Book 3 Part 1 Chapter 21 (Chapter 185 overall)

Chapter Summaries: Dole: Arrival of the Tsar. Petya's experiences at the Kreml. Crushed. Service at the Uspiensky (Assumption) Cathedral. The dinner at the palace. Petya gets the biscuit. And is allowed to enter the army.
Maude: Petya goes to the Kremlin to see the Emperor. He gets crushed. He secures a biscuit thrown by the Emperor after dinner
Briggs: Petya is crushed at the Kremlin, but overwhelmed by seeing the Emperor.
Pevear and Volokhonsky: Petya tries to meet the emperor. The crowd in the Kremlin. The old count gives in.

Translation:

XXI.

Petya, after receiving from them a decisive rejection, went into his room and there, shut up from all, bitterly cried. All was done as if no one noticed, when he to tea came silent and gloomy with crying eyes.

On the next day the sovereign had arrived. A few person’s of the court of the Rostovs took time off to go see the tsar. On this morning Petya long dressed, combed his hair and arranged his collar so as a large one. He frowned before the mirror, made gestures, shook his shoulders, and finally, not saying anything, allotted his cap and got out from the home from the rear porch, trying to be unnoticed. Petya decided to go all to that place, where was the sovereign, and explain all to some chamberlain (to Petya it seemed that the sovereign was always surrounded by chamberlains), that he, Count Rostov, despite his youth, wished to serve the homeland, that youth may not be an obstacle for devotion, and that he was ready... Petya, at that time as he was going, prepared many beautiful words that he would say to the chamberlain.

Petya calculated in success his presentation to the sovereign because of how he was a child (Petya thought even how all were amazed by his youth), but together with that device of his collar, hairstyle and powerful slow gait, he wanted to represent himself as an old man. Yet the farther he was walking, the more he was having fun with all the arriving and arriving people at the Kremlin, by that he more forgot the observance of power and slowness, inherent for adult people. Coming up to the Kremlin, he now began to look after about so he would not be shoved, and resolutely, with a threatening look put up by his sides his elbows. But at the Troitsky gate, despite all his determination, the people, who probably did not know with which patriotic purpose he was walking to the Kremlin, so pressed him to the wall that he was to submit and stay, while at the gate with the humming under the arch sound drove through crews. About Petya stood a woman with a lackey, two merchants and a retired soldier. Standing for some time at the gate, Petya, not waiting so that all the crews drove through, before others wanted to get under way farther and started to resolutely work now; but the woman, standing against him, at whom he first directed his elbows, angrily shouted at him:

— What, young man, pushing, you see — all are worth. What but to climb!

— So all climb, — said the lackey and, also beginning to work now, squeezed Petya at the smelly corner of the gate.

Petya wiped with his hands the sweat covering his face, and corrected the soaked from sweat collar which he so well, as a large one, arranged at home.

Petya felt that he had an unpresentable view, and was afraid that if he so presented to the chamberlains, that he would not be allowed before the sovereign. Yet recovering and crossing to another place there was not any opportunity from the cramped. One of the passing generals was familiar to the Rostovs. Petya wanted to ask his assistance, but considered that this would be nasty to courage. When all the crews drove through, the crowd gushed and carried out Petya in the area, which was all busy with people. Not only by the square, but at the slopes, on the rooftops, everywhere was people. Only that Petya found himself on the square, he clearly heard the filling all the Kremlin sound of bells and the joyful, popular speech.

At one time in the square was space, but suddenly all heads opened, all threw still somewhere forward. Petya squeezed so that he could not breathe, and all screamed: "Hoorah! Hoorah! Hoorah!" Petya lifted on tiptoe, pushed, pinched, but nothing could be seen besides the people around himself.

On all faces was one common expression of affection and delight. Only the merchant’s wife, standing beside Petya, sobbed, and tears flowed in her eyes.

— Father, angel, father! — she sentenced, wiping tears with fingers.

— Hoorah! — shouted to all parties.

From that moment the crowd stood in one location; but then again threw forward.

Petya, himself not remembering, squeezing his teeth and brutally rolling out his eyes, rushed forward, working now and shouting: "Hoorah!" as if he was ready to kill all and himself in this moment, but with his sides climbed with exactly such the same brutal face with such the same screaming: "Hoorah!"

