War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy [507]
“Take no prisoners,” Prince Andrei went on. “That alone would change the whole war and make it less cruel. As it is, we’ve been playing at war—that’s the nasty thing, we act magnanimously and all that. It’s like the magnanimity and sentimentality of the lady who swoons when she sees a calf slaughtered; she’s so kind, she can’t bear the sight of blood, but she eats the same calf in sauce with great appetite. We’re told about the rules of war, about chivalry, about parleying, sparing the unfortunate, and so on. It’s all nonsense. I saw chivalry and parleying in 1805: they cheated us, we cheated them. They loot other people’s houses, spread false banknotes, and worst of all—kill my children and my father, and then talk about the rules of war and magnanimity towards the enemy. Take no prisoners, but kill and go to your death! Whoever has come to this, as I have, through the same sufferings…”
Prince Andrei, who had thought that it made no difference to him whether Moscow was or was not taken, as Smolensk had been, all at once stopped in his speech from an unexpected spasm that seized his throat. He silently paced up and down a few times, but his eyes glittered feverishly and his lips trembled when he began to speak again.
“If there was none of this magnanimity in war, we’d go to it only when it was worth going to certain death, as now. Then there would be no war because Pavel Ivanych offended Mikhail Ivanych. But if there’s war like now, then it’s war. And then the intensity of the troops would not be like now. Then all these Westphalians and Hessians led by Napoleon wouldn’t follow him to Russia, and we wouldn’t go to fight in Austria and Prussia, not knowing why ourselves. War isn’t courtesy, it’s the vilest thing in the world, and we must understand that and not play at war. We must take this terrible necessity sternly and seriously. That’s the whole point: to cast off the lie, and if it’s war it’s war, and not a game. As it is, war is the favorite pastime of idle and light-minded people…The military estate is the most honored. But what is war, what is needed for success in military affairs, what are the morals of military society? The aim of war is killing, the instruments of war are espionage, treason and the encouragement of it, the ruin of the inhabitants, robbing them or stealing to supply the army; deception and lying are called military stratagems; the morals of the military estate are absence of freedom, that is, discipline, idleness, ignorance, cruelty, depravity, and drunkenness. And in spite of that, it is the highest estate, respected by all. All kings except the Chinese wear military uniforms, and the one who has killed the most people gets the greatest reward…They come together, like tomorrow, to kill each other, they slaughter and maim tens of thousands of men, and then they say prayers of thanksgiving for having slaughtered so many people (inflating the numbers), and proclaim victory, supposing that the more people slaughtered, the greater the merit. How does God look down and listen to them!” Prince Andrei cried in a high, squeaky voice. “Ah, dear heart, lately it’s become hard for me to live. I see that I’ve begun to understand too much. And it’s not good for man to taste of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…Well, it won’t be for long!” he added. “However, you’re falling asleep, and it’s time I did, too. Go back to Gorki,” Prince Andrei said suddenly.
“Oh, no!” Pierre replied, looking at Prince Andrei with frightened, commiserating eyes.
“Go, go: one needs a good night’s sleep before a battle,” Prince Andrei repeated. He went quickly up to Pierre, embraced and kissed him. “Good-bye, off with you,” he cried. “Whether we see each other again or not…” And, turning hastily, he went into the shed.
It was already dark, and Pierre could not make out what the expression on Prince Andrei’s face was, whether it was angry or tender.
Pierre stood for a while in silence, considering whether to follow him or go home. “No, he doesn’t need it!” Pierre decided to himself, “and I know this is the