Chapter 18 Chapter Eighteen

Count Bezukhov suffered his sixth stroke while the Englishmen danced the sixth verse to music played out of tune by sleepy musicians, and the tired waiters and cooks were preparing supper.The doctors declared that there was no hope of recovery, and the sick were given confession, communion, and preparations for the anointing.Usually at such moments the house was in a hustle and bustle, in anxious anticipation.The coffin sellers gathered outside the gates of the houses, and withdrew when a carriage approached, and waited to make a fortune in the coffin for the earl's burial.The commander-in-chief of the Moscow Military District kept sending adjutants to inquire about the count's condition. That night, he came by car to bid farewell to Count Bezukhov, a senior official in the Ekaterina era.

The ornate reception room was packed with people.When the Commander-in-Chief of the military region stayed alone with the patient for about half an hour, when he came out, everyone stood up in awe. He bowed slightly in return, trying to pass by the doctors, priests and relatives who were staring at him as quickly as possible. .These days Prince Vasili looked thin and pale, and he accompanied the commander-in-chief of the military district, repeating something to him softly. After seeing off the commander-in-chief of the military district, Prince Vasili sat down alone in a chair in the hall, crossed one leg high on the other, put his elbows on his knees, and covered his eyes with his hands.After sitting like this for a while, he stood up, looked around with terrified eyes, and, unlike his usual haste, walked through the corridor to the back yard of the house to find the prince's lady.

In the dimly lit room, people whispered to each other, the voices were intermittent, and when someone entered and exited from the bedroom door leading to the dying person, and the door made a faint sound, people were silent, with a voice full of doubt and expectation. looking at the door. "Man's destiny," said an old clergyman to the lady who sat near him and listened childishly to him, "is an insurmountable destiny." "I suppose it's not too late for the anointing?" the woman asked, adding the title of clergyman, as if she had no problem with that. "Ma'am, this sacrament is solemn," replied the clergyman, passing his hand over the bald spot covered with gray locks combed back.

"Who is he? The commander-in-chief of the military district himself?" asked someone from the other end of the room. "How young he looks! . . . " "Over sixty years old! It is said that the count no longer recognizes him, does he? Do you want to have a consecration ceremony?" "There's a man I know who's been anointed seven times." The second daughter of the prince came out of the patient's bedroom, her eyes stained with tears, and she sat down beside Dr. Roland, who was leaning on the table with his elbows, and sat gracefully under the portrait of Ekaterina.

"Tresbeau," said the doctor, in answer to a question about the weather, "tresbeau, princesse, etpuis, a MoscouonsecroitalacomBpagne." "Nest-ce-pas?" sighed the princess, "may he have water?" Roland pondered. "Has he taken any medicine?" "I've served it." The doctor looked at Bleg's pocket watch. "Please take a glass of boiling water and put it in unepincee (he used that slender finger to indicate what unepincee means) decremortartari..."③ ①French: Very good—Princess, the weather is very good, and Moscow is very similar to the countryside.

②French: Is it true? ③ French: a pinch of tartar. "No one survives three strokes," said the German doctor to the adjutant. "What an energetic man he was!" said the adjutant. "Who will this property belong to in the future?" He added softly. "There will be a willing heir," replied the German, smiling. Everyone glanced at the door again. The door creaked. The Duke's second lady made drinks according to Roland's instructions and sent them to the patient.The German doctor walked towards Roland. "Perhaps he can put it off until tomorrow morning?" asked the German in broken French.

Roland pursed his lips and waved his finger solemnly in front of his nose to express his disapproval. "Tonight, not later." He said softly, he was proud of being able to clearly understand and explain the patient's condition, with a gentle smile on his face, he walked away. At the same moment Prince Vasili opened the door of the princess's room. The room was half dark.Only two long lamps were lit in front of the statue.Incense and flowers exude a refreshing fragrance.This room is full of small furniture such as small cabinets, cupboards, and coffee tables.Behind the screen, you can see the high couch covered with fluffy mattresses covered with snow-white covers.

