第477章

第477章hebehavedtohishighnesswithacertainaffectednegligence，whichaimedatshowingthathe，asahighlytrainedmilitaryman，leftittotherussianstomakeaprodigyofthisuselessoldperson，andwashimselfwellawarewhatkindofamanhehadtodealwith.“the‘oldgentleman’”—thiswashowkutuzovwasalwaysspokenofinwoltzogen’sgermancircle—“ismakinghimselfquitecomfortable，”hethought；andglancingseverelyatthedishesbeforekutuzov，hebeganreportingtotheoldgentlemanbarclay’smessageandhisownimpressionsandviews.“everypointofourpositionisintheenemy’shands，andtheycannotbedrivenback，becausetherearenotthetroopstodoit；themenrunawayandthere’snopossibilityofstoppingthem，”hesubmitted.

kutuzov，stoppingshortinhismunching，staredatwoltzogeninamazement，asthoughnotunderstandingwhatwassaidtohim.woltzogen，noticingtheoldgentleman’sexcitement，saidwithasmile：

“ididnotconsiderihadarighttoconcealfromyourhighnesswhatisaw.…thetroopsarecompletelyrouted.…”

“yousaw？yousaw？…”criedkutuzov，gettingupquickly，andsteppinguptowoltzogen.“how…howdareyou！…”makingamenacinggesturewithhistremblinghands，hecried，withacatchinhisbreath：“howdareyou，sir，tellmethat？youknownothingaboutit.tellgeneralbarclayfrommethathisinformationisincorrect，andthati，thecommander-in-chief，knowmoreofthecourseofthebattlethanhedoes.”

woltzogenwouldhavemadesomeprotest，butkutuzovinterruptedhim.

“theenemyhasbeenrepulsedontheleftanddefeatedontherightflank.ifyouhaveseenamiss，sir，donotpermityourselftospeakofwhatyoudonotunderstand.kindlyreturntogeneralbarclayandinformhimofmyunhesitatingintentiontoattackthefrenchto-morrow，”saidkutuzovsternly.

allweresilent，andnothingwastobeheardbuttheheavybreathingofthegasping，oldgeneral.“repulsedatallpoints，forwhichithankgodandourbravemen.theenemyisdefeated，andto-morrowwewilldrivehimoutoftheholylandofrussia！”saidkutuzov，crossinghimself；andallatoncehegaveasobfromtherisingtears.

woltzogen，inghisshoulders，andpuckeringhislips，walkedawayinsilence，marvelling“uberdieseeingenommenheitdesaltenherrn.”

“ah，hereheis，myhero！”saidkutuzov，asastoutish，handsome，black-hairedgeneralcameupthehillside.itwasraevsky，whohadspentthewholedayatthemostimportantpartofthebattlefield.

raevskyreportedthatthemenwerestandingtheirgroundfirmly，andthatthefrenchwerenotventuringafurtherattack.

whenhehadheardhimout，kutuzovsaidinfrench：“youdonotthink，likesomeothers，thatweareobligedtoretreat？”

“onthecontrary，yourhighness，inindecisiveactionsitisalwaysthemostobstinatewhoremainsvictorious，”answeredraevsky；“andmyopinion…”

“kaisarov，”kutuzovcalledtohisadjutant，“sitdownandwritetheorderforto-morrow.andyou，”heturnedtoanother，“ridealongthelineandannouncethatto-morrowweattack.”

whilehewastalkingtoraevskyanddictatingtheorder，woltzogencamebackfrombarclayandannouncedthatgeneralbarclaydetollywouldbegladtohaveawrittenconfirmationoftheordergivenbythefield-marshal.

kutuzov，withoutlookingatwoltzogen，orderedanadjutanttomakeoutthiswrittenorder，whichtheformercommander-in-chiefveryprudentlywishedtohavetoscreenhimselffromallresponsibility.andthroughtheundefinable，mysteriouslinkthatmaintainsthroughawholearmythesametemper，calledthespiritofthearmy，andconstitutingthechiefsinewofwar，kutuzov’swords，hisorderforthebattlenextday，weretransmittedinstantaneouslyfromoneendofthearmytotheother.

thewordsandthephrasesoftheorderwerebynomeansthesamewhentheyreachedthefurthestlinksinthechain.therewas，indeed，notawordinthestoriesmenwererepeatingtooneanotherfromoneendofthearmytotheother，thatresembledwhatkutuzovhadactuallysaid；butthedriftofhiswordsspreadeverywhere，becausewhatkutuzovhadsaidwasnottheresultofshrewdconsiderations，buttheoutflowofafeelingthatlaydeepintheheartofthecommander-in-chief，anddeepintheheartofeveryrussian.

andlearningthatto-morrowweweretoattacktheenemy，hearingfromthehigherspheresofthearmytheconfirmationofwhattheywantedtobelieve，theworn-out，waveringmentookcomfortandcourageagain.