Book 7 Chapter 13

SOON AFTER THE CHRISTMAS FêTES were over, Nikolay spoke to his mother of his love for Sonya, and his immovable resolution to marry her. The countess had long before observed what was passing between Sonya and Nikolay, and was expecting this announcement. She listened to his words without comment, and then told her son that he could marry whom he chose, but that neither she nor his father would give their blessing to such a marriage. For the first time in his life Nikolay felt that his mother was displeased with him, that in spite of all her love for him she would not give way to him. Coldly, without looking at her son, she sent for her husband; and when he came in, the countess would have briefly and coldly, in Nikolay's presence, told him her son's intention, but she could not control herself, burst into tears of anger, and went out of the room. The old count began irresolutely persuading and entreating Nikolay to give up his intention. Nikolay replied he could not be false to his word, and his father, sighing and visibly embarrassed, quickly cut short the conversation and went in to the countess. In all difficulties with his son, the old count could never lose his sense of guiltiness to him for having wasted their fortunes, and so he could not feel angry with his son for refusing to marry an heiress and choosing the portionless Sonya. He only felt more keenly that if their fortune had not been squandered, no better wife could have been desired for Nikolay than Sonya; and that he, with his Mitenka and his invincible bad habits, was alone to blame for their fortune having been squandered. The father and mother did not speak of the subject again with their son; but a few days later the countess sent for Sonya to her room, and with a cruelty that surprised them both, the countess upbraided her niece for alluring her son and for ingratitude. Sonya, with downcast eyes, listened in silence to the countess's cruel words, and did not understand what was expected of her. She was ready to sacrifice everything for her benefactors. The idea of self-sacrifice was her favourite idea. But in this case she could not see whom and what she ought to sacrifice. She could not help loving the countess and all the Rostov family, but neither could she help loving Nikolay and knowing that his happiness depended on that love. She was silent and dejected; she made no reply. Nikolay could not, so he fancied, endure this position any longer, and he went in to his mother to have it out with her. Nikolay first besought his mother to forgive him and Sonya and to agree to their marriage; then threatened his mother that if Sonya were persecuted he would at once marry her in secret. The countess, with a coldness her son had never seen before, replied that he was of full age, that Prince Andrey was marrying without his father's consent, and that he could do the same, but that she would never receive that intriguing creature as her daughter.

Stung to fury by the words “intriguing creature,” Nikolay, raising his voice, told his mother that he had never expected her to try and force him to tell his feelings, and that since it was so, then for the last time he … But he had not time to utter the fatal word, which his mother seemed, from her expression, to be awaiting in terror, and which would, perhaps, have remained a cruel memory between them for ever. He had not time to finish, because Natasha, who had been listening at the door, ran into the room with a pale and set face.

“Nikolenka, you are talking nonsense; hush, hush, hush! I tell you hush!” … she almost screamed to overpower his voice.

“Mamma, darling, it's not at all so … my sweet, poor darling,” she said, turning to her mother, who gazed in terror at her son, feeling herself on the edge of an abyss; but in the obstinacy and heat of the conflict unwilling and unable to give in. “Nikolenka, I'll explain to you; you go away—listen, mamma, darling,” she said to her mother.

Her words were incoherent, but they attained the effect at which she was aiming.

The countess, with a deep sob, hid her face on her daughter's bosom, while Nikolay got up, clutched at his head, and went out of the room.

Natasha set to work to bring about a reconciliation, and succeeded so far that Nikolay received a promise from his mother that Sonya should not be worried, and himself made a promise that he would take no step without his parents' knowledge.

Firmly resolved to settle things in his regiment, to retire, come home, and marry Sonya, Nikolay at the beginning of January went back to his regiment, sad and serious at being on bad terms with his parents, but, as it seemed to him, passionately in love.

After Nikolay's departure, it was more depressing than ever in the Rostovs' house. The countess fell ill from the emotional strains she had passed through.

