An excerpt from the original text.(complete · 1636 words)
he day after his son had left, Prince Nicholas sent for Princess Mary
to come to his study.
“Well? Are you satisfied now?” said he. “You’ve made me quarrel with my
son! Satisfied, are you? That’s all you wanted! Satisfied?... It hurts
me, it hurts. I’m old and weak and this is what you wanted. Well then,
gloat over it! Gloat over it!”
After that Princess Mary did not see her father for a whole week. He was
ill and did not leave his study.
Princess Mary noticed to her surprise that during this illness the
old prince not only excluded her from his room, but did not admit
Mademoiselle Bourienne either. Tíkhon alone attended him.
At the end of the week the prince reappeared and resumed his former way
of life, devoting himself with special activity to building operations
and the arrangement of the gardens and completely breaking off his
relations with Mademoiselle Bourienne. His looks and cold tone to his
daughter seemed to say: “There, you see? You plotted against me, you
lied to Prince Andrew about my relations with that Frenchwoman and made
me quarrel with him, but you see I need neither her nor you!”
Princess Mary spent half of every day with little Nicholas, watching
his lessons, teaching him Russian and music herself, and talking to
Dessalles; the rest of the day she spent over her books, with her old
nurse, or with “God’s folk” who sometimes came by the back door to see
her.
Of the war Princess Mary thought as women do think about wars. She
feared for her brother who was in it, was horrified by and amazed at
the strange cruelty that impels men to kill one another, but she did not
understand the significance of this war, which seemed to her like all
previous wars. She did not realize the significance of this war, though
Dessalles with whom she constantly conversed was passionately interested
in its progress and tried to explain his own conception of it to her,
and though the “God’s folk” who came to see her reported, in their own
way, the rumors current among the people of an invasion by Antichrist,
and though Julie (now Princess Drubetskáya), who had resumed
correspondence with her, wrote patriotic letters from Moscow.
“I write you in Russian, my good friend,” wrote Julie in her Frenchified
Russian, “because I have a detestation for all the French, and the
same for their language which I cannot support to hear spoken.... We in
Moscow are elated by enthusiasm for our adored Emperor.
“My poor husband is enduring pains and hunger in Jewish taverns, but the
news which I have inspires me yet more.
“You heard probably of the heroic exploit of Raévski, embracing his two
sons and saying: ‘I will perish with them but we will not be shaken!’
And truly though the enemy was twice stronger than we, we were
unshakable. We pass the time as we can, but in war as in war! The
princesses Aline and Sophie sit whole days with me, and we, unhappy
widows of live men, make beautiful conversations over our charpie, only
you, my friend, are missing...” and so on.
The chief reason Princess Mary did not realize the full significance of
this war was that the old prince never spoke of it, did not recognize
it, and laughed at Dessalles when he mentioned it at dinner.
The prince’s tone was so calm and confident that Princess Mary
unhesitatingly believed him.
All that July the old prince was exceedingly active and even animated.
He planned another garden and began a new building for the domestic
serfs. The only thing that made Princess Mary anxious about him was that
he slept very little and, instead of sleeping in his study as usual,
changed his sleeping place every day. One day he would order his camp
bed to be set up in the glass gallery, another day he remained on the
couch or on the lounge chair in the drawing room and dozed there without
undressing, while—instead of Mademoiselle Bourienne—a serf boy read to
him. Then again he would spend a night in the dining room.
On August 1, a second letter was received from Prince Andrew. In his
first letter which came soon after he had left home, Prince Andrew had
dutifully asked his father’s forgiveness for what he had allowed himself
to say and begged to be restored to his favor. To this letter the old
prince had replied affectionately, and from that time had kept the
Frenchwoman at a distance. Prince Andrew’s second letter, written near
Vítebsk after the French had occupied that town, gave a brief account of
the whole campaign, enclosed for them a plan he had drawn and forecasts
as to the further progress of the war. In this letter Prince Andrew
pointed out to his father the danger of staying at Bald Hills, so near
the theater of war and on the army’s direct line of march, and advised
him to move to Moscow.
At dinner that day, on Dessalles’ mentioning that the French were said
to have already entered Vítebsk, the old prince remembered his son’s
letter.
“There was a letter from Prince Andrew today,” he said to Princess
Mary—“Haven’t you read it?”
“No, Father,” she replied in a frightened voice.
