Book 7, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

CHAPTER 1

years 1810-11

Countess Rostova writes to Nicholas asking him to return from the army. They continue to get poorer and she is afraid that if Nicholas doesn't return, her husband will lose their property to their businessman, Mitenka. He grudgingly returns, afraid to deal with matters back home such as Sonya and dinners and balls. When he hears of Natasha's engagement with Andrew, he doesn't believe it because she seems so calm about everything and doesn't seem in love.

Important Quotes

"An inner voice tells us we are in the wrong if we are idle. If man could find a state in which he felt that though idle he was fulfilling his duty, he would have found one of the conditions of man's primitive blessedness. And such a state of obligatory and irreproachable idleness is the lot of a whole class—the military."

"[Natasha] did not seem at all like a girl in love and parted from her affianced husband. She was even-tempered and calm and quite as cheerful as of old. This amazed Nicholas and even made him regard Bolkonski's courtship skeptically. He could not believe that her fate was sealed"

CHAPTER 2

Nicholas goes to Mitenka and beats him up for having managed his father's expenses wrong. He calls him a thief and his father becomes embarrassed when he hears this news. The countess later shows Nicholas a letter from Anna Milkhaylovna with some money for them which he quickly tears up, saying that he doesn't care for her or Boris.

Important Quotes

Nicholas to Mitenka:  "Robber!... Ungrateful wretch!... I'll hack the dog to pieces! I'm not my father!... Robbing us!..." and so on."

CHAPTER 3

Nicholas plans on going hunting (his new-found passion) and talks to Daniel, a serf and huntsman. He tells him to prepare the horses and dogs when Natasha and Petya come rushing in, wanting to go too. Nicholas tries to come up with excuses for them not to come with him since he wants to hunt seriously. But, Natasha insists.

CHAPTER 4

 The old count, Nicholas, Petya, and Natasha all set out for the hunt. The old count isn't one for hunting, but goes anyway, talking to his companions, Simon and "Uncle" (a distant relative), and Nastasya (a man dresses and called like a woman). As he talks to them, the wolf they were hunting gets away. The serf and huntsman, Daniel, chastises him for letting the wolf go.

Important Quotes

 [Nicholas to Natasha]: "In the first place, Trunila is not a 'dog,' but a harrier," thought Nicholas, and looked sternly at his sister, trying to make her feel the distance that ought to separate them at that moment. Natasha understood it"

CHAPTER 5

Nicholas prays to God that he will be able to catch the wolf that has escaped the others. For a minute, he sees her running towards him, but is not able to pin her down. Daniel comes out of nowhere and stabs the wolf with his bare hands. The old count praises Daniel, remembering how he he let the wolf go before.

Important Quotes

Nicholas: "No, I shan't have such luck," thought Rostov, "yet what wouldn't it be worth! It is not to be! Everywhere, at cards and in war, I am always unlucky." Memories of Austerlitz and of Dolokhov flashed rapidly and clearly through his mind. "Only once in my life to get an old wolf, I want only that!"

"That instant, when Nicholas saw the wolf struggling in the gully with the dogs, while from under them could be seen her gray hair and outstretched hind leg and her frightened choking head, with her ears laid back (Karay was pinning her by the throat), was the happiest moment of his life."