Calculation of the Gregorian calendar. What does old and new calendar style mean?

07.12.2015

Gregorian calendar – modern system calculus based on astronomical phenomena, namely, on the cyclic revolution of our planet around the Sun. The length of the year in this system is 365 days, with every fourth year becoming a leap year and equal to 364 days.

History of origin

The date of approval of the Gregorian calendar is October 4, 1582. This calendar replaced the Julian calendar in force until that time. Majority modern countries lives precisely according to the new calendar: look at any calendar and you will get a clear idea of ​​the Gregorian system. According to the Gregorian Calculus, the year is divided into 12 months, the duration of which is 28, 29, 30 and 31 days. The calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII.

The transition to a new calculation entailed the following changes:

• At the time of adoption, the Gregorian calendar immediately shifted the current date by 10 days and corrected the errors accumulated by the previous system;
• In the new calculus, a more correct rule for determining a leap year began to apply;
• The rules for calculating the day of Christian Easter have been modified.

In the year of adoption new system Spain, Italy, France, Portugal joined the chronology, and a couple of years later other European countries joined them. In Russia, the transition to the Gregorian calendar took place only in the 20th century - in 1918. In the territory under the control of Soviet power, it was announced that after January 31, 1918, February 14 would immediately follow. For a long time citizens new country could not get used to the new system: the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in Russia caused confusion in documents and minds. In official papers, dates of birth and other significant events for a long time indicated according to the style and new style.

By the way, the Orthodox Church still lives according to the Julian calendar (unlike the Catholic calendar), so the days of church holidays (Easter, Christmas) in Catholic countries do not coincide with Russian ones. According to the highest clergy of the Orthodox Church, the transition to the Gregorian system will lead to canonical violations: the rules of the Apostles do not allow the celebration of Holy Easter to begin on the same day as the Jewish pagan holiday.

China was the last to switch to the new timekeeping system. This happened in 1949 after the proclamation of the People's Republic of China. In the same year, the world-accepted calculation of years was established in China - from the Nativity of Christ.

At the time of approval of the Gregorian calendar, the difference between the two calculation systems was 10 days. By now, due to the different number of leap years, the discrepancy has increased to 13 days. By March 1, 2100, the difference will already reach 14 days.

Compared to the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar is more accurate from an astronomical point of view: it is as close as possible to the tropical year. The reason for the change in systems was the gradual shift of the day of the equinox in the Julian calendar: this caused a discrepancy between the Easter full moons and the astronomical ones.

All modern calendars have a familiar appearance to us precisely thanks to the transition of the leadership of the Catholic Church to a new time calculation. If the Julian calendar continued to function, the discrepancies between the actual (astronomical) equinoxes and Easter holidays would increase even more, which would introduce confusion into the very principle of determining church holidays.

By the way, the Gregorian calendar itself is not 100% accurate from an astronomical point of view, but the error in it, according to astronomers, will accumulate only after 10,000 years of use.

People have continued to successfully use the new time system for more than 400 years. A calendar is still a useful and functional thing that everyone needs to coordinate dates, plan business and personal life.

Modern printing production has achieved unprecedented technological development. Any commercial or public organization can order calendars with their own symbols from a printing house: they will be produced promptly, with high quality, and at an adequate price.

The Roman calendar was one of the least accurate. At first, it generally had 304 days and included only 10 months, starting from the first month of spring (Martius) and ending with the onset of winter (December - the “tenth” month); In winter there was simply no keeping track of time. King Numa Pompilius is credited with introducing two winter months (Januarius and Februarius). The additional month - Mercedonius - was inserted by the pontiffs at their own discretion, quite arbitrarily and in accordance with various momentary interests. In 46 BC. e. Julius Caesar carried out a calendar reform based on the developments of the Alexandrian astronomer Sosigenes, taking the Egyptian solar calendar as a basis.

In order to correct the accumulated errors, he, by his power as the great pontiff, inserted in the transitional year, in addition to Mercedonius, two additional months between November and December; and from January 1, 45, the Julian year was established at 365 days, with leap years every 4 years. In this case, an extra day was inserted between February 23 and 24, as before Mercedonia; and since, according to the Roman calculation system, the day of February 24 was called “the sixth (sextus) from the Kalends of March,” then the intercalary day was called “twice the sixth (bis sextus) from the Kalends of March” and the year, accordingly, annus bissextus - hence, through the Greek language, our word "leap year". At the same time, the month of Quintilius was renamed in honor of Caesar (to Julius).

In the 4th-6th centuries, in most Christian countries, unified Easter tables were established, based on Julian calendar; thus, the Julian calendar spread throughout christian world. In these tables per day spring equinox accepted on March 21.

However, as the error accumulated (1 day in 128 years), the discrepancy between the astronomical vernal equinox and the calendar one became increasingly obvious, and many in Catholic Europe believed that it could no longer be ignored. This was noted by the 13th-century Castilian king Alfonso X the Wise; in the next century, the Byzantine scientist Nikephoros Gregoras even proposed a calendar reform. In reality, such a reform was carried out by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, based on the project of the mathematician and physician Luigi Lilio. in 1582: the next day after October 4th came October 15th. Secondly, a new, more precise rule about leap years began to apply.

