Chapter 8 chapter eight

As Prince Andrei imagined, Princess Marya did not reach Moscow, nor was she out of danger. After Alpatitch returned from Smolensk, the old prince awoke suddenly, as if from sleep.He ordered the militiamen to be called up from all the villages and armed, and at the same time he wrote a letter to the commander-in-chief, telling him that he had decided to stay and defend Bald Mountain and to the end. The place where one of the old generals might be captured or killed was left to the Commander-in-Chief's discretion, and he declared to his family that he would never leave Bald Mountain. The prince himself remained at Bald Mountain, but he ordered the princess and Dessalle to take the young prince to Bogucharovo and from there to Moscow.Princess Marya was amazed at his father's feverish activity day and night, contrary to his previous depression, and she could not leave him alone, who for the first time in his life had made himself disobedient to him.She refused to go, and the prince became very angry with her, and repeated all the wrongs he had said against her.He tried to blame her for torturing him, for instigating his son to quarrels, for harboring base suspicions, for making his life unhappy, and he drove her from her study. Having gone out, he told her that if she didn't go, it would be all the same to him.He said he didn't want to know of her presence and forewarned her not to let him see her.Contrary to Princess Marya's fears, he did not order her to be taken away, but only said that she should not be seen by him, which surprised Princess Marya.She knows that this is enough to prove that he is happy in his heart if she stays and does not leave.

Early in the morning on the day after Nikolushka left, the old prince went to the commander-in-chief in full uniform.The carriage was ready to stand.Only when Princess Mary sees him in military uniform and with all his medals coming out of the house to "know himself" can he realize the essence of things, that is, "self-awareness", and go to the garden to inspect the armed peasants and The house slave. Princess Marya was sitting by the window, listening to his voice from the garden. Suddenly, from the avenue, some frightened people ran out. Princess Marya ran out the door, across the flower path, and into the avenue.Oncoming was a group of militiamen and domestic slaves, and in the midst of this group some were supporting a little old man in uniform and medals on a handrail.Princess Marya flew towards him, and through the flickering specks of sunlight in the shade of the linden trees beside the boulevard, no change could be discerned in his face.All she saw was that the stern and determined expression on his face had changed into one of timidity and submission.After seeing his daughter, he moved his weak lips and made a purring sound, not knowing what he wanted to say.They carried him into the study and put him on the sofa that he had been afraid of lately.

The doctor who was invited bled him that night and explained that the Duke had suffered a stroke and paralyzed the right side of his body. It was becoming more and more dangerous to stay in Bald Mountain, and the prince moved to Bogucharovo the day after his stroke.The doctor followed suit. When they went to Bogucharovo, Desalle had already set off for Moscow with the young prince. The old prince, who was paralyzed, lay for three weeks in the new house of Prince Andrei at Bogucharovo, in the same condition, neither better nor worse.The old prince was unconscious; he lay like a disfigured corpse, grunting incessantly, twitching his eyebrows and lips, wondering if he understood what was going on around him.The only thing that was known for sure was that he was in pain and wanted to say something.But what it was, no one could understand; it might be the sudden eccentricity of an invalid or a half-mad man, or something connected with public or family affairs.

The doctor said that this restlessness meant nothing, that it was merely due to physical causes; but Princess Marya's reflection that he was always more restless when she was in his presence confirmed her. She thought he was trying to say something to her, he was obviously in physical and mental pain. There is no hope for a cure.It is impossible to move elsewhere.What if you die on the way? "Wouldn't it be better to end it, let's just end it!" Princess Marya sometimes thought so.She did not distinguish between day and night, and almost did not sleep at all. She guarded him all the time. It was terrible to say that she guarded him like this, often not expecting to find signs of improvement, but expecting to find signs of the end.

Although the princess was very surprised to be aware of such feelings, she did have them in her heart.What was even more frightening for Princess Marya was the fact that since her father's illness (or even earlier, when she had stayed with him in anticipation of what was to come), all that had been hidden in her heart , personal wishes and hopes that had been forgotten, all revived in her heart.Thoughts that hadn't appeared in her mind for many years - the possibility of living free without the fear of a strict father, and even establishing love and family happiness, kept popping up in her mind like the temptation of the devil.There was one question that kept popping up in her mind, and she couldn't get rid of it no matter what, and that was how she would arrange her life right now, that is, after finishing her funeral affairs.The princess knew that this was the temptation of the devil.She knew that the only weapon against this temptation was prayer, so she tried it.She made a prayer pose, looked at the idol, and said the prayers, but she couldn't go on praying.She felt that she was now in a whole other world--a world of profane, toiling, free-moving, quite the opposite of the spiritual world in which she had been imprisoned, in which she had been The greatest comfort is to say prayers.She could not pray, she wanted to weep silently, for the cares of the world surrounded her.

