Moreau would have been a prisoner if Suvórov had had a free hand; but he had the Hofs-kriegs-wurst-schnapps-Rath on his hands. It would have puzzled the devil himself! When you get there you’ll find out what those Hofs-kriegs-wurst-Raths are! Suvórov couldn’t manage them so what chance has Mikháil Kutúzov? No, my dear boy,” he continued, “you and your generals won’t get on against Bonaparte; you’ll have to call in the French, so that birds of a feather may fight together. The German, Pahlen, has been sent to New York in America, to fetch the Frenchman, Moreau,” he said, alluding to the invitation made that year to Moreau to enter the Russian service. … “Wonderful! … Were the Potëmkins, Suvórovs, and Orlóvs Germans? No, lad, either you fellows have all lost your wits, or I have outlived mine. May God help you, but we’ll see what will happen. Bonaparte has become a great commander among them! Hm! …”
“I don’t at all say that all the plans are good,” said Prince Andréy, “I am only surprised at your opinion of Bonaparte. You may laugh as much as you like, but all the same Bonaparte is a great general!”
“Mikháil Ivánovich!” cried the old prince to the architect who, busy with his roast meat, hoped he had been forgotten: “Didn’t I tell you Bonaparte was a great tactician? Here, he says the same thing.”
“To be sure, your excellency,” replied the architect.
The prince again laughed his frigid laugh.
“Bonaparte was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He has got splendid soldiers. Besides he began by attacking Germans. And only idlers have failed to beat the Germans. Since the world began everybody has beaten the Germans. They beat no one—except one another. He made his reputation fighting them.”
And the prince began explaining all the blunders which, according to him, Bonaparte had made in his campaigns and even in politics. His son