章节正文
a few words that passed between the two, surprised the other
lodgers. Vautrin, who saw Eugene for the first time since their
interview, seemed as if he would fain read the student's very
soul. During the night Eugene had had some time in which to scan
the vast field which lay before him; and now, as he remembered
yesterday's proposal, the thought of Mlle. Taillefer's dowry
came, of course, to his mind, and he could not help thinking of
Victorine as the most exemplary youth may think of an heiress. It
chanced that their eyes met. The poor girl did not fail to see
that Eugene looked very handsome in his new clothes. So much was
said in the glance, thus exchanged, that Eugene could not doubt
but that he was associated in her mind with the vague hopes that
lie dormant in a girl's heart and gather round the first
attractive newcomer. "Eight hundred thousand francs!" a voice
cried in his ears, but suddenly he took refuge in the memories of
yesterday evening, thinking that his extemporized passion for
Mme. de Nucingen was a talisman that would preserve him from this
temptation.
"They gave Rossini's Barber of Seville at the Italiens yesterday
evening," he remarked. "I never heard such delicious music. Good
gracious! how lucky people are to have a box at the Italiens!"
Father Goriot drank in every word that Eugene let fall, and
watched him as a dog watches his master's slightest movement.
"You men are like fighting cocks," said Mme. Vauquer; "you do
what you like."
"How did you get back?" inquired Vautrin.
"I walked," answered Eugene.
"For my own part," remarked the tempter, "I do not care about
doing things by halves. If I want to enjoy myself that way, I
should prefer to go in my carriage, sit in my own box, and do the
thing comfortably. Everything or nothing; that is my motto."
"And a good one, too," commented Mme. Vauquer.
"Perhaps you will see Mme. de Nucingen to-day," said Eugene,
addressing Goriot in an undertone. "She will welcome you with
open arms, I am sure; she would want to ask you for all sorts of
little details about me. I have found out that she will do
anything in the world to be known by my cousin Mme. de Beauseant;
don't forget to tell her that I love her too well not to think of
trying to arrange this."
Rastignac went at once to the Ecole de Droit. He had no mind to
stay a moment longer than was necessary in that odious house. He
wasted his time that day; he had fallen a victim to that fever of
the brain that accompanies the too vivid hopes of youth.
Vautrin's arguments had set him meditating on social life, and he
was deep in these reflections when he happened on his friend
Bianchon in the Jardin du Luxembourg.
"What makes you look so solemn?" said the medical student,
putting an arm through Eugene's as they went towards the Palais.
"I am tormented by temptations."
"What kind? There is a cure for temptation."
"What?"
"Yielding to it."
"You laugh, but you don't know what it is all about. Have you
read Rousseau?"
"Yes."
"Do you remember that he asks the reader somewhere what he would
do if he could make a fortune by killing an old mandarin
somewhere in China by mere force of wishing it, and without
stirring from Paris?"
"Yes."
"Well, then?"
"Pshaw! I am at my thirty-third mandarin."
"Seriously, though. Look here, suppose you were sure that you
could do it, and had only to give a nod. Would you do it?"
"Is he well stricken in years, this mandarin of yours? Pshaw!
after all, young or old, paralytic, or well and sound, my word
for it. . . . Well, then. Hang it, no!"
"You are a good fellow, Bianchon. But suppose you loved a woman
well enough to lose your soul in hell for her, and that she
wanted money for dresses and a carriage, and all her whims, in
fact?"
"Why, here you are taking away my reason, and want me to reason!"
"Well, then, Bianchon, I am mad; bring me to my senses. I have
two sisters as beautiful and innocent as angels, and I want them
to be happy. How am I to find two hundred thousand francs apiece
for them in the next five years? Now and then in life, you see,
you must play for heavy stakes, and it is no use wasting your
luck on low play."
"But you are only stating the problem that lies before every one
at the outset of his life, and you want to cut the Gordian knot
with a sword. If that is the way of it, dear boy, you must be an
Alexander, or to the hulks you go. For my own part, I am quite
contented with the little lot I mean to make for myself somewhere
in the country, when I mean to step into my father's shoes and
plod along. A man's affections are just as fully satisfied by the
smallest circle as they can be by a vast circumference. Napoleon
himself could only dine once, and he could not have more
mistresses than a house student at the Capuchins. Happiness, old
man, depends on what lies between the sole of your foot and the
crown of your head; and whether it costs a million or a hundred
louis, the actualamount of pleasure that you receive rests
entirely with you, and is just exactly the same in any case. I am
for letting that Chinaman live."
