第396章

第396章turningoutthewordsl’empereurnapoléonintociphersonthissystem，ithappensthatthesumofthesenumbersequals666，andnapoleonistherebyseentobethebeastprophesiedintheapocalypse.moreover，workingoutinthesamewaythewordsquarante-deux，thatis，thetermforwhichthebeastwaspermittedtocontinue，thesumofthesenumbersagainequals666，fromwhichitisdeducedthatthetermsofnapoleon’spowerhadcomein1812，whenthefrenchemperorreachedhisforty-secondyear.thisprophecymadeagreatimpressiononpierre.hefrequentlyaskedhimselfwhatwouldputanendtothepowerofthebeast，thatis，ofnapoleon；andhetriedbythesamesystemofturninglettersintofigures，andreckoningthemuptofindananswertothisquestion.hewrotedownasananswer，l’empereuralexandre？lanationrusse？hereckonedoutthefigures，buttheirsumwasfarmoreorlessthan666.oncehewrotedownhisownname“comtepierrebezuhov，”butthesumofthefigurewasfarfrombeingright.hechangedthespelling，puttingsforz，added“de，”addedthearticle“le，”andstillcouldnotobtainthedesiredresult.thenitoccurredtohimthatiftheanswersoughtforweretobefoundinhisname，hisnationalityoughtsurelytofindaplaceinittoo.hetriedlerussebesuhof，andaddingupthefiguremadethesum671.thiswasonlyfivetoomuch；the5wasdenotedbytheletter“e，”theletterdroppedinthearticleintheexpressionl’empereurnapoléon.droppingthe“e”inasimilarway，thoughofcourseincorrectly，pierreobtainedtheanswerhesoughtinl’russebesuhof，thelettersofwhichonthatsystemaddedupto666.thisdiscoverygreatlyexcitedhim.how，bywhatconnection，hewasassociatedwiththegreatevent，foretoldintheapocalypse，hecouldnottell.buthedidnotforamomentdoubtofthatconnection.hislovefornatasha，antichrist，napoleon’sinvasion，thecomet，thenumber666，l’empereurnapoléon，andl’russebesuhof—allhethoughtweretodevelop，andcometosomecrisistogethertoextricatehimfromthatspellbound，trivialroundofmoscowhabits，towhichhefelthimselfinbondage，andtoleadhimtosomegreatachievementandgreathappiness.

thedaybeforethatsundayonwhichthenewprayerhadbeenreadinthechurches，pierrehadpromisedtherostovstocalloncountrastoptchin，whomheknewwell，andtogetfromhimthetsar’sappealtothecountry，andthelastnewsfromthearmy.ongoingtocountrastoptchin’sinthemorning，pierrefoundthereaspecialcourier，whohadonlyjustarrivedfromthearmy.thecourierwasamanwhompierreknew，andoftensawatthemoscowballs.

“formercy’ssake，couldn’tyourelievemeofsomeofmyburden，”saidthecourier；“ihaveasackfullofletterstoparents.”

amongtheseletterswasaletterfromnikolayrostovtohisfather.pierretookthat；andcountrastoptchingavehimacopyofthetsar’sappealtomoscow，whichhadjustbeenprinted，thelastannouncementsinthearmy，andhisownlastplacard.lookingthroughthearmyannouncements，pierrefoundinoneofthem，amonglistsofwounded，killedandpromoted，thenameofnikolayrostov，rewardedwiththeorderofst.george，ofthefourthdegree，fordistinguishedbraveryintheostrovnaaffair，andinthesameannouncementtheappointmentofprinceandreybolkonskytothecommandofaregimentoflightcavalry.thoughhedidnotwanttoremindtherostovsofbolkonsky’sexistence，pierrecouldnotresisttheinclinationtorejoicetheirheartswiththenewsoftheirson’sdecoration.keepingthetsar’sappeal，rastoptchin’splacard，andtheotherannouncementtobringwithhimatdinner-time，pierresenttheprintedannouncementandnikolay’slettertotherostovs.

theconversationwithrastoptchin，andhistoneofanxietyandhurry，themeetingwiththecourier，whohadcasuallyalludedtothedisastrousstateofaffairsinthearmy，therumoursofspiesbeingcaughtinmoscow，ofasheetcirculatinginthetownstatingthatnapoleonhadsworntobeinbothcapitalsbeforeautumn，ofthetsar’sexpectedarrivalnextday—allcombinedtoreviveinpierrewithfreshintensitythatfeelingofexcitementandexpectation，thathehadbeenconsciousofeversincetheappearanceofthecomet，andwithevengreaterforcesincethebeginningofthewar.

theideaofenteringthearmyhadlongbeforeoccurredtopierre，andhewouldhaveacteduponit，butthat，inthefirstplace，hewaspledgedbyhisvowtothemasonicbrotherhood，whichpreacheduniversalpeaceandtheabolitionofwar；andsecondly，whenhelookedatthegreatmassofmoscowgentlemen，whoputonuniforms，andprofessedthemselvespatriots，hefeltsomehowashamedtotakethesamestep.acausethatweighedwithhimevenmoreinnotenteringthearmywastheobscureconceptionthathe，l’russebesuhof，hadsomehowthemysticvalueofthenumberofthebeast，666，thathisshareinputtingalimittothepowerofthebeast，“speakinggreatthingsandblasphemies，”hadbeenordainedfromalleternity，andthatthereforeitwasnotforhimtotakeanystepwhatever；itwasforhimtowaitforwhatwasboundtocometopass.