Texts
Book 8 References
Nothing is trivial, and nothing is important, it’s all the same—only to save oneself from it as best one can, thought Pierre. Only not to see it, that dreadful it!
What am I to do if I love him and the other one too? she asked herself, unable to find an answer to these terrible questions.
Princess Mary wrote that she was in despair at the misunderstanding that had occurred between them. Whatever her father’s feelings might be, she begged Natásha to believe that she could not help loving her as the one chosen by her brother, for whose happiness she was ready to sacrifice everything.
Do not think, however, she wrote, that my father is ill-disposed toward you. He is an invalid and an old man who must be forgiven; but he is good and magnanimous and will love her who makes his son happy. Princess Mary went on to ask Natásha to fix a time when she could see her again.
Dear Princess, she wrote in French quickly and mechanically, and then paused. What more could she write after all that had happened the evening before? Yes, yes! All that has happened, and now all is changed, she thought as she sat with the letter she had begun before her. Must I break off with him? Must I really? That’s awful... and to escape from these dreadful thoughts she went to Sónya and began sorting patterns with her.
Only, for Christ’s sake... the girl went on, as Natásha, without thinking, mechanically broke the seal and read a love letter from Anatole, of which, without taking in a word, she understood only that it was a letter from him—from the man she loved. Yes, she loved him, or else how could that have happened which had happened? And how could she have a love letter from him in her hand?
With trembling hands Natásha held that passionate love letter which Dólokhov had composed for Anatole
Since yesterday evening my fate has been sealed; to be loved by you or to die. There is no other way for me, the letter began. Then he went on to say that he knew her parents would not give her to him—for this there were secret reasons he could reveal only to her—but that if she loved him she need only say the word yes, and no human power could hinder their bliss. Love would conquer all. He would steal her away and carry her off to the ends of the earth.
Yes, yes! I love him! thought Natásha, reading the letter for the twentieth time and finding some peculiarly deep meaning in each word of it.
Book 9 References
Writing the words L’Empereur Napoléon in numbers, it appears that the sum of them is 666, and that Napoleon was therefore the beast foretold in the Apocalypse. Moreover, by applying the same system to the words quarante-deux, * which was the term allowed to the beast that spoke great things and blasphemies, the same number 666 was obtained; from which it followed that the limit fixed for Napoleon’s power had come in the year 1812 when the French emperor was forty-two. This prophecy pleased Pierre very much and he often asked himself what would put an end to the power of the beast, that is, of Napoleon, and tried by the same system of using letters as numbers and adding them up, to find an answer to the question that engrossed him. He wrote the words L’Empereur Alexandre, La nation russe and added up their numbers, but the sums were either more or less than 666. Once when making such calculations he wrote down his own name in French, Comte Pierre Besouhoff, but the sum of the numbers did not come right. Then he changed the spelling, substituting a z for the s and adding de and the article le, still without obtaining the desired result. Then it occurred to him: if the answer to the question were contained in his name, his nationality would also be given in the answer. So he wrote Le russe Besuhof and adding up the numbers got 671. This was only five too much, and five was represented by e, the very letter elided from the article le before the word Empereur. By omitting the e, though incorrectly, Pierre got the answer he sought. L’russe Besuhof made 666. This discovery excited him. How, or by what means, he was connected with the great event foretold in the Apocalypse he did not know, but he did not doubt that connection for a moment. His love for Natásha, Antichrist, Napoleon, the invasion, the comet, 666, L’Empereur Napoléon, and L’russe Besuhof—all this had to mature and culminate, to lift him out of that spellbound, petty sphere of Moscow habits in which he felt himself held captive and lead him to a great achievement and great happiness.
Letters
Featured Characters: ALL, PIERRE, NATASHA, MARY, ANATOLE, DOLOKHOV
[ALL]
In nineteenth-century Russia, we write letters
We write letters
We put down in writing
What is happening in our minds
[ALL]
Once it's on the paper, we feel better
We feel
better
It's like some kind of clarity
When the letter's done and signed
[PIERRE]
Dear Andrey
Dear old friend
How goes
the war?
Do we march on the French splendidly?
Do our cannons crack
and cry?
Do our bullets whistle and sing?
Does the air reek with smoke?
[PIERRE]
I wish I were there
With death at my heels
[PIERRE]
Dolokhov is recovering
He will be all
right, the good man
And Natasha is in town
Your bride to be, so full
of life and mischief
I should visit
I hear she is more beautiful than
ever
How I envy you and your happiness
[PIERRE]
Here at home I drink and read and drink and read
and drink
But I think I've finally found it
What my heart has needed
[PIERRE]
For I've been studying the Kabal
And I've calculated
the number of the beast
It is Napoleon!
Six hundred three score and
six
And I will kill him one day
He's no great man
None of us are great men
We're caught in the
wave of history
Nothing matters
Everything matters
It's all the
same
Oh, if only I could not see "it"
This dreadful, terrible
"it"
[ALL]
In nineteenth-century Russia, we write letters
We write letters
We put down in writing
What is happening in our minds
[NATASHA]
Dear Andrey
[NATASHA]
What more can I write
After all that has
happened?
What am I to do if I love him and the other one too?
Must I break it off?
These terrible questions
[NATASHA]
I see nothing but the candle in the mirror
No visions of the future
So lost and alone
[NATASHA]
And what of Princess Mary?
[MARY]
Dear Natasha
I am in deep despair at the misunderstanding there is
between us
Whatever my father's feelings might be
I beg you to
believe that I cannot help loving you
He is a tired old man and must be forgiven
Please,
come see us again
[NATASHA]
Dear Princess Mary
[NATASHA]
Oh, what am I to write!
How do I
choose?
What do I do?
I shall never be happy again
[PIERRE]
These terrible questions
[MARY]
I'm so alone here
[PIERRE, NATASHA]
So alone in here
[MARY]
And I see nothing
[NATASHA, PIERRE, MARY]
I see nothing but the candle in
the mirror
No visions of the future
So lost and alone
[ALL]
In nineteenth-century Russia, we write letters
We write letters
We put down in writing
What is happening in our minds
[ANATOLE]
Dear Natalie
A love letter
A love
letter
A love letter
[NATASHA]
A letter from him, from the man that I love
[DOLOKHOV]
A letter which I composed
[ALL]
A love letter
A love letter...
[ANATOLE]
Natalie, Natalie, Natalie
I must love you or
die
Natalie, Natalie, Natalie
If you love me, say yes
And I
will come and steal you away
Steal you out of the dark
Natalie,
Natalie, Natalie
I want nothing more
[ANATOLE]
Natalie, Natalie, Natalie
I must love you or
die
Natalie, Natalie, Natalie
If you love me, say yes
And I
will come and steal you away
Steal you out of the dark
Natalie,
Natalie, Natalie
I want nothing more
[ANATOLE]
Just say yes
Just say yes
Just say yes
[NATASHA]
Yes, yes, I love him
How else could I have his letter in my hand?
I read it twenty times
Thirty times, forty times!
Each and every word
I love him, I
love him