- Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov – central character novel, is described as a real historical figure, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army. Maintains good relations with Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky, which also affects the attitude towards his son Andrei, who is shown in the second part of the first volume of the novel as an adjutant to the commander in chief. On the eve of the Shengraben battle, he blesses Bagration with tears in his eyes. It is thanks to the talent of a military tactician, paternal attitude to the soldiers, as well as the readiness and ability to defend his opinion, the commander won the love and respect of the Russian army.
- Napoleon Bonaparte- a real historical figure, the French emperor. A narcissistic person, always confident in his rightness, he believes that he can conquer the peoples of his power. Possesses firmness of character, purposefulness, the ability to subdue, a sharp and precise voice. Spoiled, loves luxury, accustomed to the admiration that people express to him.
- Andrey Bolkonsky- in the second part of the first volume, he appears before the reader as an adjutant to the commander-in-chief Kutuzov. He fulfills orders with joy and devotion, desires to serve native Fatherland, passes tests with dignity, if it is necessary to choose between his own security and the opportunity to be useful to the Motherland, sacrifices himself for the good of others.
- Nikolay Rostov- in this part of the work is shown as an officer of the hussar regiment. Noble, honest and open in actions, he does not tolerate meanness, lies and insincerity. His attitude towards the war is gradually changing: the young man's joy that he will finally taste a real attack is replaced by confusion from a sudden pain (Nikolai is shell-shocked in his arm). But, having survived the test, Nikolai becomes stronger in spirit.
- Bagration- is also real character epic novel War and Peace. A well-known military leader who leads the battle of Shengraben and thanks to whom the Russian soldiers won this difficult battle. A courageous and steadfast man, uncompromising and honest, he is not afraid of danger, standing with ordinary soldiers and officers in one formation.
- Fedor Dolokhov- officer of the Semenovsky regiment. On the one hand, this is a very selfish and cynical young man, with considerable ambitions, but, nevertheless, capable of loving his loved ones dearly.
- Denisov Vasily Dmitrievich- captain, squadron commander. The boss and friend of Nikolai Rostov, burr in conversation. Described as "a nice nice person", despite some shortcomings.
- Tushin- an artillery captain, brave and steadfast, with a kind and smart face, although, at first glance, it seems timid and modest.
- Bilibin- Russian diplomat, an old acquaintance of Andrei Rostov. Lover of witty conversations, a person with high intelligence.
Chapter first
In the second part of the first chapter of Leo Tolstoy's work, the theme of war gradually develops. Russian troops are in Austria. The headquarters of Commander-in-Chief Kutuzov is located in the fortress of Braunau. The regiment is expected to be checked by the commander-in-chief, the soldiers are preparing, the company commanders are giving instructions. Everything is in order with the dress uniform, which cannot be said about the shoes, which are all worn out. However, this was to be expected, because the soldiers walked thousands of miles in these boots, and new ones were not issued.
One soldier named Dolokhov stood out from all because he was dressed in a bluish overcoat, which caused the wrath of the regimental commander.
Chapter Two
Finally, General Kutuzov arrived. "The regimental commander saluted the commander-in-chief, glaring at him, stretching out and getting up." Behind Kutuzov was a handsome adjutant. It was none other than Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who reminded the commander of the demoted Dolokhov.
Kutuzov descended to the soldier. “I ask you to give me a chance to make amends for my guilt and prove my devotion to the sovereign emperor and Russia,” he said, although the expression of his gaze was mocking and defiant.
The check passed, and the commander and his retinue gathered in the city. Hussar cornet Zherkov, having caught up with Dolokhov, asked him a few questions. After a short conversation, they said goodbye.
Chapter Three
Returning from the review, the commander-in-chief, entering the office, ordered the adjutant Andrei Bolkonsky to bring some papers. Kutuzov and an Austrian member of the Hofkriegsrat were engaged in a dialogue. The Russian commander-in-chief claimed that the Austrian troops had won. This was confirmed by a letter from Mack's army, which reported the advantageous strategic position of the army.
Kutuzov handed Andrei several letters, from which he was supposed to make a "memorandum" on French.
Further, the author describes what changes have taken place in Bolkonsky. “In the expression of his face, in his movements, in his gait, there was almost no noticeable former pretense, fatigue and laziness,” he was constantly busy with pleasant and interesting business, smile, look became more attractive, more interesting.
It is noteworthy that Kutuzov singled out Andrei Bolkonsky among other adjutants, gave more serious instructions, and expressed the hope that in the future he would become an officer. Andrei "was one of those rare officers at the headquarters who considered his main interest in the general course of military affairs ..." But at the same time he was afraid of Bonoparte.
Chapter Four
Nikolai Rostov serves as a cadet in the Pavlograd Hussar Regiment. He lives under the same roof with captain Vasily Denisov. Once an unpleasant story happened: Denisov lost his wallet with money, which had previously been placed under his pillow. The captain at first attacked the poor footman Lavrushka, but Rostov realized who the real thief was and went to look for the warmaster Telyatin in the tavern, which was occupied by officers.
The assumptions turned out to be accurate: arriving at the place, asking Telyatin to look at the wallet and looking at it, Nikolai realized that he was right, and this thing belongs to Denisov. However, seeing the miserable condition of Telyatin, he did not take his money.
Chapter Five
Walked between the officers of the squadron animated conversation, the topic of which was a recent incident regarding the loss of a wallet. Rostov was urged to apologize to the regimental commander, he objected, feeling completely innocent of what happened, because he told the truth about who the real thief was, even with other officers. But the captain was afraid for the reputation of the regiment, so he continued to argue in favor of Rostov's apologies.
Suddenly, the conversation was interrupted by Zherkov, who came in and announced the disturbing news: Mack and his army had surrendered. It was necessary to prepare for the offensive.
Chapters six - eight
Kutuzov's army retreated to Vienna, the commanders-in-chief were ordered to destroy the bridges behind the army, Prince Nesvitsky was sent to monitor its implementation. The shelling of the crossing began. At this time, Denisov appeared and demanded that he be let through with the squadron.
The war intensified. The first wounded appeared, it was necessary to urgently set fire to the bridge so that the enemy would not do it. Finally, the denouement came. “The hussars managed to set fire to the bridge, and the French batteries fired at them no longer to interfere, but to ensure that the guns were pointed and there was someone to shoot at.”
Nikolai Rostov was very worried. He looked at nature pine forests, filled with fog, to the majestic sky - and so wanted to be there. There is so much grief and trouble on earth. Nicholas began to pray: “Lord God! He Who is there in this sky, save, forgive and protect me!”
Chapter Nine
Kutuzov with his thirty-five thousandth army had to retreat. The task of the commander-in-chief is to unite with the troops from Russia so that the army is not destroyed. On October 28, the commander-in-chief crossed to the left bank of the Danube and attacked Mortier's division, defeating the enemy. This victory lifted the morale of the troops.
Andrei Bolkonsky was sent by courier to Brunn to convey information about the victory to the Austrian court. However, the minister listened to this news with indifference, and offered to rest, staying until tomorrow. The prince felt himself beginning to lose interest in victory, and the entire recent battle now seems like a distant memory.
Chapter Ten
Andrei Bolkonsky was well received by his old acquaintance, a Russian diplomat named Bilibin, with whom he stayed in connection with recent events. Finally, after so many days of inconvenience, he again, as in childhood, found himself in a luxurious environment, for which he was very glad. In addition, the prince was pleased to talk with a Russian person. Andrei told Bilibin about the cold reception of the minister, which surprised the diplomat a lot, because Kutuzov, unlike others, really won a real victory over the enemy.
Before going to bed, Bolkonsky was thinking about the upcoming reception with the emperor.
Chapter Eleven
When Andrei Bolkonsky woke up the next day, he remembered the previous events. It was necessary to go to an appointment with the emperor, but before that he went into Bilibin's office. There were already gentlemen, young people from high society, diplomats, among whom was Prince Ippolit Kuragin. Bilibin began to give advice to Bolkonsky on how to behave properly with the emperor, and recommended that he speak as much as possible, since he loves audiences.
Chapter Twelve
Emperor Franz received Bolkonsky, standing in the middle of the room. The conversation consisted of questions and answers and was short. When Andrei left, he was surrounded by courtiers who were disposed towards the young man. Everyone rejoiced, expressed their recognition and desire to see him. The Minister of War approached him, congratulating him on the Order of Maria Theresa, 3rd class, from the emperor.
So unexpectedly received the news brought by him. The commander-in-chief and the entire army received awards.
But suddenly, when everything seemed to be going so well, Bilibin said shocking news: "... The French crossed the bridge that Auersperg protects, and the bridge was not blown up ..." Andrei understands that the Russian army is in danger, but does not accept Bilibin's offer to go with him to Olmutz to save himself. On the contrary, he decides to go back ahead of time to help his people.
Chapter Thirteen
After driving a little time, Andrei saw the Russian army moving in disorder. Bolkonsky began to look for the commander in chief, but he was not among the troops. Finally, it became known that Kutuzov was in the village, and the prince turned his horse there. Arriving, he got off his horse with the intention of resting and putting his thoughts in order. Suddenly, the familiar voice of Nesvitsky was heard from the window of the house, inviting them to come in.
Andrei learned from him that the commander-in-chief was in a neighboring house and, perplexed about what was happening, hurried there.
Kutuzov, seeing Andrei, seemed to remain indifferent and almost did not pay attention to his devoted adjutant. He was occupied with completely different, disturbing thoughts.
Finally, he turned to Bolkonsky and, rejecting the objections of Prince Andrei, who wanted to remain in the Bagration detachment, with the words “I myself need good officers,” ordered him to sit in the carriage. And already on the way he began to ask the details of the visit to the emperor.
Chapter Fourteen
Kutuzov made a very difficult decision: "retreat along the road from Krems to Olmutz" in order to join the Russian troops. The French think that this army of four thousand - the entire army of Kutuzov and Murat concludes a truce for three days, in the hope of destroying the enemy later. He does not suspect that by doing so he gives the Russian soldiers to gather strength and rest. But Napoleon reveals the deception and writes a formidable letter to Murat with an order to immediately launch an offensive against the enemy. Meanwhile, Bagration's detachment warms up by the fire, cooks porridge and does not think that there will be a big battle very soon.
Chapter fifteen
Andrei Bolkonsky insisted on a request to return to Bagration's detachment. And now he is already met with a special chief distinction, and they give permission to find out how the troops are located. When walking around, Bolkonsky meets Staff Captain Tushin, and involuntarily imbued with sympathy for this. unusual person, in which "there was something special, not military at all." The further Andrei Bolkonsky moved forward, closer to the enemy, the more decent and more fun the appearance of the troops became ... "
Chapter Sixteen
Having traveled the entire line of troops from the right to the left flank, Bolkonsky begins an overview of the location of the Russians and French troops from the hill and draws a plan to report to Bagration, when suddenly a sudden shelling from the French army begins: “a whistle was heard in the air; closer, closer, faster and more audible, more audible and faster, and the core ... exploding spray with inhuman force, plopped into the ground not far from the booth ... "
Chapter Seventeen
"Began! Here it is!" - thought Bolkonsky, seeing how the French were advancing. The same phrase was written on the face of every soldier and officer ... Captain Tushin, not receiving instructions from Bagration and acting as he sees fit, begins to shell the village of Shengraben, occupied by the French.
