 War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Elmer and Louise Maud, Book 9. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Ernst Patinama, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, Book 9, Chapter 1, Book 9, 1812, Chapter 1. From the close of the year 1811, intensified arming and concentrating of the forces of Western Europe began. And in 1812, these forces, millions of men, reckoning those transporting and feeding the army, moved from the west eastwards to the Russian frontier, toward which, since 1811, Russian forces had been similarly drawn. On the 12th of June, 1812, the forces of Western Europe crossed the Russian frontier, and war began. That is, an event took place opposed to human reason and to human nature. Millions of men perpetrated against one another such innumerable crimes, frauds, treacheries, thefts, forgeries, issues of forced money, burglaries, incendurisms and murders, as in whole centuries are not recorded in the annals of all the law courts of the world, but which those who committed them did not at the time regard as being crimes. What produced this extraordinary occurrence? What were its causes? The historians tell us, with naive assurance, that its causes were the wrongs inflicted on the Duke of Oldenburg, the non-observants of the continental system, the ambition of Napoleon, the firmness of Alexander, the mistakes of the diplomatists, and so on. Consequently, it would only have been necessary for Metinich, Rumiantsev or Talerrand, between a lavée and an evening party, to have taken proper pains and written a more adroit note, or for Napoleon to have written to Alexander. My respected brother, I consent to restore the Duchy to the Duke of Oldenburg, and there would have been no war. We can understand that the matter seemed like that to contemporaries. It naturally seemed to Napoleon that the war was caused by England's intrigues, as in fact he said on the island of St Helena. It naturally seemed to members of the English Parliament that the cause of the war was Napoleon's ambition, to the Duke of Oldenburg that the cause of the war was the violence done to him, to businessmen that the cause of the war was a continental system which was ruining Europe, to the generals and old soldiers that achieved reason for the war was the necessity of giving them employment, to the legitimists of that day that it was in need of re-establishing les bons principes and to the diplomatists of the time that it all resulted from the fact that the alliance between Russia and Austria in 1809 had not been sufficiently well concealed from Napoleon and from the awkward wording of Memorandum No. 178. It is natural that these and a countless and infinite quantity of other reasons, the number depending on the endless diversity of points of view, presented themselves to the men of that day. But to us, to posterity who viewed a thing that happened in all its magnitude and perceived its plain and terrible meaning, these causes seem insufficient. To us it is incomprehensible that millions of Christian men killed and tortured each other either because Napoleon was ambitious or Alexander was firm or because England's policy was astute or the Duke of Oldenburg wronged. We cannot grasp what connections such circumstances have with the actual factor of slaughter and violence. Why? Because a Duke was wronged, thousands of men from the other side of Europe killed and ruined the people of Smolensk and Moscow and were killed by them. To us, their descendants who are not historians and are not carried away by the process of research and come, therefore, regard the event with unclouded common sense, an incalculable number of courses present themselves. The deeper we delve in search of these courses, the more of them we find and each separate course or whole series of courses appears to us equally valid in itself and equally forced by its insignificance compared to the magnitude of the events and by its impotence, apart from the cooperation of all the other coincident courses, to occasion the event. To us, the wish or objection of this or that French corporal to serve a second term appears as much a cause as Napoleon's refusal to withdraw his troops beyond the Vistula and to restore the Duchy of Oldenburg, for had he not wished to serve and had a second, a third and a thousandth corporal and private also refused, there would have been so many less many Napoleon's army and the war could not have occurred. Had Napoleon not taken offence at the demand that he should withdraw beyond the Vistula and not ordered his troops to advance, there would have been no war. But had all his sergeants objected to serving a second term, then also there could have been no war. No could there have been a war, had there been no English intrigues and no Duke of Oldenburg and had Alexander not felt insulted and had there not been an autocratic government in Russia or a revolution in France and a subsequent dictatorship and empire or all the things that produced the French Revolution and so on. Without each of these courses, nothing could have happened. So all these courses, myriads of courses coincided to bring it about and so there was no one cause for that occurrence, but it had to occur because it had to. Millions of men renouncing their human feelings and reason had to go from west to east to slay their fellows. Just as some centuries previously, hordes of men had come from the east to the west slaying their fellows. The actions of Napoleon and Alexander on whose words the event seemed to hang were as little a voluntary as the actions of any soldier who was drawn into the campaign by lot or by conscription. This could not be otherwise, for in order that the will of Napoleon and Alexander on whom the event seemed to depend should be carried out, the concurrence of innumerable circumstances was needed without anyone of which the event could not have taken place. It was necessary that millions of men in whose hands laid a real power, the soldiers who fired or transported provisions and guns should consent to carry out the will of these weak individuals and should have been induced to do so by an infinite number of diverse and complex courses. We are forced to fall back on fatalism as an explanation of irrational events, that is to say, events the reasonableness of which we do not understand. The more we try to explain such events in history reasonably, the more unreasonable and incomprehensible do they become to us. Each man lives for himself, using his freedom to attain his personal aims and feels with his whole being that he can now do or abstain from doing this or that action. But as soon as he has done it, that action performed at a certain moment in time becomes irrevocable and belongs to history, in which it has not a free but a predestined significance. There are two sides to the life of every man. His individual life, which is the more free, the more abstract its interests, and his elemental hive life, in which he inevitably obeys laws laid down for him. Man lives consciously for himself, but is an unconscious instrument in the attainment of the historic universal aims of humanity. A deed dumb is irrevocable and its result, coinciding in time with the actions of millions of other men, assumes an historic significance. The higher a man stands on a social ladder, the more people he is connected with and the more power he has over others, the more evident is the predestination and inevitability of his every action. The king's heart is in the hands of the Lord. The king is history's slave. History, that is the unconscious general hive life of mankind, uses every moment of the life of kings as a tool for its own purposes. The Napoleon at the time, in 1812, was more convinced than ever that it depended on him, verser ou ne pas verser le son de ses peuples, that is to shed or not to shed the blood of his peoples, as Alexander expressed it in the last letter he wrote him, he had never been so much in a grip of inevitable laws which compelled him while thinking that he was acting on his own volition to perform for the hive life, that is to say for history, whatever had to be performed. The people of the west moved eastwards to slay the fellow men and by the law of coincidence thousands of minute courses fitted in and coordinated to produce that movement and war. Approaches for the non-observance of the continental system, the Duke of Altenberg's rongs, the movement of troops into Prussia undertaken as it seemed to Napoleon only for the purpose of securing an armed peace. The French emperor's love and habit of war coinciding with his people's inclinations. Allurement by the grandeur of the preparations and the expenditure on those preparations and the need of obtaining advantages to compensate for that expenditure. The intoxicating honours he received in Dresden, the diplomatic negotiations switch in the opinion of contemporaries were carried on with a sincere desire to obtain peace but which only wounded the self-love of both sides and millions of other courses that adapted themselves to the event that was happening or coincided with it. When an apple has ripened and falls, why does it fall? Because of its attraction to the earth, because its stalk withers, because it is dried by the sun, because it grows heavier, because the wind shakes it or because the boy standing below wants to eat it. Nothing is the course. All this is only the coincidence of conditions in which all vital, organic and elemental events occur. And the botanist who finds that the apple falls because the cellular tissue decays and so forth is equally right with the child who stands under the tree and says the apple fell because he wanted to eat it and prayed for it. Equally right or wrong is he who says that Napoleon went to Moscow because he wanted to and perished because Alexander desired his destruction and he who says that an undermined hill weighing a million tons fell because the last navies struck it for the last time with his mattock. In historic events the so-called great men are labels giving names to events and like labels they have but the smallest connection with the event itself. Every act of theirs which appears to them an act of their own will is in an historical sense involuntary and is related to the whole cause of history and predestined from eternity. End of chapter 1 Recording by Ernst Patinama, Amsterdam, the Netherlands War and Peace Book 9, Chapter 2 Read for LibriVox.org by Ernst Patinama Chapter 2 On the 29th of May Napoleon left Dresden where he had spent three weeks surrounded by a court with princes, dukes, kings and even an emperor. Before leaving Napoleon showed favour to the emperor, kings and princes who had deserved it. Reprimanded the kings and princes with whom he was dissatisfied presented pearls and diamonds of his own that is which he had taken from other kings to the empress of Austria and having as his historian tells us tenderly embraced the empress Marie-Louise who regarded him as her husband, though he had left another wife in Paris left grieved by the parting which she seemed hardly able to bear. Though the diplomatists still firmly believed in the possibility of peace and worked zealously to that end and though the emperor Napoleon himself wrote a letter to Alexander calling him Monsieur Mont-Fraire and sincerely assured him that he did not want war and would always love and honour him yet he set off to join his army and at every station gave fresh orders to accelerate the movement of his troops from west to east. He went in a travelling coach with six horses surrounded by pages, Ede de Caen and Tonescourt along the road to Posen, Thorn, Danzig and Konigsberg. At each of these towns, thousands of people met him with excitement and enthusiasm. The army was moving from west to east and relays of six horses carried him in the same direction. On the 10th of June, old style coming up with the army he spent the night in apartments prepared for him on the estate of a Polish Count in the Wielkawiski Forest. Next day, overtaking the army he went in a carriage to the Niemen and changing into a Polish uniform he drove to the river bank in order to select a place for the crossing. Seeing on the