Julian calendar was developed by a group of Alexandrian astronomers led by Sosigenes and introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. uh..

The Julian calendar was based on the chronology culture of Ancient Egypt. In Ancient Rus', the calendar was known as the “Peacemaking Circle”, “Church Circle” and “Great Indiction”.

The year according to the Julian calendar begins on January 1, since it was on this day from 153 BC. e. the newly elected consuls took office. In the Julian calendar, a normal year consists of 365 days and is divided into 12 months. Once every 4 years, a leap year is declared, to which one day is added - February 29 (previously, a similar system was adopted in the zodiac calendar according to Dionysius). Thus, the Julian year has an average length of 365.25 days, which differs by 11 minutes from the tropical year.

The Julian calendar is usually called the old style.

The calendar was based on static monthly holidays. The first holiday with which the month began was the Kalends. The next holiday, falling on the 7th (in March, May, July and October) and on the 5th of other months, was Nones. The third holiday, falling on the 15th (in March, May, July and October) and the 13th of other months, was the Ides.

Replacement by the Gregorian calendar

In Catholic countries, the Julian calendar was replaced by the Gregorian calendar in 1582 by decree of Pope Gregory XIII: the next day after October 4 was October 15. Protestant countries abandoned the Julian calendar gradually, throughout the 17th-18th centuries (the last were Great Britain from 1752 and Sweden). In Russia, the Gregorian calendar has been used since 1918 (it is usually called the new style), in Orthodox Greece - since 1923.

In the Julian calendar, a year was a leap year if it ended in 00.325 AD. The Council of Nicaea established this calendar for all Christian countries. 325 g day of the vernal equinox.

Gregorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII on October 4, 1582 to replace the old Julian calendar: the next day after Thursday, October 4, became Friday, October 15 (there are no days from October 5 to October 14, 1582 in the Gregorian calendar).

In the Gregorian calendar, the length of the tropical year is taken to be 365.2425 days. The duration of a non-leap year is 365 days, a leap year is 366.

Story

The reason for the adoption of the new calendar was the shift in the day of the vernal equinox, by which the date of Easter was determined. Before Gregory XIII, Popes Paul III and Pius IV tried to implement the project, but they did not achieve success. The preparation of the reform, at the direction of Gregory XIII, was carried out by astronomers Christopher Clavius ​​and Luigi Lilio (aka Aloysius Lilius). The results of their work were recorded in a papal bull, named after the first line of the Latin. Inter gravissimas (“Among the most important”).

Firstly, the new calendar immediately at the time of adoption shifted the current date by 10 days due to accumulated errors.

Secondly, a new, more precise rule about leap years began to apply.

A year is a leap year, that is, it contains 366 days if:

Its number is divisible by 4 and not divisible by 100 or

His number is divisible by 400.

Thus, over time, the Julian and Gregorian calendars diverge more and more: by 1 day per century, if the number of the previous century is not divisible by 4. The Gregorian calendar reflects the true state of affairs much more accurately than the Julian. It gives a much better approximation of the tropical year.

In 1583, Gregory XIII sent an embassy to Patriarch Jeremiah II of Constantinople with a proposal to switch to a new calendar. At the end of 1583, at a council in Constantinople, the proposal was rejected as not complying with the canonical rules for celebrating Easter.

In Russia, the Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1918 by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars, according to which in 1918 January 31 was followed by February 14.

Since 1923, most local Orthodox churches, with the exception of the Russian, Jerusalem, Georgian, Serbian and Athos, have adopted the New Julian calendar, similar to the Gregorian, which coincides with it until the year 2800. It was also formally introduced by Patriarch Tikhon for use in the Russian Orthodox Church on October 15, 1923. However, this innovation, although it was accepted by almost all Moscow parishes, generally caused disagreement in the Church, so already on November 8, 1923, Patriarch Tikhon ordered “the universal and mandatory introduction of the new style into church use to be temporarily postponed.” Thus, a new style acted in the Russian Orthodox Church for only 24 days.

In 1948, at the Moscow Conference of Orthodox Churches, it was decided that Easter, as well as all movable holidays, should be calculated according to the Alexandrian Paschal (Julian calendar), and non-movable ones according to the calendar by which people live. Local Church. The Finnish Orthodox Church celebrates Easter according to the Gregorian calendar.

On the threshold new years When one year follows another, we don’t even think about what style we live by. Surely many of us remember from history lessons that once there was a different calendar, later people switched to a new one and began to live according to a new one style.

Let's talk about how these two calendars differ: Julian and Gregorian .

The history of the creation of the Julian and Gregorian calendars

To make time calculations, people came up with a chronology system, which was based on the periodicity of the movements of celestial bodies, and this is how the calendar.

Word "calendar" comes from the Latin word calendarium, which means "debt book". This is due to the fact that debtors paid their debt on the day Kalends, the first days of each month were called, they coincided with new moon.

Yes, y ancient romans every month had 30 days, or rather, 29 days, 12 hours and 44 minutes. At first this calendar contained ten months, hence, by the way, the name of our last month of the year - December(from Latin decem– tenth). All months were named after Roman gods.

But, starting from the 3rd century BC, in ancient world a different calendar was used, based on a four-year calendar lunisolar cycle, it gave an error in the solar year of one day. Used in Egypt solar calendar, compiled on the basis of observations of the Sun and Sirius. The year according to it was three hundred sixty-five days. It consisted of twelve months of thirty days every.

