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Gobseck-Part7_Honore de Balzac(1799-1850)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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" 'M. le Comte,' said I, 'Gobseck is my benefactor--at fifteen per



cent,' I added, laughing. 'But his avarice does not authorize me to

paint him to the life for a stranger's benefit.'



" 'Speak out, sir. Your frankness cannot injure Gobseck or yourself. I

do not expect to find an angel in a pawnbroker.'



" 'Daddy Gobseck,' I began, 'is intimately convinced of the truth of

the principle which he takes for a rule of life. In his opinion, money



is a commodity which you may sell cheap or dear, according to

circumstances, with a clear conscience. A capitalist, by charging a



high rate of interest, becomes in his eyes a secured partner by

anticipation. Apart from the peculiarphilosophical views of human



nature and financial principles, which enable him to behave like a

usurer, I am fully persuaded that, out of his business, he is the most



loyal and upright soul in Paris. There are two men in him; he is petty

and great--a miser and a philosopher. If I were to die and leave a



family behind me, he would be the guardian whom I should appoint. This

was how I came to see Gobseck in this light, monsieur. I know nothing



of his past life. He may have been a pirate, may, for anything I know,

have been all over the world, trafficking in diamonds, or men, or



women, or State secrets; but this I affirm of him--never has human

soul been more thoroughly tempered and tried. When I paid off my loan,



I asked him, with a little circumlocution of course, how it was that

he had made me pay such an exorbitant rate of interest; and why,



seeing that I was a friend, and he meant to do me a kindness, he

should not have yielded to the wish and made it complete.--"My son,"



he said, "I released you from all need to feel any gratitude by giving

you ground for the belief that you owed me nothing."--So we are the



best friends in the world. That answer, monsieur, gives you the man

better than any amount of description.'



" 'I have made up my mind once and for all,' said the Count. 'Draw up

the necessary papers; I am going to transfer my property to Gobseck. I



have no one but you to trust to in the draft of the counter-deed,

which will declare that this transfer is a simulated sale, and that



Gobseck as trustee will administer my estate (as he knows how to

administer), and undertakes to make over my fortune to my eldest son



when he comes of age. Now, sir, this I must tell you: I should be

afraid to have that precious document in my own keeping. My boy is so



fond of his mother, that I cannot trust him with it. So dare I beg of

you to keep it for me? In case of death, Gobseck would make you



legatee of my property. Every contingency is provided for.'

"The Count paused for a moment. He seemed greatly agitated.



" 'A thousand pardons,' he said at length; 'I am in great pain, and

have very grave misgivings as to my health. Recent troubles have



disturbed me very painfully, and forced me to take this great step.'

" 'Allow me first to thank you, monsieur,' said I, 'for the trust you



place me in. But I am bound to deserve it by pointing out to you that

you are disinheriting your--other children. They bear your name.



Merely as the children of a once-loved wife, now fallen from her

position, they have a claim to an assuredexistence. I tell you



plainly that I cannot accept the trust with which you propose to honor

me unless their future is secured.'



"The Count trembled violently at the words, and tears came into his

eyes as he grasped my hand, saying, 'I did not know my man thoroughly.



You have made me both glad and sorry. We will make provision for the

children in the counter-deed.'



"I went with him to the door; it seemed to me that there was a glow of

satisfaction in his face at the thought of this act of justice.



"Now, Camille, this is how a young wife takes the first step to the

brink of a precipice. A quadrille, a ballad, a picnic party is



sometimes cause sufficient of frightful evils. You are hurried on by

the presumptuous voice of vanity and pride, on the faith of a smile,



or through giddiness and folly! Shame and misery and remorse are three

Furies awaiting every woman the moment she oversteps the limits----"






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