The Nativity Scene Theater is a Christmas puppet drama that was played at fairs and festivities accompanied by the singing of psalms interspersed with the pronunciation of individual words. During carols, children walked with the nativity play from house to house, transporting the nativity box (a specially designed theater screen) on a sleigh.
Nativity scene design
A den box is a type of theatrical screen the height of a man, made specifically for the Christmas performance. The puppeteer stands behind and sees the stage through secret holes in the back wall of the box. Most often it was made two-tiered: on the top shelf scenes with the participation of the Holy Family took place; and on the lower one were the chambers of King Herod.
photo credit: booth.ru
The dolls were made with wooden or wire sticks at the bottom - holding on to them, the puppeteer moved the dolls along special slots in the floor (they were not visible to the audience, so it seemed that the dolls were moving on their own).
To make the dolls visible, short candles were placed at the edge of each of the two “scenes.” The nativity scene maker either lit them himself, or a doll came out with a torch-beam and lit each candle. The reflections of the candles played on the faces of the dolls and enlivened them. Therefore, even in modern nativity scenes, people reviving the tradition still use candles - static electric light drains the performance.
photo credit: booth.ru
The “Star of Bethlehem” was installed above the nativity box. There was a candle hidden inside it, so the light of the star was flickering.
How the nativity theater came to be
In many European countries At Christmas, mangers with figurines of the baby Jesus, the Virgin Mary, shepherds, sheep and bulls were installed in churches. This tradition is still alive - nativity scenes in Catholic countries are placed in churches and even at home.
Then these “installations” (saying modern language) developed into performances. That’s what people began to call it puppet show, where the story of Christmas was told with the help of dolls.
How the nativity scene got to Russia
IN Russian Empire The nativity scene came from Poland: first to Ukraine and Belarus, and then to Russia. They played him at city celebrations and fairs, and children went home with him on Christmastide to sing carols.
In Ukraine and Belarus, the traditions of performing the nativity scene differed, respectively, and in Russia the nativity scene was played differently - depending on where the tradition of performance came from in the region. In Siberia, the nativity scene was played according to the Ukrainian tradition, for example, and in the Smolensk, Pskov and Novgorod provinces - according to the Belarusian one.
Did they play nativity scene in Nizhny Novgorod?
The nativity scene was also shown at the Nizhny Novgorod fair.
IN late XIX century N.N. Vinogradov, a researcher of nativity scene drama, met Novgorod nativity scene artists on the Volga who were traveling to Nizhny Novgorod for a fair. They showed their “King Herod” right on the deck of the ship.
Each of the nativity scene artists knew the play by heart with minor changes (and their version of the play at that time had 17 scenes, seven of them comic). They said that in Novgorod at that time there were several nativity theaters that traveled around the country and periodically visited Nizhny Novgorod. Unfortunately, there is no information about Nizhny Novgorod nativity scene makers of that time.
Are they playing nativity scenes in Nizhny Novgorod now?
The tradition began to be revived in the 1980s. Parish and Sunday schools and, of course, folklore and ethnographic groups make their own nativity scenes. Among them are from Nizhny Novgorod: the youth folk theater “Evenings”, the folklore and ethnographic ensemble “Bird-Fire”, folklore ensemble“Zhuraleika”, folklore and ethnographic ensemble “Sveti-Tsvet”.
Nativity scene performed by the youth folk theater "Evenings".
At the beginning of 2015, a festival of Christmas nativity theaters was even held in the Dmitrievskaya Tower of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin.
You can make a nativity scene yourself and play it with your children.
Where in Nizhny Novgorod to see a nativity scene on New Year's holidays
From January 5 to January 16, 2016, the nativity scene can be seen in Nizhny Novgorod as part of the festive Christmas interactive program “Karakulka” at the Shchelokovsky farm. In addition to the nativity scene, the program includes singing “carols and tausenki”, Christmas festivities, winter peasant games and horse riding.
Video: Death of King Herod (Christmas nativity scene)
And for dessert, we invite you to watch a Christmas performance performed by the Moscow theater “Wandering Nativity Scene”: Alexander Gref and Elena Slonimskaya were at the origins of the revival of the nativity scene; The Christmas mystery came to life largely thanks to them.
Enjoy watching!
