PELAGEA DANILOVNA MELYUKOV, a broad-shouldered, energetic woman in spectacles and a loose house dress, was sitting in her drawing-room, surrounded by her daughters, and doing her utmost to keep them amused. They were quietly occupied in dropping melted wax into water and watching the shadows of the shapes it assumed, when they heard the noise of steps in the vestibule, and the voices of people arriving.
The hussars, fine ladies, witches, clowns, and bears, coughing and rubbing the hoar-frost off their faces, came into the hall, where they were hurriedly lighting candles. The clown—Dimmler—and the old lady—Nikolay—opened the dance. Surrounded by the shrieking children, the mummers hid their faces, and disguising their voices, bowed to their hostess and dispersed about the room.
“Oh, there's no recognising them. And Natasha! See what she looks like! Really, she reminds me of some one. How good Edward Karlitch is! I didn't know him. And how he dances! Oh, my goodness, and here's a Circassian too, upon my word; how it suits Sonyushka! And who's this? Well, you have brought us some fun! Take away the tables, Nikita Vanya. And we were sitting so quiet and dull!”
“Ha—ha—he!…The hussar, the hussar! Just like a boy; and the legs!…I can't look at him,…” voices cried.
Natasha, the favourite of the young Melyukovs, disappeared with them into rooms at the back of the house, and burnt cork and various dressing-gowns and masculine garments were sent for and taken from the footman by bare, girlish arms through the crack of the half-open door. In ten minutes all the younger members of the Melyukov family reappeared in fancy dresses too.
Pelagea Danilovna, busily giving orders for clearing the room for the guests and preparing for their entertainment, walked about among the mummers in her spectacles, with a suppressed smile, looking close at them and not recognising any one. She not only failed to recognise the Rostovs and Dimmler, but did not even know her own daughters, or identify the masculine dressing-gowns and uniforms in which they were disguised.
“And who is this?” she kept saying, addressing her governess and gazing into the face of her own daughter disguised as a Tatar of Kazan. “One of the Rostovs, I fancy. And you, my hussar, what regiment are you in, pray?” she asked Natasha. “Give the Turk a preserved fruit,” she said to the footman carrying round refreshments; “that's not forbidden by his law.”
Sometimes, looking at the strange and ludicrous capers cut by the dancers, who, having made up their minds once for all that no one recognised them, were quite free from shyness, Pelagea Danilovna hid her face in her handkerchief, and all her portly person shook with irrepressible, good-natured, elderly laughter.
“My Sashinette, my Sashinette!” she said.
After Russian dances and songs in chorus, Pelagea Danilovna made all the party, servants and gentry alike, join in one large circle. They brought in a string, a ring, and a silver rouble, and began playing games.
An hour later all the fancy dresses were crumpled and untidy. The corked moustaches and eyebrows were wearing off the heated, perspiring, and merry faces. Pelagea Danilovna began to recognise the mummers. She was enthusiastic over the cleverness of the dresses and the way they suited them, especially the young ladies, and thanked them all for giving them such good fun. The guests were invited into the drawing-room for supper, while the servants were regaled in the hall.
“Oh, trying one's fate in the bath-house, that's awful!” was said at the supper-table by an old maiden lady who lived with the Melyukovs.
“Why so?” asked the eldest daughter of the Melyukovs.
“Well, you won't go and try. It needs courage…”
“I'll go,” said Sonya.
“Tell us what happened to the young lady,” said the second girl.
“Well, it was like this,” said the old maid. “The young lady went out; she took a cock, two knives and forks, and everything proper, and sat down. She sat a little while, and all of a sudden she hears some one coming—a sledge with bells driving up. She hears him coming. He walks in, precisely in the shape of a man, like an officer, and sat down beside her at the place laid for him.”
“Ah! ah!…” screamed Natasha, rolling her eyes with horror.
“But what did he do? Did he talk like a man?”
“Yes, like a man. Everything as it should be, and began to try and win her over, and she should have kept him in talk till the cock crew; but she got frightened,—simply took fright, and hid her face in her hands. And he caught her up. Luckily the maids ran in that minute…”
“Come, why are you scaring them?” said Pelagea Danilovna.
“Why, mamma, you tried your fate yourself…” said her daughter.
“And how do they try fate in a granary?” asked Sonya.