Sonya was depressed at parting from Nikolay, and still more at the hostile tone the countess could not help adopting towards her. The count was more worried than ever by the difficulties of his position, which called for some decisive action. It was necessary to sell the Moscow house and the estate near Moscow, and to do so it was necessary to go to Moscow. But the countess's illness forced them to put off going from day to day. Natasha, who had at first borne the separation from her betrothed so easily and even cheerfully, grew now more impatient and overstrung every day. The thought that her best time, that might have been spent in loving him, was being wasted like this for no object, continually fretted her. Prince Andrey's letters generally angered her. It mortified her to think that while she was simply living in the thought of him, he was living a real life, seeing new places and new people who were interesting to him. The more interesting his letters were, the more they vexed her. Her letters to him, far from giving her comfort, were looked upon by her as a wearisome and artificial duty. She could not write, because she could not attain to expressing truly in a letter a thousandth part of what she habitually expressed in voice and smile and eyes. She wrote him formal letters, all on one pattern. She did not attach the smallest importance to them herself, and the countess corrected the mistakes in spelling in the rough copy of them. The countess's health still did not mend, but the visit to Moscow could be deferred no longer. The trousseau had to be got, the house had to be sold, and Prince Andrey was to arrive first in Moscow, where his father was spending the winter, and Natasha believed that he had already arrived there. The countess was left in the country, and towards the end of January the count took Sonya and Natasha with him to Moscow.

圣诞节节期之后不久，尼古拉告诉母亲他钟爱索尼娅并且向她表白他将娶她为妻的决心。伯爵夫人早就发觉索尼娅和尼古拉之间发生的爱情，而且预料到他会吐露衷肠，因此她默不作声地听他说话，并且对她儿子说，他想和谁结婚就可以和谁结婚，不过无论是她还是父亲对这种婚事决不会为他祝福。尼古拉首次感到，母亲对他不满意，尽管她十分爱他，她也决不会向他让步。她态度冷淡，不朝儿子望上一眼，就派人去把她丈夫找来，当他来到后，伯爵夫人想在儿子面前简短地冷静地告诉丈夫是怎么回事，但她忍不住，懊恼得痛哭流涕并从房里走出去了。老伯爵开始犹豫不决地规劝尼古拉，想使他感到内疚，要他放弃自己的打算。尼古拉回答，说他决不能违背自己的诺言，于是父亲叹了一口气，看来他感到困惑不安，很快就停止讲话，到伯爵夫人那里去了。虽然他和儿子争吵，但是他常常意识到，他的事业受到挫折，因而在男儿面前犯有过错，儿子拒绝娶那个有钱的未婚女子，而挑选没有嫁妆的索尼娅，他不能因为此事而对他儿子表示忿懑，——只有这时他才更加鲜明地想到，如果不是事业受到挫折，对尼古拉来说，决不能指望找到一个比索尼娅更好的妻子，事业受到挫折只能归罪于他和他的米坚卡，还有他那不可克服的习惯势力。

父亲和母亲不再向儿子谈论这件事，在这之后过了几天，伯爵夫人把索尼娅喊到身边，显现出她们二人都意料不到的残酷无情的样子，狠狠地责备外甥女引诱她儿子，责备她忘恩负义。索尼娅默默无言，低垂着眼帘，谛听伯爵夫人的残酷的话语，她不明白到底对她有什么要求。她愿意为恩人们牺牲一切。自我献身的思想是她珍爱的思想，但是在这种情况下，她没法明了，她应当为谁作出什么牺牲。她不能不爱伯爵夫人和罗斯托夫全家人，但是她也不能不爱尼古拉，她没法知道她的幸福取决于这种爱情。她默默无言，怏怏不乐，没有回答她的话。尼古拉仿佛觉得，他再也不能忍受这种情状，他于是去向母亲表白一番。尼古拉时而央求母亲宽恕他和索尼娅，答应他们结婚，时而威吓母亲，并且宣称，如果有人迫害索尼娅，他就要马上秘密和她结婚。