other side some Cossacks, Le Cossac and the wide spreading steps in the midst of which lay the Holy City of Moscow the capital of a realm such as the Scythia into which Alexander the Great had marched Napoleon, unexpectedly and contrary alike to strategic and diplomatic considerations ordered in advance and the next day his army began to cross the Niemen. Early in the morning of the 12th of June he came out of his tent which was pitched the day on the steep left bank of the Niemen and looked through a spyglass at the streams of his troops pouring out of the Wielkawiski Forest and flowing over the three bridges thrown across the river. The troops, knowing of the Emperor's presence were on the lookout for him and when they caught sight of a figure in an overcoat and a cocked hat standing apart from his street in front of his tent on the hill they threw up their caps and shouted Vive l'Empereur and one after another poured in a ceaseless stream out of the vast forest that had concealed them and separating flowed on and on by the three bridges to the other side. Now he'll go into action oh when he takes it in hand himself things get hot by heaven there he is, Vive l'Empereur so these are the steps of Asia it's a nasty country all the same Au revoir Beauche I'll keep the best palace in Moscow for you Au revoir, good luck did you see the Emperor? Vive l'Empereur if they make me Governor of India, Gerard I'll make you Minister of Kashmir that's settled Vive l'Empereur the Cossacks, those rascals see how they run Vive l'Empereur there he is, do you see him? I've seen him twice as I see you now the little corporal I saw him give the cross to one of the veterans Vive l'Empereur came the voices of men old and young of most diverse characters and social positions on the faces of all was one common expression of joy at the commencement of the long expected campaign and of rapture and devotion to the man in the great coat who was standing on the hill on the 13th of June a rather small thoroughbred Arab horse was brought to Napoleon he mounted it and rode at a gallop to one of the bridges over the Neumann deafened continually by incessant and rapturous acclamations which he evidently endured only because it was impossible to forbid the soldiers to express their love of him by such shouting but the shouting which accompanied him everywhere disturbed him and distracted him from the military cares that had occupied him from the time he joined the army he rode across one of the swaying pontoon bridges to the farther side turned sharply to the left and galloped in the direction of Covno preceded by enraptured mounted chasseurs of the guard who breathless with delight galloped ahead to clear a path for him through the troops un-reaching the broad river Wilia he stopped near a regiment of Polish Ulans stationed by the river Vivat shouted the pose ecstatically breaking the ranks and pressing against one another to see him Napoleon looked up and down the river dismounted and sat down on a log that lay on the bank at a mute sign from him a telescope was handed to him which he rested on the back of a happy page who had run up to him and he gazed at the opposite bank then he became absorbed in a map laid out on the logs without lifting his head he said something and two of his head at the camp galloped off to the Polish Ulans What? What did he say? was heard in the ranks of the Polish Ulans when one of the Ed Dekon rode up to them the order was to find a fort and to cross the river the colonel of the Polish Ulans a handsome old man flushed and fumbling in his speech from excitement asked the Ed Dekon whether he would be permitted to swim the river with his Ulans instead of seeking a fort in evident fear of refusal like a boy asking for permission to get on a horse he begged to be allowed to swim across the river before the emperor's eyes the Ed Dekon replied that probably the emperor would not be displeased at this excess of zeal as soon as the Ed Dekon had said this the old moustached officer with happy face and sparkling eyes raised his saber shouted and commanding the Ulans to follow him spurred his horse and galloped into the river he gave an angry thrust to his horse which had grown restive under him and plunged into the water heading for the deepest part where the current was swift hundreds of Ulans galloped in after him there was cold and uncanny and a rapid current in the middle of the stream and the Ulans caught hold of one another as they fell off their horses some of the horses were drowned and some of the men the others tried to swim on some in the saddle and some clinging to the horses' maids they tried to make their way forward to the opposite bank and though there was a fort one-third of a mile away were proud that they were swimming and drowning in this river under the eyes of the man who sat on the log and was not even looking at what they were doing when the airdicant having returned and choosing an opportune moment ventured to draw the emperor's attention to the devotion of the post to his person the little man in a grey overcoat caught up and having summoned Pertier began pacing up and down the bank with him giving him instructions and occasionally glancing disapprovingly at the drowning Ulans who distracted his attention for him it was no new conviction that his presence in any part of the world from Africa to the steppes of Muscovy alike was enough to dumb-found people and impel them to insane self-oblivion he called for his horse and rode to his quarters some 40 Ulans were drowned in the river though boats were sent to their assistance the majority struggled back to the bank from which they had started the colonel and some of his men got across and with difficulty clambered out on the further bank and as soon as they had got out in their soaked and streaming clothes they shouted Vivaat and looked ecstatically at the spot where Napoleon had been but where he no longer was and at that moment considered themselves happy that evening between issuing one order that forged Russian paper money prepared for use in Russia should be delivered as quickly as possible and another that a Saxon should be shot on whom a letter containing information about the orders to the French army had been found Napoleon also gave instructions that a Polish colonel who had needlessly plunged into the river should be enrolled in the légion d'honneur of which Napoleon was himself the head who wanted to lose his mind those whom God wished to destroy he drives mad End of Chapter 2 Recording by Ernst Patinama Amsterdam, The Netherlands War and Peace Book 9, Chapter 3 Read for LibriVox.org by Ernst Patinama Chapter 3 The Emperor of Russia had meanwhile been in Vilna for more than a month reviewing troops and holding maneuvers Nothing was ready for the war that everyone expected and to prepare for which the Emperor had come from Petersburg There was no general plan of action The vacillation between the various plans that were proposed had even increased after the Emperor had been at headquarters for a month The army's had its own commander-in-chief but there was no supreme commander of all the forces and the Emperor did not assume that responsibility himself The longer the Emperor remained in Vilna the less did everybody, tired of waiting prepare for the war All the efforts of those who surrounded the sovereign seemed directed merely to making him spend his time pleasantly and forget that war was impending On June, after many bores and fates given by the Polish magnates by the courtiers, by the Emperor himself it occurred to one of the Polish Edde de Caen in attendance that a dinner and ball should be given for the Emperor but his Edde de Caen This idea was eagerly received The Emperor gave his consent The Edde de Caen collected money by a subscription The lady who was thought to be most pleasing to the Emperor was invited to act as hostess Count Benickson, being a landowner in the Vilna province offered his country house for the fate and the 13th of June was fixed for a ball, dinner, regatta and fireworks at Zakret Count Benickson's country seat The very day that Napoleon issued the order to cross the Nimen and his vanguard driving off the Cossacks crossed the Russian frontier and spent the evening at the entertainment given by his Edde de Caen at Benickson's country house It was a gay and brilliant fate Connoisseurs of such matters declared that rarely had so many beautiful women been assembled in one place Countess Bezuchova was present among other Russian ladies who had followed the sovereign from Petersburg to Vilna and eclipsed the refined Polish ladies a massive, so-called Russian type of beauty The Emperor noticed her and honoured her with a dance Beriz Troubet Skoy, having left his wife in Moscow and being for the present en garçon as he phrased it, was also there and though not an Edde de Caen had subscribed a large sum toward the expenses Beriz was now a rich man who had risen to high honours and no longer sought patronage but stood on an equal footing with the highest of those of his own age He was meeting Elen in Vilna after not having seen her for a long time and did not recall the past but as Elen was enjoying the favours of a very important personage and Beriz had only recently married they met as good friends of long standing At midnight dancing was still going on Elen, not having a suitable partner The self offered to dance to Mazurka with Beriz They were the third couple Beriz, coolly looking at Elen's dazzling bare shoulders which emerged from a dark, gold embroidered gauze gown talked to her of old acquaintances and at the same time, unaware of it himself and unnoticed by others never for an instant ceased to observe the Emperor who was in the same room The Emperor was not dancing he stood in the doorway stopping now one pair and now another with gracious words which he alone knew how to utter As the Mazurka began Beriz saw that adjutant General Balashov one of those in closest attendance on the Emperor went up to him and contrary to court etiquette stood near him while he was talking to a Polish lady who finished speaking to her The Emperor looked inquiringly at Balashov and evidently understanding that he only acted thus because there were important reasons for so doing nodded slightly to the lady and turned to him Hardly at Balashov began to speak before a look of amazement appeared on the Emperor's face He took Balashov by the arm and crossed the room with him unconsciously clearing a path seven yards wide as two people on both sides made way for him Beriz noticed Arakcheyev's excited face when the sovereign went out with Balashov Arakcheyev looked at the Emperor from under his brow and, sniffing with his red nose, stepped forward from the crowd as if expecting the Emperor to address him Beriz understood that Arakcheyev envied Balashov and was displeased that evidently important news had reached the Emperor otherwise then through himself But the Emperor and Balashov passed out into the illuminated garden without noticing Arakcheyev who, holding his sword and glancing roughly around followed some 20 paces behind them All the time Beriz was going through the figures of the Muzerka he was worried by the question of what news Balashov had brought and how he could find it out before others In the figure in which he had to choose two ladies he whispered to Elene that he meant to choose Countess Potochka who, he thought, had gone out onto the veranda and glided over the parquet to the door opening into the garden where, seeing Balashov and the Emperor returning to the veranda he stood still They were moving toward the door Beriz, fluttering as if he had not had time to withdraw respectfully pressed close to the doorpost with bowed head The Emperor, with the agitation of one who has been personally affronted was finishing with these words To enter Russia without declaring war I will not make peace as long as a single armed enemy remains in my country It seemed to Beriz that it gave the Emperor pleasure to utter these words He was satisfied with the form in which he had expressed his thoughts but displeased that Beriz had overheard it Let no one know of it The Emperor added with a frown Beriz understood