Chapter Summaries: Dole: Boris and his mother drive to Kirill Vladimirovitch's. Anna Mikhailovna's interview with Prince Vasili. Prince Vasili's opinion of Count Rostof. Boris sent to Pierre.
Maude (chapter 15): Anna Mikhaylovna and Boris go to the dying Count Bezukhov's.
Briggs (chapter 12): She takes her son to visit the dying Count Kirill Bezukhov.
Pevear and Volkhonsky (chapters 12-13): Anna Mikhailovna and Boris go to see the gravely ill Count Kirill Bezukhov. Prince Vassily and Pierre are there.
XII. — My dear Borinka,138 — said Princess Anna Mihaylovna to her son when the coach of Countess Rostov, in which they were sitting, drove through the straw covered street and entered into the broad yard of Count Kirill Vladimirovich Bezuhov. — My dear Borinka139 — said the mother, extending her hand from below her old coat and timidly and affectionately moving it to place it on the hand of her son, — be affectionate, be attentive. Count Kirill Vladimirovich is after all your godfather, and from him depends your future fate. Remember this, my dear friend,140 be as dear as you know be... — If I would have known that from this would come out something besides humiliation... — was the son’s cold response. — but I promised you and do this for you. Despite this, and that the coach stood at the entrance, the doorman, looking around at the mother and the son (which, not ordering to report themselves, all entered into the glass canopy between two rows of statues in niches), heavily looking at the old coat, asking whom they were here for, the princess or the count, and, upon learning the count, said that their excellency was now worse and their excellency could not accept anyone. — We can leave, — said the son in French. —My friend!141 — said the mother in a pleading voice, again touching the hand of the son, as if this touch could reassure or excite him. Boris fell silent and, not taking off his greatcoat, interrogatively watched his mother. — Darling, — the gentle voice of Anna Mihaylovna said, turning to the doorman, — I know that Count Kirill Vladimirovich is very ill... I then arrived... I’m a relative... I will not bother, darling... but I would only need to see Prince Vasiliy Sergeevich: because he is here. Report, please. The doorman sullenly yanked the cord for upstairs and turned away. — Princess Drubetskaya to Prince Vasiliy Sergeevich, — he shouted to the running from above and from the protruding ladder peeking out waiter in stockings, shoes and tailcoat. The mother straightened the folds of her dyed silk dress, looking in whole at the venetian mirror on the wall and cheerfully, in her worn out shoes, went up the carpet stairs. — My friend, you promised me,142 — turning to her son again, touching his hand to excite him. The son, lowering his eyes, was calmly walking behind her. They entered into the hall, from the lone door that led to the chambers reserved for Prince Vasiliy. At that time, as the mother with the son came into the middle room, setting out to their path, an old waiter jumped up at the entrance, and at one of the doors turned a bronze knob and Prince Vasiliy in a velvet coat with stars, as if home, exiting, seeing off a beautiful black-haired man. This man was the famous Petersburg Doctor Lorrain. — And this is right? — spoke the prince. —— Prince, it is peculiar to people to make a mistake... — was the response of the doctor, lisping and pronouncing Latin words in the French reprimand. — Good, good...143 Noticing Anna Mihaylovna with her son, Prince Vasiliy with a bow let go the doctor and silently, but with an interrogative look, came up to him. The son saw how suddenly a deep sorrow was put in the eyes of his mother and smiled a little. — Yes, in these kinds of sad circumstances we had to see you, prince... Well, what of our dear sick? — she said as if she did not notice the cold, insulting, and striving in her sight. Prince Vasiliy interrogatively, to perplexity, looked at her, and then at Boris. Boris courteously bowed. Prince Vasiliy, not answering in a bow, turned away to Anna Mihaylovna and to her question responded with a movement of head and lips, which meant very bad hopes for the sick. — Is it really? — exclaimed Anna Mihaylovna. — Ah, this is terrible! I fearfully think... This is my son, — she added, pointing to Boris. — He himself wanted to thank you. Boris for another time courteously bowed. — I believe, prince, that the heart of my mother will never forget what you have done for us. — I’m glad that I could do for your pleasant, kind Anna Mihaylovna, — said Prince Vasiliy, straightening his frill and in a gesture and voice showing here, in Moscow, before patronizing Anna Mihaylovna with much more importance than