Napoleon, as a character in Tolstoy’s War and Peace, is more than once described as having “fat little hands.” Nor does he “sit well of firmly on the horse.” He is said to be “undersized,” with “short legs” and a “round stomach”. The issue here is not the accuracy of Tolstoy’s description ---- it seems not that far off from historical accounts ---- but his choice of facts: other things that could be said of the mane are not said. We are meant to understand the difference of a warring commander in the body of a fat little Frenchman. Tolstoy’s Napoleon could be any man wandering in the streets and putting a little of powdered tobacco up his nose ---- and that is the point.拿破仑，作为托尔斯泰笔下《战争与和平》的一个角色，他不止一次被描述成拥有“胖而小的手”。“骑马的姿势也不端正或者坐不稳”。他被说成“很矮小”，有着“很短的腿”和一个“圆圆的肚子”。这里的问题不是托尔斯泰描述的准确性有多大。这看起来并不是太偏离历史记录，但是他对于事实的选择：其它可以拿来说的名字却没有被提出来。我们要清楚的是一个身材肥胖矮小的法国人的躯体、同时又是身经百战的军事统帅的非凡。托尔斯泰笔下的拿破仑可以是任何一个边在街上晃悠、边把一小撮烟丝送上鼻尖的人—— 这才是问题的关健所在。It is a way the novelist uses to show the moral nature of a character. And it turns out that, as Tolstoy has it, Napoleon is a crazy man. In a scene in Book Three of War and Peace, the wars having reached the critical year of 1812, Napoleon receives a representative from the Tsar(沙皇), who has come with peace terms. Napoleon is very angry: doesn’t the have more army? He, not the Tsar, is the one to make the terms. He will destroy all of Europe if this army is stopped. “That is what you will have gained by engaging me in the war!” he shouts. And then, Tolstoy writes, Napoleon “walked silently several times up and down the room, his fat shoulders moving quickly”.这是小说家常用的手法，来勾画角色的个性及道德取向。并且结果是，在托尔斯泰的笔下，拿破仑是一个疯子。在《战争与和平》的第三卷的有个场面，战争到了关键的一年1812年，拿破仑接见了一个沙皇派来的讲和的代表。拿破仑非常生气：他们没有更多军队了吗？应该是拿破仑他自己，而不是沙皇来谈条件。如果这个军队被阻止，他将毁灭整个欧洲。“跟我打仗，你就该预着会这样了。”他咆哮道。然后，托尔斯泰写到，拿破仑“安静地上上下下这个房间多次，他肥胖的肩膀移动得很快”。Still later, after reviewing his army amid cheering crowds, Napoleon invites the shaken Russian to dinner. “He raise his hand to the Russian’s…face,” Tolstoy writes, and “taking him by the ear pulled it gently….” To have one’s ear pulled by the Emperor was considered the greatest honor and mark of favor at the French court. “Well, well, why don’t you say anything?” said he, as if it was ridiculous in his presence to respect any one but himself, Napoleon.Tolstoy did his research, but the composition is his own.更晚的一些时候，拿破仑在欢呼中的人群中检阅了他的部队，然后邀请已经吓的战战兢兢的俄国人吃晚饭。“他抬起手，伸向俄国人的脸，”托尔斯泰写道，而且“抓住他的耳朵，轻轻地拉着。”在法国的宫廷中，被皇帝拉着耳朵被认为是极大的荣耀，也是受皇帝恩宠的标志。“好了，好了，为什么你不说点什么？”拿破仑说，好像在他面前尊重其他人而不是他本人是一件很荒唐可笑的事。托尔斯泰确实做过一些研究，但是这段话却是他自己的创作。
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