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The smile that the old Prince Bezukhov seems to give Pierre always struck me as a look saying “You have no idea what you’re in for”.

It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly how Tolstoy does it, but in this scene we are constantly aware of the presence and power of the dying man. His body feels larger than life, somehow. Tolstoy almost always uses words of strength to describe the body: ruddy, lion, broad.