"Thank you, Bianchon; you have done me good. We will always be
friends."
"I say," remarked the medical student, as they came to the end of
a broad walk in the Jardin des Plantes, "I saw the Michonneau and
Poiret a few minutes ago on a bench chatting with a gentleman
whom I used to see in last year's troubles hanging about the
Chamber of Deputies; he seems to me, in fact, to be a detective
dressed up like a decentretiredtradesman. Let us keep an eye on
that couple; I will tell you why some time. Good-bye; it is
nearly four o'clock, and I must be in to answer to my name."
When Eugene reached the lodging-house, he found Father Goriot
waiting for him.
"Here," cried the old man, "here is a letter from her. Pretty
handwriting, eh?"
Eugene broke the seal and read:--
"Sir,--I have heard from my father that you are fond of Italian
music. I shall be delighted if you will do me the pleasure of
accepting a seat in my box. La Fodor and Pellegrini will sing on
Saturday, so I am sure that you will not refuse me. M. de
Nucingen and I shall be pleased if you will dine with us; we
shall be quite by ourselves. If you will come and be my escort,
my husband will be glad to be relieved from his conjugal duties.
Do not answer, but simply come.--Yours sincerely,
D. DE N."
"Let me see it," said Father Goriot, when Eugene had read the
letter. "You are going, aren't you?" he added, when he had
smelled the writing-paper. "How nice it smells! Her fingers have
touched it, that is certain."
"A woman does not fling herself at a man's head in this way," the
student was thinking. "She wants to use me to bring back de
Marsay; nothing but pique makes a woman do a thing like this."
"Well," said Father Goriot, "what are you thinking about?"
Eugene did not know the fever or vanity that possessed some women
in those days; how should he imagine that to open a door in the
Faubourg Saint-Germain a banker's wife would go to almost any
length. For the coterie of the Faubourg Saint-Germain was a
charmed circle, and the women who moved in it were at that time
the queens of society; and among the greatest of these Dames du
Petit-Chateau, as they were called, were Mme. de Beauseant and
her friends the Duchesse de Langeais and the Duchesse de
Maufrigneause. Rastignac was alone in his ignorance of the
frantic efforts made by women who lived in the Chausee-d'Antin to
enter this seventh heaven and shine among the brightest
constellations of their sex. But his cautiousdisposition stood
him in good stead, and kept his judgment cool, and the not
altogether enviable power of imposing instead of accepting
conditions.
"Yes, I am going," he replied.
So it was curiosity that drew him to Mme. de Nucingen; while, if
she had treated him disdainfully, passion perhaps might have
brought him to her feet. Still he waited almost impatiently for
to-morrow, and the hour when he could go to her. There is almost
as much charm for a young man in a first flirtation as there is
in first love. The certainty of success is a source of happiness
to which men do not confess, and all the charm of certain women
lies in this. The desire of conquest springs no less from the
easiness than from the difficulty of triumph, and every passion
is excited or sustained by one or the other of these two motives
which divide the empire of love. Perhaps this division is one
result of the great question of temperaments; which, after all,
dominates social life. The melancholic temperament may stand in
need of the tonic of coquetry, while those of nervous or sanguine
complexion withdraw if they meet with a too stubborn resistance.
In other words, the lymphatic temperament is essentially
despondent, and the rhapsodic is bilious.
Eugene lingered over his toilette with an enjoyment of all its
little details that is grateful to a young man's self-love,
though he will not own to it for fear of being laughed at. He
thought, as he arranged his hair, that a pretty woman's glances
would wander through the dark curls. He indulged in childish
tricks like any young girl dressing for a dance, and gazed
complacently at his graceful figure while he smoothed out the
creases of his coat.
"There are worse figures, that is certain," he said to himself.
Then he went downstairs, just as the rest of the household were
sitting down to dinner, and took with good humor the boisterous
applause excited by his elegant appearance. The amazement with
which any attention to dress is regarded in a lodging-house is a
very characteristic trait. No one can put on a new coat but every
one else must say his say about it.