Chapter Eighteen
The confrontation between the Russians and the French continues. Bagration orders to send reinforcements in the form of two battalions of the 6th Jaeger Regiment. “Bullets screeched, sang and whistled incessantly…” Prince Andrei, feeling that he was being drawn forward by an irresistible force, is happy that he can serve the Fatherland.
Chapter Nineteen
The commander of the regiment Bagration sees the need for a retreat, however, as it turns out, this is risky for the lives of the soldiers. In the squadron where Nikolai Rostov served, there was talk of an attack. The youth's joy at the fact that he would finally experience what a real battle was was premature. In the very first hours of the attack, he was wounded in his left arm.
Nikolai was frightened, all the more, he thought that now he would be taken prisoner. But he miraculously managed to get to the Russian shooters.
Chapter Twenty
The regimental commander was seriously afraid that he might be guilty of a mistake before his superiors, because the infantry regiments, which were taken by surprise in the forest, ran out from there, "and the companies, mixing with other companies, left in disorderly crowds." Therefore, wanting to help and by all means correct the mistake, he urgently saddled his horse and galloped towards the regiment.
But the frustrated soldiers did not want to listen to the voice of their commander, which further aggravated the position of the regiment. Everything would have ended in failure if not for Timokhin's company, which alone remained in battle order. It was thanks to these courageous warriors that they managed to turn the enemy into a real flight.
Chapter twenty one
The cannonade gradually subsided, but the consequences of the recent hostilities were visible in everything. The wounded suffered especially, among whom was Nikolai Rostov, who tearfully asked to be put on a stretcher, because, shell-shocked in the arm, he could not go further. Finally, they heard him, and the young man received help, they even found a dressing station for Rostov.
Tushin strongly, but, as it turned out, in vain, was worried that he had lost two guns, because, as Andrei Bolkonsky said about him, “they owe the success of the day most of all to the action of this battery and the heroic stamina of Captain Tushin with his company.”
Nikolai Rostov suffered greatly: both from pain in his arm, and from the realization of loneliness and uselessness to anyone, and from his own delusions. Most of all, the question tormented me: "Why did he agree to go to war at all."
The next day, the French did not attack the Russian army.
"War and Peace". L.N. Tolstoy. 1 vol. 2 part. Description by chapter.
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Nikolai Rostov comes home on vacation; Denisov goes with him. Rostov is everywhere - both at home and by acquaintances, that is, by all of Moscow - is accepted as a hero; he becomes close to Dolokhov (and becomes one of his seconds in a duel with Bezukhov). Dolokhov proposes to Sonya, but she, in love with Nikolai, refuses; at a farewell feast hosted by Dolokhov for his friends before leaving for the army, he beats Rostov (apparently not quite honestly) for a large sum, as if taking revenge on him for Sonin's refusal.
An atmosphere of love and fun reigns in the Rostovs' house, created primarily by Natasha. She sings and dances beautifully (at the ball with Yogel, the dance teacher, Natasha dances a mazurka with Denisov, which causes general admiration). When Rostov returns home in a depressed state after a loss, he hears Natasha's singing and forgets about everything - about losing, about Dolokhov: "all this is nonsense […] but here it is real." Nikolai admits to his father that he lost; when he manages to collect the required amount, he leaves for the army. Denisov, admired by Natasha, asks for her hand in marriage, is refused and leaves.
Prince Vasily visited the Bald Mountains in December 1805 with younger son- Anatole; Kuragin's goal was to marry his dissolute son to a wealthy heiress, Princess Marya. The princess was extraordinarily excited by the arrival of Anatole; the old prince did not want this marriage - he did not love the Kuragins and did not want to part with his daughter. By chance, Princess Mary notices Anatole, embracing her French companion, m-lle Bourienne; to her father's delight, she refuses Anatole.
After the battle of Austerlitz, the old prince receives a letter from Kutuzov, which says that Prince Andrei "fell a hero worthy of his father and his fatherland." It also says that Bolkonsky was not found among the dead; this allows us to hope that Prince Andrei is alive. Meanwhile, Princess Lisa, Andrey's wife, is about to give birth, and on the very night of the birth, Andrey returns. Princess Lisa dies; on her dead face, Bolkonsky reads the question: “What have you done to me?” - the feeling of guilt before the deceased wife no longer leaves him.
Pierre Bezukhov is tormented by the question of his wife's connection with Dolokhov: hints from acquaintances and an anonymous letter constantly raise this question. At a dinner in the Moscow English Club, arranged in honor of Bagration, a quarrel breaks out between Bezukhov and Dolokhov; Pierre challenges Dolokhov to a duel, in which he (who does not know how to shoot and has never held a pistol in his hands before) wounds his opponent. After a difficult explanation with Helen, Pierre leaves Moscow for St. Petersburg, leaving her a power of attorney to manage his Great Russian estates (which makes up most of his fortune).
On the way to St. Petersburg, Bezukhov stops at the post station in Torzhok, where he meets the famous Freemason Osip Alekseevich Bazdeev, who instructs him - disappointed, confused, not knowing how and why to live on - and gives him a letter of recommendation to one of the St. Petersburg Masons. Upon arrival, Pierre enters into Masonic Lodge: he is delighted with the truth revealed to him, although the ritual of initiation into Masons confuses him somewhat. Filled with a desire to do good to his neighbors, in particular to his peasants, Pierre goes to his estates in the Kyiv province. There he very zealously embarks on reforms, but, having no "practical tenacity", turns out to be completely deceived by his manager.
Returning from a southern trip, Pierre visits his friend Bolkonsky at his estate, Bogucharovo. After Austerlitz, Prince Andrei firmly decided not to serve anywhere (in order to get rid of active service, he accepted the position of collecting the militia under the command of his father). All his worries are focused on his son. Pierre notices the "faded, dead look" of his friend, his detachment. Pierre's enthusiasm, his new views contrast sharply with Bolkonsky's skeptical mood; Prince Andrei believes that neither schools nor hospitals are needed for the peasants, but to cancel serfdom necessary not for the peasants - they are accustomed to it - but for the landlords, who are corrupted by unlimited power over other people. When friends go to the Bald Mountains, to the father and sister of Prince Andrei, a conversation takes place between them (on the ferry during the crossing): Pierre sets out to Prince Andrei his new views (“we do not live now only on this piece of land, but we lived and will live forever there, in everything"), and Bolkonsky for the first time after Austerlitz sees the "high, eternal sky"; “something better that was in him suddenly woke up joyfully in his soul.” While Pierre was in the Bald Mountains, he enjoyed close, friendly relations not only with Prince Andrei, but also with all his relatives and household; for Bolkonsky, a new life (internally) began from a meeting with Pierre.
Returning from vacation to the regiment, Nikolai Rostov felt at home. Everything was clear, known in advance; True, it was necessary to think about how to feed people and horses - the regiment lost almost half of the people from hunger and disease. Denisov decides to recapture the food transport assigned to the infantry regiment; summoned to the headquarters, he meets Telyanin there (in the position of chief provisions officer), beats him and for this he must stand trial. Taking advantage of the fact that he was slightly wounded, Denisov goes to the hospital. Rostov visits Denisov in the hospital - he is struck by the sight of sick soldiers lying on straw and overcoats on the floor, the smell of a rotting body; in the officers' chambers, he meets Tushin, who has lost his arm, and Denisov, who, after some persuasion, agrees to submit a request for pardon to the sovereign.
With this letter, Rostov goes to Tilsit, where the meeting of two emperors, Alexander and Napoleon, takes place. At the apartment of Boris Drubetskoy, enlisted in the retinue of the Russian emperor, Nikolai sees yesterday's enemies - French officers, with whom Drubetskoy willingly communicates. All this - both the unexpected friendship of the adored tsar with yesterday's usurper Bonaparte, and the free friendly communication of the retinue officers with the French - all irritates Rostov. He cannot understand why battles were needed, arms and legs torn off, if the emperors are so kind to each other and reward each other and the soldiers of the enemy armies with the highest orders of their countries. By chance, he manages to pass a letter with Denisov's request to a familiar general, and he gives it to the tsar, but Alexander refuses: "the law is stronger than me." Terrible doubts in Rostov's soul end with the fact that he convinces familiar officers, like him, who are dissatisfied with the peace with Napoleon, and most importantly, himself that the sovereign knows better what needs to be done. And “our business is to cut and not think,” he says, drowning out his doubts with wine.
Those enterprises that Pierre started at home and could not bring to any result were executed by Prince Andrei. He transferred three hundred souls to free cultivators (that is, he freed them from serfdom); replaced corvée with dues on other estates; peasant children began to be taught to read and write, etc. In the spring of 1809, Bolkonsky went on business to the Ryazan estates. On the way, he notices how green and sunny everything is; only the huge old oak "did not want to submit to the charm of spring" - it seems to Prince Andrei in harmony with the sight of this gnarled oak that his life is over.
On guardian affairs, Bolkonsky needs to see Ilya Rostov, the district marshal of the nobility, and Prince Andrei goes to Otradnoye, the Rostov estate. At night, Prince Andrei hears the conversation between Natasha and Sonya: Natasha is full of delight from the charms of the night, and in the soul of Prince Andrei "an unexpected confusion of young thoughts and hopes arose." When - already in July - he passed the very grove where he saw the old gnarled oak, he was transformed: “juicy young leaves made their way through the hundred-year-old hard bark without knots.” “No, life is not over at thirty-one,” Prince Andrei decides; he goes to St. Petersburg to "take an active part in life."
In St. Petersburg, Bolkonsky becomes close to Speransky, the state secretary, an energetic reformer close to the emperor. For Speransky, Prince Andrei feels a feeling of admiration, "similar to the one he once felt for Bonaparte." The prince becomes a member of the commission for drafting the military regulations. At this time, Pierre Bezukhov also lives in St. Petersburg - he became disillusioned with Freemasonry, reconciled (outwardly) with his wife Helen; in the eyes of the world, he is an eccentric and kind fellow, but in his soul "the hard work of inner development" continues.
The Rostovs also end up in St. Petersburg, because the old count, wanting to improve his money matters, comes to the capital to look for places of service. Berg proposes to Vera and marries her. Boris Drubetskoy, already a close friend in the salon of Countess Helen Bezukhova, begins to go to the Rostovs, unable to resist Natasha's charm; in a conversation with her mother, Natasha admits that she is not in love with Boris and is not going to marry him, but she likes that he travels. The countess spoke with Drubetskoy, and he stopped visiting the Rostovs.
On New Year's Eve there should be a ball at the Catherine's grandee. The Rostovs are carefully preparing for the ball; at the ball itself, Natasha experiences fear and timidity, delight and excitement. Prince Andrei invites her to dance, and "the wine of her charms hit him in the head": after the ball, his work in the commission, the speech of the sovereign in the Council, and the activities of Speransky seem insignificant to him. He proposes to Natasha, and the Rostovs accept him, but according to the condition set by the old prince Bolkonsky, the wedding can take place only after a year. This year Bolkonsky is going abroad.
