Book Two: 1805 - Chapter XII

by Leo Tolstoy

　　At the levee Prince Andrew stood among the Austrian officers as hehad been told to, and the Emperor Francis merely looked fixedly intohis face and just nodded to him with to him with his long head. Butafter it was over, the adjutant he had seen the previous dayceremoniously informed Bolkonski that the Emperor desired to givehim an audience. The Emperor Francis received him standing in themiddle of the room. Before the conversation began Prince Andrew wasstruck by the fact that the Emperor seemed confused and blushed asif not knowing what to say.

　　"Tell me, when did the battle begin?" he asked hurriedly.

　　Prince Andrew replied. Then followed other questions just as simple:"Was Kutuzov well? When had he left Krems?" and so on. The Emperorspoke as if his sole aim were to put a given number of questions-the answers to these questions, as was only too evident, did notinterest him.

　　"At what o'clock did the battle begin?" asked the Emperor.

　　"I cannot inform Your Majesty at what o'clock the battle began atthe front, but at Durrenstein, where I was, our attack began afterfive in the afternoon," replied Bolkonski growing more animated andexpecting that he would have a chance to give a reliable account,which he had ready in his mind, of all he knew and had seen. But theEmperor smiled and interrupted him.

　　"How many miles?"

　　"From where to where, Your Majesty?"

　　"From Durrenstein to Krems."

　　"Three and a half miles, Your Majesty."

　　"The French have abandoned the left bank?"

　　"According to the scouts the last of them crossed on rafts duringthe night."

　　"Is there sufficient forage in Krems?"

　　"Forage has not been supplied to the extent..."

　　The Emperor interrupted him.

　　"At what o'clock was General Schmidt killed?"

　　"At seven o'clock, I believe."

　　"At seven o'clock? It's very sad, very sad!"

　　The Emperor thanked Prince Andrew and bowed. Prince Andrewwithdrew and was immediately surrounded by courtiers on all sides.Everywhere he saw friendly looks and heard friendly words. Yesterday'sadjutant reproached him for not having stayed at the palace, andoffered him his own house. The Minister of War came up andcongratulated him on the Maria Theresa Order of the third grade, whichthe Emperor was conferring on him. The Empress' chamberlain invitedhim to see Her Majesty. The archduchess also wished to see him. He didnot know whom to answer, and for a few seconds collected his thoughts.Then the Russian ambassador took him by the shoulder, led him to thewindow, and began to talk to him.

　　Contrary to Bilibin's forecast the news he had brought wasjoyfully received. A thanksgiving service was arranged, Kutuzov wasawarded the Grand Cross of Maria Theresa, and the whole armyreceived rewards. Bolkonski was invited everywhere, and had to spendthe whole morning calling on the principal Austrian dignitaries.Between four and five in the afternoon, having made all his calls,he was returning to Bilibin's house thinking out a letter to hisfather about the battle and his visit to Brunn. At the door he found avehicle half full of luggage. Franz, Bilibin's man, was dragging aportmanteau with some difficulty out of the front door.

　　Before returning to Bilibin's Prince Andrew had gone to bookshopto provide himself with some books for the campaign, and had spentsome time in the shop.

　　"What is it?" he asked.

　　"Oh, your excellency!" said Franz, with difficulty rolling theportmanteau into the vehicle, "we are to move on still farther. Thescoundrel is again at our heels!"

　　"Eh? What?" asked Prince Andrew.

　　Bilibin came out to meet him. His usually calm face showedexcitement.

　　"There now! Confess that this is delightful," said he. "Thisaffair of the Thabor Bridge, at Vienna.... They have crossed withoutstriking a blow!"

　　Prince Andrew could not understand.

　　"But where do you come from not to know what every coachman in thetown knows?"

　　"I come from the archduchess'. I heard nothing there."

　　"And you didn't see that everybody is packing up?"

　　"I did not... What is it all about?" inquired Prince Andrewimpatiently.

　　"What's it all about? Why, the French have crossed the bridge thatAuersperg was defending, and the bridge was not blown up: so Muratis now rushing along the road to Brunn and will be here in a day ortwo."

　　"What? Here? But why did they not blow up the bridge, if it wasmined?"

　　"That is what I ask you. No one, not even Bonaparte, knows why."

　　Bolkonski shrugged his shoulders.

　　"But if the bridge is crossed it means that the army too is lost? Itwill be cut off," said he.

　　"That's just it," answered Bilibin. "Listen! The French enteredVienna as I told you. Very well. Next day, which was yesterday,those gentlemen, messieurs les marechaux,* Murat, Lannes,and Belliard,mount and ride to bridge. (Observe that all three are Gascons.)'Gentlemen,' says one of them, 'you know the Thabor Bridge is minedand doubly mined and that there are menacing fortifications at itshead and an army of fifteen thousand men has been ordered to blow upthe bridge and not let us cross? But it will please our sovereignthe Emperor Napoleon if we take this bridge, so let us three go andtake it!' 'Yes, let's!' say the others. And off they go and take thebridge, cross it, and now with their whole army are on this side ofthe Danube, marching on us, you, and your lines of communication."

　　*The marshalls.

　　"Stop jesting," said Prince Andrew sadly and seriously. This newsgrieved him and yet he was pleased.

