第160章

第160章hemight…notonlymight,butoughttohavegoneuptotheemperor.anditwasauniquechanceofshowinghisdevotiontotheemperor.andhehadnotmadeuseofit.…“whathaveidone？”hethought.andheturnedhishorseandgallopedbacktothespotwherehehadseentheemperor;buttherewasnoonenowbeyondtheditch.therewereonlytransportonsandcarriagesgoingby.fromonecarrierrostovlearnedthatkutuzov’sstaffwerenotfaroffinthevillagetowardswhichthetransportonsweregoing.rostovfollowedthem.

infrontofhimwaskutuzov’spostillionleadinghorsesinhorse-cloths.aageonfollowedthepostillion,andbehindtheonwalkedanoldbandy-edservantinacapandacape.

“tit,hey.tit！”saidthepostillion.

“eh,”respondedtheoldmanabsent-mindedly.

“tit！stupaymolotit！”（“tit,goa-thrashing！”）

“ugh,thefool,pugh！”saidtheoldman,spittingangrily.ashortintervalofsilencefollowed,andthenthesamejokewasrepeated.

byfiveo’clockintheeveningthebattlehadbeenlostateverypoint.morethanahundredcannonswereinthepossessionofthefrench.przhebyshevskyandhiscorpshadsurrendered.theothercolumnshadretreated,withthelossofhalftheirmen,inconfused,disorderlymasses.allthatwereleftoflangeron’sanddohturov’sforceswerecrowdedtogetherinhopelessconfusiononthedikesandbanksofthepondsnearthevillageofaugest.

atsixo’clocktheonlyfiringstilltobeheardwasaheavycannonadeonthefrenchsidefromnumerousbatteriesrangedontheslopeofthetable-landofpratzen,anddirectedatourretreatingtroops.

intherearguarddohturovandtherest,rallyingtheirbattalions,hadbeenfiringatthefrenchcavalrywhowerepursuingthem.itwasbeginingtogetdark.onthenarrowdamofaugest,wheretheoldmillerinhispeakedcaphadsatforsomanyyearswithhisfishingtackle,whilehisgrandson,withtucked-upshirt-sleeves,turnedoverthesilvery,flounderingfishinthenet;onthatdamwherethemoravians,intheirycapsandbluejackets,hadforsomanyyearspeacefullydriventheirhorsesandons,loadedwithwheat,tothemillanddrivenbackoverthesamedam,dustywithflourthatwhitenedtheirons—onthatnarrowdammen,madehideousbytheterrorofdeath,nowcrowdedtogether,amidarmyonsandcannons,underhorses’feetandbetweencarriage-wheels,crushingeachother,dying,steppingoverthedying,andkillingeachother,onlytobekilledinthesamewayafewstepsfurtheron.

everytensecondsacannonballflewlashingtheairandthumpeddown,oragrenadeburstinthemidstofthatdensecrowd,slayingmenandsplashingbloodonthosewhostoodnear.dolohov,woundedinthehand,withsomedozensoldiersofhiscompanyonfoot（hewasalreadyanofficer）andhisgeneralonhorseback,werethesolerepresentativesofawholeregiment.carriedalongbythecrowd,theyweresqueezedintheapproachtothedamandstoodstill,jammedinonallsidesbecauseahorsewithacannonhadfallen,andthecrowdwereingitaway.acannonballkilledsomeonebehindthem,anotherfellinfrontofthemandspurtedthebloodupondolohov.thecrowdmovedforwarddesperately,wasjammed,movedafewstepsandwasstoppedagain.“onlytogetoverthesehundredstepsandcertainsafety：stayheretwominutesanddeathtoacertainty,”eachmanwasthinking.

dolohovstandinginthecentreofthecrowd,forcedhiswaytotheedgeofthedam,knockingdowntwosoldiers,andranontotheslipperyicethatcoveredthemillpond.

“turnthisway！”heshouted,boundingovertheice,whichcrackedunderhim.“turnthisway！”hekeptshoutingtothecannon.“itbears！…”theiceborehim,butswayedandcracked,anditwasevidentthat,nottospeakofacannonoracrowdofpeople,itwouldgivewayinamomentunderhimalone.mengazedathimandpressedtothebank,unabletobringthemselvestostepontotheice.thegeneralofhisregimentonhorsebackattheendofthedamliftedhishandandopenedhismouthtospeaktodolohov.suddenlyoneofthecannonballsflewsolowovertheheadsofthecrowdthatallducked.therewasawetsplash,asthegeneralfellfromhishorseintoapoolofblood.nooneglancedatthegeneral,noonethoughtofpickinghimup.

“ontotheice！getontheice！geton！turn！don’tyouhear！geton！”innumerablevoicesfelltoshoutingimmediatelyaftertheballhadstruckthegeneral,notknowingthemselveswhatandwhytheywereshouting.

oneofthehindmostcannonsthathadbeengotontothedamwasturnedoffupontheice.crowdsofsoldiersbeganrunningfromthedamontothefrozenpond.theicecrackedunderoneoftheforemostsoldiers,andonelegslippedintothewater.hetriedtorighthimselfandfloundereduptohiswaist.thesoldiersnearesttriedtodrawback,thedriverofthecannonpulleduphishorse,butstilltheshoutswereheardfrombehind：“getontotheice,whyareyoustopping？goon！goon！”andscreamsofterrorwereheardinthecrowd.thesoldiersnearthecannonwavedatthehorses,andlashedthemtomakethemturnandgoon.thehorsesmovedfromthedam’sedge.theicethathadheldunderthefoot-soldiersbrokeinahugepiece,andsomefortymenwhowereonitdashed,someforwards,somebackwards,drowningoneanother.

stillthecannonballswhizzedasregularlyandthumpedontotheice,intothewater,andmostoftenintothecrowdthatcoveredthedam,thepondandthebank.