Collage 436

The sun, a red ball in the dust, scorched and burned his back unbearably through his black tunic. Dust, the same as ever, hung motionless over the halted troops buzzing with talk. There was no wind. As he rode across the dam, Prince Andrei smelled the slime and the freshness of the pond. He wanted to go into the water- however dirty it was. He glanced around the pond, from which came shouts and loud laughter. The small, muddy green pond had evidently risen some eight inches, overflowing the dam, because it was filled with the naked human bodies of soldiers flopping about in it, white with brick-red hands, faces, and necks. All that naked, white human flesh, with whoops and guffaws, was flopping about in the dirty puddle like carp in a bucket. This flopping suggested merriment, and that made it particularly sad. --p703 in P/V

Lynn Waskelis
from page 127-128, Volume 2 of original text
collage
made 3/18/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 702-703