Pagina 727 van 3800

His hearers expected a story of how beside himself and all aflame

with excitement, he had flown like a storm at the square, cut his

way in, slashed right and left, how his saber had tasted flesh

and he had fallen exhausted, and so on. And so he told them all

that.

In the middle of his story, just as he was saying: "You cannot

imagine what a strange frenzy one experiences during an attack,"

Prince Andrew, whom Boris was expecting, entered the room. Prince

Andrew, who liked to help young men, was flattered by being asked

for his assistance and being well disposed toward Boris, who had

managed to please him the day before, he wished to do what the

young man wanted. Having been sent with papers from Kutuzov to

the Tsarevich, he looked in on Boris, hoping to find him alone.

When he came in and saw an hussar of the line recounting his

military exploits (Prince Andrew could not endure that sort of

man), he gave Boris a pleasant smile, frowned as with half-closed

eyes he looked at Rostov, bowed slightly and wearily, and sat

down languidly on the sofa: he felt it unpleasant to have dropped

in on bad company. Rostov flushed up on noticing this, but he did

not care, this was a mere stranger.