Nikolai Rostov comes on vacation to Otradnoye. He is trying to put the household affairs in order, trying to check the accounts of Mitenka's clerk, but nothing comes of it. In mid-September, Nikolai, the old count, Natasha and Petya, with a pack of dogs and a retinue of hunters, go out on a big hunt. Soon they are joined by their distant relative and neighbor ("uncle"). The old count with his servants let the wolf through, for which the hunter Danilo scolded him, as if forgetting that the count was his master. At this time, another wolf came out to Nikolai, and the dogs of Rostov took him. Later, the hunters met the hunt of a neighbor - Ilagin; the dogs of Ilagin, Rostov and the uncle chased the hare, but his uncle's dog Rugay took it, which delighted the uncle. Then Rostov with Natasha and Petya go to their uncle. After dinner, uncle began to play the guitar, and Natasha went to dance. When they returned to Otradnoye, Natasha admitted that she would never be as happy and calm as now.
Christmas time has come; Natasha languishes from longing for Prince Andrei - for a short time, she, like everyone else, is entertained by a trip dressed up to her neighbors, but the thought that "her best time is wasted" torments her. During Christmas time, Nikolai especially acutely felt love for Sonya and announced her to his mother and father, but this conversation upset them very much: the Rostovs hoped that Nikolai's marriage to a rich bride would improve their property circumstances. Nikolai returns to the regiment, and the old count with Sonya and Natasha leaves for Moscow.
Old Bolkonsky also lives in Moscow; he has visibly aged, become more irritable, relations with his daughter have deteriorated, which torments the old man himself, and especially Princess Marya. When Count Rostov and Natasha come to the Bolkonskys, they receive the Rostovs unfriendly: the prince - with a calculation, and Princess Marya - herself suffering from awkwardness. Natasha is hurt by this; to console her, Marya Dmitrievna, in whose house the Rostovs were staying, took her a ticket to the opera. In the theater, the Rostovs meet Boris Drubetskoy, now fiancé Julie Karagina, Dolokhov, Helen Bezukhova and her brother Anatole Kuragin. Natasha meets Anatole. Helen invites the Rostovs to her place, where Anatole pursues Natasha, tells her about his love for her. He secretly sends her letters and is going to kidnap her in order to get married in secret (Anatole was already married, but almost no one knew this).
The kidnapping fails - Sonya accidentally finds out about him and confesses to Marya Dmitrievna; Pierre tells Natasha that Anatole is married. Arriving Prince Andrei learns about Natasha's refusal (she sent a letter to Princess Marya) and about her affair with Anatole; through Pierre, he returns Natasha her letters. When Pierre comes to Natasha and sees her tear-stained face, he feels sorry for her and at the same time he unexpectedly tells her that if he were “ best person in the world”, then “on my knees I would ask for her hand and love”. In tears of "tenderness and happiness" he leaves.
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy
WAR AND PEACE
VOLUME 2
PART THREE
I.
In 1808, Emperor Alexander went to Erfurt for a new meeting with Emperor Napoleon, and in the highest Petersburg society they talked a lot about the greatness of this solemn meeting. In 1809, the proximity of the two rulers of the world, as Napoleon and Alexander were called, reached such a point that when Napoleon declared war on Austria that year, the Russian corps went abroad to assist their former enemy Bonaparte against their former ally, the Austrian emperor; before that in high society talked about the possibility of marriage between Napoleon and one of the sisters of Emperor Alexander. But, in addition to external political considerations, at that time the attention of Russian society with particular vivacity was drawn to the internal transformations that were being carried out at that time in all parts of the state administration.
Life in the meantime real life people with their own essential interests of health, illness, work, recreation, with their own interests of thought, science, poetry, music, love, friendship, hatred, passions, went as always independently and outside of political proximity or enmity with Napoleon Bonaparte, and outside of all possible transformations. --Prince Andrei lived without a break for two years in the countryside. All those enterprises on estates that Pierre started at home and did not bring to any result, constantly moving from one thing to another, all these enterprises, without showing them to anyone and without noticeable labor, were carried out by Prince Andrei. He had in the highest degree that practical tenacity that Pierre lacked, which, without scope and effort on his part, gave movement to the matter. One of his estates of three hundred souls of peasants was listed as free cultivators (this was one of the first examples in Russia), in others corvée was replaced by dues. In Bogucharovo, a learned grandmother was issued to his account to help women in childbirth, and the priest taught the children of peasants and yards to read and write for a salary. One half of the time Prince Andrei spent in the Bald Mountains with his father and son, who was still with the nannies; the other half of the time in the Bogucharovo monastery, as his father called his village. Despite the indifference he showed to Pierre to all the external events of the world, he diligently followed them, received many books, and to his surprise noticed when fresh people from Petersburg, from the very whirlpool of life, came to him or to his father, that these people, in knowledge of everything that happens in foreign and domestic policy, they are far behind him, who is sitting all the time in the countryside. In addition to classes on estates, in addition to general studies in reading a wide variety of books, Prince Andrei was at that time engaged in a critical analysis of our last two unfortunate campaigns and drawing up a project to change our military regulations and decrees. In the spring of 1809, Prince Andrei went to the Ryazan estates of his son, whom he was the guardian of. Warmed by the spring sun, he sat in the carriage, looking at the first grass, the first leaves of the birch, and the first puffs of white spring clouds scattered across the bright blue of the sky. He did not think about anything, but looked cheerfully and senselessly around. We passed the ferry on which he spoke with Pierre a year ago. We passed a dirty village, threshing floors, greenery, a descent, with the remaining snow near the bridge, an ascent along washed-out clay, stubble strips and bushes greening here and there, and drove into a birch forest on both sides of the road. It was almost hot in the forest, the wind could not be heard. The birch tree, all covered with green sticky leaves, did not move, and from under the last year's leaves, lifting them, the first grass and purple flowers crawled out green. Scattered in some places along the birch forest, small firs with their coarse eternal greenery unpleasantly reminded of winter. The horses snorted as they rode into the woods and became more sweaty. The footman Peter said something to the coachman, the coachman answered in the affirmative. But it was not enough for Peter to see the coachman's sympathy: he turned on the goats to the master. - Your Excellency, how easy! he said, smiling respectfully. - What! - Easy, Your Excellency. "What he says?" thought Prince Andrew. "Yes, it's true about spring," he thought, looking around. And then everything is already green ... how soon! And birch, and bird cherry, and alder is already beginning ... And the oak is not noticeable. Yes, here it is, an oak." An oak tree stood on the edge of the road. Probably ten times older than the birches that made up the forest, it was ten times thicker and twice as tall as each birch. , with boughs and with a broken bark, overgrown with old sores. With his huge clumsy, asymmetrically spread, clumsy hands and fingers, he stood between smiling birches like an old, angry and contemptuous freak. Only he did not want to submit to the charm of spring and did not want to see spring, no sun.” “Spring, and love, and happiness!” - this oak seemed to say, - “and how you don’t get tired of the same stupid and senseless deceit. Everything is the same, and everything is a lie! There is no spring, no sun, no happiness. There, look, crushed dead firs are sitting, always the same, and there I spread my broken, peeled fingers, wherever they grew - from the back, from the sides; as I grew up, I stand, and I don’t believe your hopes and deceptions. "Prince Andrey looked back at this oak several times, driving through the forest, as if he was waiting for something from him. Flowers and grass were under the oak, but he still in the same way, frowning, motionless, ugly and stubbornly, he stood in the middle of them. "Yes, he is right, this oak is a thousand times right, thought Prince Andrei, let others, young ones, again succumb to this deception, and we know life, our life finished!" whole new row hopeless thoughts, but sadly pleasant in connection with this oak, arose in the soul of Prince Andrei. During this journey, it was as if he thought over his whole life again, and came to the same calming and hopeless conclusion that he had no need to start anything, that he should live his life without doing evil, without worrying and desiring nothing.
II.
On guardian affairs of the Ryazan estate, Prince Andrei had to see the district marshal. The leader was Count Ilya Andreevich Rostov, and Prince Andrei went to him in mid-May. It was already a hot spring. The forest was already all dressed up, there was dust and it was so hot that when driving past the water, I wanted to swim. Prince Andrei, gloomy and preoccupied with thoughts about what and what he needs to ask the leader about business, drove up along the alley of the garden to the Rostovs' Otradnensky house. To the right, from behind the trees, he heard a female, cheerful cry, and saw a crowd of girls running towards the intersection of his carriage. Closer in front of the others, a black-haired, very thin, strangely thin, black-eyed girl in a yellow cotton dress, tied with a white handkerchief, from under which strands of combed hair broke out, ran up to the carriage. The girl was shouting something, but recognizing the stranger, without looking at him, she ran back with a laugh. Prince Andrei suddenly felt pain from something. The day was so good, the sun was so bright, everything around was so cheerful; but this thin and pretty girl did not know and did not want to know about his existence, and was contented and happy with some kind of separate, really stupid, but cheerful and happy life. "What is she so happy about? What is she thinking about! Not about the military charter, not about the organization of the Ryazan dues. What is she thinking about? And what makes her happy?" Prince Andrei involuntarily asked himself with curiosity. Count Ilya Andreevich in 1809 lived in Otradnoye just as before, that is, taking over almost the entire province, with hunts, theaters, dinners and musicians. He, like any new guest, was glad to Prince Andrei, and almost forcibly left him to spend the night. During the boring day, during which Prince Andrei was occupied by the senior hosts and the most honored of the guests, with whom the house of the old count was full on the occasion of the approaching name day, Bolkonsky several times looked at Natasha, who was laughing and having fun between the other young half of society, kept asking himself : "What is she thinking about? Why is she so happy!". In the evening, left alone in a new place, he could not sleep for a long time. He read, then put out the candle and lit it again. It was hot in the room with the shutters closed from the inside. He was annoyed with this stupid old man (as he called Rostov), who had detained him, assuring him that the necessary papers in the city had not yet been delivered, he was annoyed with himself for having stayed. Prince Andrei got up and went to the window to open it. As soon as he opened the shutters, Moonlight, as if he had been on the lookout at the window for a long time waiting for this, burst into the room. He opened the window. The night was fresh and still-light. Right in front of the window was a row of trimmed trees, black on one side and silvery on the other. Under the trees there was some kind of juicy, wet, curly vegetation with silvery leaves and stems here and there. Farther behind the black trees was a roof of some sort glistening with dew, to the right a large curly tree, with a bright white trunk and boughs, and above it an almost full moon in a bright, almost starless, spring sky. Prince Andrei leaned against the window and his eyes rested on this sky. Prince Andrei's room was on the middle floor; they also lived in the rooms above it and did not sleep. He heard a woman speak from above. “Just one more time,” said a female voice from above, which Prince Andrei now recognized. - When are you going to sleep? answered another voice. - I won't, I can't sleep, what should I do! Well, last time... Two female voices they sang some musical phrase that was the end of something. - Oh, what a charm! Well, now sleep, and the end. “Sleep, but I can’t,” answered the first voice, approaching the window. She apparently leaned completely out of the window, because the rustling of her dress and even breathing could be heard. Everything was quiet and petrified, like the moon and its light and shadows. Prince Andrei was also afraid to move, so as not to betray his involuntary presence. - Sonya! Sonya! - the first voice was heard again. - Well, how can you sleep! Yes, look what a charm! Ah, what a delight! Wake up, Sonya, - she said almost with tears in her voice. - After all, such a lovely night never, never happened. Sonya reluctantly answered something. - No, look at that moon! ... Oh, what a charm! You come here. Darling, dove, come here. Well, see? So I would squat down, like this, I would grab myself under my knees - tighter, as tight as possible - you have to strain. Like this! - All right, you're going to fall. There was a struggle and Sonya's dissatisfied voice: "After all, the second hour." Ah, you're just ruining everything for me. Well, go, go. Everything fell silent again, but Prince Andrei knew that she was still sitting there, he sometimes heard a quiet stir, sometimes sighs. - Oh my god! My God! what is it! she suddenly cried out. - Sleep so sleep! and slammed the window. "And it doesn't matter to my existence!" thought Prince Andrei, while he listened to her conversation, for some reason expecting and fearing that she would say something about him. - "And again she! And as if on purpose!" he thought. Such an unexpected confusion of young thoughts and hopes, which contradicted his whole life, suddenly arose in his soul, that he, feeling unable to understand his state of mind, immediately fell asleep.
