Book 1 Part 1 Chapter 1

For Year Five of the blog, I am taking my translation below and putting it into what I am calling (at least now until I come up for a better name for it) the Simplified Version. My goal is to make the text readable at a middle school level (I am shooting for 7th grade level) since the average American adult reads at about an 8th grade level and to be accessible to English Language Learners. Two things that inspired me to do this are the The Message Bible and a William Wilberforce book I read as a kid that was "updated" into modern language. I also think that a later Tolstoy, who jettisoned the difficulty of his works entirely in favor of simpler works that could be understood by everyone, would, hopefully, approve of the project. I will do my best to maintain the meaning of the text while making it easier to read, and thus making it more likely that more people will be willing to read and engage in the work. The mentor text I've used this year is the Bell translation (though they mark it as anonymous) contained in the Everyman's Library (1932-1954) that is edited, especially with the names edited as the Maude translation. 

Simplified Version:

 “Well, Prince, Genoa and Lucca are owned by Bonaparte. No, I'm saying, if you don't say we are at war, if you protect all the horrors of this Antichrist (right, I believe he is the Antichrist), — I won't know you anymore, you’re not really my friend, you’re not really my true slave, as you say. Well, hello, hello. I see that I’ve scared you, sit down and speak.”

So said, the famous Anna Pavlovna Sherer, close to Empress Maria Feodorovna, in July 1805. She met the important official Prince Vasiliy. He was first at her party. Anna had coughed for a few days with her flu, as she called it (flu was then a new word, barely used). In little notes, sent out that morning with a servant in red, she wrote to everyone:

“If you, Count (or Prince), have nothing better in mind and if the idea of a party with the poor and ill isn't too scary for you, then I'll be very glad to see you between 7 and 10 o’clock. Anna Sherer.”

— Lord, what a hot attack! — The prince said, not embarrassed at being met. He was in a sewn uniform, socks, shoes, and stars, with a bright look on his flat face.

He spoke in the French that our grandfathers thought and spoke in, and with those quiet, snobby tones that important people at this time had. He came up to Anna, kissed her hand, showing his perfumed and bald head, and quietly sat down on the couch.

— Before you finish talking, how is your health, dear friend? Calm me down, — he said without changing his voice or tone. His voice showed he didn't care and mocked her while talking.

— How is my health? All the morals are bad! You can’t stay calm in our time. — said Anna. — You’re here all evening with me, I hope?

— But the party of the English minister? It’s Wednesday. I need to go there, — said the prince. — My daughter will take me.

— I thought that the party was canceled. I admit, these holidays and fireworks are too much.

— If they'd have known what you wanted, the party would've been canceled, — said the prince, saying what he didn’t want and didn't believe. He was like a wound up watch.

— Don’t hurt me. Well, what’s decided with Novosiltsov? You know all.

— What can you say? — said the prince in a cold, bored tone. — What’s decided? Bonaparte burned his ships. We're ready to burn ours. —

Vasiliy always spoke lazily, as an actor in an old play. Anna Pavlovna Sherer was the opposite. Despite being 40, she had many gusts of energy.

Her job in public was to be excited. Even when she didn’t want to be, she was excited not to let down the people who knew her. A quiet smile always played on Anna's face. It didn’t go with her age, but it showed what she wanted. She didn't know how to correct it, like a spoiled child.

Anna got excited talking about politics.

— Ah, don’t talk about Austria! I don't know, maybe. But Austria never wanted war. They betray us. Only Russia will save Europe. Our emperor knows his job and will do it right. I believe that our good emperor will have the greatest role in peace. He's so kind and good that God won't leave him. He'll carry out his job to crush the monster of the revolution. It's now uglier as the face of killers and villains. We must redeem the noble blood. Who can we hope in, you ask?.. England cares too much about money to know the high soul of Emperor Aleksandr. They didn't leave Malta. They want to look for the hidden ideas of our actions. What have they said to Novosiltsov?.. Nothing. They don’t understand. They can't understand our Emperor. He wants nothing for himself and wants all in peace. What have they promised? Nothing. And what’s promised will be nothing! Prussia said that Bonaparte is invincible and Europe can't do anything to him...I don't believe Hardenberg or Haugwitz. Prussia's neutrality is a trap. I believe in God and the fate of our Emperor. He'll save Europe!.. — She stopped with a smile from her excitement.

— I think, — said the smiling prince, — that if you'd have been sent instead of our Wintsengerode, you would've won over the Prussian king. You speak so well. Will you give me tea?

— Now. By the way, — she added, calming down, — I now have two lovely people, Montemar, related to Montmorency through the Rogans, one of the best names of France. This is one of the good ones. And then Abbot Morio. Do you know this deep mind? He was adopted by the emperor. Did you know?

— Ah! I'll be very glad, — said the prince. — Say, — he added, as if he now recalled something and was careless as to how he asked. But, it was the main purpose of his visit, — Really, why did the Empress wish to name Baron Funke first secretary at Vienna? This baron's not important it seems. — Vasiliy wanted his son to have this place. He tried to get it from the baron through Empress Maria.

Anna almost closed her eyes. This was a sign that no one could judge the Empress.