It was this calendar that became the basis Julian calendar. It is named after the emperor Guy Julius Caesar and was introduced into 45 BC. The beginning of the year according to this calendar began 1st of January.

Gaius Julius Caesar (100 BC - 44 BC)

Lasted Julian calendar more than sixteen centuries, until 1582 G. Pope Gregory XIII did not propose a new chronology system. The reason for the adoption of the new calendar was the gradual shift in relation to the Julian calendar of the day of the vernal equinox, by which the date of Easter was determined, as well as the discrepancy between the Easter full moons and the astronomical ones. Chapter Catholic Church believed that it was necessary to determine the exact calculation of the celebration of Easter so that it would fall on a Sunday, and also return the day of the vernal equinox to the date of March 21.

Pope Gregory XIII (1502-1585)

However, in 1583 year Council of Eastern Patriarchs in Constantinople did not accept the new calendar, since it contradicted the basic rule by which the day of celebration of Christian Easter is determined: in some years, Christian Easter would come earlier than the Jewish one, which was not allowed by the canons of the church.

However, most European countries followed the call of Pope Gregory XIII and switched to a new style chronology.

The transition to the Gregorian calendar entailed the following changes :

1. to correct accumulated errors, the new calendar immediately shifted the current date by 10 days at the time of adoption;

2. a new, more precise rule about leap years came into force - a leap year, that is, contains 366 days, if:

The year number is a multiple of 400 (1600, 2000, 2400);

The year number is a multiple of 4 and not a multiple of 100 (... 1892, 1896, 1904, 1908...);

3. The rules for calculating Christian (namely Catholic) Easter have changed.

The difference between the dates of the Julian and Gregorian calendars increases by three days every 400 years.

History of chronology in Russia

In Rus', before Epiphany, the new year began in March, but since the 10th century, the New Year began to be celebrated in September, in Byzantine church calendar. However, people accustomed to the centuries-old tradition continued to celebrate New Year with the awakening of nature - in spring. While the king Ivan III V 1492 year did not issue a decree stating that the New Year was officially postponed to beginning of autumn. But this did not help, and the Russian people celebrated two new years: in spring and autumn.

Tsar Peter the First, striving for everything European, December 19, 1699 year issued a decree that the Russian people, together with Europeans, celebrate the New Year 1st of January.

But, at the same time, in Russia it still remained valid Julian calendar, received from Byzantium with baptism.

February 14, 1918, after the coup, all of Russia switched to a new style, now the secular state began to live according to Gregorian calendar. Later, in 1923 year, the new authorities tried to transfer the church to a new calendar, however To His Holiness the Patriarch Tikhon managed to preserve traditions.

Today Julian and Gregorian calendars continue to exist together. Julian calendar enjoy Georgian, Jerusalem, Serbian and Russian churches, whereas Catholics and Protestants are guided by Gregorian.

Since 46 BC, most countries in the world have used the Julian calendar. However, in 1582, by the decision of Pope Gregory XIII, it was replaced by Gregorian. That year, the next day after the fourth of October was not the fifth, but the fifteenth of October. Now the Gregorian calendar is officially adopted in all countries except Thailand and Ethiopia.

Reasons for adopting the Gregorian calendar

The main reason for the introduction of a new chronology system was the movement of the vernal equinox, depending on which the date of the celebration of Christian Easter was determined. Due to discrepancies between the Julian and tropical calendars (the tropical year is the period of time during which the sun completes one cycle of changing seasons), the day of the vernal equinox gradually shifted to earlier dates. At the time of the introduction of the Julian calendar, it fell on March 21, both according to the accepted calendar system and in fact. But to XVI century, the difference between the tropical and Julian calendars was already about ten days. As a result, the vernal equinox no longer fell on March 21, but on March 11.

Scientists paid attention to the above problem long before the adoption of the Gregorian chronology system. Back in the 14th century, Nikephoros Grigora, a scientist from Byzantium, reported this to Emperor Andronicus II. According to Grigora, it was necessary to revise the calendar system that existed at that time, since otherwise the date of Easter would continue to shift to a later and later time. However, the emperor did not take any action to eliminate this problem, fearing protest from the church.

Subsequently, other scientists from Byzantium also spoke about the need to switch to a new calendar system. But the calendar continued to remain unchanged. And not only because of the rulers’ fear of causing indignation among the clergy, but also because the further the Christian Easter moved away, the less chance it had of coinciding with the Jewish Passover. This was unacceptable according to church canons.

By the 16th century, the problem had become so urgent that the need to solve it was no longer in doubt. As a result, Pope Gregory XIII assembled a commission, which was tasked with carrying out all the necessary research and creating a new calendar system. The results obtained were displayed in the bullet “Among the most important”. It was she who became the document with which the adoption of the new calendar system began.

The main disadvantage of the Julian calendar is its lack of accuracy in relation to the tropical calendar. In the Julian calendar, all years that are divisible by 100 without a remainder are considered leap years. As a result, the difference with the tropical calendar increases every year. Approximately every century and a half it increases by 1 day.

