第532章

第532章withinhalfanhourthecountwasdrivingwithrapidhorsesacrossthesokolnikyplain，thinkingnomorenowofthepast，butabsorbedinthoughtandplansforwhatwastocome.hewasapproachingnowtheyauzskybridge，wherehehadbeentoldthatkutuzovwas.inhisownmindhewaspreparingthebitingandangryspeecheshewouldmake，upbraidingkutuzovforhisdeception.hewouldmakethatoldcourtfoxfeelthattheresponsibilityforallthedisastersboundtofollowtheabandonmentofmoscow，andtheruinofrussia（asrastoptchinconsideredit），layuponhisold，dotinghead.goingoverinanticipationwhathewouldsaytohim，rastoptchinwrathfullyturnedfromsidetosideinthecarriage，andangrilylookedabouthim.

thesokolnikyplainwasdeserted.onlyatoneendofit，bythealms-houseandlunaticasylum，thereweregroupsofpeopleinwhitegarments，andsimilarpersonswerewanderingabouttheplain，shoutingandgesticulating.

oneofthemwasrunningrightacrossinfrontofcountrastoptchin’scarriage.andcountrastoptchinhimselfandhiscoachman，andthedragoons，allgazedwithavaguefeelingofhorrorandcuriosityatthesereleasedlunatics，andespeciallyattheonewhowasrunningtowardsthem.

totteringonhislong，thinlegsinhisflutteringdressing-gown，thismadmanranatheadlongspeed，withhiseyesfixedonrastoptchin，shoutingsomethingtohiminahuskyvoice，andmakingsignstohimtostop.thegloomyandtriumphantfaceofthemadmanwasthinandyellow，withirregulartuftsofbeardgrowingonit.theblack，agate-likepupilsofhiseyesmovedrestlessly，showingthesaffron-yellowwhitesabove.“stay！stop，itellyou！”heshoutedshrilly，andagainbreathlesslyfelltoshoutingsomethingwithemphaticgesturesandintonations.

hereachedthecarriageandranalongsideit.

“threetimestheyslewme，threetimesiroseagainfromthedead.theystonedme，theycrucifiedme…ishallriseagain…ishallriseagain…ishallriseagain.mybodytheytoretopieces.thekingdomofheavenwillbeoverthrown…threetimesiwilloverthrowit，andthreetimesiwillsetitupagain，”hescreamed，hisvoicegrowingshrillerandshriller.countrastoptchinsuddenlyturnedwhite，ashehadturnedwhitewhenthecrowdfelluponvereshtchagin.heturnedaway.“g…goon，faster！”hecriedinatremblingvoicetohiscoachman.

thecarriagedashedonatthehorses’topmostspeed.butforalongwhileyetcountrastoptchinheardbehindhimthefrantic，desperatescreamgettingfurtheraway，whilebeforehiseyeshesawnothingbutthewondering，frightened，bleedingfaceofthetraitorinthefur-linedcoat.freshasthatimagewas，rastoptchinfeltnowthatitwasdeeplyforeverimprintedonhisheart.hefeltclearlynowthatthebloodyprintofthatmemorywouldneverleavehim，thatthefurtherhewentthemorecruelly，themorevindictively，wouldthatfearfulmemoryrankleinhishearttotheendofhislife.heseemedtobehearingnowthesoundofhisownwords：“tearhimtopieces，youshallanswerforittome！—whydidisaythesewords？isaiditsomehowwithoutmeaningto…imightnothavesaidthem，”hethought，“andthennothingwouldhavehappened.”hesawtheterror-stricken，andthensuddenlyfrenziedfaceofthedragoonwhohadstruckthefirstblow，andtheglanceofsilent，timidreproachcastonhimbythatladinthefox-linedcoat.“butididn’tdoitonmyownaccount.iwasboundtoactinthatway.laplèbe…letra？tre…lebienpublique，…”hemused.

thebridgeovertheyauzawasstillcrowdedwithtroops.itwashot.kutuzov，lookingcarewornandweary，wassittingonabenchnearthebridge，andplayingwithawhiponthesand，whenacarriagerattlednoisilyuptohim.amanintheuniformofageneral，wearingahatwithplumes，cameuptokutuzov.hebeganaddressinghiminfrench，hiseyesshiftinguneasily，withalookbetweenangerandterrorinthem.itwascountrastoptchin.hetoldkutuzovthathehadcomehere，forsincemoscowwasnomore，thearmywasallthatwasleft.“itmighthavebeenverydifferentifyourhighnesshadnottoldmeyouwouldnotabandonmoscowwithoutabattle；allthiswouldnothavebeen！”saidhe.

kutuzovstaredatrastoptchin，and，asthoughnotunderstandingthemeaningofthewordsaddressedtohim，hestroveearnestlytodecipherthespecialmeaningbetrayedatthatminuteonthefaceofthemanaddressinghim.rastoptchinceasedspeakingindiscomfiture.kutuzovslightlyshookhishead，and，stillkeepinghissearchingeyesonrastoptchin’sface，hemurmuredsoftly：

“yes，iwon’tgiveupmoscowwithoutabattle.”

whetherkutuzovwasthinkingofsomethingdifferentwhenheutteredthosewords，orsaidthempurposely，knowingthemtobemeaningless，countrastoptchinmadehimnoreply，andhastilylefthim.and—strangetotell！thegovernorofmoscow，theproudcountrastoptchin，pickingupahorsewhip，wenttothebridge，andfelltoshoutinganddrivingonthecrowdedcarts.