"So here is that sovereign!" thought Petya. "No, it cannot be for me to give him a petition, this is too bold!" Despite that, he all so the same frantically made his way forward, and from behind his back to the front flashed an empty space with a strewn red cloth underway; but at this time the crowd hesitated backwards (in the front the policemen repelled the advancing too close to the procession; the sovereign passed from the palace to the Uspensky cathedral), and Petya suddenly received in his side such a stroke by the ribs, and was so pinned down, that suddenly in his eyes all clouded, and he lost consciousness. When he came to himself, some spiritual face, with a bundle of graying hair back, in a shabby blue frock — probably a deacon, with one hand held him under the shoulder, another guarded from the pressing crowd.

— The master is crushed! — spoke the deacon. — What the same so!. Easy... crushed, crushed!

The sovereign passed on to Uspensky cathedral. The crowd again leveled, and the deacon brought out the pale and not breathing Petya to the Tsar-Cannon. A few persons pitied Petya, and suddenly all the crowd turned to him, and now around him occurred a crush. Those that were standing nearer, doing a service to him, unbuttoned his frock coat, seated him on the elevation of the guns and reproached someone of those who crushed him.

— That way to death one can crush. What is this! A murder is done! You see its cordial, as a white tablecloth he has become, — said a voice.

Petya soon came to his senses, the color returned to his face, the pain passed, and behind this temporary unpleasantness he received a place on the cannon, from which he hoped to see the due to come backwards sovereign. Petya now did not think about filing his petition. Now he only would see him, and then he would count himself happy!

In the time of the service at the Uspensky cathedral — united in prayer by the occasion of the arrival of the sovereign and the thanksgiving prayer for the conclusion of the peace with the Turks, the crowd spread; appeared shouting sellers of kvass, gingerbread, poppy, to which was especially wanted by Petya, and was heard ordinary conversations. Only the merchant’s wife showed her torn shawl and informed how expensively it was bought; another said that now all silk matter had become dear. The deacon, the savior of Petya, talked with an officer about who will serve now with the bishop. The deacon a few times repeated the word cathedral, which Petya did not understand. Two young tradesmen joked with court girls, gnawing nuts. All these conversations, in particular the jokes with the girls, for Petya, at his age, having particular attractiveness, all these conversations now did not occupy Petya; he sat at his elevation — the cannon, all so the same worried at the thought about the sovereign and about his love to him. The coincidence feeling of pain and fear, when he was squeezed, with the feeling of delight, still more strengthened in him the consciousness of these important minutes.

Suddenly from the embankment was heard cannon shots (fired in commemoration of the peace with the Turks), and the crowd swiftly threw to the embankment — looking, as it shot. Petya also wanted to run there, but the deacon, taking under his patronage the young master, did not let him. Still continued shots, when from the Uspensky cathedral ran out officers, generals, chamberlains, then now not so hastily came out still others, again taking off hats from heads, and those that ran away to look at the guns, ran backwards. Finally came out still four men in uniforms and ribbons from the doors of the cathedral. "Hoorah! Hoorah!" again screamed the crowd.

— Which one? Which one? — the crying voice of Petya asked around himself, but no one was responding to him; all were too passionate about, and Petya, choosing one of these four persons, whom he from behind tears, spoke to him from joy in his eyes, could not be clearly discerned, focused in him all his delight, although this was not the sovereign, and shouted "hoorah!" in a frantic voice and decided that tomorrow already, what would this cost him, he will go to the military.

The crowd ran behind the sovereign, carried out to him to the palace and had become dispersed. It was now late, and Petya had nothing to eat, and sweat poured from him; but he did not go away to home, and together with the diminishing, but still quite a large crowd stood before the palace, in the time of the dinner of the sovereign, looking at the window of the palace, expecting something still and envying equally the dignitaries, driving to the porch — to the dinner of the sovereign, and the office lackeys, serving behind the table, flashed in the windows.

Behind the dinner of the sovereign Valuev said, looking back at the window:

— All the people still hope to see your majesty.

The dinner now was over, the sovereign got up, eating a biscuit, and got out to the balcony. The people, with Petya in the middle, rushed to the balcony.

— Angel, father! Hoorah! Father!... — shouted the people and with them Petya, and again the women and some weaker men, including Petya, cried from happiness. Quite a big piece of biscuit, which was held in the hand of the sovereign, breaking off, fell on the railing of the balcony, from the railing to the ground. Nearer than all, a standing coachman in an undercoat rushed to this piece of biscuit and grabbed it. Some of the crowd threw to the coachman. Noticing this, the sovereign told to give himself a plate with biscuits and began to throw the biscuits from the balcony. The eyes of Petya poured blood, the danger of being crushed still excited him more, he rushed to the biscuits. He did not know what for, but it was needed to take one biscuit from the hands of the tsar, and it was needed not to succumb. He rushed and knocked down from their feet an old person, catching a biscuit. Yet the old lady did not count herself defeated, although lying on the ground (the old lady caught biscuits that did not hit her hands). Petya knee repulsed her hand, he grabbed the biscuit, and as if fearing to be late, again shouted: hoorah! in an already hoarse voice.

