’t imagine that sorrow is the work of men. Men are His tools.” She looked a little above Prince Andrey’s head with the confident, accustomed look with which one looks at the place where a familiar portrait hangs. “Sorrow is sent by Him, not by men. Men are His instruments, they are not to blame. If you think someone has wronged you, forget it and forgive! We have no right to punish. And then you will know the happiness of forgiving.”
“If I were a woman I would do so, Marya. That is a woman’s virtue51. But a man should not and cannot forgive and forget,” he replied, and though till that moment he had not been thinking of Kuragin, all his unexpended anger suddenly swelled52 up in his heart.
“If Marya is already persuading me forgive, it means that I ought long ago to have punished him,” he thought. And giving her no further reply, he began thinking of the glad vindictive53 moment when he would meet Kuragin who he knew was now in the army.
Princess Marya begged him to stay one day more, saying that she knew how unhappy her father would be if Andrey left without being reconciled to him, but Prince Andrey replied that he would probably soon be back again from the army and would certainly write to his father, but that the longer he stayed now the more embittered54 their differences would become.
“Good-by, Andrey! Remember that misfortunes come from God, and men are never to blame,” were the last words he heard from his sister when he took leave of her.
“Then it must be so!” thought Prince Andrey as he drove out of the avenue from the house at Bald Hills. “She, poor innocent creature, is left to be victimized by an old man who has outlived his wits. The old man feels he is guilty, but cannot change himself. My boy is growing up and rejoices in life, in which like everybody else he will deceive or be deceived. And I am off to the army. Why? I myself don’t know. I want to meet that man whom I despise, so as to give him a chance to kill and laugh at me!
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1
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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8
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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ravenous
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| adj.极饿的，贪婪的 | |
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avenged
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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rancor
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| n.深仇，积怨 | |
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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plodding
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| a.proceeding in a slow or dull way | |
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vainglorious
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| adj.自负的；夸大的 | |
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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21
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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pedantic
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| adj.卖弄学问的；迂腐的 | |
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irritability
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| n.易怒 | |
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rosier
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| Rosieresite | |
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immutability
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| n.不变(性) | |
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29
morosely
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| adv.愁眉苦脸地，忧郁地 | |
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30
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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31
superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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tormenting
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| 使痛苦的，使苦恼的 | |
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unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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censuring
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| v.指责，非难，谴责( censure的现在分词 ) | |
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discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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irritable
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| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
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fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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40
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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42
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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43
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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44
caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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45
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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46
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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47
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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48
malignity
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| n.极度的恶意，恶毒；（病的）恶性 | |
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49
entreat
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| v.恳求，恳请 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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51
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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52
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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53
vindictive
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| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
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54
embittered
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| v.使怨恨，激怒( embitter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55
coherence
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| n.紧凑；连贯；一致性 | |
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