It became dangerous to stay in Bogucharovo, news came from all directions that the French were approaching, and that in a village fifteen versts from Bogucharovo, a manor had been robbed by French bandits. . The doctor insisted on moving the prince away; the prefect sent an official to Princess Marya to advise her to leave as soon as possible.The prefect of the district police, who came to Bogucharovo himself, also insisted on this proposition, and said that the French were only forty versts away, teaching leaflets in the villages, and if the princess did not leave with her father before fifteen days Here, then he can't be responsible anyway.

The princess decided to leave on the fifteenth.She was busy all day, doing all the preparations, and she gave orders to all who came to ask for instructions.Since late at night on the 14th, she had been lying naked as usual in the room next to the sick prince's. She woke up several times and heard his grunts and grunts, the sound of the bed, and Tikhon. And the footsteps of the doctor turning him over.Several times, when she leaned close to the door and listened carefully, he felt that his muttering was louder than usual, and he turned over him more frequently.She could not sleep, and several times she approached the door, listened, and wanted to go in, but dared not go in.Although he didn't speak, Princess Maria could see and knew that every time he saw her worried expression for him, he was very unhappy.She saw how resentfully he avoided the eyes she sometimes couldn't help fixing on him.She knew that she would irritate him by going in at this unusual time of night.

She had never felt so sorry, so afraid of losing him.She recalled her whole life with him, and found in his every word and every action his love for her.Among these recollections, the temptation of the devil—how she would arrange her new free life after his death—frequently floated in her imagination.She drove the thoughts away with disgust.Towards morning he fell silent and she fell asleep. She awoke very late, and the often pure state of mind when she first woke up clearly showed that her father's illness had taken over her whole body and mind.After she woke up, she listened carefully to the situation in the room from the outside of the door, she heard him still wheezing, she sighed and said to herself, it was still the same.

"What should it be? What do I want him to be? I want him dead!" she cried, disgusted with herself. She dressed, washed her face, said her prayers, and went to the porch.In front of the porch stood several unhorsed carts, and people were loading them. The morning was warm and overcast.Standing on the porch, Princess Marya, constantly frightened by the meanness of her own heart, cleared her thoughts before going in to see her father. The doctor came downstairs to her. "He is better today," said the doctor. "I was looking for you. I can learn something from what he said. He is clearer. Let us go together. He is calling you..."

Princess Marya's heart beat violently when she heard the news, she turned pale, and leaned against the door so as not to faint.To see him, to talk to him, to see the way he fixed her eyes at the very moment when Princess Marya's whole soul was filled with the terrible temptation of guilt was a painful pleasure and a frightening one. "Let's go," said the doctor. Princess Marya entered the room and came to her father's bed.He was lying on his back with his back high, his thin, veiny hands resting flat on the quilt, his left eye was staring straight at him, his right eye was askew, and his eyebrows and lips were motionless.His whole body became thin and small, very pitiful.His face was shriveled, and the features had become smaller.Princess Marya went forward and kissed his hand, and he squeezed hers with his left hand to let her know that he had been waiting for her.He tugged at her hand, his eyebrows and lips twitching resentfully.