in Petersburg at the evening at Annette Sherer’s. — Try to serve well and be worthy, — he added, strictly turning to Boris. — I'm glad... are you here on leave? — he dictated in his impassive tone. — Waiting for the order, your excellency, so to set off for my new appointment, — was the response of Boris, not showing annoyance for the sharp tone of the prince, or willingness to march into conversation, yet so calmly and respectfully that the prince intently looked at him. — You live with your mother? — I live at Countess Rostov’s, — said Boris, again adding: — your excellency. — This is that Ilya Rostov, which married Nathalie Shinshina, — said Anna Mihaylovna. — I know, I know, — said Prince Vasiliy in his monotonous voice. —I could not understand how Natalie decided to exit to get married to this dirty bear. Completely stupid and funny individual. Also a gambler, they say.144 —But a kind person, prince,145 — noted Anna Mihaylovna, touchingly smiling, as if she knew that Count Rostov deserved such opinions, but requested to pity the poor old man. — What does the doctor say? Asked the princess, keeping silent and again expressing a large sadness on her tattered face. — Little hopes, — said the prince. — But I so wanted more time to thank uncle for all his good deeds to Borya and I. This is his godson,146 — she added in such a tone as if this news must extremely please Prince Vasiliy. Prince Vasiliy thought and grimaced. Anna Mihaylovna understood that he was afraid to find in her a rival in the will of Count Bezuhov. She hastened to reassure him. — Should not my true love and loyal uncle, — she said, with a special confidence and negligence pronouncing this word: — I know his character, noble, straight, but because alone the princesses are with him... they are still young... — she inclined her head and added in a whisper: — has he carried out the last duty, prince? How precious are these last minutes! Because if he gets worse he may be able to; it is necessary to prepare if he is so bad. We, women, prince, — she tenderly smiled, — always know how to say these things. It is necessary to see him. As heavy as this would be for me, I am already used to suffering. The prince, apparently, got it, and got, as in the evening at Annette Sherer’s that Anna Mihaylovna would be difficult to get off. — This would be too heavy for him at this date, chère (pretty) Anna Mihaylovna, — he said. — Wait until the evening, the doctor promised a crisis. — But we cannot wait, prince in these minutes. I think the business going about is the salvation of his soul! Ah! This terrible duty of a Christian...147 From the interior rooms opened a door and exited one of the princesses and nieces of the count, with a gloomy and cold face and amazingly disproportionate legs with a long waist. Prince Vasiliy turned around to her. — Well, how is he? — All the same. And how would you want, with this noise... — said the princess, looking around Anna Mihaylovna, as if unfamiliar. — Ah, pretty, I did not recognized you,148 — with a happy smile said Anna Mihaylovna, easy and ambly coming up to the niece of the count. — I arrived to help you with uncle. Imagine, how you’ve suffered.149 — she added, with the participation of a rolling eye. The princess answered with nothing, not even smiling and immediately exiting again. Anna Mihaylovna took off her gloves and in a conquering position settled down in an armchair, inviting Prince Vasiliy to sit beside her. — Boris! — she told her son and smiled, — I will go to the count, to uncle, but you go to Pierre, mon ami (my friend), meanwhile, and don’t forget to deliver his invitation of the Rostovs. They call him for dinner. I think he won’t go? — she turned to the prince. — The opposite, — said the prince, apparently not in spirit. — I would be very glad, if you would save me from this young person!..150 He sits here. The count not once has asked about him. He shook his shoulders. The waiter led the young man downwards and up to different stairs to Pyotr Kirillovich. 138. Mon cher Boris, (My dear Boris,) 139. Mon cher Boris, (My dear Boris,) 140. mon cher, (my dear,) 141. Mon ami! (My friend!) 142. Mon cher, vous m’avez promis, (My dear, you promised me,) 143. C’est donc positif?...Mon prince, "errare humanum est", mais...C’est bien, c’est bien…(Thus it's positive?...My prince, "errare humanum est," but ...that's good, that's good...) 144. Je n’ai jamais pu concevoir, comment Nathalie s’est décidée à épouser cet ours mal-léché! Un personnage complètement stupide et ridicule. Et joueur à ce qu’on dit (I could never conceive how Nathalie decided to marry that badly refined bear. A completely stupid and ridiculous character. And a player they say.)
