Napoleon, as a character in Tolstoy’s War and Peace, is more than once described as having “fat little hands.” Nor does he “sit well or firmly on the horse.’’ He is said to be “undersized”, with“short legs” and a “round stomach”. The issue here is not the accuracy of Tolstoy’s description -- it seems not that far off from historical accounts but his choice of facts: other things that could be said of the man are not said. We are meant to understand the difference of a warring commander in the body of a fat little Frenchman. Tolstoy’s Napoleon could be any man wandering in the streets and putting a little of powdered tobacco up his nose - and that is the point.
拿破仑，作为托尔斯泰《战争与和平》中的一个角色，不止一次被描述为有一双“小胖手”，“在马上也坐不稳”。“据说他“身材矮小”，“腿短”，“大肚子”。这里的问题不在于托尔斯泰描述的准确性——这似乎与历史记载相去甚远，而是他对事实的选择：其他可以说的关于这个人的事情没有说。我们应该理解一个战争指挥官和一个胖胖的小个法国人在身体上的区别。托尔斯泰笔下的拿破仑可以是任何一个在街上闲逛，往鼻子里塞一点烟草粉的人，这是重点。
It is a way the novelist uses to show the moral nature of a character. And it turns out that, as Tolstoy has it, Napoleon is a crazy man. In a scene in Book Three of War and Peace, the wars having reached the critical year of 1812,Napoleon receives a representative from the Tsar, who has come with peace terms. Napoleon is very angry: doesn’t he have more army? He, not the Tsar, is the one to make the terms. He will destroy all of Europe if his army is stopped. “That is what you will have gained by engaging me in the war!” he shouts. And then, Tolstoy writes, Napoleon “walked silently several times up and down the room, his fat shoulders moving quickly.’’
这是小说家用来表现人物道德本质的一种方式。事实证明，正如托尔斯泰所说，拿破仑是一个疯子。在《战争与和平》第三卷中的一个场景中，战争已经到了关键的1812年，拿破仑接待了待着和平协议而来的沙皇特使。拿破仑很生气：他难道没有更多的军队吗？是他，而不应该是沙皇，来制定和平协议。如果他的军队被阻止，他将摧毁整个欧洲。他叫嚣：“这就是你们让我参战的代价！”然后，托尔斯泰写道，拿破仑“默默地在房间里走来走去，肥大的肩膀快速晃动。”
Still later, after reviewing his army amid cheering crowds, Napoleon invites the shaken Russian to dinner. “He raised his hand to the Russian’s…face,” Tolstoy writes, and “taking him by the ear pulled it gently….” To have one’s ear pulled by the Emperor was considered the greatest honor and mark of favor at the French court. “Well, well, why don’t you say anything?’’ said he, as if it was ridiculous in his presence to respect any one but himself, Napoleon.
后来，在欢呼的人群中检阅了他的军队后，拿破仑邀请这位动摇的俄罗斯人共进晚餐。托尔斯泰写道：“他把手举到了俄罗斯人的……脸上，轻轻地拽着他的耳朵……”让皇帝拽着自己的耳朵被认为是法国宫廷最大的荣誉和恩宠。“好吧，好吧，你为什么啥也不说？”他说，仿佛在他面前，除了拿破仑，尊重任何人都是荒谬的。
Tolstoy did his research, but the composition is his own.
托尔斯泰做了他的研究，但他的作品是他自己的。
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