第53章

第53章mihailivanovitch,utterlyatalosstoconjecturewhen“youandi”hadsaidanythingofthesortaboutbonaparte,butgraspingthathewaswantedfortheintroductionoftheprince’sfavouritesubject,glancedinwonderattheyoungprince,notknowingwhatwastocomenext.

“he’sagreattactician！”saidtheprincetohisson,indicatingthearchitect,andtheconversationturnedagainonthewar,onbonaparte,andthegeneralsandpoliticalpersonagesoftheday.theoldprincewas,itseemed,convincedthatallthepublicmenoftheperiodweremerebabeswhohadnoideaoftheabcofmilitaryandpoliticalmatters;whilebonaparte,accordingtohim,wasaninsignificantfrenchman,whohadmetwithesssimplybecausetherewerenopotyomkinsandsuvorovstoopposehim.hewasevenpersuadedfirmlythattherewerenopoliticaldifficultiesineurope,thattherewasnowarindeed,butonlyasortofmarionetteshowinwhichthemenofthedaytookpart,pretendingtobedoingtherealthing.princeandreyreceivedhisfather’sjeersatmodernpeoplegaily,andwithobviouspleasuredrewhisfatheroutandlistenedtohim.

“doeseverythingseemgoodthatwasdoneinthepast？”hesaid;“why,didn’tsuvorovhimselffallintothetrapmoreaulaidforhim,andwasn’theunabletogetoutofittoo？”

“whotoldyouthat？whosaidso？”criedtheprince.“suvorov！”andheflungawayhisplate,whichtihonveryneatlycaught.“suvorov！…thinkagain,princeandrey.thereweretwomen—friedrichandsuvorov…moreau！moreauwouldhavebeenaprisonerifsuvorov’shandshadbeenfree,buthishandsweretiedbythehofsskriegswurstschnappsrath;thedevilhimselfwouldhavebeeninatightplace.ah,you’llfindoutwhatthesehofskriegswurstschnappsrathsarelike！suvorovcouldn’tgetthebetterofthem,sohowismihailkutuzovgoingtodoit？no,mydear,”hewenton;“soyouandyourgeneralsaren’tabletogetroundbonaparte;youmustneedscallinfrenchmen—setathieftocatchathief！thegerman,pahlen,hasbeensenttonewyorkinamericatogetthefrenchmanmoreau,”hesaid,alludingtotheinvitationthathadthatyearbeenmadetomoreautoentertherussianservice.“aqueerbusiness！…whythepotyomkins,thesuvorovs,theorlovs,weretheygermans？no,mylad,eitheryouhavealllostyourwits,orihaveoutlivedmine.godhelpyou,andweshallsee.bonaparte’sbecomeagreatmilitaryleaderamongthem！h’m！…”

“idon’tsayatallthatallthoseplansaregood,”saidprinceandrey;“onlyican’tunderstandhowyoucanhavesuchanopinionofbonaparte.laugh,ifyoulike,butbonaparteisanywayagreatgeneral！”

“mihailivanovitch！”theoldprincecriedtothearchitect,who,absorbedintheroastmeat,hopedtheyhadforgottenhim.“didn’titellyoubonapartewasagreattactician？herehesayssotoo.”

“tobesure,yourexcellency,”repliedthearchitect.theprincelaughedagainhisfrigidlaugh.

“bonapartewasbornwithasilverspooninhismouth.hehassplendidsoldiers.andheattackedthegermansfirsttoo.andanyfoolcanbeatthegermans.fromtheverybeginningoftheworldeveryonehasbeatenthegermans.andthey’veneverbeatenanyone.theyonlyconquereachother.hemadehisreputationfightingagainstthem.”

andtheprincebegananalysingalltheblundersthatinhisopinionbonapartehadcommittedinhiswarsandeveninpolitics.hissondidnotprotest,butitwasevidentthatwhateverargumentswereadvancedagainsthim,hewasaslittledisposedtogiveuphisopinionastheoldprincehimself.princeandreylistenedandrefrainedfromreplying.hecouldnothelpwonderinghowthisoldman,livingsomanyyearsaloneandneverleavingthecountry,couldknowallthemilitaryandpoliticaleventsineuropeofthelastfewyearsinsuchdetailandwithsuchaccuracy,andformhisownjudgmentonthem.

“youthinki’manoldmananddon’tunderstandtheactualpositionofaffairs？”hewoundup.“buti’lltellyoui’mtakenupwithit！idon’tsleepatnights.come,wherehasthisgreatgeneralofyoursprovedhimselftobesuch？”

“thatwouldbealongstory,”answeredhisson.

“yougoalongtoyourbonaparte.mademoisellebourienne,hereisanotheradmirerofyourblackguardofanemperor！”hecriedinexcellentfrench.

“youknowthatiamnotabonapartist,prince.”

“godknowswhenhe’llcomeback…”theprincehummedinfalsetto,laughedstillmorefalsetto,andgotupfromthetable.

thelittleprincesshadsatsilentduringthewholediscussionandtherestofthedinner,lookinginalarmfirstatprincessmaryaandthenatherfather-in-law.whentheyleftthedinner-table,shetookhersister-in-law’sarmanddrewherintoanotherroom.

“whataclevermanyourfatheris,”shesaid;“perhapsthatiswhyiamafraidofhim.”

“oh,heissokind！”saidprincessmarya.