Leaving for Battle

Day 58 of A Year of War and Peace

No triumph and no labour and no lust,/ Only dead yew-leaves and a little dust.

The Russian and Austrian generals of the war council, dismissive of our pleas for cosmopolitanism, are strikingly petty and working against each other in today’s reading. Weyrother, who has taken a leadership role as we learned in yesterday’s reading, disdains that he must explain himself to the Russians. Kutuzov, in turn, sleeps through the entire war council. The other generals take turns belittling the enterprise with snide comments and lack of interest.

Prince Andrei is just as confused as I am about it. He leaves the council bewildered and, walking away alone, drifts into deep reflection. What follows is why solitary Prince Andrei is the best Prince Andrei. He may present a hard exterior to the world, often harsh and bored and unforgiving, but this sternness masks a sensitive soul. He’ll often lapse, silently, into fervid contemplations of lofty subjects.

His musings today drift away towards tomorrow’s battle. He seeks, once again, the opportunity to distinguish himself in battle. He craves fame for his name and heroic deeds. He ponders death as a very real possibility. Weighing fame on the one hand and death and suffering on the other he concludes that he can endure the latter if only the former is secured.

The former can never be secured.

DAILY MEDITATION