III.
The next day, having said goodbye to only one count, without waiting for the ladies to leave, Prince Andrei went home. It was already the beginning of June, when Prince Andrei, returning home, drove again into that birch grove in which this old, gnarled oak struck him so strangely and memorable. The bells rang even more muffled in the forest than a month and a half ago; everything was full, shady and thick; and young spruce trees scattered throughout the forest did not disturb the general beauty and, imitation of the general character, tenderly turned green with fluffy young shoots. The whole day was hot, a thunderstorm was gathering somewhere, but only a small cloud splashed on the dust of the road and on the succulent leaves. The left side of the forest was dark, in shadow; the right one, wet and glossy, shone in the sun, slightly swaying in the wind. Everything was in bloom; the nightingales chirped and rolled now close, now far away. "Yes, here, in this forest, there was this oak, with which we agreed," thought Prince Andrei. “Yes, where is he,” thought Prince Andrei again, looking at the left side of the road and without knowing it, not recognizing him, admired the oak he was looking for. The old oak, all transformed, spread out like a tent of juicy, dark greenery, was thrilled, slightly swaying in the rays of the evening sun. No clumsy fingers, no sores, no old distrust and grief - nothing was visible. Juicy, young leaves broke through the tough, hundred-year-old bark without knots, so that it was impossible to believe that this old man had produced them. “Yes, this is the same oak tree,” thought Prince Andrei, and a causeless, spring feeling of joy and renewal suddenly came over him. All the best moments of his life were suddenly remembered to him at the same time. And Austerlitz with a high sky, and the dead, reproachful face of his wife, and Pierre on the ferry, and the girl, agitated by the beauty of the night, and this night, and the moon, - and he suddenly remembered all this. “No, life is not over at the age of 31, Prince Andrei suddenly decided completely, invariably. Not only do I know everything that is in me, it is necessary that everyone knows this: both Pierre and this girl who wanted to fly away into heaven, it is necessary that everyone know me, so that my life does not go on for me alone, so that they do not live so independently of my life, so that it is reflected on everyone and that they all live with me together! --Returning from his trip, Prince Andrei decided to go to St. Petersburg in the fall and came up with different reasons this decision. A whole series of reasonable, logical arguments why he needed to go to Petersburg and even serve, was every minute ready for his services. Even now he did not understand how he could ever doubt the need to take an active part in life, just as a month ago he did not understand how the idea of leaving the village could come to him. It seemed clear to him that all his experiences in life must have been lost in vain and be nonsense if he had not put them to work and had not again taken an active part in life. He did not even understand how, on the basis of the same poor rational arguments, it had previously been obvious that he would be humiliated if now, after his lessons in life, he would again believe in the possibility of being useful and in the possibility of happiness and love. Now my mind was telling me something else. After this trip, Prince Andrei began to get bored in the countryside, his previous activities did not interest him, and often, sitting alone in his office, he got up, went to the mirror and looked at his face for a long time. Then he turned away and looked at the portrait of the deceased Lisa, who, with curls whipped a la grecque, gazed tenderly and cheerfully at him from a golden frame. She no longer spoke the former terrible words to her husband, she simply and cheerfully looked at him with curiosity. And Prince Andrei, with his hands folded back, paced the room for a long time, now frowning, now smiling, rethinking those unreasonable, inexpressible in words, secret as a crime thoughts connected with Pierre, with fame, with the girl at the window, with the oak, with female beauty and love that changed his whole life. And at those moments, when someone came to him, he was especially dry, sternly resolute, and especially unpleasantly logical. “Mon cher, 2,” Princess Mary used to say, entering at such a moment, “Nikolushka cannot go for a walk today: it’s very cold. - If it were warm, - at such moments, Prince Andrei answered his sister especially dryly, - then he would go in one shirt, and since it is cold, you need to put on warm clothes, which are invented for this. That's what follows from the fact that it's cold, and not just to stay at home when the child needs air, he said with special logic, as if punishing someone for all this secret, illogical thing that was happening in him, inner work. Princess Marya thought in these cases about how this mental work dries men.
IV.
Prince Andrei arrived in St. Petersburg in August 1809. It was the time of the apogee of the glory of the young Speransky and the energy of the coups he carried out. In this very August, the sovereign, riding in a carriage, was thrown out, injured his leg, and remained in Peterhof for three weeks, seeing Speransky daily and exclusively. At that time, not only two decrees, so famous and alarming to society, were being prepared on the destruction of court ranks and on exams for the ranks of collegiate assessors and state councilors, but also a whole state constitution, which was supposed to change the existing judicial, administrative and financial order of Russian government from the state council to the volost board. Now those vague, liberal dreams with which Emperor Alexander came to the throne, and which he sought to realize with the help of his assistants Czartoryzhsky, Novosiltsev, Kochubey and Strogonov, whom he himself jokingly called comite du salut publique, were now realized and embodied. 3 Now all together were replaced by Speransky for the civilian part and Arakcheev for the military. Prince Andrei, soon after his arrival, as a chamberlain, appeared at the court and went out. The sovereign twice, having met him, did not honor him with a single word. It always seemed to Prince Andrei even before that he was antipathetic to the sovereign, that his face and his whole being were unpleasant to the sovereign. In the dry, distant look with which the sovereign looked at him, Prince Andrei found confirmation of this assumption even more than before. The courtiers explained to Prince Andrei the inattention of the sovereign to him by the fact that His Majesty was dissatisfied with the fact that Bolkonsky had not served since 1805. “I myself know how powerless we are in our likes and dislikes,” thought Prince Andrei, and therefore there is nothing to think about personally presenting my note on the military regulations to the sovereign, but the matter will speak for itself. He passed on his note to the old field marshal, a friend of his father. The field marshal, appointing him an hour, kindly received him and promised to report to the sovereign. A few days later it was announced to Prince Andrei that he had to appear before the Minister of War, Count Arakcheev. At nine o'clock in the morning, on the appointed day, Prince Andrei appeared in the reception room of Count Arakcheev. Personally, Prince Andrei did not know Arakcheev and had never seen him, but everything that he knew about him inspired little respect for this man. “He is the Minister of War, a confidant of the Sovereign Emperor; no one should care about his personal properties; he was instructed to consider my note, therefore he alone can set it in motion,” thought Prince Andrei, waiting among many important and unimportant persons in reception of Count Arakcheev. Prince Andrei during his service, mostly adjutant, saw a lot of adopted important persons and various characters these receptionists were very clear to him. Count Arakcheev had a very special character in his reception room. On the unimportant faces waiting in line for an audience in the waiting room of Count Arakcheev, a feeling of shame and humility was written; on more official faces, one general feeling of awkwardness was expressed, hidden under the guise of swagger and ridicule at oneself, at one's position and at the expected person. Some walked thoughtfully back and forth, others laughed in whispers, and Prince Andrei heard the sobriquet of Andreevich's strength and the words: "Uncle will ask," referring to Count Arakcheev. One general (an important person), apparently offended by the fact that he had to wait so long, sat shifting his legs and smiling contemptuously to himself. But as soon as the door opened, only one thing was instantly expressed on all faces - fear. Prince Andrei asked the duty officer to report about himself another time, but they looked at him with mockery and said that his turn would come in due time. After several persons were brought in and taken out by the adjutant from the minister's office, an officer was let in through the terrible door, striking Prince Andrei with his humiliated and frightened appearance. The officer's audience went on for a long time. Suddenly, the rumbles of an unpleasant voice were heard from behind the door, and a pale officer, with trembling lips, came out of there, and clutching his head, went through the reception room. Following this, Prince Andrei was led to the door, and the duty officer said in a whisper: "to the right, to the window." Prince Andrei entered a modest tidy study and at the table saw a forty-year-old man with a long waist, a long, short-cropped head and thick wrinkles, with frowning eyebrows over brown-green dull eyes and hanging red nose. Arakcheev turned his head towards him without looking at him. - What are you asking for? - asked Arakcheev. “I don’t ... ask for anything, Your Excellency,” Prince Andrei said quietly. Arakcheyev's eyes turned to him. - Sit down, - said Arakcheev, - Prince Bolkonsky? “I don’t ask for anything, but the sovereign emperor deigned to send the note I submitted to your excellency ... “If you please, my dear, I read your note,” interrupted Arakcheev, only saying the first words affectionately, again without looking into his face and falling into more and more in a grumbling-contemptuous tone. - Do you propose new military laws? There are many laws, there is no one to fulfill the old ones. Nowadays, all laws are written, it is easier to write than to do. - I came at the behest of the Sovereign Emperor to ask Your Excellency, what course do you suppose to give to the submitted note? - said Prince Andrei courteously. - I put a resolution on your note and forwarded it to the committee. I do not approve, - said Arakcheev, getting up and taking paper from the desk. - Here! - he gave to Prince Andrei. On paper, he crossed it, in pencil, without capital letters, without spelling, without punctuation marks, it was written: "It is unreasonably composed, as an imitation, written off from the French military charter and from the military article without the need to retreat." - To which committee was the note sent? - asked Prince Andrei. - To the committee on the military regulations, and I have presented your nobility as a member. Only without pay. Prince Andrew smiled. - I don't want to. "Unpaid member," repeated Arakcheev. - I have the honor. Hey call! Who else? he shouted, bowing to Prince Andrei.
v.
