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The Country Doctor-Part21_Honore de Balzac(1799-1850)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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care not to let him have more than two or three sips at a time; there



ought to be enough in the tumbler to last him all through the night.

Above all things, do not touch the phial, and change the child's



clothing at once. He is perspiring heavily."

"I could not manage to wash his shirts to-day, sir; I had to take the



hemp over to Grenoble, as we wanted the money."

"Very well, then, I will send you some shirts."



"Then is he worse, my poor lad?" asked the woman.

"He has been so imprudent as to sing, Mother Colas; and it is not to



be expected that any good can come of it; but do not be hard upon him,

nor scold him. Do not be down-hearted about it; and if Jacques



complains overmuch, send a neighbor to fetch me. Good-bye."

The doctor called to his friend, and they went back along the foot-



path.

"Is that little peasant consumptive?" asked Genestas.



"Mon Dieu! yes," answered Benassis. "Science cannot save him, unless

Nature works a miracle. Our professors at the Ecole de Medecine in



Paris often used to speak to us of the phenomenon which you have just

witnessed. Some maladies of this kind bring about changes in the



voice-producing organs that give the sufferer a short-lived power of

song that no trained voice can surpass. I have made you spend a



melancholy day, sir," said the doctor when he was once more in the

saddle. "Suffering and death everywhere, but everywhere also



resignation. All these peasant folk take death philosophically; they

fall ill, say nothing about it, and take to their beds like dumb



animals. But let us say no more about death, and let us quicken our

horses' paces a little; we ought to reach the town before nightfall,



so that you may see the new quarter."

"Eh! some place is on fire over there," said Genestas, pointing to a



spot on the mountain, where a sheaf of flames was rising.

"It is not a dangerous fire. Our lime-burner is heating his kiln, no



doubt. It is a newly-started industry, which turns our heather to

account."



There was the sudden report of a gun, followed by an involuntary

exclamation from Benassis, who said, with an impatientgesture, "If



that is Butifer, we shall see which of us two is the stronger."

"The shot came from that quarter," said Genestas, indicating a beech-



wood up above them on the mountain side. "Yes, up there; you may trust

an old soldier's ear."



"Let us go there at once!" cried Benassis, and he made straight for

the little wood, urging his horse at a furious speed across the



ditches and fields, as if he were riding a steeplechase, in his

anxiety to catch the sportsman red-handed.



"The man you are after has made off," shouted Genestas, who could

scarcely keep up with him.



Benassis wheeled his horse round sharply, and came back again. The man

of whom he was in search soon appeared on the top of a perpendicular



crag, a hundred feet above the level of the two horsemen.

"Butifer!" shouted Benassis when he saw that this figure carried a



fowling-piece; "come down!"

Butifer recognized the doctor, and replied by a respectful and



friendly sign which showed that he had every intention of obeying.

"I can imagine that if a man were driven to it by fear or by some



overmastering impulse that he might possibly contrive to scramble up

to that point among the rocks," said Genestas; "but how will he manage



to come down again?"

"I have no anxiety on that score," answered Benassis; "the wild goats



must feel envious of that fellow yonder! You will see."

The emergencies of warfare had accustomed the commandant to gauge the



real worth of men; he admired the wonderful quickness of Butifer's

movements, the sure-footed grace with which the hunter swung himself



down the rugged sides of the crag, to the top of which he had so

boldly climbed. The strong, slender form of the mountaineer was



gracefully poised in every attitude which the precipitous nature of

the path compelled him to assume; and so certain did he seem of his



power to hold on at need, that if the pinnacle of rock on which he

took his stand had been a level floor, he could not have set his foot






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