The Gregorian calendar is much more accurate. It has fewer leap years. In this chronology system, leap years are considered to be years that:

1. divisible by 400 without remainder;
2. divisible by 4 without a remainder, but not divisible by 100 without a remainder.

Thus, 1100 or 1700 years in the Julian calendar are considered leap years, since they are divisible by 4 without a remainder. In the Gregorian calendar, from those that have already passed since its adoption, 1600 and 2000 are considered leap years.

Immediately after the introduction of the new system, it was possible to eliminate the difference between the tropical and calendar years, which at that time was already 10 days. Otherwise, due to errors in calculations, an extra year would accumulate every 128 years. In the Gregorian calendar, an extra day occurs only every 10,000 years.

Not at all modern states the new chronology system was adopted immediately. The Catholic states were the first to switch to it. In these countries, the Gregorian calendar was officially adopted either in 1582 or shortly after the decree of Pope Gregory XIII.

In a number of states, the transition to a new calendar system was associated with popular unrest. The most serious of them took place in Riga. They lasted for five whole years - from 1584 to 1589.

Not without funny situations. So, for example, in Holland and Belgium, due to the official adoption of the new calendar, after December 21, 1582, January 1, 1583 came. As a result, the inhabitants of these countries were left without Christmas in 1582.

Russia was one of the last to adopt the Gregorian calendar. The new system was officially introduced on the territory of the RSFSR on January 26, 1918 by decree of the Council of People's Commissars. In accordance with this document, immediately after January 31 of that year, February 14 came on the territory of the state.

Later than in Russia, the Gregorian calendar was introduced only in a few countries, including Greece, Turkey and China.

After the official adoption of the new chronology system, Pope Gregory XIII sent a proposal to Constantinople to switch to a new calendar. However, she was met with refusal. Its main reason was the inconsistency of the calendar with the canons of celebrating Easter. However, later most Orthodox churches switched to the Gregorian calendar.

Today, only four Orthodox churches use the Julian calendar: Russian, Serbian, Georgian and Jerusalem.

Rules for specifying dates

In accordance with the generally accepted rule, dates falling between 1582 and the moment the Gregorian calendar was adopted in the country are indicated in both the old and new styles. In this case, the new style is indicated in quotation marks. Earlier dates are given according to the proleptic calendar (i.e. the calendar used to indicate older dates) early dates, rather than the date of appearance of the calendar). In countries where the Julian calendar was adopted, dates before 46 BC. e. are indicated according to the proleptic Julian calendar, and where there was none - according to the proleptic Gregorian calendar.

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Gregorian calendar- a time calculation system based on the cyclic revolution of the Earth around the Sun; the length of the year is taken to be 365.2425 days; contains 97 leap years per 400 years.

The Gregorian calendar was first introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in Catholic countries on October 4, 1582, replacing the previous Julian calendar: the next day after Thursday, October 4, became Friday, October 15.

The Gregorian calendar is used in most countries of the world.

Structure of the Gregorian calendar

In the Gregorian calendar, the length of the year is taken to be 365.2425 days. The duration of a non-leap year is 365 days, a leap year is 366.

$365(,)2425\; =\; 365\; +\; 0(,)25\; -\; 0(,)01\; +\; 0(,)0025\; =\; 365\; +\; \backslash frac(1)(4)\; -\; \backslash frac(1)(100)\; +\; \backslash frac(1\; )(400).$ This follows the distribution of leap years:

• a year whose number is a multiple of 400 is a leap year;
• other years, the number of which is a multiple of 100, are non-leap years;
• other years, the number of which is a multiple of 4, are leap years.

Thus, 1600 and 2000 were leap years, but 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years.

An error of one day compared to the year of the equinoxes in the Gregorian calendar will accumulate in approximately 10,000 years (in the Julian calendar - approximately in 128 years). A frequently encountered estimate, leading to a value of the order of 3000 years, is obtained if one does not take into account that the number of days in the tropical year changes over time and, in addition, the relationship between the lengths of the seasons changes.

In the Gregorian calendar there are leap and non-leap years; the year can begin on any of the seven days of the week. In total, this gives 2 × 7 = 14 calendar options for the year.

Months

According to the Gregorian calendar, the year is divided into 12 months, lasting from 28 to 31 days:

Rule for remembering the number of days in a month

There is a simple rule for remembering the number of days in a month - “ domino rule».

If you put your fists together in front of you so that you can see the backs of your palms, then by the “knuckles” (finger joints) on the edge of the palm and the spaces between them you can determine whether a month is “long” (31 days) or “short” (30 days, except February). To do this, you need to start counting the months from January, counting the dominoes and intervals. January will correspond to the first domino (long month - 31 days), February - the interval between the first and second dominoes (short month), March - domino, etc. The next two consecutive long months - July and August - fall exactly on the adjacent knuckles different hands(the space between the fists does not count).

There is also a mnemonic rule "Ap-yun-sen-no". The syllables of this word indicate the names of months consisting of 30 days. It is known that February, depending on specific year, contains 28 or 29 days. All other months contain 31 days. The convenience of this mnemonic rule is that there is no need to “recount” the knuckles.

There is also an English school saying to remember the number of days in months: Thirty days have September, April, June and November. Analog to German: Dreißig Tage hat September, April, June and November.