— Baron Funke was supported by the empress-mother’s sister, — she said in a sad, dry tone. As Anna talked of the empress, her face had a deep and true look of worship and respect. It was tied with sadness and that happened to her every time she talked about her. She said that she had decided to give Baron Funke much respect, and again looked sad.

The prince was quiet. Anna, with her unique court and female speed and tact, wanted to flick the prince for how he dared to respond about the empress. At the same time she wanted to comfort him.

By the way, your family, — she said, — do you know that your daughter has been enjoyed in society? It finds her as beautiful as the day.

The prince bent down in a sign of respect and thanks.

— I often think, — said Anna after a minute of silence, moving up to the prince and kindly smiling at him. This showed the politics were over: — I often think happiness is unfairly spread in life. Fate has given you two great children (except Anatole, your youngest, I don’t love him, — she put in quickly, lifting her eyebrows) — these lovely children? But you don’t love them at all and it won’t stand.

And she smiled at him with energy.

— What can I do? Lafater would've said that I had no parental love bumps. — said the prince.

— Stop joking. I wanted to seriously talk with you. You know, I'm mad at your younger son. Between us let's say (her face was sad), he was spoken about to her majesty. She pities you...

The prince didn't respond. She was silently looking at him, waiting for an answer. Vasiliy grimaced.

— But what am I to do? — he said finally. — You know, I did everything that a father can do. Both came out fools. Ippolit is a quiet fool, but Anatole is anxious. That’s the difference, — he said, smiling more unnaturally and lively than usual. This quickly showed the wrinkles about his mouth that were unpleasant.

— Why do people like you have children? If you weren't a father, I'd have nothing bad to say to you, — said Anna, raising her eye.

—I'm your true slave, and to you I can admit it. My kids are the burden of my life. This is my burden. I can explain myself. What to do?.... — he was silent, expressing his humble, brutal fate.

Anna was deep in thought.

— Have you thought about marrying your son Anatole? They say, — she said, — that old women have a mania to marry. I have not felt this myself, but there's a woman that is very unhappy with her father, our relative, Princess Bolkonsky. — Vasiliy didn't respond. But, his unique speed in thinking and memory showed as he thought.

— No, do you know how Anatole costs me 40,000 a year, — he said, not able to hold the sadness in his thoughts. He was silent.

— What will he go through in five years, if this continues? That’s the benefit of being a father. Is she rich, your princess?

— The father is very rich and stingy. He lives in a village. You know Prince Bolkonsky. He was set aside by the dead emperor and nicknamed “The Prussian King.” He's a very smart person, but odd and rough. The poor thing is as unhappy as a stone. Her brother's an aide to Kutuzov. He married Lise Meynen. He'll be here.

Listen, pretty Anet, — the prince said, quickly taking her by the hand and sitting down, — Do this for me, and I'll forever be your best slave (as my headman writes: sa-lay-vuh). She has a good name and is rich. This is all that I need.

With those free, usual, and smooth moves that fit his body, he took the hand of the maid of honor and kissed it. While kissing it, he waved her hand. Then he sat on a chair and looked to the side.

Wait, — said Anna, thinking. — I'll now talk to Lise (the wife of Bolkonsky). Maybe this will be fixed. For your family I’ll begin to learn the craft of an old woman.

Chapter Summaries:
Maude (chapters 1-5): Anna Scherer's soiree
Pevear and Volokhonsky (chapter 1-4): Petersburg. A soiree at Anna Pavlovna Scherer's. Arrival of Prince Vassily Kuragin, his daughter Helene, his son Ippolit, Princess Lise Bolkonsky, and Pierre Bezukhov, with other guests. Conversations about Napoleon and various society topics. Arrival of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky.
Briggs (Part 1 (July-August 1805)): Anna Scherer's soiree in Moscow. Prince Vasily negotiates.
Dole: Soiree at Mlle. Scherer's. Discussion with Prince Vasili about politics. Mlle. Scherer's proposal that Anatol Kuragin marry the Princess Marya.

Alexandria Kropotkin abridgment opens with:
“For thirteen years, off and on, there has been war in Europe; but now, in 1805, there is an uneasy peace. The European monarchs, who took arms in fright against the revolution that overthrew the Bourbon king of France, have had no success against the military genius of Napoleon Bonaparte. Only Britain, supreme by sea, remains at war with France; Russia, Austria, the other powers have withdrawn. Napoleon has illegally seized and summarily executed the young Duc d’Enghien, Bourbon heir, and has crowned himself Emperor of the French. While the royal courts scoff at his pretensions (and call him Buonaparte to imply that he is neither royal nor even a Frenchman), Napoleon expands his empire. He prepares to invade England. He annexes the republics of Liguria (Genoa) and Lucca on the Italian peninsula. The European powers, fearful of losing their own territories, think once more of war.”

