Showing posts with label bridge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bridge. Show all posts

Tuesday, 14 July 2015

Book 2 - Chapter 12

Characters Present:

Emperor Francis
Prince Andrew Bolkónski
Bilíbin

Location: 

Palace, then Bilíbin's house


Bolkónski has his audience with the Emperor, and the Emperor's enthusiasm for the victory over Mortier seems to ingratiate Bolkónski to the rest of the court.

Bolkónski returns to Bilíbin's house to see a carriage hurriedly being packed with luggage.  Bilíbin races out and says that Thabor Bridge in Vienna was taken by the French before it could get blown up, and that the Russians were tricked by the French into to not doing so. 

Consequently, the French are now on the move to Brünn and the inhabitants of Brünn are now on the run to Olmütz.  Bilíbin invites Bolkónski to go with him to Olmütz, but Bolkönksi declines and starts packing to return to the army.

Thursday, 9 July 2015

Book 2 Chapter 8

Characters Present: 

Colonel Karl Bogdánich Schubert - German-Russian, speaks Russian badly as written by Tolstoy
Zherkóv
Vaska Denísov
Cadet Minónov
Prince Nesvítski
Nicholas Rostóv

Location: 

Still on the bridge crossing the River Danube at Enns

Denisóv's squadron are the only remaining on the end of the bridge and can see the blue uniforms of the French coming over the hill on the opposite bank.  Schubert and his two squadrons are nearby, and Nesvístki rides up to Schubert and demands to know why he he hasn't followed orders and burnt the bridge down.  Schubert denies ever receiving such orders and sends Denisóvs squadron back to do it. 

Rostóv, being in Denísov's squadron, rides back on to the bridge and freezes with fear as the French artillery and infantry get closer and wounded soldiers start calling out for stretchers. Meanwhile, Zherkóv, Nesvítski and others are discussing whether the bridge will catch fire before the French get to it, and they are happy when it does.