Difference between Julian and Gregorian calendars

At the time of the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, the difference between it and the Julian calendar was 10 days. However, this difference gradually increases due to the different number of leap years - in the Gregorian calendar, the final year of a century, if not divisible by 400, is not a leap year (see leap year) - and today is 13 days.

Story

Prerequisites for the transition to the Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar provides a much more accurate approximation of the tropical year. The reason for the adoption of the new calendar was the gradual shift in relation to the Julian calendar of the day of the vernal equinox, by which the date of Easter was determined, and the discrepancy between the Easter full moons and the astronomical ones. Before Gregory XIII, Popes Paul III and Pius IV tried to implement the project, but they did not achieve success. The preparation of the reform, at the direction of Gregory XIII, was carried out by the astronomers Christopher Clavius ​​and Aloysius Lilius. The results of their labor were recorded in a papal bull, signed by the pontiff at Villa Mondragon and named after the first line Inter gravity(“Among the most important”).

The transition to the Gregorian calendar entailed the following changes:

Over time, the Julian and Gregorian calendars diverge more and more, by three days every 400 years.

Dates of countries switching to the Gregorian calendar

Countries switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar at different times:

Transition history

In 1582, Spain, Italy, Portugal, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland), France, and Lorraine switched to the Gregorian calendar.

By the end of 1583, they were joined by Holland, Belgium, Brabant, Flanders, Liege, Augsburg, Trier, Bavaria, Salzburg, Regensburg, part of Austria and Tyrol. There were some oddities. For example, in Belgium and Holland, January 1, 1583 came immediately after December 21, 1582, and the entire population was left without Christmas that year.

In a number of cases, the transition to the Gregorian calendar was accompanied by serious unrest. For example, when the Polish king Stefan Batory introduced a new calendar in Riga in 1584, local merchants rebelled, claiming that a 10-day shift would disrupt their delivery times and lead to significant losses. The rebels destroyed the Riga church and killed several municipal employees. It was possible to cope with the “calendar unrest” only in the summer of 1589.

In some countries that switched to the Gregorian calendar, the Julian calendar was subsequently resumed as a result of their annexation with other states. Due to the transition of countries to the Gregorian calendar at different times, factual errors of perception may arise: for example, it is sometimes said that Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare died on the same day - April 23, 1616. In fact, Shakespeare died 10 days later than Inca Garcilaso, since in Catholic Spain the new style was in effect since its introduction by the pope, and Great Britain switched to the new calendar only in 1752, and 11 days later than Cervantes (who died on 22 April, but was buried on April 23).

The introduction of the new calendar also had serious financial consequences for tax collectors. In 1753 - the first full year According to the Gregorian calendar, bankers refused to pay taxes, waiting 11 days after the usual end date for collections - March 25. As a result, the UK financial year did not begin until 6 April. This date has survived to this day as a symbol big changes that happened 250 years ago.

The change to the Gregorian calendar in Alaska was unusual, since there it was combined with a shift in the date line. Therefore, after Friday October 5, 1867, according to the old style, there was another Friday, October 18, 1867, according to the new style.

Ethiopia and Thailand have not yet switched to the Gregorian calendar.

