第113章

第113章onellen’sname-day，princevassilywasgivingalittlesupperpartyofjusttheirownpeople，ashiswifesaid，thatis，offriendsandrelations.allthesefriendsandrelationsweremadetofeelthatthedaywastobeamomentousoneintheyounglady’slife.theguestswereseatedatsupper.princesskuragin，amassivewomanofimposingpresence，whohadoncebeenbeautiful，satinthehostess’place，withthemosthonouredguestsoneachsideofher—anoldgeneralandhiswife，andannapavlovnascherer.towardsthebottomofthetablesatthelesselderlyandlesshonouredguests，andtheretoosatasmembersofthefamilypierreandellen，sidebyside.princevassilydidnottakesupper.hemovedtoandfroaboutthetable，inexcellentspirits，sittingdownbesideoneguestafteranother.toeveryonehedroppedafewcarelessandagreeablewords，excepttopierreandellen，whosepresenceheseemednottonotice.princevassilyenlivenedthewholecompany.thewaxcandlesburnedbrightly，therewasaglitterofsilverandcrystalonthetable，ofladies’ornamentsandthegoldandsilverofepaulettes.theservantsthreadedtheirwayinandoutroundthetableintheirredcoats.therewasaclatterofknives，glasses，andplates，andthesoundofeagertalkfromseveralseparateconversationsroundthetable.theoldkammerherratoneendcouldbeheardasseveratingtoanelderlybaronesshisardentloveforher，whileshelaughed.attheotherendananecdotewasbeingtoldoftheill-essofsomemaryaviktorovna.inthecentreprincevassilyconcentratedtheattentiononhimself.withaplayfulsmileonhislips，hewastellingtheladiesaboutthelastwednesday’ssessionoftheprivycouncil，atwhichsergeykuzmitchvyazmitinov，thenewmilitarygovernor-generalofpetersburg，hadreceivedandreadarescript—muchtalkedofatthetime—fromtheemperoralexanderpavlovitch.theemperor，writingfromthearmytosergeykuzmitch，hadsaidthatonallsideshewasreceivingproofsofthedevotionofhispeople，andthatthetestimonyfrompetersburgwasparticularlygratifyingtohim，thathewasproudofthehonourofbeingattheheadofsuchapeople，andwoulddohisbesttobeworthyofit.thisrescriptbeganwiththewords：“sergeykuzmitch.fromallsidesreportsreachme，”etc.

“sothathenevergotfurtherwithitthan‘sergeykuzmitch’？”oneladyasked.

“no，no，notasyllable，”princevassilyansweredlaughing.“‘sergeykuzmitch…fromallsides.’‘fromallsides…sergeykuzmitch.…’poorvyazmitinovcouldnotgetanyfurther.severaltimeshestartedupontheletteragain，butnosoonerdidheutter‘sergey，’…thanasniff…‘kuz…mi…itch’—tears…and‘fromallsides’issmotheredinsobs，andhecangetnofurther.andagainthehandkerchiefandagain‘sergeykuzmitchfromallsides’andtears，…sothatweedsomeoneelsetoreadit.…”

“‘kuzmitch…fromallsides’…andtears.…”someonerepeated，laughing.

“don’tbenaughty，”saidannapavlovna，fromtheotherendofthetable，shakingherfingerathim.“heissuchaworthy，excellentman，ourgoodvyazmitinov.”

everyonelaughedheartily.attheupperendofthetable，theplaceofhonour，everyoneseemedingoodspirits，undertheinfluenceofvariousenliveningtendencies.onlypierreandellensatmutelysidebysidealmostatthebottomofthetable.thefacesofbothworearestrainedbutbeamingsmilethathadnoconnectionwithsergeykuzmitch—thesmileofbashfulnessattheirownfeelings.gailyastheotherslaughedandtalkedandjested，appetisingasweretherhinewine，thesauté，andtheicestheywerediscussing，carefullyastheyavoidedglancingattheyoungcouple，heedlessandunobservantastheyseemedofthem，yetitwassomehowperceptiblefromtheglancesstolenattimesatthem，thattheanecdoteaboutsergeykuzmitch，andthelaughterandthedishes，wereallaffectation，andthatthewholeattentionofallthepartywasreallyconcentratedsimplyonthatpair—pierreandellen.princevassilymimickedthesniffsofsergeykuzmitch，andatthesametimeavoidedglancingathisdaughter，andattheverytimethathewaslaughing，hisexpressionseemedtosay：“yes，yes，it’sallgoingwell，itwillallbesettledto-day.”annapavlovnashookherfingerathimforlaughingat“ourgoodvyazmitinov，”butinhereyes，whichatthatsecondflashedaglanceinpierre’sdirection，princevassilyreadcongratulationonhisfutureson-in-lawandhisdaughter’sfelicity.oldprincesskuragin，offeringwinetotheladynextherwithapensivesigh，lookingangrilyatherdaughter，seemedinthatsightobesaying：“yes，there’snothingleftforyouandmenow，mydear，buttodrinksweetwine，nowthatthetimehascomefortheyoungpeopletobesoindecently，provokinglyhappy！”“andwhatstupidstuffitallisthati’mtalkingabout，asthoughitinterestedme，”thoughtthediplomat，glancingatthehappyfacesofthelovers.“that’shappiness！”

intothemidstofthepettytrivialities，theconventionalinterests，whichmadethecommontieunitingthatcompany，hadfallenthesimplefeelingoftheattractionoftwobeautifulandhealthyyoungcreaturestooneanother.andthishumanfeelingdominatedeverythingandtriumphedoveralltheirconventionalchatter.thejestsfellflat，thenewswasnotinteresting，thelivelinesswasunmistakablyforced.nottheguestsonly，butthefootmenwaitingattableseemedtofeelthesameandforgettheirduties，glancingatthelovelyellenwithherradiantfaceandthebroad，red，happyanduneasyfaceofpierre.theverylightofthecandlesseemedconcentratedonthosetwohappyfaces.