On every holiday, be it church calendar or state, there is a unique zest inherent only to this holiday. So, on Easter it is customary to bake Easter cakes, paint eggs, New Year they decorate the fir tree, but an integral tradition of the Christmas holidays in Rus' were “Christmas nativity scenes.”
The nativity scene is an amazing and unique original Russian folk theater dolls showing the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. According to the Holy Scriptures, the Son of God - the Baby Jesus Christ - was born in a den where the Virgin Mary and the righteous Joseph stopped for the night. The word "vertep" in Old Church Slavonic means "cave".
In Rus', the Nativity scene has been known since the 17th century, but mass distribution received in the 18th and 19th centuries. Performances were allowed to be shown during Christmas celebrations, which lasted 12 days: from the birth of Christ to Baptism. At this time, all families were required to attend church. The children sang carols, for which the owners of the houses they visited gave them tasty treats. Important attributes during Christmas time were a wooden star and a “Nativity scene.”
Yes, it was a portable puppet theater that worked only once a year - at Christmas. And only one performance was played in it, albeit with variations - “King Herod”, supplemented by comic and satirical interludes. Vladimir Dal, compiler " Explanatory dictionary living Great Russian language,” this is how he defined this phenomenon folk culture:
“A spectacle of faces, arranged in a small form, in a box, with which they go about Christmastide, representing the events and circumstances of the birth of Jesus Christ.”
Prototypes of the nativity scene are found in Ancient Greece. This puppet theater was a box without a front wall, divided into two floors. On the first floor there were dolls - people, and on the second floor there were dolls - gods. This was an attempt to tell people about the creation of the world, about the existence of heaven and earth, God's and earth's. After the collapse of the ancient Greek states, the traditions of puppet theaters passed to other states.
Unlike cities Western Europe, where nativity scenes were shown indoors for a long time and they were of impressive size, Eastern Slavs the nativity scene was made of plywood or cardboard and was small in size.
In a two-story nativity scene, each floor had its own meaning: on the lower floor they staged parodies from everyday life, interludes of a secular nature. The plots of the Christmas cycle were also shown here - the night of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, the offering of gifts by the Magi, the persecution of Christ by Herod, the flight to Egypt.
The upper tier depicted the cave in which Jesus Christ was born. Sometimes this tier was called the sky. The dolls were driven by rods, thereby creating the illusion that the figures were moving on their own. One person led the performance, directed and voiced all the characters, changing his voice. The entire performance lasted 10-20 minutes, depending on the text and musical accompaniment.
And since the nativity scene did not have a permanent script, there was always room for creativity. So decide for yourself what a Nativity scene is - a professional theater, an amateur performance, or another attempt to tell people about Jesus Christ?
Before the revolution, nativity puppet shows were very common in our country during the Christmas holidays. Their organizers went from house to house and talked about the events of the Christmas night. But...since 1917, when anti-religious propaganda began, the traditions and rituals associated specifically with Christmas were the first to come under attack. They, like the traditional Christmas tree, were strictly prohibited. And this tradition was forgotten by our compatriots.
Alas, the people’s favorite New Year’s fun, which withstood church persecution, could not withstand the confrontation with militant atheists who destroyed faith along with churches, icons and centuries-old culture. That is why the surviving Nativity scenes in several museums across the country can be counted on one hand.
However, in last decades, interest in nativity scenes in Russia and other countries former USSR reborn again. Since the mid-1990s, nativity theater festivals have even been held.
Perhaps one of the first renovated Vertep theaters is the Moscow Alexander Gref Theater "Wandering Den", which is located in Vadkovsky Lane in Moscow. The theater has existed since 1989. Theater "Wandering Den" - participant and laureate of Russian, Moscow and international festivals, and also holds its own small festival “Old New Year”. “Wandering Den” is a member of the international association of puppeteers UNIMA. Dozens of articles have been written about the theater, television and film stories have been filmed, and radio broadcasts have been recorded.
I bring to your attention a performance by the Wandering Den Theater
"The Death of King Herod or the Nativity Scene."
Believe me, this performance will be interesting not only for children...
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In the repertoire of the puppet theater “Wandering Den”, in addition to traditional puppet shows- “Nativity Scene” and “Parsley at the Fair”, program “Theater” musical instruments" The theater has extensive experience in traveling performances, which can be performed in almost any room: in a classroom, in an apartment, in a hospital ward, in a museum, in the foyer of a theater or in a professional theater stage- and even just on the street.