In the booth into which Pierre entered and in which he stayed for four weeks, there were twenty-three captured soldiers, three officers and two officials.
All of them then appeared to Pierre as if in a fog, but Platon Karataev remained forever in Pierre’s soul as the strongest and dearest memory and personification of everything Russian, kind and round. When the next day, at dawn, Pierre saw his neighbor, the first impression of something round was completely confirmed: the whole figure of Plato in his French overcoat belted with a rope, in a cap and bast shoes, was round, his head was completely round, his back, chest, shoulders, even the hands that he carried, as if always about to hug something, were round; a pleasant smile and large brown gentle eyes were round.
Platon Karataev must have been over fifty years old, judging by his stories about the campaigns in which he participated as a long-time soldier. He himself did not know and could not determine in any way how old he was; but his teeth, bright white and strong, which kept rolling out in their two semicircles when he laughed (which he often did), were all good and intact; no one gray hair was not in his beard and hair, and his whole body had the appearance of flexibility and especially hardness and endurance.
His face, despite the small round wrinkles, had an expression of innocence and youth; his voice was pleasant and melodious. But main feature his speech consisted of spontaneity and argument. He apparently never thought about what he said and what he would say; and because of this, the speed and fidelity of his intonations had a special irresistible persuasiveness.
His physical strength and agility were such during the first time of captivity that it seemed that he did not understand what fatigue and illness were. Every day, in the morning and in the evening, when he lay down, he said: “Lord, lay it down like a pebble, lift it up into a ball”; in the morning, getting up, always shrugging his shoulders in the same way, he said: “I lay down and curled up, got up and shook myself.” And indeed, as soon as he lay down, he immediately fell asleep like a stone, and as soon as he shook himself, he immediately, without a second of delay, took up some task, like children, getting up, taking up their toys. He knew how to do everything, not very well, but not badly either. He baked, steamed, sewed, planed, and made boots. He was always busy and only at night allowed himself conversations, which he loved, and songs. He sang songs, not as songwriters sing, who know that they are being listened to, but he sang like birds sing, obviously because he needed to make these sounds just as it is necessary to stretch or disperse; and these sounds were always subtle, gentle, almost feminine, mournful, and at the same time his face was very serious.
Having been captured and grown a beard, he apparently threw away everything alien and soldierly that had been imposed on him and involuntarily returned to his former, peasant, folk mindset.
“A soldier on leave is a shirt made from trousers,” he used to say. He was reluctant to talk about his time as a soldier, although he did not complain, and often repeated that throughout his service he was never beaten. When he spoke, he mainly spoke from his old and, apparently, dear “Christian” memories, as he pronounced, peasant life. The sayings that filled his speech were not those for the most part indecent and glib sayings that soldiers say, but these were those folk sayings that seem so insignificant, taken in isolation, and which suddenly take on the meaning of deep wisdom when they are said at the right time.
Often he said the exact opposite of what he had said before, but both were true. He loved to talk and spoke well, decorating his speech with endearments and proverbs, which, it seemed to Pierre, he was inventing himself; but the main charm of his stories was that in his speech the simplest events, sometimes the very ones that Pierre saw without noticing them, took on the character of solemn beauty. He loved to listen to fairy tales that one soldier told in the evenings (all the same ones), but most of all he loved to listen to stories about real life. He smiled joyfully as he listened to such stories, inserting words and making questions that tended to clarify for himself the beauty of what was being told to him. Karataev had no attachments, friendship, love, as Pierre understood them; but he loved and lived lovingly with everything that life brought him to, and especially with a person - not with some famous person, but with those people who were before his eyes. He loved his mongrel, he loved his comrades, the French, he loved Pierre, who was his neighbor; but Pierre felt that Karataev, despite all his affectionate tenderness towards him (with which he involuntarily paid tribute to Pierre’s spiritual life), would not for a minute be upset by separation from him. And Pierre began to feel the same feeling towards Karataev.
Platon Karataev was for all the other prisoners the most ordinary soldier; his name was Falcon or Platosha, they mocked him good-naturedly and sent him for parcels. But for Pierre, as he presented himself on the first night, an incomprehensible, round and eternal personification of the spirit of simplicity and truth, that is how he remained forever.
Platon Karataev knew nothing by heart except his prayer. When he gave his speeches, he, starting them, seemed not to know how he would end them.
When Pierre, sometimes amazed at the meaning of his speech, asked him to repeat what he had said, Plato could not remember what he had said a minute ago - just as he could not tell Pierre his favorite song in words. It said: “darling, little birch and I feel sick,” but the words didn’t make any sense. He did not understand and could not understand the meaning of words taken separately from speech. His every word and every action was a manifestation of an activity unknown to him, which was his life. But his life, as he looked at it, had no meaning separate life. She made sense only as a part of the whole, which he constantly felt. His words and actions poured out of him as uniformly, necessarily, and directly as a scent is released from a flower. He could not understand either the price or the meaning of a single action or word.