How each translation handles chapter separation:
Briggs: Volume, Part, Chapter
Dunnigan: Book, Part, Chapter (just a number, not prefaced with "chapter")
Maude: Volume, Book, Chapter (the version on Gutenberg eliminates Volume) (the Norton Critical edition edited and revised by George Gibian just lists Book and Chapter number, without the word chapter, accompanied by a brief description (usually six words or less). This version has different chapter breaks that I have not listed in the abridged versions below (hopefully I will get to this in the future).
Mandelker: Book, Part, Chapter (Arabic numeral without the word chapter prefacing, though the header of the right page will say denote “Chapter 1”, etc.)
Pevear and Volokhonsky: Volume, Part, Roman numeral chapter numbers (without the word "chapter")
Garnett: Part, Chapter (just a roman numeral, not prefaced with “chapter”).
Edmonds: Book, Part, Chapter (just the Arabic number, not prefaced with “chapter”)
Dole: Broken up into four volumes, so Volume, Part (“Part First”, etc), and Chapter (roman numerals)
Wiener: has it broken up into four volumes in his complete Tolstoy collection (War and Peace starts on Volume 5) but labels Volume (Volume 5 is labelled Volume I of War and Peace) Part (“Part the First”, etc), Chapter (roman numerals, not prefaced by “chapter”)
Bell: Divides War and Peace into sections, with Before Tilsit 1805-1807 being the first section and the first two volumes, so her divisions look something like: Before Tilsit 1805-1807, Volume I (Roman numerals), Chapter I (also Roman numerals). Her chapter breaks vary widely with other versions of the text, which I will try to keep track of throughout.
Fuller removes all breaks except “Part”, denoting only scene changes or text breaks (he doesn’t mark where he has cut text) with a double spacing. Fuller’s version has 10 parts.
Komroff: Book, but no part or chapter divisions, year the book is covering is in header.
Kropotkin: Part (phrased “Part First”, etc.), Chapter (Roman numerals without the preface of “chapter”). She has 16 parts.
Bromfield: Part, Chapter (Roman numeral, no preface of “chapter”). His War and Peace has 7 parts.

Because of the variance, I will label using Dunnigan’s method (except I will preface with "chapter") in my organization and will often talk about overall chapter number when referring to other chapters (except when necessary to talk about a specific translation's chapter number). I am following Dole's chapter divisons, just as, for now, the default character spellings will follow Dole (the chapter divisons, as I hope to show, make sense when following Dole, but using him for the default character naming is arbitrary and actually unhelpful because of the variance in his naming compared to more modern translations. I hope to go back and correct names in the individual chapters to the common usages of them, but that will have to settle for the indexes for now.)

How each translation handles the French portions of the text:
Pevear and Volokhonsky and Mandelker: leave the French in the text and translate it in footnotes.
Dunnigan, Edmonds, and Bromfield: Leaves certain common phrases or exclamations in French, but translate the vast majority inside the text (they choose different words to leave in French).
Briggs, Kropotkin, Maude, Garnett, Bell : Translate all French. Maude occasionally keeps the French and translates it in the endnote.
Dole: translates, puts that it was in French in the fifth edition of Tolstoy’s works, but not the seventh, in the footnotes, placing the french in footnotes often. This seems to me the most logical thing. Sometimes Dole leaves the French.
Wiener: notoriously leaves it in French with no footnote.

Translation (for the fourth year of the blog, I will be posting my translation. I am using this version that is tied to the official Tolstoy museums in Russia. However, I'm using this version, which I used a little in year 1, for extra help. I also occasionally checked my Garnett version for help on knotty sentences/phrases/words, though I certainly went in different directions than she did. You'll notice, since I've been working on Russian, not French, I've substituted the French phrases with the footnotes I've translated from Russian and put the French in the "footnotes". As of late July 2021, I have started translating the French phrases in the footnotes. I have elected to keep the French in the footnotes and my translation of the French is in the parenthesis after it.)

“Well, Prince, Genoa and Lucca are estates in the name of Bonaparte. No, I speak forward to you, if you do not say to me that we are at war, if you let yourself protect all the filth, all the horrors of this Antichrist (right, I believe, that he is the Antichrist), — I will not know you anymore, you’re not really my friend, you’re not really my true slave, as you say.1 Well, hello, hello. I see that I’ve scared you,2 sit down and speak.”

So said, in July of the year 1805, the famous Anna Pavlovna Sherer, gentlewoman and approximate to Empress Maria Feodorovna, met the important official Prince Vasiliy, the first arrival of her evening. Anna Pavlovna had coughed for a few days with her flu, as she called it (flu was then a new word, used only rarely). In little notes, sent out that morning with a lackey in red, was written, without difference, in whole:

“If you, Count (or Prince), have nothing better in mind and if the prospect of an evening with the poor and ill is not too scary for you, then I will be very glad to see you between seven and ten o’clock. Anna Sherer.”

— Lord, what a hot attack!4 — was the response, not at all embarrassed at such a meeting, and the Prince entered, in a courtier, sewn uniform, stockings, shoes, and stars, with a bright expression on his flat face.

He spoke in that exquisite French language, in which was not only spoken, but our grandfathers also thought in, and with those quiet, patronizing intonations, that peculiar age in the world and in the court of a significant person. He came up to Anna Pavlovna, kissed her hand, showing his perfumed and shining bald head, and quietly sat down on the couch.

— Before you finish talking, how is your health, dear friend?5 Calm me down, — he said, without a change in voice or tone, from which indifference and even mockery shone through his appearance of decency and participation.

— How can I be healthy... when morally suffering? You can’t, with any feeling, stay calm in our time. — said Anna Pavlovna . — You’re here all evening with me, I hope?