Maude (chapter 15): Anna Mikhaylovna and Boris go to the dying Count Bezukhov's.
Briggs (chapter 12): She takes her son to visit the dying Count Kirill Bezukhov.
Pevear and Volkhonsky (chapters 12-13): Anna Mikhailovna and Boris go to see the gravely ill Count Kirill Bezukhov. Prince Vassily and Pierre are there.
XII. — My dear Borinka,138 — said Princess Anna Mihaylovna to her son when the coach of Countess Rostov, in which they were sitting, drove through the straw covered street and entered into the broad yard of Count Kirill Vladimirovich Bezuhov. — My dear Borinka139 — said the mother, extending her hand from below her old coat and timidly and affectionately moving it to place it on the hand of her son, — be affectionate, be attentive. Count Kirill Vladimirovich is after all your godfather, and from him depends your future fate. Remember this, my dear friend,140 be as dear as you know be... — If I would have known that from this would come out something besides humiliation... — was the son’s cold response. — but I promised you and do this for you. Despite this, and that the coach stood at the entrance, the doorman, looking around at the mother and the son (which, not ordering to report themselves, all entered into the glass canopy between two rows of statues in niches), heavily looking at the old coat, asking whom they were here for, the princess or the count, and, upon learning the count, said that their excellency was now worse and their excellency could not accept anyone. — We can leave, — said the son in French. —My friend!141 — said the mother in a pleading voice, again touching the hand of the son, as if this touch could reassure or excite him. Boris fell silent and, not taking off his greatcoat, interrogatively watched his mother. — Darling, — the gentle voice of Anna Mihaylovna said, turning to the doorman, — I know that Count Kirill Vladimirovich is very ill... I then arrived... I’m a relative... I will not bother, darling... but I would only need to see Prince Vasiliy Sergeevich: because he is here. Report, please. The doorman sullenly yanked the cord for upstairs and turned away. — Princess Drubetskaya to Prince Vasiliy Sergeevich, — he shouted to the running from above and from the protruding ladder peeking out waiter in stockings, shoes and tailcoat. The mother straightened the folds of her dyed silk dress, looking in whole at the venetian mirror on the wall and cheerfully, in her worn out shoes, went up the carpet stairs. — My friend, you promised me,142 — turning to her son again, touching his hand to excite him. The son, lowering his eyes, was calmly walking behind her. They entered into the hall, from the lone door that led to the chambers reserved for Prince Vasiliy. At that time, as the mother with the son came into the middle room, setting out to their path, an old waiter jumped up at the entrance, and at one of the doors turned a bronze knob and Prince Vasiliy in a velvet coat with stars, as if home, exiting, seeing off a beautiful black-haired man. This man was the famous Petersburg Doctor Lorrain. — And this is right? — spoke the prince. —— Prince, it is peculiar to people to make a mistake... — was the response of the doctor, lisping and pronouncing Latin words in the French reprimand. — Good, good...143 Noticing Anna Mihaylovna with her son, Prince Vasiliy with a bow let go the doctor and silently, but with an interrogative look, came up to him. The son saw how suddenly a deep sorrow was put in the eyes of his mother and smiled a little. — Yes, in these kinds of sad circumstances we had to see you, prince... Well, what of our dear sick? — she said as if she did not notice the cold, insulting, and striving in her sight. Prince Vasiliy interrogatively, to perplexity, looked at her, and then at Boris. Boris courteously bowed. Prince Vasiliy, not answering in a bow, turned away to Anna Mihaylovna and to her question responded with a movement of head and lips, which meant very bad hopes for the sick. — Is it really? — exclaimed Anna Mihaylovna. — Ah, this is terrible! I fearfully think... This is my son, — she added, pointing to Boris. — He himself wanted to thank you. Boris for another time courteously bowed. — I believe, prince, that the heart of my mother will never forget what you have done for us. — I’m glad that I could do for your pleasant, kind Anna Mihaylovna, — said Prince Vasiliy, straightening his frill and in a gesture and voice showing here, in Moscow, before patronizing Anna Mihaylovna with much more importance than in Petersburg at the evening at Annette Sherer’s. — Try to serve well and be worthy, — he