Chapter 20 Chapter Twenty

One morning Colonel Adolf Berg, dressed in a clean, new uniform, smoothed his temples with pomade, dressed like Emperor Alexander Pavlovich, came to see Pierre, Pierre Er knew everyone in Moscow and Petersburg, so he knew him too. "I have just been to your wife, the countess, and I have had the misfortune that my request has not been granted, count, and I hope to be more fortunate with you," he said, smiling. "Colonel, what can you do? I am at your service." "Count, I am now quite settled in my new dwelling," said Berg, evidently aware that it was impossible not to hear the words pleasantly.Yu refers to infinite space, Yu Wei, "So I want to hold a small party for my friends and my wife's friends. (He smiles with increasing joy.) I would like to invite the Countess and you to my house for tea... …with dinner.”

Only the Countess Helene Vasilievna, who considered the Bergs to be an insult to her dignity, refused such an invitation recklessly.Berg explained clearly why he wanted to invite a few friends to the house, why he was happy, why he was reluctant to spend money on gambling and favoring some bad entertainment, but he was willing to spend money on a party of friends, That being the case, Pierre could not refuse, and agreed to go to his house. "Count, just please don't be late, I beg you. Ten minutes to eleven o'clock, I beg you. Come on, our general is coming. He has been very kind to me. Count, we will have dinner .Please do me a favor."

Contrary to his usual habit of being late, Pierre arrived at Berg's house not at ten minutes to eight, but at a quarter to eight. The Bergs had stocked up on the essentials for the party and were already preparing to receive guests. Berg and his wife sat in a clean and bright study recently built, decorated with small busts, paintings and new furniture.Sitting beside his wife in a new button-down uniform, Berg explained to her that it is always possible and should be associated with persons of higher rank than himself, and only in this case In order to experience the fun of making friends widely.

"In this way you can imitate and learn something, and you can also ask people for advice and get a little benefit. You see how I rose from the lowest official rank step by step (Berg's life is not counted by years, It is calculated by the number of times he has won the highest award). At the moment my classmates are still useless, and I will take over the vacancy of the head of the regiment. I have the honor of being your husband (he stood up and kissed Vera's hand, he smoothed the corners of the rug as he walked towards her). How did he get all this? Above all, he was good at choosing friends. It goes without saying that he must have a high moral character, Seriously perform your duties..."

Berg realized that he was superior to weak women, so he smiled and fell silent, thinking that his lovely wife was still a weak woman, and she could not understand the various advantages of a man ein Mannzusein.Vera smiled at the same time, realizing that he was superior to a good and virtuous husband, who seemed to her like all men.The understanding of life is still very incorrect.When Berg commented on his wife, he thought all women were weak and stupid.And when Vera commented on her husband, she promoted her point of view, thinking that all men think they are wise, but they don't know anything, they are all arrogant and selfish.

-------- ① German: as a man. Berg got up, hugged his wife carefully so as not to crumple the lace shawl he had bought at great expense, and kissed her right on the middle of the lips. "I just hope we don't have a baby early." He unconsciously followed the continuation of his train of thought and said. "Yes," Vera answered, "I don't want to have children anytime soon. Live for society." "The same is true of the short shawl worn by Duchess Yusupova." Berg, with a happy, kind smile on his face, pointed to the shawl. At this moment it was reported that Count Bezukhov had arrived, and the couple exchanged glances and smiled complacently, each claiming to himself the honor of being visited.

"How important it is to be good at making friends," Berg thought for a while, "how important it is to be good at dealing with people!" "However, when I receive guests, remember," said Vera, "don't interrupt me, because I know how to receive each guest, and what to say on any social occasion." Berg smiled too. "That's not okay. Sometimes when dealing with men, we have to talk about men's affairs." He said. They received Pierre in a new drawing room, where it was impossible to sit anywhere without breaking symmetry and order, and Berg was very generous enough to break the symmetry of an easy chair or a sofa in order to entertain guests, This was quite understandable and not surprising, since he himself was obviously morbidly indecisive on this point and had to leave the matter to his guests.Pierre dragged the chair towards him, disrupting the symmetry, Berg and Vera immediately scrambling to entertain the guests, and so the party began.

Vera thought about it for a while, and decided that she should talk about the French embassy in order to arouse Pierre's interest. After making up her mind, she immediately started talking.Berg was convinced that it was necessary to talk about men, so he interrupted his wife's speech to mention the war against Austria, and at the same time he couldn't help making a sudden leap from general talk to personal intentions, that is, someone suggested Various reasons why he went to Austria and why he did not accept the proposal.Although their conversation was incoherent, and Vera was very annoyed that the man interrupted the conversation, both of them were very satisfied. Although there was only one guest at the party, they still thought that the party was a success. The gala is just like any other gala, no different!The evening was a mix of conversation, sweet tea and lighted candles.

Shortly thereafter, Berg's old colleague Boris arrived.His attitude towards Berg and Vera showed a sense of superiority and motivation for them.Boris was followed by a lady and the colonel, then the general himself, and then the Rostovs, and the evening was beyond doubt just like all evenings.Berg and Vera saw the movements in the living room and heard incoherent words.They couldn't help smiling happily at the rustle of dresses and pleasantries.As with all evening parties, there was a lot of variety, especially the general, who was like a commander, praising the house, patting Berg on the shoulder, giving orders with paternal authority, and arranging the Boston card tables.The general was seated next to his next most distinguished guest, Count Ilya Andreitch.Little old man sits with little old man, young man sits with young man and hostess sits at a tea table with silver baskets of baked goods like a party at Panin's , everything is no different from the party held by other people's homes.