“Why, at a time like this they go to the granary and listen. And according to what you hear,—if there's a knocking and a tapping, it's bad; but if there's a sound of sifting corn, it is good. But sometimes it happens…”
“Mamma, tell us what happened to you in the granary?”
Pelagea Danilovna smiled.
“Why, I have forgotten…” she said. “I know none of you will go.”
“No, I'll go. Pelagea Danilovna, do let me, and I'll go,” said Sonya.
“Oh, well, if you're not afraid.”
“Luisa Ivanovna, may I?” asked Sonya.
Whether they were playing at the ring and string game, or the rouble game, or talking as now, Nikolay did not leave Sonya's side, and looked at her with quite new eyes. It seemed to him as though to-day, for the first time, he had, thanks to that corked moustache, seen her fully as she was. Sonya certainly was that evening gay, lively, and pretty, as Natasha had never seen her before.
“So, this is what she is, and what a fool I have been!” he kept thinking, looking at her sparkling eyes, at the happy, ecstatic smile dimpling her cheeks under the moustache. He had never seen that smile before.
“I'm not afraid of anything,” said Sonya. “May I go at once?” She got up. They told Sonya where the granary was; how she was to stand quite silent and listen, and they gave her a cloak. She threw it over her head and glanced at Nikolay.
“How exquisite that girl is!” he thought. “And what have I been thinking about all this time?”
Sonya went out into the corridor to go to the granary. Nikolay hastily went out to the front porch, saying he was too hot. It certainly was stuffy indoors from the crowd of people.
Outside there was the same still frost, the same moonlight, only even brighter than before. The light was so bright, and there were so many stars sparkling in the snow, that the sky did not attract the eye, and the real stars were hardly noticeable. The sky was all blackness and dreariness, the earth all brightness.
“I'm a fool; a fool! What have I been waiting for all this time?” thought Nikolay; and running out into the porch he went round the corner of the house along the path leading to the back door. He knew Sonya would come that way. Half-way there was a pile of logs of wood, seven feet long. It was covered with snow and cast a shadow. Across it and on one side of it there fell on the snow and the path a network of shadows from the bare old lime-trees. The wall and roof of the granary glittered in the moonlight, as though hewn out of some precious stone. There was the sound of the snapping of wood in the garden, and all was perfect stillness again. The lungs seemed breathing in, not air, but a sort of ever-youthful power and joy.
From the maid-servants' entrance came the tap of feet on the steps; there was a ringing crunch on the last step where the snow was heaped, and the voice of the old maid said:
“Straight on, along this path, miss. Only don't look round!”
“I'm not afraid,” answered Sonya's voice, and Sonya's little feet in their dancing-shoes came with a ringing, crunching sound along the path towards Nikolay.
Sonya was muffled up in the cloak. She was two paces away when she saw him. She saw him, too, not as she knew him, and as she was always a little afraid of him. He was in a woman's dress, with towzled hair, and a blissful smile that was new to Sonya. She ran quickly to him.
“Quite different, and still the same,” thought Nikolay, looking at her face, all lighted up by the moon. He slipped his hands under the cloak that covered her head, embraced her, drew her to him, and kissed the lips that wore a moustache and smelt of burnt cork. Sonya kissed him full on the lips, and putting out her little hands held them against his cheeks on both sides.
“Sonya!…Nikolenka!…” was all they said. They ran to the granary and went back to the house, each at their separate door.