added, strictly turning to Boris. — I'm glad... are you here on leave? — he dictated in his impassive tone. — Waiting for the order, your excellency, so to set off for my new appointment, — was the response of Boris, not showing annoyance for the sharp tone of the prince, or willingness to march into conversation, yet so calmly and respectfully that the prince intently looked at him. — You live with your mother? — I live at Countess Rostov’s, — said Boris, again adding: — your excellency. — This is that Ilya Rostov, which married Nathalie Shinshina, — said Anna Mihaylovna. — I know, I know, — said Prince Vasiliy in his monotonous voice. —I could not understand how Natalie decided to exit to get married to this dirty bear. Completely stupid and funny individual. Also a gambler, they say.144 —But a kind person, prince,145 — noted Anna Mihaylovna, touchingly smiling, as if she knew that Count Rostov deserved such opinions, but requested to pity the poor old man. — What does the doctor say? Asked the princess, keeping silent and again expressing a large sadness on her tattered face. — Little hopes, — said the prince. — But I so wanted more time to thank uncle for all his good deeds to Borya and I. This is his godson,146 — she added in such a tone as if this news must extremely please Prince Vasiliy. Prince Vasiliy thought and grimaced. Anna Mihaylovna understood that he was afraid to find in her a rival in the will of Count Bezuhov. She hastened to reassure him. — Should not my true love and loyal uncle, — she said, with a special confidence and negligence pronouncing this word: — I know his character, noble, straight, but because alone the princesses are with him... they are still young... — she inclined her head and added in a whisper: — has he carried out the last duty, prince? How precious are these last minutes! Because if he gets worse he may be able to; it is necessary to prepare if he is so bad. We, women, prince, — she tenderly smiled, — always know how to say these things. It is necessary to see him. As heavy as this would be for me, I am already used to suffering. The prince, apparently, got it, and got, as in the evening at Annette Sherer’s that Anna Mihaylovna would be difficult to get off. — This would be too heavy for him at this date, chère (pretty) Anna Mihaylovna, — he said. — Wait until the evening, the doctor promised a crisis. — But we cannot wait, prince in these minutes. I think the business going about is the salvation of his soul! Ah! This terrible duty of a Christian...147 From the interior rooms opened a door and exited one of the princesses and nieces of the count, with a gloomy and cold face and amazingly disproportionate legs with a long waist. Prince Vasiliy turned around to her. — Well, how is he? — All the same. And how would you want, with this noise... — said the princess, looking around Anna Mihaylovna, as if unfamiliar. — Ah, pretty, I did not recognized you,148 — with a happy smile said Anna Mihaylovna, easy and ambly coming up to the niece of the count. — I arrived to help you with uncle. Imagine, how you’ve suffered.149 — she added, with the participation of a rolling eye. The princess answered with nothing, not even smiling and immediately exiting again. Anna Mihaylovna took off her gloves and in a conquering position settled down in an armchair, inviting Prince Vasiliy to sit beside her. — Boris! — she told her son and smiled, — I will go to the count, to uncle, but you go to Pierre, mon ami (my friend), meanwhile, and don’t forget to deliver his invitation of the Rostovs. They call him for dinner. I think he won’t go? — she turned to the prince. — The opposite, — said the prince, apparently not in spirit. — I would be very glad, if you would save me from this young person!..150 He sits here. The count not once has asked about him. He shook his shoulders. The waiter led the young man downwards and up to different stairs to Pyotr Kirillovich. 138. Mon cher Boris, (My dear Boris,) 139. Mon cher Boris, (My dear Boris,) 140. mon cher, (my dear,) 141. Mon ami! (My friend!) 142. Mon cher, vous m’avez promis, (My dear, you promised me,) 143. C’est donc positif?...Mon prince, "errare humanum est", mais...C’est bien, c’est bien…(Thus it's positive?...My prince, "errare humanum est," but ...that's good, that's good...) 144. Je n’ai jamais pu concevoir, comment Nathalie s’est décidée à épouser cet ours mal-léché! Un personnage complètement stupide et ridicule. Et joueur à ce qu’on dit (I could never conceive how Nathalie decided to marry that badly refined bear. A completely stupid and ridiculous character. And a player they say.)
