Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen

They invited Pierre into a bright and bright hall; a few minutes later, footsteps were heard, and the princess entered with Natasha.Although there was no smile on Natasha's face, and now she showed a serious expression, but her mood has calmed down.Princess Marya, Natasha, and Pierre all felt equally, after a serious, heart-to-heart conversation, the usual embarrassment that made it impossible to continue the conversation. ;Talking about trifling things—and neither would, and silence—was not pleasant, because everyone still wanted to talk, and the silence seemed a bit of an affectation.They approached the table in silence, and the waiters pushed and pushed the chairs away.Pierre opened the cold napkin and, determined to break the silence, looked up at Natasha and the princess.Apparently, both of them made the same decision at the same time: both of them showed a look of satisfaction with life in their eyes, and they also decided that besides love, there should be joy.

"Are you drinking vodka, Count?" said Princess Marya, who suddenly dispelled the shadow. "Tell me about yourself, too," said Princess Marya, "everyone is talking about your incredible miracles." "Yes," replied Pierre with a gentle sneer, with a smile he was accustomed to by now. "A lot of people are talking about so-called miracles now, even in my own presence. I was invited by Maria Abramovna, and she told me what happened to me, or It is something I should encounter. Stepan Stepanitch also pointed out how I should tell others. In short, I found that "the breath is clear and turbid, and the quality is sensitive and pure. It is natural temperament, so it has nothing to do with sex. ". Denying Shangzhi, it is very comfortable to be an interesting person (I am an interesting person now); everyone invites me and tells me my own story."

Natasha smiled and wanted to say something. "We have heard," said Princess Marya, "that you lost two millions in Moscow. Is that true?" "And I'm twice as rich," says Pierre, who insists he's twice as rich despite his determination to pay off his wife's debts and rebuild his home. . "What I did win," he said, "is freedom..." He began to speak earnestly; but, sensing the selfishness of the subject, he stopped. "Do you want to build a house?" "Yes, Saveliitch will do that." "Please tell us, when you were still in Moscow, did you not know that the countess had passed away?" Princess Maria blushed immediately after she finished speaking, and she realized that after he said that he was free After that, her words meant nothing to him.

"I don't know," replied Pierre, obviously not thinking that Princess Marya's understanding of the liberty he mentioned bothered him. "I heard it in Orel, and you can't imagine how much it shocked me. We are not a model couple," he said quickly, glancing at Natasha, He could tell from the expression on her face that she was very curious about what he thought of his wife. "But her death shocked me very much. When two people quarreled, both sides were always at fault. My fault suddenly became more serious in the presence of a dead person. And so dead...without friends, No consolation. I'm very, very sad." He was relieved to find Natasha's face appreciative when he finished.

"Yes, you are single again, and you can marry another wife," said Princess Marya. Pierre blushed suddenly, and for a while did not dare to look at Natasha.When he mustered up the courage to look at her, her face was cold, serious, even contemptuous. "Isn't it as many people have told us? Did you actually meet Napoleon and talk to him?" asked Princess Marya. Pierre laughed. "No, it never happened. People always think that to be a prisoner is to be Napoleon's guest. Not only have I never seen him, I have never even heard of him. I and all the prisoners Together, we're in pretty bad shape.

After dinner, Pierre gradually began to tell about his experience as a prisoner, which at first he was very reluctant to tell. "Did you really stay here to assassinate Napoleon?" Natasha asked him with a slight smile. "I guessed it when we met you at Sukharev Tower; do you remember?" Pierre admitted that it was true, and starting from this question, guided by the questions posed by Princess Marya, and especially by Natasha, he began to tell the story of his adventures in detail. He began his story with that sneering, gentle look which is now common to people, and especially to himself; Suppressing the excitement that often accompanies one when one recalls those strong impressions, he lost himself and spoke engrossed.

Princess Marya showed a gentle smile, looking now at Pierre and now at Natasha.All she saw in the whole story was Pierre and his good heart.Natasha rested her head on her hands, and the expression on her face changed with the storyline. She kept watching Pierre for a moment. Obviously, she felt the story he told with him.Not only her eyes, but also her exclamations and brief questions, showed Pierre that what she had understood from the story he was telling was exactly what he wanted to express.It was evident that she understood not only what he was telling, but also what he wanted to say but could not put into words.Referring to the episode in which he was arrested for protecting women and children, Pierre said:

"It was a horrific scene, children were thrown around, some were thrown into the fire... I witnessed a child being dragged from the fire... women were robbed of their belongings and their earrings were ripped off... " Pierre blushed and hesitated. "At this moment the patrols came and they took all the peasants who were not robbed, and I was taken too." "You probably didn't tell us all about it; you must have done something..." Natasha paused a little, then continued, "A good deed." Pierre went on, and when he spoke of the execution he wanted to avoid the dreadful details; but Natasha begged him not to omit anything.