佩拉格娅·丹尼洛夫娜·梅柳科娃是一个敦实的、精力充沛的女人，戴一副眼镜，穿一件对襟无扣的宽大的连衣裙，坐在客厅中，几个女儿围在她身边，她想方设法不使她们感到烦闷。她们正在慢慢地倒出蜡烛油，当接待室传来一些来客的步履声和说话声的时候，她们就望着几个走出去的人影。
化装成骠骑兵、太太、巫婆、丑角、狗熊的人在接待室里咳嗽几声，清清嗓子，擦干净挂了霜的面孔，然后进入人们急急忙忙地点燃蜡烛的大厅。化装成丑角的季姆勒和化装成太太的尼古拉首先跳起舞来。那些被乱喊乱叫的儿童围住的化装的人，蒙着脸，改变了嗓子，在女主人面前鞠躬行礼，然后在房里叉开腿站着。
“啊，没法认出来！是娜塔莎么！你们瞧，她像谁啊！说真的，像个什么人。爱德华·卡尔雷奇多么清秀啊！我认不出来。他跳得真棒！啊，我的爷呀！切尔克斯人扮得出色，说真的，索纽什卡扮这个角色多么合适。这又是什么人啊？唔，令人高兴！尼基塔，万尼亚，把这些桌子挪开。我们还安闲地坐着哩！”
“哈——哈——哈！……骠骑兵，骠骑兵啊！她真像个男孩子，看看那双脚！……我看不清晰……”可以听见许多人的说话声。
娜塔莎，梅柳科娃家里的年轻人最喜爱的人，和他们一同溜进那后面的房间里去了，在这里，几个少女的裸露的手从那敞开的门里接过一名男仆递来的她们所必需的软木炭、各种各样的长衫和男人的服装。过了十分钟，梅柳科娃家里的年轻人便和化了装的人们汇合在一起了。
佩拉格娅·丹尼洛夫娜吩咐给客人空出地方来，宴请主人和仆人，她没有取下眼镜，忍住笑，在那些化装的人们中间来回地走着，凑近他们，谛视他们的面孔，一个人也不认识。她非但不认识罗斯托夫家里的人和季姆勒，怎么也认不出她自己的几个女儿，怎么也认不出她们穿的她丈夫的几种长衫和制服。
“这是谁的什么人呀？”她仔细望着化装成喀山鞑靼人的她的女儿的面孔，一面把脸转向家庭女教师，说道。“看来好像是罗斯托夫家里的什么人。喂，骠骑兵先生，您在什么兵团服役呢？”她问娜塔莎。“给土耳其人一点果子软糕吧。”她对那个拿着食品绕行一周的小吃部管事说，“他们的规矩不禁止吃这种食品。”
有时候佩拉格娅·丹尼洛夫娜望着这些跳舞的人，他们断然地认为只要化了装，谁也认不出他们。因此不觉得害羞；看见他们跳出古怪而且滑稽可笑的舞步时，她就用手绢蒙着脸，因为她这个慈祥的老太婆忍不住，笑出声来，所以她整个肥胖的身子不住地颤抖。
“我的小萨沙，小萨沙！”她说。
在跳完俄罗斯舞和轮舞以后，佩拉格娅·丹尼洛夫娜让所有的仆人和主人聚在一起，围成一个大圈子，拿来了一枚戒指、一根绳子和一个卢布，做各种集体游戏。
过了一个钟头以后，大家穿的衣裳都给揉皱了，凑乱不堪了。在那淌着热汗的、发红的、显得愉快的脸上，软木炭画的胡子和眉毛都给弄得模模糊糊了。佩拉格娅·丹尼洛夫娜开始认出这些化装跳舞的人，赞美服装做得很雅观，尤其是姑娘们穿起来觉得合身。她感谢所有的人，使她快活一阵子。她邀请客人在客厅中宵夜，吩咐在大厅中宴请仆人们。
“不，在浴室里占卜，这太可怕了！”吃夜宵的时候，那个住在梅柳科娃家里的老处女说。
“那是为什么？”梅柳科娃的长女问道。
“您去不成，要有勇气……”
“我一定要去。”索尼娅说。
“告诉我，这个小姐出了什么事？”梅柳科娃的次女说。
“对，是这么回事，有个小姐已经到浴室去了。”老处女说，她拿走一只公鸡、两套餐具，她所做的正是理应做的事，她在那里坐下来。坐了一会儿，她只听见，忽然间有辆车子开来……一辆雪橇驶近了，铃铛和铃鼓发出叮叮当当的响声，她听见有个人走来。那个人完全和人一样，好像是一个军官，走进来，坐在她身旁，拿起餐具用膳。”
“啊！啊！……”娜塔莎惊骇万状，瞪起眼睛大声喊叫。
“它怎么样，和我们人这样说话吗？”
