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The Two Brothers-Part24_Honore de Balzac(1799-1850)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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When studying for his degree in Paris, the doctor had followed a

course of chemistry under Rouelle, and had gathered some ideas which



he afterwards put to use in the chemistry of cooking. His memory is

famous in Issoudun for certain improvements little known outside of



Berry. It was he who discovered that an omelette is far more delicate

when the whites and the yolks are not beaten together with the



violence which cooks usually put into the operation. He considered

that the whites should be beaten to a froth and the yolks gently added



by degrees; moreover a frying-pan should never be used, but a

"cagnard" of porcelain or earthenware. The "cagnard" is a species of



thick dish standing on four feet, so that when it is placed on the

stove the air circulates underneath and prevents the fire from



cracking it. In Touraine the "cagnard" is called a "cauquemarre."

Rabelais, I think, speaks of a "cauquemarre" for cooking cockatrice



eggs, thus proving the antiquity of the utensil. The doctor had also

found a way to prevent the tartness of browned butter; but his secret,



which unluckily he kept to his own kitchen, has been lost.

Flore, a born fryer and roaster, two qualities that can never be



acquired by observation nor yet by labor, soon surpassed Fanchette. In

making herself a cordon-bleu she was thinking of Jean-Jacques's



comfort; though she was, it must be owned, tolerably dainty.

Incapable, like all persons without education, of doing anything with



her brains, she spent her activity upon household matters. She rubbed

up the furniture till it shone, and kept everything about the house in



a state of cleanlinessworthy of Holland. She managed the avalanches

of soiled linen and the floods of water that go by the name of "the



wash," which was done, according to provincial usage, three times a

year. She kept a housewifely eye to the linen, and mended it



carefully. Then, desirous of learning little by little the secret of

the family property, she acquired the very limited business knowledge



which Rouget possessed, and increased it by conversations with the

notary of the late doctor, Monsieur Heron. Thus instructed, she gave



excellent advice to her little Jean-Jacques. Sure of being always

mistress, she was as eager and solicitous about the old bachelor's



interests as if they had been her own. She was not obliged to guard

against the exactions of her uncle, for two months before the doctor's



death Brazier died of a fall as he was leaving a wine-shop, where,

since his rise in fortune, he spent most of his time. Flore had also



lost her father; thus she served her master with all the affection

which an orphan, thankful to make herself a home and a settlement in



life, would naturally feel.

This period of his life was paradise to poor Jean-Jacques, who now



acquired the gentle habits of an animal, trained into a sort of

monastic regularity. He slept late. Flore, who was up at daybreak



attending to her housekeeping, woke him so that he should find his

breakfast ready as soon as he had finished dressing. After breakfast,



about eleven o'clock, Jean-Jacques went to walk; talked with the

people he met, and came home at three in the afternoon to read the



papers,--those of the department, and a journal from Paris which he

received three days after publication, well greased by the thirty



hands through which it came, browned by the snuffy noses that had

pored over it, and soiled by the various tables on which it had lain.



The old bachelor thus got through the day until it was time for

dinner; over that meal he spent as much time as it was possible to



give to it. Flore told him the news of the town, repeating the cackle

that was current, which she had carefully picked up. Towards eight



o'clock the lights were put out. Going to bed early is a saving of

fire and candles very commonly practised in the provinces, which



contributes no doubt to the empty-mindedness of the inhabitants. Too

much sleep dulls and weakens the brain.



Such was the life of these two persons during a period of nine years,

the great events of which were a few journeys to Bourges, Vierzon,



Chateauroux, or somewhat further, if the notaries of those towns and

Monsieur Heron had no investments ready for acceptance. Rouget lent



his money at five per cent on a first mortgage, with release of the

wife's rights in case the owner was married. He never lent more than a



third of the value of the property, and required notes payable to his

order for an additional interest of two and a half per cent spread



over the whole duration of the loan. Such were the rules his father

had told him to follow. Usury, that clog upon the ambition of the



peasantry, is the destroyer of country regions. This levy of seven and

a half per cent seemed, therefore, so reasonable to the borrowers that



Jean-Jacques Rouget had his choice of investments; and the notaries of

the different towns, who got a fine commission for themselves from



clients for whom they obtained money on such good terms, gave due




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