War and Peace

Chapter 17

Part One

[One]

At the beginning of [-], Malar Rostav went home for vacation, and Jackoff was also going back to his home in Voronezh, so Rostav advised Deniso Liu Qing to go to Moscow and live in his home.

The horse-drawn sleigh finally drove into Earl Lowstaff's house under Lowstaff's uncontrollable eagerness. When he entered the house, he saw the servant. At this moment, Lowstaff seemed to have completely forgotten about Jackoff. I would like to let the servant go to report first, throw away the leather jacket, and rush to the dark hall on tiptoe.As soon as he ran into the living room, a person rushed out of the living room like a storm, hugged him, and kissed him, and the second and third people also rushed out, a series of hugs and kisses, everyone could not restrain Despite the excitement, they all shed tears of happiness.Martha, Natess, Willie, and the old earl embraced him one by one, and the male and female servants crowded the room, talking about the joy of reunion.

Little Peter also ran forward and called, "And me?"

Natès kissed her brother all over the face, then jumped away from him, grabbed the hem of his coat, and jumped up and down like a monkey, squealing.

Martha, blushing as if painted, also took his hand, looking at him with delighted eyes in her excited face.Martha is sixteen years old, and she is very pretty, especially in this kind of scene.Lostaff looked at her gratefully, but at the same time seemed to be looking for someone.Before the old countess came out, at this moment, there was another sound of broken footsteps outside the door. The footsteps were so hurried that they didn't sound like mother's footsteps.But when he came in, it turned out to be her. She was wearing a new dress that he had never seen before.Everyone got out of the way, and he ran to his mother, who threw herself into his arms, burst into tears, and pressed her face to the cold ribbon of his cavalry uniform.No one noticed that Jackoff also came in. He stood aside and looked at the mother and child, with a burst of sadness in his heart and tears in his eyes.

"My name is Vasiliev, a friend of your son's," he introduced himself to the old count, who looked at him questioningly.

"Welcome. I know, I know," the count said, kissing Jackoff, "Malar mentioned you in a letter...Natiss, Willie, come and have a look, this is Jackoff."

The happy, cheery faces turned to Jackoff again and surrounded him.

"Dear Jackoff!" Natess screamed, jumped in front of Jackoff, hugged him and kissed him.Everyone felt a little embarrassed by Natess's move, Jackoff blushed, but he smiled slightly, took Natess's hand and kissed it.The next day, those who came back from a long way slept until ten o'clock in the morning before getting up. "Malar, come out in your pajamas." Natess' voice came from outside the door.

Rustaff quickly put on his shoes, put on his pajamas, and walked out.Natisse and Martha were both outside, looking very charming in the same new blue dress.When he came out of the room, Martha avoided it, but Natisse took him by the hand and drew him into the living room, whereupon they began a lively conversation.

"Why did Martha go?" asked Rosettaver. "It's a long story, well, I'll tell you now. You know, I'm Martha's best friend, and I know that if she loves you, she'll love you forever."

"Is that all?" said Rosetaffer. "Indeed, she loves me and you so much," said Nates, blushing, "do you remember, when you were going out, she said you would forget all of this... She said, I will always Love him, but I let him choose. That's noble, isn't it?"

"I can't count my words," said Lostaff. "No, no," cried Natès, "I thought you would say that, but how can it be, because if you say so, you will feel that you are bound by your promise, as if you were forced to It's like marrying her."

Rose Tapher could see that they had been thinking about all this for a long time.

"That's the end of the matter for today," said Lostaff. "And you haven't changed your mind about Britz?"

"What a fool!" cried Natess, laughing. "I miss neither him nor anyone else."

"You don't want to marry Blitz anymore?" "I don't want to marry anyone. I met him and I'm going to tell him myself." While eating breakfast, Malal found that everyone was watching him, observing his attitude towards Marl Sarah's attitude.He addressed Martha as "you," although they exchanged friendly glances.The old countess was a little worried about the love between her son and Martha, because she would miss a great opportunity to marry a famous nobleman.

[two]

On his return to Moscow, Malal Lostav was regarded by his family as a hero, by his relatives as a promising and polite young man, by his friends as a dashing lieutenant of hussars, a skilled A good dancer and Moscow's most handsome mate.In a short period of time, Rostaff got used to the old living environment again and felt very comfortable.The old earl is very rich this year, because he has mortgaged all the estates, so Malal Lowstaff can wear the most fashionable clothes and play the most fashionable horse racing games.

In Moscow, his admiration for the emperor became a little colder, because he had no chance to see the emperor recently, but he still talked about the emperor often, and talked about his respect and love for the emperor. Love, the emperor as "the gods in the sky".