"Clk! clk! clk!" cried Bianchon, making the sound with his tongue
against the roof of his mouth, like a driver urging on a horse.
"He holds himself like a duke and a peer of France," said Mme.
Vauquer.
"Are you going a-courting?" inquired Mlle. Michonneau.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" cried the artist.
"My compliments to my lady your wife," from the employe at the
Museum.
"Your wife; have you a wife?" asked Poiret.
"Yes, in compartments, water-tight and floats, guaranteed fast
color, all prices from twenty-five to forty sous, neat check
patterns in the latest fashion and best taste, will wash, half-
linen, half-cotton, half-wool; a certain cure for toothache and
other complaints under the patronage of the Royal College of
Physicians! children like it! a remedy for headache, indigestion,
and all other diseases affecting the throat, eyes, and ears!"
cried Vautrin, with a comicalimitation of the volubility of a
quack at a fair. "And how much shall we say for this marvel,
gentlemen? Twopence? No. Nothing of the sort. All that is left in
stock after supplying the Great Mogul. All the crowned heads of
Europe, including the Gr-r-rand Duke of Baden, have been anxious
to get a sight of it. Walk up! walk up! gentlemen! Pay at the
desk as you go in! Strike up the music there! Brooum, la, la,
trinn! la, la, boum! boum! Mister Clarinette, there you are out
of tune!" he added gruffly; "I will rap your knuckles for you!"
"Goodness! what an amusing man!" said Mme. Vauquer to Mme.
Couture; "I should never feel dull with him in the house."
This burlesque of Vautrin's was the signal for an outburst of
lodgers. Vautrin, who saw Eugene for the first time since their
interview, seemed as if he would fain read the student's very
soul. During the night Eugene had had some time in which to scan
the vast field which lay before him; and now, as he remembered
yesterday's proposal, the thought of Mlle. Taillefer's dowry
came, of course, to his mind, and he could not help thinking of
Victorine as the most exemplary youth may think of an heiress. It
chanced that their eyes met. The poor girl did not fail to see
that Eugene looked very handsome in his new clothes. So much was
said in the glance, thus exchanged, that Eugene could not doubt
but that he was associated in her mind with the vague hopes that
lie dormant in a girl's heart and gather round the first
attractive newcomer. "Eight hundred thousand francs!" a voice
cried in his ears, but suddenly he took refuge in the memories of
yesterday evening, thinking that his extemporized passion for
Mme. de Nucingen was a talisman that would preserve him from this
temptation.
"They gave Rossini's Barber of Seville at the Italiens yesterday
evening," he remarked. "I never heard such delicious music. Good
gracious! how lucky people are to have a box at the Italiens!"
Father Goriot drank in every word that Eugene let fall, and
watched him as a dog watches his master's slightest movement.
"You men are like fighting cocks," said Mme. Vauquer; "you do
what you like."
"How did you get back?" inquired Vautrin.
"I walked," answered Eugene.
"For my own part," remarked the tempter, "I do not care about
doing things by halves. If I want to enjoy myself that way, I
should prefer to go in my carriage, sit in my own box, and do the
thing comfortably. Everything or nothing; that is my motto."
"And a good one, too," commented Mme. Vauquer.
"Perhaps you will see Mme. de Nucingen to-day," said Eugene,
addressing Goriot in an undertone. "She will welcome you with
open arms, I am sure; she would want to ask you for all sorts of
little details about me. I have found out that she will do
anything in the world to be known by my cousin Mme. de Beauseant;
don't forget to tell her that I love her too well not to think of
trying to arrange this."
Rastignac went at once to the Ecole de Droit. He had no mind to
stay a moment longer than was necessary in that odious house. He
wasted his time that day; he had fallen a victim to that fever of
the brain that accompanies the too vivid hopes of youth.
Vautrin's arguments had set him meditating on social life, and he
was deep in these reflections when he happened on his friend
Bianchon in the Jardin du Luxembourg.
"What makes you look so solemn?" said the medical student,
putting an arm through Eugene's as they went towards the Palais.
"I am tormented by temptations."
"What kind? There is a cure for temptation."
"What?"