145. Mais très brave homme, mon prince, (But a very brave man, my prince,)
146. C’est son filleuil, (This is his godchild,)
147. Pensez, il y va du salut de son âme... Ah! c’est terrible, les devoirs d’un chrétien… (Think, it will be the salvation of his soul... Ah! It is terrible, the duties of a Christian...)
148. Ah, chère, je ne vous reconnaissais pas, (Ah, dear, I did not recognize you,)
149. Je viens d’arriver et je suis à vous pour vous aider à soigner mon oncle, J’imagine, combien vous avez souffert, (I have just arrived and I am yours to help you tend to my uncle, I imagine how much you have suffered,)
150. Je serais très content si vous me débarrassez de ce jeune homme...(I would be very happy if you rid me of this young man...)
Time: See previous chapter. Evening is mentioned.
Locations: Count Bezukhoi's house in Moscow, starting in the yard (wide court in Dole. court-yard in Bell, Mandelker, and Dunnigan (no hyphen in the latter two).) and moving into the parlour (large room in Garnett and Pevear and Volkhonsky. large hall in Maude. huge room in Briggs.
Mentioned: St. Petersburg. Also Anna Pavlovna's soiree and the Rostov house.
Pevear and Volkhonsky notes: Anna Mikhailovna using Countess Rostova’s carriage, “straw-laid street”: “It was an old custom in Russia and Europe to lay straw over the cobblestones of a street where a person lay gravely ill in order to deaden the noise of carriage wheels.”
Locations: Count Bezukhoi's house in Moscow, starting in the yard (wide court in Dole. court-yard in Bell, Mandelker, and Dunnigan (no hyphen in the latter two).) and moving into the parlour (large room in Garnett and Pevear and Volkhonsky. large hall in Maude. huge room in Briggs.
Mentioned: St. Petersburg. Also Anna Pavlovna's soiree and the Rostov house.
Pevear and Volkhonsky notes: Anna Mikhailovna using Countess Rostova’s carriage, “straw-laid street”: “It was an old custom in Russia and Europe to lay straw over the cobblestones of a street where a person lay gravely ill in order to deaden the noise of carriage wheels.”
Anna and Boris walk in without being asked to be announced. Anna looks in a mirror after entering. Anna has deep grielf suddenly appear in her eyes, which makes Boris smile. “The patronized Anna Mikhailovna”
Count Rostov is compared to a bear. He is a gambler, according to Vassily. Anna believes Count Rostov deserves that opinion, but has pity on the poor old man. “It was difficult to get rid of Anna Mikhailovna”
Vassily also wants to get rid of Pierre, who the dying count has not asked about.
Characters (characters who do not appear, but are mentioned are placed in italics. First appearances are in Bold. First mentions are underlined. Final appearance denoted by *):
Boris
Anna Mikhailovna (also called Princess Drubetskaya by the Swiss)
Countess Rostova (referred to as “Nathalie Shinshina”, as in Dole and Dunnigan, by Anna. “...Shinshin” in Edmonds, “Natalya Shinshin” in Briggs, also “Shinshin” in Garnett)
Count Kirill Vladimirovitch Bezukhoi (repeatedly emphasized he is the godfather of Boris, also called “excellency”, as in Dole, Maude, and Garnett, capitalized in Edmonds, Anna Mikhailovna refers to him as “my uncle” in Dole (italics on
uncle) and Bell, “Uncle” in Dunnigan, Maude, and Edmonds (italics on uncle in Edmonds and Maude), “our uncle” in Briggs, “uncle” with no capitalization in Garnett)
uncle) and Bell, “Uncle” in Dunnigan, Maude, and Edmonds (italics on uncle in Edmonds and Maude), “our uncle” in Briggs, “uncle” with no capitalization in Garnett)
The Swiss (not the same one from the previous chapter obviously, see alternate titles in previous chapter)
Prince Vasili (referred to as “Prince Vasili Sergeyevitch”, as in Dole, by the Swiss and Anna. The second name, with the normal Vasili variations in the translations, is “Sergeyevich” in Dunnigan and Edmonds, “Kuragin” in Briggs,
“Sergyevitch” in Garnett, “Sergeevich” in Maude and Mandelker, “Sergyeevich” in Weiner, Bell doesn’t use the second name at all. Also called “excellency”, or “Serenity” as in Weiner, by Boris)
