Ippolit Kuragin

A stupid young man with a lorgnette

BOOK ONE

Part One

Chapter 1

His father damns the boy with faint praise: “At least he is a quiet fool”, unlike his younger brother Anatole. Vasili wants to get him a diplomatic posting to Vienna, but Ippolit has been looked over for a certain Baron Funke – “a poor creature” in Prince Vasili’s eyes.

Chapter 3

The “charming Ippolit” is not especially charming. He is as ugly as his sister is beautiful, with a constant expression of self-confidence: “he only understood the meaning of his words after he had uttered them”.

Chapter 4

He continues to make an ass of himself. First, by incorrectly drawing the coat-of-arms of the Duc d'Enghien with a needle belonging to the little princess. Is it me, or is he being overly familiar with Liza Bolkonskaya? He then tells an atrociously delivered anecdote about a lady’s maid mistaken for a footman. It’s a laugh a minute with Ippolit.

Chapter 5

Prince Ippolit has had a “delightful” evening, although it doesn’t appear he has contributed to anyone else’s delight. The “little princess” probably wishes Ippolit had gone to the “dull” ambassador’s ball instead, where he may have accosted other “pretty women in society”. In his carriage with the Vicomte, they laugh about Andrei and drool over his wife. It isn’t pretty.