"Oh, is it you, my cousin?" She stood up and straightened her hair, which had always been, and was even now, flat and smooth, as if the hair and the head had been made of the same material, and had been given another coat of paint. "Why, what's the matter?" she asked. "I'm terribly frightened." "It's nothing, it's the same, Katish, I just came to talk to you about one thing," said the prince, sitting sleepily in the easy chair she had just sat in, "but you heated up the chair " said he, "come and sit here, cauBsons."①

①French: Let's talk. "I thought something was wrong," said the princess, sitting down opposite the prince with her usual serious and rigid expression, to listen to him. "My cousin, I want to sleep soundly for a while, but I can't." "How is it, my dear?" said Prince Vasili, taking the princess's hand and pressing it lightly as usual. It can be seen that the words "how" are related to many things that the two of them can understand each other without opening their mouths. The princess's waist was thin and stiff, and her legs were too long for her legs, and a pair of gray eyes stood out, and she looked at the prince straight and coldly.She shook her head, sighed, and looked at the statue.Her posture can show that she is infinitely loyal, but her heart is sad, and it can also show that she is very tired and hopes to get a quick rest. Prince Vasili said her posture is a sign of sleepiness.

"And I feel," he said, "do you think I feel lighter? Jesuisereinte, commeunchevaldeposte, Katish, but I will talk to you, very seriously." ① French: I am exhausted, like a stage horse. Prince Vasily was silent, his cheeks twitched nervously now and then, giving his face a displeased expression which he had never seen when he stopped in the drawing-room.His eyes were also uncharacteristically, sometimes looking at people impudently and comically, and sometimes looking around in panic. The princess held the little dog on her lap in her thin hands, and looked intently into Prince Vasily's eyes.It seemed, however, that even if she remained silent until morning, she could not break the silence by asking a question.

