War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy [202]
Glorify, then, the age of Alexander
And keep our noble Titus on the throne,
Be both a good man and a fierce commander,
Caesar in battle, Ripheus at home.
And fortunate Napoleon,
Taught by experience of Bagration,
The Russian Alcides dares no more to scorn…8
But before he finished the verses, the loud-voiced butler announced: “Dinner is served!” The door opened, from the dining room thundered the polonaise: “Thunder of victory resound, be of good cheer, O valiant Russ…”—and Count Ilya Andreich, glancing angrily at the author, who went on reading his verses, bowed before Bagration. They all stood up, feeling that dinner was more important than verses, and again Bagration went ahead of everyone to the table. He was seated in the first place, between two Alexanders—Bekleshov and Naryshkin—which also made reference to the sovereign’s name. Three hundred people were then seated in the dining room by rank and importance, the more important closer to the guest of honor, as naturally as water flows deeper where the terrain is lower.
Just before dinner, Count Ilya Andreich introduced his son to the prince. Bagration, recognizing him, spoke a few incoherent, awkward words, like all the words he spoke that day. While Bagration was talking with his son, Count Ilya Andreich looked everyone over joyfully and proudly.
Nikolai Rostov, with Denisov and his new acquaintance, Dolokhov, sat together almost at the middle of the table. Opposite them sat Pierre, beside Prince Nesvitsky. Count Ilya Andreich sat opposite Bagration, together with the other stewards, and did the honors for Prince Bagration, personifying Moscow hospitality in himself.
His labors had not gone in vain. The dinners—both lenten and non-lenten9—were splendid, but even so he could not be perfectly at ease until dinner was over. He winked to the barman, whispered orders to the servants, and waited not without anxiety for each familiar dish. Everything was excellent. With the second course, along with a giant sterlet (seeing which Ilya Andreich blushed from joy and bashfulness), the servants began to pop corks and pour champagne. After the fish, which produced a certain impression, Count Ilya Andreich exchanged glances with the other stewards. “There’ll be many toasts, it’s time to begin!” he whispered, and, taking a glass in his hand, he arose. Everyone fell silent and waited for what he would say.
“To the health of our sovereign emperor!” he cried, and at the same moment his kindly eyes grew moist with tears of joy and rapture. At that same moment, the “Thunder of victory resound” was played. They all rose from their seats and shouted “Hurrah!” Bagration, too, shouted “Hurrah!” in the same voice in which he had shouted on the field of Schöngraben. Young Rostov’s rapturous voice could be heard above the other three hundred voices. He was almost weeping.
“To the health of the sovereign emperor!” he cried. “Hurrah!” Emptying his glass at one gulp, he flung it on the floor. Many followed his example. And the loud shouts continued for a long time. When the voices died down, the servants cleared away the broken glass, and everybody began to take their seats, smiling at their own shouts and talking among themselves. Count Ilya Andreevich rose again, glanced at the little note that lay next to his plate, and pronounced a toast to the health of the hero of our latest campaign, Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration, and again the count’s blue eyes grew moist with tears. “Hurrah!” the voices of the three hundred guests shouted again, and, instead of music, a choir was heard, singing a cantata composed by Pavel Ivanovich Kutuzov:10
Vain are all barriers to Russians,
In us victory and valor meet,
We have our Bagrations,
All enemies will be at our feet…etc.
As soon as the choir finished, more and more new toasts followed, at which Count Ilya Andreevich grew more and more sentimental, and more glasses were smashed, and more shouts were heard. They drank to the health of Bekleshov, Naryshkin, Uvarov,