It is well known that man has the faculty of entire absorption in o subject, however trivial that subject may appear to be. And it is w* known that there is no subject so trivial that it will not grow to indefin> proportions if concentrated attention be devoted to it.
The subject in which Natasha was completely absorbed was h family, that is, her husband, whom she kept such a hold on so that 1 1 should belong entirely to her, to his home and her children, whom sb had to carry, to bear, to nurse and to bring up.
And the more she put, not her mind only, but her whole soul, her who' being, into the subject that absorbed her, the more that subject seemt' to enlarge under her eyes, and the feebler and the more inadequate hi own powers seemed for coping with it, so that she concentrated them a on that one subject, and still had not time to do all that seemed to h< necessary.
There were in those days, just as now, arguments and discussions c the rights of women, on the relations of husband and wife, and d freedom and rights in marriage, though they were not then, as no\ called questions. But these questions had no interest for Natasha, in fai she had absolutely no comprehension of them.
Those questions, then as now, existed only for those persons who see i marriage only the satisfaction the married receive from one another, the is, only the first beginnings of marriage and not all its significance, whic lies in the family.
Such discussions and the questions of to-day, like the question how t get the utmost possible gratification out of one’s dinner, then, as nov did not exist for persons for whom the object of dinner is nourishmen and the object of wedlock is the family.
If the end of dinner is the nourishment of the body, the man who eal two dinners obtains possibly a greater amount of pleasure, but he doe; not attain the object of it, since two dinners cannot be digested by th stomach.
WAR AND PEACE 1089
[f the end of marriage is the family, the person who prefers to have sreral wives and several husbands may possibly derive a great deal of siisfaction therefrom, but will not in any case have a family. If the end 0 dinner is nourishment and the end of marriage is the family, the whole qjstion is only solved by not eating more than the stomach can digest al not having more husbands or wives than as many as are needed for tl family, that is, one wife and one husband. Natasha needed a husband. Arusband was given her; and her husband gave her a family. And she no need of another better husband, and indeed, as all her spiritual ;.Tgies were devoted to serving that husband and his children, she could n picture, and found no interest in trying to picture, what would have hopened had things been different.
Natasha did not care for society in general, but she greatly prized the 5 iety of her kinsfolk—of Countess Marya, her brother, her mother, ai Sonya. She cared for the society of those persons to whom she could r.h in from the nursery in a dressing-gown with her hair down; to whom could, with a joyful face, show a baby’s napkin stained yellow instead agreen, and to receive their comforting assurances that that proved that fcpy was now really better.
Natasha neglected herself to such a degree that her dresses, her untidy bir, her inappropriately blurted-out words, and her jealousy—she was j Ious of Sonya, of the governess, of every woman, pretty and ugly— yre a continual subject of jests among her friends. The general opinion ?s that Pierre was tied to his wife’s apron strings, and it really was so. bm the earliest days of their marriage Natasha had made plain her ;ims. Pierre had been greatly surprised at his wife’s view—to him a [Tipletely novel idea—that every minute of his life belonged to her and L'ir home. He was surprised at his wife’s demands, but he was flattered 5 them, and he acquiesced in them.
Pierre was so far under petticoat government that he did not dare to be entive, or even to speak with a smile, to any other woman; did not re go to dine at the club, without good reason, simply for entertain- ?nt; did not dare spend money on idle whims, and did not dare to be ay from home for any long time together, except on business, in which ; wife included his scientific pursuits. Though she understood nothing the latter, she attached great consequence to them. To make up for all s Pierre had complete power in his own house to dispose of the whole usehold, as well as of himself, as he chose. In their own home Natasha ide herself a slave to her husband; and the whole household had to go tiptoe if the master were busy reading or writing in his study. Pierre d only to show the slightest preference, for what he desired to be at ce carried out. He had but to express a wish and Natasha jumped up ! once and ran for what he wanted.
