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At dawn on the sixteenth of November, Denisov's squadron,
in which Nicholas Rostov served and which was in Prince Bagration's
detachment, moved from the place where it had spent the night,
advancing into action as arranged, and after going behind other
columns for about two thirds of a mile was stopped on the highroad.
Rostov saw the Cossacks and then the first and second squadrons
of hussars and infantry battalions and artillery pass by and go
forward and then Generals Bagration and Dolgorukov ride past with
their adjutants. All the fear before action which he had experienced
as previously, all the inner struggle to conquer that fear, all
his dreams of distinguishing himself as a true hussar in this
battle, had been wasted. Their squadron remained in reserve and
Nicholas Rostov spent that day in a dull and wretched mood. At
nine in the morning, he heard firing in front and shouts of hurrah,
and saw wounded being brought back (there were not many of them),
and at last he saw how a whole detachment of French cavalry was
brought in, convoyed by a sontnya of Cossacks. Evidently the affair
was over and, though not big, had been a successful engagement.
The men and officers returning spoke of a brilliant victory, of
the occupation of the town of Wischau and the capture of a whole
French squadron. The day was bright and sunny after a sharp night
frost, and the cheerful glitter of that autumn day was in keeping
with the news of victory which was conveyed, not only by the tales
of those who had taken part in it, but also by the joyful expression
on the faces of soldiers, officers, generals, and adjutants, as
they passed Rostov going or coming. And Nicholas, who had vainly
suffered all the dread that precedes a battle and had spent that
happy day in inactivity, was all the more depressed.
"Come here, Wostov. Let's dwink to dwown our gwief!"
shouted Denisov, who had settled down by the roadside with a flask
and some food.
The officers gathered round Denisov's canteen, eating and
talking.
"There! They are bringing another!" cried one of
the officers, indicating a captive French dragoon who was being
brought in on foot by two Cossacks.
One of them was leading by the bridle a fine large French
horse he had taken from the prisoner.
"Sell us that horse!" Denisov called out to the
Cossacks.
"If you like, your honor!"
The officers got up and stood round the Cossacks and their
prisoner. The French dragoon was a young Alsatian who spoke French
with a German accent. He was breathless with agitation, his face
was red, and when he heard some French spoken he at once began
speaking to the officers, addressing first one, then another.
He said he would not have been taken, it was not his fault but
the corporal's who had sent him to seize some horsecloths, though
he had told him the Russians were there. And at every word he
added: "But don't hurt my little horse!" and stroked
the animal. It was plain that he did not quite grasp where he
was. Now he excused himself for having been taken prisoner and
now, imagining himself before his own officers, insisted on his
soldierly discipline and zeal in the service. He brought with
him into our rearguard all the freshness of atmosphere of the
French army, which was so alien to us.
The Cossacks sold the horse for two gold pieces, and Rostov,
being the richest of the officers now that he had received his
money, bought it.
"But don't hurt my little horse!" said the Alsatian
good-naturedly to Rostov when the animal was handed over to the
hussar.
Rostov smilingly reassured the dragoon and gave him money.
"Alley! Alley!" said the Cossack, touching the prisoner's
arm to make him go on.
"The Emperor! The Emperor!" was suddenly heard among
the hussars.
All began to run and bustle, and Rostov saw coming up the
road behind him several riders with white plumes in their hats.
In a moment everyone was in his place, waiting.
Rostov did not know or remember how he ran to his place and
mounted. Instantly his regret at not having been in action and
his dejected mood amid people of whom he was weary had gone, instantly
every thought of himself had vanished. He was filled with happiness
at his nearness to the Emperor. He felt that this nearness by
itself made up to him for the day he had lost. He was happy as
a lover when the longed-for moment of meeting arrives. Not daring
to look round and without looking round, he was ecstatically conscious
of his approach. He felt it not only from the sound of the hoofs
of the approaching cavalcade, but because as he drew near everything
grew brighter, more joyful, more significant, and more festive
around him. Nearer and nearer to Rostov came that sun shedding
beams of mild and majestic light around, and already he felt himself
enveloped in those beams, he heard his voice, that kindly, calm,
and majestic voice that was yet so simple! And as if in accord
with Rostov's feeling, there was a deathly stillness amid which
was heard the Emperor's voice.
"The Pavlograd hussars?" he inquired.
"The reserves, sire!" replied a voice, a very human
one compared to that which had said: "The Pavlograd hussars?"
The Emperor drew level with Rostov and halted. Alexander's
face was even more beautiful than it had been three days before
at the review. It shone with such gaiety and youth, such innocent
youth, that it suggested the liveliness of a fourteen-year-old
boy, and yet it was the face of the majestic Emperor. Casually,
while surveying the squadron, the Emperor's eyes met Rostov's
and rested on them for not more than two seconds. Whether or no
the Emperor understood what was going on in Rostov's soul (it
seemed to Rostov that he understood everything), at any rate his
light-blue eyes gazed for about two seconds into Rostov's face.