It seems that the original Russian traditions are being revived - a gratifying fact. Truly, a people cannot lose its culture, no matter what happens over time.
Merry Christmas holidays!
Music: Karen Sargsyan “Christmas night...”
Natalya Plakhteeva
Word "nativity scene" comes from Old Church Slavonic "den" - "cave". This name is used Orthodox Church to indicate the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
A nativity scene in the narrow sense of the word is a folk Christmas performance about the history of the Nativity of Christ, played out in special box. Previously, the Nativity scene was necessarily accompanied by the singing of various religious chants, which distinguished it from secular folk drama.
The nativity scene was part of the folk Christmas carols and the walking of mummers with a “star”. The time of walking with the nativity scene lasted all Christmastide, that is, from the Nativity of Christ (January 7) until the Epiphany of the Lord (January 19). The mummers carried the nativity box on a sled as they went from house to house with their performance. Going up to the porch, they asked permission to carol. If the owners agreed to accept them, the carolers brought the theater into the upper room and the performance began. The children sang the troparion of the holiday:
“Your Nativity, Christ our God,
the rise of the world and the light of reason,
in it, those who serve the stars study with the stars
I bow to you, the Sun of Truth,
and lead you from the heights of the East.
Lord, glory to You!”
Your Nativity, Christ our God,
illuminated the world with the light of knowledge of God;
for then - the stars, like God, served
Were taught by the star
worship You, the Sun of righteousness,
and know You, East, from above.
In our kindergarten The Christmas holiday is traditionally held on Christmastide. Its indispensable attribute, which occupies a place of honor, is the Christmas puppet theater or nativity scene. We have several types of this theater.
I made my first theater about six years ago. To make the cave, I took a cardboard box and decorated it with papier-mâché. Then I decorated the resulting cave with paints.
To depict a starry night, I decided to make the background. To do this, I took a cardboard sheet, painted it with black paint, and when it was dry, I glued on the stars, roughly depicting the constellation Pisces. According to legend, it was there that the Star of Bethlehem appeared
To display a nativity scene, the background is attached to the den-cave using special wire fasteners
I made all the characters from fabric using the traditional folk doll method.
With the help of this Nativity Play, I tell the children the Christmas story every year.
Our students took part in the city Christmas competition. They produced and sent him three works. But the jury chose creative work "Christmas Nativity Scene" . Arina made it. She made the cave in the same way as I did, and Arina made the main characters using the technique "Paper plastic"
The children also took part in a Christmas-themed crafts competition. And this one appeared beautiful work in flat image
And one day, for the Christmas holiday, the leaders of the children's Orthodox center “Grain of Faith” offered us several ideas for decorating the hall, as well as their Vertep Theater. All finely crafted figures were made of porcelain
The priest of our church, Father Pavel, gave beautiful figures main characters of A Christmas Story
By collecting them together and placing them near the nativity scene, they will take pride of place at our Christmas party!
The modern Christmas theater is preserved in kindergartens, schools, centers children's creativity. In some families, parents set up their own nativity scenes, reviving the tradition of home theater.
Publications on the topic:
In our kindergarten, teachers often show puppet shows to children. puppet show contributes to the development of such aspects of education.
T old unnecessary rubber toys I cut off the bottom and threw it away. For work we only need the head from the toy. From unnecessary ones.
Puppet theater plays a big role in shaping a child’s personality. He brings a lot of joy to children. The doll itself is very close.
Puppet theater in kindergartenPreschoolers love to watch puppet theater performances. It is close to them, understandable, accessible and very interesting.
The parents of our group suggested visiting the Saratov Regional Puppet Theater. We took advantage of the offer. The parents organized it.
Batleyka) is a folk puppet theater, which is a two-story wooden box resembling a stage. In Russia nativity scene penetrated at the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries from Poland through Ukraine and Belarus. The name is associated with the original depiction of scenes about the life of Jesus Christ in the cave where he was hidden from King Herod.Among Ukrainians, Belarusians and Russians, the performance was divided into two parts: religious and everyday. Over time, the religious part was reduced and acquired a local flavor, and the repertoire expanded and the nativity scene turned into a folk theater.
