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A Simple Soul-Part1_Gustave Flaubert(1821-1880)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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to kiss them every other minute.



But in spite of all this, she was happy. The comfort of her new

surroundings had obliterated her sadness.



Every Thursday, friends of Madame Aubain dropped in for a game of

cards, and it was Felicite's duty to prepare the table and heat the



foot-warmers. They arrived at exactly eight o'clock and departed

before eleven.



Every Monday morning, the dealer in second-hand goods, who lived under

the alley-way, spread out his wares on the sidewalk. Then the city



would be filled with a buzzing of voices in which the neighing of

horses, the bleating of lambs, the grunting of pigs, could be



distinguished, mingled with the sharp sound of wheels on the cobble-

stones. About twelve o'clock, when the market was in full swing, there



appeared at the front door a tall, middle-agedpeasant, with a hooked

nose and a cap on the back of his head; it was Robelin, the farmer of



Geffosses. Shortly afterwards came Liebard, the farmer of Toucques,

short, rotund and ruddy, wearing a grey jacket and spurred boots.



Both men brought their landlady either chickens or cheese. Felicite

would invariablythwart their ruses and they held her in great



respect.

At various times, Madame Aubain received a visit from the Marquis de



Gremanville, one of her uncles, who was ruined and lived at Falaise on

the remainder of his estates. He always came at dinner-time and



brought an ugly poodle with him, whose paws soiled their furniture. In

spite of his efforts to appear a man of breeding (he even went so far



as to raise his hat every time he said "My deceased father"), his

habits got the better of him, and he would fill his glass a little too



often and relate broad stories. Felicite would show him out very

politely and say: "You have had enough for this time, Monsieur de



Gremanville! Hoping to see you again!" and would close the door.

She opened it gladly for Monsieur Bourais, a retiredlawyer. His bald



head and white cravat, the ruffling of his shirt, his flowing brown

coat, the manner in which he took snuff, his whole person, in fact,



produced in her the kind of awe which we feel when we see

extraordinary persons. As he managed Madame's estates, he spent hours



with her in Monsieur's study; he was in constant fear of being

compromised, had a great regard for the magistracy and some



pretensions to learning.

In order to facilitate the children's studies, he presented them with



an engraved geography which represented various scenes of the world;

cannibals with feather head-dresses, a gorilla kidnapping a young



girl, Arabs in the desert, a whale being harpooned, etc.

Paul explained the pictures to Felicite. And, in fact, this was her



only literary education.

The children's studies were under the direction of a poor devil



employed at the town-hall, who sharpened his pocket-knife on his boots

and was famous for his penmanship.



When the weather was fine, they went to Geffosses. The house was built

in the centre of the sloping yard; and the sea looked like a grey spot



in the distance. Felicite would take slices of cold meat from the

lunch basket and they would sit down and eat in a room next to the



dairy. This room was all that remained of a cottage that had been torn

down. The dilapidated wall-paper trembled in the drafts. Madame



Aubain, overwhelmed by recollections, would hang her head, while the

children were afraid to open their mouths. Then, "Why don't you go and



play?" their mother would say; and they would scamper off.

Paul would go to the old barn, catch birds, throw stones into the



pond, or pound the trunks of the trees with a stick till they

resounded like drums. Virginia would feed the rabbits and run to pick



the wild flowers in the fields, and her flying legs would disclose her

little embroidered pantalettes. One autumn evening, they struck out



for home through the meadows. The new moon illumined part of the sky

and a mist hovered like a veil over the sinuosities of the river.



Oxen, lying in the pastures, gazed mildly at the passing persons. In

the third field, however, several of them got up and surrounded them.



"Don't be afraid," cried Felicite; and murmuring a sort of lament she

passed her hand over the back of the nearest ox; he turned away and



the others followed. But when they came to the next pasture, they

heard frightful bellowing.






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