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Chapter 27 - Pierre's plan to save Europe. Makar Alexeevich
The absorption of the French by Moscow, radiating starwise as it did, only reached the quarter where Pierre was staying by the evening of the second of September.
After the last two days spent in solitude1 and unusual circumstances, Pierre was in a state bordering on insanity2. He was completely obsessed3 by one persistent4 thought. He did not know how or when this thought had taken such possession of him, but he remembered nothing of the past, understood nothing of the present, and all he saw and heard appeared to him like a dream.
He had left home only to escape the intricate tangle5 of life’s demands that enmeshed him, and which in his present condition he was unable to unravel6. He had gone to Joseph Alexeevich’s house, on the plea of sorting the deceased’s books and papers, only in search of rest from life’s turmoil7, for in his mind the memory of Joseph Alexeevich was connected with a world of eternal, solemn, and calm thoughts, quite contrary to the restless confusion into which he felt himself being drawn8. He sought a quiet refuge, and in Joseph Alexeevich’s study he really found it. When he sat with his elbows on the dusty writing table in the deathlike stillness of the study, calm and significant memories of the last few days rose one after another in his imagination, particularly of the battle of Borodino and of that vague sense of his own insignificance9 and insincerity compared with the truth, simplicity10, and strength of the class of men he mentally classed as they. When Gerasim roused him from his reverie the idea occurred to him of taking part in the popular defense11 of Moscow which he knew was projected. And with that object he had asked Gerasim to get him a peasant’s coat and a pistol, confiding12 to him his intentions of remaining in Joseph Alexeevich’s house and keeping his name secret. Then during the first day spent in inaction and solitude (he tried several times to fix his attention on the Masonic manuscripts, but was unable to do so) the idea that had previously13 occurred to him of the cabalistic significance of his name in connection with Bonaparte’s more than once vaguely14 presented itself. But the idea that he, L’russe Besuhof, was destined15 to set a limit to the power of the Beast was as yet only one of the fancies that often passed through his mind and left no trace behind.
When, having bought the coat merely with the object of taking part among the people in the defense of Moscow, Pierre had met the Rostovs and Natasha had said to him: “Are you remaining in Moscow? . . . How splendid!” the thought flashed into his mind that it really would be a good thing, even if Moscow were taken, for him to remain there and do what he was predestined to do.
Next day, with the sole idea of not sparing himself and not lagging in any way behind them, Pierre went to the Three Hills gate. But when he returned to the house convinced that Moscow would not be defended, he suddenly felt that what before had seemed to him merely a possibility had now become absolutely necessary and inevitable16. He must remain in Moscow, concealing17 his name, and must meet Napoleon and kill him, and either perish or put an end to the misery18 of all Europe — which it seemed to him was solely19 due to Napoleon.
Pierre knew all the details of the attempt on Bonaparte’s life in 1809 by a German student in Vienna, and knew that the student had been shot. And the risk to which he would expose his life by carrying out his design excited him still more.
Two equally strong feelings drew Pierre irresistibly20 to this purpose. The first was a feeling of the necessity of sacrifice and suffering in view of the common calamity21, the same feeling that had caused him to go to Mozhaysk on the twenty-fifth and to make his way to the very thick of the battle and had now caused him to run away from his home and, in place of the luxury and comfort to which he was accustomed, to sleep on a hard sofa without undressing and eat the same food as Gerasim. The other was that vague and quite Russian feeling of contempt for everything conventional, artificial, and human — for everything the majority of men regard as the greatest good in the world. Pierre had first experienced this strange and fascinating feeling at the Sloboda Palace, when he had suddenly felt that wealth, power, and life — all that men so painstakingly23 acquire and guard — if it has any worth has so only by reason the joy with which it can all be renounced24.
It was the feeling that induces a volunteer recruit to spend his last penny on drink, and a drunken man to smash mirrors or glasses for no apparent reason and knowing that it will cost him all the money he possesses: the feeling which causes a man to perform actions which from an ordinary point of view are insane, to test, as it were, his personal power and strength, affirming the existence of a higher, nonhuman criterion of life.