"Yielding to it."
"You laugh, but you don't know what it is all about. Have you
read Rousseau?"
"Yes."
"Do you remember that he asks the reader somewhere what he would
do if he could make a fortune by killing an old mandarin
somewhere in China by mere force of wishing it, and without
stirring from Paris?"
"Yes."
"Well, then?"
"Pshaw! I am at my thirty-third mandarin."
"Seriously, though. Look here, suppose you were sure that you
could do it, and had only to give a nod. Would you do it?"
"Is he well stricken in years, this mandarin of yours? Pshaw!
after all, young or old, paralytic, or well and sound, my word
for it. . . . Well, then. Hang it, no!"
"You are a good fellow, Bianchon. But suppose you loved a woman
well enough to lose your soul in hell for her, and that she
wanted money for dresses and a carriage, and all her whims, in
fact?"
"Why, here you are taking away my reason, and want me to reason!"
"Well, then, Bianchon, I am mad; bring me to my senses. I have
two sisters as beautiful and innocent as angels, and I want them
to be happy. How am I to find two hundred thousand francs apiece
for them in the next five years? Now and then in life, you see,
you must play for heavy stakes, and it is no use wasting your
luck on low play."
"But you are only stating the problem that lies before every one
at the outset of his life, and you want to cut the Gordian knot
with a sword. If that is the way of it, dear boy, you must be an
Alexander, or to the hulks you go. For my own part, I am quite
contented with the little lot I mean to make for myself somewhere
in the country, when I mean to step into my father's shoes and
plod along. A man's affections are just as fully satisfied by the
smallest circle as they can be by a vast circumference. Napoleon
himself could only dine once, and he could not have more
mistresses than a house student at the Capuchins. Happiness, old
man, depends on what lies between the sole of your foot and the
crown of your head; and whether it costs a million or a hundred
louis, the actualamount of pleasure that you receive rests
entirely with you, and is just exactly the same in any case. I am
for letting that Chinaman live."
"Thank you, Bianchon; you have done me good. We will always be
friends."
"I say," remarked the medical student, as they came to the end of
a broad walk in the Jardin des Plantes, "I saw the Michonneau and
Poiret a few minutes ago on a bench chatting with a gentleman
whom I used to see in last year's troubles hanging about the
Chamber of Deputies; he seems to me, in fact, to be a detective
dressed up like a decentretiredtradesman. Let us keep an eye on
that couple; I will tell you why some time. Good-bye; it is
nearly four o'clock, and I must be in to answer to my name."
When Eugene reached the lodging-house, he found Father Goriot
waiting for him.
"Here," cried the old man, "here is a letter from her. Pretty
handwriting, eh?"
Eugene broke the seal and read:--
"Sir,--I have heard from my father that you are fond of Italian
music. I shall be delighted if you will do me the pleasure of
accepting a seat in my box. La Fodor and Pellegrini will sing on
Saturday, so I am sure that you will not refuse me. M. de
Nucingen and I shall be pleased if you will dine with us; we
shall be quite by ourselves. If you will come and be my escort,
my husband will be glad to be relieved from his conjugal duties.
Do not answer, but simply come.--Yours sincerely,
D. DE N."
"Let me see it," said Father Goriot, when Eugene had read the
letter. "You are going, aren't you?" he added, when he had
smelled the writing-paper. "How nice it smells! Her fingers have
touched it, that is certain."
"A woman does not fling herself at a man's head in this way," the
student was thinking. "She wants to use me to bring back de
Marsay; nothing but pique makes a woman do a thing like this."
"Well," said Father Goriot, "what are you thinking about?"
Eugene did not know the fever or vanity that possessed some women
in those days; how should he imagine that to open a door in the
Faubourg Saint-Germain a banker's wife would go to almost any
length. For the coterie of the Faubourg Saint-Germain was a
charmed circle, and the women who moved in it were at that time
the queens of society; and among the greatest of these Dames du
Petit-Chateau, as they were called, were Mme. de Beauseant and
her friends the Duchesse de Langeais and the Duchesse de
Maufrigneause. Rastignac was alone in his ignorance of the
frantic efforts made by women who lived in the Chausee-d'Antin to
enter this seventh heaven and shine among the brightest
constellations of their sex. But his cautiousdisposition stood
him in good stead, and kept his judgment cool, and the not
altogether enviable power of imposing instead of accepting
conditions.
