Chapter 8 chapter eight

Marya Dmitrievna had obtained tickets, and that evening the Rostovs went to the opera by car. Natasha did not want to go to the opera, but Marya Dmitrievna was so enthusiastic about her that she could not refuse.When she had dressed and went into the hall to wait for her father, she looked in the large glass and saw that she was handsome, very handsome, and it made her sad still more, but this sadness was mingled with the sweetness and affection of love. together. "My God, if he was here at this moment, I would never be as stupid and cowering as I used to be, but in a new way, hug him generously, snuggle into his arms, and call He looked at me with those searching, curious eyes that used to look at me, and made him laugh, laugh like he used to, his lovely eyes—how I looked at his Eyes!" thought Natasha. "What have I to do with his father and his sister? I love him alone, love him, love him, love his face and eyes, love his masculine, innocent smile . . . but at this moment It's better not to think about him, not to think about him, to forget him, to forget him altogether. I can't stand this waiting, and I'm going to cry right away." So she walked away from the mirror, restraining herself from crying. sound.

"How could Sonia love Nikolenka so steadily and reassuringly, and wait so long and patiently!" She thought for a while, and looked at Sonia who was also dressed and walked in with a folding fan in her hand. , "No, she's totally different. I can't!" At this moment Natasha felt so kind and tender, her love was not satisfied, she seldom realized that she was loving someone else, she must now, immediately must embrace the man she loved, and speak out the fullness of her heart , she also listened to his confession of love.As she drove beside her father in the hansom, looking thoughtfully at the flickering lights in the frozen windows, she felt herself growing more loving, more sad, and she had forgotten whom she was with. Where to go.The Rostovs' carriage bumped into the convoy, its wheels creaked slowly and creaked on the snow, and approached the entrance of the theatre.Natasha and Sonia lifted up their dresses and hurriedly jumped out of the carriage. The count came out with the help of several servants, and the three of them entered the box among the wives, men and advertisement sellers entering the theater. corridor.There was a sound of music coming from behind the half-closed door.

"Nathalie, voscheveux," Sonia whispered.The theater usher slipped past the ladies respectfully and hastily, and opened the box door.The music could be heard more clearly from inside the door.Rows of brightly lit boxes with bare shoulders and arms of the ladies flashed, and in the pool seats, the rustling of men's clothes caught the eye under the light.A lady who had entered the adjoining box cast Natasha with a feminine, envious look.Before the opening on the stage, the opera overture was played.Natasha straightened her dress, walked over with Sonya, sat down, and looked around at the row of brightly lit boxes opposite.A feeling she hadn't experienced for a long time—the feeling of hundreds of pairs of eyes looking at her bare arms and neck suddenly dominated her joy and displeasure, evoking a series of memories, desires and emotions related to this feeling. Excited.

-------- ① French: Natasha, your hair. Two beautiful girls, Natasha and Sonya, and Count Ilya Andreitch, who had not been seen in Moscow for a long time, attracted everyone's attention.Besides this, everyone knew vaguely about Natasha's engagement to Prince Andrew, everyone knew that the Rostovs had lived in the country since then, and everyone watched with curiosity one of the best betrotheds in Russia. fiancee. Everyone told Natasha that she looked much better in the country than ever, and that evening, because of her excitement, she looked even more beautiful.Her exuberant energy and beauty, combined with her indifference to everything around her, is astounding.Her dark eyes watched the crowd without looking for anyone, and her slender arms, bare to the elbow, rested on the edge of the velvet box, apparently in time with the overture, unconsciously. The ground opened and closed, and the opera advertisement was crumpled into a ball.

"You see, this is Alenina," said Sonia, "as if she were with her mother!" "My God! Mikhail Kirilech is getting fatter!" said the old count. "Look, our Anna Mikhaylovna is wearing a tall millinery hat!" "The Karagins stayed with them, Julie, and Boris. You can see the married couple now." "Drubetskoy proposed! No, I found out today." Shenshin said as he walked into the box of the Rostov House. Natasha looked in the direction her father was looking at, and saw Julie, with a string of pearls (Natasha knew that her neck was powdered) on her thick, red neck, looking happy. Sitting next to his mother.

Behind them could be seen the handsome head of Boris, smooth-haired, smiling, with his ear cocked close to Julie's mouth.Frowning at the Rostovs, he smiled and said something to his fiancée. "They're talking about us, about me and him!" Natasha thought for a moment. "He must be trying to comfort his fiancée to make her forget her jealousy of me. What uneasiness for no reason! It doesn’t matter to people, as long as you know what’s in your mind.” Anna Mikhaylovna sat in the back, wearing a green tall millinery hat, and her face showed a happy and cheerful expression of loyalty to the will of God.Their box had that air of unmarried attachment which Natasha knew and loved.She turned round, suddenly remembering all the humiliations she had suffered during the morning call.

"What right does he have to refuse to accept me as a relative? Oh, it's better not to think about it, until he arrives!" she said to herself, and began to look at her in the pool. Familiar and unfamiliar faces.Dolokhov stood in the middle of the front of the pedestal, leaning against the balustrade of the pedestal, with his thick, curly hair combed up, and wearing a Persian suit.He stood in full view of the theater, knowing that he was attracting the attention of the whole hall, as free as if he were standing in his own room.The brightest youths of Moscow gathered around him, and among them he seemed to occupy a dominant position.

Count Ilya Andreitch smiled, pointed to her former admirer, and gave Sonya a slight push. "Do you recognize him?" he asked, "I don't know where he came from?" The count turned his face to Shinshin and said, "Hasn't he been somewhere?" "I have been," Shenshin replied, "I have been to the Caucasus, but I slipped away from there. It is said that I was a minister with a certain hereditary prince in Persia and killed a brother of the Persian king there. Well, Moscow The ladies are crazy! DolochofflePersan, that's it. We can't talk without Dolochov now, everyone swears by him, mentions him like a sturgeon," said Shinshin . "Dolokhov and Anatoly Kuragin are driving our ladies mad."

-------- ①French: Persian Dolokhov. A tall and beautiful lady walked into the adjacent box. She wore a big braid, revealing her white and plump shoulders and neck. She wore two strings of large pearls around her neck. The silk dress rustled, and it took her a long time to sit comfortably in the seat. Natasha could not help looking at her neck, her shoulders, her pearls, her hair, admiring the beauty of her shoulders and her pearls.When Natasha looked at the lady for the second time, she looked back, and the eyes of Count Ilya Andreitch met, and she nodded and smiled at him.She was Countess Bezukhova, Pierre's wife.Ilya Andreitch, who knew everyone in society, leaned over to talk to her.

"Have you been here a long time, Countess?" he said, "I will come to visit, I will come to visit and kiss your hand. I came here on some errands and brought my two daughters. It is said that Semyono Eva played very well," said Ilya Andreitch. "Count Peter Kirillovich has never forgotten us. Is he here?" "Here he wants to drop by to see you," said Helen, looking carefully at Natasha. Count Ilya Andreitch sat down again in his old place. "Pretty, isn't it?" he whispered to Natasha. "Excellent!" said Natasha, "one cannot help falling in love!" At this moment the final chords of the opera overture were heard, the conductor's baton was struck, and several belated men entered the pit. Take your seat, and the stage is unveiled.

The stage has just opened, and the boxes and seats are already silent. All the men, young and old, wear uniforms or tuxedos, and all the women wear all kinds of precious stones on their naked bodies. Curiosity focused all his attention on the stage.Natasha was also at the theatre.