"My dear princess, cousin, Katerina Semyonovna, don't you know," said Prince Vasily, and it seemed that there was some internal struggle in going on, "like now At this moment, everything should be considered, the future should be considered, and you should be considered...I love you like my own children, you know this." The princess was still looking at him with dull, motionless eyes. "Finally, my family should also be considered," Prince Vasily pushed the coffee table beside him angrily, without looking at her, and continued, "Katish, you know, your Mamontov family Three sisters, and my wife, and we are the only direct heirs to the earl. I know, I know, that it hurts you to say and think about these things. I don't feel easy either; but, my My friend, I am in my fifties, and I have to be prepared for everything. I sent someone to fetch Pierre, and the count pointed his hand straight at his portrait and asked him to come to him, you know ?” Prince Vasili looked at the princess questioningly, but he could not make out whether she was thinking about what he had said to her, or was looking at him casually... "I have been praying to God for one thing, moncousin ’ she answered, ‘and pray that God will forgive him, and that his noble soul may leave this...   "Yes, that's right," Prince Vasily continued impatiently, rubbing his bald head with his hands, and angrily moved the coffee table away from him, "but in the end, in the end, the problem is that you You know, the Count last winter wrote a will, leaving all his estates to Pierre, and we, the direct heirs, have no share." "Let him make the will, that's all right," said the princess calmly, "but he cannot leave the inheritance to Pierre. Pierre is an illegitimate son." "Machere," said Prince Vasily suddenly, he was leaning against the coffee table, showing great interest, and speaking faster, "If the count tells the king and asks Pierre to be his son, what should we do? You understand that based on the count's merits, his request will be respected..." People who think they know more about the situation than the person they are talking to smile, and the princess smiles in the same way. "I have more things to tell you," Prince Vasili continued, grabbing her hand, "the letter is written, and even though it has not been mailed, the king knows the details, but the problem is that this Whether the letter was burned or not. If it is not burned, everything will be ruined in the near future." Prince Vasili sighed to make people understand what "everything will be ruined" means, "as soon as the count's papers are opened, The will and the letter will be presented to the king, and his request will probably be honored. Pierre will receive all the inheritance as a legitimate son." "And our share of the inheritance?" asked the princess, smiling ironically, as if everything could happen except this one. "Mais, mapauvreCatiche, cestclair, commelejour, ① at that time, he alone is the legal heir of the whole estate, and you must not get your own. My dear, you must know whether the will and the memorial have been written or burnt down. If those two things are left behind, then you ought to know where they are, and find them all, because . . . " "Such a foolish thing!" interrupted the princess, smiling maliciously, without changing the expression of her eyes, "I am a woman, and we are all fools in your opinion. But, as far as I know, An illegitimate child cannot inherit . . . unbatard," she added, thinking that through the translation, the duke would be able to fully understand the sufficient reasons for his lack of inheritance. ①French: But, Katish, this is perfectly clear. ② French: illegitimate child. "Katish, why don't you understand! You are so clever, how can you not understand; if the count wrote a memorial to the king, asking the king to recognize his son as legitimate. Then Pierre is no longer Pierre, but It is Count Bezukhov, will he get the whole estate by will then? If the will and the memorials are not burned, then you will get nothing but the comfort of being a noble character. This is absolutely true. " "I know that the will is written, but I also know that the will is not in effect, and you seem to think me a complete fool, moncousin," said the princess, with the air of those who think they have made an insulting quip. Women look the same. "You are my dear Princess Katerina Semyonovna!" said Prince Vasily impatiently. "I have not come to you to quarrel with you, but to be with a kinsman, a kind, Dear dear, on the question of your immediate interests. I tell you for the tenth time that if the count's papers are accompanied by a memorial to the king and a will in Pierre's favor, then, my dear, you and your several My sister is no longer an heir. If you don’t believe me, trust the insider: I just talked to Dmitry Onufriitch (the family lawyer) and he said the same thing.” Evidently, something had suddenly changed in the princess's mind, her thin lips had grown pale (the eyes remained the same), and when she spoke, her voice was intermittent, evidently not what she had intended. . "That's all right," she said. "I didn't want anything, and I don't want anything now." She threw the puppy off her lap, smoothing out the folds of her dress. "That's gratitude, that's gratitude to those who sacrificed everything for him," she said. "Very good! Very good! Duke, I don't want anything." "Yes, but you are not alone, you have several sisters." Prince Vasili replied. But the princess would not listen to him. "Yes, that's something I've known for a long time, but I've put it out of my mind. I can expect nothing in this house but baseness, deceit, envy, intrigue, nothing but ingratitude, black-hearted ingratitude. ..." "Do you know, or do you not know where this will is?" asked Prince Vasily, his cheeks convulsed even more than before. "Yes, I am very foolish, and trust people, and love them, and sacrifice myself. But only the vile and wicked people can do it well. I know whose plot it is." The princess tried to get up, but the prince held her hand tightly and would not let her go.The princess had the look of a person who has suddenly become pessimistic about all mankind; she looked resentfully at the person she was talking to. "There is time, my friend. Remember, Katish, that such things happen by accident, in times of anger and illness, and then forgotten. My dear, we His duty is to correct his mistakes, prevent him from doing such unfair things, alleviate his sufferings at the end of his life, and prevent him from thinking of making those people miserable when he dies..." "Those who sacrificed everything for him," echoed the princess, struggling again to her feet, but the duke would not let her go, "he never valued them. No, moncousin," she added with a sigh, " I will remember that no reward can be expected in this world, where there is neither honor nor justice. In this world there must be cunning and wickedness." "Come on, voyons, ① calm down, I know your kindness." ①French: OK. "No, my heart is vicious." "I know your heart," repeated the duke. "I value your friendship, and I hope you have the same opinion of me. Be still, parlonsrai Bson; there is time, perhaps a day and a night, perhaps only For an hour, tell me all you know about the will, and above all, where it is kept, you should know. We will show it to the count at once, he probably forgot it, he Want to destroy it. You know in your heart that my only desire is to do his will divinely, and it is for this level that I have come here. I am here only to help him, and to help you. " "I understand everything now. I know who's plotting it. I know it," said the princess. "My dear, that's not the case." "She is your protégé, your dear Anna Mikhaylovna, that vile, vile woman, I would not have accepted to be my handmaid." "Neperdon's point de temps."② "Oh, don't talk about it! She sneaked up here last winter and said so many mean things to the count about us all, and Sophie in particular, that I can't repeat them, the count is sick. For two weeks, he refused to meet with us. I know that's when he wrote this disgusting document, but I thought it was meaningless." "Nousy voila, why didn't you tell me earlier?" ①French: Let's talk seriously. ②French: Let's not waste time. ③French: This is the problem. "In the intarsia leather bag under his pillow. I know now," said the princess, without answering him. "Yes, if I have a sin, a heinous sin, it is that I hate this odious woman," said the prince. The young lady was about to cry out, her complexion completely changed, "Why did she sneak here? I'll tell her what I want to say, and I'll say it when the time comes!"