Anna Pavlovna is having another soiree in St. Pete. Tolstoy contrasts the light and airy atmosphere of their cozy aristocratic circle with the raging war in Moscow. It is quite inconvenient for these French speaking Russian aristocrats to reach out of their puffy circle and pay attention to the important issues of the day-–their brothers and sisters in Moscow.
What a very moralizing Tolstoyian scene! I can just see him shaking his finger at them all! Chris
Christiane Carney Johnson
from page 413-414, volume 2 of original text
collage, oil pastels, foil, dried flowers from Yasnaya Polyana
made 9/2/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 937-938
Your samovar metaphor works nicely. Good job.
ReplyDelete- Otto Mayr