Nativity scene design
The nativity scene was a large box, inside of which there was a stage, usually two-tiered. On the upper stage they showed the worship of the newborn baby Jesus, on the lower stage - episodes with Herod, after whose death the everyday part of the performance followed. Wooden dolls were attached to a wire from below, with the help of which the nativity scene maker moved them along slots in the floor. The main decoration on the stage is a manger with a baby. At the back wall there were figures of the righteous Joseph with a long beard and the holy Virgin Mary. Scenes with the birth of Christ were traditionally played out in the upper tier. The owner of the nativity scene usually spoke the text himself in different voices and drove dolls. The choir boys sang Christmas carols. And if a musician was present, he would accompany the singing and dancing with music. Puppeteers and the accompanying musicians and choir walked from house to house, or staged performances in public gathering places - in shopping areas.
Plot
Christmas drama
Social base
The environment from which the nativity scene grew is usually considered to be Ukrainian students, mainly the Kyiv “spudes,” who contributed to its introduction to the north, for example, to Siberia. The existence of nativity play in Poland and Russia is estimated at approximately 200 years. In the first half of the 19th century, the nativity scene disappeared as an everyday phenomenon, appearing at times in remote places of Belarus and Ukraine and more firmly lingering in the life of the Ukrainian peasantry of Eastern Galicia. The text of the Khorol nativity scene, published in the book by E. Markovsky, recorded in 1928, indicates that the nativity scene drama in Ukraine survived until the beginning of the 20th century.
The nativity scene was a favorite entertainment for children of pre-revolutionary Russia. We went with box theaters from December 25th for Yuletide week, and sometimes until Lent itself, but after the Holy Week the spiritual part was prohibited from being shown, only the secular part remained.
Notes
Bibliography
- Markovsky. Ukrainian nativity scene. Text exploration, in. I, view. All-Ukrainian. acad. Sciences, - Kiev, 1929 (Ukrainian)
- Beletsky A. Ancient theater in Russia. The beginnings of theater in folk life and school life in Southern Rus', Ukraine, - M., 1923
- Petrov, South Russian Theater and in particular the nativity scene, “Kyiv. old,” 1882, XII
- Kisil O. Ukrainian theater - view. “Knigospilka”, Kiev, 1905 (Ukrainian)
- Galagan. Ukrainian nativity scene, “Kyiv. old,” X, 1882 (Ukrainian)
- Franco. Before the history of Ukrainian nativity scene of the 18th century, 1st century, - “Zap. Sci. t-va im. Shevchenko", Lvov, 1906, t. 71-73 (Ukrainian)
- His own. New materials on the history of the Ukrainian nativity scene, in the same place, vol. 82, 1908; Shchukin N., Vertep, “Vestn. Geographical islands", vol. II, St. Petersburg, 1860
- Peretz Vl. Puppet theater in Rus' (historical sketch), “Yezhegod. imp. theaters", St. Petersburg. , season 1894-1895 (appendix, book 1), etc., St. Petersburg, 1895
- Vinogradov N. N. Great Russian nativity scene, “Izv. Dept. Russian language and words. Academician Sciences", vol. X, book. 3 and 4, St. Petersburg, 1905 (with detailed bibliography); vol. XI, book. 4, St. Petersburg, 1906 (additions to the bibliography)
- His, Belarusian den, in the same place, vol. XIII, book. 2, St. Petersburg, 1908
- Kisel O. Ukrainian nativity scene. - Fri., 1916. – 79 p.
Links
- Nativity scene // Russian Ethnographic Museum
- Nativity scene and dolls ( detailed description designs and decorations)
- Gref A. Nativity scene and Parsley. The current state of tradition. // Puppet Theatre
- Nekrylova A., Savushkina N. Russian folklore theater // from the book: Folklore theater / Comp., intro. art., preface to texts and comments. A. F. Nekrylova, N. I. Savushkina. - M.: Sovremennik, 1988. - (Classical library of Sovremennik)
- Belarusian folk puppet theater. Nativity scene and Batleyka
- Monologue and dialogue as a means of expressing spirituality in the nativity play of the 18th century and in P. Kulish’s “Irod’s Trouble”
see also
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
The nativity scene was a large box, inside of which there was a stage, usually two-tiered. On the upper stage they showed the worship of the newborn baby Jesus, on the lower stage - episodes with Herod, after whose death the everyday part of the performance followed. Wooden dolls were attached to a wire from below, with the help of which the nativity scene maker moved them along slots in the floor. The main decoration on the stage is a manger with a baby. At the back wall there were figures of the righteous Joseph with a long beard and the holy Virgin Mary. Scenes with the birth of Christ were traditionally played out in the upper tier. The owner of the nativity scene usually himself pronounced the text in different voices and led the dolls. The choir boys sang Christmas carols. And if a musician was present, he would accompany the singing and dancing with music. Puppeteers and the accompanying musicians and choir walked from house to house, or staged performances in public gathering places - in shopping areas.
