Chapter 7 Chapter VII

When Boris and Anna Pavlovna returned to the public group, Prince Hippolyte took hold of the group's thread of conversation.He leaned forward in the easy chair and said: "Le Roide Prusse!" he said, laughing.Everyone turned to him: "Le Roide Prusse?" asked Hippolyte, laughing again, and sat down calmly and seriously in his easy chair.Anna Pavlovna waited for a moment, but since Hippolyte seemed determined not to go on, she began to tell the story that the godless Bonaparte had stolen Frederick the Great's sword in Potsdam. "C'estl'epee de Fredericle Grand, queje..." She was about to begin, but Hippolyte interrupted her.

"Le Roide Prusse..." As soon as everyone turned to him, he apologized again and remained silent for a while.Anna Pavlovna frowned. Hippolyte's friend Mortemart turned his face to him and said firmly. "Voyon saquienavez—vousavecvotre Roide Prusse?"③ -------- ①French: King of Prussia. ②French: This is the sword of Frederick the Great, I take it... ③French: So what about the King of Prussia? Hippolyte laughed, as if he was ashamed of his own laughter. "Non, cen'estrien, jevoulaisdireseulement...① (he wanted to repeat the joke he heard in Vienna, he wanted to tell it all evening.) Jevoulaisdireseulement, quenousavonstortdefaielaguerrepourleroidPrusse.②"

Boris smiled warily, and his smile might have been taken as a mockery of the joke or as an admiration, depending on how it was taken.Everyone laughed out loud. "Ilestresmauvaisvotrejeudemot, tresspirituel, maisinjuste," Anna Pavlovna threatened him with her wrinkled fingers, "NousnefaisonspaslaguerrepourleroidePrusse, maispourlesbonprincipes. Ah, lemechant, ceprince, Hippolyte!" she said. The conversation continued throughout the night, with the main topic centered around political news.Towards the end of the evening, the conversation concerned the King's bounty, which made it all the more lively:

"Knowing that 'NN' won a snuff bottle with a portrait embedded in it last year," said l'hommeal'espritprofond④, "why didn't 'SS' win the same prize?" -------- ①French: Nothing, but I want to say... ②French: But I want to say that it is useless for us to fight for the King of Prussia. ③French: Your puns are not beautiful, too witty, but untrue.We fight for good principles, not for the King of Prussia.Oh, how wicked is this Prince Hippolyte! ④French: a person of outstanding intellect. "Jevousdemandepardon, unetabatiereavecleportraitdel'Empereurestunerecompense, maispointunedistinction," said the diplomat, "uncadeauplutot."

"Ilyeuplutotdesantecedents, jevouscitAeraiSchwarzenberg."② "C'estimpossible." ③Another person retorted. "Make a bet. Legrandcordon, c'est different..."④ -------- ① French: Sorry, the snuff bottle inlaid with the emperor's portrait is a reward, not a medal, but rather a gift. ②French: For this example, Schwarzenberg was rewarded. ③ French: This is impossible. ④ French: Ribbon, that is another matter. When they all got up to go, Helen, who had been reticent all night, invited Boris again, and she kindly and meaningfully bade him to come to her on Tuesday.

"It is very necessary to me," she said, smiling, looking back at Anna Pavlovna, who also had the melancholy that she often expressed when speaking of her noble protector. With a smile, she definitely believed that Helen had this wish.It seemed to Helen that evening that she had caught the need to see Boris suddenly in something he had said about the Prussian army.She seemed to have promised that when he came on Tuesday, she would explain to him why it was necessary for her to see him. When Boris came to Helen's magnificent drawing room on Tuesday night, Helen did not explain to him clearly why he wanted him to come to her.There were several other guests in the living room, and the countess seldom talked to him, and only when he kissed her hand to say goodbye to her, she showed a strange look, without a smile on her face, she suddenly whispered said to him:

"Venez de main diner lesoir. Ilfautquevous veniez... venez."① -------- ①French: Come to the banquet tomorrow... In the evening, you are coming... Please come. Boris came to Petersburg this time and became a close friend in Countess Bezukhova's family.