The sovereign was gone, and after this the big part of the people became dispersed.

— Here I spoke that still to wait — so exit, — from different parties happily was said in the people.

How happy was Petya, but he all the same was sad to go home and know that all the enjoyment of this day was finished. From the Kremlin Petya went not home, but to his friend Obolensky, who was fifteen years-old and who also acted in the regiment. Returning home, he resolutely and firmly declared that should he not be let, that he will run away. And on the next day, although not really still handed over, Count Ilya Andreich went to find out how he would attach Petya somewhere safer.

Time: the following day, morning, dinner, the following day

Locations: see previous chapter, the Kremlin (Kreml in Dole.), Trinity Gate (Trinity Gateway in Maude. Troitsky Gate in Dunnigan), church of the Assumption (Cathedral of the Assumption in Maude, Dunnigan, and Briggs. Uspensky Sobor in Garnett. Uspeinsky Catherdral in Dole.), tsar-cannon (tsar is capitalized in Mandelker. both words are capitalized in Briggs. big cannon in Garnett. great cannon in Bell. Tsar-puskha or King of Guns in Dole.)
Mentioned: Turks

Pevear and Volokhonsky Notes: Perhaps the first chapter to really have a focus on Petya, who is upset that he has been rejected in his wish. The sovereign has come into town and he sneaks out so he can appeal to the sovereign to let him join. Humorous aside here with “Petya thought that a sovereign was always surrounded by gentlemen-in-waiting”.

None of this, of course, goes like Petya wants it to, with his clothes becoming sweat-soaked and his elbowing through the crowds not working. He ends up getting almost crushed by the crowds. He takes in the scene around
him, but more than anything, his love, worship, and rapture for the tsar overtakes him. Alexander, who is finishing dinner, steps out and those that see him, including Petya, weep with joy and strangely, Alexander starts
throwing biscuits out to the crowd (the note suggests this is ahistorical).
The count now has to find a less dangerous way to get Petya involved in the military so he doesn’t run away.

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 *):

Petya (he also calls himself “Count Rostof”. Called “barchuk” or “son of a barin” by a peasant woman.)

Alexander (“sovereign”, “majesty”, “Angel”, “batyushka”, “father” and “tsar”.)

Valuyef

Obolyensky

Count Ilya Andreyitch

(The Rostofs’ household serfs are referenced as they want to go see the sovereign. And of course the many people who go see the tsar, including a peasant woman and a lackey, two merchants, and a retired soldier,
and a merchant’s wife, some strange priest,---apparently a diachok. There is a reference to “His Emiennce, I believe this is to Alexander, but considering the conversation, it could be the priest.)

Abridged Versions: Chapter 10 in Bell.
Gibian: Chapter 21.

Fuller: Entire chapter is cut.

Komroff: A lot of Peter’s plan and inner thought is removed, and he gets to the procession much more quickly. A lot of the mob and crushing is also removed, but the basic episodes are kept.

Kropotkin: Entire chapter is cut.

Bromfield: Chapter 15: Some of Petya’s setup isn’t here. No break.
Simmons: Chapter 21: some detail before Petya gets to the Kremlin is removed, as is a lot of detail about the service. A line break after "would join the army" before the episode with the biscuits.

Additional Notes: Bayley: Page 17: “Tolstoy had the aristocrat’s confidence in himself, his conviction of his own rightness, and his assumption that the world revolves around himself. These

he never lost; the solipsism of the young Tolstoy and the dogmatism of the old man who portrayed himself in his play The Light Shines in Darkness are really one and the same...It is based,

significantly, on the family, and the great family connections in the big novels depend very much on it.

The gigantic Tsar Cannon that Petya gets crushed up again still exists and is still noteworthy for its large size.

Breunig: Page 109: “It also became clear to Alexander that Napoleon was far from willing to concede to Russia the free hand in the dismemberment of Turkey which the tsar thought he

had obtained at Tilsit. Alexander realized, as Russia’s war with Turkey dragged on, that even if he were victorious, Napoleon would probably block his plans for expansion into Turkey’s

provinces in southeastern Europe.”