登陆注册
5390900000054

第54章 CHAPTER VIII(6)

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, argues it, and considers it the only true one. In spite of the strong light cast upon people's lives by the constant spying of a little town, truth is thus often obscured; and to be recognized, it needs the impartiality which historians or superior minds acquire by looking at the subject from a higher point of view.

"What do you suppose that old gorilla wants at his age with a little girl only fifteen years old?" society was still saying two years after the arrival of the Rabouilleuse.

"Ah! that's true," they answered, "his days of merry-making are long past."

"My dear fellow, the doctor is disgusted at the stupidity of his son, and he persists in hating his daughter Agathe; it may be that he has been living a decent life for the last two years, intending to marry little Flore; suppose she were to give him a fine, active, strapping boy, full of life like Max?" said one of the wise heads of the town.

"Bah! don't talk nonsense! After such a life as Rouget and Lousteau led from 1770 to 1787, is it likely that either of them would have children at sixty-five years of age? The old villain has read the Scriptures, if only as a doctor, and he is doing as David did in his old age; that's all."

"They say that Brazier, when he is drunk, boasts in Vatan that he cheated him," cried one of those who always believed the worst of people.

"Good heavens! neighbor; what won't they say at Issoudun?"

From 1800 to 1805, that is, for five years, the doctor enjoyed all the pleasures of educating Flore without the annoyances which the ambitions and pretensions of Mademoiselle de Romans inflicted, it is said, on Louis le Bien-Aime. The little Rabouilleuse was so satisfied when she compared the life she led at the doctor's with that she would have led at her uncle Brazier's, that she yielded no doubt to the exactions of her master as if she had been an Eastern slave. With due deference to the makers of idylls and to philanthropists, the inhabitants of the provinces have very little idea of certain virtues; and their scruples are of a kind that is roused by self-interest, and not by any sentiment of the right or the becoming. Raised from infancy with no prospect before them but poverty and ceaseless labor, they are led to consider anything that saves them from the hell of hunger and eternal toil as permissible, particularly if it is not contrary to any law. Exceptions to this rule are rare. Virtue, socially speaking, is the companion of a comfortable life, and comes only with education.

Thus the Rabouilleuse was an object of envy to all the young peasant-

girls within a circuit of ten miles, although her conduct, from a religious point of view, was supremely reprehensible. Flore, born in 1787, grew up in the midst of the saturnalias of 1793 and 1798, whose lurid gleams penetrated these country regions, then deprived of priests and faith and altars and religious ceremonies; where marriage was nothing more than legal coupling, and revolutionary maxims left a deep impression. This was markedly the case at Issoudun, a land where, as we have seen, revolt of all kinds is traditional. In 1802, Catholic worship was scarcely re-established. The Emperor found it a difficult matter to obtain priests. In 1806, many parishes all over France were still widowed; so slowly were the clergy, decimated by the scaffold, gathered together again after their violent dispersion.

In 1802, therefore, nothing was likely to reproach Flore Brazier, unless it might be her conscience; and conscience was sure to be weaker than self-interest in the ward of Uncle Brazier. If, as everybody chose to suppose, the cynical doctor was compelled by his age to respect a child of fifteen, the Rabouilleuse was none the less considered very "wide awake," a term much used in that region. Still, some persons thought she could claim a certificate of innocence from the cessation of the doctor's cares and attentions in the last two years of his life, during which time he showed her something more than coldness.

Old Rouget had killed too many people not to know when his own end was nigh; and his notary, finding him on his death-bed, draped as it were, in the mantle of encyclopaedic philosophy, pressed him to make a provision in favor of the young girl, then seventeen years old.

"So I do," he said, cynically; "my death sets her at liberty."

This speech paints the nature of the old man. Covering his evil doings with witty sayings, he obtained indulgence for them, in a land where wit is always applauded,--especially when addressed to obvious self- interest. In those words the notary read the concentrated hatred of a man whose calculations had been balked by Nature herself, and who revenged himself upon the innocent object of an impotent love. This opinion was confirmed to some extent by the obstinate resolution of the doctor to leave nothing to the Rabouilleuse, saying with a bitter smile, when the notary again urged the subject upon him,--

"Her beauty will make her rich enough!"

同类推荐
  • THE SEVENTH LETTER

    THE SEVENTH LETTER

    You write to me that I must consider your views the same as those ofDion, and you urge me to aid your cause so far as I can in word anddeed. My answer is that, if you have the same opinion and desire as hehad, I consent to aid your cause; but if not, I shall think morethan once about it.汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Evolution of Modern Medicine

    The Evolution of Modern Medicine

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 捕蝗考

    捕蝗考

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • A Cathedral Courtship

    A Cathedral Courtship

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 器经

    器经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 中外推理故事精选(下)

    中外推理故事精选(下)

    “中外推理故事精选”包括上下两册,精选了近百篇探案故事、探案小说,本套丛书具有很强的系统性、权威性和完善性,是全方位展示国内外探案作品的经典版本,是青少年读者的良好读物和收藏佳品。下册包括揭露罪行、预测真相、抓捕逃犯、周旋追踪、破获奇案的故事。
  • 本草问答