that this was meant for him and, closing his eyes, slightly bowed his head The Emperor re-entered the ballroom and remained there about another half hour Beriz was thus the first to learn the news that a French army had crossed the Neiman and, thanks to this, was able to show certain important personages that much that was concealed from others was usually known to him and by this means he rose higher in their estimation The unexpected news of the French having crossed the Neiman was particularly startling after a month of unfulfilled expectations and at a ball On first receiving the news, under the influence of indignation and resentment the Emperor had found a phrase that pleased him fully expressed his feelings and how sins become famous Returning home at two o'clock that night he sent for a secretary Shizkov and told him to write an order to the troops and a rescript to Field Marshal Prince Sartikov in which he insisted on the words being inserted that he would not make peace so long as a single armed Frenchman remained on Russian soil Next day, the following letter was sent to Napoleon Monsieur mon frère Yesterday I learned that, despite the loyalty which I have kept my engagements with Your Majesty your troops have crossed the Russian frontier and I have this moment received from Petersburg a note in which Kandloristor informs me, as a reason for this aggression that Your Majesty has considered yourself to be in a state of war with me from the time Prince Kuragin asked for his passports The reasons on which the Duke de Bassano based his refusal to deliver them to him would never have let me to suppose that that could serve as a pretext for aggression In fact, the ambassador, as he himself has declared was never authorized to make that demand and as soon as I was informed of it I let him know how much I disapproved of it and ordered him to remain at his post If Your Majesty does not intend to shed the blood of our peoples for such a misunderstanding and consents to withdraw your troops from Russian territory I will regard what has passed as not having occurred and an understanding between us will be possible In the contrary case, Your Majesty I shall see myself forced to repel an attack that nothing on my part has provoked It still depends on Your Majesty to preserve humanity from the calamity of another war I am, etc. Alexander End of Chapter 3 Recording by Ernst Patinama Amsterdam, The Netherlands War and Peace Book 9, Chapter 4 Read for LibriVox.org by Juli van Wallachem At two in the morning of the 14th of June the Emperor, having sent for Balashef and read him his letter to Napoleon ordered him to take it and hand it personally to the French Emperor When dispatching Balashef the Emperor repeated to him the words that he would not make peace so long as a single armed enemy remained on Russian soil and told him to transmit those words to Napoleon Alexander did not insert them in his letter to Napoleon because with his characteristic tact he felt it would be injudicious to use them at a moment and last attempt at reconciliation was being made but he definitely instructed Balashef to repeat them personally to Napoleon Having set off in the small hours of the 14th accompanied by a burglar and two Cossacks Balashef reached the French outposts at the village of Rekonti on the Russian side of the Neiman by dawn There he was stopped by French cavalry sentinels A French non-commissioned officer of his arse in crimson uniform and a shaggy cap shouted to the approaching Balashef to halt Balashef did not do so at once but continued to advance along the road at a walking pace The non-commissioned officer frowned and muttering words of abuse advanced his horse's chest against Balashef put his hand to his sabre and shouted rudely at the Russian general asking was he deaf that he did not do as he was told Balashef managed to who he was The non-commissioned officer began talking with his comrades about regimental matters without looking at the Russian general After living at the seat of the highest authority in power after conversing with the emperor less than three hours before and in general being accustomed to the respect due to his rank of the service Balashef found it very strange here on Russian soil to encounter this hostile and still more this disrespectful application of brute force to himself The sun was only just appearing from behind the clouds The air was fresh and dewy A herd of cattle was being driven along the road from the village and over the fields the larks rose drilling one after another like bubbles rising in water Balashef looked around him awaiting the arrival of an officer from the village The Russian Cossacks and Burglar and the French Hussars looked silently at one another from time to time A French coloner of Hussars who had evidently just left his bed came riding from the village on handsome sleek grey horse accompanied by two Hussars The officer, the soldiers and their horses all looked smart and well kept It was that first period of a campaign when troops are still in full trim almost like that of peacetime manoeuvres but with the shade of Marsha Swagger and their clothes and the touch of the gait and spirit of enterprise which always accompanied the opening of a campaign The French coloner with difficulty repressed a yawn but was polite and evidently understood Balashef's importance He let him pass the soldiers and behind the outposts that his wish to be presented to the Emperor would most likely be satisfied immediately as the Emperor's quarters were he believed not far off They rode through the village of Rikonti passed tethered French Hussar waters passed sentinels and men who saluted their colonel and stared with curiosity at a Russian uniform They came out at the other end of the village The colonel said that a commander of the division was a mile and a quarter away and would receive Balashef and conduct him to his destination The sun had by now risen and shone gaily on the right verger They had hardly ridden up a hill past the tavern before they saw a group of horsemen coming toward them In front of the group on a black horse with trappings and glittered in the sun rode a tall man with plumes in his head and black hair curling down to his shoulders He wore a red mantle and stretched his long legs forward in French fashion This man rode toward Balashef at a gallop His plumes flowing and his gems in gold lace glittering in the bright June sunshine Balashef was only two horse's length from the equestrian with the bracelets, plunies, necklaces and golden broodry galloping toward him with his theatrically solemn countenance When Jolner, the French colonel, whispered respectfully The King of Naples It was in fact Murat, now called King of Naples Though it was quite incomprehensible why he should be King of Naples he was called so and was himself convinced that he was so and therefore assumed to more solemn and important air than formally He was so sure that he really was the King of Naples that when on the eve of his departure from that city while walking through the streets with his wife some Italians called out to him Viva il re Translators note Long lived the King End of note He turned to his wife with a pence of smile and said Poor fellows, they don't know that I'm leaving them to morrow But though he firmly believed himself to be King of Naples and pity the grave felt by the subjects he was abandoning Lasseli, after he had been ordered to return to military service and especially since his last interview with Napoleon in Danzig when his august brothel in law had taught him I made you King that you should reign in my way but not in yours He had cheerfully taken up his familiar business and like well-fed but not overfed horse that feels himself in harness and grows skittish between the shafts He dressed up in clothes as variegated and expensive as possible and Gaelian contentedly galloped along the roads of Poland without himself knowing why or wither On seeing the Russian general he threw back his head with its long hair curling to his shoulders in a majestically royal manner and looked inquirilingly at the French colonel The colonel respectfully informed his majesty of Balashev's mission whose name he could not pronounce Debalma gave, said the king, overcoming by his assurance the difficulty that had presented itself to the colonel Charmed to make your acquaintance general he added with a gesture of kingly condescension As soon as the king began to speak loud and fast his royal dignity instantly forsook him and without noticing it he passed into his natural tone of good-natured familiarity He laid his hand on the withers of Balashev's horse and said Well, general, it all looked like war as if regretting a circumstance of which he was unable to judge Your majesty, replied Balashev My master, the emperor, does not desire war and as your majesty sees, said Balashev using the words your majesty at every opportunity with the affectation unavoidable infrequently addressing one to whom the title was solenoffity Muras's face beamed with stupid satisfaction as he listened to M. Debalma gave But Royaut oblige Translators note, royalty has its obligations end of note and he felt incumbent on him as a king and an ally to confer on state affairs with Alexander's envoy He dismounted, took Balashev's arm and moving a few steps away from his feet which waited respectfully began to pace up and down with him trying to speak significantly He referred to the fact that the emperor Napoleon had resented the demand that he should withdraw his troops from Russia especially when the demand became generally known and the dignity of France was thereby offended Balashev replied that there was nothing offensive in the demand because But Muras interrupted him Then you don't consider the emperor Alexander the aggressor He asked unexpectedly with a kindly and foolish smile Balashev told him why he considered Napoleon to be the originator of the war Oh, my dear general, Muras again interrupted him With all my heart I wished the emperor's me range should the affair between them and that the war begun by no wish of mine may finish as quickly as possible said he in the tone of a servant who wanted to remain good friends with another despite a quarrel between their masters and he went on to inquire about the Grand Duke and the state of his health and the reminiscence of the gay and amusing times he had spent with him in Naples Then suddenly, as if remembering his royal dignity Muras solemnly drew himself up assumed the pose in which he had stood at his coronation and waving his right hand said I won't detain you longer, general I wish success to your mission and with his embroidered red mantle his flowing feathers and his glittering ornaments he rejoined his swede, who were respectfully waiting him Balashev rode on, supposing from Muras' words that he would very soon be brought before Napoleon himself but instead of that, at the next village the sentinels of Davos infantry corps attained him as a picket of the vanguards had done and an edgedant of the corpse commander, who was fetched conducted him into the village to Marshal Davos End of Chapter 4 War and Peace Book 9, Chapter 5, read from LibriVox.org by Martin Sivov Devout was to Napoleon what Oryk Cheyev was to Alexander though not a coward like Oryk Cheyev he was as precise, as cruel and as unable to express his devotion to his monarch except by cruelty in the organization of states such men are necessary as wolves are necessary in the organism of nature and they always exist, always appear and hold their own however in congress their presence and their proximity to the head of the government may be this inevitability alone can explain how the cruel Oryk Cheyev who tore out a grenadiers moustache with his own hands whose weak nerves rendered him unable to face danger and who was neither an educated man nor a courtier was able to maintain his powerful position with Alexander whose own character was chivalrous, noble and gentle Balashov found Devout seated on a barrel in the shed of a peasant's hut, writing he was auditing accounts better quarters could have been found him but Marshal Devout was one of those men who purposely put