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-Part32_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
Meantime the Knights were searching for a way to put the Parisians to



flight, and finding none that were not impracticable follies.

At the end of a week--half the time the Parisians were to stay in



Issoudun--the Bridaus were no farther advanced in their object than

when they came.



"Your lawyer does not understand the provinces," said old Hochon to

Madame Bridau. "What you have come to do can't be done in two weeks,



nor in two years; you ought never to leave your brother, but live here

and try to give him some ideas of religion. You cannot countermine the



fortifications of Flore and Maxence without getting a priest to sap

them. That is my advice, and it is high time to set about it."



"You certainly have very singular ideas about the clergy," said Madame

Hochon to her husband.



"Bah!" exclaimed the old man, "that's just like you pious women."

"God would never bless an enterprise undertaken in a sacrilegious



spirit," said Madame Bridau. "Use religion for such a purpose! Why, we

should be more criminal than Flore."



This conversation took place at breakfast,--Francois and Baruch

listening with all their ears.



"Sacrilege!" exclaimed old Hochon. "If some good abbe, keen as I have

known many of them to be, knew what a dilemma you are in, he would not



think it sacrilege to bring your brother's lost soul back to God, and

call him to repentance for his sins, by forcing him to send away the



woman who causes the scandal (with a proper provision, of course), and

showing him how to set his conscience at rest by giving a few thousand



francs a year to the seminary of the archbishop and leaving his

property to the rightful heirs."



The passiveobedience which the old miser had always exacted from his

children, and now from his grandchildren (who were under his



guardianship and for whom he was amassing a small fortune, doing for

them, he said, just as he would for himself), prevented Baruch and



Francois from showing signs of surprise or disapproval; but they

exchanged significant glances expressing how dangerous and fatal such



a scheme would be to Max's interest.

"The fact is, madame," said Baruch, "that if you want to secure your



brother's property, the only sure and true way will be to stay in

Issoudun for the necessary length of time--"



"Mother," said Joseph hastily, "you had better write to Desroches

about all this. As for me, I ask nothing more than what my uncle has



already given me."

After fully recognizing the great value of his thirty-nine pictures,



Joseph had carefully unnailed the canvases and fastened paper over

them, gumming it at the edges with ordinary glue; he then laid them



one above another in an enormouswooden box, which he sent to

Desroches by the carrier's waggon, proposing to write him a letter



about it by post. The precious freight had been sent off the night

before.



"You are satisfied with a pretty poor bargain," said Monsieur Hochon.

"I can easily get a hundred and fifty thousand francs for those



pictures," replied Joseph.

"Painter's nonsense!" exclaimed old Hochon, giving Joseph a peculiar



look.

"Mother," said Joseph, "I am going to write to Desroches and explain



to him the state of things here. If he advises you to remain, you had

better do so. As for your situation, we can always find you another



like it."

"My dear Joseph," said Madame Hochon, following him as he left the



table, "I don't know anything about your uncle's pictures, but they

ought to be good, judging by the places from which they came. If they



are worth only forty thousand francs,--a thousand francs apiece,--tell

no one. Though my grandsons are discreet and well-behaved, they might,



without intending harm, speak of this windfall; it would be known all

over Issoudun; and it is very important that our adversaries should



not suspect it. You behave like a child!"

In fact, before evening many persons in Issoudun, including Max, were



informed of this estimate, which had the immediate effect of causing a

search for all the old paintings which no one had ever cared for, and



the appearance of many execrable daubs. Max repented having driven the

old man into giving away the pictures, and the rage he felt against



the heirs after hearing from Baruch old Hochon's ecclesiastical

scheme, was increased by what he termed his own stupidity. The



influence of religion upon such a feeble creature as Rouget was the




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