    本草问答

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 欢乐颂

    欢乐颂

    本书是由三个中篇组成,《罗曼史》《欢乐颂》《田园诗》。作者把男人和女人的关系处理得简单到只有欲望,似乎每一个作品,男女主人公都被这欲望折腾着,也疼痛着。特别是那些社会底层的女人。《罗曼史》里老男人死在了女主人公的怀里,到这里小说嘎然而止,可我们仿佛看见作者畀愚给她们投去了深深的一瞥。那些主人公也许就在我们身边出没,只是畀愚看见了他们在那里哭着,笑着,生活着,现在我们也看到了那些悲欢离合,并且为之辛酸,同情,落泪和感伤。
  • 小重山

    小重山

    名门闺秀、丞相之女许如今,出生便没了母亲,在父亲的教育和保护下诸般皆好,只是开朗的性格下隐藏着不为人知的细腻与敏感。在如今七岁这一年的元宵节,看花灯时与父亲走散,遇见一位父母双亡的面具少年,二人结下一段师徒缘分。当恶名昭彰的采花大盗楚风和红叶山庄少庄主叶梧桐追打中误入许家后花园,许叶二人皆被楚风掳走。就在她以为此生休矣的时候,楚风给她一个逃生的机会,只是她看见自称正派的叶梧桐以娶她为条件才肯答应她父亲救她,她心凉如冰。
  • 毒谋之娇医神棍

    毒谋之娇医神棍

    王氏嫡长公主,又是父母心头肉掌中宝,文能医死人肉白骨,一身毒术救人无数;武能上马统领万军,驰骋沙场艳冠天下。却眼瞎救了一个翩翩佳君子,她亲手将王氏军队交到他手上,却换来大婚那日,满族全灭,血染了整个漠北。她是被烧死的。从此后,她变成了她,一个心死封闭,神魂都只剩仇恨的她。传闻,沐家沐九歌自小痴傻,天生命硬,克父克母。父母双亡,寄人篱下,人人嫌弃都恨不得她过的生不如死。一朝清醒,却又命硬克死了自己未来夫君,甚至还会克死夫家全家,所以,连进门当寡妇都没得做!可既然她已经醒了,怎么能容许别人践踏呢!想害她,就要做好身残丢命的准备!妹妹想害人?马蹄子一脚踏的她半身不遂!伯母想毒害她?不好意思,她上辈子就是玩毒的祖宗!不过,她没功夫一点点陪她们玩,她要的是杀了那男人,灭了这南朝天下,以慰籍漠北满天血色!原本她早已心死,这辈子再不会相信任何一个男人,可上辈子那个被她整了好几次的人却非要换着花样黏过来!某人化身不要脸撩人专业户。沐九歌:“我们不熟!”某人:“哎?我都都熟成这样了,还不熟?那得要多熟才是熟?再睡一次吗?”沐九歌:“……”明明只是一个在卧榻上,一个坐在地上,纯聊天!
  • 神武觉醒

    神武觉醒

    一名苦逼的小武者的意识海中突然出现一本神秘古书,内含“武神演武”和“浩瀚岁月”。“武神演武”,可以重演武神的一切神技。武道系、符文系、炼丹系、炼器系、驭兽系、冒险系、祭祀系......武神惊世骇俗的各系神技,在他身上得到重演。“浩瀚岁月”,可以阅览古神无数年冒险浩瀚历史,所经历的无数隐秘......爆棚的阅历,令他步步抢先。从此,各大豪门世家争相拉拢,行会大师为其醉心痴迷,绝世美女为他争风吃醋。小武者以傲世之姿,登上波澜壮阔的神武大陆舞台,一步步成为灿然星空下第一神武。
  • 帝国星穹

    帝国星穹

    他是铜宫监牢的遗孤。他是百家圣贤的门徒。他是文采风流的策士。他是同仇敌忾的武夫。他是田里的农民、边关的将士,他是郡县的吏员、中枢的高官。他是帝国的皇帝,是历史的星穹中最亮的那一颗!
  • 乱世浮归

    乱世浮归

    据说,她是在雨天被救的,故而取名雨梦!记事起,她的生活中只有他,他叫林源:她以为自己将与他一生相守在深山中,突来的一场变故,他与她走失了……她遇到了他,他叫云萧:他说,我只要你活着……他劫持了她,他叫元忆:他说,他要用她的命救她的女人,可是后来他却说:梦儿,元忆定会用生命来护你周全……最后,她却嫁给了他,他叫姬晋,大周的王子:他说,我只希望你能先让我以朋友的身份在你的心中占有一席之地……最后一刻,她说:如果时光可以重来,只要你们一切安好,我宁愿,从来不认识你们……
  • HP同人之奥利维亚

    HP同人之奥利维亚

    HP同人,cp哈利女主拉文克劳,不加入三人组文中关于沙菲克家族的描述均为私设
  • 殇璃

    殇璃

    不知道是因为闭上眼,还是死亡迫近,他陷入纯粹的黑暗,他有些惴惴,他不怕死,却怕她还是不原谅他,不来接他,让他茫然无从寻找她的去向。“美璃!美璃!”他大声呼喊,渐渐惶急。突然周围好亮,他不得不眯起眼,他也不再觉得寒冷,也不再疼痛。光晕中,笑容如明月春水的她向他伸出手:“靖轩哥哥……”“美璃!”他赶紧伸手抓住,这次,他再也不要松开。或许这只是他的梦,但只要他的梦里有她,他便再没有任何遗憾。