While waiting for notification of his enrollment as a member of the committee, Prince Andrei renewed his old acquaintances, especially with those persons who, he knew, were in power and might be needed by him. He now experienced in Petersburg a feeling similar to that which he experienced on the eve of the battle, when he was tormented by restless curiosity and irresistibly drawn to higher spheres, where the future was being prepared, on which the fate of millions depended. From the anger of the old people, from the curiosity of the uninitiated, from the restraint of the initiates, from the haste and concern of everyone, from the innumerable number of committees and commissions, the existence of which he learned again every day, he felt that now, in 1809, preparations were being made here in St. , some kind of huge civil battle, of which the commander-in-chief was an unknown to him, mysterious and seemed to him a genius, the face of Speransky. And the most vaguely known matter of transformation, and Speransky the main figure, began to interest him so passionately that the matter of military regulations very soon began to pass in his mind to a secondary place. Prince Andrei was in one of the most favorable positions in order to be well received in all the most diverse and highest circles of the then Petersburg society. The party of reformers cordially received and enticed him, firstly, because he had a reputation for intelligence and great erudition, and secondly, because by setting the peasants free he had already made himself a reputation as a liberal. The party of old dissatisfied, just like the son of their father, turned to him for sympathy, condemning the transformation. sorority , light, welcomed him, because he was a groom, rich and noble, and almost a new face with a halo of a romantic story about his imaginary death and the tragic death of his wife. In addition, the general voice about him of all who knew him before was that he had changed a lot for the better in these five years, softened and matured, that there was no former pretense, pride and mockery in him, and there was that calmness that purchased over the years. They started talking about him, they were interested in him and everyone wanted to see him. The next day after visiting Count Arakcheev, Prince Andrei was at Count Kochubey's in the evening. He told the count his meeting with Sila Andreich (Kochubey called Arakcheev so with the same vague mockery over something that Prince Andrei noticed in the reception room of the Minister of War). - Mon cher, 5 even in this case you will not bypass Mikhail Mikhailovich. C "est le grand faiseur. 6 I'll tell him. He promised to come in the evening ... - What does Speransky care about military regulations?" asked Prince Andrei. Kochubey, smiling, shook his head, as if surprised at Bolkonsky's naivety. - We are with him they were talking about you the other day," continued Kochubey, "about your free ploughmen... "Yes, it was you, prince, who let your peasants go?" said the old man of Catherine's, turning contemptuously at Bolkonsky. "The small estate brought nothing income," answered Bolkonsky, so as not to irritate the old man in vain, trying to soften his act before him. - Vous craignez d "etre en retard, 7 - said the old man, looking at Kochubey. “I don’t understand one thing,” the old man continued, “who will plow the land, if they are given freedom? It is easy to write laws, but difficult to manage. It's all the same as it is now, I ask you, count, who will be the head of the chambers, when will everyone have their exams? “Those who will pass the exams, I think,” answered Kochubey, crossing his legs and looking around. - Here Pryanichnikov, a nice man, a gold man, serves me, and he is 60 years old, will he go to exams? he got up and, taking Prince Andrei by the hand, went to meet the incoming tall, bald, fair-haired man, about forty years old, with a large open forehead and an unusual, strange whiteness of an elongated face. The newcomer was wearing a blue tailcoat, a cross around his neck and a star on the left side of his chest. It was Speransky. Prince Andrei immediately recognized him and something trembled in his soul, as happens at important moments in life. Was it respect, envy, expectation - he did not know. The whole figure of Speransky had a special type, by which one could now recognize him.
Part Two Chapter I.
Russian troops in Braunau in October 1805. One of the infantry regiments is preparing on October 11 for the review of the commander in chief. Kutuzov's order that he still wants to see the soldiers in the position in which they were walking, that is, in marching clothes. Reverse dressing. The general scolds the commander of the 3rd company Timokhin, an already elderly man who did not have the habit of running, for a blue overcoat in a demoted Dolokhov. The general orders Dolokhov to change clothes. Dolokhov tells the general that he is obliged to follow orders, but not to endure humiliation, and looks into the general's eyes with an impudent look. He softens and already asks Dolokhov to change clothes.
View of the Kutuzov regiment.
Kutuzov's conversation with an Austrian general, a member of the Austrian Hofkriegsrat. Kutuzov says that if it were his will, he would have joined the army of Emperor Franz long ago and transferred command of his army to the more experienced General Mack. But circumstances are stronger than us. The Austrian general objects to the delay in joining the Russian troops to the Austrian ones. Kutuzov has no doubt that the Austrian army, led by General Mack, has already won.
The Pavlograd regiment was stationed two miles from Braunau. Nikolai Rostov lived with squadron commander Vas-
which Denisov. Nikolai Rostov, cadet of the Pavlograd Hussar Regiment, returns from foraging while his squadron is stationed at Braunau. Episode with the German. The German owner, in whose house Nikolai was standing, looked out of the barn and saw Nikolai, beamed all over and, winking at Rostov, wished him good morning. Nicholas wished the same to the German. And although there was no reason for joy, “both of these people looked at each other with happy delight and brotherly love, shook their heads as a sign of mutual love and, smiling, dispersed.” The return home of Denisov, who lost at cards. Denisov - little man with black mustache, eyes and hair and a red face. Denisov lost the day before and now asks Rostov to count how much money he has left and then put his wallet under his pillow. The arrival of officer Telyanin. Telyanin was transferred from the guard, and everyone did not like this man for some incomprehensible reason. Rostov and Denisov leave the room. Then they return, Rostov and Telyanin go to look at the horse. Denisov writes a letter to "her". The arrival of the sergeant for money and the discovery of the loss of a purse with money from Denisov. Lavrushka, Denisov's orderly, and Rostov are looking for a wallet. Rostov guesses that Telyanin took the wallet at the moment when Denisov and Rostov left the room. Rostov accuses Telyanin of stealing his wallet. Telyanin at first gives out Denisov's money for his own, but under the pressure of Rostov he confesses and asks the latter not to destroy him. Rostov leaves, but then returns and throws money to Telyanin with the words: "If you need it, take this money."
A lively conversation between the officers of the Denisov squadron about the story with Telyanin, which caused a quarrel between Nikolai Rostov and the regimental commander. The officers advise Nikolai to apologize to the regimental commander for saying in front of other officers that the officer stole. Rostov disagrees. But the headquarters captain says that it is necessary to apologize, because otherwise the honor of the regiment will suffer. It was not necessary to say so directly that the officer stole, but to consult how to do everything quietly and peacefully. Rostov understands that the honor of the regiment
suffers that he is guilty, but he cannot apologize like a boy. The arrival of Zherkov with a message about the defeat of Mack and about the campaign. The second adjutant enters and confirms the news of the start of the campaign.
Retreat of Russian troops to Vienna.
Crossing the bridge over the Enns by the last Russian troops.
Chapter VIII.
The crush on the bridge stops, the last battalion enters it. Approach to the bridge of the French troops. French artillery fire on hussars. The cannonballs flew over the heads of the hussars and hit somewhere behind. Denisov at his squadron. He orders the squadron to be transferred to the other end of the bridge, to his own. The passage of the squadron across the bridge to their troops. Zherkov, and then Nesvitsky, brought the order from the head of the rearguard to the colonel of the Pavlograd regiment to stop and set fire to the bridge.
Colonel's order to Denisov's squadron to return and set fire to the bridge. Rostov thinks about whether he is a coward, whether he can set fire to the bridge. Hussars, under canister fire from the French, set fire to the bridge. Experiences of Nikolai Rostov during the ignition of the bridge.
Retreat of Kutuzov's army down the Danube.
Prince Andrei stops in Brunn with his familiar diplomat Bilibin. Characteristics of Bilibin. He was a man of the same society as the prince, about thirty-five years old, who promised to go far in the diplomatic field. He began serving at the age of eighteen, visited many places abroad, and now occupied a rather significant place in Vienna. He always worked equally well, whatever the essence of the work.
Prince Andrei at Bilibin's in a circle of young Russian diplomats. There were four Russian diplomats in Bilibin's office, one of whom was Ippolit Kuragin, and Bilibin introduced the others to the prince. They made up a separate circle, which Bilibin called ours. Prince Andrei was accepted willingly, as one of his own. Bilibin "treats" Bolkonsky with Ippolit Kuragin. Hippolyte was something of a jester in this society. Prince Andrei goes to the palace.
Prince Andrei at a reception at the Austrian Emperor Franz.
Chapter XIII.
Prince Andrei among the retreating Russian troops. View of a hastily and disorderly retreating army. All along the road there were endlessly interfering wagons, teams, and again wagons overtaking each other. The officers who were watching the withdrawal drove uselessly back and forth along the road. Prince Andrei thought: "Here it is, dear, Orthodox army." Collision of Bolkonsky with a convoy officer because of a wagon with a doctor's wife. The officer did not allow the wagon to pass, the doctor's wife asked Prince Andrei for help. Prince Andrei decided to help, but the officer insulted him. Bolkonsky, with a face disfigured by rage, shouted at the officer to obey the order. The carriage has passed. Then Bolkonsky recalled this scene with displeasure. Anxiety and anxiety in the headquarters of the commander in chief. No one knows what will happen next: retreat or battle. Kutuzov was in the hut with Bagration and Weyrother, he gave orders for the battle, but not for surrender. Kutuzov sends Bagration with a detachment to delay the French advance. Bolkonsky asks Kutuzov to send him to Bagration's detachment, but he does not allow it, saying that he himself needs good officers now.
The news received by Kutuzov about the hopelessness of the situation of the Russian army, pursued by huge forces
French. The French troops, having crossed the Vienna bridge, are sent to the communication route of Kutuzov with the troops marching from Russia. Kutuzov sends Bagration's 4,000th vanguard to Gollabrunn to detain the enemy army. Bagration's detachment was supposed to "stop facing Vienna and back to Znaim" and detain the French. Kutuzov himself is also heading to Znaim. Murat, who mistook Bagration's detachment for the entire Russian army, offers the Russians a truce. This was done with the aim of completely defeating the Russian army, waiting for the replenishment of the French troops. Kutuzov immediately agrees, since for the Russians this was the only way to save the army. During the truce, it was possible to really advance the entire Russian army to Znaim. But Napoleon, seeing the benefits of the Russian army, writes a letter to Murat about breaking the truce. While Napoleon's adjutant rushed to Murat with a letter, Napoleon himself drove his army to the location of Bagration's detachment in order to defeat him and the entire Russian army. The Russians at this time kindle fires and rest, not suspecting what awaits them soon.
Prince Andrei in Bagration's detachment.
Prince Andrei from the Tushin battery surveys and sketches a plan for the location of Russian troops and the enemy. Right on the horizon, the village of Shengraben was visible, to the left and to the right were French batteries. The right flank of the Russians was on a hill, in the center was Tushin's battery, where Bolkonsky was now. Involuntarily, Bolkonsky overhears the conversation of the officers in the booth about the fear of death. One voice, familiar to Bolkonsky, says that if you knew what would happen after death, no one would be afraid of her. Another says that be afraid, don't be afraid, you can't escape death anyway. The first voice repeated that everyone is afraid of death. After all, even though they say that after death the soul goes to heaven, but there is no sky, one atmosphere. This first voice belonged to Captain Tushin. French first shot. Appearance from Tushin's booth.
Chapter XVII.
Beginning of the Battle of Shengraben.
Chapter XVIII.
Bagration on the right flank of his detachment. The proximity of the battle. Wounded. The old man, the regimental commander, reports to Bagration about the reflection of the French cavalry attack and losses. He begs Bagration not to be in danger. View of the marching French column and two Russian battalions. Bagration shouts to the soldiers: "Well done, guys!" Bagration leads the Russians on the attack. He dismounts from his horse and walks towards the enemy with a firm step. The soldiers, inspired by this act, begin the attack.
The attack of the left flank ensured the retreat of the right flank of the Russian troops.