She could not have read the letter as she did not even know it had
arrived.
“He writes about this war,” said the prince, with the ironic smile that
had become habitual to him in speaking of the present war.
“That must be very interesting,” said Dessalles. “Prince Andrew is in a
position to know...”
“Oh, very interesting!” said Mademoiselle Bourienne.
“Go and get it for me,” said the old prince to Mademoiselle Bourienne.
“You know—under the paperweight on the little table.”
Mademoiselle Bourienne jumped up eagerly.
“No, don’t!” he exclaimed with a frown. “You go, Michael Ivánovich.”
Michael Ivánovich rose and went to the study. But as soon as he had left
the room the old prince, looking uneasily round, threw down his napkin
and went himself.
“They can’t do anything... always make some muddle,” he muttered.
While he was away Princess Mary, Dessalles, Mademoiselle Bourienne, and
even little Nicholas exchanged looks in silence. The old prince returned
with quick steps, accompanied by Michael Ivánovich, bringing the letter
and a plan. These he put down beside him—not letting anyone read them at
dinner.
On moving to the drawing room he handed the letter to Princess Mary and,
spreading out before him the plan of the new building and fixing his
eyes upon it, told her to read the letter aloud. When she had done so
Princess Mary looked inquiringly at her father. He was examining the
plan, evidently engrossed in his own ideas.
“What do you think of it, Prince?” Dessalles ventured to ask.
“I? I?...” said the prince as if unpleasantly awakened, and not taking
his eyes from the plan of the building.
“Very possibly the theater of war will move so near to us that...”
“Ha ha ha! The theater of war!” said the prince. “I have said and still
say that the theater of war is Poland and the enemy will never get
beyond the Niemen.”
Dessalles looked in amazement at the prince, who was talking of the
Niemen when the enemy was already at the Dnieper, but Princess Mary,
forgetting the geographical position of the Niemen, thought that what
her father was saying was correct.
“When the snow melts they’ll sink in the Polish swamps. Only they
could fail to see it,” the prince continued, evidently thinking of the
campaign of 1807 which seemed to him so recent. “Bennigsen should have
advanced into Prussia sooner, then things would have taken a different
turn...”
“But, Prince,” Dessalles began timidly, “the letter mentions
Vítebsk....”
“Ah, the letter? Yes...” replied the prince peevishly. “Yes... yes...”
His face suddenly took on a morose expression. He paused. “Yes, he
writes that the French were beaten at... at... what river is it?”
Dessalles dropped his eyes.
“The prince says nothing about that,” he remarked gently.
“Doesn’t he? But I didn’t invent it myself.”
No one spoke for a long time.
“Yes... yes... Well, Michael Ivánovich,” he suddenly went on, raising
his head and pointing to the plan of the building, “tell me how you mean
to alter it....”
Michael Ivánovich went up to the plan, and the prince after speaking to
him about the building looked angrily at Princess Mary and Dessalles and
went to his own room.
Princess Mary saw Dessalles’ embarrassed and astonished look fixed on
her father, noticed his silence, and was struck by the fact that her
father had forgotten his son’s letter on the drawing room table; but she
was not only afraid to speak of it and ask Dessalles the reason of his
confusion and silence, but was afraid even to think about it.
In the evening Michael Ivánovich, sent by the prince, came to Princess
Mary for Prince Andrew’s letter which had been forgotten in the drawing
room. She gave it to him and, unpleasant as it was to her to do so,
ventured to ask him what her father was doing.
“Always busy,” replied Michael Ivánovich with a respectfully ironic
smile which caused Princess Mary to turn pale. “He’s worrying very much
about the new building. He has been reading a little, but now”—Michael
Ivánovich went on, lowering his voice—“now he’s at his desk, busy with
his will, I expect.” (One of the prince’s favorite occupations of late
had been the preparation of some papers he meant to leave at his death
and which he called his “will.”)
“And Alpátych is being sent to Smolénsk?” asked Princess Mary.
“Oh, yes, he has been waiting to start for some time.”
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Let's Analyse the Pattern
Those in power often become cruel and confused when reality threatens their worldview, lashing out at safe targets while their competence visibly deteriorates.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to identify when someone in power is mentally deteriorating under pressure and becoming dangerous to those around them.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when supervisors or family leaders start forgetting recent conversations while becoming increasingly hostile - that's cognitive collapse, not character flaws in their targets.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"Well? Are you satisfied now? You've made me quarrel with my son! Satisfied, are you? That's all you wanted!"