themselves in most depressing conditions to have a justification for being gloomy for the same reason they are always hard at work and in a hurry how can I think of the bright side of life when, as you see I am sitting on a barrel and working in a dirty shed the expression of his face seem to say the chief pleasure and necessity of such men when they encounter anyone who shows animation is to flaunt their own dreary persistent activity Devout allowed himself that pleasure when Balashov was brought in he became still more absorbed in his task when the Russian general entered and after glancing over his spectacles at Balashov's face which was animated by the beauty of the morning and by his talk with Murat he did not rise or even stir but scowled still more and sneered malevolently when he noticed in Balashov's face the disagreeable impression this reception produced Devout raised his head and coldly asked what he wanted thinking he could have been received in such a manner only because Devout did not know that he was the adjutant general to the emperor Alexander and even his envoy to Napoleon Balashov hastened to inform him of his rank and mission contrary to his expectation Devout after hearing him became still surlier and rude where's your dispatch? he inquired give it to me I will send it to the emperor Balashov replied that he had been ordered to hand it personally to the emperor your emperor's orders are abated in your army but here, said Devout you must do as you're told and as if to make the Russian general still more conscious of his dependence on brute force Devout sent an adjutant to call the officer on duty Balashov took out the packet containing the emperor's letter and laid it on the table made of a door with his hinges still hanging on it laid across two barrels Devout took the packet and read the inscription you're perfectly at liberty to treat me with respect or not protested Balashov but permit me to observe that I have the honor to be the adjutant general to his majesty Devout glanced at him silently and plainly derived pleasure from the signs of agitation and confusion which appeared on Balashov's face you will be treated as his fitting, said he putting the packet in his pocket left the shed a minute later the marshal's adjutant, Decastres, came in and conducted Balashov to the quarters assigned him that day he dined with the marshal at the same board on the barrels next day Devout rode out early after asking Balashov to come to him peremptorily requested him to remain there to move on with the baggage train should orders come for it to move and to talk to no one except the Monsieur Decastres after four days of solitude, ennui, and consciousness of his own impotence and insignificance particularly acute by contrast with the sphere of power in which he had so lately moved and after several marches with the marshal's baggage and the French army which occupied the whole district Balashov was brought to Vilna now occupied by the French through the very gate by which he had left it four days previously next day the imperial gentleman in waiting the Compte de Tren came to Balashov and informed him of the Emperor Napoleon's wish to honor him with an audience four days before sentinels of the Préhobrigeant's regiment had stood in front of the house to which Balashov was conducted and now two French grenadiers stood there in blue uniforms unfastened in front and with shaggy caps on their heads and an escort of hussars and ulans and a brilliant suite of aides to camp pages and generals who were waiting for Napoleon to come out were standing at the porch round his saddle horse and his family Rusta Napoleon received Balashov in the very house in Vilna from which Alexander had dispatched him on his mission End of Chapter 5 War and Peace Book 9, Chapter 6 Though Balashov was used to imperial pomp he was amazed at the luxury and magnificence of Napoleon's court the Compte de Tren showed him into a big reception room where many generals, gentlemen in waiting and Polish magnets several of whom Balashov had seen at the court of the Emperor of Russia were waiting Lurak said that Napoleon would receive the Russian general before going for his ride After some minutes the gentlemen in waiting came into the reception room and bowing politely asked Balashov to follow him Balashov went into a small reception room one door of which led into a study the very one from which the Russian Emperor had dispatched him on his mission he stood a minute or two waiting he heard hurried footsteps beyond the door both halves of it were opened rapidly all was silent and then from the study the sound was heard of other steps firm and resolute they were those of Napoleon he had just finished dressing for his ride and wore a blue uniform opening in front over a white waistcoat so long that it covered his return stomach white leather breeches tightly fitting the fat thighs of his short legs and hessian boots his short hair had evidently just been brushed but one lock hung down the middle of his broad forehead his plump white neck stood out sharply above the black collar of his uniform and he smelled of ode de cologne his full face rather young looking with its prominent chin or a gracious and majestic expression of imperial welcome he entered briskly with a jerk at every step and his head slightly thrown back his whole short corpulent figure with broad thick shoulders and chest and stomach involuntarily protruding had that imposing and stately appearance one sees in men of 40 who live in comfort it was evident too that he was in the best of spirits that day he nodded in answer to Belichow's low and respectful bow and coming up to him at once began speaking like a man who values every moment of his time and does not condescend to prepare what he has to say but is sure he will always say the right thing and say it well and all said he I have received the letter you brought from the emperor alexander and am very glad to see you he glanced with his large eyes into Belichow's face and immediately looked past him it was plain that Belichow's personality did not interest him at all evidently only what took place within his own mind interested him nothing outside himself had any significance for him because everything in the world entirely on his will I do not and did not desire war he continued but it has been forced on me even now he emphasized the word I am ready to receive any explanations you can give me and he began clearly and concisely to explain his reasons for dissatisfaction with the Russian government judging by the calmly moderate and amicable tone in which the French emperor spoke Belichow was firmly persuaded that he wished for peace and intended to enter into negotiations when Napoleon having finished speaking looked inquiringly at the Russian envoy Belichow began a speech he had prepared long before Sire, the emperor my master but the sight of the emperor's eyes bent on him confused him you are flurried compose yourself Napoleon seemed to say a scarcely perceptible smile he looked at Belichow's uniform and sword Belichow recovered himself and began to speak he said that the emperor Alexander did not consider Khurakin's demand for his passports a sufficient cause for war that Khurakin had acted on his own initiative and without his sovereign's assent that the emperor Alexander did not desire war and had no relations with England not yet Belichow was Napoleon and as if fearing to give vent to his feelings he frowned and nodded slightly as a sign that Belichow might proceed after saying all that he had been instructed to say Belichow added that the emperor Alexander wished for peace but would not enter into negotiations except on condition that here Belichow hesitated he remembered the words the emperor Alexander had not written in his letter but had specially inserted in the script to Saltyakov and had told Belichow to repeat to Napoleon Belichow remembered these words so long as a single armed foe remains on Russian soil but some complex feeling restrained him he could not utter them but he wished to do so he grew confused and said on condition that the French army retires beyond the Neyman Napoleon noticed Belichow's embarrassment when uttering these last words his face twitched in the half of his left leg began to quiver rhythmically without moving from where he stood he began speaking in a louder tone and more hurriedly than before during the speech that followed Belichow who more than once lowered his eyes involuntarily noticed the quivering of Napoleon's left leg which increased the more Napoleon raised his voice I desire peace no less than the emperor Alexander he began have I not for 18 months anything to obtain it I have waited for 18 months for explanations but in order to begin negotiations what is demanded of me he said frowning and making an energetic gesture of inquiry with his small white plump hand the withdrawal of your army beyond the Neyman Sire replied to Belichow the Neyman replied Napoleon so now you want me to retire beyond the Neyman only the Neyman repeated Napoleon looking straight at Belichow the latter bowed his head respectfully instead of the demand of 4 months earlier to withdraw from Pomerania only a withdrawal beyond the Neyman Napoleon turned quickly and began to pace the room you say the demand now is that I am to withdraw beyond the Neyman before commencing negotiations but in just the same way 2 months ago the demand was that I should withdraw beyond the Vistula and Odor and yet you are willing to negotiate he went in silence from one corner of the room to the other and again stopped in front of Belichow Belichow noticed that his left leg was quivering faster than before and his face seemed petrified in its stern expression this quivering of his left leg was a thing Napoleon was conscious of the vibration of my left calf is a great sign with me you remarked at a later date such demands as to retreat beyond the Vistula and Odor may be made to the Prince of Bodin not to me Napoleon almost screamed quite to his own surprise if you gave me Petersburg and Moscow I could not accept such conditions you say I have begun this war but who first joined his army the Emperor Alexander not I and you offer me negotiations when I have expended millions when you are in alliance with England and when your position is a bad one you offer me negotiations but what is the aim of your alliances with England what has she given you he continued hurriedly evidently no longer trying to show the advantages of peace and discuss its possibility but only to prove his own rectitude and power and Alexander's errors and duplicity the commencement of his speech had obviously been made with the intention of demonstrating the advantages of his position and showing that he was nevertheless willing to negotiate but he had begun talking and the more he talked the less he could control his words the whole report of his remarks now was evidently to exalt himself and insult Alexander just what he had least desired at commencement of the interview I hear you have made peace with Turkey while the show bowed his head affirmatively peace has been concluded he began but Napoleon did not let him speak he evidently wanted to do all the talking himself and continue to talk with the sort of eloquence and unrestrained irritability to which spoiled people are so prone yes I know you have made peace with the Turks without obtaining Moldavia and Wallachia I would have given your sovereign those provinces as I gave him Finland yes he went on I promised and would have given the emperor Alexander Moldavia and Wallachia and now he won't have those splendid provinces yet he might have united them to his empire and in a single rain would have extended Russia from the gulf of Botnia to the mouth of the Danube Catherine the Great could not have done more said Napoleon growing more and more excited as he paced up and down the room repeating to Bella Shove almost the very words he had used to Alexander himself at Tilset all that he would have owed to my friendship oh what a splendid rain he repeated several times then paused through from his pocket a gold snuff log lifted it to his nose and greedily sniffed at it what a splendid rain