Infantry regiments taken by surprise in the forest by the French. They start to scatter different sides, shouting a terrible word in the war: "Cut off!" The regimental commander tries to stop the fleeing soldiers. But the soldiers did not listen to their commander.
Suddenly the advancing French ran back. It was an attack by Timokhin's company. With one skewer, he rushed at the French so that they did not have time to come to their senses, threw their guns and ran. The Russians momentarily push back the French.
The retreat of Tushin's battery and the meeting with his superiors and adjutants. Everyone reproached Tushin, told him what to do and where to go. He silently trailed behind on his horse.
On the way, Tushin put the wounded on the guns, who were refused everywhere. Tushin puts the shell-shocked Nikolai Rostov on the gun.
The intention of Prince Vasily to marry Pierre Bezukhov to his daughter. Prince Vasily always and in everything sought benefits for himself, and therefore, since Pierre is now rich, he decided that he would marry him to Helen. He arranged for Pierre to be a chamber junker and insisted that he go with him to Petersburg and stay at his house.
Pierre in Petersburg in the Kuragins' house. Pierre now spends all his time with Prince Vasily - "in the company of the fat princess, his wife, and the beautiful Helen." The changed attitude of relatives, acquaintances and society towards Pierre after he became a rich man and Count Bezukhov. Now everything he said or did was sweet. Prince Vasily as Pierre's leader.
Pierre Bezukhov at the party with Anna Pavlovna Scherer. This evening was full of guests, at which Anna Pavlovna "treated" everyone with a diplomat who had come from Berlin. Anna Pavlovna, as it were, pushes Pierre to Helen all evening, talking about how beautiful she is, and that the one who marries her will be the happiest in the world. Hélène and Pierre are in the corner with the landlady's aunt. They lead with aunty boring and long conversation, during which Hélène smiles at Pierre with her irresistible smile. Pierre sees her marble beauty, feels all the charm of her body, barely covered by a dress, and decides that Helen should be his wife. Returning home, Pierre dreams of "how she will be his wife, how she can love him."
Pierre, who decided to leave and avoid Helen, lives for a month and a half in the Kuragins' house and more and more in the eyes of people associates himself with her. After a while, they are left alone. Pierre is nervous again, cannot remember what is said in such cases, and finally says: “Je vous aime!” Pierre's marriage to Helen in a month and a half. He and Helen settle in "a large St. Petersburg newly decorated house of the Counts Bezukhovs."
Receipt by the old prince Nikolai Andreevich of the news of the arrival of Prince Vasily with his son in the Bald Mountains.
Princess Mary's exit to the guests. She sees everyone around, but cannot see one Anatole. But when she finally looked at him, Anatole's beauty struck her. Anatole silently looks at Princess Marya, completely at that moment not thinking about her. He was not resourceful and eloquent in conversations, but he was invariably calm and self-confident. In dealing with women, he has a manner of contemptuous superiority. The general conversation is "memories of never-before incidents." Anatole's interest in Bourienne. Bourien interested Anatole much more than Princess Mary. Seeing her, pretty, he decided that in the Bald Mountains he would not be so bored. Dressing the old prince and his thoughts about the unauthorized marriage of Princess Mary. The arrival of the guests required the old prince to resolve a painful question for him: "whether he will ever decide to part with Princess Mary and give her in marriage." After all, life without Princess Mary was unthinkable for him. Exit of the old prince to the guests. He quickly looks around at all those present and sees that Princess Marya is absolutely not interesting for Anatole. His daughter's reprimand for the outfit and the new hairstyle. Conversation between the prince and Anatole. The old prince asks if Anatole is in the army.
The mood of Princess Mary, Bourienne and the little princess after the evening.
The Rostovs receive a letter from Nikolai about being wounded and about being promoted to officer.
Olmyutsky camp. The trip of Nikolai Rostov to Boris Drubetsky in the guards camp to receive money and letters sent from home.
Chapter VIII.
Review of Russian and Austrian troops by two emperors Alexander I and Franz. From early morning, smartly cleaned and cleaned troops line up on the field in front of the fortress. The army was stretched out in three lines, there were streets between the rows of troops. Emperor Alexander appeared and greeted the troops. The same in response barked "Hurrah!" Rostov stands in the forefront of the Kutuzov army. The feeling of love and adoration of Nikolai Rostov for the sovereign. When the emperor drives closer, Rostov examines him Beautiful face and feels a feeling of tenderness and delight, which has never experienced before. In the retinue of the emperor, Rostov notices Bolkonsky, recalls yesterday's quarrel with him and thinks that at such a moment he forgives everything to Prince Andrei. After the review, everyone only talked about Alexander, everyone was determined to go under his leadership against any enemy.
Boris Drubetsky's trip to Olmutz to Bolkonsky for his appointment as adjutant to an important person. It was precisely this position that seemed to Boris the most advantageous and tempting. The scene in the reception room of the commander-in-chief. In the waiting room, where Boris asks for Bolkonsky, they try with all their might to show him that there are thousands like him, and everyone is already tired of it. A conversation between Prince Andrei and an old Russian general. The general was reporting something to Prince Andrei with an obsequious expression on his face. He, with courteous weariness, “which clearly says that if it weren’t for my duty, I wouldn’t talk to you for a minute,” listens to him. Bolkonsky, noticing Boris, asks the general to wait. Boris's decision to continue to serve under unwritten subordination. It is on it that this general with awards is drawn out in front of the adjutant.
Squadron Denisov, in which Nikolai Rostov serves in the reserve. Nikolai, who wanted to fight, spends the whole day bored. Soldiers and officers pass by and talk about the victory of the Russians over the French in the battle of Vishau and the capture of a French squadron. Rostov's chagrin over non-participation in the case. Rostov buys the horse of a captured French dragoon from the Cossacks. Arrival of Emperor Alexander. Delight of Rostov. Rostov was delighted that he saw the emperor again. He considered that this was his reward for the day spent in the reserve. The emperor was told about the victory at Vishau, which consisted in capturing a French squadron. But it seemed to the Russians that the French were defeated and were retreating, and therefore the Rostov regiment was called to Vishau. His new meeting with the king in Vishau. The sovereign, seeing the wounded man, shed a tear and said: “What a terrible thing war is!” Denisov's celebration of his promotion to the majors. Dreams of Rostov to die for the Tsar. Having pretty much drunk, Rostov proposes a toast to a kind, charming and great man, to Alexander. At that time, many on the eve of the Battle of Austerlitz experienced similar feelings.
Illness of Emperor Alexander in Vishau. His ill health was due to the effect on the sensitive soul of the emperor of the sight of the wounded and killed. The arrival of the French truce Savary with a proposal for a meeting between Emperor Alexander and Napoleon. A personal meeting was refused, but Prince Dolgorukov was sent to Napoleon. "Movement" in the main apartment on November 19 in favor of the decision to give the Battle of Austerlitz. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky with Prince Dolgorukov. The story of the latter about his meeting with Napoleon and his fear of a pitched battle. Dolgorukov says that Napoleon is scared, he is retreating, because he does not want a general battle. And this is the most advantageous position for the Russians. And Kutuzov proposes to wait, not to give a general battle. Because of this, everyone is unhappy with them. Dolgorukov's presentation of the plan for the flank movement of Weyrother. The objection of Prince Andrei and his presentation of his plan. Dolgorukov proposes to express this plan at the military council at Kutuzov. Bolkonsky, upon returning home, asks Kutuzov what he thinks about tomorrow's battle. Kutuzov's opinion is that the battle will be lost.
Meeting of the military council. Characteristics of Weyrother. He was the overall manager of the proposed battle. He spoke quickly, without looking at the interlocutor, he interrupted. He looked confused, but arrogant and proud. Kutuzov, sleepy and dissatisfied, falls asleep during the meeting. Weyrother reading the disposition of the Battle of Austerlitz. The generals get bored while reading the disposition. Langeron's objections. He says that the disposition is complex and will be difficult to carry out. The objections were sound, but were intended only to make Weyrother understand that he was not dealing with fools who themselves could teach him about military affairs. Kutuzov, intervening in the conversation, closes the meeting. He says that the disposition cannot be changed, and everyone will do their duty tomorrow.
Chapter XIII.
Nikolai Rostov in the flanker chain. He rides ahead of this chain and tries to stay awake. Dreams of Rostov. He dreams that the emperor himself is bringing Rostov closer to himself. And then he will do everything to protect the life of the emperor. Screams in the enemy army bring Rostov to his senses. Prince Bagration and Prince Dolgorukov look at the strange phenomenon of lights and screams in the French army. Dolgorukov says that this is a trick. The French actually retreated, and the lights were lit and shouted to mislead the Russians. Bagration sends Rostov to see if the chain of French flankers has left.
The movement of Russian columns. Consciousness of ongoing disorder and confusion. The columns moved, not knowing where to go, and not seeing those around them because of the fog and smoke from the fires. dissatisfaction with the Austrians. It seemed to the Austrians that during the transition the center went too far from the right flank, and it was decided to move it closer. This caused even more confusion.
The movement of the 4th column of Russian troops, led by Kutuzov. The mood and dreams of Prince Andrei before the start of the battle. He was firmly convinced that "today was the day of his Toulon." Irritation of Kutuzov against the general because he decided to turn the front right in front of the enemy. Kutuzov sends Prince Andrei with an order to stop the third division and send a rifle chain forward. Bolkonsky makes sure that there were no rifle chains in front of our columns.
The fog began to dissipate, and the French troops appeared.
Chapter XVII.
On the right flank of the Russian troops near Bagration, at 9 o'clock, the work has not yet begun. Prince Bagration sends Nikolai Rostov to the commander-in-chief or to the emperor for an order to start a business. Rostov's trip along the front of Russian troops.
Chapter XVIII.
Rostov near the village of Pratsa, where he was ordered to look for the commander in chief. But there were only upset crowds of Russian troops. The rumor about the wounding of the sovereign and the commander in chief, about the lost battle. Rostov cannot believe what he hears. A field with a view of the dead and wounded. The wounded and the dead lay in groups of 10-15 and moaned, as it seemed to Rostov, feignedly. He lets his horse gallop so as not to see all this. French gunshots at Rostov. Rostov felt sorry for himself. Outside the village of Gostieradek, Rostov sees the sovereign and does not dare to turn to him. The emperor was pale, his cheeks sunken. Captain von Tol talks to the king, helps him cross the ditch, the emperor shakes hands with Tol. Regrets
Rostov about his indecision and his search for Kutuzov. The defeat of the Russians in the battle of Austerlitz. More than a hundred guns are in the hands of the French. The retreat of the upset Russian columns. French artillery cannonade on the Augesta dam. On this dam, thousands of soldiers made their way under the bullets of the enemy, cleared their way, walked over the dead, so that they themselves would be killed in a few seconds. Dolokhov at the Augusta dam. He jumps from the dam onto the ice. Others ran after him. The ice cracked, "and about forty people who were on the ice rushed forward, some back, drowning each other."