Context: The prince immediately blames Princess Mary for his fight with Prince Andrew
This shows classic scapegoating behavior - he can't face that his own actions caused the conflict, so he makes his daughter the villain. The repetition of 'satisfied' shows how he's building a false narrative where she plotted against him.
In Today's Words:
Look what you made me do! This is all your fault! Are you happy now that you've ruined everything?
"There, you see? You plotted against me, you lied to Prince Andrew about my relations with that Frenchwoman and made me quarrel with him, but you see I need neither her nor you!"
Context: His unspoken message to Princess Mary when he emerges from isolation
He's created a complete fantasy where Princess Mary is the mastermind behind all his problems. This paranoid thinking shows his mental decline - he genuinely believes she orchestrated everything to hurt him.
In Today's Words:
I know what you did - you turned my son against me on purpose, but I don't need any of you anyway!
"The French will never advance beyond the Niemen, and they'll never cross the Dnieper either"
Context: Insisting the French can't possibly reach them despite evidence to the contrary
This shows dangerous denial based on outdated knowledge. He's applying old military logic to a completely different war, unable to process new information that threatens his sense of security.
In Today's Words:
That could never happen here - things like that don't happen to people like us.
Thematic Threads
Power
In This Chapter
The old prince uses his authority to punish Princess Mary for his own failures, isolating her for a week while denying obvious military realities
Development
Power has shifted from protective to destructive as external pressures mount
In Your Life:
You might see this when a boss becomes increasingly unreasonable as their department struggles, blaming staff instead of adapting
Denial
In This Chapter
The prince cannot process his son's letter warning of French advancement, insisting they'll never cross distant rivers while forgetting what he just read
Development
Denial has escalated from social pretenses to dangerous delusion about immediate threats
In Your Life:
You might see this in family members who refuse medical advice or safety concerns, becoming hostile when pressed
Family
In This Chapter
Princess Mary suffers for her father's breakdown, blamed for problems she didn't create while watching his mental deterioration helplessly
Development
Family bonds are fracturing under external pressure, with the vulnerable bearing consequences for the powerful's failures
In Your Life:
You might experience this when family crises reveal who gets blamed and who gets protected, often unfairly
Identity
In This Chapter
The old prince's identity as military expert crumbles when his knowledge proves obsolete, triggering psychological and physical breakdown
Development
Identity crisis deepens as characters face obsolescence of their core competencies
In Your Life:
You might feel this when your job skills or life experience suddenly seem irrelevant to current challenges
Isolation
In This Chapter
Both father and daughter become isolated—he in his delusions, she in punishment—while real danger approaches unaddressed
Development
Isolation now appears as both weapon and consequence, fracturing the family when unity is most needed
In Your Life:
You might see this when family conflicts leave everyone alone with their problems just when cooperation is most crucial
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
How does the old prince react to Prince Andrew's departure, and what specific behaviors show his mental state is deteriorating?
analysis • surface - 2
Why does the old prince blame Princess Mary for the family quarrel instead of taking responsibility for his own actions?
analysis • medium - 3
When have you seen someone in authority become more cruel or unreasonable when their expertise was challenged or proven outdated?
application • medium - 4
If you were Princess Mary, how would you protect yourself while still caring for a deteriorating parent who's become unpredictable and hostile?
application • deep - 5
What does this chapter reveal about how people handle information that threatens their sense of identity and control?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Map the Authority Crisis Pattern
Think of someone you know who holds authority (boss, parent, community leader, etc.) and is struggling to adapt to change. Draw or describe the cycle: What threatens their identity? How do they deny reality? Who becomes their scapegoat? What are the warning signs that their grip on reality is slipping?
Consider:
- •Look for patterns of blame-shifting rather than problem-solving
- •Notice if they're clinging to outdated knowledge or methods
- •Observe who they target when they feel threatened - it's usually the safest person, not the actual source of the problem
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you had to navigate someone's authority crisis. What did you do to protect yourself? What would you do differently now that you can name this pattern?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 193: A Restless Night of Memory
As the French army draws closer to Bald Hills, the family will be forced to confront the reality the old prince refuses to see. Princess Mary must make difficult decisions about her father's safety and her own future.
