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cousin betty-第116部分
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we have not yet found him。 Where does Madame Nourrissonyes; that was
her namepick up such actors?〃
On the following day; Doctor Bianchon allowed the Baroness to go down
into the garden; after examining Lisbeth; who had been obliged to keep
to her room for a month by a slight bronchial attack。 The learned
doctor; who dared not pronounce a definite opinion on Lisbeth's case
till he had seen some decisive symptoms; went into the garden with
Adeline to observe the effect of the fresh air on her nervous
trembling after two months of seclusion。 He was interested and allured
by the hope of curing this nervous complaint。 On seeing the great
physician sitting with them and sparing them a few minutes; the
Baroness and her family conversed with him on general subjects。
〃You life is a very full and a very sad one;〃 said Madame Hulot。 〃I
know what it is to spend one's days in seeing poverty and physical
suffering。〃
〃I know; madame;〃 replied the doctor; 〃all the scenes of which charity
compels you to be a spectator; but you will get used to it in time; as
we all do。 It is the law of existence。 The confessor; the magistrate;
the lawyer would find life unendurable if the spirit of the State did
not assert itself above the feelings of the individual。 Could we live
at all but for that? Is not the soldier in time of war brought face to
face with spectacles even more dreadful than those we see? And every
soldier that has been under fire is kind…hearted。 We medical men have
the pleasure now and again of a successful cure; as you have that of
saving a family from the horrors of hunger; depravity; or misery; and
of restoring it to social respectability。 But what comfort can the
magistrate find; the police agent; or the attorney; who spend their
lives in investigating the basest schemes of self…interest; the social
monster whose only regret is when it fails; but on whom repentance
never dawns?
〃One…half of society spends its life in watching the other half。 A
very old friend of mine is an attorney; now retired; who told me that
for fifteen years past notaries and lawyers have distrusted their
clients quite as much as their adversaries。 Your son is a pleader; has
he never found himself compromised by the client for whom he held a
brief?〃
〃Very often;〃 said Victorin; with a smile。
〃And what is the cause of this deep…seated evil?〃 asked the Baroness。
〃The decay of religion;〃 said Bianchon; 〃and the pre…eminence of
finance; which is simply solidified selfishness。 Money used not to be
everything; there were some kinds of superiority that ranked above it
nobility; genius; service done to the State。 But nowadays the law
takes wealth as the universal standard; and regards it as the measure
of public capacity。 Certain magistrates are ineligible to the Chamber;
Jean…Jacques Rousseau would be ineligible! The perpetual subdivision
of estate compels every man to take care of himself from the age of
twenty。
〃Well; then; between the necessity for making a fortune and the
depravity of speculation there is no check or hindrance; for the
religious sense is wholly lacking in France; in spite of the laudable
endeavors of those who are working for a Catholic revival。 And this is
the opinion of every man who; like me; studies society at the core。〃
〃And you have few pleasures?〃 said Hortense。
〃The true physician; madame; is in love with his science;〃 replied the
doctor。 〃He is sustained by that passion as much as by the sense of
his usefulness to society。
〃At this very time you see in me a sort of scientific rapture; and
many superficial judges would regard me as a man devoid of feeling。 I
have to announce a discovery to…morrow to the College of Medicine; for
I am studying a disease that had disappeareda mortal disease for
which no cure is known in temperate climates; though it is curable in
the West Indiesa malady known here in the Middle Ages。 A noble fight
is that of the physician against such a disease。 For the last ten days
I have thought of nothing but these casesfor there are two; a
husband and wife。Are they not connections of yours? For you; madame;
are surely Monsieur Crevel's daughter?〃 said he; addressing Celestine。
〃What; is my father your patient?〃 asked Celestine。 〃Living in the Rue
Barbet…de…Jouy?〃
〃Precisely so;〃 said Bianchon。
〃And the disease is inevitably fatal?〃 said Victorin in dismay。
〃I will go to see him;〃 said Celestine; rising。
〃I positively forbid it; madame;〃 Bianchon quietly said。 〃The disease
is contagious。〃
〃But you go there; monsieur;〃 replied the young woman。 〃Do you think
that a daughter's duty is less binding than a doctor's?〃
〃Madame; a physician knows how to protect himself against infection;
and the rashness of your devotion proves to me that you would probably
be less prudent than I。〃
Celestine; however; got up and went to her room; where she dressed to
go out。
〃Monsieur;〃 said Victorin to Bianchon; 〃have you any hope of saving
Monsieur and Madame Crevel?〃
〃I hope; but I do not believe that I may;〃 said Bianchon。 〃The case is
to me quite inexplicable。 The disease is peculiar to negroes and the
American tribes; whose skin is differently constituted to that of the
white races。 Now I can trace no connection with the copper…colored
tribes; with negroes or half…castes; in Monsieur or Madame Crevel。
〃And though it is a very interesting disease to us; it is a terrible
thing for the sufferers。 The poor woman; who is said to have been very
pretty; is punished for her sins; for she is now squalidly hideous if
she is still anything at all。 She is losing her hair and teeth; her
skin is like a leper's; she is a horror to herself; her hands are
horrible; covered with greenish pustules; her nails are loose; and the
flesh is eaten away by the poisoned humors。〃
〃And the cause of such a disease?〃 asked the lawyer。
〃Oh!〃 said the doctor; 〃the cause lies in a form of rapid blood…
poisoning; it degenerates with terrific rapidity。 I hope to act on the
blood; I am having it analyzed; and I am now going home to ascertain
the result of the labors of my friend Professor Duval; the famous
chemist; with a view to trying one of those desperate measures by
which we sometimes attempt to defeat death。〃
〃The hand of God is there!〃 said Adeline; in a voice husky with
emotion。 〃Though that woman has brought sorrows on me which have led
me in moments of madness to invoke the vengeance of Heaven; I hope
God knows I hopeyou may succeed; doctor。〃
Victorin felt dizzy。 He looked at his mother; his sister; and the
physician by turns; quaking lest they should read his thoughts。 He
felt himself a murderer。
Hortense; for her part; thought God was just。
Celestine came back to beg her husband to accompany her。
〃If you insist on going; madame; and you too; monsieur; keep at least
a foot between you and the bed of the sufferer; that is the chief
precaution。 Neither you nor your wife must dream of kissing the dying
man。 And; indeed; you ought to go with your wife; Monsieur Hulot; to
hinder her from disobeying my injunctions。〃
Adeline and Hortense; when they were left alone; went to sit with
Lisbeth。 Hortense had su
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