Having received news from Nicholas that her brother was with the Rostovs in Yaroslavl, Princess Marya, despite her aunt’s dissuasions, immediately got ready to go, and not only alone, but with her nephew. Whether it was difficult, not difficult, possible or impossible, she did not ask and did not want to know: her duty was not only to be near her perhaps dying brother, but also to do everything possible to bring him her son, and she stood up drive. If Prince Andrei himself did not notify her, then Princess Marya explained it either by the fact that he was too weak to write, or by the fact that he considered this long journey too difficult and dangerous for her and for his son.
Within a few days, Princess Marya got ready to travel. Her crews consisted of a huge princely carriage, in which she arrived in Voronezh, a britzka and a cart. Traveling with her were M lle Bourienne, Nikolushka and her tutor, an old nanny, three girls, Tikhon, a young footman and a haiduk, whom her aunt had sent with her.
It was impossible to even think about going the usual route to Moscow, and therefore the roundabout route that Princess Marya had to take: to Lipetsk, Ryazan, Vladimir, Shuya, was very long, due to the lack of post horses everywhere, very difficult and near Ryazan, where, as they said the French were showing up, even dangerous.
During this difficult journey, M lle Bourienne, Desalles and Princess Mary's servants were surprised by her fortitude and activity. She went to bed later than everyone else, got up earlier than everyone else, and no difficulties could stop her. Thanks to her activity and energy, which excited her companions, by the end of the second week they were approaching Yaroslavl.
IN Lately During her stay in Voronezh, Princess Marya experienced the best happiness of her life. Her love for Rostov no longer tormented or worried her. This love filled her entire soul, became an inseparable part of herself, and she no longer fought against it. Lately, Princess Marya became convinced—although she never clearly told herself this in words—she became convinced that she was loved and loved. She was convinced of this during her last meeting with Nikolai, when he came to announce to her that her brother was with the Rostovs. Nicholas did not hint in a single word that now (if Prince Andrei recovered) the previous relationship between him and Natasha could be resumed, but Princess Marya saw from his face that he knew and thought this. And, despite the fact that his attitude towards her - cautious, tender and loving - not only did not change, but he seemed to rejoice in the fact that now the kinship between him and Princess Marya allowed him to more freely express his friendship and love to her, as he sometimes thought Princess Marya. Princess Marya knew what she loved at first and last time in life, and felt that she was loved, and was happy, calm in this regard.
But this happiness on one side of her soul not only did not prevent her from feeling grief about her brother with all her might, but, on the contrary, it peace of mind in one respect gave her great opportunity give yourself completely to your feelings for your brother. This feeling was so strong in the first minute of leaving Voronezh that those accompanying her were sure, looking at her exhausted, desperate face, that she would certainly get sick on the way; but it was precisely the difficulties and worries of the journey, which Princess Marya took on with such activity, that saved her for a time from her grief and gave her strength.
As always happens during a trip, Princess Marya thought only about one journey, forgetting what was its goal. But, approaching Yaroslavl, when what could lie ahead of her was revealed again, and not many days later, but this evening, Princess Marya’s excitement reached its extreme limits.
When the guide sent ahead to find out in Yaroslavl where the Rostovs were standing and in what position Prince Andrei was, met a large carriage entering at the gate, he was horrified when he saw the terribly pale face of the princess, which leaned out of the window.
“I found out everything, your Excellency: the Rostov men are standing on the square, in the house of the merchant Bronnikov.” “Not far away, just above the Volga,” said the hayduk.
Princess Marya looked at his face with fear and questioning, not understanding what he was saying to her, not understanding why he did not answer main question: what brother? M lle Bourienne asked this question for Princess Marya.
- What about the prince? – she asked.
“Their Lordships are standing with them in the same house.”
“So he is alive,” thought the princess and quietly asked: what is he?
“People said they were all in the same situation.”
What did “everything in the same position” mean, the princess did not ask and only briefly, glancing imperceptibly at the seven-year-old Nikolushka, who was sitting in front of her and rejoicing at the city, lowered her head and did not raise it until the heavy carriage, rattling, shaking and swaying, did not stop somewhere. The folding steps rattled.
The doors opened. On the left there was water - a large river, on the right there was a porch; on the porch there were people, servants and some kind of ruddy girl with a large black braid who was smiling unpleasantly, as it seemed to Princess Marya (it was Sonya). The princess ran up the stairs, the girl feigning a smile said: “Here, here!” - and the princess found herself in the hall in front of old woman with an oriental type of face, who quickly walked towards her with a touched expression. It was the Countess. She hugged Princess Marya and began to kiss her.
- Mon enfant! - she said, “je vous aime et vous connais depuis longtemps.” [My child! I love you and have known you for a long time.]
Despite all her excitement, Princess Marya realized that it was the countess and that she had to say something. She, without knowing how, uttered some polite French words, in the same tone as those spoken to her, and asked: what is he?
“The doctor says there is no danger,” said the countess, but while she was saying this, she raised her eyes upward with a sigh, and in this gesture there was an expression that contradicted her words.
- Where is he? Can I see him, can I? - asked the princess.
- Now, princess, now, my friend. Is this his son? - she said, turning to Nikolushka, who was entering with Desalles. “We can all fit in, the house is big.” Oh, what a lovely boy!
The Countess led the Princess into the living room. Sonya was talking to m lle Bourienne. The Countess caressed the boy. The old count entered the room, greeting the princess. The old count has changed enormously since the princess last saw him. Then he was a lively, cheerful, self-confident old man, now he seemed like a pitiful, lost man. While talking to the princess, he constantly looked around, as if asking everyone whether he was doing what was necessary. After the ruin of Moscow and his estate, knocked out of his usual rut, he apparently lost consciousness of his significance and felt that he no longer had a place in life.
Despite the excitement in which she was, despite the desire to see her brother as quickly as possible and the annoyance that at this moment, when she only wanted to see him, she was being occupied and feignedly praising her nephew, the princess noticed everything that was happening around her, and felt the need to temporarily submit to this new order into which she was entering. She knew that all this was necessary, and it was difficult for her, but she was not annoyed with them.
“This is my niece,” said the count, introducing Sonya. “You don’t know her, princess?”
The princess turned to her and, trying to extinguish the hostile feeling towards this girl that had risen in her soul, kissed her. But it became difficult for her because the mood of everyone around her was so far from what was in her soul.
- Where is he? – she asked again, addressing everyone.
“He’s downstairs, Natasha is with him,” Sonya answered, blushing. - Let's go find out. I think you are tired, princess?
Tears of annoyance came to the princess's eyes. She turned away and was about to ask the countess again where to go to him, when light, swift, seemingly cheerful steps were heard at the door. The princess looked around and saw Natasha almost running in, the same Natasha who she had not liked so much on that long-ago meeting in Moscow.
But before the princess had time to look at this Natasha’s face, she realized that this was her sincere companion in grief, and therefore her friend. She rushed to meet her and, hugging her, cried on her shoulder.
As soon as Natasha, who was sitting at Prince Andrey’s bedside, found out about Princess Marya’s arrival, she quietly left his room with those quick, as it seemed to Princess Marya, seemingly cheerful steps and ran towards her.
On her excited face, when she ran into the room, there was only one expression - an expression of love, boundless love for him, for her, for everything that was close to her loved one, an expression of pity, suffering for others and craving give all of yourself to help them. It was clear that at that moment there was not a single thought about herself, about her relationship to him, in Natasha’s soul.
The sensitive Princess Marya understood all this from the first glance at Natasha’s face and cried with sorrowful pleasure on her shoulder.
“Come on, let’s go to him, Marie,” Natasha said, taking her to another room.
Princess Marya raised her face, wiped her eyes and turned to Natasha. She felt that she would understand and learn everything from her.
“What...” she began to ask, but suddenly stopped. She felt that words could neither ask nor answer. Natasha's face and eyes should have spoken more and more clearly.
Natasha looked at her, but seemed to be in fear and doubt - to say or not to say everything that she knew; She seemed to feel that before those radiant eyes, penetrating into the very depths of her heart, it was impossible not to tell the whole, the whole truth as she saw it. Natasha's lip suddenly trembled, ugly wrinkles formed around her mouth, and she sobbed and covered her face with her hands.
Princess Marya understood everything.
But she still hoped and asked in words she didn’t believe in:
- But how is his wound? In general, what is his position?
“You, you... will see,” Natasha could only say.
They sat downstairs near his room for some time in order to stop crying and come to him with calm faces.
– How did the whole illness go? How long ago has he gotten worse? When did it happen? - asked Princess Marya.
Natasha said that at first there was a danger from a fever and from suffering, but at Trinity this passed, and the doctor was afraid of one thing - Antonov’s fire. But this danger also passed. When we arrived in Yaroslavl, the wound began to fester (Natasha knew everything about suppuration, etc.), and the doctor said that suppuration could proceed properly. There was a fever. The doctor said that this fever is not so dangerous.
“But two days ago,” Natasha began, “suddenly it happened...” She held back her sobs. “I don’t know why, but you will see what he has become.”
- Are you weak? Have you lost weight?.. - asked the princess.
- No, not the same, but worse. You will see. Oh, Marie, Marie, he's too good, he can't, can't live... because...