A gentle, mild light poured from them. Then all at once he raised
his eyebrows, abruptly touched his horse with his left foot, and
galloped on.
The younger Emperor could not restrain his wish to be present
at the battle and, in spite of the remonstrances of his courtiers,
at twelve o'clock left the third column with which he had been
and galloped toward the vanguard. Before he came up with the hussars,
several adjutants met him with news of the successful result of
the action.
This battle, which consisted in the capture of a French squadron,
was represented as a brilliant victory over the French, and so
the Emperor and the whole army, especially while the smoke hung
over the battlefield, believed that the French had been defeated
and were retreating against their will. A few minutes after the
Emperor had passed, the Pavlograd division was ordered to advance.
In Wischau itself, a petty German town, Rostov saw the Emperor
again. In the market place, where there had been some rather heavy
firing before the Emperor's arrival, lay several killed and wounded
soldiers whom there had not been time to move. The Emperor, surrounded
by his suite of officers and courtiers, was riding a bobtailed
chestnut mare, a different one from that which he had ridden at
the review, and bending to one side he gracefully held a gold
lorgnette to his eyes and looked at a soldier who lay prone, with
blood on his uncovered head. The wounded soldier was so dirty,
coarse, and revolting that his proximity to the Emperor shocked
Rostov. Rostov saw how the Emperor's rather round shoulders shuddered
as if a cold shiver had run down them, how his left foot began
convulsively tapping the horse's side with the spur, and how the
well-trained horse looked round unconcerned and did not stir.
An adjutant, dismounting, lifted the soldier under the arms to
place him on a stretcher that had been brought. The soldier groaned.
"Gently, gently! Can't you do it more gently?" said
the Emperor apparently suffering more than the dying soldier,
and he rode away.
Rostov saw tears filling the Emperor's eyes and heard him,
as he was riding away, say to Czartoryski: "What a terrible
thing war is: what a terrible thing! Quelle terrible chose que
la guerre!"
The troops of the vanguard were stationed before Wischau,
within sight of the enemy's lines, which all day long had yielded
ground to us at the least firing. The Emperor's gratitude was
announced to the vanguard, rewards were promised, and the men
received a double ration of vodka. The campfires crackled and
the soldiers' songs resounded even more merrily than on the previous
night. Denisov celebrated his promotion to the rank of major,
and Rostov, who had already drunk enough, at the end of the feast
proposed the Emperor's health. "Not 'our Sovereign, the Emperor,'
as they say at official dinners," said he, "but the
health of our Sovereign, that good, enchanting, and great man!
Let us drink to his health and to the certain defeat of the French!"
"If we fought before," he said, "not letting
the French pass, as at Schon Grabern, what shall we not do now
when he is at the front? We will all die for him gladly! Is it
not so, gentlemen? Perhaps I am not saying it right, I have drunk
a good deal- but that is how I feel, and so do you too! To the
health of Alexander the First! Hurrah!"
"Hurrah!" rang the enthusiastic voices of the officers.
And the old cavalry captain, Kirsten, shouted enthusiastically
and no less sincerely than the twenty-year-old Rostov.
When the officers had emptied and smashed their glasses, Kirsten
filled others and, in shirt sleeves and breeches, went glass in
hand to the soldiers' bonfires and with his long gray mustache,
his white chest showing under his open shirt, he stood in a majestic
pose in the light of the campfire, waving his uplifted arm.
"Lads! here's to our Sovereign, the Emperor, and victory
over our enemies! Hurrah!" he exclaimed in his dashing, old,
hussar's baritone.
The hussars crowded round and responded heartily with loud
shouts.
Late that night, when all had separated, Denisov with his
short hand patted his favorite, Rostov, on the shoulder.
"As there's no one to fall in love with on campaign,
he's fallen in love with the Tsar," he said.
"Denisov, don't make fun of it!" cried Rostov. "It
is such a lofty, beautiful feeling, such a..."
"I believe it, I believe it, fwiend, and I share and
appwove..."
"No, you don't understand!"
And Rostov got up and went wandering among the campfires,
dreaming of what happiness it would be to die- not in saving the
Emperor's life (he did not even dare to dream of that), but simply
to die before his eyes. He really was in love with the Tsar and
the glory of the Russian arms and the hope of future triumph.
And he was not the only man to experience that feeling during
those memorable days preceding the battle of Austerlitz: nine
tenths of the men in the Russian army were then in love, though
less ecstatically, with their Tsar and the glory of the Russian
arms.
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