Prince Andrei lies wounded on the Pratsenskaya mountain. He is bleeding and moaning in a low voice without knowing it. He again sees that high Austerlitz sky, which he "had not known until now and saw today." Napoleon circles the battlefield. Looking at Bolkonsky, he says that his death is glorious. Napoleon notices that Prince Andrei is alive and orders him to be taken to the dressing station. Napoleon, the hero of Prince Andrei, now seems to him so insignificant in comparison with what is going on in his soul. Wounded Russian officers are put up to be shown to Napoleon. French soldiers say that among the wounded is "the commander of the entire guard of Emperor Alexander." Bolkonsky recognizes Repnin. Napoleon's conversation with Prince Repnin and Lieutenant Sukhtelen. Napoleon says that Repnin's regiment honestly fulfilled its duty. Repnin replies: “There is praise for the great commander best reward soldier." Napoleon turns to Bolkonsky. But the thoughts of Prince Bolkonsky about Napoleon, about the insignificance of greatness and the insignificance of life and death, do not allow him to answer. The episode with the icon taken from Prince Andrei by French soldiers and put on him again. They did this because their emperor was especially affectionate with Prince Andrei. Prince Andrei, among other wounded, remains in the care of local residents. In delirium, Bolkonsky appears quiet life and family happiness in the Bald Mountains, which is destroyed by little Napoleon "with his indifferent, limited and happy look from the misfortune of others." According to the doctor, Bolkonsky's delirium should have been resolved rather death than recovery.
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After parting with Helen, Pierre Bezukhov went to St. Petersburg. At one of the stops on his way, at the post station, he plunges into serious thoughts about life and death, about himself and the people around him, about wealth and poverty, about love and hate. Pierre is confused, everything around him seems disgusting, but at the same time it attracts, does not let go. On the way he meets a strange old man, with whom for some reason he wants to talk, but all attempts to start a conversation run into an indifferent pose in which this person is. On his hand is a massive ring.
The fellow traveler nevertheless spoke to Pierre himself, saying that he knew about his misfortune and wanted to help him. He belongs to the Masons, is a member of the brotherhood of free masons, as evidenced by his ring. He calls Pierre's way of thinking "the monotonous fruit of pride, laziness and ignorance", "a sad delusion". They talk about God, in which Pierre does not believe. “You don’t know him, that’s why you are unhappy ... He is here, in my words, he is in you, and even in those blasphemous speeches that you uttered now ... If he weren’t there, we wouldn’t talk about him, my lord . What, who were we talking about? Who did you deny? Who invented it, if it does not exist? Why did the assumption arise in you that there is such an incomprehensible being? Why did you and the whole world assume the existence of such an incomprehensible being, a being omnipotent, eternal and infinite in all its properties? »
Pierre believed his fellow traveler with all his heart. He believed that there is only one science in the world that explains the universe and man's place in it, and in order to understand this science, you need to improve your inner self, and also not forget about God's light - about conscience. The Mason advises Pierre to change his life, cleanse it and learn wisdom, ceasing to hate everything around.
Pierre decides to become a follower of the Masonic movement. A fellow traveler - and this was Osip Alekseevich Bazdeev, one of the most famous Freemasons and Martinists - gives him a letter of recommendation to Count Villarsky. In St. Petersburg, Pierre did not inform anyone of his arrival. He leads a hermit life, spends whole days at home reading the works of the medieval mystic Thomas of Kempis, who preached asceticism and humility.
After some time, Pierre is visited by the Count of Villars. The purpose of his visit is to inform that, thanks to the petition of a high-ranking official, Bezukhov can be accepted into the brotherhood ahead of schedule. Pierre assures Villarsky that he has renounced former life and believe in God.
Villarsky and Pierre are going to the initiation ceremony. During the procedure, he sees his acquaintances from high society.
The next day, Prince Vasily suddenly appears at Pierre's house, having arrived to persuade him to make peace with Helen. Pierre did not speak to him. A week later, Bezukhov said goodbye to his new brotherhood friends, left them large donations, and left to spread the Masonic faith. Members of the brotherhood gave him letters of recommendation to the Freemasons of Kiev and Odessa.
In society, the history of the duel between Pierre and Dolokhov is being discussed in full swing. Pierre is called a stupid jealous, compared with his father, who also had a tough temper. None of the participants in the duel was punished by law, but high society people had a topic for conversation. Helen is still the star of fashion salons, only now the reputation of an unfairly offended wife is added to her image. In the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer Helen meets Boris Drubetskoy. He had just returned from the Prussian army, where he was adjutant to a high-ranking person. Helen clearly sympathizes with him. As for Boris, he had long forgotten about Natasha and those childhood feelings that supposedly connected them.
Helen invites Boris to visit. After a reception at which there were many guests, the hostess of the evening invites Boris in a whisper to come to her in the evening of the next day. They are getting closer.
Meanwhile, the war rages on. Russia's borders are at great risk.
The Bolkonskys have big changes, the old prince was appointed by the sovereign as one of the eight commanders-in-chief of the militia.
The elder Bolkonsky is extremely pleased with this activity, he no longer spends time exclusively on his estate, on the contrary, he travels all over Russia.
Little Nikolai, the son of Prince Andrei, lives with a nurse and a nurse. Princess Marya takes care of him, trying to replace her dead mother.
Prince Andrei mostly lives on his own estate, Bogucharovo, forty versts from Lysy Gory. The estate after his return was given to him by his father. After the Battle of Austerlitz, Andrei decided never to return to the army.
With the outbreak of the war, this promise to himself becomes difficult to fulfill, and Andrei, choosing between two evils, accepts a position under the command of his father to collect the militia.
February 26, 1807 the old prince goes to Once again ride. Prince Andrei remains in the Bald Mountains. His son has been ill for the fourth day now, his fever does not subside. The old prince in a letter demands that Andrei go on a business trip, but he does not go. His attitude to the service does not change over time.
Once in his estate in Kyiv, Pierre gathered all the managers and announced his will to them. First of all, he wished to immediately take measures for the complete liberation of the peasants from serfdom. According to his will, the peasants should no longer be burdened with work, women with children should not be sent to work at all, assistance should be provided to the peasants, punishments should be used persuasive, not corporal, hospitals, shelters and schools should be established on each estate. From his words, the managers understood almost nothing, and those who understood immediately saw the possibility of their own enrichment.
Pierre is very rich, but he does not feel this wealth. Money is flowing in an unknown direction, he is constantly informed about fires and crop failures, and even at a time when his father gave him ten thousand a year, he felt better off. There is an urgent need to take care of things on their own, but Pierre does not have the necessary inclinations of a manager, and is not eager to become a real owner.
In the spring of 1807, Pierre decides to return to St. Petersburg, visiting all his estates along the way. By order of the chief manager in each estate, preparations were made with religious coloring and modest treats. The cunning manager knows that Pierre does not like the chic celebrations in honor of his arrival. But Bezukhov really liked how they met him on the estates at the behest of the manager. Extremely pleased, he stopped by the Bolkonskys on the way. Not finding Andrei on the estate, he went to the indicated address. Prince Andrei is glad for the arrival of a friend, but he fails to deceive him, he sees that Bolkonsky looks with an extinct look and nothing pleases him.
Andrei says that only two things in life interfere with happiness: remorse and illness. Their absence is already happiness. To live, according to him, is necessary for oneself, avoiding only two evils. Pierre does not agree with this, he asks, what about love for one's neighbor, self-sacrifice? He gives examples from his own life, says that he lived for himself, without doing evil, by which he almost ruined his life, and only now, when he tries to live for others, did he feel all the happiness of life.
It seems to Andrei that Pierre's thoughts are similar to those of his sister. He himself "lived for glory", for others and "not almost, but completely ruined his life." Since then, he has become calm, as he began to live for himself alone. Regarding the reforms initiated by Pierre, Prince Andrei speaks negatively, he believes that a peasant, free from physical labor, is deprived of the conditions of existence; that the cripple does not recover from treatment, but only gets additional time for torment. When asked about the abandoned service, Andrei says that even if Bonaparte had stood at Smolensk, threatening the Bald Mountains, he would not have served in the Russian army even then.
The prince himself believes that the peasants should be given freedom not for their own sake, but for the sake of themselves and those noble people who are spoiled by power over others. He listens with interest to Pierre's stories about Freemasonry, he does not really understand this trend, but strives for it. For the first time since that battle
Bolkonsky becomes joyful, for the first time a high and clear sky opens up to him. Andrei is changing again, this time in better side. Princess Mary, when meeting with Pierre, says that her brother is dying from idleness, he needs to be constantly busy.
A visit to the Bolkonskys has an extremely beneficial effect on Pierre. He leaves in a great mood.
Upon returning from vacation, Rostov realizes how much the army means to him. It is like home to him. At the same time, he is embarrassed by the circumstances under which he left his parental home. Nikolai decides from now on to save money and pay off the debt to his parents in five years.
The arrival of the sovereign is expected in the army. A new military campaign is being prepared, but the conditions for it are not the best: the weather is bad, the roads are lucky, there is not enough food. In abandoned villages, people are looking for potatoes. Hunger and disease crippled the soldiers.
The friendship between Rostov and Denisov is growing stronger. Denisov takes care of Rostov and other people in his regiment, even recapturing someone else's food transport to feed people. Denisov started having problems, he is accused of looting. He was ordered to report to the headquarters of the division. However, before the appointed date, Denisov was wounded on a mission and sent to the hospital.
Rostov goes to the hospital to visit his friend. He sees the conditions in which the seriously wounded soldiers are: they lie on the straw, there is no one to take care of them. At the request of Denisov, Nikolai goes with a letter to the sovereign in Tilsit. There are French and Russian emperors. Among the few officers present at the meeting of the emperors is Boris Drubetskoy. He is now in good standing, the emperor himself knows him by sight. Rostov arrived with a letter in which he asked for a pardon for Denisov, but when meeting with Drubetsky it becomes clear that he will not help in this matter. You can’t break through to the sovereign either, he is constantly at negotiations or dinner parties. Rostov sends a letter to the former head of the division. He spoke with the sovereign and received from him a refusal to pardon.
Rostov lashes out at one of the officers, who is discussing the truce concluded with Napoleon. Nikolai is sure that it is impossible to discuss the motives of the emperor, otherwise nothing sacred will remain.
Meanwhile, the rapprochement between the Russian and French emperors is obvious. In 1808, the Russian corps comes out to assist its former enemy against Austria.
Prince Andrei has been living in the village for two years now, practically without leaving. He became Pierre's attorney in the affairs of the estate and leads them quite successfully. In addition, he reads a lot, analyzes why the last two military campaigns ended in failure, and also draws up a project to change military regulations and regulations.
In the spring of 1809, Prince Andrei went to the Ryazan estates of his son. On the way, he thinks a lot about life, about love, and comes to the conclusion that love is the destiny of the young, to whom he no longer applies. He looks at an old ugly oak standing among cheerful birches. He seems to be telling Bolkonsky that love is a deception that he should not succumb to. (The tree in this case is an image with which Andrei can be compared, who has enclosed himself in the shackles of indifference, apathy, spiritual anguish.) He once again decides that he can no longer create anything new, he should just live out his life without doing evil and don't worry.
In mid-May, Andrei goes to the district marshal, Count Ilya Andreevich Rostov. Near the estate, cheerful, laughing girls rush to meet him, in front of him ran a thin black-haired and black-eyed girl in a yellow cotton dress. Seeing her, Andrei experienced a strange feeling, he suddenly felt pain, and he thought in bewilderment: why is she so happy?