From the very day Pierre had experienced this feeling for the first time at the Sloboda Palace he had been continuously under its influence, but only now found full satisfaction for it. Moreover, at this moment Pierre was supported in his design and prevented from renouncing25 it by what he had already done in that direction. If he were now to leave Moscow like everyone else, his flight from home, the peasant coat, the pistol, and his announcement to the Rostovs that he would remain in Moscow would all become not merely meaningless but contemptible26 and ridiculous, and to this Pierre was very sensitive.
Pierre’s physical condition, as is always the case, corresponded to his mental state. The unaccustomed coarse food, the vodka he drank during those days, the absence of wine and cigars, his dirty unchanged linen27, two almost sleepless28 nights passed on a short sofa without bedding — all this kept him in a state of excitement bordering on insanity.
It was two o’clock in the afternoon. The French had already entered Moscow. Pierre knew this, but instead of acting29 he only thought about his undertaking30, going over its minutest details in his mind. In his fancy he did not clearly picture to himself either the striking of the blow or the death of Napoleon, but with extraordinary vividness and melancholy31 enjoyment32 imagined his own destruction and heroic endurance.
“Yes, alone, for the sake of all, I must do it or perish!” he thought. “Yes, I will approach . . . and then suddenly . . . with pistol or dagger33? But that is all the same! ‘It is not I but the hand of Providence34 that punishes thee,’ I shall say,” thought he, imagining what he would say when killing35 Napoleon. “Well then, take me and execute me!” he went on, speaking to himself and bowing his head with a sad but firm expression.
While Pierre, standing36 in the middle of the room, was talking to himself in this way, the study door opened and on the threshold appeared the figure of Makar Alexeevich, always so timid before but now quite transformed.
His dressing22 gown was unfastened, his face red and distorted. He was obviously drunk. On seeing Pierre he grew confused at first, but noticing embarrassment37 on Pierre’s face immediately grew bold and, staggering on his thin legs, advanced into the middle of the room.
“They’re frightened,” he said confidentially38 in a hoarse39 voice. “I say I won’t surrender, I say . . . Am I not right, sir?”
He paused and then suddenly seeing the pistol on the table seized it with unexpected rapidity and ran out into the corridor.
Gerasim and the porter, who had followed Makar Alexeevich, stopped him in the vestibule and tried to take the pistol from him. Pierre, coming out into the corridor, looked with pity and repulsion at the half-crazy old man. Makar Alexeevich, frowning with exertion40, held on to the pistol and screamed hoarsely41, evidently with some heroic fancy in his head.
“To arms! Board them! No, you shan’t get it,” he yelled.
“That will do, please, that will do. Have the goodness — please, sir, to let go! Please, sir . . . ” pleaded Gerasim, trying carefully to steer42 Makar Alexeevich by the elbows back to the door.
“Who are you? Bonaparte! . . . ” shouted Makar Alexeevich.
“That’s not right, sir. Come to your room, please, and rest. Allow me to have the pistol.”
“Be off, thou base slave! Touch me not! See this?” shouted Makar Alexeevich, brandishing43 the pistol. “Board them!”
“Catch hold!” whispered Gerasim to the porter.
They seized Makar Alexeevich by the arms and dragged him to the door.
The vestibule was filled with the discordant44 sounds of a struggle and of a tipsy, hoarse voice.
Suddenly a fresh sound, a piercing feminine scream, reverberated45 from the porch and the cook came running into the vestibule.
“It’s them! Gracious heavens! O Lord, four of them, horsemen!” she cried.
Gerasim and the porter let Makar Alexeevich go, and in the now silent corridor the sound of several hands knocking at the front door could be heard.
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1
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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2
insanity
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| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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3
obsessed
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| adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的 | |
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4
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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5
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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6
unravel
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| v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开 | |
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7
turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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8
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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9
insignificance
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| n.不重要；无价值；无意义 | |
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10
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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11
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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12
confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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13
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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14
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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15
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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16
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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17
concealing
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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18
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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19
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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20
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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21
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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22
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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23
painstakingly
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| adv. 费力地 苦心地 | |
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24
renounced
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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25
renouncing
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的现在分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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26
contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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27
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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28
sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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29
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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30
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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31
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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32
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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33
dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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34
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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35
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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36
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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37
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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38
confidentially
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| ad.秘密地，悄悄地 | |
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39
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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40
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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41
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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42
steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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43
brandishing
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| v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 )；炫耀 | |
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44
discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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45
reverberated
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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