She looked at him apprehensively.Try to figure out what he wants her to do.He calmed down as she shifted and moved forward so that his left eye could see her face.For a few seconds he didn't take his eyes off her.Then his lips and tongue moved and made sounds, and he began to speak, looking at her timidly and imploringly, evidently afraid that she might not understand what he was saying. Princess Marya stared at him with all her energy.Seeing him move his tongue with ridiculous strength, Princess Marya lowered her eyes and barely suppressed the sob that rose to her throat.He said something and repeated it several times.Princess Marya did not understand; she tried to guess what he was saying, and repeated his voice questioningly. "Ho-ho-Boy...Boy..." he repeated several times... No matter what, I can't understand these words.The doctor thought he had guessed the words, and asked: "Is the princess afraid?" He shook his head in denial, and repeated the same sound. "My heart, my heart is sad." Princess Maria said speculatively.He made a vague sound of certainty, and he took her hand and pressed it around on various parts of his chest, as if to find the part she was looking for. "With all my heart! Missing you...with all my heart." And then, his voice was much better and clearer than before, and he was sure that everyone understood him.Princess Marya put her head on his hand, trying to hide her sobs and tears. He stroked her hair with his hands. "I've been calling you all night..." he said. "If I knew..." she said through tears, "I dare not come in." He holds her hand. "Did you not sleep?" "No, I didn't sleep." Princess Mary shook her head negatively and said, she could not help obeying her father, following his example, and tried to gesture as much as possible when speaking, as if it was difficult for her tongue to move. "Dear..." Maybe he said: "Good boy..." Princess Marya couldn't figure out what he said, but judging from the expression in his eyes, he probably said something warm that he had never said before. , Caress words. "Why don't you come in?" "And I hope, I hope he dies!" thought Princess Marya.He was silent for a while. "Thank you... daughter, good boy... for everything, for everything, thank you...forgive...thank you, forgive...thank you!..." Tears welled up in my eyes. "Go and fetch Andryusha," he said suddenly, with childlike timidity and suspicion on his face.He seemed to know that his request was meaningless.At least Princess Maria thought so. "I have a letter from him," replied Princess Marya. He looked at her in astonishment and timidity. "where is he?" "He's in the army, Monpere, in Smolensk." -------- ①French: Dad. He closed his eyes and was silent for a while; then, as if answering his own doubts, and proving that he now understood and remembered everything, he nodded affirmatively, and opened his eyes again. "Yes," he said in a clear, deep voice. "Russia is over. They've ruined her!" He closed his eyes again, tears welling up in his eyes.Princess Marya could no longer restrain herself, looked into his face, and began to cry. He closed his eyes again and stopped crying.He made a gesture to his eyes; Tikhon understood him and wiped away his tears. Then he opened his eyes again, and said something, which no one understood for a while, until at last Tikhon alone did, and relayed his words.Princess Marya guessed what he meant by the look on his face when he spoke just now.She imagined that he talked now about Russia, now about Prince Andrew, now about her, now about his grandson, now about his death.But she could not deduce from this what he had said. "Put on your white bragi, I love it," he said. Princess Marya understood these words, and she burst into tears. The doctor supported her with an armrest, helped her from the room to the balcony, and advised her to calm down and get ready to leave.After Princess Marya left the prince, he spoke of his son, of the war, of the Emperor, frowned resentfully, raised his hoarse voice, and had the second and last stroke of his stroke. . Princess Marya stood on the balcony.The sky had cleared and the sun was shining warmly.She understood nothing; thought nothing, felt nothing but love for her father, whom she felt she had never loved her father so much before.She ran weeping to the garden, and along the avenue of lindens planted by Prince Andrei to the pond below. "Yes... I... I... I want him to die. Yes, I want it to end soon... I want to be quiet... What will happen to me? When he is not alive, my peace will be gone again." What's the use?" She walked quickly in the garden, pressing her hands on her chest, crying involuntarily, and muttering.She walked round the garden and came to the house again, when she saw Mademoiselle Bourienne (who had stayed at Bogucharovo and did not want to leave) approaching with a strange man.This person is the head of the county.He came in person to inform the princess that she must leave the place as soon as possible.Princess Marya listened to him, but did not understand what he said; she invited him in, offered him breakfast, and sat down with him.Then, apologizing to him, she got up and went to the old prince's door. The doctor came out in panic and said to her that she couldn't go in at the moment. "Come on, princess, come on, go on!" Princess Marya went back into the garden and sat down on a grassy spot under the rockery next to the pond, where no one could see.She didn't know how long she sat there.The footsteps of a woman running down the path woke her up.She got up, and seeing her servant Dunyasha, who had evidently come running to her, stopped abruptly, as if frightened, as soon as she saw the young lady's expression. -------- ①Dunyasha is Avdotya's nickname. "Please, Princess...Duke..." Dunyasha broke out. "I'm going now, I'm going," the princess repeated, and before Dunyasha could finish speaking, she tried not to look at Dunyasha, and ran home. "Princess, this is the will of God, you should make all preparations." The county chief said to him at the door. "Leave me alone, it's not true!" she yelled at him angrily.The doctor tried to stop him, so she pushed him away and ran towards the door. "Why are these people frightened and blocking me? I don't need anyone! What are they doing here?" She opened the door, and the light of day in the previously half-dark room terrified her.There were several women and a nurse in the house.They backed away from the bed to make way for her.He remained in bed; but the stern expression on his serene face made Princess Marya stop on the threshold. "No, he's not dead, that's impossible!" Princess Marya said to herself, and subduing her fear, she approached him and put her lips to his cheek, but immediately drew back and avoided him.In an instant all tenderness she had felt for him was gone, and was replaced by horror at the sight that opened before her eyes. "It's over, there is no more of him! He is dead, and here, where he was, there is something strange and hostile, a mystery that makes people terrified and repulsive!" Princess Maria put her hands together. Covering her face, she fell onto the doctor's arm supporting her. Several women washed his body in the presence of Tikhon and the doctor, and to keep his open mouth from becoming stiff, tied a towel on his head and another on his splintered mouth. legs, then dressed him in a medallion uniform, and set his small dry body on a table, God knows who and when, but it all happened naturally.At night, candles were lit around the coffin, a canopy was added to the coffin, juniper boughs were removed from the floor, a printed prayer was placed under the dead, shriveled head, and a deacon sat in a corner singing hymns. Just as horses sprinted at a dead horse and huddled together and snorted, so did people from home and from outside huddle around the coffin in the parlour—the sheriff, the headman, the women— They all stared in horror, crossed themselves, bowed and kissed the cold and stiff hand of the old prince.