第82章

第82章“princeauerspergisstationedonthisside—ourside—andisdefendingus；defendingusveryineffectually，iimagine，butanywayheisdefendingus.butvienna’sontheothersideoftheriver.no，thebridgehasnotbeentaken，andihopeitwon’tbetaken，becauseitisminedandordershavebeengiventoblowitup.ifitwerenotso，weshouldhavelongagobeeninthemountainsofbohemia，andyouandyourarmywouldhavespentabadquarterofanhourbetweentwofires.”

“butstillthatdoesn’tmeanthatthecampaignisover，”saidprinceandrey.

“butibelievethatitisover.andsodoallthebig-wigshere，thoughtheydon’tdaretosayso.itwillbeasisaidatthebeginningofthecampaign，thatthematterwillnotbesettledbyyourfiringbefored？renstein，notbygunpowder，butbythosewhoinventedit，”saidbilibin，repeatingoneofhismots，lettingthecreasesrunoutofhisforeheadandpausing.“theonlyquestioniswhatthemeetingoftheemperoralexanderandtheprussiankingmaybringforth.ifprussiaentersthealliance，theywillforceaustria’shandandtherewillbewar.ifnot，theonlypointwillbetoarrangewheretodrawupthearticlesofthenewcampoformio.”

“butwhatanextraordinarygenius！”criedprinceandreysuddenly，clenchinghissmallhandandbringingitdownonthetable.“andwhatluckthemanhas！”

“buonaparte？”saidbilibininterrogatively，puckeringuphisforeheadandsointimatingthatamotwascoming.“buonaparte？”hesaid，withspecialstressontheu.“ithink，though，thatnowwhenheisdictatinglawstoaustriafromsch？nbrunn，wemustlethimofftheu.ishallcertainlyadopttheinnovation，andcallhimsimplybonaparte.”

“no，jokingapart，”saidprinceandrey，“doyoureallybelievethecampaignisover？”

“i’lltellyouwhatithink.austriahasbeenmadeafoolof，andsheisnotusedtothat.andshe’llavengeit.andshehasbeenmadeafoolofbecauseinthefirstplaceherprovinceshavebeenpillaged（theysaytheholyrussianarmamentisplunderingthemcruelly），herarmyhasbeendestroyed，hercapitalhasbeentaken，andallthisforthesweetsakeofhissardinianmajesty.andsobetweenourselves，mydearboy，myinstincttellsmewearebeingdeceived；myinstincttellsmeofnegotiationswithfranceandprojectsofpeace，asecretpeace，concludedseparately.”

“impossible！”saidprinceandrey.“thatwouldbetoobase.”

“timewillshow，”saidbilibin，lettingthecreasesrunoffhisforeheadagainintokenofbeingdonewiththesubject.

whenprinceandreywenttotheroomthathadbeenpreparedforhim，andlaydowninthecleanlinenonthefeather-bedandwarmedandfragrantpillows，hefeltasthoughthebattleofwhichhebroughttidingswasfar，farawayfromhim.theprussianalliance，thetreacheryofaustria，thenewtriumphofbonaparte，thelevéeandparadeandtheaudienceofemperorfrancisnextday，engrossedhisattention.heclosedhiseyesandinstantlyhisearswereringingwiththecannonade，thefiringofmuskets，andthecreakingofwheels，andagainhesawthelonglineofmusketeersrunningdown-hillandthefrenchfiring，andhefelthisheartbeatingandsawhimselfgallopinginfrontofthelineswithschmidt，and，thebulletswhizzingmerrilyaroundhim；andheknewthatsenseofintensifiedjoyinlivingthathehadnotexperiencedsincechildhood.hewakedup.

“yes，thatallhappened！”…hesaid，withahappy，childlikesmiletohimself.andhefellintothedeepsleepofyouth.