— But the celebration of the English minister? It’s now Wednesday. I need to be seen there, — said the prince. — My daughter will call for me and take me.

— I thought that the current celebration was canceled. I confess, all of these holidays and fireworks have become unbearable.6

— If they would have known, that this is what you want, the celebration would be canceled, — said the prince, by habit, as a wound up watch, saying things which he didn’t want to, nor believed.

— Don’t torment me. Well, what’s decided on the occasion of the Novosiltsov dispatches? You know everyone.7

— How can you say? — said the prince in a cold, bored tone. — What’s decided? It’s decided that Bonaparte has burned his ships, and we also, it seems, are ready to burn ours.8 —

Prince Vasiliy always spoke lazily, as an actor speaks in a role in an old play. Anna Pavlovna  Sherer, was the opposite and, as despite her forty years, was overwhelmed with gusts of revitalization.

To be enthusiastic had made her public position, and sometimes, when even she didn’t want to be, she, so as not to deceive the expectations of people who knew her, acted enthusiastically. A restrained smile, played constantly on the face of Anna Pavlovna, although it didn’t go with her outdated features, expressed, as in spoiled children, constantly conscious of their lack of sweetness, against what she wanted, but not finding fit to correct it.

In the middle of the conversation about political actions Anna Pavlovna got excited.

— Ah, don’t speak to me about Austria! I understand nothing, maybe, but Austria never wanted and does not want war. She betrays us. Russia alone should be the savior of Europe. Our benefactor knows their high vocation and he will be true to it. Here is what I believe: our good and wonderful sovereign will be the greatest role in the peace, and he is so virtuous and good, that God not will not leave him, and he will carry out his vocation to crush the hydra of the revolution, which is now uglier in the face of killers and villains. We alone must redeem the blood of the righteous. In whom are we to hope, you ask me?.. England with its commercial soul will not understand and cannot understand all the heights of the soul of Emperor Aleksandr. She refused to clear Malta. She wants to look for the hidden idea of our actions. What have they said to Novosiltsov?.. Nothing. They don’t understand; they cannot understand the selflessness of our Emperor, which wants nothing for himself and wants everything in a good peace. And what have they promised? Nothing. And what’s promised will be nothing! Prussia has already declared that Bonaparte is invincible and that all Europe cannot do anything against him... and I do not believe one word of Hardenberg or Haugwitz. This notorious neutrality of Prussia is only a trap.9 I believe in one God and in the high fate our sweet Emperor. He will save Europe!.. — She suddenly stopped with a smile of ridicule from her fervor.

— I think, — said the smiling prince, — that if you would have been sent instead of our sweet Wintsengerode, you would have gotten the consent of the Prussian king. You are so eloquent. Will you give me tea?

— Now. By the way, — she added, calming down, — I now have two very interesting people, Viscount Montemar, in kinship with the Montmorency through the Rogans,10 one of the best names of France. This is one of the good emigrants of present. And then Abbot Morio:11 do you know this deep mind? He was adopted by the sovereign. Did you know?

— Ah! I will be extremely glad, — said the prince. — Say, — he added, as if he only now remembered something and was especially careless as to how he asked, though it was the main purpose of his visit, — Really, how is it that the Dowager Empress12 wished to name Baron Funke first secretary at Vienna? This baron is an insignificant being it seems.13 — Prince Vasiliy desired his son for this place, which through the Empress Maria Feodorovna tried to deliver from the baron.

Anna Pavlovna almost closed her eyes in a sign of understanding that she, nor any other, may judge about that or anything about the Empress.

— Baron Funke was recommended by the empress-mother’s sister,14 — she only said in a sad, dry tone. In that time, as Anna Pavlovna mentioned the empress, her face suddenly represented a deep and sincere expression of devotion and respect, united with sadness, that happened to her every time she mentioned her high patroness in conversation. She said that her honor had deigned to manifest Baron Funke much respect,15 and again looked with her twitching sadness.

The prince was indifferently quiet. Anna Pavlovna, with her peculiar court and female dexterity, speed, and tact, wanted to flick the prince for how he dared to respond about the empress to her face, and at the same time to console him.

By the way, about your family,16 — she said, — do you know that your daughter, with those since she has left, has formed a total enjoyment in society. It finds her as beautiful as the day. 17

The prince bent down in a sign of respect and appreciation.

— I often think, — continued Anna Pavlovna after a minute of silence, moving up to the prince and affectionately smiling at him, as if showing by this, that the political and societal conversations are over and begin sincerely: — I often think, how sometimes happiness is unfairly distributed in life. For fate has given you these two glorious children (excluding Anatole, your youngest, I don’t love him, — she put in peremptorily, lifting her eyebrows) — these lovely children? But you don’t appreciate them at all and it won’t stand.

And she smiled at him with a enthusiastic smile.

— What can I do? Lafater would have said that I had no bumps of parental love.18 — said the prince.

— Stop joking. I wanted to seriously talk with you. You know, I am unhappy with your younger son. Between us let it be said (her face had accepted a sad expression), he was spoken about in her majesty’s and she pities you...

The prince did not respond, but she was silently looking at him, waiting for an answer. Prince Vasiliy grimaced.

