第395章

第395章eversincethedaywhenpierrehadlookedupatthecometintheskyonhiswayhomefromtherostovs’,andrecallingnatasha’sgratefullook,hadfeltasthoughsomenewvistawasopeningbeforehim,thehauntingproblemofthevanityandsenselessnessofallthingsearthlyhadceasedtotormenthim.thatterriblequestion：why？whatfor？whichhadtillthenhauntedhiminthemidstofeveryoccupation,wasnotnowreplacedbyanyotherquestion,norbyananswertotheoldquestion;itsplacewasfilledbytheimageofher.ifheheardortalkedoftrivialities,orreadorwastoldofsomeinstanceofhumanbasenessorfolly,hewasnotcastdownasofold;hedidnotaskhimselfwhypeopletroubled,whenallwassobriefanduncertain.buthethoughtofherashehadseenherlast,andallhisdoubtsvanished;notbecauseshehadansweredthequestionsthathauntedhim,butbecauseherimageliftedhiminstantlyintoanotherbrightrealmofspiritualactivity,inwhichtherecouldbeneitherrightnorwrong,intoaregionofbeautyandlovewhichwasworthlivingfor.whateverinfamyhethoughtof,hesaidtohimself,“well,letsoandsorobthestateandthetsar,whilethestateandthetsarheaphonoursonhim;butshesmiledatmeyesterday,andedmetocome,andiloveher,andnobodywilleverknowit,”hethought.

pierrestillwentintosociety,drankasmuch,andledthesameidleandaimlesslife,because,apartfromthehourshespentattherostovs’,hehadtogetthroughtherestofhistimesomehow,andthehabitsandtheacquaintanceshehadmadeinmoscowdrewhimirresistiblyintothesamelife.butoflate,sincethereportsfromtheseatofwarhadbecomemoreandmoredisquieting,andnatasha’shealthhadimproved,andshehadceasedtocallforthesametenderpity,hehadbeguntobemoreandmorepossessedbyarestlessnessthathecouldnotexplain.hefeltthatthepositionhewasincouldnotgoonforlong,thatacatastrophewascomingthatwouldchangethewholecourseofhislife,andhesoughtimpatientlyforsignsofthisimpendingcatastrophe.oneofhisbrothermasonshadrevealedtopierrethefollowingprophecyrelatingtonapoleon,andtakenfromtheapocalypseofst.john.

intheapocalypse,chapterthirteen,verseseventeen,itiswritten：“hereiswisdom;lethimthathathunderstanding,countthenumberofthebeast;foritisthenumberofaman,andhisnumberissixhundredthree-scoreandsix.”

andinthefifthverseofthesamechapter：“andtherewasgivenuntohimamouthspeakinggreatthingsandblasphemies,andpowerwasgivenuntohimtocontinuefortyandtwomonths.”

ifthefrenchalphabetistreatedlikethehebrewsystemofenumeration,bywhichthefirsttenlettersrepresenttheunits,andthenextthetens,andsoon,thelettershavethefollowingvalue：—

abcdefghiklmnopqrstuvwxyz

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