Book Nine: 1812 - Chapter X

by Leo Tolstoy

　　This letter had not yet been presented to the Emperor whenBarclay, one day at dinner, informed Bolkonski that the sovereignwished to see him personally, to question him about Turkey, and thatPrince Andrew was to present himself at Bennigsen's quarters at sixthat evening.

　　News was received at the Emperor's quarters that very day of a freshmovement by Napoleon which might endanger the army- newssubsequently found to be false. And that morning Colonel Michaud hadridden round the Drissa fortifications with the Emperor and hadpointed out to him that this fortified camp constructed by Pfuel,and till then considered a chef-d'oeuvre of tactical science whichwould ensure Napoleon's destruction, was an absurdity, threatening thedestruction of the Russian army.

　　Prince Andrew arrived at Bennigsen's quarters- a country gentleman'shouse of moderate size, situated on the very banks of the river.Neither Bennigsen nor the Emperor was there, but Chernyshev, theEmperor's aide-de-camp, received Bolkonski and informed him that theEmperor, accompanied by General Bennigsen and Marquis Paulucci, hadgone a second time that day to inspect the fortifications of theDrissa camp, of the suitability of which serious doubts were beginningto be felt.

　　Chernyshev was sitting at a window in the first room with a Frenchnovel in his hand. This room had probably been a music room; there wasstill an organ in it on which some rugs were piled, and in onecorner stood the folding bedstead of Bennigsen's adjutant. Thisadjutant was also there and sat dozing on the rolled-up bedding,evidently exhausted by work or by feasting. Two doors led from theroom, one straight on into what had been the drawing room, andanother, on the right, to the study. Through the first door came thesound of voices conversing in German and occasionally in French. Inthat drawing room were gathered, by the Emperor's wish, not a militarycouncil (the Emperor preferred indefiniteness), but certain personswhose opinions he wished to know in view of the impendingdifficulties. It was not a council of war, but, as it were, acouncil to elucidate certain questions for the Emperor personally.To this semicouncil had been invited the Swedish General Armfeldt,Adjutant General Wolzogen, Wintzingerode (whom Napoleon had referredto as a renegade French subject), Michaud, Toll, Count Stein who wasnot a military man at all, and Pfuel himself, who, as Prince Andrewhad heard, was the mainspring of the whole affair. Prince Andrew hadan opportunity of getting a good look at him, for Pfuel arrived soonafter himself and, in passing through to the drawing room, stopped aminute to speak to Chernyshev.

　　At first sight, Pfuel, in his ill-made uniform of a Russian general,which fitted him badly like a fancy costume, seemed familiar to PrinceAndrew, though he saw him now for the first time. There was abouthim something of Weyrother, Mack, and Schmidt, and many other Germantheorist-generals whom Prince Andrew had seen in 1805, but he was moretypical than any of them. Prince Andrew had never yet seen a Germantheorist in whom all the characteristics of those others were unitedto such an extent.

　　Pfuel was short and very thin but broad-boned, of coarse, robustbuild, broad in the hips, and with prominent shoulder blades. His facewas much wrinkled and his eyes deep set. His hair had evidently beenhastily brushed smooth in front of the temples, but stuck up behind inquaint little tufts. He entered the room, looking restlessly andangrily around, as if afraid of everything in that large apartment.Awkwardly holding up his sword, he addressed Chernyshev and asked inGerman where the Emperor was. One could see that he wished to passthrough the rooms as quickly as possible, finish with the bows andgreetings, and sit down to business in front of a map, where hewould feel at home. He nodded hurriedly in reply to Chernyshev, andsmiled ironically on hearing that the sovereign was inspecting thefortifications that he, Pfuel, had planned in accord with histheory. He muttered something to himself abruptly and in a bass voice,as self-assured Germans do- it might have been "stupid fellow"... or"the whole affair will be ruined," or "something absurd will come ofit."... Prince Andrew did not catch what he said and would have passedon, but Chernyshev introduced him to Pfuel, remarking that PrinceAndrew was just back from Turkey where the war had terminated sofortunately. Pfuel barely glanced- not so much at Prince Andrew aspast him- and said, with a laugh: "That must have been a fine tacticalwar"; and, laughing contemptuously, went on into the room from whichthe sound of voices was heard.

　　Pfuel, always inclined to be irritably sarcastic, was particularlydisturbed that day, evidently by the fact that they had dared toinspect and criticize his camp in his absence. From this shortinterview with Pfuel, Prince Andrew, thanks to his Austerlitzexperiences, was able to form a clear conception of the man. Pfuel wasone 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 abstractnotion- 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. AnEnglishman is self-assured, as being a citizen of the best-organizedstate in the world, and therefore as an Englishman always knows whathe should do and knows that all he does as an Englishman isundoubtedly correct. An Italian is self-assured because he isexcitable and easily forgets himself and other people. A Russian isself-assured just because he knows nothing does not want to knowanything, since he does not believe that anything can be known. TheGerman's self-assurance is worst of all, stronger and more repulsivethan any other, because he imagines that he knows the truth-science- which he himself has invented but which is for him theabsolute truth.

　　Pfuel was evidently of that sort. He had a science- the theory ofoblique movements deduced by him from the history of Frederick theGreat's wars, and all he came across in the history of more recentwarfare seemed to him absurd and barbarous- monstrous collisions inwhich so many blunders were committed by both sides that these warscould not be called wars, they did not accord with the theory, andtherefore could not serve as material for science.

　　In 1806 Pfuel had been one of those responsible, for the plan ofcampaign that ended in Jena and Auerstadt, but he did not see theleast proof of the fallibility of his theory in the disasters ofthat war. On the contrary, the deviations made from his theory were,in his opinion, the sole cause of the whole disaster, and withcharacteristically gleeful sarcasm he would remark, "There, I said thewhole affair would go to the devil!" Pfuel was one of thosetheoreticians who so love their theory that they lose sight of thetheory's object- its practical application. His love of theory madehim hate everything practical, and he would not listen to it. He waseven pleased by failures, for failures resulting from deviations inpractice from the theory only proved to him the accuracy of histheory.

　　He said a few words to Prince Andrew and Chernyshev about thepresent war, with the air of a man who knows beforehand that allwill go wrong, and who is not displeased that it should be so. Theunbrushed tufts of hair sticking up behind and the hastily brushedhair on his temples expressed this most eloquently.

　　He passed into the next room, and the deep, querulous sounds ofhis voice were at once heard from there.