— But what am I to do? — he said finally. — You know, I did everything for their upbringing that a father can do, and both came out fools.19 Ippolit, at least, is a quiet fool, but Anatole is anxious. That’s the one difference, — he said, smiling more unnaturally and animate than usual, and at this abruptly showing the wrinkles prevailing about his mouth that was suddenly gross and unpleasant.

— And for what are children born to people as you? If you were not a father, I would have nothing for which i could reproach you, — said Anna Pavlovna, thoughtfully raising her eye.

—I am your 20 true slave, and to you I can admit. My kids are the burden of my existence. 21 This is my cross. I can explain myself. What to do?....22 — he was silent, expressing a gesture of his humility and brutal fate.

Anna Pavlovna was deep in thought.

— You’ve never thought about marrying your prodigal son Anatole? To speak, — she said, — that old women have a mania to marry.23 I still have not felt this weakness myself, but there is a single woman24 that is very unhappy with her father, our relative, Princess Bolkonskaya25. — Prince Vasiliy did not respond, although with the peculiar speed of societal people considerations and memory showed movement in his head as he accepted to consideration of that intelligence.

— No, do you know how this Anatole costs me 40,000 a year, — he said, apparently not able to hold the forces of sadness moving his thoughts. He was silent.

— What will he go through in five years, if this continues to go on? That’s the benefit of being a father.26 Is she rich, your princess?

— The father is very rich and stingy. He lives in a village. You know, this Prince Bolkonsky, set aside by the deceased emperor and nicknamed “The Prussian King.” He is a very smart person, but odd and rough. The poor thing is as unhappy as a stone.27 Her brother was recently married to Lise Meynen, an adjutant to Kutuzov. He will be here.

Listen, pretty Anet,28 — the prince said, suddenly taking his interlocutor by the hand and crouching down by her, — Arrange this business for me, and I will forever be your29 most faithful slave (as my headman writes30 reports to me: sa-lay-vuh). She has a good name and is rich. This is everything that I need.

And with those free, familiar, and graceful movements, which fit his features, he took the hand  of the maid of honor, kissed it, and while kissing it, waved her hand, lounging on an armchair and looking to the side.

Wait,31 — said Anna Pavlovna, thinking. — I will now talk to Lise (the wife of Bolkonsky).32 And, maybe, this will be settled. In your family I’ll begin to learn the craft of an old woman. 33

1. Eh bien, mon prince. Gênes et Lucques ne sont plus que des apanages, des estates, de la famille Buonaparte. Non, je vous préviens, que si vous ne me dites pas, que nous avons la guerre, si vous vous permettez encore de pallier toutes les infamies, toutes les atrocités de cet Antichrist (ma parole, j’y crois) — je ne vous connais plus, vous n’êtes plus mon ami, vous n’êtes plus my true slave, comme vous dites. (Well, my prince. Genoa and Lucca are no more than grants, estates, of the Buonaparte family. No, I warn you, that if you do not tell me, that we have war, if you still permit yourself to conceal all the infamies, all the atrocities of this Antichrist (my word, I believe it), I do not know you anymore, you are no longer my friend, you are no longer my true slave, as you say.)
2. Je vois que je vous fais peur, (I see that I am scaring you)
3. «Si vous n’avez rien de mieux à faire, M. le comte (or mon prince), et si la perspective de passer la soirée chez une pauvre malade ne vous effraye pas trop, je serai charmée de vous voir chez moi entre 7 et 10 heures. Annette Scherer». (If you have nothing better to do, my count (or my prince), and if the prospect of spending the evening with a poor sick person does not frighten you too much, I will be delighted to see you at my place between the hours 7 and 10. Annette Scherer)
4. Dieu, quelle virulente sortie! (God, what a hostile attack!)
5. Avant tout dites moi, comment vous allez, chère amie? (First of all tell me, how are you, dear friend?)
6. Je vous avoue que toutes ces fêtes et tous ces feux d’artifice commencent à devenir insipides. (I tell you all these parties and fireworks are starting to get tasteless.)
7. Ne me tourmentez pas. Eh bien, qu’a-t-on décidé par rapport à la dépêche de Novosilzoff? Vous savez tout. (Don't torment me. Well, what have we decided about the report of the Novosilzoff dispatch? You know everything.)
8. Qu’a-t-on décidé? On a décidé que Buonaparte a brûlé ses vaisseaux, et je crois que nous sommes en train de brûler les notres. (What have we decided? We have decided that Buonaparte has burned his ships, and I believe we are on the track of burning ours.)
9. Cette fameuse neutralité prussienne, ce n’est qu’un piège. (This famous Prussian neutrality is just a trap.)
10. A propos, — le vicomte de Mortemart, il est allié aux Montmorency par les Rohans, (By the way, - the Vicomte de Mortemart, he was allied to the Montmorency by the Rohans,)
11. l’abbé Morіo (Abbot Morіo)
12. L’impératrice-mère (The Empress-Mother)
13. C’est un pauvre sire, ce baron, à ce qu’il paraît. (This is a poor sir, this baron, it seems)
14. Monsieur le baron de Funke a été recommandé à l’impératrice-mère par sa soeur, (Mr. Baron Funke was recommended to the Empress-Mother by her sister,)
15. beaucoup d’estime, (much esteem,)
16. — Mais à propos de votre famille, (But about your family,)
17. fait les délices de tout le monde. On la trouve belle, comme le jour. (the delight of all the world. We find her beautiful, like the day.)
18. Que voulez-vous? Lafater aurait dit que je n’ai pas la bosse de la paternité, (What do you want? Lafater would have said that I don't have the paternity bump,)
19. des imbéciles. (fools)
20. Je suie votre (I am yours)
21. et à vous seule je puis l’avouer. my children — ce sont les entraves de mon existence. (and to you alone I can admit it. my children - these are the impediments of my existence.)
22. Que voulez vous? (What do you want?)
23. ont la manie des mariages. (have a mania for marriages.)
24. petite personne, (small person,)
25. une parente à nous, une princesse (a relative of ours, a princess)
26. Voilà l’avantage d’être père. (This is the advantage of being a father.)
27. La pauvre petite est malheureuse, comme les pierres. (The poor little one is unhappy, like stones.)
28. — Ecoutez, chère Annette, (Listen, dear Annette,)
29. Arrangez-moi cette affaire et je suis votre (Arrange this affair for me and I am yours)
30. à tout jamais (pan, comme mon headman m’écrit des) (forever (as my headman writes to me)
31. — Attendez, (wait)
32. Lise la femme du jeune (Lise, the wife of the young man)
33. Ce sera dans votre famille, que je ferai mon apprentissage de vieille fille (It will be in your family that I will make my apprenticeship as an old maid)

