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The Two Brothers-Part29_Honore de Balzac(1799-1850)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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"No, no," she answered, "I am too weary of life to wish to remain here

on canvas."



Gayly uttering the sad words, she opened a closet, and brought out a

flask containing ratafia, a domestic manufacture of her own, the



receipt for which she obtained from the far-famed nuns to whom is also

due the celebrated cake of Issoudun,--one of the great creations of



French confectionery; which no chef, cook, pastry-cook, or

confectioner has ever been able to reproduce. Monsieur de Riviere,



ambassador at Constantinople, ordered enormous quantities every year

for the Seraglio.



Adolphine held a lacquer tray on which were a number of little old

glasses with engraved sides and gilt edges; and as her mother filled



each of them, she carried it to the company.

"It seems as though my father's turn were coming round!" exclaimed



Agathe, to whom this immutable provincial custom recalled the scenes

of her youth.



"Hochon will go to his club presently to read the papers, and we shall

have a little time to ourselves," said the old lady in a low voice.



In fact, ten minutes later, the three women and Joseph were alone in

the salon, where the floor was never waxed, only swept, and the



worsted-work designs in oaken frames with grooved mouldings, and all

the other plain and rather dismal furniture seemed to Madame Bridau to



be in exactly the same state as when she had left Issoudun. Monarchy,

Revolution, Empire, and Restoration, which respected little, had



certainly respected this room where their glories and their disasters

had left not the slightest trace.



"Ah! my godmother, in comparison with your life, mine has been cruelly

tried," exclaimed Madame Bridau, surprised to find even a canary which



she had known when alive, stuffed, and standing on the mantleshelf

between the old clock, the old brass brackets, and the silver



candlesticks.

"My child," said the old lady, "trials are in the heart. The greater



and more necessary the resignation, the harder the struggle with our

own selves. But don't speak of me, let us talk of your affairs. You



are directly in front of the enemy," she added, pointing to the

windows of the Rouget house.



"They are sitting down to dinner," said Adolphine.

The young girl, destined for a cloister, was constantly looking out of



the window, in hopes of getting some light upon the enormities imputed

to Maxence Gilet, the Rabouilleuse, and Jean-Jacques, of which a few



words reached her ears whenever she was sent out of the room that

others might talk about them. The old lady now told her granddaughter



to leave her alone with Madame Bridau and Joseph until the arrival of

visitors.



"For," she said, turning to the Parisians, "I know my Issoudun by

heart; we shall have ten or twelve batches of inquisitive folk here



to-night."

In fact Madame Hochon had hardly related the events and the details



concerning the astounding influence obtained by Maxence Gilet and the

Rabouilleuse over Jean-Jacques Rouget (without, of course, following



the synthetical method with which they have been presented here),

adding the many comments, descriptions, and hypotheses with which the



good and evil tongues of the town embroidered them, before Adolphine

announced the approach of the Borniche, Beaussier, Lousteau-Prangin,



Fichet, Goddet-Herau families; in all, fourteen persons looming in the

distance.



"You now see, my dear child," said the old lady, concluding her tale,

"that it will not be an easy matter to get this property out of the



jaws of the wolf--"

"It seems to me so difficult--with a scoundrel such as you represent



him, and a daring woman like that crab-girl--as to be actually

impossible," remarked Joseph. "We should have to stay a year in



Issoudun to counteract their influence and overthrow their dominion

over my uncle. Money isn't worth such a struggle,--not to speak of the



meannesses to which we should have to condescend. My mother has only

two weeks' leave of absence; her place is a permanent one, and she



must not risk it. As for me, in the month of October I have an

important work, which Schinner has just obtained for me from a peer of



France; so you see, madame, my future fortune is in my brushes."

This speech was received by Madame Hochon with much amazement. Though



relatively superior to the town she lived in, the old lady did not

believe in painting. She glanced at her goddaughter, and again pressed



her hand.

"This Maxence is the second volume of Philippe," whispered Joseph in



his mother's ear, "--only cleverer and better behaved. Well, madame,"

he said, aloud, we won't trouble Monsieur Hochon by staying very






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