And the fete at the English ambassador's? Today is Wednesday. I
must put in an appearance there," said the prince. "My daughter is
coming for me to take me there."
"I thought today's fete had been canceled. I confess all these
festivities and fireworks are becoming wearisome."
-- Ежели бы знали, что вы этого хотите, праздник бы отменили, -- сказал князь, по привычке, как заведенные часы, говоря вещи, которым он и не хотел, чтобы верили. "If they had known that you wished it, the entertainment would have been put off," said the prince, who, like a wound-up clock, by force of habit said things he did not even wish to be believed.
-- Ne me tourmentez pas. Eh bien, qu'a-t-on decide par rapport a la
depeche de Novosiizoff? Vous savez tout.
-- Как вам сказать? -- сказал князь холодным, скучающим тоном. --
Qu'a-t-on decide? On a decide que Buonaparte a brule ses vaisseaux, et je
crois que nous sommes en train de bruler les notres.
"Don't tease! Well, and what has been decided about Novosiltsev's dispatch? You know everything."
"What can one say about it?" replied the prince in a cold, listless tone. "What has been decided? They have decided that
Buonaparte has burnt his boats, and I believe that we are ready to burn ours