Time (for the second read through of War and Peace, started on 3/1/2019, ending February 2020 and using Edmonds as the primary text, I am adding time, location, the chapter summaries you see above, chapter differences of the Gibian/Norton edition, and the Ernest J. Simmons abridgment):
July 1805.

Locations: Anna Pavlovna's Reception (not specifically mentioned, but in St. Petersburg)
Mentioned: Genoa, Lucca (these two are "Genes et Lucques" in the French), the English Ambassador's fete, Austria, Russia, Europe (these last three, as are Prussia and England in a while, are mentioned more as nations acting than places), England, Malta, Prussia, France, Vienna, the country (where Prince Bolkonsky lives)

Notes on Pevear and Volokhonsky read through (my method for the first read through of War and Peace: I read the Pevear and Volkhonsky translation, put some scattered notes and quotes here and then comparing translations of character names, followed by comparing abridged and alternate versions, and then placing additional notes, whether they are notes in the different editions I find interesting or quotations from other books. Over time, I hope to have an essay for each chapter, though I may decide to write essays about notable characters and just organize these sections better):

Of course, Anna Pavlovna uses the Corsican form of Napoleon’s name (Pevear and Volokhonsky endnote)

Genoa and Lucca was conquered and annexed by France, with Napoleon's sister ruling as Princess of Lucca (Pevear and Volokhonsky endnote)

Novosiltsov or Novosiltsev the emissary, peace broker, failed, sent back news before start of 1805 war with Austria/Russia versus France (Pevear and Volokhonsky). Pevear and Volokhonsky also point out the emigree family (Tolstoy modifies a real life one) accepted into the Russian court or society at least.

Characters (characters who do not appear, but are mentioned are placed in italics):

Napoleon Bonaparte (as in Dole, Edmonds, etc. “Buonaparte” in Mandelker and Maude. Dunnigan has “estates of the Bonapartes” in the opening sentence of the novel).

Anna Pavlovna Scherer (as of now, I am not placing accents on names.)

Maria Feodorovna (as in Dole, “Marya Fyodorovna” in Garnett, Briggs uses “Maria” but “Fyodorovna”, referred to as “Dowager Empress” or “l’Imperatrice Mere” in Dole later on. Second wife of Czar Paul, see below, mother of Czar Alexander)

Prince Vassily (Vasili in Edmonds and Dole, “Basil” in Bell)

English Ambassador

Novosiltstof (Novosiltsov or Novosiltsev in Pevear and Volokhonsky, the former being in the text, the latter being in the endnote, the latter used by Dunnigan. Full name, as in Garnett endnote, Count Nikolay Nikolayevitch Novosiltsov)

Czar Alexander (not referred to in this way, but “Emperor Alexander” in Dole, Edmonds, Garnett, Wiener, etc)

Hardenberg (as with the following, a minister of foreign affairs for Prussia, according to Garnett endnote, Maude spells it Hardenburg, which the Maude edition lists as a misspelling)

Haugwitz

Vintzengerode (as in Dole, Winzingerode in Mandelker, Dunnigan, Maude, Wiener, etc. Garnett and Garnett endnote write Wintsengerode and Wintzengerode respectively. Austrian who often fought for the Russians against Napoleon Maude/Mandelker notes. The Gibian, Maude, and Mandelker editions all use Maude's initial notes, but select different notes to use and use them differently. Mandelker also seems to have her own occasional notes as well. Because of this, confusion will often follow in the "Additional Notes" section)

King of Prussia

Vicomte de Montemart (“...Mortemart” in Wiener, Bell, Garnett, etc)

L’abbe Morio ("Abbe Morio" in Garnett, Bell, Edmonds, etc, based on Scipione Piattoli, who had the plan for perpetual peace important for the next chapter, according to Garnett endnote)

Baron Funke (Founcke in Bell)

Maria Feodorovna’s sister

Prince Vasily’s sons: Anatol (as in Dunnigan, Dole, and Wiener. “Anatole” in Briggs, Edmonds, etc)

Prince Vasily’s daughter (not named here except in Bromfield, later Helene or some variation of the name depending on translation)

Lavater (Lafater in Wiener. Gibian notes that he was a Swiss clergyman who related the physical state to mental attitudes, this making some sense out of Pavlovna’s comment. Garnett's note explains he founded the idea of reading character from facial features, which would be important for a novelist. Briggs’ endnote lists him as a forerunner to phrenology.)