Plot
Christmas drama
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Modern recreated nativity scene of the Ensemble Dm. Pokrovsky
Social base
The environment from which the nativity scene grew is usually considered to be Ukrainian students, mainly the Kyiv “spudes,” who contributed to its introduction to the north, for example, to Siberia. The existence of nativity play in Poland and Russia is estimated at approximately 200 years. In the first half of the 19th century, the nativity scene disappeared as an everyday phenomenon, appearing at times in remote places of Belarus and Ukraine and more firmly lingering in the life of the Ukrainian peasantry of Eastern Galicia. The text of the Khorol nativity scene, published in the book by E. Markovsky, recorded in 1928, indicates that the nativity scene drama in Ukraine survived until the beginning of the 20th century.
The Nativity scene was a favorite entertainment for children pre-revolutionary Russia. They went with box theaters from December 25 during the Holy Week, and sometimes until Lent itself, but after the Holy Week the spiritual part was forbidden to be shown, only the secular part remained.
see also
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Literature
- Markovsky. Ukrainian nativity scene. Text exploration, in. I, view. All-Ukrainian. acad. Sciences, - Kiev, 1929 (Ukrainian)
- Beletsky A. Ancient theater in Russia. The beginnings of theater in folk life and school life in Southern Rus', Ukraine, - M., 1923
- Petrov, South Russian Theater and in particular the nativity scene, - “Kyiv. old,” 1882, XII
- Kisil O. Ukrainian Theatre, - Kiev: view. “Knigospilka”, 1905 (Ukrainian)
- Galagan. Ukrainian nativity scene, - Kharkiv: “Kyiv. old,” 1882 (Ukrainian)
- Franco. Before the history of Ukrainian nativity scene of the 18th century, 1st century, - “Zap. Sci. t-va im. Shevchenko", Lvov, 1906, t. 71-73 (Ukrainian)
- His own. New materials on the history of the Ukrainian nativity scene, in the same place, vol. 82, 1908; Shchukin N., Vertep, “Vestn. Geographical islands", vol. II, - St. Petersburg. , 1860
- Peretz Vl. Puppet theater in Rus' (historical sketch), “Yezhegod. imp. theaters", St. Petersburg. , season 1894-1895 (appendix, book 1), etc., - St. Petersburg. , 1895
- Vinogradov N. N. Great Russian nativity scene, “Izv. Dept. Russian language and words. Academician Sciences", vol. X, book. 3 and 4, St. Petersburg, 1905 (with detailed bibliography); vol. XI, book. 4, - St. Petersburg. , 1906 (additions to the bibliography)
- His, Belarusian den, in the same place, vol. XIII, book. 2, - St. Petersburg. , 1908
- Kisel O. Ukrainian nativity scene. - Fri., 1916. - 79 p.
- Kulakov A.E. Seventeenth century television. - Ethnosphere. - 2011. N 2 (149). - P. 36-40 - photo. color - ISSN 2078-5380
Notes
Links
- Madlevskaya E. L.(Russian) . Russian ethnographical museum. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
- (detailed description of design and decoration)
- Gref A.// Puppet Theatre
- Nekrylova A., Savushkina N.// from the book: / Comp., intro. art., preface to texts and comments. A. F. Nekrylova, N. I. Savushkina. - M.: Sovremennik, 1988. - (Classical library of Sovremennik)
- Tikhomirov V. G.
- Kulakov A.E.
An excerpt characterizing the Nativity scene (theater)
- Je suis votre [I am your] faithful slave, et a vous seule je puis l "avouer. My children are ce sont les entraves de mon existence. [I can confess to you alone. My children are the burden of my existence.] - He paused, expressing with a gesture his submission to cruel fate.Anna Pavlovna thought.
