War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy [11]
“Have you seen yet” or “have you made the acquaintance of ma tante?”†26 Anna Pavlovna said to the arriving guests, and led them quite seriously to a little old lady in high ribbons, who had come sailing out of the next room as soon as the guests began to arrive, called them by name, slowly shifting her gaze from the guest to ma tante, and then walked away.
All the guests performed the ritual of greeting the totally unknown, totally uninteresting and unnecessary aunt. With sad, solemn sympathy, Anna Pavlovna followed their greetings, silently approving of them. To each of them ma tante spoke in the same expressions about his health, her own health, and the health of her majesty, which, thank God, was better that day. All those who went up to her, showing no haste for propriety’s sake, left the little old lady with a feeling of relief after the fulfillment of a heavy obligation, never to approach her again all evening.
The young princess Bolkonsky came with handwork in a gold-embroidered velvet bag. Her pretty upper lip with its barely visible black mustache was too short for her teeth, but the more sweetly did it open and still more sweetly did it sometimes stretch and close on the lower one. As happens with perfectly attractive women, her flaw—a short lip and half-opened mouth—seemed her special, personal beauty. Everyone felt cheerful looking at this pretty future mother full of health and liveliness, who bore her condition so easily. To old men and to bored, morose young ones it seemed that they themselves came to resemble her, having been with her and spoken with her for a time. Anyone who talked with her and saw her bright little smile at every word and her gleaming white teeth, which showed constantly, thought himself especially amiable that day. And that is what each of them thought.
The little princess, waddling, went around the table with small, quick steps, her bag of handwork hanging on her arm, and, cheerfully straightening her dress, sat down on the sofa near the silver samovar, looking as though everything she did was a partie de plaisir*27 for her and for everyone around her.
“J’ai apporté mon ouvrage,”†28 she said, unclasping her reticule and addressing them all together.
“Look, Annette, ne me jouez pas un mauvais tour,” she turned to the hostess. “Vouz m’avez écrit que c’était une toute petite soirée; voyez comme je suis attifée.”‡29
And she spread her arms to show her elegant gray, lace-trimmed dress, tied slightly below the breasts with a broad ribbon.
“Soyez tranquille, Lise, vous serez toujours la plus jolie,”§30 Anna Pavlovna replied.
“Vous savez, mon mari m’abandonne,” she went on in the same tone, turning to a general, “il va se faire tuer. Dites moi, pourquoi cette vilaine guerre?”#31 she said to Prince Vassily and, not waiting for an answer, turned to Prince Vassily’s daughter, the beautiful Hélène.
“Quelle délicieuse personne, que cette petite princesse!”**32 Prince Vassily said to Anna Pavlovna.
Soon after the little princess came a massive, fat young man with a cropped head, in spectacles, light-colored trousers of the latest fashion, a high jabot, and a brown tailcoat. This fat young man was the illegitimate son of a famous courtier from Catherine’s time, Count Bezukhov, who was now dying in Moscow. He did not serve anywhere yet, he had only just arrived from abroad, where he had been educated, and this was his first time in society. Anna Pavlovna greeted him with a nod reserved for people of the lowest hierarchy in her salon. But, despite this greeting of the lowest sort, at the sight of the entering Pierre uneasiness and fear showed in Anna Pavlovna’s face, like that expressed at the sight of something all too enormous and unsuited to the place. Though Pierre was indeed somewhat larger than the other men in the room, this fear could have referred only to the intelligent and at the same time shy, observant, and natural gaze which distinguished him from everyone else in that drawing