Ippolit (as in Dole and Dunnigan. “Hippolyte” in Edmonds, Bell, Maude)

Princess (Princesse in Dole) Bolkonsky (as in Briggs. "Bolkonskaya" in Dole, Mandelker, and Maude, Bolkonski in Wiener. This is later Mary or Marya Bolkonsky. Not to be confused with Bolkonsky's, that is Andrei's, who is himself not called Prince Bolkonsky in this chapter, wife, Lisa Meinen below)

Prince Bolkonsky (as in Dole)

His son (not named here, later Andrei)

Late Emperor (Czar Paul I)

Lisa Meinen (as in Dole, Lise Meynen in Wiener)

Kutuzof (as in Dole, Kutuzov in Garnett and Wiener. Full name Mikhail Illarionovitch Kutuzov according to Garnett note, fought in all wars from Catherine the Great to Alexander, served as governor of Finland as well, serves really as the foil to Napoleon, died of exhaustion chasing Napoleon into Prussia)

Abridged and Alternate Versions: Line break instead of chapter break in Gibian.

Fuller shortens the chapter by removing the invitation, the bit about Pavlovna having the grippe, the French speaking details, skips from first mention of the fete (Bromfield varies from most translations by using the more common word “festivals” and “celebrations”, also using fetes. праздник could also mean “feast” or “holiday”) to Pavlovna’s compliment about Vasili’s daughter, really removing a lot of the political discussion from the chapter. Kropotkin also removes Pavlovna’s political rant about Alexander, England, Austria, and Prussia and Vasili’s response.  Komroff preserves the chapter.

Bromfield: The narration gives us the details of Novosiltsev’s mission. As Gibian’s edition points out, he broke off his journey in Berlin after hearing about the annexation of Lucca and Genoa.

Simmons: The details about Pavlovna having grippe and the note that she gave everyone is removed. The details about the speaking French (Simmons, following other abridged versions, does not appear to preserve the French words, though an occasional one, such as "Attendez", is preserved) is also removed. Chapter is followed by a line break.

Bienstock and Martel: I am reading this play by J. Wladimir Bienstock and Charles Martel in a translation (from French) by Frank J. Morlock. It was published by Borgo Press of Wildside Press in 2009. The play begins at the deathbed of Count Bezhoukov. 

Edmundson: This play by Helen Edmundson was published by Nick Hern Books, London, 2008. The play begins with a prologue at the Hermitage in 2007 with Pierre there. Pierre looks at paintings of the generals of the war of 1812 and speaks to an attendant that tells him that the generals that took part in the Decembrist movement were removed. The attendant discusses Russian history and tells him that love will endure. Act One Scene One is where we get into Anna Pavlovna's drawing room and the opening lines of the novel. 

Additional Notes (for the third year of the blog, I am reading the Briggs translation, 2016 Penguin Classics, and beefing up the Additional Notes sections, including putting notes in chapters that I had none. These will be a combination of quotes from relevant books, please consult the Running Bibliography above, things from the internet, or random thoughts and musings from the chapter from me):

Mandelker note: Malta, island in the Mediterranean, Russia helped England defend it from the French, hence the English (on the same side against Napoleon) Ambassador.

“Grippe” translated as Flu by some (Garnett footnote says influenza and Bell puts influenza by Grippe as an explaining word), a little detail, a little aside put by Tolstoy to show that it wasn’t an often used word. References Louis-Antoine, duc d’Enghien (Pevear and Volokhonsky, but not by name, which is why he isn’t listed in characters. As Mandelker notes, coming from the Maude notes, he was the heir to the Bourbon line, more information will come on him in the upcoming chapters). Vassili consistently calls himself Pavlovna's “faithful slave”, as noted at the beginning of the chapter.

Some notes on Czar Paul from Alexander I: The Tsar Who Defeated Napoleon by Marie-Pierre Rey, translated by Susan Emanuel. Northern Illinois Press, Dekalb, IL. 2012

