Book One: 1805 - Chapter V

by Leo Tolstoy

　　"And what do you think of this latest comedy, the coronation atMilan?" asked Anna Pavlovna, "and of the comedy of the people of Genoaand Lucca laying their petitions before Monsieur Buonaparte, andMonsieur Buonaparte sitting on a throne and granting the petitionsof the nations? Adorable! It is enough to make one's head whirl! It isas if the whole world had gone crazy."

　　Prince Andrew looked Anna Pavlovna straight in the face with asarcastic smile.

　　"'Dieu me la donne, gare a qui la touche!'* They say he was veryfine when he said that," he remarked, repeating the words inItalian: "'Dio mi l'ha dato. Guai a chi la tocchi!'"

　　*God has given it to me, let him who touches it beware!

　　"I hope this will prove the last drop that will make the glass runover," Anna Pavlovna continued. "The sovereigns will not be able toendure this man who is a menace to everything."

　　"The sovereigns? I do not speak of Russia," said the vicomte, politebut hopeless: "The sovereigns, madame... What have they done for LouisXVII, for the Queen, or for Madame Elizabeth? Nothing!" and hebecame more animated. "And believe me, they are reaping the rewardof their betrayal of the Bourbon cause. The sovereigns! Why, theyare sending ambassadors to compliment the usurper."

　　And sighing disdainfully, he again changed his position.

　　Prince Hippolyte, who had been gazing at the vicomte for some timethrough his lorgnette, suddenly turned completely round toward thelittle princess, and having asked for a needle began tracing the Condecoat of arms on the table. He explained this to her with as muchgravity as if she had asked him to do it.

　　"Baton de gueules, engrele de gueules d' azur- maison Conde," saidhe.

　　The princess listened, smiling.

　　"If Buonaparte remains on the throne of France a year longer," thevicomte continued, with the air of a man who, in a matter with whichhe is better acquainted than anyone else, does not listen to othersbut follows the current of his own thoughts, "things will have gonetoo far. By intrigues, violence, exile, and executions, Frenchsociety- I mean good French society- will have been forever destroyed,and then..."

　　He shrugged his shoulders and spread out his hands. Pierre wished tomake a remark, for the conversation interested him, but Anna Pavlovna,who had him under observation, interrupted:

　　"The Emperor Alexander," said she, with the melancholy whichalways accompanied any reference of hers to the Imperial family,"has declared that he will leave it to the French people themselves tochoose their own form of government; and I believe that once free fromthe usurper, the whole nation will certainly throw itself into thearms of its rightful king," she concluded, trying to be amiable to theroyalist emigrant.

　　"That is doubtful," said Prince Andrew. "Monsieur le Vicomte quiterightly supposes that matters have already gone too far. I think itwill be difficult to return to the old regime."

　　"From what I have heard," said Pierre, blushing and breaking intothe conversation, "almost all the aristocracy has already gone over toBonaparte's side."

　　"It is the Buonapartists who say that," replied the vicomtewithout looking at Pierre. "At the present time it is difficult toknow the real state of French public opinion.

　　"Bonaparte has said so," remarked Prince Andrew with a sarcasticsmile.

　　It was evident that he did not like the vicomte and was aiming hisremarks at him, though without looking at him.

　　"'I showed them the path to glory, but they did not follow it,'"Prince Andrew continued after a short silence, again quotingNapoleon's words. "'I opened my antechambers and they crowded in.' Ido not know how far he was justified in saying so."

　　"Not in the least," replied the vicomte. "After the murder of theduc even the most partial ceased to regard him as a hero. If to somepeople," he went on, turning to Anna Pavlovna, "he ever was a hero,after the murder of the duc there was one martyr more in heaven andone hero less on earth."

　　Before Anna Pavlovna and the others had time to smile theirappreciation of the vicomte's epigram, Pierre again broke into theconversation, and though Anna Pavlovna felt sure he would saysomething inappropriate, she was unable to stop him.

　　"The execution of the Duc d'Enghien," declared Monsieur Pierre, "wasa political necessity, and it seems to me that Napoleon showedgreatness of soul by not fearing to take on himself the wholeresponsibility of that deed."

　　"Dieu! Mon Dieu!" muttered Anna Pavlovna in a terrified whisper.

　　"What, Monsieur Pierre... Do you consider that assassination showsgreatness of soul?" said the little princess, smiling and drawingher work nearer to her.

　　"Oh! Oh!" exclaimed several voices.

　　"Capital!" said Prince Hippolyte in English, and began slappinghis knee with the palm of his hand.

　　The vicomte merely shrugged his shoulders. Pierre looked solemnly athis audience over his spectacles and continued.

　　"I say so," he continued desperately, "because the Bourbons fledfrom the Revolution leaving the people to anarchy, and Napoleonalone understood the Revolution and quelled it, and so for the generalgood, he could not stop short for the sake of one man's life."

　　"Won't you come over to the other table?" suggested Anna Pavlovna.

　　But Pierre continued his speech without heeding her.