伯爵夫人带着他从未见过的冷淡的表情回答他的话，说他是个成年人，并说安德烈公爵未经他父亲同意贸然结婚了，他可以如法泡制，但她永远也不会承认这个女阴谋家是自己的女儿。

女阴谋家这个词触怒了尼古拉，他抬高嗓门对母亲说，他从未想过她竟然强迫他出卖自己的感情，如果是这样，那么他就要最后一次说……但是他还来不及说出这句果断的话，母亲就凭他的面部表情看出他要说这句话，她惊惶失措地等待他开口，这句话也许永远成为他们之间的沉痛的回忆。他来不及把话说完，因为娜塔莎在门边偷听到了，她脸色苍白，神态严肃，从门口走进房里来。

“尼古连卡。你在说废话，住嘴吧，住嘴吧！我对你说，住嘴吧！……”为了压住他的声音，她几乎在叫喊。

“亲爱的，妈妈，这根本不是由于……我的心肝，可怜的妈妈，”她向妈妈转过脸来，妈妈觉得她自己濒临于痛苦，处于决裂的边缘，恐惧地望着儿子，但因她执拗，残酷斗争，所以她不想，也不能退让。

“尼古连卡，我给你讲讲清楚，你走开——亲爱的妈妈，您听我说吧。”她对母亲说。

她说的话毫无意义，但是得到了她渴望得到的结果。

伯爵夫人忧悒地啜泣，把脸藏在女儿怀里，可是尼古拉站了起来，心惊胆战，从房里走出去了。

娜塔莎着手调停，结果母亲答应不迫害不欺压索尼娅，而尼古拉答应不隐瞒双亲采取任何行动。

尼古拉毅然决定，办妥兵团的事务以后，就离职回家和索尼娅结婚，尼古拉神情忧悒而严肃，与双亲失和，但是他仿佛觉得，他沉溺于热恋之中，遂于元月初动身回兵团。

尼古拉离开之后，罗斯托夫家中比任何时候更忧郁了。伯爵夫人由于心绪不佳而害病了。

索尼娅因与尼古拉别离，更因伯爵夫人禁不住会用敌对的腔调和她谈话，所以她觉得十分忧愁。伯爵已显得比任何时候更为忧虑不安，因为境况恶劣，所以不得不采取果断措施。他们务必出售莫斯科的住房和莫斯科近郊的领地，而为售出住房他们必须前往莫斯科。然而伯爵夫人的健康情况迫使他们将行期日复一日地推迟。

娜塔莎轻松地、甚至愉快地熬过了她刚和未婚夫离别的孤寂的时日，现在一日日变得更加焦急和难以忍耐了。她原想把她那美好的时光用来和他谈情说爱，可是如今她却不为任何人将韶光虚度，这种思绪无止无休地使她难受。他的来信多半会引发她的怒气。如今她以全副精神关注他，而他在过真正的生活，观察那些他颇感兴趣的地方和新人物，当她想到这一点，心里就感到十分委屈。他的书信愈益有趣，她就愈益觉得懊丧。她给他写的信，不仅不能给她以安慰，反而被她视为索然无味的虚伪的义务。她不擅长于写信，因为她不能在信中真实地表达她惯于用那语声、微笑和眼神所表达的千分之一的情感。她给他写信，封封都一样，枯燥而乏味，她自己对它毫不重视，伯爵夫人多次替她改正草稿中的拼写错误。

伯爵夫人的病体始终未见痊愈，然而他们已经不能推迟这次莫斯科之行了。务必要备办嫁妆，售出住房，除此而外，必须在莫斯科等候安德烈公爵，今冬尼古拉·安德烈伊奇公爵正住在莫斯科，娜塔莎相信，安德烈公爵已经到达莫斯科了。

伯爵夫人尚且待在乡下，伯爵偕同索尼娅和娜塔莎，乃于元月底启程着往莫斯科。