Chapter 2 Chapter two

At the beginning of winter, Nikolai Andreich Bolkonsky arrived in Moscow with his daughter.Because of his past, because of his wisdom and unique talents, especially because the people's enthusiasm for the reign of Emperor Alexander had declined at that time, and because anti-French and patriotic ideological tendencies dominated Moscow at that time, Nicholas Ander Prince Reich immediately became the object of special esteem among the Muscovites, and had become a central figure in the opposition in the Moscow government. This year the Duke looked very old.He showed signs of rapid aging: he often fell asleep suddenly, was forgetful of recent events, but remembered the distant past vividly, and had the childish vanity of being the head of the opposition in Moscow. Nevertheless, this old man, Especially when he came out to drink tea in a short leather jacket and a powdered wig at night, as soon as he was moved, he would talk about the past intermittently, or even more incoherently and violently. Even so, he can still make all the guests feel respect for him.From the visitor's point of view, this whole old building, with its large full-length mirror, its old-fashioned furniture, these powdered servants, the stubborn and wise old man of the last century himself, his docile man who adores him The daughter, the beautiful Frenchwoman, all made up a magnificent and pleasing sight.But the visitors do not realize that apart from the two or three hours when they meet the hosts, there are twenty-one or two hours a day and night, during which time the family is living a secret life within the family.In Moscow, this domestic life of late had become very difficult for Princess Marya.In Moscow she had lost her great joys—her conversations with the priests and solitary life that had filled her spirits in Bald Hills; she had lost none of the benefits and pleasures of city life.She was out of company, and her father, it was known, would not let her go out alone, and he himself was not well enough to go out, so that she was not invited to parties and parties.Princess Maria was utterly disappointed by the exit.She saw Prince Nikolai Andreitch receive and send off with a cool and menacing air the young men who occasionally called and could be betrothed.Princess Marya had no friends, and upon her arrival in Moscow she was greatly disappointed by two of her closest friends: one of them was Mademoiselle Bourienne, to whom the princess had never been able to confide her heart, but now she found her very abominable, For some reason she began to avoid her; another friend was Julie, who lived in Moscow, with whom Princess Maria had corresponded for five years, and when Princess Maria met her again she felt that she was a complete stranger.By this time Julie, now, since her brothers were dead, had become one of the wealthiest beauties in Moscow, was in the midst of great social mirth.She was surrounded by young men who, she thought, suddenly appreciated her virtues.Julie is in the period of social life, and she feels that the last time to come out of the cabinet has come, and her fate should be decided now, otherwise it will never be decided.Princess Maria smiled melancholy every Thursday, remembering that she had no one to talk to now, because Julie was here and saw her every week, but her presence brought no joy to her.Like an old expatriate who refuses to marry the woman with whom she has spent years, she regrets that, with Julie here, she has few people with whom to mingle.In Moscow, Princess Marya had no one to talk to, no one to confide in her sorrows, which during this time had increased a great deal.The date of Prince Andrei's coming home to be married was approaching, and not only did he fail to entrust her to prepare his father, but she seemed to have made a mess of it, and the mention of Countess Rostova , the old prince was sullen, for he was always restless.Princess Marya had recently added to her misery, which was the teaching of her six-year-old nephew.In her interrelationship with Nikolushka she realized with horror that she herself shared her father's irascibility.No matter how many times she told herself that teaching her nephew shouldn't be irritating, almost every time she sat down to teach the French alphabet with the stick attached to the pointer, she wanted to imbue the child with her own knowledge as quickly and easily as possible, but He was afraid that his aunt would lose his temper when he saw it with his own eyes.Whenever the child was careless, she trembled all over, was anxious, and became angry. She raised her voice and sometimes grabbed his hand and told him to stand in a corner of the room.When she asked her nephew to stand in a corner, she herself burst into tears from her ferocious temper, and Nikolushka imitated her cry, slipped out of the corner without her permission, and walked away. came to her, took her tear-wet hands from her face, and comforted his aunt.But her father's frequent rage against his daughter, which had of late reached a point of cruelty, troubled the princess most of all.Since he forced her to make a hoe at night, since he beat her, forcing her to move firewood and water, and she would not even think of her situation. He tortured himself and her because he loved her, not only deliberately humiliating and belittling her, but showing her that she was at fault in every way.One of the traits of character that troubled Princess Marya the most had appeared in her of late, namely, that he was drawing closer to Mademoiselle Bourienne.After he received the news of his son's intention to marry, a joking idea first appeared in his mind: if André married, then he would marry Bourienne, which obviously pleased him, the Duke. Mademoiselle Maria seemed to feel that, in order to insult her, he had lately insisted on loving Mademoiselle Bourienne and expressing dissatisfaction with his daughter.

Once, in Moscow, the old prince kissed Mademoiselle Bourienne's hand in the presence of Princess Marya (it seemed to her that her father was doing this on purpose), drew her to him, and embraced her affectionately. .Princess Mary blushed and ran out of the room.A few minutes later, Mademoiselle Bourienne approached Princess Marya, smiling, and talking cheerfully about something in her melodious voice.Princess Marya hastily wiped away her tears, walked up to Bourienne with firm steps, and, obviously not knowing what was happening herself, cried out to the Frenchwoman in a sullen and impulsive voice:

"This is despicable, nasty, and inhumane use of...weakness," she didn't finish. "Get out of my room." She shouted. doctrine, burst into tears. The next day the duke said nothing to his daughter, but she found that at dinner he had ordered the food to be served to Mademoiselle Bourienne.At the end of the meal, when the head of the snacks department first served the princess the coffee, as was customary, the duke, in a rage, threw his stick at Philip, and immediately ordered him to be sent to the army. "Didn't hear... I said it twice! . . . Didn't hear! She's head of the family, she's my best friend," cried the prince, "if you dare," and he got angry , yelled loudly, turning his face to Princess Maria for the first time, "If you dare to act presumptuously in front of her like yesterday again, I will show you some color and let you know who is the master of this house. Go away, I don't want to see you, and I will apologize to her!"

Princess Marya apologized to Amalia Yevgenyevna and her father for herself and Philip, the head of the canteen, who was begging for refuge. -------- ①Amalia Yevgenyevna is the Russian name and paternal title of the Frenchwoman Bourienne. At such moments, Princess Marya was filled with a sense of victim's pride.At such a moment, the father she condemned suddenly looked for the glasses in front of her, fumbled around them, but failed to see them; Legs, taking a wobbly step, he looked back to see if anyone saw his weakened figure, or worse, at lunch, when there were no guests to excite him, he suddenly fell asleep and let go of his body. napkin, his trembling head drooping on the plate. "He's too old, too feeble, and I dare to condemn him!" she often thought with self-loathing at such moments.