　　"No," cried he, becoming more and more eager, "Napoleon is greatbecause he rose superior to the Revolution, suppressed its abuses,preserved all that was good in it- equality of citizenship and freedomof speech and of the press- and only for that reason did he obtainpower."

　　"Yes, if having obtained power, without availing himself of it tocommit murder he had restored it to the rightful king, I should havecalled him a great man," remarked the vicomte.

　　"He could not do that. The people only gave him power that hemight rid them of the Bourbons and because they saw that he was agreat man. The Revolution was a grand thing!" continued MonsieurPierre, betraying by this desperate and provocative proposition hisextreme youth and his wish to express all that was in his mind.

　　"What? Revolution and regicide a grand thing?... Well, after that...But won't you come to this other table?" repeated Anna Pavlovna.

　　"Rousseau's Contrat social," said the vicomte with a tolerant smile.

　　"I am not speaking of regicide, I am speaking about ideas."

　　"Yes: ideas of robbery, murder, and regicide," again interjectedan ironical voice.

　　"Those were extremes, no doubt, but they are not what is mostimportant. What is important are the rights of man, emancipationfrom prejudices, and equality of citizenship, and all these ideasNapoleon has retained in full force."

　　"Liberty and equality," said the vicomte contemptuously, as if atlast deciding seriously to prove to this youth how foolish his wordswere, "high-sounding words which have long been discredited. Whodoes not love liberty and equality? Even our Saviour preachedliberty and equality. Have people since the Revolution become happier?On the contrary. We wanted liberty, but Buonaparte has destroyed it."

　　Prince Andrew kept looking with an amused smile from Pierre to thevicomte and from the vicomte to their hostess. In the first momentof Pierre's outburst Anna Pavlovna, despite her social experience, washorror-struck. But when she saw that Pierre's sacrilegious words hadnot exasperated the vicomte, and had convinced herself that it wasimpossible to stop him, she rallied her forces and joined thevicomte in a vigorous attack on the orator.

　　"But, my dear Monsieur Pierre," said she, "how do you explain thefact of a great man executing a duc- or even an ordinary man who- isinnocent and untried?"

　　"I should like," said the vicomte, "to ask how monsieur explains the18th Brumaire; was not that an imposture? It was a swindle, and not atall like the conduct of a great man!"

　　"And the prisoners he killed in Africa? That was horrible!" said thelittle princess, shrugging her shoulders.

　　"He's a low fellow, say what you will," remarked Prince Hippolyte.

　　Pierre, not knowing whom to answer, looked at them all and smiled.His smile was unlike the half-smile of other people. When he smiled,his grave, even rather gloomy, look was instantaneously replaced byanother- a childlike, kindly, even rather silly look, which seemedto ask forgiveness.

　　The vicomte who was meeting him for the first time saw clearlythat this young Jacobin was not so terrible as his words suggested.All were silent.

　　"How do you expect him to answer you all at once?" said PrinceAndrew. "Besides, in the actions of a statesman one has to distinguishbetween his acts as a private person, as a general, and as an emperor.So it seems to me."

　　"Yes, yes, of course!" Pierre chimed in, pleased at the arrival ofthis reinforcement.

　　"One must admit," continued Prince Andrew, "that Napoleon as a manwas great on the bridge of Arcola, and in the hospital at Jaffawhere he gave his hand to the plague-stricken; but... but there areother acts which it is difficult to justify."

　　Prince Andrew, who had evidently wished to tone down the awkwardnessof Pierre's remarks, rose and made a sign to his wife that it was timeto go.

　　Suddenly Prince Hippolyte started up making signs to everyone toattend, and asking them all to be seated began:

　　"I was told a charming Moscow story today and must treat you toit. Excuse me, Vicomte- I must tell it in Russian or the point will belost...." And Prince Hippolyte began to tell his story in such Russianas a Frenchman would speak after spending about a year in Russia.Everyone waited, so emphatically and eagerly did he demand theirattention to his story.

　　"There is in Moscow a lady, une dame, and she is very stingy. Shemust have two footmen behind her carriage, and very big ones. That washer taste. And she had a lady's maid, also big. She said..."

　　Here Prince Hippolyte paused, evidently collecting his ideas withdifficulty.

　　"She said... Oh yes! She said, 'Girl,' to the maid, 'put on alivery, get up behind the carriage, and come with me while I make somecalls.'"

　　Here Prince Hippolyte spluttered and burst out laughing longbefore his audience, which produced an effect unfavorable to thenarrator. Several persons, among them the elderly lady and AnnaPavlovna, did however smile.

　　"She went. Suddenly there was a great wind. The girl lost her hatand her long hair came down...." Here he could contain himself nolonger and went on, between gasps of laughter: "And the whole worldknew...."

　　And so the anecdote ended. Though it was unintelligible why he hadtold it, or why it had to be told in Russian, still Anna Pavlovnaand the others appreciated Prince Hippolyte's social tact in soagreeably ending Pierre's unpleasant and unamiable outburst. After theanecdote the conversation broke up into insignificant small talk aboutthe last and next balls, about theatricals, and who would meet whom,and when and where.