Chapter 79 Part Two - Seventeen

Count Charsky's eats at half-past seven.They ate in a new way which Nekhludoff had never seen before.The dishes are placed on the table first, and after the servants leave the dining room, the diners pick up the dishes themselves.The men put on a masculine look, not to make the wives overworked, and resolutely took on the important task of sharing food and wine for the wives and themselves.After eating a dish, the countess pressed the electric bell on the table, and the servant came in quietly again, quickly took away the used dishes, and brought the next dish.The dishes are exquisite, and the wine is also very high-end.In the brightly lit large kitchen, the French chef is leading two men in white clothes to cook.There were six people at dinner: the count and countess, their son, a guards officer with a sad face and arms resting on the table, Nekhludoff, the French reciter, and the count's family from the country. the steward.

There was also talk of the duel at the dinner table.Everyone talked about the emperor's attitude towards this matter.We all know that the emperor felt sorry for the deceased's mother, and everyone felt sorry for her.But everyone knows that although the emperor sympathizes with his mother, he is unwilling to punish the murderer who is a soldier severely, so everyone is lenient towards the murderer who is a soldier.Only the Countess Charsky dared to think and speak without scruples, and condemned the murderer. "They are drinking and messing around like this, and they will kill every good young man. I can't forgive them for anything," she said.

"I don't understand what you're saying," said the count. "I know, you never understand what I say," said the countess, turning to Nekhludoff. "Everyone understands, but my husband doesn't understand. I said that I am very sorry for being a mother. I don't want to see a person kill someone and still be proud." The son, who had remained silent until then, began to defend the murderer against his mother, proving to her in a rough voice that he had to do this as an officer, or his colleagues would criticize him and expel him from the regiment.Nekhludoff listened without interrupting.He had been an officer, and though he did not approve of Young Charsky's reasoning, he could understand it.He also couldn't help comparing the murderous officer with the handsome young farmer in prison who was sentenced to hard labor for accidentally injuring someone in a fight.Both of them were killed because they were drunk.The farmer beats a man to death on the fire, abandons his wife and children, leaves his family and friends, puts his feet in fetters, shaves his head, and goes to hard labor; while the officer sits in a beautiful confinement cell, eating the best food and drinking the best food. Wait for the wine, read the book, and sooner or later you will be released, and you will be able to live as before, even more noticed.

He spoke out what was on his mind.Countess Charsky agreed with her nephew at first, but then she was silent.The same goes for other people.Only then did Nekhludoff realize that he was being impolite in saying this. In the evening, after dinner, rows of carved high-backed chairs are arranged in the hall as if in a meeting, an armchair is placed behind the table, and there is a tea table next to it, with a glass water bottle on it, which is for the preacher to drink .The foreigner Kizewitt will preach here, and people will come to listen. There are many luxurious carriages parked at the gate.In the well-furnished hall sat many ladies in satins, velvet, and lace, with wigs on their heads and narrow waists.Among the ladies sat some men, some soldiers, some civil servants, and five ordinary people: two yard sweepers, a shopkeeper, a footman, and a coachman.

Kisewitt is a muscular, gray-haired man who speaks English.A thin girl in a pince-nez translated quickly and well for him. He said that our sin is so great, and our punishment so severe and inescapable, that we cannot wait for it to come. "Dear brothers and sisters! We have only to think about ourselves, about our lives, about what we have done, how we live, how we have offended a merciful God and caused Christ to suffer, and we will understand that we do not Forgiveness is possible, we have no way out, we cannot be saved, we are all doomed to perish. Perish is terrible, eternal torment awaits us," he said in a trembling, weeping voice. "How will I be saved? Brothers, how will I be saved from this terrible fire? The fire has surrounded the house and there is no way out."

He was silent for a moment, tears literally rolling down his cheeks.For eight years, whenever he talked about this place that he was very proud of, he always felt his throat was choked, his nose was sore, and tears welled up in his eyes.As soon as the tears came out, he himself was even more moved.There was a cry in the room.Countess Charsky sat at a small marquetry table, her head in her hands, her fat shoulders trembling.The coachman looked at the German in amazement, as if he were driving a car whose bumper was about to hit the German, and the German refused to move.Most of them sat in the same position as Countess Charsky.Wolfe's daughter, who looks a lot like her father, is kneeling on the ground with her face covered in her hands in a stylish dress.

The eloquent preacher suddenly brightened up, and with that deceptively entertaining smile of an actor's, said in a soft and sweet voice: "There is salvation now! It is a light-hearted salvation. The only begotten Son of God shed his blood for us, and he was willing to suffer for us. His affliction, his blood saved us. Brothers and sisters!" He said again with tears, "Let us thank God, who gave His only begotten Son in order to atone for mankind. His precious blood..." Feeling very sick, Nekhludoff quietly got up, frowned, suppressed a moan of shame, and walked out of the hall on tiptoe to his room.