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cousin betty-第15部分
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cordiality; and especially by the deferential tone which seemed to
place the two men on a footing of equality。
Monsieur Hulot /junior/ was in every respect the young Frenchman; as
he has been moulded by the Revolution of 1830; his mind infatuated
with politics; respectful of his own hopes; and concealing them under
an affectation of gravity; very envious of successful men; making
sententiousness do the duty of witty rejoindersthe gems of the
French languagewith a high sense of importance; and mistaking
arrogance for dignity。
Such men are walking coffins; each containing a Frenchman of the past;
now and again the Frenchman wakes up and kicks against his English…
made casing; but ambition stifles him; and he submits to be smothered。
The coffin is always covered with black cloth。
〃Ah; here is my brother!〃 said Baron Hulot; going to meet the Count at
the drawing…room door。
Having greeted the probable successor of the late Marshal Montcornet;
he led him forward by the arm with every show of affection and
respect。
The older man; a member of the Chamber of Peers; but excused from
attendance on account of his deafness; had a handsome head; chilled by
age; but with enough gray hair still to be marked in a circle by the
pressure of his hat。 He was short; square; and shrunken; but carried
his hale old age with a free…and…easy air; and as he was full of
excessive activity; which had now no purpose; he divided his time
between reading and taking exercise。 In a drawing…room he devoted his
attention to waiting on the wishes of the ladies。
〃You are very merry here;〃 said he; seeing that the Baron shed a
spirit of animation on the little family gathering。 〃And yet Hortense
is not married;〃 he added; noticing a trace of melancholy on his
sister…in…law's countenance。
〃That will come all in good time;〃 Lisbeth shouted in his ear in a
formidable voice。
〃So there you are; you wretched seedling that could never blossom;〃
said he; laughing。
The hero of Forzheim rather liked Cousin Betty; for there were certain
points of resemblance between them。 A man of the ranks; without any
education; his courage had been the sole mainspring of his military
promotion; and sound sense had taken the place of brilliancy。 Of the
highest honor and clean…handed; he was ending a noble life in full
contentment in the centre of his family; which claimed all his
affections; and without a suspicion of his brother's still
undiscovered misconduct。 No one enjoyed more than he the pleasing
sight of this family party; where there never was the smallest
disagreement; for the brothers and sisters were all equally attached;
Celestine having been at once accepted as one of the family。 But the
worthy little Count wondered now and then why Monsieur Crevel never
joined the party。 〃Papa is in the country;〃 Celestine shouted; and it
was explained to him that the ex…perfumer was away from home。
This perfect union of all her family made Madame Hulot say to herself;
〃This; after all; is the best kind of happiness; and who can deprive
us of it?〃
The General; on seeing his favorite Adeline the object of her
husband's attentions; laughed so much about it that the Baron; fearing
to seem ridiculous; transferred his gallantries to his daughter…in…
law; who at these family dinners was always the object of his flattery
and kind care; for he hoped to win Crevel back through her; and make
him forego his resentment。
Any one seeing this domestic scene would have found it hard to believe
that the father was at his wits' end; the mother in despair; the son
anxious beyond words as to his father's future fate; and the daughter
on the point of robbing her cousin of her lover。
At seven o'clock the Baron; seeing his brother; his son; the Baroness;
and Hortense all engaged at whist; went off to applaud his mistress at
the Opera; taking with him Lisbeth Fischer; who lived in the Rue du
Doyenne; and who always made an excuse of the solitude of that
deserted quarter to take herself off as soon as dinner was over。
Parisians will all admit that the old maid's prudence was but
rational。
The existence of the maze of houses under the wing of the old Louvre
is one of those protests against obvious good sense which Frenchmen
love; that Europe may reassure itself as to the quantum of brains they
are known to have; and not be too much alarmed。 Perhaps without
knowing it; this reveals some profound political idea。
It will surely not be a work of supererogation to describe this part
of Paris as it is even now; when we could hardly expect its survival;
and our grandsons; who will no doubt see the Louvre finished; may
refuse to believe that such a relic of barbarism should have survived
for six…and…thirty years in the heart of Paris and in the face of the
palace where three dynasties of kings have received; during those
thirty…six years; the elite of France and of Europe。
Between the little gate leading to the Bridge of the Carrousel and the
Rue du Musee; every one having come to Paris; were it but for a few
days; must have seen a dozen of houses with a decayed frontage where
the dejected owners have attempted no repairs; the remains of an old
block of buildings of which the destruction was begun at the time when
Napoleon determined to complete the Louvre。 This street; and the blind
alley known as the Impasse du Doyenne; are the only passages into this
gloomy and forsaken block; inhabited perhaps by ghosts; for there
never is anybody to be seen。 The pavement is much below the footway of
the Rue du Musee; on a level with that of the Rue Froidmanteau。 Thus;
half sunken by the raising of the soil; these houses are also wrapped
in the perpetual shadow cast by the lofty buildings of the Louvre;
darkened on that side by the northern blast。 Darkness; silence; an icy
chill; and the cavernous depth of the soil combine to make these
houses a kind of crypt; tombs of the living。 As we drive in a hackney
cab past this dead…alive spot; and chance to look down the little Rue
du Doyenne; a shudder freezes the soul; and we wonder who can lie
there; and what things may be done there at night; at an hour when the
alley is a cut…throat pit; and the vices of Paris run riot there under
the cloak of night。 This question; frightful in itself; becomes
appalling when we note that these dwelling…houses are shut in on the
side towards the Rue de Richelieu by marshy ground; by a sea of
tumbled paving…stones between them and the Tuileries; by little
garden…plots and suspicious…looking hovels on the side of the great
galleries; and by a desert of building…stone and old rubbish on the
side towards the old Louvre。 Henri III。 and his favorites in search of
their trunk…hose; and Marguerite's lovers in search of their heads;
must dance sarabands by moonlight in this wilderness overlooked by the
roof of a chapel still standing there as if to prove that the Catholic
religionso deeply rooted in Francesurvives all else。
For forty years now has the Louvre been crying out by every gap in
these damaged walls; by every yawning window; 〃Rid me of these warts
upon my face!〃 This cutthroat lane has no doubt been regarded as
usef
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