"Yes, I am going," he replied.
So it was curiosity that drew him to Mme. de Nucingen; while, if
she had treated him disdainfully, passion perhaps might have
brought him to her feet. Still he waited almost impatiently for
to-morrow, and the hour when he could go to her. There is almost
as much charm for a young man in a first flirtation as there is
in first love. The certainty of success is a source of happiness
to which men do not confess, and all the charm of certain women
lies in this. The desire of conquest springs no less from the
easiness than from the difficulty of triumph, and every passion
is excited or sustained by one or the other of these two motives
which divide the empire of love. Perhaps this division is one
result of the great question of temperaments; which, after all,
dominates social life. The melancholic temperament may stand in
need of the tonic of coquetry, while those of nervous or sanguine
complexion withdraw if they meet with a too stubborn resistance.
In other words, the lymphatic temperament is essentially
despondent, and the rhapsodic is bilious.
Eugene lingered over his toilette with an enjoyment of all its
little details that is grateful to a young man's self-love,
though he will not own to it for fear of being laughed at. He
thought, as he arranged his hair, that a pretty woman's glances
would wander through the dark curls. He indulged in childish
tricks like any young girl dressing for a dance, and gazed
complacently at his graceful figure while he smoothed out the
creases of his coat.
"There are worse figures, that is certain," he said to himself.
Then he went downstairs, just as the rest of the household were
sitting down to dinner, and took with good humor the boisterous
applause excited by his elegant appearance. The amazement with
which any attention to dress is regarded in a lodging-house is a
very characteristic trait. No one can put on a new coat but every
one else must say his say about it.
"Clk! clk! clk!" cried Bianchon, making the sound with his tongue
against the roof of his mouth, like a driver urging on a horse.
"He holds himself like a duke and a peer of France," said Mme.
Vauquer.
"Are you going a-courting?" inquired Mlle. Michonneau.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" cried the artist.
"My compliments to my lady your wife," from the employe at the
Museum.
"Your wife; have you a wife?" asked Poiret.
"Yes, in compartments, water-tight and floats, guaranteed fast
color, all prices from twenty-five to forty sous, neat check
patterns in the latest fashion and best taste, will wash, half-
linen, half-cotton, half-wool; a certain cure for toothache and
other complaints under the patronage of the Royal College of
Physicians! children like it! a remedy for headache, indigestion,
and all other diseases affecting the throat, eyes, and ears!"
cried Vautrin, with a comicalimitation of the volubility of a
quack at a fair. "And how much shall we say for this marvel,
gentlemen? Twopence? No. Nothing of the sort. All that is left in
stock after supplying the Great Mogul. All the crowned heads of
Europe, including the Gr-r-rand Duke of Baden, have been anxious
to get a sight of it. Walk up! walk up! gentlemen! Pay at the
desk as you go in! Strike up the music there! Brooum, la, la,
trinn! la, la, boum! boum! Mister Clarinette, there you are out
of tune!" he added gruffly; "I will rap your knuckles for you!"
"Goodness! what an amusing man!" said Mme. Vauquer to Mme.
Couture; "I should never feel dull with him in the house."