the emperor Alexander's might have been he looked compassionately at Bella Shove and as soon as the latter tried to make some rejoinger hastily interrupted him what could he wish or look for that he would not have obtained through my friendship demanded Napoleon shrugging his shoulders in perplexity but no, he has preferred to surround himself with my enemies and with whom? with Steins Armfeldt's Bennegane's Stein a traitor expelled from his own country Armfeldt a rake and intriguer Winston Giraud a fugitive French subject Bennegane rather more of a soldier than the others but all the same an incompetent who was unable to do 1807 and who should awake in terrible memories in the emperor Alexander's mind granted that they were competent they might be made use of continued Napoleon hardly able to keep pace in words with the rush of thoughts that incessantly sprang up proving how right and strong he was in his perception the two were one and the same but they are not even that they are neither fit for war nor peace Barclay is said to be the most capable but I cannot say so judging by his first movements and what are they doing all these courteurs Fool proposes Armfeldt disputes Bennegane considers and Barclay called on to act does not know what to decide on and time passes bringing no result Bagration alone is a military man he's stupid but he has experience a quick eye in resolution and what role is your young monarch playing in the monstrous crowd they compromise him and throw on him the responsibility for all that happens a sovereign should not be with the army unless he is a general evidently uttering these words as a direct challenge to the emperor he knew how Alexander desired to be a military commander the campaign began only a week ago and you haven't even been able to defend Vilna you are cut in two and have been driven out of the Polish provinces your army is grumbling on the contrary your majesty said Belichow hardly able to remember what had been said to him and following these verbal fireworks with difficulty the troops are burning with eagerness I know everything Napoleon interrupts him I know everything I know the number of your battalions as exactly as I know my own you have not two hundred thousand men and I have three times that number I give you my word of honor forgetting that his word of honor could carry I give you my word of honor that I have five hundred and thirty thousand men this side of the Vistula the Turks will be of no use to you they are worth nothing and have shown it by making peace with you as for the Swedes it's their fate to be governed by mad kings their king was insane and they changed him for another Bernadotte who promptly went mad for no swede would ally himself of Russia unless he were mad and again raised his snuffbox to his nose Balashov knew how to reply to each of Napoleon's remarks and would have done so he continually made the gesture of a man wishing to say something but Napoleon always interrupted him to the alleged insanity of the Swedes Balashov wished to reply that when Russia is on her side Sweden is practically an island but Napoleon gave an angry exclamation to drown his voice Napoleon was in that state of irritability in which a man has to talk talk and talk merely to convince himself that he's in the right Balashov began to feel uncomfortable as envoy he feared to demean his dignity and felt the necessity of replying but as a man he shrank before the transport of groundless wrath that had evidently seized Napoleon he knew that none of the words now uttered by Napoleon had any significance and that Napoleon himself would be ashamed of them Balashov came to his senses Balashov stood with downcast eyes looking at the movements of Napoleon's stop legs and trying to avoid meeting his eyes but what do I care about your allies said Napoleon I have allies, the Poles there are 80,000 of them and they fight like lions and there will be 200,000 of them and probably still more perturbed by the fact he had uttered this obvious falsehood and that Balashov still stood silently before him in the same attitude of submission to fate Napoleon abruptly turned around drew close to Balashov's face and gesticulating rapidly and energetically with his white hands almost shouted know that if you stir up Prussia against me I'll wipe it off the map of Europe he declared his face pale and distorted by anger and he struck one of his small hands energetically with the other yes, I will throw you back and I will re- erect against you that barrier which it was criminal and blind of Europe to allow to be destroyed yes, that is what will happen to you that is what you will have gained by alienating me and he walked silently several times up and down the room his fat shoulders twitching he put his snuff box into his whiskered pocket took it out again lifted it several times to his nose and stopped in front of Balashov he paused looked ironically straight in Balashov's eyes and said in a quiet voice and yet what a splendid reign your master might have had Balashov feeling it incumbent on him to reply said that from the Russian side things did not appear in so glumia light Napoleon was silent still looking derisively at him and evidently not listening to him Balashov said that in Russia the best results were expected from the war Napoleon not had come descendingly as if to say I know it's your duty to say that but you don't believe it yourself I have convinced you when Balashov had ended Napoleon again took out his snuff box sniffed at it and stamped his foot twice on the floor as a signal the door opened a gentleman in waiting bending respectfully handed the emperor his hat and gloves another brought him a pocket handkerchief Napoleon without giving them a glance Balashov assured the emperor Alexander from me said he taking his hat that I am as devoted to him as before I know him thoroughly and very highly esteem his lofty qualities I will detain you no longer general you shall receive my letter to the emperor and Napoleon went quickly to the door everyone in the reception room rushed forward and descended the staircase to chapter 6 war and peace book 9 chapter 7 read for LibriVox.org by Martin Selov after all that Napoleon had said to him those bursts of anger and the last dryly spoken words I will detain you no longer general you shall receive my letter Balashov felt convinced that Napoleon would not wish to see him and would even avoid another meeting with him an insulted envoy especially as he had witnessed his but to his surprise Balashov received through the rock an invitation to dine with the emperor that day Visieres, Qualiencourt and Berthier were present at that dinner Napoleon met Balashov cheerfully and amiably he not only showed no sign of constraint or self-approach on account of his outburst that morning but on the contrary tried to reassure Balashov it was evident that he had long been convinced that it was impossible for him to make a mistake and that his perception of whatever he did was right not because it harmonized with any idea of right and wrong but because he did it the emperor was in very good spirits after his ride through Vilna where crowds of people had rapturously greeted and followed him from all the windows of the streets through which he rode rugs, flags and his monograms were displayed and the Polish ladies welcoming him waved their handkerchiefs to him at dinner having placed Balashov beside him Napoleon not only treated him amiably but behaved as if Balashov were one of his own courtiers one of those who sympathized with his plans and ought to rejoice at his success in the course of conversation he mentioned Moscow and questioned Balashov about the Russian capital not merely as an interested traveler asks about a new city he intends to visit but as if convinced that Balashov as a Russian must be flattered by his curiosity how many inhabitants are there in Moscow how many houses is it true that Moscow is called Holy Moscow how many churches are there in Moscow he asked and receiving the reply that there were more than 200 churches he remarked why such a quantity of churches the Russians are very devout replied Balashov but a large number of monasteries and churches is always a sign of the backwardness of a people said Napoleon turning to a qualifying court for appreciation of this remark Balashov respectfully ventured to disagree with the French emperor every country has its own character city but nowhere in Europe is there anything like that said Napoleon I beg your majesty's pardon return Balashov besides Russia there is Spain where there are also many churches and monasteries this reply of Balashov which hinted at the recent defeats of the French in Spain was much appreciated when he related it at Alexander's court but it was not much appreciated at Napoleon's dinner where it passed unnoticed the uninterested and perplexed faces of the marshals showed that they were puzzled as to what Balashov's tone suggested if there is a point we don't see it or it is not at all litty their expression seemed to say so little was his rejoinder appreciated that Napoleon did not notice it at all and naively asked Balashov through what towns the direct road from there to Moscow passed Balashov who was on the alert all through the dinner replied that just as all roads lead to Rome so all roads lead to Moscow there were many roads and among them the road through Poltava which Charles XII chose Balashov involuntarily flushed with pleasure at the aptitude of this reply but hardly had he uttered the word Poltava before Qualiencourt began speaking of the madness of the road from Petersburg to Moscow and of his Petersburg circumstances after dinner they went to drink coffee in Napoleon's study which four days previously had been that of the Emperor Alexander Napoleon sat down toying with his Saint Laurent's coffee cup and motioned Balashov to a chair beside him Napoleon was in that well known after dinner mood which, more than any reason cause, makes a man contented with himself and disposed to consider everyone his friend it seemed to him that he was surrounded Balashov too was his friend and worshipper Napoleon turned to him with a pleasant though slightly ironic smile they tell me this is the room the Emperor Alexander occupied strange isn't it General he said evidently not doubting that this remark would be agreeable to his hearer since it went to prove his Napoleon's superiority to Alexander Balashov made no reply and bowed his head in silence yes four days ago in this room with Saint Laurent and Stein were deliberating continued Napoleon with the same derisive and self confident smile what I can't understand he went on is that the Emperor Alexander has surrounded himself with my personal enemies that I do not understand has he not thought that I may the same and he turned inquiringly to Balashov and evidently this thought turned him back on to the track of this morning's anger which was still fresh in him and let him know that I will do so said Napoleon rising and pushing his cup away with his hand I'll drive all his Wurttemberg Bodin and Weimar relations out of Germany yes I'll drive them out let him prepare an asylum for them in Russia Balashov bowed his head with an air indicating that he would like to make his bow and leave and only listen because he could not help hearing what was said to him Napoleon did not notice this expression he treated Balashov not as his own boy from his enemy but as a man now fully devoted to him and who must rejoice at his former master's humiliation and why has the Emperor Alexander taken command of the armies what's the good of that war is my profession but his business is to reign and not to command armies why has he taken on himself such a responsibility again Napoleon brought out his snuff box paste several times up and down the room in silence and then suddenly and unexpectedly went up to Balashov and with a slight smile as confidently quickly and simply as if you were doing something not merely important but pleasing to Balashov he raised his hand to the 40 year old Russian General's face and taking him by the ear pulled it gently smiling with his lips only to have one's ear pulled by the Emperor was