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sabrinashen
04-27-2007, 04:53 PM
Hi everyone,

I need help locating a passage on descriptions of Napoleon taking a bath or coming out of a bath. I did a search for it, but it returned no results. So I'm not too sure if there is such a passage in the book. Much thanks!

Logos
04-27-2007, 05:15 PM
Well, Book II, at the end of Chapter 5 there is this:

"I've been sent back to the regiment all on account of that devil, Mack. An Austrian general complained of me. I congratulated him on Mack's arrival... What's the matter, Rostov? You look as if you'd just come out of a hot bath."

Book II, Chapter 10:

"His thin, worn, sallow face was covered with deep wrinkles, which always looked as clean and well washed as the tips of one's fingers after a Russian bath."

Book X, Chapter 5:

"The prince wants to bathe."

Book XV, Chapter XVII:

"Do you know, Mary..." Natasha suddenly said with a mischievous
smile such as Princess Mary had not seen on her face for a long
time, "he has somehow grown so clean, smooth, and fresh--as if he
had just come out of a Russian bath; do you understand? Out of a moral
bath. Isn't it true?"

bazarov
04-30-2007, 04:22 PM
One hour of searching but nothing came up...Although I do remember that part, I cannot find it, sorry.
It has a description of warm water, shaving, clothing, perfumes, etc

cristalpackers
05-13-2007, 12:33 AM
Try Book III (version with 4 books only), Part II, Chapter 26.
"Uttering little snorts and grunts, he presented first his back, then his plump hairy chest to the brush with which his valet was rubbing him down."

Melisande
03-15-2009, 01:23 PM
It's around chapter 29 or 30 of Volume 3 (old style numbering - as by Tolstoy, probably Book 3 in the Maud version). Maybe chapter 28. It's the night before the Battle of Borodino and Napoleon has taken a bath and is getting a kind of massage on his fat hairy body. It's quite a memorable scene. There are several French phrases in the original. I didn't check to see if anyone else has responded more specifically - perhaps they have. The search engine here isn't adequate to the task (I'm not sure the word "bath" is used in this passage - but it's a long and vivid passage about Napoleon's bathing techniques, and the only one in the book that really shows in detail him getting a bath).

Melisande
03-15-2009, 01:54 PM
Chapter 26 is of course the right chapter - just before the big battle. Good job, cristalpackers.