Page 63: "1796, Catherine confided in Alexander her intention to see him succeed her on the throne...Thus in the autumn of 1796, Alexander's loyalist intentions were already firmly decided, and it is not by chance that he also addressed his father as "Majesty"; in his eyes, Paul should reign upon Catherine's death and he would not usurp imperial power."
Page 65: "in 1796 Alexander did not feel himself truly "Russian."...she (Catherine) succeeded in transmitting to Alexander her passion for power."
Page 66: "Paul...having found Catherine's will by which she transferred the throne to Alexander, he burned it"
Page 68: "everything that might recall French influence (during Paul's rule)...was forbidden"
Page 69: "the emperor undertook to remodel everything, clothing as well as customs and language....the tsar forbade all young aristocrats from pursuing their studies abroad...he promulgated a text on the modes of succession to the throne: the rule of masculine primogeniture would now prevail. No more grand duchesses could accede, except in cases where the masculine branch was extinct." (the no more rule of women might remind readers of the misogyny displayed Tolstoy in War and Peace, especially through the Bolkonsky characters. But very few female characters are portrayed positively, and those that are at the end, Natasha and Marya, are rather submissive. Female characters that do demonstrate some power, such as Pavlovna or Helen, are portrayed rather negatively. Pierre and the Bolkonskys even lack a mother, and the Rostovs' mother should be discussed in detail later)
Page 70: "On the first day he had the writer and publisher Nikolay Novikov removed from the Schlusselburg Fortress...But Paul did not commit himself to find a political remedy for the Polish tragedy....pushed him to force nobles to serve the state...He reasserted central authority...Prepared by Lieutenant-General Rostopchin, the strict new regulations....Strongly inspired by the Prussian model elaborated by Frederick the Great....Suvorov barely informed Paul: "Russians have always beat the Prussians, so why do we want to copy them?"--which in February 1797 earned the brilliant general a sacking from the army for "insolence."
Page 71: "Paul clumsily offended the patriotic feelings of Russian officers."

Page 72: "he remained appreciated by humbler (page 73) people, in particular by peasants and rank-and-file soldiers, to whom he brought greater welfare, but he was hated by the elites, particularly by those at court....Alexander did not escape the feeling of fear"

(Roberts, Page 361): “‘Eh bien, mon prince, so Genoa and Lucca are now no more than private estates of the Bonaparte family’, is the opening line of War and Peace, although the speaker, Anna Pavlovna Scherer, was wrong about Genoa, which was a department of the Empire.” 

Page 335: “The handsome, thirty-one-year-old Louis de Bourbon Conde, Duc d’Enghien, was a direct descendant of Louis XIII and the grandson of the Prince de Conde who had commanded the emigre army at Valmy. When one of the plotters arrested that everyone had stood up when a leader had entered the room, Fouche decided that d’Enghien was the only Bourbon prince who matched the man’s physical description and had been close enough to France to have attended the meeting. It was a tragic error, based on circumstantial evidence.” 

(Fremont-Barnes Page 37): "Napoleon broke the diplomatic deadlock when he crowned himself King of Italy in Milan on 26 May and proceeded to annex Genoa early the following month. The contentious issues then dividing Anglo-Russian harmony fell by the wayside, and on 28 July an alliance formally came into force, followed by Austria's assent on 9 August." 

(Rey) Page 60: "Nikolay Novosiltsev...was also characterized, unlike the sober Alexandr, by an epicureanism and a noted taste of alcohol." 

Page 93: "The great of St. Petersburg are careful not to let two weeks go by without making an appearance before the Dowager Empress" 

(Breuing Page 230): Baron (later Prince) Karl August von Hardenberg (1750-1822), who served as chief minister beginning in 1810. Stein, and Hardenberg after him, were convinced that Prussia’s recovery from the defeat inflicted by Napoleon could occur only as the result of a series of political and institutional reforms comparable, in some respects, to those undertaken by the French during the revolution. After the humiliating defeat of Prussia at Jena in 1806, Hardenberg is alleged to have told the king, “Your Majesty! We must do from above what the French have done from below.” By giving its citizens greater opportunity for participation in the affairs of state, Prussia could develop a new patriotic spirit….Both Stein and Hardenberg had looked forward to the creation of a legislative assembly as the culmination of this program of reforms, and the king’s promise of a constitution establishing some sort of representative government appeared to confirm their hopes. But no constitution was (231) forthcoming. After 1815 Hardenberg and others with similar views gradually lost their influence over the king to a more reactionary group.” 

(Ure, Page 151): “Count Wintzingerode, was viewed by Napoleon as a personal enemy and as a traitor to his country. He had been born as a German in Wurttemberg which later became a French dependency but this did not prevent him from offering his military services to the Tsar of Russia Victor Shklovsky Details in War and Peace: 'Prince Vasily and Anna Pavlovna had barely exchanged greetings at this time and there was as yet no such political conversation; secondly, Prince Vasily didn’t say a word about Austria, so Anna Pavlovna’s fever is somewhat incomprehensible. But originally there was indeed a conversation about politics and there was a joke about Austria by Prince Vasily, who thus had annoyed Anna...Probably Tolstoy, shortening and reworking the text, involuntarily remembered the sense of the deleted portions himself, which explains the series of small rough spots and contradictions" 

 On Paul, Bolkonsky, and the King of Prussia: Montefiore, Page 245: “Drilling his mini-army, he “imagines himself to be the late King of Prussia. The slightest delay or contradiction unhinges him and flares him with fury.”...Paul tyrannized his court and even his wife and sons, infuriated that at forty-one “I have nothing to do.”’ 

Anna Pavlovna is also the name of a character in Anna Karenina, but she is a minor character. Anna Pavlovna was also the name of one of Alexander's sisters that Napoleon would later try to marry (see Rey)