considered the greatest honor and a mark of favor at the French court well a door and courtier of the Emperor Alexander why don't you say anything said he as if it was ridiculous in his presence to be the adorer and courtier of anyone but himself Napoleon are the horses ready for the general he had with a slight inclination of his head in reply to Balashov's bow I didn't have mind he is a long way to go the letter taken by Balashov was the last Napoleon sent to Alexander every detail of the interview was communicated to the Russian monarch and the war began End of Chapter 7 War and Peace Book 9, Chapter 8 Read for LibriVox.org by Martin Seloth After his interview with Pierre in Moscow Prince Andrew went to Petersburg on business as he told his family but really to meet Anatoly Kuryagin whom he felt it necessary to encounter on reaching Petersburg he inquired for Kuryagin but the latter had already left Pierre had warned his brother-in-law that Prince Andrew was on his track Anatoly Kuryagin promptly obtained an appointment from the minister of war and went to join the army in Moldavia While in Petersburg Prince Andrew met Kutuzov his former commander who was always well disposed toward him and Kutuzov suggested that he should accompany him to the army in Moldavia to which the old general had been appointed commander-in-chief and on the headquarters staff left for Turkey Prince Andrew did not think it proper to write and challenge Kuryagin he thought that if he challenged him without some fresh cause it might compromise the young countess Rastova and so he wanted to meet Kuryagin personally in order to find a fresh pretext for a duel but he again failed to meet Kuryagin in Turkey for soon after Prince Andrew arrived the latter returned to Russia in a new country amid new conditions Prince Andrew found life easier to bear after his betrothed had broken faith with him which he felt the more acutely the more he tried to conceal its effect the surroundings in which he had been happy became trying to him and the freedom and the dependency at once priced so highly were still more so not only could he no longer think the thoughts that had first come to him as he lay gazing at the sky on the field of Austerlitz and had later enlarged upon with Pierre and which had filled his solitude at Bochacharva Kuryagin in Switzerland and Rome but he even dreaded to recall them and the bright boundless horizons they revealed he was now concerned only with the nearest practical matters unrelated to his past interests and he seized on these the more eagerly the more those past interests closed to him it was as if that lofty infinite canopy of heaven that had once towered above him had suddenly turned into a low solid vault that weighed him down in which all was clear and internal or mysterious of the activities that presented themselves to him army service was the simplest and most familiar as a general on duty on Kutuzov staff he applied himself to business with zeal and perseverance and surprise Kutuzov by his willingness and accuracy in work not having found Kuryagin in Turkey Prince Andrew did not think it necessary to rush back to Russia after him but all the same he knew that however long it might be he met Kuryagin despite his contempt for him and despite all the proofs he deduced to convince himself that it was not worth stooping to a conflict with him he knew that when he did meet him he would not be able to resist calling him out any more than a ravenous man can help snatching at food and the consciousness that the insult was not yet avenged that his rancor was still unspent weighed on his heart and poisoned the artificial tranquility obtained in Turkey by means of restless, plotting and rather vain glorious and ambitious activity in the year 1812 when the news of the war with Napoleon reached Bucharest where Kutuzov had been living for two months passing his days and nights with a Walačin woman Prince Andrew asked Kutuzov to transfer him to the western army Kutuzov who was already weary of Bulkansky's activity which seemed to reproach his own idleness very readily and gave him go and gave him a mission to Barclay de Tali Before joining the western army which was then in May Prince Andrew visited Bald Hills which was directly on his way being only two miles off the Smelyansk high road during the last three years there had been so many changes in his life he had thought, felt and seen so much having traveled both in the east and the west that on reaching Bald Hills it struck him as strange and unexpected to find the way of life there unchanged and still the same in every detail he entered through the gates with their stone pillars and drove up the avenue leading to the house as if he were entering an enchanted sleeping castle the same old stateliness the same cleanliness the same stillness reigned there and inside there was the same furniture the same walls, sounds and smell and the same timid faces only somewhat older Princess Mary was still the same timid plain maiden getting on in years uselessly and joylessly passing the best years of her life in fear and constant suffering Mademoiselle Burien was the same coquettish, self-satisfied girl enjoying every moment of her existence and full of joyous hopes for the future she had merely become more self-confident Prince Andrew thought the cells the tutor he had brought in Switzerland was wearing a coat of Russian cut and talking broken Russian to the servants but was still the same narrowly intelligence, conscientious and pedantic perceptor the old prince had changed in appearance only by the loss of a tooth which left a noticeable gap on one side of his mouth in character he was the same as ever only showing still more irritability and skepticism as to what was happening in the world Little Nicholas alone had changed he alone, become rosier had curly dark hair and when Mary and laughing quite unconsciously lifted the upper lip of his pretty little mouth just as little princesses used to do he alone did not obey the law of immutability in the enchanted sleeping castle but though externally all remained as of old the inner relations of all these people had changed since Prince Andrew had seen them last the household was divided into men and hostile camps who changed their habits for his sake and only met because he was there to the one camp along the old prince Madame Bozelle Burin and the architect to the other princess Mary the sales Little Nicholas and all the old nurses and maid during his stay at Bald Hills all the family dined together but they were ill at ease and Prince Andrew felt that he was a visitor for whose sake and exception was being made and that his presence made them all feel awkward and then voluntarily feeling this at dinner on the first day he was taciturn and the old prince noticing this also became morosely dumb and retired to his apartments directly after dinner in the evening when Prince Andrew went to him and trying to rouse him began to tell him of the account Kaminski's campaign the old prince began unexpectedly to talk about Princess Mary blaming her for her superstitions of Madame Bozelle Burin who, he said, was the only person really attached to him the old prince said that if he was ill it was only because of Princess Mary that she purposely worried and irritated him and that by indulgence and silly talk she was spoiling the little prince Nicholas the old prince knew very well that he tormented his daughter and that her life was very hard but he also knew that he could not help tormenting her and that she deserved it I had this prince Andrew who sees this without his sister does he think me a scoundrel or an old fool who, without any reason keeps his own daughter at a distance and attaches this French woman to himself he doesn't understand so I must explain it and he must hear me out not the old prince and he began explaining why he could not put up with his daughter's unreasonable character if you ask me said Prince Andrew without looking up he was censuring his father for the first time in his life I did not wish to speak about it but as you ask me I will give you my frank opinion if there is any misunderstanding between you and Mary I can't blame her for it at all I know how she loves and respects you since you asked me continued Prince Andrew becoming irritable as he was always liable to do of late I can only say that if there are any misunderstandings they are caused by that worthless woman who is not fit to be my sister's companion the old man first stared at his son and an unnatural smile disclosed a fresh gap between his teeth to which Prince Andrew could not get accustomed what companion my dear boy eh you've already been talking it over eh father I did not want to judge Prince Andrew in a hard and bitter tone but you challenged me and I have said and always shall say that Mary is not to blame but those to blame the one to blame is that French woman he has passed judgment passed judgment said the old man in a low voice and as it seemed to Prince Andrew with some embarrassment but then he suddenly jumped up and cried be off, be off and let not a trace of you remain here Prince Andrew wished to leave at once but Princess Mary persuaded him to stay another day that day he did not see his father who did not leave his room and admitted no one but Prince Andrew but asked several times whether his son had gone next day before leaving Prince Andrew went to his son's room the boy curly headed like his mother and glowing with health sat on his knee and Prince Andrew began telling him the story of Bluebeard but fell into a reverie without finishing the story he thought none of this pretty child his son whom he held on his knee but in himself the remorse for having angered his father or regret at leaving home for the first time in his life on bad terms with him and was horrified to find neither what meant still more to him was that he sought and did not find in himself the former tenderness for his son which he had hoped to reawaken by caressing the boy and taking him on his knee well go on said his son Prince Andrew without replying put him down from his knee Prince Andrew had given up his daily occupations and especially on returning to the old conditions of life amid which he had been happy weariness of life overcame him with its former intensity and he hastened to escape from these memories and to find some work as soon as possible so you've decided to go Andrew asked his sister thank God that I can replied Prince Andrew I am very sorry you can't why do you say that replied Princess Mary why do you say that when you are going to this terrible war and he's so old Mademoiselle Burien says he has been asking about you as soon as she began to speak of that her lips trembled and her tears began to fall Prince Andrew turned away and began pacing the room ah my God my God when one thinks who and what what trash can cause people misery he said with a malignity that alarmed Princess Mary she understood that when speaking of trash not only to Mademoiselle Burien the cause of her misery but also to the man who had ruined his own happiness Andrew one thing I beg I entreat of you she said touching his elbow and looking at him with eyes that shone through her tears I understand you if she looked down don't imagine that sorrow is the work of men men are his tools she looked a little above Prince Andrew's head with a confident custom look at the place where our familiar portrait hangs sorrow is sent by him not by men men are his instruments they are not to blame if you think someone is wrong you forget it and forgive we have no right to punish and then you will know the happiness of forgiving if I were a woman I would do so Mary that is a woman's virtue but a man should not and cannot forgive and forget he replied and though till that moment all his unexpended anger suddenly swelled up in his heart if Mary is already persuading me forgive it means that I ought to long ago have punished him he thought and giving her no further reply he began thinking of the glad vindictive moment when he would meet Kuryagin who he knew was now in the army Princess Mary begged him to stay one day more saying that she knew how unhappy her father would be