Pierre began to tell about Karataev (he had got up from the table and was walking up and down the room, Natasha's eyes were fixed on him), and stopped. "No, it's hard for you to understand how much I've learned from this illiterate, overly honest man." "No, no, you say," said Natasha. "Where is he now?" "He was almost killed in front of me." And Pierre began to tell of the last days of their retreat, of Karatayev's illness and how he had been shot (his voice broke trembling). Pierre told the stories of his perils as if he had never recalled them.He now seemed to see that what he had experienced had a new meaning.Now, as he told Natasha all this, he felt the rare pleasure a woman gives a man when he listens to him--a foolish woman listens to someone as if she were all Talk about concentrating on listening, or simply memorize what others have said to her, use these to fill your mind, and learn the tongue whenever you have a chance, or compare what others have said to you with what they said to you. Tell others the wise words that come to minds with little knowledge; and now this joy is given by a real woman who is good at selecting and absorbing the kind that only a man has. all the best things.Little did Natasha herself know, she was so engrossed; not a single word, not a quiver of her voice, not a look, not a twitch of a muscle of the face, not a single gesture—she did not let her miss it.In trying to guess the secret meaning of Pierre's inner workings, she guessed at a glance what he hadn't said, and took them into her open breast.

Princess Marya understood his story, she sympathized with him, but now she saw something else, which attracted her whole attention; she saw that there was a relationship between Natasha and Pierre. The possibility of love and happiness.And this thought that broke into her head for the first time made her feel happy from the bottom of her heart. It was already three o'clock in the morning.The waiters, grim and melancholy, went in to change the candles, but no one noticed them. Pierre finished his story.Natasha, with her large, bright, excited eyes, was still staring at Pierre dumbly, as if trying to comprehend those words which he seemed to have left unspoken.Pierre was a little embarrassed, he was happy and a little shy, and he glanced at her from time to time, trying to say something and divert the conversation.Princess Marya was silent.No one thought that it was almost three o'clock in the morning and it was time to go to bed.

"Everyone says: Misfortune, misery," said Pierre. "If it is now, at this very moment, I will be asked: Would you rather go through it as you were before you were captured, or go through it all over again?" For God's sake, don't be captives and eat only horse meat again. We assume that once we leave the well-worn path, it's all over; but here's the beginning of something new and better .As long as there is life, there is happiness. There is much, much more ahead. I tell you that." He turned to Natasha. "Yes, yes," she said in a completely different reply, "I don't want anything but to go through it all over again." Pierre stared at her. "Yes, I don't want anything else," said Natasha firmly. "It's not true, it's not true," cried Pierre, "I'm innocent, I've survived, and I'm going to live; and you too." Natasha suddenly dropped her head, covered her face with her hands and began to cry. "What's the matter with you, Natasha?" said Princess Marya. "Nothing, nothing." She smiled at Pierre with tears in her eyes. "Good-bye, it's time to go to bed." Pierre got up to say goodbye. Princess Maria and Natasha walked into the bedroom together as usual.They talked for a while about what Pierre had heard tell.Princess Marya said nothing of her opinion of Pierre.Natasha did not speak of him either. "Well, good-bye, Marie," said Natasha, "you know, I am often afraid that if we don't talk about him (Prince Andrei), it seems that we are afraid of hurting our feelings, and we will leave him in this way." Forget it." Princess Marya sighed deeply, and this sigh showed that Natasha was right; however, what she said did not agree with her. "Is it really possible to forget?" she said. "Today I told everything with a lot of joy; my heart was heavy and painful, but with joy, with joy," said Natasha, "and I was sure that Prince Andrey really loved him. That's why I I just told him... I didn't tell him anything, did I?" She asked, blushing suddenly. "Is that Pierre? Oh, nothing, he's such a nice fellow," said Princess Marya. "You know, Marie," said Natasha, suddenly breaking into a mischievous smile that Princess Marya had not seen for a long time. "He's been so clean, so shiny, so fresh, it's like he just came out of the bathroom, you know what I mean? Mentally, he's like he just came out of the bathroom, that's right." "Yes," said Princess Marya, "he has grown a lot." "That short dress and cropped hair really looks like he just came out of the bathroom... Dad often..." "I understand that he (Prince Andrew) has never liked anyone else as much as he liked him," said Princess Marya. "Yes, he and he have different characteristics. People say that two men with different characteristics make friends easily. There must be some truth in this statement. The two of them are not similar in any way." , isn't it?" "Yes, he's very nice." "Well, good-bye," said Natasha.That mischievous smile, as if she had forgotten it for a long time, stayed on her face for a long time.