When Natasha opened his door with her usual movement, letting the princess pass first, Princess Marya already felt ready sobs in her throat. No matter how much she prepared or tried to calm down, she knew that she would not be able to see him without tears.
Princess Marya understood what Natasha meant with the words: this happened two days ago. She understood that this meant that he had suddenly softened, and that this softening and tenderness were signs of death. As she approached the door, she already saw in her imagination that face of Andryusha, which she had known since childhood, tender, meek, touching, which he so rarely saw and therefore always had such a strong effect on her. She knew that he would say quiet, tender words to her, like those her father had told her before his death, and that she would not bear it and would burst into tears over him. But, sooner or later, it had to be, and she entered the room. The sobs came closer and closer to her throat, while with her myopic eyes she discerned his form more and more clearly and looked for his features, and then she saw his face and met his gaze.
He was lying on the sofa, covered with pillows, wearing a squirrel fur robe. He was thin and pale. One thin, transparent white hand held a handkerchief; with the other, with quiet movements of his fingers, he touched his thin, overgrown mustache. His eyes looked at those entering.
Seeing his face and meeting his gaze, Princess Marya suddenly moderated the speed of her step and felt that her tears had suddenly dried up and her sobs had stopped. Catching the expression on his face and gaze, she suddenly became shy and felt guilty.
“What is my fault?” – she asked herself. “The fact that you live and think about living things, and I!..” answered his cold, stern gaze.
There was almost hostility in his deep, out-of-control, but inward-looking gaze as he slowly looked around at his sister and Natasha.
He kissed his sister hand in hand, as was their habit.
- Hello, Marie, how did you get there? - he said in a voice as even and alien as his gaze. If he had screamed with a desperate cry, then this cry would have terrified Princess Marya less than the sound of this voice.
- And did you bring Nikolushka? – he said also evenly and slowly and with an obvious effort of recollection.
– How is your health now? - said Princess Marya, herself surprised at what she was saying.
“This, my friend, is something you need to ask the doctor,” he said, and, apparently making another effort to be affectionate, he said with just his mouth (it was clear that he did not mean what he was saying): “Merci, chere amie.” , d'etre venue. [Thank you, dear friend, for coming.]
Princess Marya shook his hand. He winced slightly when she shook her hand. He was silent and she didn't know what to say. She understood what happened to him in two days. In his words, in his tone, especially in this look - a cold, almost hostile look - one could feel the alienation from everything worldly, terrible for a living person. He apparently now had difficulty understanding all living things; but at the same time it was felt that he did not understand the living, not because he was deprived of the power of understanding, but because he understood something else, something that the living did not and could not understand and that absorbed him completely.
- Yes, that’s how strange fate brought us together! – he said, breaking the silence and pointing at Natasha. - She keeps following me.
Princess Marya listened and did not understand what he was saying. He, the sensitive, gentle Prince Andrei, how could he say this in front of the one he loved and who loved him! If he had thought about living, he would not have said this in such a coldly insulting tone. If he didn’t know that he would die, then how could he not feel sorry for her, how could he say this in front of her! There was only one explanation for this, and that was that he didn’t care, and it didn’t matter because something else, something more important, was revealed to him.
The conversation was cold, incoherent and interrupted constantly.
“Marie passed through Ryazan,” said Natasha. Prince Andrei did not notice that she called his sister Marie. And Natasha, calling her that in front of him, noticed it herself for the first time.
- Well, what? - he said.
“They told her that Moscow was completely burned down, as if...
Natasha stopped: she couldn’t speak. He obviously made an effort to listen, but still could not.
“Yes, it burned down, they say,” he said. “This is very pathetic,” and he began to look forward, absentmindedly straightening his mustache with his fingers.