if Andrew left without being reconciled to him but Prince Andrew replied that he would probably soon be back again from the army and would certainly write to his father but that the longer he stayed now the more embittered their differences would become goodbye Andrew remember that misfortunes come from God and men are never to blame or the last words he heard from his sister when he took leave of her then it must be so thought Prince Andrew as he drove out of the avenue from the house at Bald Hills an ancient creature is left to be victimized by an old man who has outlived his wits the old man feels he is guilty but cannot change himself my boy is growing up and rejoices in life in which like everybody else he will deceive or be deceived and I am off to the army why? I myself don't know I want to meet that man whom I despise so as to give him a chance to kill and laugh at me these conditions of life had been the same before but then they were all connected to pieces only senseless things lacking coherence presented themselves one after another to Prince Andrew's mind end of chapter 8 war and peace book 9, chapter 9, read for LibriVox.org by Martin Seelof Prince Andrew reached the general headquarters of the army at the end of June the first army with which was the emperor occupied the fortified camp at Driza the second army was retreating with the first one from which it was said to be cut off by large French forces everyone was dissatisfied with the general course of affairs in the Russian army but no one anticipated any danger of invasion of the Russian provinces and no one thought the war would extend farther than the western the Polish provinces Prince Andrew found Barclay Detali to whom he had been assigned on the bank of the Driza as there was not a single town or village in the vicinity of the camp the immense number of generals and courtiers accompanying the army were living in the best houses of the villages on both sides of the river over a radius of 6 miles Barclay Detali was quartered nearly 3 miles from the emperor he received Balkanski stiffly and coldly and told him in his foreign accent that he would mention him to the emperor for a decision as to his employment but asked him meanwhile to remain on his staff Anatoli Kuryagin whom Prince Andrew had hoped to find with the army was not there he had gone to Petersburg but Prince Andrew was glad to hear this his mind was occupied by the interests of the center that was conducting a gigantic war and he was glad to be free for a while from the distraction caused by the thought of Kuryagin during the first 4 days while no duties were required of him Prince Andrew rode around the whole fortified camp with the aid of his own knowledge and by talks with experts tried to form a definite opinion about it but the question whether the camp was advantageous or disadvantageous remained for him undecided already from his military experience and what he had seen in the Austrian campaign he had come to the conclusion that in war the most deeply considered plans have no significance and that all depends on the unexpected movements of the enemy that cannot be foreseen are met and on how and by whom the whole matter is handled to clear up this last point for himself Prince Andrew utilizing his position and acquaintances tried to fathom the character of the control of the army and of the men and parties engaged in it and he deduced for himself the following of the state of affairs while the emperor had still been at Vilna the forces had been divided into three armies first the army under Barclay de Tully secondly the army under Beglation and thirdly the one commanded by Tuormisov the emperor was with the first army but not as a commander in chief in the orders issued it was stated not that the emperor would take command but only that he would be with the army the emperor moreover had with him not a commander in chief's staff but the imperial headquarters staff in attendance on him was the head of the imperial staff quartermaster general Prince Volkonsky as well as generals imperial aides to comp diplomatic officials and a large number of foreigners but not the army staff besides these there were in attendance on the emperor without any definite appointments Arakchev the ex-minister of war Count Pynygsen the senior general in rank the Grand Duke Sadovich Konstantin Pavlovich Count Rumyanskiv the chancellor Stein a former Prussian minister Armfeld a Swedish general the chief author of the plan of the campaign Pellucci an adjutant general and Sardinian emigre Wolzigan and many others though these men had no military appointment their positions gave them influence and often a core commander or even the commander in chief did not know in what capacity he was questioned by Pynygsen the Grand Duke Arakchev or Prince Volkonsky or was given this or that advice and did not know whether a certain order received in the form of advice emanated from the man who gave it or from the emperor and whether it had to be executed or not in an external condition the essential significance of the presence of the emperor and all of these people from a courtiers point of view and in an emperors vicinity all became courtiers was clear to everyone it was this the emperor did not assume the title of commander in chief but disposed of all the armies the men around him were his assistants Arakchev was a faithful custodian to enforce order and acted as the sovereign's bodyguard Pynygsen was a landlord in the Vilna province who appeared to be doing the honors of the district but was in reality a good general useful as an advisor and ready at hand to replace Barclay the Grand Duke was there because it suited him to be the Ex-Minister Stein was there because his advice was useful and the emperor Alexander held him in high esteem personally Arm felt virulently hated Napoleon and was a general full of self-confidence a quality that always influenced Alexander Baluchi was there because he was bold and decided in speech the Adjutants general were there because they always accompanied the emperor and lastly and chiefly Thule was there because he had drawn up the plan of campaign against Napoleon and having induced Alexander to leave in the efficacy of that plan was directing the whole business of the war with Thule was Woolsegan who expressed Thule's thoughts in a more comprehensible way than Thule himself who was a harsh bookish theorist self-confident to the point of despising everyone else was able to do besides these Russians and foreigners who propounded new and unexpected ideas every day especially the foreigners who did so with a boldness characteristic of people employed in a country not their own there were many secondary personages accompanying the army because their principles were there among the opinions and voices in this immense, restless, brilliant and proud sphere Prince Andrew noticed the following sharply defined subdivisions of and parties The first party consisted of Thule military theorists who believed in a science of war with immutable laws laws of oblique movements, out-plankings and so forth Thule and his adherents demanded a retirement into the depths of the country in accordance with precise laws defined by a pseudo-theory of war and they saw only barbarism, ignorance or evil intention in every deviation from that theory to this party belong the foreign nobles Wozegin, Winston-Girod and others, chiefly Germans the second party was directly opposed to the first one extreme, as always happens was met by representatives of the other the members of this party were those who had demanded in advance from Vilna into Poland and freedom from all pre-arranged plans besides being advocates of bold action this section also represented nationalism which made them still more one-sided in the dispute they were Russians Bagration, Yermolov who was beginning to come to the front and others at that time a famous joke of Yermolovs was being circulated that as a great favor he had petitioned the emperor to make him a German the men of that party remembering Suvorov said that what one had to do was not to reason or stick pins into maps but to fight, beat the enemy keep him out of Russia and not let the army get discouraged to the third party in which the emperor had most confidence belonged the courtiers who tried to arrange compromises between the other two the members of this party, chiefly civilians and to whom Archea belonged thought and said what men who have no convictions but wish to seem to have some generally say they said that undoubtedly war particularly against such a genius as Bonaparte they called him Bonaparte now needs most deeply devised plans and profound scientific knowledge and in that respect fuel was a genius but at the same time it had to be acknowledged that the theorists are often one-sided and therefore one should not trust them absolutely but should also listen to what fuel's opponents and practical men of experience in warfare had to say and then choose a middle course they insisted on the retention of the camp at Driesse according to fuel's plan but on changing the movements of the other armies though by this course neither one aim nor the other could be obtained yet it seemed best to the adherents of this third party of a fourth opinion the most conspicuous representative was the Tsarevich who could not forget his disillusionment at Austerlitz where he had written out at the head of the guards in his cask and cavalry uniform as to a review expecting to crush the French gallantly but unexpectedly finding himself in the front line had narrowly escaped amidst the general confusion the men of this party had both the quality and the defect of frankness in their opinions they feared Napoleon recognized his strength and their own weakness and frankly said so they said nothing but sorrow, shame and ruin will come of all this we have abandoned Vilna and Vitievsk and shall abandon Driesse the only reasonable thing left to do is to conclude peace as soon as possible before we are turned out of Petersburg the new was very general in the upper army circles and found support also in Petersburg and from the chancellor Romiansa who for other reasons of state was in favor of peace the fifth party consisted of those who were adherents of Barclay de Tully not so much as a man but as a minister of war and commander in chief be he what he may he is an honest practical man and we have nobody better give him real power for work and act be conducted successfully without unity of command and he will show what he can do as he did in Finland if our army is well organized and strong and has withdrawn to Driesse without suffering any defeats we owe this entirely to Barclay if Barclay is now to be superseded by Beniksson all will be lost for Beniksson showed his incapacity already in 1807 the sixth party the Benikssonites said on the contrary that at any rate there was no one more active and experienced than Beniksson and twist about as you may you will have to come to Beniksson eventually let the others make mistakes now said they arguing that our retirement to Driesse was a most shameful reverse and unbroken series of blunders the more mistakes that are made the better it will at any rate be understood all the sooner that things cannot go on like this what is wanted is not some Barclay or other but a man like Beniksson who made his mark in 1807 and to whom Napoleon himself did justice a man whose authority would be willingly recognized and Beniksson is the only such man the seventh party consisted of the sort of people who are always to be found with sovereigns and of whom there were particularly many around Alexander generals and imperial aides to come passionately devoted to the emperor not merely as a monarch but as a man adoring him sincerely and disinterestedly as Rostov had done in 1805 and who saw in him not only all the virtues but all human capabilities as well these men though enchanted with the sovereign for refusing the command of the army yet blamed him for such excessive modesty and only desired and insisted that their adored sovereign should abandon his diffidence and openly announce that he would place himself at the head of the army gather round him