"You don't understand why I say this,"
he continued, "but it is the whole story of life.
You talk of Bonaparte and his career,"
said he (though Pierre had not mentioned Bonaparte),
"but Bonaparte when he worked went step
by step toward his goal. He was free,
he had nothing but his aim to consider,
and he reached it. But tie yourself up with a woman and,
like a chained convict, you lose all freedom!
And all you have of hope and strength merely weighs
you down and torments you with regret. Drawing rooms,
gossip, balls, vanity, and triviality-
these are the enchanted circle I cannot escape from.
I am now going to the war,
the greatest war there ever was,
and I know nothing and am fit for nothing.
I am very amiable and have a caustic wit,"
continued Prince Andrew, "
and at Anna Pavlovna's they listen to me.
And that stupid set without whom my wife cannot exist,
and those women...
If you only knew what those society women are,
and women in general! My father is right. Selfish,
vain, stupid, trivial in everything-
that's what women are when you see them
in their true colors!
When you meet them in society it seems
as if there were something in them, but there's nothing,
nothing, nothing! No, don't marry, my dear fellow;
don't marry!" concluded Prince Andrew.