Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven

An hour after this, Dunyasha came to the princess with the news that Dron had arrived, and the peasants had assembled by the barn, according to the lady's orders, to discuss matters with the mistress. "Is that so? I didn't ask them to come," said Princess Marya, "I just asked Dronushka to give them the food." "For God's sake, my dear princess, tell them to be driven away, and never go to them. It's only a trap," said Dunyasha. "Wait for Yakov Alpatitch. When they come back, we will leave...you must not..." "What trap?" asked the princess in surprise.

"I do know, for God's sake listen to me. You only have to ask the nurses. I hear they won't leave the village as you ordered." "Where did you go. I never told them to leave the village..." "Call Dronushka," said Princess Marya. Dron came, and he confirmed what Dunyasha had said; the peasant had come at the princess's orders. "But I never summoned them," said the princess. "You must have misspoken. I only asked you to give them the food." DeLong sighed without answering. "You just give an order and they'll disperse," he said.

"No, no, I'm going to see them," said Princess Marya. Despite the dissuasion of Dunyasha and the nurse, Princess Maria came to the steps.Dron, Dunyasha, the nurse and Mikhail Ivanitch followed her. "They probably thought that I was giving them food so that they would stay and I would go away and leave them to be ravaged by the French," thought Princess Marya. rations and housing for them; I'm sure Andre would have done more in my position," she thought, walking toward the crowd standing by the barn on the pasture in the twilight. The crowd started to move, to gather, and to take off their hats quickly.Princess Marya lowered her eyes, stumbling in her dress, and approached them.So many different eyes, old and young, were looking at her, and so many different faces, that Princess Marya could not see a single face clearly, but felt that she must meet all at once. She doesn't know what to do when someone talks to her.But her energy increased when she realized that she was the representative of her father and brother, and she ventured to speak.

"I am glad you are here," began Princess Marya, without raising her eyes, feeling her heart beating violently. "Dronushka told me that the war has bankrupted you. This is our common misfortune. To help you, I will give everything. Because it is dangerous here, I am leaving, the enemy is very close... Because... I give you everything, my friends, and I beg you to take everything, take all our food, so that you will not be short of food. If anyone says to you, I will give you everything You are asking you to stay here, that is not the truth. On the contrary, I beg you to move all your property to our estate near Moscow, where I will be in charge, to ensure that you will not live in poverty, and give Your house and food." The princess stopped, only the sighs of the crowd were heard.

"I do this not only from my own will," continued the princess, "but on behalf of my late father, your good master, and on behalf of my brother and his son." She stopped again, and no one broke the silence. "Our misfortune is common, let us share this misfortune together. My everything is your everything." After she finished speaking, she glanced at the faces of the crowd standing in front of her. All eyes looked at her with the same expression, which she could not understand.Not sure if it was curiosity, loyalty, gratitude, or panic or mistrust, but the expressions on all faces were the same.

"We are very grateful for your grace, but we cannot take the landlord's food." Such a sentence came from behind. "Why?" asked the princess. No one answered, and Princess Marya looked around the crowd, noticing that all eyes now dropped immediately as soon as they met hers. "Why don't you want it?" she asked again, but still no one answered. Princess Marya was embarrassed by this silence, and she tried to catch the eyes of anyone. "Why don't you talk?" She turned to an old man with a cane in front of her and said. "If you think there's anything else you need, just tell me. I can do anything." She caught his eye and said.But he seemed annoyed at it, dropped his head completely, and muttered:

"What do you agree or disagree with? We don't need food." "What, you want us to abandon everything? No. No... We never agree. We sympathize with you, but we never agree. You go alone, alone..." Words like this came from the surrounding crowd.The same look came back to people's faces, but this time it wasn't curiosity and gratitude at all, but anger and determination. "Perhaps you did not understand me," said Princess Marya with a melancholy smile. "Why don't you want to go? I promise to provide you with food and shelter. But here the enemy will ruin you..." But the voice of the crowd drowned her.

"We will never agree, let the enemy destroy it! Don't want your food, we will never agree!" Princess Marya was again catching the eyes of anyone in the crowd, but no one was looking at her; apparently, they were avoiding her.She felt strange and embarrassed. "Look, how beautifully she said, go to be a serf with her, destroy your home and be enslaved? How about it? I'll give you food, she said!" These voices came from the crowd. Princess Marya walked away from the crowd with her head bowed.She gave DeLong a second order to get his horses ready for tomorrow's journey, and she went to her room alone, lost in thought.