War and Peace Ch. 181: Mastering Fear Through

Leo Tolstoy

Mastering Fear Through Mental Discipline

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Summary

Near three in the morning the quartermaster orders the regiment on to the little town of Ostrovna. Officers still laughing from the tavern hurry to boil muddy water in the samovar, but Rostov leaves without tea. Dawn is damp and cold in still-moist clothes. He and Ilyin glance under the doctor's wet leather hood: the doctor's feet stick out, and his wife's nightcap and sleepy breathing show through the apron. Rostov calls her a dear little thing. Sixteen-year-old Ilyin answers with boyish gravity that she is a charming woman.

Half an hour later Rostov, riding a dun Donets Cossack horse no one can outgallop, gives the order Forward. Hussars splash in fours along a birch road behind infantry and a battery. He thinks of the horse, the morning, and the doctor's wife, never of danger. He is unafraid not from habit under fire, which no one can grow used to, but because he has learned to manage his thoughts: he plucks wet leaves, touches the horse, and hands a finished pipe to a hussar behind him. He pities Ilyin's excited face, knowing only time will lift the cornet's first-battle dread.

When the sun tears free of a long cloud, guns sound ahead. Count Ostermann-Tolstoy's adjutant gallops from Vitebsk with orders to advance at a trot. The squadron passes a deserted village, dresses ranks, and halts behind Uhlans on the left flank. Enemy columns show beyond a hollow dale. Shots in the dale raise Rostov's spirits like music. After an hour Ostermann rides up, speaks to the commander, and goes to the guns. The Uhlans form column and charge downhill toward French cavalry. Hussars take their places on the hill as spent bullets whistle past. Rostov draws himself up and follows the Uhlans with his whole soul. They meet the French in smoke. Five minutes later orange Uhlans on chestnut horses gallop back to the left, and blue French dragoons on grey horses come on in a crowd behind them.

In this chapter:Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Redirecting Attention Under Stress

Fear shrinks when focus moves. Rostov rides toward guns having learned to manage his thoughts, not to pretend danger away.

Before your next high-stakes hour, choose three present anchors you can return to.

This chapter

Inside the Mind: Ilyin

Ilyin answers with the gravity of sixteen that the doctor's wife is a charming woman, then rides with an excited face Rostov already pities. First fire has not yet taught him that dread is ordinary. He still treats the damp dawn as a grown man's outing, as if naming charm could keep the guns theoretical.

Continue this thoughtDefences Break in Open Air

Coming Up in Chapter 182

Rostov, with his keen sportsman's eye, is one of the first to catch sight of these blue French dragoons pursuing our Uhlans. Nearer and nearer in disorderly crowds come the Uhlans and the French dragoons after them. He already sees how the men, so small at the foot of the hill, jostle and overtake one another, waving arms and sabres.

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Original text

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Chapter 181

Mastering Fear Through Mental Discipline

It was nearly three o’clock but no one was yet asleep, when the quartermaster appeared with an order to move on to the little town of Ostróvna. Still laughing and talking, the officers began hurriedly getting ready and again boiled some muddy water in the samovar. But Rostóv went off to his squadron without waiting for tea. Day was breaking, the rain had ceased, and the clouds were dispersing. It felt damp and cold, especially in clothes that were still moist. As they left the tavern in the twilight of the dawn, Rostóv and Ilyín both glanced under the wet…

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Mastering Fear Through Mental Discipline

Summary

Why This Matters