He had not lived long in Moscow, and Rostav not only refused to invite Masha, but even ignored her.She is very beautiful, although she likes him very much, but he is in adolescence with a lot of things to do, young people value freedom, he hopes to live an unfettered life, and does not want to be restrained.Thinking of Martha, he often reminded himself: "There are beautiful girls everywhere, and I'm afraid I can't find them. As long as I am happy, I always have the opportunity to talk about love, but I don't have time now." Feeling unmanly, and racing, going to the English Club, playing with Jackoff, going to that sort of place—that's what a brave hussar is.

At the beginning of March, the old earl Ilya Lowstaff began preparations for a banquet in honor of the Duke of Borgoladgeo at the English Club.The reason why the club entrusted him to organize this banquet was that few people were as generous as him, and the chefs and managers were full of joy when they waited for the old count to dispatch them, because they knew that it would cost thousands of rubles to organize a banquet with the old count. A banquet is one of the most profitable things.

At noon on March 250, [-] members of the British Club and fifty guests gathered in the club banquet hall.Waiting for Duke Borgoladgeo, the hero of the expedition to Austria, to come to the banquet.For a long time after the Battle of Austerlitz, the Muscovites kept silent about the reasons for the defeat in this battle, but soon there were some discussions again, and people seemed to have explored the reasons for the defeat: the Austrians' dishonesty, the military supply Insufficiency, the mutiny of the Poles Przebyszewski and the French Langeron, the weakness of the Commander-in-Chief, and (quietly) the emperor's mistaken use of incompetents because of their youth.But everyone said with one voice that the army, the Russian soldiers, were extraordinary and had performed miracles of bravery.Soldiers, officers and generals were brave.And the hero of heroes is Duke Borgoladgeo.There is another important factor why Bogorageo was elected as a combat hero in Moscow: he has no interpersonal connections and is an outsider.To welcome him is to welcome a combatant, ordinary soldier, without any human relations and no suspicion of black box operations, such a soldier who reminds people of Suvorov's Italian expedition.In addition, giving him such an honor also expressed his indifference and dissatisfaction with Kotusov from another aspect.

[three]

On March [-], every room in the English Club was filled with people, and the guests were as noisy as bees in spring.Most of the people present were older, respectable people, all with confident broad faces, fat fingers, firm movements and thick voices.People in this category usually sit in fixed positions and form a fixed small group.There were also some occasional guests, mostly young people, among them Jackoff, Rostaff, and Rookout.Rukot, who had been demoted to the rank of soldier for his bravery in battle, is now an officer in the Semyonov regiment.

Bin-Air is here too.He kept his hair long according to his wife's request, took off his short-sighted glasses, and wore fashionable fashion, but walked around the hall with a sad mood.Here, as elsewhere, he was courted by many admirers of his wealth, and he dealt with them with habitual contempt and absent-minded contempt.

While everyone was discussing and chatting with each other, a servant ran in and reported with a frightened expression: "The guests have arrived!"

Everyone rushed to the door together, and the guests scattered in various rooms gathered together like wheat grains raised by a shovel, and stood in front of the large living room.

Prince Borgoladgeo appeared at the door of the vestibule, without hat or saber, which he had left by the door, as agreed in advance.He wore a brand-new uniform, and on his chest he bore the decorations of both countries, including a Gold Star of St. George.He had apparently had his hair and face retouched prior to his arrival, but it only made his appearance less pleasing to the eye.On his resolute and resolute face, there was a look of a child during the festival, which even made people feel a little ridiculous.He gave way to the guests who came with him at the door, and then walked into the living room, looking shy and nervous. People crowded around him and walked towards the hall. , like looking at a rare animal.

Old Lord Lowstaff pushed his way through the crowd, holding in both hands a large silver platter on which lay a hymn to Borgoladgio.Before the poet finished reading the ode, the host said, "The banquet is ready!" People began to stand up and rush to the table, thinking that the banquet was more important than the poem.Duke Borgolajeo sat in the middle, and three hundred people sat down freely in the dining room according to their official titles and status. The more important people were closer to Duke Jaeo.

Old Earl Lostaff's efforts were not in vain, and the banquet he organized was very sumptuous.All the guests were full of praise, and now they are all waiting for the old earl to speak.

"For the emperor's health!" he shouted loudly, his kind eyes filled with tears of happiness.Then everyone stood up and shouted "Hurrah", and Prince Bogorageo also shouted "Hurrah" as loudly as he shouted on the field of Shen Graben.Among the shouts of hundreds of people, only the joyful cry of young Lostaff, who was on the verge of tears with excitement, could be heard.