-Have you ever thought about marrying your boyfriend? prodigal son Anatoly? They say,” she said, “that old maids are ont la manie des Marieiages.” [they have a mania to get married.] I don’t yet feel this weakness in me, but I have one petite personne [little person] who is very unhappy with her father, une parente a nous, une princesse [our relative, Princess] Bolkonskaya. - Prince Vasily did not answer, although with his characteristic secular people with the quickness of his thoughts and memory he showed by a movement of his head that he had taken this information into consideration.
“No, you know that this Anatole costs me 40,000 a year,” he said, apparently unable to control the sad train of his thoughts. He paused.
– What will happen in five years if it goes like this? Voila l"avantage d"etre pere. [This is the benefit of being a father.] Is she rich, your princess?
- My father is very rich and stingy. He lives in the village. You know, this famous Prince Bolkonsky, who was dismissed under the late emperor and nicknamed the Prussian king. He is very clever man, but with oddities and heavy. La pauvre petite est malheureuse, comme les pierres. [The poor thing is as unhappy as stones.] She has a brother who recently married Lise Meinen, Kutuzov’s adjutant. He will be with me today.
“Ecoutez, chere Annette, [Listen, dear Annette,” said the prince, suddenly taking his interlocutor by the hand and bending it down for some reason. – Arrangez moi cette affaire et je suis votre [Arrange this matter for me, and I will be yours forever] most faithful slave a tout jamais pan, comme mon headman m"ecrit des [as my headman writes to me] reports: rest er n!. She is good last name and rich. All I need.
And he, with those free and familiar, graceful movements that distinguished him, took the maid of honor by the hand, kissed her and, having kissed her, waved the maid of honor's hand, lounging on the chair and looking to the side.
“Attendez [Wait],” said Anna Pavlovna, thinking. – I’ll talk to Lise today (la femme du jeune Bolkonsky). [with Liza (the wife of young Bolkonsky).] And maybe this will work out. Ce sera dans votre famille, que je ferai mon apprentissage de vieille fille. [I will begin to learn the craft of a spinster in your family.]
Anna Pavlovna's living room began to gradually fill up. The highest nobility of St. Petersburg arrived, people of the most diverse ages and characters, but identical in the society in which they all lived; Prince Vasily's daughter, the beautiful Helen, arrived, picking up her father to go with him to the envoy's holiday. She was wearing a cipher and a ball gown. Also known as la femme la plus seduisante de Petersbourg [the most charming woman in St. Petersburg], the young, little Princess Bolkonskaya, who got married last winter and now did not travel to big light due to her pregnancy, but still went to small evenings. Prince Hippolyte, the son of Prince Vasily, arrived with Mortemar, whom he introduced; Abbot Moriot and many others also arrived.
-Have you seen it yet? or: – you don’t know ma tante [my aunt]? - Anna Pavlovna said to the arriving guests and very seriously led them to a little old lady in high bows, who floated out from another room, as soon as the guests began to arrive, she called them by name, slowly moving her eyes from the guest to ma tante [auntie], and then walked away.
All the guests performed the ritual of greeting an unknown, uninteresting and unnecessary aunt. Anna Pavlovna watched their greetings with sad, solemn sympathy, silently approving them. Ma tante spoke to everyone in the same terms about his health, about her health and about the health of Her Majesty, which was now, thank God, better. All those who approached, without showing haste out of decency, with a feeling of relief at the fulfillment of a difficult duty, moved away from the old woman, so as not to approach her once all evening.
The young Princess Bolkonskaya arrived with her work in an embroidered gold velvet bag. Her pretty upper lip, with a slightly blackened mustache, was short in the teeth, but the more sweetly it opened and the more sweetly it sometimes stretched out and fell onto the lower one. As is always the case with quite attractive women, her flaw—short lips and half-open mouth—seemed special to her, her actual beauty. Everyone had fun looking at this pretty expectant mother, full of health and vivacity, bearing her situation so easily. It seemed to the old people and bored, gloomy young people who looked at her that they themselves became like her, having been and talked with her for a while. Whoever spoke to her and saw her bright smile and shiny white teeth, which were constantly visible, with every word, thought that he was especially kind today. And that's what everyone thought.
The little princess, waddled, walked around the table with small quick steps with her work bag on her arm and, cheerfully straightening her dress, sat down on the sofa, near the silver samovar, as if everything she did was part de plaisir [entertainment] for her and for everyone those around her.
