After Prince Andrei's courtship of Natasha, Pierre suddenly felt, without any apparent reason, that he could not go on with his former life.However much he believed in the truths revealed to him by his benefactor, however much the inner discipline to which he was passionately devoted gave him joy in the first days that fascinated him,—after Prince Andrew and After Natasha's engagement, after Joseph Alexievich's death (he learned of both events almost at the same time), the charm of his former life suddenly disappeared for him.Only the framework of life remained: his house, a charming wife who was now in the favor of some important person, his acquaintance with all the people in Petersburg, and his dull, formal business.Pierre suddenly found the former life unexpectedly unpleasant.He stopped keeping a diary, avoided the association of his brothers and sisters, began to go to clubs again, began to drink too much, and to associate with bachelor friends, and he began to live in such a way that Countess Helene Nisilievna thought it necessary to dissect him. He lashed out.Pierre felt that what she was doing was right, and in order not to discredit her, Pierre set off for Moscow.

In Moscow, as soon as he entered his ancient house (in which lived the emaciated and emaciated princess and many domestic servants), he had just seen the golden cassock in front of it as he drove through the city. When he sees the countless candlelit chapels of Yver, sees the Kremlin Square, which is covered with snow and has not been soiled by cars, sees the coachmen and huts of the Sivtsev Vlarok ghetto, as soon as he sees those hopeless , an old Moscow man who spends his days away from home, as soon as he sees the old ladies, the Moscow ladies, the Moscow ballets and the Moscow English clubs—he feels himself at home, in the In a place of peace.Settling in Moscow is like wearing an old gown, warm, comfortable and unclean.

The whole Moscow society, from old ladies to children, greeted Pierre as a long-awaited visitor.In the eyes of Moscow society, Pierre was a most lovable, kind, intelligent, cheerful, generous eccentric, an absent-minded honest Russian nobleman of the old style.His wallet is always empty because it is open to everyone. Memorial performances, bad tempera, statues, charities, gypsies, schools, fund-raising parties, booze, Freemasonry, churches, books--no one, nothing would be rejected by him; if there were not two If a friend who has borrowed a lot of money from him is the guardian, he will really give everything to others.In the club, whether it is a banquet or a party, he is indispensable.As soon as he drank two bottles of Margaux, names are used to distinguish things, and language is a tool to express thoughts. , casually collapsed on the sofa he was sitting on, and people surrounded him, discussing, arguing, and making jokes.No matter where there is a quarrel, as long as he shows a kind smile and makes a joke, it will make peace.Without him, the dining room of a Masonic lodge would be dull and bleak.

When the bachelor's supper was over, he yielded, with a kindly sweet smile, to the entreaties of his jovial companions, and rose to ride with them, and there was an excited cheer among the youth.If there was a lack of a partner at the ball, he came and danced.Young ladies and ladies liked him because he courted no women, and was equally courteous to all, especially after supper: Ilestcharmant, iln'apasdesexe. ①" That's how everyone talks about him. -------- ① French: He is very attractive, not like a man. Pierre was a retired court valet who had spent his last years in Moscow very kindly, and there were hundreds of people like him in Moscow.

If seven years ago, when he just came back from abroad, if someone told him that he didn't need to look for anything, he didn't need to imagine anything, his track had already been opened, and he was destined to remain unchanged forever. As with all your fellows in his place, he'd really shudder to hear that.He would never have believed such words, had he now wished wholeheartedly to establish a republic in Russia, now to be Napoleon, now to be a philosopher, now to be a tactician, to be the man who would defeat Napoleon?Was it not his foresight and ardent desire to reform wicked humanity, to perfect himself?Didn't he build schools and hospitals and free the peasants?

But he failed to achieve all this, he became a rich husband to an unchaste wife, a retired high page who loved to eat and drink, opened his clothes and cursed the government a little, a member of the English Club in Moscow, and he was still A favorite member of Moscow high society.He could not bear the thought for a long time, and said that he was exactly the retired high page of the Moscow court whom he had utterly despised seven years ago. Sometimes he comforted himself with the thought that he was only living this life for a while, but then another thought frightened him, that there were many like him who entered this field of life and this club with the words Teeth, with black hair all over his head, and when he came out from there later, both teeth and hair fell out.

When he felt haughty, he thought of his position, and it seemed to him that he was very different from those retired senior chamberlains he used to despise, who were vulgar and stupid, complacent and content with their status quo, "and I have until now Still feeling dissatisfied, still wanting to contribute a little to humanity." When he felt proud, he said to himself. "Maybe all my colleagues are also struggling like me, looking for a new way of life. Like me, I have been led to my path by the force of the environment, the force of society and family, the natural force that human beings are powerless to resist. on the way of life.” He said modestly that, having lived in Moscow for some time, he no longer despised his colleagues who shared his fate, but began to love and respect them, and to pity them as he pityed himself.