"For the emperor's health," he shouted, "Ula!" He drank a glass of wine in one breath, and then threw the glass to the ground heavily. Many people followed his example.The thunderous shouts echoed through the living room for a long time, and as soon as the shouts stopped, the service staff began to remove the broken glasses.Then old Count Lowstaff stood up again and offered a toast to the health of the battle hero, Prince Peter Ivanovich Bogorageo, and tears welled up in the count's blue eyes again.

There was another toast after another, more glasses were smashed, and shouts echoed throughout the hall.Old Lord Lowstaff was more and more moved.Finally, everyone raised their glasses to congratulate the success of the banquet and wish the organizers good health.During this toast, the old count took out his handkerchief, covered his face, and burst into tears.

[Four]

Bin-Air sat across from Rostaff and Rookout, eating and drinking greedily as usual, but since those who knew him did not see any difference in him, he was During the banquet, I kept silent, as if I didn't care about the things around me, I didn't seem to hear or see everything around me, but I was thinking about a painful and unresolved problem.

The problem is that his cousin in Moscow revealed to him the close relationship between Rukot and his wife, and this morning he received another anonymous letter in which he mocked him for being unable to see clearly despite wearing glasses, saying that his wife rarely The relationship between Li and Rucourt is only kept in the dark by himself.Whether it was the cousin's hint or the anonymous letter, Bin-Air didn't take it seriously, but seeing the arrogant and beautiful eyes of Reukout sitting opposite, Bin-Air was still a little worried, thinking of his wife and Reukout's past. He still feels that if the woman mentioned in the anonymous letter is not his wife, then this kind of thing may be true, at least it seems to be true.Officer Rukot returned to Petersburg after his reinstatement, and took advantage of his friendship with Bin-Air's former drinking and meat friends to live in Bin-Air's house. Bin-Air arranged a room for him and lent him money.Looking at Rukot in front of him, Bin Ayr thought of the expression on Rukot's face when he did those cruel things back then. When he tied the police chief to the bear's back and threw him into the water, when he It seemed to be the expression on his face when he wanted to fight for no reason, when he killed the stage driver's horse with his pistol. "Yes, he's a desperado," thought Bin-Air. "Killing a man doesn't mean a thing to him, and he must be happy to think that people are afraid of him. He must think I'm afraid of him, too." "

After a while, the attendants distributed poems praising Borgoladjo, and he sent a copy to Bin-Air, who was considered a more honored guest.Bin-Air was about to pick up the manuscript to read, but Reukot leaned over from the table, grabbed the manuscript and began to read.Bin-Air glanced at Reukot, and the anger that had been pent up throughout the banquet began to rise and fill his head.He leaned his fat body across the table and shouted:
"Why did you do that!" The people around heard the shout, and after knowing what was going on, they all tried to persuade them.Reukot looked at Bin-Air with smug eyes. "How about not giving it to you?" He said one word at a time.Bin Aier's face was full of anger, his lips trembled, and he snatched the paper back.

"You...you...you villain!...I want to fight you hard." He pushed the chair away, stood up and said.It seemed to him that the question of his wife's faults, which had been tormenting him for the last few days, was finally and completely resolved at this moment.

Regardless of Jackoff's dissuasion, Rostaff agrees to be Rucourt's dueling assistant, and after the banquet, he negotiates the conditions and location of the duel with Bin Air's dueling assistant Amici.

At eight o'clock the next morning, Bin-Air and Amici drove to the Sokolniki Woods, and they saw that Reukaut, Jackoff, and Rostaff had all arrived.Bin-Air looked distracted, as if concentrating on a problem that had nothing to do with the duel in front of him.His face was sallow, as if he hadn't slept all night.

Both Bin-Air and Ruckert reject Amech and Jackoff's proposed settlement.Bin-Air took up the pistol and asked Amici how to shoot it, for he had never used a gun, but he would not admit it, and seeing the assistant's astonishment, he explained: "Oh, yes, I see, I just forgot."

The place for the duel was chosen on a wide snow field, and the two opponents stood on both sides of the open space, with a distance of forty paces between them.Amici and Jackoff each planted two swords at a distance of ten paces, so that the opponents could not shoot until they reached this point. Everything was ready within 3 minutes, but everyone was still procrastinating, and none of them said a word.

[five]

"Come on, let's go!" said Reuckout. "Okay," Bin-Air said, with a sneer on his face.Jackoff took a step forward and said: "Since neither of you will listen to persuasion, let's start: pick up the pistol, and you will go forward when I count to 'three'." "One! Two! Three!..." He yelled angrily, then stepped aside.The two walked towards each other, getting closer and closer, and gradually saw each other clearly in the fog.Before reaching that line, both men could shoot at any time.Reuckout walked slowly, without raising his gun, he stared at the other party with his bright blue eyes, and a wicked smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

(End of this chapter)