“J"ai apporte mon ouvrage [I captured the work],” she said, unfolding her reticule and addressing everyone together.
“Look, Annette, ne me jouez pas un mauvais tour,” she turned to the hostess. – Vous m"avez ecrit, que c"etait une toute petite soiree; Voyez, comme je suis attifee. [Don't play a bad joke on me; you wrote to me that you were having a very short evening. You see how poorly I am dressed.]
And she spread her arms to show her lace-covered gray elegant dress, girded with a wide ribbon just below her breasts.
“Soyez tranquille, Lise, vous serez toujours la plus jolie [Be calm, you will be better than everyone else],” answered Anna Pavlovna.
“Vous savez, mon mari m"abandonne,” she continued in the same tone, addressing the general, “il va se faire tuer. Dites moi, pourquoi cette vilaine guerre, [You know, my husband is leaving me. He is going to his death. Tell me “Why this nasty war,” she said to Prince Vasily and, without waiting for an answer, turned to Prince Vasily’s daughter, the beautiful Helen.
– Quelle delicieuse personne, que cette petite princesse! [What a lovely person this little princess is!] - Prince Vasily said quietly to Anna Pavlovna.
Soon after the little princess, a massive, fat young man with a cropped head, glasses, light trousers in the fashion of that time, a high frill and a brown tailcoat entered. This fat young man was the illegitimate son of the famous Catherine’s nobleman, Count Bezukhy, who was now dying in Moscow. He had not served anywhere yet, he had just arrived from abroad, where he was brought up, and was for the first time in society. Anna Pavlovna greeted him with a bow that belonged to people of the lowest hierarchy in her salon. But, despite this inferior greeting, at the sight of Pierre entering, Anna Pavlovna’s face showed concern and fear, similar to that expressed at the sight of something too huge and unusual for the place. Although, indeed, Pierre was somewhat larger than the other men in the room, this fear could only relate to that intelligent and at the same time timid, observant and natural look that distinguished him from everyone in this living room.
“C"est bien aimable a vous, monsieur Pierre, d"etre venu voir une pauvre malade, [It’s very kind of you, Pierre, that you came to visit the poor patient,] - Anna Pavlovna told him, exchanging fearful glances with her aunt, to with which she let him down. Pierre muttered something incomprehensible and continued to look for something with his eyes. He smiled joyfully, cheerfully, bowing to the little princess as if he were a close friend, and approached his aunt. Anna Pavlovna’s fear was not in vain, because Pierre, without listening to his aunt’s speech about Her Majesty’s health, left her. Anna Pavlovna stopped him in fear with the words:
“You don’t know Abbot Morioh?” he is very interesting person… - she said.
- Yes, I heard about his plan. eternal peace, and this is very interesting, but hardly possible...
“Do you think?...” Anna Pavlovna said, wanting to say something and return to her duties as a housewife, but Pierre did the opposite of impoliteness. First, he left without listening to the words of his interlocutor; now he stopped his interlocutor with his conversation, who needed to leave him. He, bending his head and spreading his large legs, began to prove to Anna Pavlovna why he believed that the abbot’s plan was a chimera.
“We’ll talk later,” Anna Pavlovna said, smiling.
And, having gotten rid of young man, unable to live, she returned to her duties as a housewife and continued to listen and look closely, ready to give help to the point where the conversation was weakening. Just as the owner of a spinning workshop, having seated the workers in their places, walks around the establishment, noticing the immobility or the unusual, creaking, too loud sound of the spindle, hurriedly walks, restrains it or puts it into proper motion, so Anna Pavlovna, walking around her living room, approached the silent man. or to a circle that was talking too much and with one word or movement again started a uniform, decent conversational machine. But amid these worries, a special fear for Pierre was still visible in her. She looked at him caringly while he came up to listen to what was being said around Mortemart and went to another circle where the abbot was speaking. For Pierre, who was brought up abroad, this evening of Anna Pavlovna was the first he saw in Russia. He knew that the entire intelligentsia of St. Petersburg was gathered here, and his eyes widened, like a child in a toy store. He was afraid to miss everything smart conversations that he can hear. Looking at the confident and graceful expressions of the faces gathered here, he kept expecting something especially smart. Finally, he approached Morioh. The conversation seemed interesting to him, and he stopped, waiting for an opportunity to express his thoughts, as young people like to do.