a commander in chief staff and in consulting experienced theoreticians and practical men were necessary would himself lead the troops whose spirits would thereby be raised to the highest pitch the eighth and largest group which in its enormous numbers was to the others as 99 to 1 consisted of men who desired neither peace nor war neither in advance nor a defensive camp at the Dresa or anywhere else neither Barclay nor the emperor nor fuel nor binnixon but only the one most essential thing has much advantage and pleasure for themselves as possible in the troubled waters of conflicting and intersecting intrigues that edied about the emperor's headquarters it was possible to succeed in many ways unthinkable at other time a man who simply wished to retain his lucrative post would today agree with fuel tomorrow with his opponent and the day after really to avoid responsibility or to please the emperor would declare that he had no opinion at all on the matter another who wished to gain some advantage would attract the emperor's attention by loudly advocating the very thing the emperor had hinted at the day before and would dispute and shout at the council beating his breast and challenging those who did not agree with him to duels thereby proving that he was prepared to sacrifice himself for the common good a third in the absence of his opponents between two councils would simply solicit a special gratuity for his faithful services well knowing that at the moment people would be too busy to refuse him a fourth while seemingly overwhelmed with work would often come accidentally under the emperor's eye a fifth to achieve his long cherished aim of dining with the emperor would stubbornly insist on the correctness or falsity of some newly emerging opinion and for this object would produce arguments more or less forcible and correct all the men of this party were fishing for rubles, decorations and promotions and in this pursuit watched only the weathercock of imperial favor and directly they noticed it turning in any direction this whole drone population of the army began blowing hard that way so it was all the harder for the emperor to turn it elsewhere amidst the uncertainties of the position with the menace of serious danger giving a peculiarly threatening character to everything amid this vortex of intrigue, egotism, conflict of views and feelings and the diversity of race among these people this eighth and largest party of those preoccupied with personal interests imparted great confusion and obscurity to the common task whatever question arose a swarm of these drones without having finished their buzzing on a previous theme flew over to the new one and by their hum drowned and obscured the voices of those who were disputing honestly from among all these parties just at the time prince andrew reached the army another, a ninth party was being formed and was beginning to raise its voice this was the party of the elders reasonable men experienced and capable in state affairs who without sharing any of those conflicting opinions were able to take a detached view of what was going on with the staff at headquarters and consider means of escape from this muddle indecision intricacy and weakness the men of this party said and thought that what was wrong resulted chiefly from the emperor's presence in the army with his military court and from the consequent presence there of an indefinite conditional and unsteady fluctuation of relations which is in place at court but harmful in an army and a sovereign should reign but not command the army and that the only way out of the position would be for the emperor and his court to leave the army that the mere presence of the emperor paralyze the action of 50,000 men required to secure his personal safety and that the worst commander in chief if independent would be better than the very best one trampled by the presence and authority of the monarch just at the time Prince Andrew was living unoccupied at Barissa Shishkov, the secretary of state and one of the chief representatives of this party wrote a letter to the emperor which Arekchev and Balashov agreed to sign in this letter availing himself of permission given him by the emperor to discuss the general course of affairs he respectfully suggested on the plea that it was necessary for the sovereign to arouse a more like spirit in the people of the capital that the emperor should leave the army that arousing of the people by their sovereign and his call to them to defend their country the very incitement which was the chief cause of Russia's triumph insofar as it was produced by the Tsar's personal presence in Moscow was suggested to the emperor and accepted by him as a pretext for quitting the army end of chapter 9 this letter had not yet been presented to the emperor when Balke one day at dinner informed Bokonsky that the sovereign wished to see him personally to question him about Turkey and that Prince Andrew was to present him himself at Benikson's quarters at six that evening news was received at the emperor's quarters that very day of a fresh movement by Napoleon which might endanger the army news subsequently found to be false and that morning Colonel Michaud had ridden around the dresser fortifications with the emperor and had pointed out to him constructed by pure until then considered a shadow of tactical science which would ensure Napoleon's destruction was an absurdity threatening the destruction of the Russian army Prince Andrew arrived at Benikson's quarters a country gentleman's house of moderate size situated on the very banks of the river now the Benikson nor the emperor was there but Chernyshov Ed Dekon received Bokonsky and informed him that the emperor accompanied by General Benikson and Marquis Paulucci had gone a second time that day to inspect the fortifications of the dresser camp of the suitability of which serious doubts were beginning to be felt Chernyshov was sitting at a window in the first room with the French novel in his hand this room had probably been a music room there was still an organ in it on which some rocks were piled and in one corner stood the folding bed state of Benikson's agitant this agitant was also there and sat dozing on the road up bedding evidently exhausted by work or by feasting two doors led from the room one straight on into what had been the drawing room and another on the right to the study to the first door came the sound of voices conversing in German and occasionally in French in that drawing room were gathered by the emperor's wish not to military council the emperor preferred indefiniteness but certain persons whose opinions he wished to know in view of the impending difficulties it was not a council of war but as it were a council to elucidate certain questions for the emperor personally to this semi-council had been invited the Swedish general arm felt agitant general in senior order whom Napoleon had referred to as a renegade French subject Michaud Tolle who was not a military man at all and fuel himself who as Prince Andrew had heard was the mainspring of the whole affair Prince Andrew had an opportunity of getting a good look at him for fuel arrived soon after himself and in passing through to the drawing room stopped a minute to speak to Ternyshof at first sight fuel in his ill-made uniform of Russian general which fitted him badly like a fancy costume seemed familiar to Prince Andrew though he saw him now for the first time there was about him something of Weierhuter Mach and Schmidt and many other German theorists generals whom Prince Andrew had seen in 1805 but he was more typical than any of them Prince Andrew had never yet seen a German theorist in whom all the characteristics of those others were united to such an extent fuel was short but broad-boat of coarse robust build brought into hips and with prominent shoulder blades his face was much wrinkled and his eyes deep-set his hair had evidently been hastily brushed smooth in front of the temples but stuck up behind in quaint little tufts he entered a room looking restlessly and angrily around as if afraid of everything in a large apartment awkwardly holding up his sword he addressed Ternischof and asked in German where the emperor was one could see that he wished to pass through the rooms as quickly as possible finished with bows and greetings and sit down to business in front of a map where he would feel at home he nodded hurriedly and replied to Ternischof and smiled ironically on hearing that the sovereign was inspecting the fortifications that he, fuel, had planned in accord with his theory he muttered something to himself abruptly and in a bass voice herself assured Germans do it might have been stupid fellow or the whole affair will be ruined or something absurd will come of it Prince Andrew did not catch what he said and would have passed on Ternischof introduced him to fuel remarking that Prince Andrew was just back from Turkey where the war had terminated so fortunately fuel barely glanced not so much at Prince Andrew as passed him and said with a laugh that must have been a fine tactical war and laughing contemptuously went on into the room from which the sound of voices was heard fuel always inclined to be irritably sarcastic as particularly disturbed the day evidently by the fact that he had dared to inspect and criticise his camp in his absence from this short interview with fuel, Prince Andrew thanks to his australits experiences was able to form a clear conception of the man fuel was one of those hopelessly and immutably self-confident men self-confident to the point of martyrdom as only Germans are because only Germans are self-confident on the basis of an abstract notion science that is the supposed knowledge of absolute truth a Frenchman is self-assured because he regards himself personally both in mind and body as irresistibly attractive to men and women an Englishman is self-assured as being a citizen of the best organised state of the world and therefore as an Englishman always knows what he should do and knows that all he does as an Englishman is undoubtedly correct an Italian is self-assured because he is excitable and easily forgets himself and other people a Russian is self-assured just because he knows nothing does not want to know anything since he does not believe that anything can be known the Germans self-assurance is worst of all stronger and more repulsive than any other because he imagines that he knows the truth science which he himself has invented but which is for him the absolute truth fuel was evidently of that sort he had a science the theory of oblique movements deduced by him from the history of Frederick the Great's wars and only came across in the history of more recent warfare seemed to him observed and barbarous monstrous collisions in which so many blunders were committed by both sides that these wars could not be called wars they did not accord with the theory and therefore could not serve as material for science in 1806 fuel had been one of those responsible for the plan of campaign that ended in Jena but he did not see the least proof of the fallibility of his theory in the disasters of that war on the contrary the deviations made from his theory were in his opinion the sole cause of the whole disaster and with characteristically gleeful sarcasm he would remark there I said the whole affair would go to the devil fuel was one of those politicians who so loved their theory that they lose sight of the theory's object its practical application his love of theory made him hate everything practical and he would not listen to it he was even pleased by failures for failures resulting from deviations in practice from the theory only proved to him the accuracy of his theory he said a few words to prince Andrew and turn his shop by the present war with the air of a man who knows beforehand that all will go wrong and who is not displeased that it should be so the unbrushed tufts of hair sticking up behind and the hastily brushed hair on his temples express this most eloquently he passed into the next room and the deep quarrelous sounds of his voice were at once heard from there Chapter 10 Recording by Ernst Patinama Amsterdam the Netherlands