“对，就像人一样，什么都像人一样，他于是开始、开始规劝她，她本想应酬他，一直谈到鸡鸣破晓，可是她胆怯起来，简直胆怯得用手蒙住眼睛。他把她托起来了。好在这时候有几个姑娘跑过来了……”
“唔，怎么要吓唬她们啊！”佩拉格娅·丹尼洛夫娜说道。
“妈妈，要知道您自己也占卜过……”女儿说。
“在粮仓里怎样占卜呢？”索尼娅问道。
“最好是现在就到粮仓里去，听听那里的响声。若是听到敲打得咚咚响，就是凶兆，若是听到装谷的响声，就是吉兆，否则就是……”
“妈妈，告诉我，您在粮仓里遇到了什么？”
佩拉格娅·丹尼洛夫娜微微一笑。
“怎么啦，我已经忘了……”她说，“你们谁都去不成，是吗？”
“不，我一定要去，佩拉格娅·丹尼洛夫娜，让我去吧，我一定要去。”索尼娅说道。
“唔，如果你不怕，那没有什么，就可以去。”
“路易莎·伊万诺夫娜，我可以去吗？”索尼娅问道。
无论是做戒指游戏、做绳子游戏，或者做卢布游戏，还是像此刻这样聊天，尼古拉都未曾离开索尼娅身边，他用迥然不同的新眼光看待她。他好像觉得，多亏这副软木炭画的胡子，今天他才首次充分地认识她了。这天晚上索尼娅的确相当快乐、活泼而且漂亮，尼古拉从未看见她有过这副模样。
“瞧，她多么漂亮，可是我却是个笨蛋！”他一面想道，一面望着她那闪闪发亮的眼睛和显得幸福的得意的微笑，这一笑使那胡子下面的面颊现出了一对酒靥。
“我什么也不怕，”索尼娅说，“可以立刻去吗？”她站起来。旁人告诉她，粮仓在什么地方，她应当站在那儿谛听，然后就把一件皮袄递给她。她把皮袄披在头上，向尼古拉望了一眼。
“这个少女多么迷人！”他想了想。“到眼前为止我一直在想什么啊！”
索尼娅走到通往粮仓的走廊上，尼古拉说他觉得很热，急忙向正门庭阶走去。这幢屋子里挤满了人，的确十分闷热。
户外仍然是停滞不动的寒气，仍然是一轮皓月，只是显得更加明亮罢了。光线是那么强，雪地上的星星是那么繁多，直教人不想抬头去仰望夜空。真正的星星反而不太显眼。天空里一片昏暗，异常寂寞，而地球之上则分外欢乐。
“我是笨蛋，一个笨蛋！我直至目前还在等待着什么？”尼古拉想了想，他跑步走到正门庭阶上，沿着一条通往后门庭阶的小经绕过了屋角。他晓得索尼娅会到这里来。数立方俄丈的垛起来的木柴摆放在道路中间，被积雪覆盖着，可以看见木柴的影子，光秃秃的老菩提树的阴影交错在一起，它超过木柴并从侧面投射在积雪和小径上。这条小径通往粮仓。原木造的粮仓的墙壁和被积雪覆盖着的屋顶就像是用宝石凿出来的，在目光下熠熠生辉。花园里的一颗树喀嚓响了一声，后又鸦雀无声了。心胸呼吸的仿佛不是空气，而是永恒的青春的活力和喜悦。
女仆住房前面的台阶上响起了咯吱咯吱的步履声，被积雪覆盖的最后一级阶梯上发出响亮的回声，可以听见老处女的说话声：
“一直向前走，沿着这条小径一直向前走，小姐，只不过别回头望！”
“我不怕。”可以听见索尼娅回答的声音，她沿着一条朝向尼古拉身边的小径走来，她那穿着精致的短靿皮鞋的小脚，踩在地上发出咯吱咯吱的响声。
索尼娅裹着一件皮袄向前走去。当她看见尼古拉的时候，她呆在离他两步路的地方，她看见他已不是她从前认识并在平时有点骇人的他了。他穿着一件女人的连衣裙，头发蓬乱，流露着幸福的、索尼娅未曾看见的微笑。索尼娅很快地跑到他眼前。
“完全是另外一个样子，可是仍然是原来的人，”尼古拉一面思忖，一面注视她那被月光照耀的脸蛋。他把他的两只手伸进蒙着她的头部的皮袄下面，搂住她，让她紧紧贴着自己，吻吻她的嘴唇，那两撇画在嘴唇上面的胡子发散着烧焦的软木的气味。索尼娅对准他的嘴唇中间吻了一下，抽出一双小手托住他的两颊。
“索尼娅！……”“尼古拉！……”他们只说出这几个词。他们都跑到粮仓前面，之后各人从各人的台阶上下来，走回去了。
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