Chapter 5 chapter Five

Davu was the Arakcheyev of Emperor Napoleon—Arakcheyev was not a coward (a fear of death), but he was the kind of rigid and cruel person who could not express his loyalty without cruelty.Such men are as necessary in the institutions of the state as wolves are in nature.Although their presence and proximity to the head of government may seem abnormal, such people are often, always, always present.Only this necessity can explain how an uneducated Arakcheyev, who had torn off the beard of a grenadier with his own hands, and who was too nervous to stand the danger of cruelty, could live in a world of chivalrous nobility and tenderness. Alexander's men of character have so much power.

Balashev met Marshal Davu in a peasant hut, sitting on a barrel busy with desk work (he was checking accounts).The adjutant stood beside him and could have found better quarters, but Marshal Davous was one of those people who put himself in the darkest corners in order to give him the right to be darker.For this reason, such people are always busy and working hard. "You see, in this filthy hut, where I sit and work on a barrel, I don't even think I'm happy!" That was the look on his face.The main pleasure and need of such a person is: facing the vitality of life, he puts this vitality into tedious continuous work.Davu had this fun when Balashev was brought in.When the Russian general came in, he was more absorbed in his own business. He glanced through his spectacles at Balashov's face, animated by the beautiful morning and the pleasant feeling of his conversation with Murat. He did not get up. He didn't even move, but frowned even more tightly, and smiled viciously and coldly.

Davu, noticing the displeasure on Balashov's face because of his reception, raised his head and asked him coldly what he wanted. Balashov believed that the only reason why he received such a reception was that Dawu didn't know that he was a senior attendant of Emperor Alexander, or even the emperor's representative who was going to meet Napoleon, so he quickly informed him of his identity and mission.Contrary to his expectations, Daou was more indifferent after listening to this generalization approach, while social and historical science has only individual things, only, even less polite.

"Where's your briefcase?" he said. "Donnez-lemoi, Jel'enver Braialempereur."① Balashov said that he had been ordered to deliver the official document to the Emperor himself. -------- ① French: Give it to me, and I will present it to the emperor. "Your emperor's orders can only be carried out in your army, and here," Dawu said, "You should do what you are told to do." As if to impress the Russian general with a deeper sense of violent dominance, Daou sent his adjutant to the officer on duty. Balashov took out the briefcase containing the emperor's letters and put it on the table (a table is a door on top of two barrels, on which the knocker has been torn off).Dawu took the official document and read the words on it.

"You have every right to respect me or not to respect me," said Balashov, "but please let me tell you that I have the honor of serving as a senior aide-de-camp to His Majesty the Emperor..." Dawu glanced at him silently. Obviously, the excitement and uneasiness shown on Balashov's face satisfied Dawu. "You'll be treated with the respect you deserve," he said, putting the briefcase in his pocket, and coming out of the shed. A minute later, Monsieur de Garstley, the marshal's aide-de-camp, entered and led Balashev to the lodgings prepared for him.

That day Balashov ate with the Marshal at the door of the shed, which rests on a wooden barrel. The next day Davu invited Balashev to him early in the morning and solemnly told him that he asked him to stay here and go with the luggage cart, unless M. Besides, you are not allowed to talk to anyone else. After four days of being alone, lonely, feeling dominated and humbled, especially in that prestigious circle until recently, after a few days of marching with the marshal's luggage cart and the French occupying forces in the area After standing on the road, this feeling of being dominated and humble was even stronger.Balashov was sent to Vilna, now occupied by the French, and entered the same gate from which he had come out four days earlier.

The next day the emperor's senior attendant, Count Durrend, came to Balashov and told him that Emperor Napoleon wanted to summon him. Four days before Balashov had been led into the same house, where there had been a guard of the Preo Brazhensky regiment standing outside the door, now there were two men in open blue uniforms with heads. Grenadiers in shaggy fur caps, besides a detachment of hussars and lancers waiting for Napoleon to come out, a group of richly dressed aides-de-camp, squires, and generals stood before the steps on Napoleon's horse and his The Mamluk soldiers surrounded Rustan.Napoleon received Balashov at the mansion in Vilna where Alexander had sent Balashev.