“Sergyevitch” in Garnett, “Sergeevich” in Maude and Mandelker, “Sergyeevich” in Weiner, Bell doesn’t use the second name at all. Also called “excellency”, or “Serenity” as in Weiner, by Boris)
Footman referred to as “elderly.” There appears to be another footman at the end of the chapter, but as Russian doesn’t have articles (such as “a” or “the”), it is not entirely clear. Dole, Edmonds, and Garnett all opt for “A”,
giving the idea that it is a different footman, but there isn’t really a reason for one way or the other)
Doctor Lorrain (Weiner uses “physician”)
Anna Pavlovna (referred to as “Annette Scherer” in Dole, Weiner, and Mandelker, the latter putting “Annette” in italics, “Anna Scherer” in Maude)
Count Rostov (referred to as “Ilya Rostof” by Anna)
The count’s niece (one of the “young princesses” referred to a couple of times in the chapter. Just “the lady” and “one of the princesses” in Bell, “Count’s niece” and “princess” in Dunnigan, Briggs also prefers princess)
Pierre (the end of the chapter gives his more formal name of “Pierre Kirilovitch” as in Bell, “Pyotr Kirilovich” in Dunnigan, “...Kirillovitch” in Garnett. Dole, Briggs, Edmonds, Mandelker, Weiner, and Maude just say “Pierre”)
Abridged Versions: No chapter break at the end for Bell
Gibian: Chapter 6.
Gibian: Chapter 6.
Fuller: The only real difference is that the princess does not come in
Komroff: The detail about them walking straight in without waiting to be announced is removed. Boris also doesn’t tell his mother that they should go and it is quicker before the “hall-porter” announces them in. But the
rest of the chapter is preserved.
Kropotkin: Chapter 10: Preserves the chapter
Bromfield: Chapter 19: detail about Vasily having the “typical Petersburgian’s contempt for everything Muscovite” Everything else is the same
Simmons: Chapters 6 and 7 are cut, and replaced with: "In Sections 6 or 7, Anna Mikhaylovna forces her way into the dying Count Bezukhov's room to plead the cause of her son Boris, who assures Pierre that he and
Simmons: Chapters 6 and 7 are cut, and replaced with: "In Sections 6 or 7, Anna Mikhaylovna forces her way into the dying Count Bezukhov's room to plead the cause of her son Boris, who assures Pierre that he and
his mother want nothing from his father. Boris tenders Pierre the invitation of the Rostovs to dinner."
Additional Notes:
Three Deaths Chapter 3: "In one of the chief streets fresh straw had been strewn on the road before a large, important house, where the invalid who had been in a hurry to go abroad lay dying."
Three Deaths Chapter 3: "In one of the chief streets fresh straw had been strewn on the road before a large, important house, where the invalid who had been in a hurry to go abroad lay dying."
Doctors are portrayed a little more positively in the Three Deaths than in other Tolstoyan work ("The Devil" is a good example, as the emphasis is on the doctor prescribing something he admits he has no
evidence for, being unsure, and taking money), but are ultimately powerless, accepting the natural course of things, the way things must be:
"'But she is killed already--you must know that, Vasili Dmitrich. A person can't live without lungs, and new lungs won't grow. It is sad and hard, but what is to be done? My business and yours is to see that her end
is made as peaceful as possible. It's a priest who is needed for that."
Of course, as is with death in almost every example of death in Tolstoy's work, the focus is not entirely on death or the death itself, but the surrounding "everyday life" considerations of everyone around them
(such as how everyone present at Ivan Ilyich's death is only thinking about how the death will affect them personally).
Lucerne (Maude/Briggs) Page 282: “To all of them life in this world was so comfortable, convenient, clean, and easy; their movements and faces expressed such indifference to any other kind of life than their own, such assurance that the porter would step aside for them and bow, and that on returning they would find comfortable rooms and beds, that it all must be so and that they had a right to it all"
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