Book Nine: 1812 - Chapter V

by Leo Tolstoy

　　Davout was to Napoleon what Arakcheev was to Alexander- though not acoward like Arakcheev, he was as precise, as cruel, and as unable toexpress his devotion to his monarch except by cruelty.

　　In the organism of states such men are necessary, as wolves arenecessary in the organism of nature, and they always exist, alwaysappear and hold their own, however incongruous their presence andtheir proximity to the head of the government may be. Thisinevitability alone can explain how the cruel Arakcheev, who toreout a grenadier's mustache with his own hands, whose weak nervesrendered him unable to face danger, and who was neither an educatedman nor a courtier, was able to maintain his powerful position withAlexander, whose own character was chivalrous, noble, and gentle.

　　Balashev found Davout seated on a barrel in the shed of apeasant's hut, writing- he was auditing accounts. Better quarterscould have been found him, but Marshal Davout was one of those men whopurposely put themselves in most depressing conditions to have ajustification for being gloomy. For the same reason they are alwayshard at work and in a hurry. "How can I think of the bright side oflife when, as you see, I am sitting on a barrel and working in a dirtyshed?" the expression of his face seemed to say. The chief pleasureand necessity of such men, when they encounter anyone who showsanimation, is to flaunt their own dreary, persistent activity.Davout allowed himself that pleasure when Balashev was brought in.He became still more absorbed in his task when the Russian generalentered, and after glancing over his spectacles at Balashev's face,which was animated by the beauty of the morning and by his talk withMurat, he did not rise or even stir, but scowled still more andsneered malevolently.

　　When he noticed in Balashev's face the disagreeable impressionthis reception produced, Davout raised his head and coldly askedwhat he wanted.

　　Thinking he could have been received in such a manner only becauseDavout did not know that he was adjutant general to the EmperorAlexander and even his envoy to Napoleon, Balashev hastened toinform him of his rank and mission. Contrary to his expectation,Davout, after hearing him, became still surlier and ruder.

　　"Where is your dispatch?" he inquired. "Give it to me. I will sendit to the Emperor."

　　Balashev replied that he had been ordered to hand it personally tothe Emperor.

　　"Your Emperor's orders are obeyed in your army, but here," saidDavout, "you must do as you're told."

　　And, as if to make the Russian general still more conscious of hisdependence on brute force, Davout sent an adjutant to call the officeron duty.

　　Balashev took out the packet containing the Emperor's letter andlaid it on the table (made of a door with its hinges still hangingon it, laid across two barrels). Davout took the packet and read theinscription.

　　"You are perfectly at liberty to treat me with respect or not,"protested Balashev, "but permit me to observe that I have the honor tobe adjutant general to His Majesty...."

　　Davout glanced at him silently and plainly derived pleasure from thesigns of agitation and confusion which appeared on Balashev's face.

　　"You will be treated as is fitting," said he and, putting the packetin his pocket, left the shed.

　　A minute later the marshal's adjutant, de Castres, came in andconducted Balashev to the quarters assigned him.

　　That day he dined with the marshal, at the same board on thebarrels.

　　Next day Davout rode out early and, after asking Balashev to come tohim, peremptorily requested him to remain there, to move on with thebaggage train should orders come for it to move, and to talk to no oneexcept Monsieur de Castres.

　　After four days of solitude, ennui, and consciousness of hisimpotence and insignificance- particularly acute by contrast withthe sphere of power in which he had so lately moved- and after severalmarches with the marshal's baggage and the French army, which occupiedthe whole district, Balashev was brought to Vilna- now occupied by theFrench- through the very gate by which he had left it four dayspreviously.

　　Next day the imperial gentleman-in-waiting, the Comte de Turenne,came to Balashev and informed him of the Emperor Napoleon's wish tohonor him with an audience.

　　Four days before, sentinels of the Preobrazhensk regiment hadstood in front of the house to which Balashev was conducted, and nowtwo French grenadiers stood there in blue uniforms unfastened in frontand with shaggy caps on their heads, and an escort of hussars andUhlans and a brilliant suite of aides-de-camp, pages, and generals,who were waiting for Napoleon to come out, were standing at the porch,round his saddle horse and his Mameluke, Rustan. Napoleon receivedBalashev in the very house in Vilna from which Alexander haddispatched him on his mission.