of them all, but I cannot say so, judging by his
first movements. And what are they doing, all
these courtiers? Pfuel proposes, Armfeldt disputes, Bennigsen considers, and Barclay, called
on to act, does not know what to decide on, and
time passes bringing no result. Bagratión alone
is a military man. He's stupid, but he has experience, a quick eye, and resolution. . . . And
what role is your young monarch playing in
that monstrous crowd? They compromise him
and throw on him the responsibility for all
that happens. A sovereign should not be with
the army unless he is a general!" said Napoleon, evidently uttering these words as a direct
challenge to the Emperor. He knew how Alexander desired to be a military commander.
"The campaign began only a week ago, and
you haven't even been able to defend Vilna.
You are cut in two and have been driven out of the Polish provinces. Your army is grumbling."
"On the contrary, Your Majesty," said Balashëv, hardly able to remember what had been said to him and following these verbal fireworks with difficulty, "the troops are burning with eagerness . . ."
"I know everything!" Napoleon interrupted him. "I know everything. I know the number of your battalions as exactly as I know my own.
You have not two hundred thousand men, and I have three times that number. I give you my word of honor." said Napoleon, forgetting that his word of honor could carry no weight–"I give you my word of honor that I have five hundred and thirty thousand men this side of the Vistula. The Turks will be of no use to you; they are worth nothing and have shown it by making peace with you. As for the Swedes it is their fate to be governed by mad kings. Their king was insane and they changed him for another–Bernadotte, who promptly went mad–for no Swede would ally himself with Russia unless he were mad."
Napoleon grinned maliciously and again raised his snuffbox to his nose.
Balashëv knew how to reply to each of Napoleon's remarks, and would have done so; he continually made the gesture of a man wishing to say something, but Napoleon always interrupted him. To the alleged insanity of the Swedes, Balashëv wished to reply that when Russia is on her side Sweden is practically an island: but Napoleon gave an angry exclamation to drown his voice. Napoleon was in that state of irritability in which a man has to talk, talk, and talk, merely to convince himself that he is in the right. Balashëv began to feel uncomfortable: as envoy he feared to demean his dignity and felt the necessity of replying; but, as a man, he shrank before the transport of groundless wrath that had evidently seized Napoleon. He knew that none of the words now uttered by Napoleon had any significance, and that Napoleon himself would be ashamed of them when he came to his senses. Balashëv stood with downcast eyes, looking at the movements of Napoleon's stout legs and trying to avoid meeting his eyes.
"But what do I care about your allies?" said Napoleon. "I have allies–the Poles. There are eighty thousand of them and they fight like lions. And there will be two hundred thousand of them."
And probably still more perturbed by the fact that he had uttered this obvious falsehood, and that Balashëv still stood silently before him in the same attitude of submission to fate, Napoleon abruptly turned round, drew close to Balashëv's face, and, gesticulating rapidly and energetically with his white hands, almost shouted:
"Know that if you stir up Prussia against me, I'll wipe it off the map of Europe!" he declared, his face pale and distorted by anger, and he struck one of his small hands energetically with the other. "Yes, I will throw you back beyond the Dvina and beyond the Dnieper, and will re-erect against you that barrier[1] which it was criminal and blind of Europe to allow to be destroyed. Yes, that is what will happen to you.
That is what you have gained by alienating me!" And he walked silently several times up and down the room, his fat shoulders twitching.
He put his snuffbox into his waistcoat pocket, took it out again, lifted it several times to his nose, and stopped in front of Balashëv. He paused, looked ironically straight into Balashëv's eyes, and said in a quiet voice:
"And yet what a splendid reign your master might have had!"
Balashëv, feeling it incumbent on him to reply, said that from the Russian side things did not appear in so gloomy a light. Napoleon was silent, still looking derisively at him and evidently not listening to him. Balashëv said that in Russia the best results were expected from the war. Napoleon nodded condescendingly, as if to say, "I know it's your duty to say that, but you don't believe it yourself. I have convinced you."
- ↑ Namely, a large Polish state. TR.
