Briggs: Pierre walks back to Mozhaysk, where he meets his own groom.
Maude (chapters 8-9): Pierre walks to Mozhaysk. His night-lodging there. His dream, and his return to Moscow
Pevear and Volokhonsky: Pierre after Borodino. Returns to Mozhaisk with foot soldiers.
Translation:
VIII.
In the second of time, now at the end of the Borodino battle, escaping with the battery of Raevsky, Pierre with the droves of soldiers directed by the ravine to Knyazkov, reaching before the dressing handling and, upon seeing blood and hearing shouting and moans, hastily went farther, confused in the crowd of soldiers.
What Pierre only desired now by all the forces of his soul was so to exit soon from these scary impressions in which he lived on this day, to return to the ordinary conditions of life and to fall asleep calmly in his room on his bed. Only in the ordinary conditions of life he felt that he would be in the condition to understand himself and all that he saw and experienced. Yet these ordinary conditions of life were nowhere.
Although shots and bullets did not whistle here by the road he was walking, with all parties was that same that was there on the field of the battle. Those same were suffering, plagued and sometimes weirdly indifferent faces, that same blood, those same soldiers in greatcoats, those same sounds of shooting, although distant, all still suggestive of horror; besides this was the stuffiness and dust.
Having passed three versts by the big Mozhayck road, Pierre sat down on the edge of it.
Dusk came down on the land, and the rumble of cannons fell silent. Pierre, leaned on his arm, lied down and lied for long, looking at the advancing past him in the dark shadows. Incessantly to him it seemed that with a terrible whistle swooped in on him a cannon ball; he shuddered and rose. He did not remember how much time he stayed here. In the middle of the night three soldiers, dragging branches, fit beside him and began to breed a fire.
The soldiers, sideways to Pierre, took around the fire, put on it a kettle, crumbled bread in it and placed lard. The agreeable smell of edible and fat food merged with the smell of smoke. Pierre rose and sighed. The soldiers (there were three) ate, not turning attention to Pierre, and talked between themselves.
— And from what kind would you be? — suddenly turned to Pierre one of the soldiers, obviously by this issue implying that, what thought Pierre: if you want to eat, we will give, only say whether you are an honest person.
— I? I?... — said Pierre, feeling miserable to belittle as he could his public position, so that to be nearer and clearer for the soldier. — I by present am a militia officer, only my squad is not here; I came to the battle, and lost them.
— Did you see them! — said one of the soldiers.
The other soldier shook their head.
— What but sing, if you want mess! — said the first and gave Pierre, licking it, a wooden spoon.
Pierre hooked to the fire and began to eat the mess, that food which was on the kettle and which to him seemed very tasty out of all dishes which he had eaten at any time. In that time as he greedily, bending over above the kettle, taking away the large spoon, chewed one behind another, his face was seen in the light of the fire, and the soldiers silently looked at him.
— Where do you need that? You say! — asked again one of them.
— I am in Mozhayck.
— You have come, baron?
— Yes.
— But how are you called?
— Petr Kirilovich.
— Well, Petr Kirolovich, go, we will take you somewhere.
In the perfect dark the soldiers together with Pierre went to Mozhayck.
Already the roosters sang when they reached to Mozhayck, and began to go up on the cool city mountain. Pierre was walking together with the soldiers, completely forgetting that his inn yard was down below the mountain and that he now passed it. He would not have remembered this (in such the lost condition he was found), should he not have faced on half of the mountain his horse trainer, going to look for him by the city and returning backwards to his inn court. The horse trainer found Pierre by his hat, white in the dark.
— Your excellency, — he spoke, — but really we are desperate. For what are you by foot? Where again were you, please!
— Ah yes, — said Pierre.
The soldiers paused.
— Well what, found them? — said one of them.
— Well, goodbye! Petr Kirilovich, it seems? — Goodbye, Petr Kirilovich! — said another voice.
— Farewell, — said Pierre and directed with his horse trainer to the inn court.
"Need to give them!" thought Pierre, taking for his pocket. — "No, do not need to," said some voice to him.
In the chambers of the inn court was not places: all were busy. Pierre passed in the yard and, hiding from his head, lied down on his seat.
Locations: Raevski's battery, Knyazkovo, Mozhaysk
Mentioned: Borodino, Pierre's room, the tavern
Pevear and Volokhonsky Notes: "The one thing Pierre now desired with all the forces of his soul was to get away as quickly as possible from those dreadful impressions in which he had lived that day, to return to the ordinary conditions of life, and fall peacefully asleep in a room on his own bed."
He sees the carnage of the battle, and finally, despite his fears, the battle has actually ended. Some soldiers around him start making breakfast and invite Pierre to join them. Somehow Pierre's hat is still white and his groom finds him when we get this amazing sentence: "There was no place left in the rooms of the inn: they were all taken."
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 *):
Pierre (also "Piotr Kirillovitch" and "illustriousness". Also his "equerry".)
Rayevsky
Abridged Versions: Start of Chapter 12 in Bell with no break at the end.
Gibian: Chapter 6: line break instead of chapter break at the end.
Fuller: Start of Part Eight. Only the first paragraph is kept and no break.
Komroff: The chapter begins with Pierre's desire to get home and in his bed. The entirety of the three soldiers and his conversation with his groom, who is only mentioned in passing, is removed, making it seem that Pierre walked to where he left his groom before finding out there is no room in the inn and going to sleep in his carriage. No break.
Kropotkin: Entire chapter is cut.
Bromfield: No apparent corresponding chapter.
Simmons: Chapter 6: Some of the detail about Pierre's fear that a shell will come after him is removed. The soldier's initial treatment of him is removed and his thought that he might give them with something is also removed.
Additional Notes:
The "no room in the inn" at the end of the chapter will remind readers of the Jesus birth narrative in Luke, where Jesus's parents find no "room in the inn" (probably best understood as guest house).
Earlier in the novel (when Nikolay Rostov has to return to his family from the army) Tolstoy makes reference to an "inner voice" that tells us we are wrong when we are idle. At the Christmas celebration, Sonya has an inner voice tell her that her fate will soon be decided.
The School of Life compares how Tolstoy uses the inner lives of Natasha, Karenin, and Ivan Ilych to not only show us their characters, but to communicate his ethical messages as well.
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