This burlesque of Vautrin's was the signal for an outburst of
- refuge [´refju:dʒ]
v.&n.避难(所)；庇护 (初中英语单词) - passion [´pæʃən] n.激情；激怒；恋爱 (初中英语单词)
- preserve [pri´zə:v] v.保藏 n.保藏物 (初中英语单词)
- barber [´bɑ:bə] n.理发师 (初中英语单词)
- delicious [di´liʃəs] a.美味的，可口的 (初中英语单词)
- carriage [´kæridʒ] n.马车；客车；货运 (初中英语单词)
- welcome [´welkəm] a.受欢迎的；可喜的 (初中英语单词)
- victim [´viktim] n.牺牲者；受害者 (初中英语单词)
- medical [´medikəl] a.医学的；医疗的 (初中英语单词)
- innocent [´inəsənt] a.无罪的；单纯的 (初中英语单词)
- circle [´sə:kəl] n.圆圈 v.环绕；盘旋 (初中英语单词)
- actual [´æktʃuəl] a.现实的；实际的 (初中英语单词)
- amount [ə´maunt] n.总数；数量 v.合计 (初中英语单词)
- vanity [´væniti] n.虚荣；自负；空虚 (初中英语单词)
- ignorance [´ignərəns] n.无知，愚昧 (初中英语单词)
- disposition [,dispə´ziʃən] n.安排；性情；倾向 (初中英语单词)
- curiosity [,kjuəri´ɔsiti] n.好奇；奇事；珍品 (初中英语单词)
- confess [kən´fes] vt.供认；坦白；承认 (初中英语单词)
- conquest [´kɔŋkwest] n.赢得；获得；占领地 (初中英语单词)
- triumph [´traiəmf] n.胜利 vi.得胜，战胜 (初中英语单词)
- nervous [´nə:vəs] a.神经的；神经过敏的 (初中英语单词)
- withdraw [wið´drɔ:] v.收回；撤销；撤退 (初中英语单词)
- grateful [´greitful] a.感谢的；令人愉快的 (初中英语单词)
- wander [´wɔndə, ´wɑ:n:dər] v.徘徊；流浪 (初中英语单词)
- graceful [´greisfəl] a.优美的，流畅的 (初中英语单词)
- downstairs [,daun´steəz] ad.在楼下 a.楼下的 (初中英语单词)
- amazement [ə´meizmənt] n.惊愕；惊奇 (初中英语单词)
- employe [,emplɔi´i:] n.雇员，雇工，店员 (初中英语单词)
- throat [θrəut] n.咽喉；嗓子；出入口 (初中英语单词)
- newcomer [´nju:,kʌmə] n.新来的人；移民 (高中英语单词)
- comfortably [´kʌmfətəbli] ad.舒适地 (高中英语单词)
- stricken [´strikən] strike的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
- hanging [´hæŋiŋ] n.绞刑 a.悬挂着的 (高中英语单词)
- decent [´di:sənt] a.体面的，正派的 (高中英语单词)
- certainty [´sə:tənti] n.确实(性)；确信 (高中英语单词)
- temperament [´tempərəmənt] n.气质；性格 (高中英语单词)
- stubborn [´stʌbən] a.顽固的；坚持的 (高中英语单词)
- enjoyment [in´dʒɔimənt] n.享受；愉快；乐趣 (高中英语单词)
- elegant [´eligənt] a.文雅的；优美的 (高中英语单词)
- characteristic [,kæriktə´ristik] a.特有的 n.特性 (高中英语单词)
- remedy [´remidi] n.药品 vt.医治；减轻 (高中英语单词)
- headache [´hedeik] n.头痛；使人头痛的事 (高中英语单词)
- imitation [,imi´teiʃən] n.模仿；仿制品；赝品 (高中英语单词)
- amusing [ə´mju:ziŋ] a.有趣的 (高中英语单词)
- odious [´əudiəs] a.可憎的；丑恶的 (英语四级单词)
- wasting [´weistiŋ] a.&n.浪费(的) (英语四级单词)
- circumference [sə´kʌmfərəns] n.圆周；周围；(圆)周线 (英语四级单词)
- tradesman [´treidzmən] n.店主；商人 (英语四级单词)
- delighted [di´laitid] a.高兴的；喜欢的 (英语四级单词)
- cautious [´kɔ:ʃəs] a.小心的；谨慎的 (英语四级单词)
- impatiently [im´peiʃəntli] ad.不耐烦地，急躁地 (英语四级单词)
- patronage [´pætrənidʒ] n.保护；赞助 (英语四级单词)
- mister [´mistə] n.先生 vt.称...先生 (英语四级单词)
- taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
- retired [ri´taiəd] a.退休的；通职的 (英语六级单词)
- imposing [im´pəuziŋ] a.壮丽的，堂皇的 (英语六级单词)
- comical [´kɔmikəl] a.好笑的；怪里怪气的 (英语六级单词)
- gruffly [´grʌmfli] ad.粗暴地 (英语六级单词)
- burlesque [bə:´lesk] n.&a.滑稽戏(的) (英语六级单词)
- outburst [´autbə:st] n.喷发；爆发；激增 (英语六级单词)
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