In the tavern, before which stood the doctor’s covered cart, there were already some five officers. Mary Hendríkhovna, a plump little blond German, in a dressing jacket and nightcap, was sitting on a broad bench in the front corner. Her husband, the doctor, lay asleep behind her. Rostóv and Ilyín, on entering the room, were welcomed with merry shouts and laughter. “Dear me, how jolly we are!” said Rostóv laughing. “And why do you stand there gaping?” “What swells they are! Why, the water streams from them! Don’t make our drawing room so wet.” “Don’t mess Mary Hendríkhovna’s dress!” cried other voices. Rostóv and Ilyín hastened to find a corner where they could change into dry clothes without offending Mary Hendríkhovna’s modesty. They were going into a tiny recess behind a partition to change,...