酷兔英语
    当前位置:
  1. 首页
  2. 文章
  3. 娱乐英语
  4. 原版小说
  5. 正文

The Two Brothers-Part22_Honore de Balzac(1799-1850)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

0 收藏 0 分享 0 赞

章节正文
文章总共2页
these treasures. They spat upon a hearth of exquisitedelicacy, whose



gilded mouldings were now green with verdigris. A handsome chandelier,

partly of semi-transparent porcelain, was peppered, like the ceiling



from which it hung, with black speckles, bearingwitness to the

immunity enjoyed by the flies. The Descoings had draped the windows



with brocatelle curtains torn from the bed of some monastic prior. To

the left of the entrance-door, stood a chest or coffer, worth many



thousand francs, which the doctor now used for a sideboard.

"Here, Fanchette," cried Rouget to his cook, "bring two glasses; and



give us some of the old wine."

Fanchette, a big Berrichon countrywoman, who was considered a better



cook than even La Cognette, ran in to receive the order with a

celerity which said much for the doctor's despotism, and something



also for her own curiosity.

"What is an acre of vineyard worth in your parts?" asked the doctor,



pouring out a glass of wine for Brazier.

"Three hundred francs in silver."



"Well, then! leave your niece here as my servant; she shall have three

hundred francs in wages, and, as you are her guardian, you can take



them."

"Every year?" exclaimed Brazier, with his eyes as wide as saucers.



"I leave that to your conscience," said the doctor. "She is an orphan;

up to eighteen, she has no right to what she earns."



"Twelve to eighteen--that's six acres of vineyard!" said the uncle.

"Ay, she's a pretty one, gentle as a lamb, well made and active, and



obedient as a kitten. She were the light o' my poor brother's eyes--"

"I will pay a year in advance," observed the doctor.



"Bless me! say two years, and I'll leave her with you, for she'll be

better off with you than with us; my wife beats her, she can't abide



her. There's none but I to stand up for her, and the little saint of a

creature is as innocent as a new-born babe."



When he heard the last part of this speech, the doctor, struck by the

word "innocent," made a sign to the uncle and took him out into the



courtyard and from thence to the garden; leaving the Rabouilleuse at

the table with Fanchette and Jean-Jacques, who immediately questioned



her, and to whom she naively related her meeting with the doctor.

"There now, my little darling, good-by," said Uncle Brazier, coming



back and kissing Flore on the forehead; "you can well say I've made

your happiness by leaving you with this kind and worthy father of the



poor; you must obey him as you would me. Be a good girl, and behave

nicely, and do everything he tells you."



"Get the room over mine ready," said the doctor to Fanchette. "Little

Flore--I am sure she is worthy of the name--will sleep there in



future. To-morrow, we'll send for a shoemaker and a dressmaker. Put

another plate on the table; she shall keep us company."



That evening, all Issoudun could talk of nothing else than the sudden

appearance of the little "rabouilleuse" in Doctor Rouget's house. In



that region of satire the nickname stuck to Mademoiselle Brazier

before, during, and after the period of her good fortune.



The doctor no doubt intended to do with Flore Brazier, in a small way,

what Louis XV. did in a large one with Mademoiselle de Romans; but he



was too late about it; Louis XV. was still young, whereas the doctor

was in the flower of old age. From twelve to fourteen, the charming



little Rabouilleuse lived a life of unmixed happiness. Always well-

dressed, and often much better tricked out than the richest girls in



Issoudun, she sported a gold watch and jewels, given by the doctor to

encourage her studies, and she had a master who taught her to read,



write, and cipher. But the almost animal life of the true peasant had

instilled into Flore such deep repugnance to the bitter cup of



knowledge, that the doctor stopped her education at that point. His

intentions with regard to the child, whom he cleansed and clothed, and



taught, and formed with a care which was all the more remarkable

because he was thought to be utterly devoid of tenderness, were



interpreted in a variety of ways by the cackling society of the town,

whose gossip often gave rise to fatal blunders, like those relating to



the birth of Agathe and that of Max. It is not easy for the community

of a country town to disentangle the truth from the mass of conjecture



and contradictory reports to which a single fact gives rise. The

provinces insist--as in former days the politicians of the little



Provence at the Tuileries insisted--on full explanations, and they

usually end by knowing everything. But each person clings to the



version of the event which he, or she, likes best; proclaims it,




文章总共2页
文章标签:翻译  译文  翻译文  

章节正文
Copyright © 2023 Qeto All rights reserved.
商务合作 | 联系我们 | 关于我们 | 版权声明 | 隐私条款 | 如果智培

京ICP备05059198号-1 京公网安备 11011202003401号