　　As soon as he learned that the Russian army was in such a hopelesssituation it occurred to him that it was he who was destined to leadit out of this position; that here was the Toulon that would lifthim from the ranks of obscure officers and offer him the first step tofame! Listening to Bilibin he was already imagining how on reachingthe army he would give an opinion at the war council which would bethe only one that could save the army, and how he alone would beentrusted with the executing of the plan.

　　"Stop this jesting," he said

　　"I am not jesting," Bilibin went on. "Nothing is truer or sadder.These gentlemen ride onto the bridge alone and wave whitehandkerchiefs; they assure the officer on duty that they, themarshals, are on their way to negotiate with Prince Auersperg. He letsthem enter the tete-de-pont.* They spin him a thousand gasconades,saying that the war is over, that the Emperor Francis is arranging ameeting with Bonaparte, that they desire to see Prince Auersperg,and so on. The officer sends for Auersperg; these gentlemen embracethe officers, crack jokes, sit on the cannon, and meanwhile a Frenchbattalion gets to the bridge unobserved, flings the bags of incendiarymaterial into the water, and approaches the tete-de-pont. At lengthappears the lieutenant general, our dear Prince Auersperg vonMautern himself. 'Dearest foe! Flower of the Austrian army, hero ofthe Turkish wars Hostilities are ended, we can shake one another'shand.... The Emperor Napoleon burns with impatience to make PrinceAuersperg's acquaintance.' In a word, those gentlemen, Gascons indeed,so bewildered him with fine words, and he is so flattered by hisrapidly established intimacy with the French marshals, and sodazzled by the sight of Murat's mantle and ostrich plumes, qu'il n'yvoit que du feu, et oublie celui qu'il devait faire faire surl'ennemi!"*[2] In spite of the animation of his speech, Bilibin didnot forget to pause after this mot to give time for its dueappreciation. "The French battalion rushes to the bridgehead, spikesthe guns, and the bridge is taken! But what is best of all," he wenton, his excitement subsiding under the delightful interest of hisown story, "is that the sergeant in charge of the cannon which wasto give the signal to fire the mines and blow up the bridge, thissergeant, seeing that the French troops were running onto thebridge, was about to fire, but Lannes stayed his hand. The sergeant,who was evidently wiser than his general, goes up to Auersperg andsays: 'Prince, you are being deceived, here are the French!' Murat,seeing that all is lost if the sergeant is allowed to speak, turnsto Auersperg with feigned astonishment (he is a true Gascon) and says:'I don't recognize the world-famous Austrian discipline, if youallow a subordinate to address you like that!' It was a stroke ofgenius. Prince Auersperg feels his dignity at stake and orders thesergeant to be arrested. Come, you must own that this affair of theThabor Bridge is delightful! It is not exactly stupidity, norrascality...."

　　*Bridgehead.

　　*[2] That their fire gets into his eyes and he forgets that he oughtto be firing at the enemy.

　　"It may be treachery," said Prince Andrew, vividly imagining thegray overcoats, wounds, the smoke of gunpowder, the sounds offiring, and the glory that awaited him.

　　"Not that either. That puts the court in too bad a light," repliedBilibin."It's not treachery nor rascality nor stupidity: it is just asat Ulm... it is..."- he seemed to be trying to find the rightexpression. "C'est... c'est du Mack. Nous sommes mackes [It is... itis a bit of Mack. We are Macked]," he concluded, feeling that he hadproduced a good epigram, a fresh one that would be repeated. Hishitherto puckered brow became smooth as a sign of pleasure, and with aslight smile he began to examine his nails.

　　"Where are you off to?" he said suddenly to Prince Andrew who hadrisen and was going toward his room.

　　"I am going away."

　　"Where to?"

　　"To the army."

　　"But you meant to stay another two days?"

　　"But now I am off at once."

　　And Prince Andrew after giving directions about his departure wentto his room.

　　"Do you know, mon cher," said Bilibin following him, "I have beenthinking about you. Why are you going?"

　　And in proof of the conclusiveness of his opinion all the wrinklesvanished from his face.

　　Prince Andrew looked inquiringly at him and gave no reply.

　　"Why are you going? I know you think it your duty to gallop backto the army now that it is in danger. I understand that. Mon cher,it is heroism!"

　　"Not at all," said Prince Andrew.

　　"But as you are a philosopher, be a consistent one, look at theother side of the question and you will see that your duty, on thecontrary, is to take care of yourself. Leave it to those who are nolonger fit for anything else.... You have not been ordered to returnand have not been dismissed from here; therefore, you can stay andgo with us wherever our ill luck takes us. They say we are going toOlmutz, and Olmutz is a very decent town. You and I will travelcomfortably in my caleche."

　　"Do stop joking, Bilibin," cried Bolkonski.

　　"I am speaking sincerely as a friend! Consider! Where and why areyou going, when you might remain here? You are faced by one of twothings," and the skin over his left temple puckered, "either youwill not reach your regiment before peace is concluded, or you willshare defeat and disgrace with Kutuzov's whole army."

　　And Bilibin unwrinkled his temple, feeling that the dilemma wasinsoluble.

　　"I cannot argue about it," replied Prince Andrew coldly, but hethought: "I am going to save the army."

　　"My dear fellow, you are a hero!" said Bilibin.