ad not enjoyed listening to the talk. "Politics bore me; if I have a
letter from Warsaw, it is on business of our Order. That is the affair of
us Bernardines; why should we talk of that at supper? Here there are
laymen, whom such things do not concern."

So speaking, he looked askance at a Muscovite guest who was sitting among
the banqueters; this was Captain Rykov, an old soldier who was quartered
in a village hard by, and whom the Judge for courtesy's sake had invited
to the supper. Rykov ate with a relish, and had been mixing little in the
conversation, but at the mention of Warsaw he raised his head and said,
with a Russian accent, and with a few slips of expression:--

"Chamberlain! Ah, sir, you are always curious about Bonaparte, and are
always eager to hear from Warsaw. Ah, Fatherland! I am no spy, but I
understand Polish.--Fatherland! I feel it all, I understand! You are Poles,
I am Russian; just now we are not fighting--there is an armistice, so we
are eating and drinking together. Often at the outposts our fellows will
be chatting with the French and drinking brandy; when they cry 'Hurrah,'
then comes the cannonading. There's a Russian proverb: 'I love the man I
fight with; clasp your sweetheart to your heart, but beat her like a fur
cloak.' I say we shall have war. An adjutant of the staff came to Major
Plut21 the day before yesterday: 'Get ready for the march!' We shall move
either against the Turks or the French. O, that Bonaparte is a rare bird!
Now that Suvorov is gone maybe he will give us a drubbing. In our regiment
we used to say, when we were marching against the French, that Bonaparte
was a wizard22--well, so was Suvorov a wizard too, so there were tricks
against tricks. Once in battle, where did he disappear? To look for
Bonaparte! But he changed himself into a fox, so Suvorov became a hound;
so Bonaparte changed again into a cat; they started to claw each other,
but Suvorov became a pony. Now notice what happened with Bonaparte
finally----"

Here Rykov broke off and began to eat. At that moment the servant came in
with the fourth course, and suddenly the side doors were opened.

A new guest, young and fair, came in; her sudden appearance, her beauty
and her carriage, her toilet, all attracted the eye. Everybody greeted
her; evidently all except Thaddeus were acquainted with her. Her figure
was fine and elegant, her bosom charming; her gown was of pink silk, low
cut, and with short sleeves, the co