Pierre did not feel hopeless, melancholy, and disgusted with life every moment as before. The disease, which used to attack violently, had invaded his heart and haunted him every moment. "Why? For what purpose? What's going on in this world?" He asked himself several times in a day, and couldn't help thinking carefully about the meaning of various phenomena in life, but he relied on experience He also knew that there were no answers to these questions, so he hurriedly tried to avoid them. He often read books, or rushed to the club, or went to Apollon Nikolayevich's to chat about the gossip of the city.

"Helen Vasilyevna, who loves nothing but her figure, is one of the most stupid women in the world," thought Pierre, "but she is considered the pinnacle of wit and refinement." And worship her. Napoleon Bonaparte was despised by the world until he became a great man. Since he became a poor buffoon, Emperor Franz has tried to marry his daughter to him as an illegitimate wife. The Spaniards use Catholic priests Pray to God, with deep gratitude, for they defeated the French on the 14th of June, and the French also prayed to God with Catholic priests, and thanked God for their defeat of the Spaniards on the 14th of June. My The brothers and sisters of the Freemasons swear by blood, they are willing to sacrifice everything for others, but they don't donate a ruble for the poor, they conspire and instigate the Astria branch to oppose the seekers of the Mana faction , running around for a genuine Scottish rug and a document that no one wants, the drafters don't know what it means. We all abide by the Christian law-forgive sin, love others, for Forty churches in forty dioceses were established in Moscow, but yesterday a deserter was flogged to death. Before the death sentence was pronounced, the priest, the executor of the canon of love and forgiveness, told the soldier to kiss the cross. ’ thought Pierre, this general and accepted hypocrisy, however accustomed he was to it, always surprised him like a novelty. "I know the hypocrisy and confusion," he thought, "but how can I tell them all that I know? I have tried, and always find that in their souls they understand everything as I do." If you know it, you just try not to look at it. So, that's how it should be! But where can I hide?" thought Pierre.He experienced that he possessed that faculty of the unfortunate that many people, especially the Russians, can see and believe in the possibility of good and truth, but see too clearly the evil and falsity of life to be able to take it seriously. live on.In his eyes, any field of labor was associated with crime and hypocrisy.Whatever he wants to be, whatever he sets out to do, crime and hypocrisy push him away and block all avenues of his activity.But at the same time one should live, one should engage in some kind of activity.It's scary being under the weight of these unresolved life issues.To forget these problems, he indulged in every kind of pleasure that came his way.He often entered all kinds of social places, drank indulgently, bought pictures, built pavilions, and mainly read books.

He often reads, and he reads any book that is in hand. When the servant is still undressing him when he returns home, he has already picked up a book to read. After reading, he goes to sleep. Club gossip, gossip followed by drinking, courting women, drinking followed by gossip, reading and drinking.Drinking became more and more a physical need for him, as well as a spiritual need.Although the doctors told him that he was too fat and that alcohol was very harmful to him, he was still fond of drinking.Only when he himself did not realize how he poured several glasses of wine into his wide mouth did he feel very happy, he felt a comfortable warmth in him, and he was gentle with all those who were close to him, They are willing to use their brains and express superficial opinions on various ideas, but they fail to penetrate into their essence.It was not until he had had a bottle or two of wine that he realized vaguely that the insoluble problems of life which had previously terrified him were not so dreadful as he had imagined them to be.After lunch and dinner, when he was dizzy, talking empty words, listening to people talking or reading, he kept encountering this difficult problem in life around him.But it was only when he was drunk that he said to himself: "It's nothing. I'll figure it out—how to explain it, I'm ready. I don't have time now." ,——I'll think about it in a comprehensive way in the future!" But this will not come at any time in the future.

In the morning when he was hungry and all the old problems seemed insoluble and dreadful again, Pierre hastily picked up a book and read, and was very happy when anyone came to him. Sometimes Pierre recalled the stories he had heard about soldiers who had nothing to do when they were under fire, hiding in shelters, and doing as much as they could in order to withstand the threat posed by danger. Find something to do for yourself.Pierre seemed to think that all people were soldiers fleeing from life: some were greedy for fame, some were addicted to gambling, some wrote codes, some played with women, some were greedy for playthings, and some Riding around on horseback, some people are in politics, some people are hunting, some people are fond of wine and wine, and some people are embarrassing in state affairs. "There is neither lowliness nor greatness, it's all the same: just want to escape life cunningly!" thought Pierre, "just not to witness life, this terrible life."