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A Start in Life-Part19_Honore de Balzac(1799-1850)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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establishment of its kind in Paris. And here's your eldest son, for

the last ten years at the head of a fine practice and married to



wealth. And you have such charming little granddaughters! You are, as

it were, the head of four great families. Leave us, Oscar; go and look



at the garden, but don't touch the flowers."

"Why, he's eighteen years old!" said uncle Cardot, smiling at this



injunction, which made an infant of Oscar.

"Alas, yes, he is eighteen, my good Monsieur Cardot; and after



bringing him so far, sound and healthy in mind and body, neither bow-

legged nor crooked, after sacrificing everything to give him an



education, it would be hard if I could not see him on the road to

fortune."



"That Monsieur Moreau who got him the scholarship will be sure to look

after his career," said uncle Cardot, concealing his hypocrisy under



an air of friendly good-humor.

"Monsieur Moreau may die," she said. "And besides, he has quarrelled



irrevocably with the Comte de Serizy, his patron."

"The deuce he has! Listen, madame; I see you are about to--"



"No, monsieur," said Oscar's mother, interrupting the old man, who,

out of courtesy to the "fair lady," repressed his annoyance at being



interrupted. "Alas, you do not know the miseries of a mother who, for

seven years past, has been forced to take a sum of six hundred francs



a year for her son's education from the miserable eighteen hundred

francs of her husband's salary. Yes, monsieur, that is all we have had



to live upon. Therefore, what more can I do for my poor Oscar?

Monsieur Clapart so hates the child that it is impossible for me to



keep him in the house. A poor woman, alone in the world, am I not

right to come and consult the only relation my Oscar has under



heaven?"

"Yes, you are right," said uncle Cardot. "You never told me of all



this before."

"Ah, monsieur!" replied Madame Clapart, proudly, "you were the last to



whom I would have told my wretchedness. It is all my own fault; I

married a man whose incapacity is almost beyond belief. Yes, I am,



indeed, most unhappy."

"Listen to me, madame," said the little old man, "and don't weep; it



is most painful to me to see a fair lady cry. After all, your son

bears the name of Husson, and if my dear deceased wife were living she



would wish to do something for the name of her father and of her

brother--"



"She loved her brother," said Oscar's mother.

"But all my fortune is given to my children, who expect nothing from



me at my death," continued the old man. "I have divided among them the

millions that I had, because I wanted to see them happy and enjoying



their wealth during my lifetime. I have nothing now except an annuity;

and at my age one clings to old habits. Do you know the path on which



you ought to start this young fellow?" he went on, after calling to

Oscar and taking him by the arm. "Let him study law; I'll pay the



costs. Put him in a lawyer's office and let him learn the business of

pettifogging; if he does well, if he distinguishes himself, if he



likes his profession and I am still alive, each of my children shall,

when the proper time comes, lend him a quarter of the cost of a



practice; and I will be security for him. You will only have to feed

and clothe him. Of course he'll sow a few wild oats, but he'll learn



life. Look at me: I left Lyon with two double louis which my

grandmother gave me, and walked to Paris; and what am I now? Fasting



is good for the health. Discretion, honesty, and work, young man, and

you'll succeed. There's a great deal of pleasure in earning one's



fortune; and if a man keeps his teeth he eats what he likes in his old

age, and sings, as I do, 'La Mere Godichon.' Remember my words:



Honesty, work, discretion."

"Do you hear that, Oscar?" said his mother. "Your uncle sums up in



three words all that I have been saying to you. You ought to carve the

last word in letters of fire on your memory."



"Oh, I have," said Oscar.

"Very good,--then thank your uncle; didn't you hear him say he would



take charge of your future? You will be a lawyer in Paris."

"He doesn't see the grandeur of his destiny," said the little old man,



observing Oscar's apathetic air. "Well, he's just out of school.

Listen, I'm no talker," he continued; "but I have this to say:



Remember that at your age honesty and uprightness are maintained only

by resisting temptations; of which, in a great city like Paris, there






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