Yielding to the persuasion of the owners, Andrei remained in the estate. In the evening he cannot sleep for a long time. Looking into the night sky, he suddenly heard female voices. Sonya and Natasha spoke. Natasha admires the beauty, wonders at the beauty of the night, wonders how one can sleep. Her words instill in Andrei a strange feeling, as if he suddenly wanted the same attitude to life, opposite to his own.
The next day, the prince leaves without saying goodbye to the girls. On the way back, he again sees the same old oak tree. And what? There is no ugly look at all.
The oak has changed, it is drowning in greenery, boastfully showing soft green leaves. Andrei suddenly feels causeless fun. Perhaps life is not at all as meaningless as he thought it was in his early thirties.
In August 1809, Prince Andrei went to St. Petersburg. He had a goal - he was carrying his draft of a new charter to the sovereign. He is invited to Arakcheev, who says that he does not approve of the new laws, because there is no one to fulfill the old ones. He considers Bolkonsky’s project to be written off from French, but recommends Andrei as a member of the Military Regulations Committee, however, without paying him a salary.
Prince Andrei is interested in the personality of Speransky, who at that time was at the peak of his popularity. The liberals are trying to attract the smart and well-read Bolkonsky into their ranks, his goals and actions are close to them, in particular those relating to the liberation of the peasants. Everyone notices how Andrei has changed: he no longer has the former pretense and pride. Having become acquainted with Speransky, the prince is imbued with respect for him, as for a person corresponding to his new ideas about the ideal. Andrey involuntarily agreed with him in everything, he is only embarrassed by "the cold, mirror-like look of Speransky, not letting himself into his soul, and his white, tender hand."
A week after the conversation with Speransky, Prince Andrey becomes a member of the Commission for drafting military regulations and, which he did not expect, the head of a department of the Commission for drafting laws.
At the request of Speransky, Andrei took the first part of the civil code being compiled and, with the help of the Napoleonic Code and the Code of Justinian, worked on compiling the section “Rights of Persons”.
In 1808 he returned from his trip to the estates of Pierre. He becomes the head of St. Petersburg Freemasonry. Pierre recruits new members, takes care of connecting various lodges and acquiring genuine deeds, gives money for the construction of temples and replenishes alms as far as possible. At his own expense, he supported the house of the poor, arranged by the Order in St. Petersburg. As for his private life, it has not changed much. As before, Pierre eats and drinks a lot, having fun as a bachelor. The more he looks at his brothers in Freemasonry, the more clearly he understands that they strive for ranks, that they are stingy with alms.
Doubts rise in Pierre's soul, he feels dissatisfaction with the activities of society, he suspects that Russian Freemasonry is moving along the wrong path.
To initiate himself into the highest secrets of the order, Pierre travels abroad, where he stays until the summer of 1809.
Upon Bezukhov's return, St. Petersburg Freemasons constantly visit him. It seems to them that Pierre has some plans for the brotherhood. Appointed ceremonial meeting, where Bezukhov should speak on behalf of the top leaders of the order. Terribly embarrassed, he proclaims that action must be taken, not sleep. It is necessary to connect worthy people to the order, to distribute special image life, find allies around the world. These hot words do not find support, Pierre understands this bitterly.
After some time, Pierre receives a letter from Helen. She writes that she is going to Petersburg and begs for a date.
A certain representative of the order, in a conversation with Pierre, notices that he is unfair to his wife. The wife of Prince Vasily invited him to her place for an important conversation. In order to think things over and consult with Osip Alekseevich Bazdeev, whose opinion he respects very much, Pierre goes to Moscow. The Mason advises him to strive for perfection and self-knowledge, and upon his return to St. Petersburg, Pierre reconciles with his wife.
During the separation, Helen gained a reputation as a rare woman who is not only beautiful, but also smart. To take advantage of her goodwill, to visit her salon was to have a pass into the world of intellectuals. Pierre is surprised by this state of affairs and waits with fear for everyone to realize that Helen is really stupid. However, this does not happen. At receptions, Pierre often meets Boris Drubetskoy, for some unknown reason, this person annoys Bezukhov.
In the Rostov family, the financial situation did not improve at all during the years that they spent in the village. The affairs of the estate are not going well, debts are growing. To avoid the crisis, the old count decides to enter the service. The family moves to Petersburg.
Berg proposes to Vera, the eldest daughter of the Rostovs. He everywhere tells how he distinguished himself in the battle of Austerlitz, how, the wounded, continued to fight in the thick of things, boasts of his awards, distinctions in the Finnish War. In Petersburg, he held some important post. With the Rostov family, Berg negotiates for himself a dowry of twenty thousand cash, as well as a bill of exchange for eighty thousand rubles.
Sixteen-year-old Natasha is waiting to meet Boris, whom she has not seen for four years. He wants to immediately indicate that there is no place for children's passion. He currently occupies a prominent place in society due to the location of Helen. However, when he meets Natasha, he is amazed at the changes that have taken place in her and is again carried away by her. His visits to the Rostovs become longer and more frequent, while Helen, on the contrary, sees Boris less and less, which she never ceases to reproach. The countess, in a conversation with Natasha, notices that she does not love Boris, and after the conversation between the countess and Drubetsky, he ceases to visit the Rostovs.
A grandiose ball is coming at the Catherine's grandee, the first big ball for Natasha. It must take place in last days old, 1809. The entire diplomatic corps and the sovereign himself are expected. Natasha spends the day before the ball in terrible excitement. She tries to make herself look decent, arrives late when everyone is already gathered, is nervous and feels absolutely happy.
The ball is attended by a huge number of guests. Natasha is worried that no one will invite her to the dance and that she will have to stand at the wall for the whole ball. Pierre asks Bolkonsky to invite Natasha to dance. Spinning with her in a waltz, Andrei feels rejuvenated and happy. Natasha is also happy, she dances excellently with a wonderful gentleman. After the dance with Bolkonsky, invitations rained down on her, Natasha passes some of them on to Sonya. The next time Prince Andrei turned out to be Natasha's cavalier, he said that he had heard Natasha's night conversation in Otradnoye. Bolkonsky is surprised by his feelings, he definitely likes Natasha, and so much so that he even wonders if she will be his wife.
Pierre at the ball is unhappy with how Helen is perceived in high society. Natasha pities him, wants to help, suffers from injustice - such a good person suffers.
After the ball, Andrei constantly thinks about Natasha. She so captured his mind that even the views of Speransky, who had previously had a great influence on the prince, faded for him. Bolkonsky leaves early from the guests, at home he recalls how he created his draft military charter, recalls committee meetings, his legislative work and other affairs that he abandoned. He feels ashamed that he stopped burning with ideas. The next day, Prince Andrei goes to the Rostovs to see Natasha.
After spending time in the Rostovs' house, Andrey suddenly felt happy. For the first time in for a long time he began to make plans. Andrei imagines Natasha, and his soul is filled with a feeling of happiness and contentment with what is happening. Pierre feels that something is happening between Prince Andrei and Natasha. Both of them behave strangely at a family evening in honor of Berg's marriage to Vera Rostova. This evening was like two drops of water similar to similar ones: the same people, the same conversations, mostly in political topics, around light and cleanliness. Natasha is silent, Andrei tries to talk to her and catches the light of some inner fire that burns in it. She has completely changed.
The next day, Prince Andrei again came to the Rostovs. He spent the whole day with them, and they understood in the house what motivated him to come so often. The family is waiting, but Prince Andrei is strangely timid, as if he wants to say something to Natasha, but cannot make up his mind. She is amazed.
Prince Andrei confesses to Pierre that he is in love. This message plunges Bezukhov into sadness - his own fate against the backdrop of the bright future of Bolkonsky looks dark and unpromising.
The next day, Andrei goes to the old prince to ask his consent to marry Natasha. The father listens to him with imaginary calm, but anger boils inside him. He does not want any changes to take place in his life, in that probably small segment that he has left. Life for him was already ending, so "they would only let me live the way I want, and then they would do what they wanted."
Nevertheless, he does not express all this to his son, but gives reasonable, as it seems to him, arguments in order to dissuade his son from marrying. In his opinion, firstly, this party is by no means remarkable in relation to kinship, wealth and nobility.
Kinship with Natasha's family seems to the elder Bolkonsky a kind of misalliance. Secondly, Prince Andrei is far from being as young as Natasha. In addition, he is in poor health. Thirdly, he has a son, will a young girl become a good mother to him? And, summing up his arguments, the old prince, looking mockingly at his son, asks him to put off thoughts of marriage for a year. “Go abroad, get medical treatment, find, as you want, a German for Prince Nikolai, and then, if love, passion, stubbornness, whatever you want, are so great, then get married.” This the last word father, whom Prince Andrei decides to follow.
Three weeks after his last evening at the Rostovs, Prince Andrei returns to St. Petersburg.
All this time, Natasha waited in vain for him, worried and extremely worried. She felt very unhappy, but finally Bolkonsky arrives. He explained his absence by a trip to his father and asked for Natasha's hand in marriage.
The Countess accepts the offer. Upon learning that Andrei's father wishes to postpone the wedding for a year, the countess calls Natasha, and the prince declares his love for her. When asked if she loves him, Natasha replies: “Yes!”
“Prince Andrei held her hand, looked into her eyes and did not find in his soul the former love for her. Something suddenly turned in his soul: there was no former poetic and mysterious charm of desire, but there was pity for her feminine and childish weakness, there was fear of her devotion and gullibility, a heavy and at the same time joyful consciousness of duty that forever connected him with her. They decide to keep the engagement a secret, in a year the young people get to know each other, and even then it will be possible to announce the upcoming wedding.
From now on, Prince Andrei begins to go to the Rostovs as a groom. On the eve of his departure from St. Petersburg, he arrives with Pierre and punishes Natasha so that she turns to Bezukhov for help in any circumstances.
After leaving, Natasha plunged into very difficult experiences. Separation from Andrei made her silent, sad, but not for long - already two weeks after his departure, those around her noticed that she had again become as cheerful and carefree as before.
Old Prince Bolkonsky last years handed over to hand over. His health deteriorated, he became irritable, prone to bouts of anger. Princess Marya suffers from his attacks, she is the only one who takes all the blows of the old man and cannot do anything to save herself from his attacks.
There are only two values in her life - her nephew Nikolai and religion.
Nothing makes her happy anymore. The old prince, knowing this, tries to inject more painfully. Marya, in spite of everything, believes that he is right and fair, she finds excuses for him.
The only thing Princess Mary would like is to leave her family and native home, dress up as a wanderer and go on a long journey. Without committing evil, she dreams of traveling and praying for everyone in the world. A wanderer named Fedosyushka described to her the charms of such a life, Marya consulted with her confessor and received his approval. However, until she decides to leave Father's house because, in spite of everything, he loves his father very much and does not want to leave his nephew.
Marya receives a letter from her brother, in which he asks her to ask her father if he will reduce the time given to him to consider marriage by three months. Half of the deadline has already passed. Now Andrei Bolkonsky is in Switzerland.
In response to such requests, the old prince orders Marya to write so that Andrei waits for his death, and only then gets married. Like, it won't be long now...
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